Former national security adviser John Bolton said Sunday on CNN’s “Newsroom Live” that the fundamentalist Islamic Iranian government could fall after President Donald Trump’s military strikes on their nuclear facilities.
Bolton said, “The level of dissatisfaction across Iran is really pretty incredible on many different levels. Since 2018 and 2019 — when there were riots over economic conditions that were brutally put down — the economy has not materially improved since then. The dissatisfaction is still there. Young people — something like 60% of the population is under 30, so they know they could have a different way of life. They can see it across the Gulf, in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and Doha.”
He continued, “Two years ago the Mahsa Amini murder by the authorities, young Kurdish woman who wasn’t conforming to the religious dress codes brought young people and women out all over the country against the regime. A fundamental challenge to the regime’s legitimacy, not just to complain about having to wear the hijab, but saying the Ayatollahs do not speak the word of God, which which threatens the regime. All of that still exists.”
Bolton added, “Now they see their terrorist proxies in ashes. The Assad regime in Syria has fallen, the nuclear and ballistic missile programs are being systematically destroyed, uncounted billions of dollars spent over decades. What has that done for the people of Iran? That’s why there is fragmentation at the top. If you break the control of the government, it may lead to to a very, very difficult situation. But I think the government could fall. Maybe it will have to wait until the Ayatollah Khamenei dies. He’s only the second supreme leader in Iranian history. He’s 85-plus years old. He’s sick, and he’s been in power for 36 years. They have no clear succession mechanism. This is a very unstable, unpopular regime.”
Follow Pam Key on X @pamkeyNEN