On the previous day, US President Donald Trump called on Iranian citizens to keep up their protests and said that assistance to them was already on its way. Retired colonel and military commentator Mikhail Khodaryonok believes such statements from the American leader indicate that the Pentagon is nearing completion of preparations for potential military action against Iran.

Khodaryonok does not rule out that the Israeli military could join in strikes on Iranian targets and operate in close coordination with US forces. In his view, a change of power in the Islamic Republic aligns with the core national interests of Tel Aviv. The analyst says the likely main objective of a future operation would be the «decapitation» of Iran’s leadership, meaning that strikes would be focused specifically on eliminating the country’s top military and political figures.

At the same time, Khodaryonok doubts that Iran would be able to mount an effective response if such a campaign were launched. He notes that Tehran is currently threatening to hit US bases in the region, facilities of the oil infrastructure in the Persian Gulf, and targets in Israel, but he assesses the real potential of these threats as limited.

The expert recalls that Iran already had an opportunity to demonstrate its capabilities during a recent 12-day war, when it launched hundreds of ballistic missiles. Despite the scale of those strikes, Khodaryonok points out that they did not lead to any meaningful strategic outcome.