Donald Trump's strikes on Iran will continue even if the regime change plot has already failed, according to a political analyst.
Though the president had ordered strikes on the Middle Eastern country over the weekend, Professor Anthony Glees believes the move has had little impact in the political sphere of Iran. Speaking to The Mirror, Professor Glees, who previously served as a special adviser to the UK's Foreign Office, said that he believes the war with Iran will only end once Trump has tired of it.
He said the goal of Trump's strikes, to change the regime and install a pro-US leader, had failed before the first strike had been ordered.
Professor Glees said, "If 'regime change from the air' were going to work, a revolution would have broken out in Iran on Saturday evening, after Khamenei and his top staff were blown into the next world [paradise in his case].
"I suspect Netanyahu told Trump in person a fortnight ago that the two could repeat the Venezuela gig, get rid of the 'head' of the snake, and find an alternative head who would do what they wanted.
"Of course, if so, this shows a total misunderstanding of the deeply ideological nature of the Iranian regime, fanatical Islamists to their core."
A decision to replace the previous ayatollah will prove foolish of Trump, according to Professor Glees, who says sentiment towards the US in Iran is not on the president's side.
"There are no pro-US or pro-Israel ayatollahs," he said. "And Iran, pop. 94m, is not Venezuela. Whilst many loathe the ayatollahs and what they've done and are doing, there are also millions who have been brainwashed by the mullahs.
"They were content to see thousands killed a few weeks ago; they will be content to see hundreds of thousands killed by the Revolutionary Guards in order to sustain the regime of the ayatollahs."