US-Israel Launch Joint Operation Against Iran: Trump Calls for Regime Change, Sparking Hope and Skepticism Among Iranians

The United States and Israel have launched a joint military operation against Iran, with former U.S. President Donald Trump urging the Iranian populace to "take over your government" after the operation concludes, explicitly calling for regime change. This appeal has ignited a flurry of responses on social media from many Iranians, expressing deep dissatisfaction with the current Khamenei regime and hopes for liberation from oppression.

Announcing the initiation of a large-scale military operation, Trump emphasized to the Iranian people, "Take over your government. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity." He warned them to remain indoors due to the bombings and explained that the joint U.S.-Israeli objective is to eliminate the threat posed by the Iranian regime and its nuclear development program. French President Emmanuel Macron has also voiced his support for the Iranian people to build a free future.

Posts on X (formerly Twitter) frequently feature sentiments such as, "Even Iranians are happy," "There must have been pent-up frustration with the current regime that massacres its own people," and "Human rights suppressed by hardline Islamists will be liberated." Widespread criticism has erupted against the current Iranian regime for being a "human rights suppressing regime," for allegedly massacring tens of thousands of its own citizens, and for pursuing nuclear development. Consequently, many voices interpret the current attack as an act of "liberation." Some posts even harken back to a time when Iran was a freer, less religiously restrictive country where women attended universities, contrasting it with the current situation where freedoms are curtailed by Islamic rule, and expressing hope that this presents an opportunity to regain those lost freedoms.

Furthermore, Iran's former Crown Prince, Reza Pahlavi, has described the U.S. and Israeli attack on Iran as a "humanitarian intervention" and has called on the Iranian people to withdraw their support for the Ayatollah (Khamenei) regime. However, dissenting voices also exist, citing the past examples of Iraq and Libya to suggest that "things are not so simple," expressing skepticism about long-term chaos and the establishment of stable democratic governments.

The context

To fully grasp the implications of this news, it's essential to understand the historical and political backdrop. Donald Trump, a former U.S. President, has long been a vocal critic of the Iranian regime. Emmanuel Macron is the current President of France, a key European power. At the heart of the current Iranian government is Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, whose influence defines the "Khamenei regime" or "Ayatollah regime."

Iran underwent a transformative event in 1979 with the Islamic Revolution, which overthrew the Western-backed monarchy of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and established an Islamic Republic. This dramatically shifted the country's social and political landscape, introducing stricter religious laws and a theocratic system. The article alludes to this by mentioning a past where Iran was "less religiously restrictive" and women enjoyed greater freedoms, such as attending universities. Reza Pahlavi, mentioned in the article, is the son of the last Shah and a prominent figure among Iranian exiles advocating for a secular democratic government.

Tensions between the U.S., Israel, and Iran are long-standing, primarily fueled by Iran's controversial nuclear program, its alleged support for regional militant groups, and its human rights record. Both the U.S. and Israel view the Iranian regime as a significant threat to regional stability and international security.

The comparison to Iraq and Libya by some skeptics is crucial. In both cases, Western-led interventions resulted in the overthrow of existing regimes (Saddam Hussein in Iraq, Muammar Gaddafi in Libya), but were followed by prolonged periods of instability, civil war, and a failure to establish stable democratic governance. This history leads some to question whether a similar intervention in Iran would genuinely lead to a better outcome or simply plunge the nation into further chaos.