Donald Trump rapidly shifted the stated objectives of the war with Iran—moving from urging Iranians to shape their own future to demanding the regime’s “unconditional surrender” and signaling he may help decide the country’s next leader, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.
"Even as the conflict has escalated into a regional crisis involving more than a dozen countries, President Donald Trump appears to be refining the rationale and endgame of the war on the fly, according to current and former US officials and allied diplomats," the report said.
"It will be impossible to replicate the model in Iran, analysts say. Unlike in Venezuela, where the US was dealing with a hollowed-out petrostate, Washington is confronting an entrenched theocracy backed by a vast security apparatus that is built to preserve the system even after the loss of senior leaders," the report added.
