The decisive military strike on Iran will occur just before the U.S. midterm elections. While the operation will likely decimate Iran's nuclear infrastructure and secure American control over the Strait of Hormuz, it will stop short of toppling the government. Instead, the Iranian regime will be preserved to serve as a perpetual regional adversary, keeping neighboring Arab states aligned with Western security interests. If Washington truly desired regime change, it could have achieved it by fully supporting domestic opposition movements specially with arms, food and medical supplies. The citizens would have driven the revolution themselves. Ultimately, U.S. strategy has never been about the total removal of the extremist regime, but rather the systematic degradation of its leadership.