Nadav Eyal: For the Islamic regime, survival is victory

As the second week of war in Iran continues, there’s growing questions about whether regime change is possible, and what the end game looks like. The United States and Israel have taken out the long-time leader of Iran’s Islamic regime, Ali Khamenei. But with his son, Mojtaba Khamenei, now installed as the new supreme leader, the regime appears to have dug in for a long fight to retain power. Are the ongoing aerial strikes enough to permanently hobble the Iranian regime, and are Iran’s people ready to bring about a new government? Can the United States be counted on for continued military support if that’s what it takes to topple the regime? And, as Canada debates its own position on the war, what should Canadians understand about the risks posed by the regime – not only to the Middle East, but to global security more broadly? To share his on-the-ground knowledge of the Middle East, Israeli-based journalist and political commentator Nadav Eyal joins Inside Policy Talks. Eyal is a regular contributor to Call Me Back with Dan Senor and Amit Segal. On the podcast, he tells Casey Babb, director of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute’s The Promised Land project, that one of the challenges when it comes to bringing about regime change is that many Westerners have become averse to longer processes because of the fast-moving news cycle. However, as a core part of its survival strategy, Iran’s Islamic regime was structured to withstand prolonged conflict because it always expected this type of war with the United States and Israel. “This was their prophecy all along,” says Eyal. “They built their country, their polity, around the idea of resistance, and now they are trying to resist.”