Iran is a Theocracy. A Theocracy is a system in which the state is ruled by religious leaders or officials who claim to act under divine guidance. The laws and customs are derived from the Holy Books of that religion. Christianity was like that at one time, but that was several hundred years ago. When Martin Luther came up with other ideas, the Catholic church started a holy war against the heretics. There were eight recognized wars where Protestants and Catholics killed each other because of differences in religious doctrines. People were burned alive at the stake for saying the Earth revolves around the sun! Something that turned out to be true. Most of it ended with the Peace of Westphalia in October 1648. It ended the 30 Years’ War, the 80 Years’ War, and numerous smaller skirmishes. The wars killed half of Europe. The exact amount is not known but estimated to be between 4.5 and 8 million. When you are fighting for God, and God is on your side, that is what it takes to end it: lots of blood! Christianity has gone through it. Christians have learned to tolerate each other’s differences through much bloodshed, and most believe that war against each other is just an exercise in futility. I don’t think Shi’ite Islam has come to that conclusion yet. Unless we neutralize the “true believers,” there will be more to come. It is unlikely that they will give up their “religion” at this point in time. It will require a lot more bloodshed before they reach that conclusion. They believe that you are better off dead than to accept a satanic cult, which we are to them. They call the US “the Great Satan” and Israel “the Small Satan”.
The war in Iran is a religious war. To think this will be over soon is wishful thinking. As long as the representatives of God tell you that this is what you must do to get to paradise, then that is what you must do! And if you die in war fighting evil, you will get a special reward: 72 virgins. I’ll assume that is only for the male martyrs. Also in paradise, wine can be consumed, unlike on Earth. Wine flows in all the rivers in paradise, as per Surah Muhammad, Verse 15. Paradise features rivers of milk, honey, and wine. The IRGC (Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps), with an estimated 190,000 personnel, wants a nuclear weapon so they can destroy their archenemies, the US and Israel. They would not hesitate. I guarantee you! That is why we cannot let them have one. I do not think the majority of Iranians (80 million people) share that mindset. 70 to 90% of Iranians want regime change. From the pie chart, you can see that only one-third are Shi’ite Muslims, almost as many as are no religion plus atheists. It is the IRGC that now runs the country. They are hardcore Islamists and are being led by the new Mulla, Mojtaba Khamenei, son of Ali Khamenei, the former Supreme Leader, who was killed in the first few minutes of the war by Israeli strikes, which were activated by their intelligence that the leaders were all located in one place at that particular moment. It is the IRGC that has the guns and therefore calls the shots. It would be those people who would need to be neutralized before Iran can enter into meaningful negotiations. It is also those people who would be the target of an uprising of the Iranian people, who also do not want them. Unfortunately, they lack the guns to do so. Just a few months ago, the IRGC killed 40,000 to 50,000 unarmed Iranians who took to the streets to protest the mishandling of the economy with mass starvation and the insanity of demanding women cover their hair. Many women were shot in the head for that sin. Little girls aged 10 to 12 were hanged in public for disobeying Sharia law, such as wearing lipstick. They use construction cranes for that purpose. What kind of people would do that? Religious fanatics! Just like the people hundreds of years ago in Europe who killed 4.5 to 8 million people because they didn’t believe the Pope was infallible or that priests could marry. Crazy? I hope Persians are a bit smarter than the Europeans of 400 years ago! And that they will come to the realization that their trust in their religion is overexaggerated, and needs to be toned down a few octaves, just as Christianity has. People who think differently are not wrong; they are just different.