Warning as Iran on the brink of chilling new era of war: 'Must be avoided at all cost'

 Iran could be on the verge of economic collapse, just as the grave extent of the country's executions this year has come to light, according to a new report.

The report, put together by the Henry Jackson Society this week, says that if the Islamic Republic falls, there is a danger that it "could lead to a vacuum of governance that is accompanied by civil war."

This comes as the United Nations have accused Tehran of executing nearly 900 people already this year "as a tool of intimidation."

The Henry Jackson Society cite that Iran has "suffered several significant strategic setbacks that began with Israel targeting its air defences in April 2024 in response to Iran's own missile attack on Israel, followed by the decapitation of Hezbollah and the fall of the Assad regime."

While the Iranian regime is considered harmful by many, economic collapse would be disastrous for the region and for the Iranian people.

The report says that the surrounding nations and the West must help avoid this outcome for the people of Iran at all costs, "and every step must therefore be made to ensure that any transition is quick and painless."

It also says that the current Iranian regime "remains wedded to the Iranian revolution."

The report also criticises the West for not reaching out to the regime's opposition more, which it says leaves the opposition isolated.

The conclusion says: "The Iranian opposition is culturally liberal and yearns for freedom. Yet, the Iranian opposition risks being abandoned by Western states, reducing their foreign aid for democratization efforts abroad, including Iran. This undermines the Iranian opposition."

The failure of Western states to reach out to surrounding states "to quell secessionist impulses" also "plays into the hands of the regime," according to the research.

However, the Islamic Republic's "ability to coopt and quell the opposition creates for itself greater risk as cultural opposition and economic discontent inform one another."

Meanwhile, the Ayatollah's regime will likely continue to "reconstitute its nuclear program and export terrorism both regionally and internationally, making it an ongoing danger to the West," says the report.

Additionally, Israel's targeted attacks launched with the US in June on Iranian nuclear sites "set back the regime," but "it has not eliminated the strategic and security threats posed by the regime."

"This offers a greater prospect of galvanizing the Iranian opposition if there is a plan for the day after instead of a vacuum of governance. And in so doing, it contains the best prescription for both resolving the threat the Iranian regime poses to the international community, and to its own people," the report concluded.