Is this a contained escalation, or the start of something much bigger? Former US Ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro joins from Tel Aviv to unpack what’s driving this moment.
""I think that President Trump has probably realized he doesn't have the ability to deliver regime change in Iran without committing US troops on the ground," Council President and CEO Leslie Vinjamuri says.
"US President Donald Trump and his administration are plainly unmoved by claims that they bear responsibility for the fates of nations where the United States has intervened," Council Senior Nonresident Fellow Suzanne Nossel writes.
"The strike that killed Khamenei also wiped out a lot of the potential candidates or people that they thought would be the next in line," Council Senior Nonresident Fellow Paul Poast says. "There's still an immense amount of uncertainty."
"If the ambition is regime change, the means that are being used certainly are insufficient to achieve that," Council President and CEO Leslie Vinjamuri says. "Iran has been succession planning for a very long time."
"The markets can take it for a short amount of time," Council Senior Nonresident Fellow Rachel Bronson says. "Beyond that—very difficult. Prices will increase, [and] people will feel it at home."
US President Donald Trump has called for regime change, the destruction of Iranian military capability, and the degradation of proxy groups. But an operation with multiple goals carries greater risk.
"It looks like the very motivation that led the US to enter the war in Iraq is now in play with Iran," Council Senior Nonresident Fellow Paul Poast says.
Even before the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn most of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, historic allies had begun actively exploring economic relationships with other nations.
