Ali Vaez

And remember, Rachel, that the regime committed a bloody massacre last month against Iranian protesters, not like in the case of Syria, using fighter jets and tanks and battle bombs and chemical weapons, but with small arms.

So to destroy all of that force and the limited capacities that they have to contain and repress a population that is unarmed, unorganized and fragmented requires weeks and weeks, if not months of military engagement, which would have an enormous civilian cost for Iran and disastrous regional implications.