Leaked US intelligence report reveals regime change in Iran ‘unlikely’
US military bases and assets across the region are being hit with heavy Iranian attacks in retaliation for the brutal war launched by Washington and Tel Aviv
A leaked US intelligence report has revealed that Washington’s plan to implement regime change in Iran is “unlikely” to be successful, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on 7 March.
The classified report by the US National Intelligence Council (NIC) found “that even a large-scale assault on Iran launched by the United States would be unlikely to oust the Islamic republic’s entrenched military and clerical establishment.”
The report was compiled a week before the start of the brutal US-Israeli aggression, which has killed over 1,200 Iranians in less than two weeks and resulted in the assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
The report outlines several “succession scenarios,” sources told the WSJ, but added that Tehran would retaliate to the supreme leader’s assassination by “following protocols designed to preserve continuity of power.”
It added that a takeover by the Israeli-backed Iranian opposition was “unlikely.”
The report comes as Iran has announced the selection of a new supreme leader following deliberations among the Council of Experts, the body responsible for making the decision.
Tehran has yet to announce the chosen one. Western media reports have claimed the most likely successor to Khamenei is his son Mojtaba.
US President Donald Trump has recently said that he wants to be involved in choosing Iran’s leadership, and has demanded “unconditional surrender” from the current Iranian government and its military forces.
Recent reports said Trump may be looking to arm Kurdish separatists to serve as “ground forces,” though the president came out later and said that option was “ruled out.” Tehran has been pounding Iranian Kurdish militants based in Iraq with drones and ballistic missiles.
These groups are responsible for scores of violent attacks against Iranian security forces during the 2022 and 2026 riots in the country, and have long advocated for regime change.
However, officials told WSJ they see “little sign, at least so far, of a mass popular uprising in Iran or of significant fissures within the government or security forces that will result in a new regime.”
“The fate of dear Iran, which is more precious than life, will be determined solely by the proud Iranian nation, not by [Jeffrey] Epstein’s gang,” says the Speaker of Iran’s Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf.
The WSJ report comes as Iran has been targeting Israel and US bases across the region with heavy retaliatory drone and missile attacks. Key US radars have been wiped out.
Iranian drones targeted a desalination plant in Bahrain on 8 March, causing material damage, following a similar attack on Iran launched by the US from Bahraini territory.
"The US committed a blatant and desperate crime by attacking a freshwater desalination plant on Qeshm Island," Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a post on X.
“Attacking Iran's infrastructure is a dangerous move with grave consequences. The US set this precedent, not Iran.”