Unchanged regime will be vengeful

Tehran threatens Trump as he hints at war's end

- BY CHRIS HUGHES

WAR in Iran may soon be over, says US President Donald Trump, who is desperate for a way out.

It is costing the US and Israel billions in missiles and troop, warplane and fleet movements, yet the Iranian regime is intact, with killed Ayatollah Khamenei replaced by his son Mojtaba Khamenei, 56.

If Trump drops the war now, hoping the financial markets will react positively, then Iran's policy of hitting the coalition in the wallet and threatening to drag the Gulf States into a long and costly war appears to have worked. Iran's military and its ability to fight back has been degraded but its leadership is more vengeful and even more hardline than ever before.

Trump's chaotic messaging has further exposed his incompetence. It is a near-certainty that there will be no US "boots on the ground" to assist regime change.

So, the protesters have not been helped and the regime remains intact. It seems the unarmed opposition, which was promised help, will not be getting it and they are being cast adrift, left to hide from the inevitable clampdown that will follow the war.