Iran has second thoughts about war with Israel

 Wall Street Journal:

Iran has been urgently signaling that it seeks an end to hostilities and resumption of talks over its nuclear programs, sending messages to Israel and the U.S. via Arab intermediaries, Middle Eastern and European officials said.

In the midst of a ferocious Israeli air campaign, Tehran has told Arab officials it would be open to returning to the negotiating table as long as the U.S. doesn’t join the attack, the officials said. Iran also passed messages to Israel saying it is in the interest of both sides to keep the violence contained.

But with Israeli warplanes able to fly freely over the capital and Iranian counterattacks inflicting minimal damage, Israeli leaders have little incentive to halt their assault before doing more to destroy Iran’s nuclear sites and further weaken the theocratic government’s hold on power.

Israeli strikes have killed key military leaders, including much of the top echelon of Iran’s air force, leaving Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei increasingly isolated. But the impact on nuclear facilities has been modest and analysts say it could take a long air war to get the results Israel wants.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the attacks will continue until Iran’s nuclear program and ballistic missiles are destroyed, and he has shown no indication he is ready to stop. He has also said regime change isn’t a goal but could be a result given the Iranian leadership’s weakness.

Israeli officials have said the military has prepared at least two weeks of strikes. On Saturday, French President Emmanuel Macron told his Iranian counterpart “to return swiftly to the negotiating table to reach an agreement,” and Arab leaders have called for an end to the fighting. President Trump resisted a military campaign for much of the year but has since cheered on Israel’s attacks and said Iran missed a chance to cut a deal.

“They’d like to talk, but they should have done that before,” Trump told reporters Monday in Canada, confirming that Iran had reached out through intermediaries to de-escalate.
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Iran is getting its butt kicked by the Israeli military assaults and appears to be having second thoughts about its hostilities toward Israel.  Iran would probably be better off with a regime change.  The mullahocracy has been a disaster for a once-important country.  The Iranian people deserve better than their current government.