With President Trump leading the way, Washington D.C. is on the right path to bring about regime change in Iran. President Trump continues to heap further pressure on the Khomeninist regime. He is emptying the terror regime’s pocket, as the Iranian economy weakens. The biggest effect is on the country’s largest non-petroleum-related sources of exports revenue. The Trump White House also deployed its diplomats and troops to the Middle East region, as a further act of military and political leveraging, which amplifies the widespread but subtle sentiment against the isolated Shia regime.

But these acts can only have limited results. The real change will come from a reform of mass media, so that it can reach and embolden the Iranian people. And the key outlet in need of that reform has to be the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG). Now re-branded as the U.S. Agency for Global Media, the media outlet’s mission is to "inform, engage, and connect people around the world in support of freedom and democracy.” But before it can do that job properly, it must be cleansed of the Islamic Iranian agents and advocates, who have infiltrated it for the purpose of propping up the Sharia state, against any freedom for the people.

The United States seems to be working toward a transition in Iran, which is similar to what it had done in the 1990s against the Soviet Union, ultimately shaking it to collapse. The efforts against Islamic Iran are bringing maximum pressure through sanctions, U.S. military presence, and international isolation. Iran’s economy is building up problems from sanctions, while the regime still develops its military sections, which are funding proxy armies as terror groups.

As a sign of the country’s economic weakness, the Iran Trade Promotion Organization announced that “only 63 percent of Iran's non-oil exports target was achieved in the past year.” Now, the non-oil exports could be driven all the way down to zero under the new sanctions. But sanctions can only do so much.

In a police state like Iran, economic problems will not largely result in the collapse of such a regime. Venezuela is a comparable model, as its annual inflation rate reached 1,300,000% in the 12 months leading up to November 2018. GDP is falling in Venezuela; oil output is on the decline; people don't have enough food; but the corrupt socialist president, Nicolás Maduro, still holds the seat of power in that failed collectivist state.

Another current example of where economic pressures are not quite effective in bringing down a police terror state would be Syria. Assad still holds power, in spite of both the devastating economic crisis and civil war.

But of course, there are other examples of some countries in which dictatorships collapsed, only to be replaced by another one. For instance, approximately 90% of Egyptian voters backed constitutional changes that could see President al-Sisi stay in power until 2030. After the debacle of the short-lived Muslim Brotherhood rule over that country, Egypt has returned to a dicatorial model, since the current regime kicked out the Brotherhood and took power in 2014.

The once-popular dream of an Arab Spring of true freedom and democracy withered and died before it could even bloom. After nearly nine years have passed since that 2012 uprising movement, we find little trace left of that social media-driven populism. The Arab Spring has become dead if you look at the wider situation in Libya, Egypt, and Tunisia.

And Iran also has its own historical example of rulers who were not quite as interested in the welfare of the people, as much as in serving their own plunder and power desires; the Qajar Dynasty sold parts of the territory of Persia, leased full-authority licensing for fishing in the rivers, seas, as well as for transport sailing on the waterways, oil exploration, and transfer of antiques (many of which were sold at a fraction of the cost of the original price); all of that enriched the rulers, at the expense of the people and of the country’s heritage.

The corrupt dynasty of Turkic origin ruled Iran for 136 years (1789-1925). At that time, Iran was faced with many economic and social problems, such as poverty, hunger, famine, illiteracy, and epidemic diseases. But despite that economic atrocity, it took more than a century for that regime to collapse.

In the Qajar era, people were living in poverty, misery, and desperation. But even in the face of all that deprivation, they did not undertake anti-government protests. President Trump should understand that sanctions alone will not bring regime change. It will require the will of the Iranian people.

Today, the media might play a key role in advocating for a change to democratic governance, which could pressure authoritarian countries to transition peacefully into freedom and democracy. A supportive media would make a peaceful transition possible, without introducing unpredictable costs such as would be more likely if change were forced through military action or even by the sanctions.

A supportive mass media could put courage into the hearts of its Iranian audiences. Then, they might undertake protest against the Khomeinist dictatorship, and bring about its collapse from within, by their own strength in numbers. Today in the 21st century, revolution, regime change, or any peaceful transition, has to be driven by the influence effect which mass media brings to the people, rather than by the single pressure of economic matters, or unpredictable military action.

One such effort to bring mass media as a solution into the center of this problem is called Reform BBG (#ReformBBG). It is the first step to embolden the people for a great Iran Transition. But before that can happen, the US-taxpayer-funded media outlet must be cleaned up of its present infestation by Khomeinist thugs and regime apologists.