The non-profit Jewish Institute for National Security of America, founded in 1976, advocates for a strong US military relationship with Israel and researches conflict in the Middle East.
JINSA president and CEO Michael Makovsky and the group’s vice president for policy Blaise Misztal told Iran International’s English-language podcast Eye for Iran that decades of containment, deterrence and nuclear diplomacy have failed because the Islamic Republic itself should be destroyed.
“It should be US policy to seek the collapse of this regime,” Makovsky said.
They said hesitation now — after mass killings of protesters across Iran — risks emboldening Tehran at the theocracy's weakest moment.
“We don’t say regime change,” Makovsky said. “The regime will fall … only when the Iranian people bring it down. But it should be US policy … to seek the collapse of this regime.”
The last months, Misztal said, have created a rare strategic opening: Iran’s nuclear clock has been set back, its regional proxies weakened and Iranians themselves have returned to the streets demanding freedom.
“This is a moment like no other,” he said. “I don’t know when the stars will align like this again… why not make it now? When is a better time than now?”
The duo urged the Trump administration to abandon negotiations, intensify pressure on the Revolutionary Guards and build the infrastructure needed to help Iranians defeat the Islamic Republic.
Misztal said previous administrations focused on Iran’s nuclear program, terrorism sponsorship and ballistic missile development as separate threats without tying them back to what he called the ideological nature of the theocracy.
“Yes, it’s a problem that Iran is the world’s greatest state sponsor of terrorism. Yes, it is a problem that it’s pursuing nuclear weapons,” he said. “But all of that stems from it being the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
Trump’s Promises and a Moment of Decision
Their warnings come as President Donald Trump faces rising scrutiny over his own rhetoric. Earlier this month, Trump vowed support for protesters and issued a direct warning to Tehran.
“I tell the Iranian leaders: You better not start shooting, because we’ll start shooting, too,” he said.
But Makovsky warned that after mass killings and widespread arrests, the absence of immediate consequences risks damaging US credibility.
“The Iranians have called his bluff for now,” he said. “If he doesn’t do it, it will go down as a tragic mistake.”
In recent days, Trump has said a US "armada" is heading toward the Middle East, with the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and several guided-missile destroyers expected to arrive in the region soon as Washington signals it is positioning military assets amid escalating uncertainty.
The growing tensions are now rippling far beyond Iran itself.
Major European airlines have begun suspending flights across parts of the Middle East, citing security concerns. Air France has canceled flights to Tel Aviv and Dubai, British Airways has halted evening service to Dubai and KLM has suspended routes to Israel, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Industry officials say cancellations are expected to increase gradually as carriers reassess airspace restrictions and passenger safety in a rapidly deteriorating regional environment.
A Cold War–Style Pressure Campaign
Misztal framed the strategy as a modern version of what the United States pursued against Soviet communism: strengthening civil resistance while weakening the ruling system from within.
“The strategy of regime collapse has been precisely what the United States pursued throughout the Cold War,” he said.
He argued that Washington should encourage defections, isolate elites in authority, cut off funding streams and expand opposition communications.
“One of the things we recommended is a quarantine of Iran’s oil exports,” Misztal said, “so that it doesn’t keep getting the money to rebuild its forces to pay the Basij or the IRGC.”
Both analysts warned that Iran’s leadership is entering what they described as its most dangerous phase, amid mass violence at home and the potential for war abraod.
“A showdown of some kind” is coming, Misztal said, and “the next showdown will be the last one."
