Israeli officials in closed discussions also have acknowledged there is no certainty the war will lead to the clerical government\u2019s collapse, a senior Israeli official told Reuters.<\/p>\n
The sources stressed that the situation on the ground is fluid and that the dynamics inside Iran could change.<\/p>\n
\t The Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Central Intelligence Agency declined to comment.<\/p>\n The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n Shifting objectives<\/p>\n Since launching their war, the US and Israel have struck a range of Iranian targets, including air defenses, nuclear sites, and members of the senior leadership.<\/p>\n The Trump administration has given varying reasons for the war. In announcing the beginning of the US operation, Trump urged Iranians to \u201ctake over your government,\u201d but top aides have since denied that the objective was to oust Iran\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n In addition to Khamenei, the strikes have killed dozens of senior officials and some of the highest-ranking commanders in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, an elite paramilitary force that controls large parts of the economy.<\/p>\n Still, the US intelligence reports indicate that the IRGC and the interim leaders who assumed power after Khamenei\u2019s death retain control of the country.<\/p>\n The Assembly of Experts, a group of senior Shiite clerics, earlier this week declared Khamenei\u2019s son, Mojtaba, the new supreme leader.<\/p>\n Israel has no intention of allowing any remnants of the former government to stay intact, said a fourth source familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n \t It is unclear how the current US-Israeli military campaign would topple the government.<\/p>\n It would likely require a ground offensive that would allow people inside Iran to safely protest in the streets, said the source.<\/p>\n The Trump administration has not ruled out sending US troops into Iran.<\/p>\n Intelligence suggests Kurds lack firepower to fight Iran<\/p>\n Reuters reported last week that Iranian Kurdish militias based in neighboring Iraq consulted with the US about how and whether to attack Iran\u2019s security forces in the western part of the country.<\/p>\n Such an incursion could put pressure on Iranian security services there, allowing Iranians to rise up against the government.<\/p>\n Abdullah Mohtadi, the head of the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan, part of a six-party coalition of Iranian Kurdish parties, said in an interview on Wednesday that the parties are highly organized inside Iran and that \u201ctens of thousands of young people are ready to take up arms\u201d against the government if they receive US support.<\/p>\n Mohtadi said he has received reports from inside Iranian Kurdistan that IRGC units and other security forces have abandoned bases and barracks out of fear of US and Israeli strikes.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have been witnessing tangible signs of weakness in Kurdish areas,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \t But recent US intelligence reports have cast doubt on the ability of the Iranian Kurdish groups to sustain a fight against Iranian security services, according to two sources familiar with those assessments.<\/p>\n The intelligence indicates that the groups lack the firepower and numbers, they said.<\/p>\n The Kurdish Regional Government, which governs the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan where the Iranian Kurdish groups are based, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n The Iranian Kurdish groups have in recent days asked senior officials in Washington and US lawmakers for the US to provide them with weapons and armored vehicles, another person familiar with the matter said.<\/p>\n But Trump said on Saturday that he had ruled out having the Iranian Kurdish groups go into Iran.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t You clearly find our careful reporting of the Iran war valuable, at a time when facts are often distorted and news coverage often lacks context.<\/p>\n Your support is essential to continue our work. We want to continue delivering the professional journalism you value, even as the demands on our newsroom have grown dramatically during this ongoing conflict.<\/p>\n So today, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. For as little as $6 a month you’ll become our partners while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing\u00a0exclusive content\u00a0available only to Times of Israel Community members.<\/p>\n Thank you, \t\t\t
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AFP__20260310__A2LR3CE__v2__HighRes__TopshotIranUsIsraelWar-e1773274788798-640x400.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n\t\tSmoke plumes billow from the site of airstrikes near Azadi Tower in western Tehran on March 10, 2026. (ATTA KENARE \/ AFP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AP26069694072394-640x400.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n\t\tPolicemen stand on top of their car with pictures of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, right and left, and his son Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, the successor to him, center, during a rally to support him in Tehran, Iran, March 9, 2026. (AP Photo\/Vahid Salemi, File)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AP25171761048485-e1773286802436-640x400.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n\t\tIranian Kurdish dissident Abdullah Mohtadi, head of the leftist Komala Party from Iran\u2019s Kurdish regions, poses for a portrait in Washington, June 20, 2025. (AP Photo\/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tYou appreciate our wartime journalism\t\t\t<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/DH-new-headshot-circular.png\" "\\"\\"\/")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\tJoin Our Community\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n