Trump says regime change in Iran will happen but not ‘immediately’

Speaking on Fox News Radio's The Brian Kilmeade Show, Trump said security forces loyal to the Islamic Republic routinely shoot demonstrators in the streets, making it difficult for unarmed civilians to challenge the regime despite growing pressure from the ongoing conflict.

“They literally have people in the streets with machine guns, machine-gunning people down if they want to protest,” Trump said, referring to Iran’s security forces. “That’s a pretty big hurdle to climb for people that don’t have weapons.”

Trump said that while change inside Iran will eventually happen, it is unlikely to occur quickly under such conditions.

“It’ll happen,” he said, “but it probably will be — maybe not immediately.”

The US president made the remarks while discussing the internal situation in Iran amid the escalating war between Iran, Israel and the United States. Trump argued that the regime maintains control largely through force, describing the security forces as an “evil group of people” who shoot protesters “right through the head.”

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps warned on Thursday that opponents could face a blow “even stronger than January 8,” signaling the possibility of a renewed and harsher crackdown if street protests resume.

More than 36,500 Iranians were killed by security forces during a two-day crackdown on nationwide protests on January 8–9.