At the end of July, a broad spectrum of Iranian dissidents gathered in Munich for an event demonstrating a united opposition to the Islamist regime in Tehran. What to do with the Iranian regime has been the subject of much debate across the political spectrum since the Israeli and US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities over the last few months. The strikes demonstrated the weakness of the Iranian government, raising the question of regime change or transition. While the United States and its allies should hope that a post-Mullah Iran is a thriving democracy, policymakers should prepare for a power vacuum.

The ease with which Israel and the United States struck the Iranian nuclear program and achieved air superiority demonstrates the debilitated state of the Iranian regime. For the Iranian people, the implications are clear. Thousands have been killed, tortured, and oppressed at the hands of the Ayatollahs. Moreover, there is reason to believe that the views of the regime are not aligned with those of many Iranians. In other words, the average Iranian is far more moderate than the fundamentalists in control of the government.

What is less clear is why the West should care or even prefer a different regime. To begin with, there is the issue of terrorism. In the decades since the Islamic Revolution,........

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