With the death toll from the current protests already in the thousands in Iran—and with earlier emblematic killings of young women over attire or protest, such as Mahsa Amini and Hadis Najafi—the regime stands exposed as a tyranny sustained by terror. Donald Trump’s presidency once again edges toward a quarrel with the Islamic Republic. It is a familiar rodeo: from the killing of Quds Force commander General Qasem Soleimani in the first term to strikes against the regime’s nuclear program in the second.

A campaign would not seek devastation, nor would the United States have an interest in a failed state or spiraling regional destabilization. Any potential American military intervention would therefore rest on two core principles: preserving state capacity to govern post-Islamic Republic Iran, while systematically breaking the hold of the clerical establishment and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The indirect objective would be to eventually return the country to the Iranian people and give them a chance to bring the post-1979 order to a close, for good.

In 1999, NATO launched Operation Allied Force, an air campaign aimed at ending Serbia’s abuses against Kosovo’s ethnic Albanians. Seventy-eight days later, President Slobodan Milošević capitulated, withdrawing Serbian forces from Kosovo. The airpower was decisive, albeit indirectly. The outcome was shaped by Serbia’s growing international isolation and the costs imposed on the ruling elite as strikes on economic and infrastructure targets mounted, leading Milošević to conclude that NATO aimed to prevail. The Kosovo campaign showcased how airpower can be employed as a tool of broader political warfare.

The absence of a US aircraft carrier in the region does not leave President Trump without options. However, the USS Abraham........

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