by Oui
Sat Jan 17th, 2026 at 09:29:52 PM EST
Trump seeks a Shock and Awe moment to decapitate Iran's religious leadership.
Trump wants Iran's submission not a long war | The New Arab |
Bishara argued that US President Donald Trump does not seek to change the Iranian regime, but rather to subdue it and force it into making radical concessions
The Iran file and the US threat to bomb the country dominated half of Al-Araby Television's interview on Thursday evening with Azmi Bishara, Director General of the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, speaking from Lusail in Qatar.
Bishara argued that US President Donald Trump does not seek to change the Iranian regime, but rather to subdue it and force it into making radical concessions. In the interview, Bishara said Trump is determined to complete the mission he began in last summer's 12 day war on Iran, warning that Arabs have no interest in an Iranian war, nor in partition or chaos there.
On the newly formed Gaza administration committee, Bishara noted that its chances of success depend on Israeli conduct, ruling out any change in the occupation state's policy and describing what is happening in Gaza as the continuation of war at a lower intensity, alongside creeping annexation in the West Bank.
As for any forthcoming Israeli elections, which may be called early, Bishara asserted that raising Arab voter turnout in Israel is a key condition for defeating Benjamin Netanyahu and the far right.
Internationally, the new global order, in the Arab thinker's words, is now based on a division between strong and weak powers, between conservative and liberal forces, and on Trump and his team's conviction that NATO has become a burden on America. He observed that all of Trump's moves regarding Greenland are linked to dismantling the partnership with Europe.
Murdoch’s Rag Newspaper the WSJ - WhatAboutism
A source told The Wall Street Journal that Arab countries explained to Washington the timing for any potential strikes was inappropriate, citing Iran’s instability, the protests largely having been suppressed and unclear opposition leadership in case of regime change.
Saudi Arabia leading the charge to persuade Washington not to intervene
Trump’s objective is to force Iran into strategic submission | Chatham House |
The threat of force is still very much on the table – as the president seeks to use pressure and unpredictability to turn Iranian weakness into a durable shift that benefits the US.
After weeks of intense and destabilizing protests across Iran, marked by sweeping internet and communications blackouts, a severe security crackdown, and reports of unprecedented deaths and repression, US President Donald Trump has kept Tehran and the wider region on tenterhooks by repeatedly threatening military strikes should the violence escalate further.
The demonstrations in Iran should not be seen as routine or normal outbursts of public frustration. Rather, they have been among the most serious challenges the Islamic Republic has faced in years, spreading across cities, drawing in diverse social groups and prompting a level of state violence that has underscored how threatened the leadership feels.
By warning Iran’s leaders against killing demonstrators or resorting to executions, Trump made clear that internal repression is no longer insulated from external consequences.
Even though the White House pulled back from military action on Wednesday night, the threat of force is still very much on the table. This reinforces the president’s approach of keeping the possibility of escalation alive while preserving the element of surprise and his ability to act when and how he chooses.
Trump would want military action in Iran to be swift and decisive, sources say | NBC News |
The president has told his advisers he would want any action to deliver a decisive blow to the Iranian regime, but so far he hasn't gotten that guarantee from them, sources say.
President Donald Trump has told his national security team that he would want any U.S. military action in Iran to deliver a swift and decisive blow to the regime and not spark a sustained war that dragged on for weeks or months, according to a U.S. official, two people familiar with the discussions and a person close to the White House.
“If he does something, he wants it to be definitive,” one of the people familiar with the discussions said.
But Trump’s advisers have so far not been able to guarantee to him that the regime would quickly collapse after an American military strike, the U.S. official and two people familiar with the discussions said, and there is concern that the U.S. may not have all the assets in the region it would need to guard against what administration officials expect would be an aggressive Iranian response.
Those dynamics could lead Trump to approve a more limited U.S. military offensive in Iran, at least initially, while reserving options to escalate — if he decides to take any military action at all, said the U.S. official and one of the people familiar with the discussions. They said that it is a fast-evolving situation and that as of Wednesday afternoon no decisions had been made. During a visit to Detroit on Tuesday, Trump told protesting Iranians that “help is on its way” and called the situation in the country “fragile.”
Asked for comment on the details of Trump’s deliberations, a White House official pointed to Trump’s remarks in the Oval Office on Wednesday afternoon.
Trump told reporters then that he had learned the Iranian regime had stopped killing protesters and halted plans for executions, either of which he has said could trigger a U.S. military response. “We have been informed by very important sources on the other side, and they said the killing has stopped and the executions won’t take place,” Trump said Wednesday. “I hope it’s true. Who knows?”
Asked whether that meant military action is now off the table, Trump said: “We’re going to watch and see what the process is.”
