Israel and US Weigh Ending Iran War Short of Regime Change
Senior Israeli officials are now openly studying an exit from the ten-day-old conflict with Iran that stops well short of toppling the regime in Tehran.
The war began February 28 with joint U.S.-Israeli strikes that killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and triggered massive Iranian retaliation across the region. Initial aims appeared focused on decapitating leadership and forcing collapse, but mounting costs—depleted munitions stockpiles, rising U.S. casualties, surging oil prices, and no quick surrender—have forced a rethink.
A follow-up statement from French President Macron underscored the reality: Iranian leadership cannot be changed through bombings alone.
For South Asia, a de-escalation without full regime change offers breathing room. It limits the risk of wider proxy flare-ups that could destabilize Pakistan and keeps global energy flows steadier, sparing India and its neighbors from even sharper economic pain.
Reality has set in. Grand promises of swift regime overthrow are giving way to the hard limits of airpower and the price of endless escalation. The question now is whether cooler heads can lock in an off-ramp before the war drags into months of attrition.