REUTERS

Following the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday, many senior US officials remain skeptical that the US and Israeli military operation against the Islamic Republic will lead to a regime change in the near term.

Before and after the start of the attack, US officials, including US President Donald Trump, had suggested that toppling the nation’s repressive governing system was one of several US goals, in addition to crippling Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear programmes.

“I call upon all Iranian patriots who yearn for freedom to seize this moment ... and take back your country,” Trump said on Sunday in a video posted on Truth Social.

But three US officials familiar with US intelligence said there is serious skepticism that Iran’s battered opposition can topple the theocratic, authoritarian governing system that has been in place since 1979.

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