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Foreign Policy Expert Calls This Move by Israel Key in 'Opening the Path to an Uprising'

Leah Barkoukis
Leah Barkoukis  |  June 24, 2025 10:00 AM

The Trump administration has been clear that it’s not interested in regime change in Iran, even if President Trump broached the topic on Truth Social. Taking to the Sunday shows, Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio all made it clear the U.S. strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities were about ending the nation’s nuclear program, period. But that’s not to say U.S. and Israeli military actions haven’t handed the Iranian people a prime opportunity to carry out regime change themselves. 

Indeed, Walid Phares, foreign policy expert and co-secretary general of the Transatlantic Parliamentary Group, said Israeli strikes against the Basij and IRGC have been “perhaps the most significant development” because these militias have been “deployed across the country primarily to suppress the people.”

“This weakening of the regime’s core is what truly matters,” he argued. “It creates an opening for the population to finally express itself. 

“One of the key actions has been the effort to push regime forces away from Evin prison, the notorious #KhomeinistBastille,” Phares continued. “There will come a point when the people of Iran should be able to liberate political prisoners from these detention centers.”

In a separate post, Phares explained peace will only be possible when the people are liberated. 

"I endured 15 years of war in Lebanon, witnessing the involvement of every faction: militias, Assad’s army, Israel, jihadists, Khomeinists, Hezbollah, U.S. and European forces, Soviet weapons, the PLO, and more—everything imaginable," he said. "There were nearly 103 ceasefires, ranging from localized agreements to nationwide truces. But no ceasefire ever truly held, as peace couldn’t be achieved until the people were free..."