The Senate’s top Republican is calling for regime change in Iran as President Donald Trump weighs a range of military options to rein in Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
“In my view, if you’re going to do something there, you better well make it about getting new leadership and regime change,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) told reporters on Thursday.
Trump acknowledged last week that he is considering a limited strike meant to give the United States additional leverage in diplomatic talks with Iran, but military officials are gaming out the possibility of a wider conflict, and the president himself has flirted with the idea of toppling the mullahs who have run Tehran since 1979.
Thune is part of the Gang of Eight that received a classified briefing on Iran this week as the U.S. builds up military assets in the region, including two aircraft carrier strike groups.
“If you’re going to take some sort of action, I think you want to achieve a result that actually brings about the transformational change that I think we want in the region,” Thune said.
Thune has taken a hawkish stance on foreign policy under Trump, previously supporting the overthrow of dictator Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela. Trump, meanwhile, maintains that he prefers a diplomatic solution and gave Iran a 10- to 15-day window to strike a deal last week.
The renewed threat of military action comes as the U.S. holds indirect talks with Iran in Geneva. Trump ordered a barrage of strikes on the country’s nuclear facilities last summer, but the U.S. believes the country is taking steps to reconstitute its program and wants to see it dismantled voluntarily.
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“I think they’re gaming out what contingencies might look like and what’s in our national security interest,” Thune said of military strikes, doubting that a final decision had been made as of Thursday.
Trump stepped up his buildup in the region this week when he dispatched F-22 jets to Israel, which suggests possible coordination for an attack on Iran.
At his State of the Union address on Tuesday, Trump told lawmakers he “will never hesitate to confront threats to America wherever we must.”