How Iran's Regime Changed...for the Worse
4/20/202619 min
Get your tickets to our L.A. live show here!At the outset of the U.S.-Iran War, the U.S. and Israel assassinated key figures in the Iranian regime, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. But the killings of high-ranking officials have failed to spark the popular uprising President Trump initially called for. WSJ’s Margherita Stancati explores the current regime and reports that Iran’s theocratic dictatorship not only remains in control, but is more conservative, more radical, and more entrenched than ever before. Ryan Knutson hosts. Further Listening: - The Strait of Hormuz Showdown
- The Energy Shock Is Here
- In Iran, an Uneasy Calm Amid a Cease-Fire Sign up for WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsRyan Knutson· Host0:00
[music plays] When the US and Israel began their war with Iran, one of the main goals appeared to be regime change, and the campaign began with a high-profile assassination.
Speaker 1· Soundbite0:16
Iranian state media has confirmed its supreme leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, has been killed in his compound.
Speaker 2· Soundbite0:23
This may change the game completely for Iran, change the region.
Ryan Knutson· Host0:27
[music plays] Ali Khamenei, the eighty-six-year-old supreme leader, Iran's highest political and religious authority, was dead. That strike also wiped out many in his inner circle, and over the following weeks, other top Iranian officials were also killed.
Speaker 3· Soundbite0:45
[drum beats] Iran's top security official, Ali Larijani, has been killed in a- Commander Gholamreza Soleimani killed.
Speaker 2· Soundbite0:52
Uh, the spokesperson for the IRGC, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, and this is now the fourth major target, [drum beats] major- So one of the assumptions of the war was that by killing senior Iranian officials, that could pave the way for the collapse of the regime, so that people would rise up and overthrow their leaders.
Speaker 6· Soundbite1:16
[music plays] When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations.
Unknown speaker1:27
[music plays]