The risk for Trump is that, having raised the prospect of launching a regime change in Iran, his failure to do so would seriously undermine his own credibility.
US president Donald J. Trump’s delay in delivering on his “locked and loaded” promise to Iran’s brave protestors, it appears, is merely the result of placing the final touches on his “It’s time to look for new leadership in Iran.”
From the moment a fresh wave of anti-government protests erupted throughout Iran at the start of the year, Trump has made numerous threats to intervene if Tehran’s theocratic regime continued to resort to acts of extreme violence to suppress the will of the Iranian people.
Trump’s most explicit warning to the ayatollahs came at the height of the recent disturbances, when it became clear the regime was resorting to extreme violence to crush the protestors.