As the US weighs joining Israel’s assault on Iran, questions are mounting over whether such an intervention could trigger regime change in Tehran – an outcome that risks splintering the country and sending shockwaves across the region.

Iran’s supreme leader crushed internal threats during more than three decades in power. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei entrenched the system of rule by Shiite Muslim clerics.

Calling out President Donald Trump directly, the Supreme Leader added: “The U.S. President threatens us. With his absurd rhetoric, he demands that the Iranian people surrender to him. They should make threats against those who are afraid of being threatened. The Iranian nation isn’t frightened by such threats.”