Over the weekend, joint U.S.-Israeli air and missile strikes began against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

These strikes have, thus far, inflicted grave damage, killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and many other senior officials. Iran’s fourth-rate navy has been mostly sunk, too. Tehran’s already limited conventional military capacity has also been significantly eroded.

Why the submarine attack is brutal but good news

Spanberger protects murderous illegal immigrant from deportation

The Education Department got it right with Charlie Kirk

However, the precise aim of this war remains nebulous. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu initially asserted that their objective was regime change. Yet, Trump administration officials have subsequently offered a range of outcomes, not necessarily involving the total fall of the regime. Amid such uncertainty, there’s one player in this drama who seems to know exactly what he wants. That’s Reza Pahlavi, the 65-year-old Iranian crown prince, who’s spent most of his life in exile in the United States since the 1979 revolution, which deposed his father, the last Shah of Iran.

This column last week profiled the crown prince, recommending caution regarding his obvious political ambitions. No doubt Pahlavi has a following inside Iran, but how popular he is there remains difficult to assess. Given the choice, according to savvy Iran-watchers, most Iranians prefer neither the Islamic Republic nor a return to the failed monarchy. Rather, they seek democracy.

Moreover, there’s good evidence that Iranian intelligence has exploited the crown prince,........

© Washington Examiner