Lisa Daftari, Foreign Desk Editor-in-Chief at Sky News Australia, said the Iranian regime is degraded and will eventually collapse [1].
This assessment highlights a growing divide between the Iranian government and its citizens. If the populace remains fully disenchanted, the regime's ability to maintain internal control may diminish regardless of its current security apparatus [1].
Daftari said that the Iranian regime will eventually collapse because its population is completely disenchanted [1]. She described the current state of the government as degraded and noted that the regime is willing to do whatever is necessary to remain in power [1].
According to Daftari, the government's goals have shifted toward basic persistence. "To this regime, mere survival is a victory," she said [1].
This perspective is shared by other human-rights advocates. Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian human-rights activist, said during a CNN interview in January 2026 that the regime will collapse sooner or later [2].
However, other assessments suggest the government possesses more durability than critics suggest. Some reports indicate that Iran has shown surprising staying power despite a U.S. blockade, which suggests a level of resilience that may counter the narrative of an imminent downfall [3].
Daftari said that the disconnect between the rulers and the ruled makes the current trajectory unsustainable [1].
“The Iranian regime will eventually collapse because its population is completely disenchanted.”
The contradiction between Daftari's assessment of a 'degraded' regime and reports of Iran's resilience against U.S. economic pressure suggests a complex political environment. While social disenchantment creates long-term instability, the regime's ability to survive external shocks indicates that a collapse may not be immediate, creating a volatile period of endurance versus internal unrest.
