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Trump’s Unexpected Opportunity

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Mark Dubowitz and Behnam Ben Taleblu: “Periodic mass protests have marked Iranian life for nearly two decades—the Green Movement of 2009; the fuel protests of 2019; the Women, Life, Freedom uprising of 2022–23. Each wave was brutally repressed. But never before has the Islamic Republic been so weakened at home and so vulnerable to pressure from abroad. The possibility of overthrowing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s regime is no longer theoretical.”

“For President Trump, these protests present a historic opportunity to cement his legacy as the Ronald Reagan of his era. Reagan did not collapse the Soviet Union through military force. He did it by applying overwhelming economic, ideological, and proxy pressure from the outside—while supporting dissidents on the inside. Trump can do the same with the Islamic Republic.”

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About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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