January 9, 2026 | The Atlantic
Trump’s Unexpected Opportunity
The president can help topple the Iranian regime—if he acts swiftly and decisively.
January 9, 2026 | The Atlantic
Trump’s Unexpected Opportunity
The president can help topple the Iranian regime—if he acts swiftly and decisively.
Excerpt
Marching alongside a column of protesters through the city of Borujerd in western Iran, a middle-aged woman appeared unperturbed by the blood streaming down her chin. “I am not afraid,” she called out in a video clip posted by Iran International. “I have been dead for 47 years.”
She spoke for many in the crowds of protesters now thronging Iran’s streets. As the Islamic Republic convulses with demonstrations across all 31 provinces, Iranians of all ages are catching a glimpse of national rebirth after nearly half a century of theocratic rule.
Periodic mass protests have marked Iranian life for nearly two decades—the Green Movement of 2009; the fuel protests of 2019; the Women, Life, Freedom uprising of 2022–23. Each wave was brutally repressed. But never before has the Islamic Republic been so weakened at home and so vulnerable to pressure from abroad. The possibility of overthrowing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s regime is no longer theoretical.
Mark Dubowitz is CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Behnam Ben Taleblu is senior director of FDD’s Iran program. The views expressed are their own.