18 February 2026

The Objective Should Be a Secular and Moderate Iran

Frank Schell

The Islamic Republic of Iran has been wounded. And now, something has got to give.

President Trump has a historic opportunity to reverse decades of enmity toward “The Great Satan,” and end the exportation of terrorism to Europe, the United States, and Israel through the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — known to have provided weapons and training to the defeated Hamas and Hezbollah, and to other proxies in Syria.

Iran has been militarily and politically weakened. Some of Iran’s Russian and indigenously made air defense systems were destroyed by the Israeli Air Force last June, and later that month, American B-2 aircraft successfully struck and destroyed Iranian nuclear infrastructure in Natanz, Fordo, and Isfahan. Iran’s traditional allies, Russia, China, and North Korea, were observers on the sidelines. Moreover, the Islamist regime is afraid of its own people, having recently killed at least 30,000 demonstrators according to estimates appearing in The Guardian and Time, both quoting local health sources. (RELATED: US–Iran Talks Only Lead to Uncertainty)

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