Over the weekend, President Trump announced that U.S.
strikes on Iran killed the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
This wretched and vile man had the blood of hundreds and even thousands of Americans on his hands and was responsible for the slaughter of countless thousands of innocent people all across many countries.
There are reasons why previous American presidents haven't gone after Khamenei,
even though he was always a brutal dictator and an infamous sponsor of terrorism all over the world.
They feared that an attack on Iran would prompt a broader Middle East war.
They feared that the theocrats and military hardliners in the country would not give up power so easily.
All these fears are still very valid.
And yet, here we are, with Khamenei dead and no real plan for a democratic transition.
Combat operations continue at this time in full force,
and they will continue until all of our objectives are achieved.
We have very strong objectives.
I'm Hannah Rosen.
This is Radio Atlantic.
What President Trump wants out of Iran has always been vague.
Maybe regime change, maybe a nuclear deal.
The strikes on Saturday gave him a clear victory in the killing of Khamenei,
but the conflict has already escalated outside Iran, and Trump's endgame has remained vague.
Since the strikes, he's brought up Venezuela as a model,
where the US removed the leader, but the regime itself stayed in place.