What the United States and Israel have achieved militarily in this conflict is significant, and it deserves recognition. But what we are now hearing from the White House, that a “regime change” has occurred, is misleading and demoralizing to the Iranian people who have actively aided both the US and Israel in this war.
There is a clear effort from the White House to frame this ceasefire as if the war is over, as if something fundamental has changed inside the Islamic Republic... it has not.
Massoud Pezeshkian is still president, a man who enforced mandatory hijab policies before they were even law. Ejei is still running the judiciary and, just days ago, called to speed up executions of the more than 50,000 arrested protesters. Ghalibaf still controls the parliament, despite his role in brutally crushing the 1999 student protests, including throwing demonstrators from rooftops.
These are not reasonable people. They are not reformers. They have blood on their hands.
And while the White House was hailing their diplomatic success and the end of the war, US allies were targeted across the region: Kuwait, the UAE, Israel, Bahrain, Qatar.
This is not regime change, and it’s not a ceasefire either.
EMILY’S TAKE
At the same time, the Islamic Republic has not won this war. It has been decimated. But military success does not justify irresponsible rhetoric.
In January, President Trump said help is on the way. Just days ago, he said he would not leave the job unfinished and would not walk away while Iranians are afraid.
Presenting this ceasefire as if the mission is complete sends the opposite message… not just to Tehran, but to the Iranian people who were told help was coming — who were told not to take to the streets until instructed… by you, President Trump. Now you want to gaslight them, saying there is a new regime?
Even if a ceasefire is necessary or advantageous in the short term, presenting it as an end is not just inaccurate, it is unhelpful.
This is not peace. It is a pause. And pretending otherwise only prolongs the conflict.