Did Mr. Trump mention removing the existing government run by the ayatollah "supreme leader", to be replaced by a secular government of some kind?
Because without doing that, the religious fanatics are just going to clean things up and start over towards building a nuclear weapon along with rebuilding the means to deliver it.
Seems kind of analogous to defeating the German army in 1945, but then leaving the Nazis in place.
Or, in Japan -- by not requiring the emperor to disclaim that he was God on earth. Didn't MacArthur essentially dictate the new Japanese constitution?
"War Secretary Pete Hegseth and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have repeatedly stated that the regime’s nuclear capabilities have been obliterated."
Capabilities that have been obliterated can -- and will -- be rebuilt.
It's the IDEOLOGY that requires "obliteration".
I propose that the way to achieve this is to get the leaders of the iranian army to turn on both the Republican Guards and the basij (sp?). And once they have been neutralized, then "de-throne" the remaining ayatollahs and wannabe-ayatollahs (higher-up mullahs). Tell them to take a hike.
Install a military "president" for the time being, and then try to build a secular government to which power can be handed over.
A "government of the generals" would at least be preferable to the current government of the ayatollahs. For now.