Trump raises spectre of regime change in Iran as U.S. warns against retaliation

President Donald Trump escalated tensions with Iran on Sunday (22 June), hinting at regime change following U.S. strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities – Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan – while his administration cautioned Tehran against retaliation.

The strikes, dubbed “Operation Midnight Hammer,” involved seven B-2 bombers dropping 14 bunker-buster bombs and over 75 precision-guided munitions, including 24 Tomahawk missiles, in a covert mission known only to a select few in Washington and Tampa’s U.S. Central Command.

The U.S. strikes Iran, Trump says Iran’s nuclear-enrichment facilities have been obliterated

Trump’s provocative social media post – “If the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change???” – contrasted with assurances from Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who insisted the operation targeted Iran’s nuclear program, not its government.

“This mission was not and has not been about regime change,” Hegseth told reporters at the Pentagon, calling the mission “a precision operation” targeting Iran’s nuclear program.

Vance, in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker,” said “our view has been very clear that we don’t want a regime change.”

“We do not want to protract this or build this out any more than it’s already been built out. We want to end their nuclear program, and then we want to talk to the Iranians about a long-term settlement here,” Vance said, adding the U.S. “had no interest in boots on the ground.”

As Iran vows to respond and the Middle East teeters on the brink, the U.S. actions evoke its controversial history of pursuing regime change in Muslim-majority nations, raising fears of a broader conflict.

Trump’s remarks, posted on Truth Social, came a day after he claimed the strikes “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear capabilities, with satellite imagery showing severe damage to Fordow’s mountain-encased facility.

“The damage is monumental,” Trump declared, though UN nuclear chief Rafael Grossi cautioned that the extent of underground destruction remains unclear. A senior Iranian source told Reuters that most of Fordow’s highly enriched uranium, refined to 60%, was relocated before the attack.

General Dan Caine, Joint Chiefs chairman, confirmed “extremely severe damage” to all three sites but avoided speculating on Iran’s remaining nuclear capacity. Tehran retaliated with a missile barrage on Tel Aviv, wounding scores and damaging buildings, but has yet to act on threats to target U.S. bases or disrupt the Strait of Hormuz, through which a quarter of global oil flows.

The U.S. operation, involving 125 aircraft, was a direct escalation, joining Israel’s ongoing air campaign against Iran, which began on 13 June over fears of Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. Vance, on NBC’s Meet the Press, emphasised, “We don’t want a regime change,” aiming to end Iran’s nuclear program and pursue a “long-term settlement.” Hegseth called the strikes a “precision operation,” not an open-ended campaign, with Rubio adding on CBS’s Face the Nation that no further strikes are planned unless Iran retaliates. The U.S. bolstered defences for its 40,000 troops in the region, moving assets from vulnerable bases in Iraq and Syria.

U.S. regime change efforts in Muslim-majority countries

Trump’s invocation of “regime change” recalls a fraught U.S. history in Muslim-majority nations, often marked by military interventions and destabilizing outcomes. In 2003, the U.S. invasion of Iraq toppled Saddam Hussein, justified by claims of weapons of mass destruction, leading to a prolonged insurgency and over 200,000 civilian deaths, per estimates by the Costs of War project.

In Afghanistan, the 2001 U.S.-led campaign ousted the Taliban, only for them to regain power in 2021 after a 20-year war costing over $2 trillion.

The 2011 NATO-backed intervention in Libya, supported by the U.S., overthrew Muammar Gaddafi, plunging the country into chaos and fuelling regional instability.

In Syria, U.S. support for anti-Assad rebels since 2011 contributed to a brutal civil war, though regime change failed, leaving 500,000 dead. These efforts, often driven by security or ideological goals, have faced criticism for creating power vacuums, empowering extremist groups like ISIS, and straining U.S. credibility.

Trump’s past pledges to avoid Middle East wars make his Iran strikes and regime change rhetoric a stark departure, risking a repeat of these costly precedents.

The strikes have sparked domestic backlash. Anti-war protests erupted in New York and Washington, while lawmakers like Senator Tim Kaine and Representative Thomas Massie criticized Trump for bypassing Congress, calling the action unconstitutional.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s claim that Iran could build a bomb in weeks – disputed by experts – further fuelled debate. Iran’s restrained response, possibly to avoid all-out war, contrasts with its threats, leaving the region on edge. As sporadic anti-war demonstrations continue and the UN Security Council prepares to meet, Trump’s gamble threatens to deepen a crisis already inflamed by wars in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria’s recent upheaval.

With agencies, edited by g.g.

Caption: Protestors voice their opposition to US President Donald Trump’s decision to bomb three nuclear sites in Iran, outside the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 22 June 2025. Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine said the bombing has inflicted ‘extremely severe damage’ to the sites. EPA/JIM LO SCALZO