**Levant: Mir Mohammad Ali**

The political balance of power in the Middle East has significantly shifted against the Iranian regime. Ongoing strikes against the regime's proxy forces have created an unprecedented situation for the regime, one it has never experienced before. These changes are occurring at a time when the regime lacks the capacity to respond to these challenges and cannot afford to remain idle. In either case, the outcome signifies a defeat for the regime.

For over three decades, the regime has survived through its proxy forces, attempting to expand its influence and operational scope. However, these forces are now under continuous pressure and suffering damage. This situation has created serious challenges for the regime, directly impacting its stability and internal security. The regime is more aware than anyone else of the escalating unrest at home; indeed, all its recent provocations have aimed to divert attention away from internal problems in Iran.

Democratic or even semi-democratic governments derive their survival and legitimacy from the votes of their citizens. Such governments step aside once their term ends, either exiting the political stage or retreating to the background, waiting for the next cycle. In contrast, in dictatorial systems, no substantial changes occur. The tyrant remains at the top of the hierarchy, ruling for as long as possible. The so-called elected officials serve only the purposes of the unelected leaders.

In such dictatorships, the stability and survival of the regime depend on factors beyond the will of the people. For the mullahs' regime, the motivating factor for its forces and agents manifests in "exporting terrorism and inciting wars." This is why the regime's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, considers Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, and Palestine to be the "strategic depth" of his regime, using it as a pretext to mobilize the Revolutionary Guards and Basij forces. He needs to demonstrate power in concrete ways to keep the repressive forces and criminals around him to defend his regime. Consequently, he has continually boasted about controlling four Arab capitals, ordering his agents to publicly affirm their support on every platform.

In other words, Khamenei has kept the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Basij, and his agents in active duty throughout these years by amplifying the role of his proxy forces. The rhetoric surrounding Hezbollah's 150,000 ready-to-launch rockets has been a part of this strategy. He knew that if he curtailed terrorism and warfare through his agents, as the founder of the regime, Ruhollah Khomeini, stated, "the spirit of the Supreme Leader" would diminish. He understood that the criminals keeping his regime in power are all slaves to authority. If they feel their Supreme Leader is politically and militarily impotent, they would quickly disintegrate.

Due to the collapse of this strategic depth and the disintegration of his agents, fear has swept through the regime. With the loss of the regime's regional power, no one holds hope for tomorrow. In a speech to the pro-regime base, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the Speaker of the National Council, repeatedly used the phrase "Do not be afraid!" Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi resorted to trips in the region, appealing to various countries to mediate and prevent the outbreak of war.

A country like Lebanon, which was once under the regime's control, is now severing its ties and summoning its ambassador over every misstep. Even Syria no longer shows a friendly face to the regime and quietly distances itself from the regime and the so-called "Axis of Resistance."

One regime expert expressed his fear on television, stating, "Today the situation is more dangerous than last year. The United States has brought refueling planes to the region, and a B-52 bomber has entered the area!" (Source: Regime TV – October 17)

Friday prayer leaders within the regime also express their sorrow over the wave of defections and "despair" among pro-regime forces, complaining that "some of these analyses come from cowardly individuals driven by enemy threats and exaggerations... these analyses lead to despair and negativity, undermining officials, and sometimes even our most loyal forces fall into the trap of these analyses."

Thus, the regime's strongholds in the Middle East are collapsing one after another, marking the "strategic defeat" that the Iranian resistance predicted a year ago at the onset of Khamenei's war. 

Now, with the protests igniting and the anger of people in this volatile society exploding, we will witness further waves of fear, despair, loss of motivation, and defections within the regime's internal forces.

**The Role of the Regime in Regional Instability**

On October 26, in an online message to a conference held in Berlin, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the elected president of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, stated:

"In October of last year, on the first day of the Middle East war, the Iranian resistance declared that the head of the snake igniting war in