President Donald Trump's recent remarks suggesting Iranians would fight back if armed have revived a once-taboo question: should the West actively support armed resistance inside Iran?
Trump said in an interview, 'They have to have guns. And I think they're getting some guns. As soon as they have guns, they'll fight like, as good as anybody there is.' The comments come as the Iranian regime is weakened by weeks of war and ongoing unrest.
Supporters call this 'Reagan Doctrine 2.0,' a Cold War-era strategy of arming anti-Soviet forces. Brett Velicovich, a former U.S. military and intelligence specialist, says, 'Drones democratize power. The regime's monopoly on violence ends the day the people get eyes in the sky and precision strike capability.'
Senator Lindsey Graham has called for a 'Second Amendment solution' inside Iran, urging the U.S. and Israel to arm civilians. However, critics warn that arming protesters could endanger lives and trigger a civil war. Sardar Pashaei, an Iranian dissident, warns the regime could use accusations of foreign ties to justify executions.
The debate is now at the center of Republican foreign policy, with Trump's remarks pushing the conversation into the open. Whether Washington will move beyond sanctions toward a modernized Reagan Doctrine remains unclear.