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News & Current Events Apr 23, 2026 at 9:13 AM

Trump claims Iran’s regime is fractured. The reality is more complicated.

Posted by Direct_Dare_9699


Trump claims Iran’s regime is fractured. The reality is more complicated. | CNN
CNN
Trump claims Iran’s regime is fractured. The reality is more complicated. | CNN
“Seriously fractured” is how President Donald Trump has described the Iranian government. But many analysts say the leadership is more cohesive than it’s being portrayed.

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box-o-locks 2 days ago +113
There is zero point in listening to Trump anymore. He said they've won the war (they haven't), he said they've changed the regime (they haven't), he said they destroyed Iran's nuclear capabilities (they haven't), he said Iran has no military left (they do), he said he was portrayed as a doctor in the image (he wasn't). The list goes on...
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Few-Hair-5382 2 days ago +24
If Trump told me the world was round, I'd become a flat-earther.
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Cilidra 2 days ago +9
How do tell if Trump is lying? He opens his mouth.
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Icedpyre 2 days ago +1
Or at least the Twitter app
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delocx 2 days ago +2
No, the one with the exquisitely Orwellian name: Truth Social.
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Icedpyre 13 hr ago +1
Tomato todouchebag You arent wrong
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Ormyr 2 days ago +5
There is zero point in listening to Trump. Full stop. He doesn't understand shit and counts on his idiot followers bending themselves into pretzels explaining 'What trump \*reallly\* meant'. These are the same people who un ironically state they like him because he 'tells it like it is'.
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Coolbanh 2 days ago +1
In 10 years we will get a real WWE superstar. Continuing Republican standards. From crook to actor with dementia to reality TV star crook with dementia.
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National-Two2417 6 hr ago +1
Trump did win the war... the first one but the second war is where things really kicked off. Doctor Trump would give Oz and RFK a run for their money.
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Fli_fo 2 days ago -17
Well. It's not so black and white. They did hit a whole lot of targets. As you know Israel has been waiting for this for decades. It's safe to assume that Israel had a long list of targets and they probably get many of their goals achieved. They really throw Iran back in time. Of course the effect will be limited. Iran has no military left. In general terms that is true. Much is destroyed or buried. But as we all know from Vietnam and Russia's Afghanistan fieldtrip you don't need expensive weapons to still be able to strike. I do agree that 90% of what Trump says is total BS. Let's also not forget that the Iran Regime is totally brutal. As usual with the internet of today, nuance is forbidden and will be downvoted.
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Xait-Yahya 2 days ago +10
It is black and white when it comes to his lies He speaks about things that are not true. He doesn’t give grey statements.
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Firm_Balance_8285 2 days ago +7
The fact that Trump is claiming a regime change is black and white. He's just lying.
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box-o-locks 2 days ago +14
"Iran has no military left." So how are they keeping the Bend of Hormuz closed? The US might have destroyed a lot of the 'official' military, but there's still an awful lot of people in Iran with an awful lot of weapons that can do an awful lot of damage. To make a comment on a corrupt, lying USA president doesn't simultaneously suggest the Iran regime is not brutal. You saying that is trying to legitimise Trump's behaviour.
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Fli_fo 2 days ago -6
Both carry some truth at the same time. They don't have much left in classic terms of an army. In that light Trumps remarks are true. But they can still cause pain with just some crude weapons. This is what guerilla is all about. The US could bomb Iran. They could invade. Iran doesn't have those choices even if they wanted to. All they have is scaring ships from the strait and firing on gulf states infrastructure. That's their one thing. But the US is blocking the strait now too. So they are now choking each other. Now Iran can hold out. Just like North Korea. But their people will suffer. Even without the strait the world economy will find new ways. The US won't really suffer. But Iranian people will. It's lame that you accuse me of legitimizing Trump's behaviour because it's simply not true. I am not doing that. Stop false accusitions
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ratomelo 2 days ago +4
>Iran doesn't have those choices even if they wanted to. All they have is scaring ships from the strait and firing on gulf states infrastructure. That's their one thing. Trump’s words are divorced from reality, and even he knows it. Although the Iranian regime is weaker than ever, they still have hundreds of thousands of trained and armed men who remain loyal to the regime. Not counting on the millions within the state structure built along decades now. It's far from over militarily. Hardship is not something new for them, I'm not so sure about the other gulf states, so 'their one thing'' could be enough to destabilize the whole region for a long time, fall of US-allied/friendly regimes included. Having said that, I think a deal is the only way out for everyone and we can only hope that the outcome don't put the region and world in a much worse position than before.
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Fli_fo 2 days ago -2
this is really tiring because you simply don't even read nor can comprehend what i'm saying. I'll check out of this pulling of a dead horse. good luck to you
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yepthisismyusername 2 days ago +4
What you're doing is sane-washing his statements to make them sound at least somewhat reasonable, and a whole lot of us are very tired of that tactic. That dimentia-riddled mother f***** doesn't know how to make a coherent statement, much less state something true that goes against what he wishes was true. So you can f*** right off.
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animatedpileofmeat 2 days ago +1
The only thing sadder than a Red Hat is a foreigner LARPING as a Red Hat. It’s easy to be pro-Trump when it’s not your tax dollars, your lives, or your country.
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Brief_Hospital_1766 2 days ago +1
1. Iran had no air force to begin with. Unless you count 1960's aircraft like their 5 serviceable F-14s and 3 Su-24s, 2 of which were promptly destroyed by Qatar. 2. Iran had no navy to begin with. Their largest warships were corvettes, again 1960's tech, smaller than US Coast Guard Frigates, their 3 Kilo submarines which were all in various states of disrepair and not seaworthy. Their real navy is still quite intact and working well for their mission set. 3. Their drone production has increased. 4. Their missile production continues unabated. 5. Their nuclear programme has been damaged and set back approximately 6 months to a year. Iran has plenty of military left. Just because it's an asymmetric one doesn't mean it's not effective and it certainly has not been 'obliterated'. More importantly, Iran is likely to buy Chinese kit like J-10, PL-15, and HQ-9 now that it has shown to be very effective against Western aircraft. And they'll have plenty of extra cash to do so from their new toll booth.
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[deleted] 2 days ago -5
[deleted]
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Frank9567 2 days ago +6
Not only is there no point in listening to him, it's objectively harmful if people do listen to him. There's obvious stock market manipulation going on. Those listening to him are going to be victims of insider trading. It's not just recent either. During Covid he was talking bleach and ivermectin. He's bankrupted several businesses. Why in earth would you listen to someone like that? It makes no sense at all. Further, his Cabinet is just as crazy. RFK jr has reintroduced measles. Not to mention cocaine and toilet seats, or raccoon penises. Hegseth is an alcoholic newsreader pretending to be a warrior, while purging actual warriors. America is in the shit and losing its position in the world exactly because people listen to Trump and his maunderings.
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ContentsMayVary 2 days ago +2
So what, the strait is blocked forever because the USA completely failed to anticipate it and plan for it? What absolute fuckwits.
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CressCheap 2 days ago +13
I find the sources in this article weak. And to have Trita Parsi as a commentator is beyond laughable.
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CircumspectCapybara 2 days ago +24
Political nuance is lost on Listnook, but the reality is a little more complicated than the simpletons are making it out to be. Western analysts and intelligence do think the Iranian regime is fractured which presents a problem: who do you negotiate with? When Iran proposed a ceasefire, the terms the Iranian civilian government (whom the US negotiated with) came up with and announced via state media contradicted what the IRGC announced via their social media. The civilian government and the IRGC seem to be two competing factions (The US seemed to feed into this by deliberating negotiating with the civilian government, making it clear whom they thought was in charge and had authority to speak for Iran as a state), and even the IRGC is fractured and not one whole central command, since their whole mosaic command structure is based on distributing and decentralizing authority, and many of the clearest leaders had been killed in the earlier decapitation strikes, so you have many non-integrated, independent units not necessarily taking orders from the same person at the top. That's how you get one part of the government or military promising safe passage and another unit firing on ships. The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing in many cases. Even in the civilian government, there's chaos and likely power struggles. The new Ayatollah hasn't shown his face or made any public announcements in weeks. Is he alive, is he dead, is someone else running the show? Most of Iran doesn't seem to know, only a few in power probably. It's a big political mess for Iran, and for any states that would want to negotiate with them about anything, if there's not one, unified state entity known as "Iran" with a cohesive national identity and foreign policy, and one civil authority that can speak for all of Iran and all of Iran will listen to them.
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Fli_fo 2 days ago +18
Yes, it's insane. People are now cheering on a regime that just months ago was killing thousands of protestors. It's incomprehensible. People get angry even when someone just states this. And immediately label such a comment as Trump supporter. We're heading for a dark future if this is the state of society.
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CircumspectCapybara 2 days ago +7
IRGC cyber ops game is strong, and people on the internet are *very* manipulable. Why do you think Russia, China, and Russia invested so heavily in online influence campaigns for the 2016 election? Because they're stunningly effective. You got bots glazing IRGC AI slop propaganda music videos (*Oh how hip, the regime that slaughters its own civilians by the tens of thousands and is the world's foremost state sponsor of terrorism and is attacking every possible civilian target *on purpose*, they're so cool! Terrorism, what a banger, amirite?*) and useful idiots in the west eating it up like it's profound. I dislike Trump as much as the next guy, but it's mind-boggling the simping for the Iranian regime as if they're good guys. The Iran simpers who aren't straight up bots tend to be sheltered kids in the west who've been swimming in the *Pax Americana* their whole lives but denounce the decadent, imperialistic west, not realizing the irony (the fact they live safe, sheltered lives, and can sip lattes at university while scrolling Listnook on their iPhones and criticize their government is a product of the *Pax Americana*) and think the enemies of the west are so much more enlightened and they should root for them, like the western kids who thought it was cool to join ISIS back when that was a thing.
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manpizda 2 days ago +1
Sounds a bit like what happened in Libya after Gaddafi. And that led to civil wars.
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steve_ample 2 days ago +14
Trump does neither nuance or truth, so ignore him. Just keep his hotdog fingers off the nuke button.
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ViciousAdamas 2 days ago +5
So, you could say... Fractured but Whole?
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Fearless_Ad_5470 2 days ago +2
I feel like he's giving a firsthand account of the internal workings of GOP. 
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No_Willingness9476 2 days ago +5
The reality is more complicated" is just journalism for "he's wrong but we have a word count to hit
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Anteater776 2 days ago +3
Media is allergic to calling out Trump for just spouting bullshit all day. I would blame CNN‘s acquisition by Trump fan Ellison for it, but they have always been like that.
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Loose_Skill6641 2 days ago +2
trumps regime is also fractured
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philipp2310 2 days ago +3
And more importantly and dangerous- his ego is fractured once more. Only the seal to the Epstein files is not fractured yet.
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hydroracer8B 2 days ago +1
Isn't their military command structure de-centralized (synonym: fractured) by design?
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some-guy_00 1 day ago +1
His brain is fractured 
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Fookmaywedder 2 days ago +1
Is he aware of what hes done to ours?
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milkonyourmustache 2 days ago +1
Everything from this administration surrounding this war is like pure projection, with the opposite being true.
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luisa65-L 2 days ago -1
Wait, you mean to tell me that a heavily entrenched, deeply militarized theocracy isn't just going to magically collapse overnight because a politician said it would? Shocking.
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Frank9567 2 days ago +1
I had to read that twice. I wasn't sure which entrenched, deeply militarized theocracy you meant.
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BadmiralHarryKim 2 days ago +1
Their defining slogan, "~~Death to~~ Compromise with America" proves how easy it would be to bring them to the negotiating table.
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Iksan777 2 days ago +2
They were in the negotiating table and USA decíded to bombard them without a goal so...
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wwarnout 2 days ago +1
"Trump says/claims/insists/..." - always BS
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dimwalker 2 days ago +1
I don't think "he lied" is all that complicated.
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tun3man 2 days ago -1
USA is fractured 
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Brief_Hospital_1766 2 days ago -1
So, Iran's regime is not fractured in the slightest way, and is in fact, almost entirely intact. 👍 Didn't even need to read the article.
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dbandit1 2 days ago -1
How many US regime appointees have been ousted in recent weeks? Plenty of fractures on both sides.
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Ro-ftw 2 days ago -8
Obviously the CNN would know - they're fully in the pocket of the Islamic Republic Regime.
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BadmiralHarryKim 2 days ago -1
"You know, CNN turned into a ~~h******* sex~~ Islamic propaganda channel so gradually, I didn't even notice."
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Ro-ftw 2 days ago +1
I don't know what people are down voting tbh - not that I care. CNN were the only news organisation allowed to report from inside of Iran when the US/Israeli attacks started, and they were given deep access into the missile facilities and constantly reported as a mouthpiece of the Islamic Republic.
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J1m1983 2 days ago -4
You lot realise you dont have to give your opinion on Trump on every feed, right? Like we can just discuss the topic without reducing ourselves to f****** parrots.
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