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During Monday’s edition of CNN’s “The Source,” Senator Tim Sheehy from Montana made a bold assertion about the current conflict in Iran, stating that the primary objective appears to be regime change. He emphasized that dismantling the existing leadership is the main goal of the ongoing military operations.
Host Kaitlan Collins posed a direct question to Sheehy, inquiring, “Do you believe the war in Iran is driven by a desire for regime change?”
Sheehy responded affirmatively, pointing to the longstanding history of Iran exporting terrorism and malevolence across the globe as a catalyst for the current situation. “There’s no doubt,” he remarked, “that today’s events in Iran are the culmination of decades of such behavior.”
Collins pressed further, highlighting the mixed messages coming from the administration regarding the war’s purpose. She noted, “We hear a variety of explanations, and it seems no single narrative has been settled on. You mentioned regime change, but this morning, Secretary Hegseth stated it’s not about regime change.”
In response, Sheehy clarified the multiplicity of threats posed by Iran, which contribute to the diverse explanations. “The varied reasons stem from the wide array of threats this regime presents,” he explained. Sheehy enumerated several concerns, such as Iran’s naval activities disrupting crucial waterways like the Red Sea and the Straits of Hormuz, and their support of militant groups such as the Houthi rebels and Hezbollah, which challenge Israel and Western influences in the Middle East. He further highlighted Iran’s military capabilities, including their ballistic missiles and nuclear ambitions, along with their role in international money laundering and support for terrorist and drug-trafficking organizations.
Collins followed up, “So does that mean the war doesn’t end until every single one of those things is eliminated?”
Sheehy answered, “I think the likelihood of each one of those tentacles continuing to carry out the policies of this terrorist regime is pretty unlikely if the regime’s gone, or if the regime has chosen, hey, we’re going to change direction. But I think that’s pretty unlikely.”
He added that putting boots on the ground would be unwise and he doesn’t think anyone plans to do that, “I think the reality is, decapitating the regime is the number one objective that, as I said, will have a number of threat vectors, whether it’s the fleet, whether it’s nukes, whether it’s ICBMs, medium-range, or taking out proxy groups, whether it’s Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon, or the remnants of Hamas in Gaza, but weakening all those different vectors makes it harder for that regime to stay in place. And what we are seeing is a lot of organic support inside Iran. Unfortunately, so many of them have been killed over the last couple of months, but, hopefully, that organic support reached the point where they can topple their own government and [put] in place their own, hopefully self-governing system to succeed this.” And he thinks the U.S. should help them do so.