Former Joint Chiefs Chair Mullen says regime change is a 'very difficult undertaking'

Source: ABC News

March 8, 2026, 11:59 AM


Retired Adm. Mike Mullen, former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Sunday that he has doubts that the U.S. can successfully pull off regime change in Iran.

“Our track record in Iraq, where we actually chose the leader, in Afghanistan, where we chose the leader was pretty bad. So, it's a very, very difficult undertaking,” Mullen told "This Week" co-anchor Martha Raddatz.

Mullen served as chair of the Joint Chiefs under Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, while the U.S. was fighting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. President Donald Trump in recent days has raised the possibility of regime change in Iran. Trump said the U.S. should be involved in choosing Iran’s next supreme leader.

Trump has demanded “unconditional surrender” from the Iranians, but Mullen said that he does not expect that they will lay down their arms, even as their supreme leader and several top officials were killed. “The supreme leader is dead, but I don't think the regime change that we're talking about is represented just by that,” Mullen said. "They're going to sacrifice everything they've got in order to make sure that they can survive.”

Read more: https://abcnews.com/Politics/adm-mullen-regime-change-discussion-iran-alive/story?id=130868437