Don't overlook the "the people of this foreign land are yearning to be free of their current rulers, and just need a little help from their neighborly U.S. armed forces" trope. I think there are plenty of people who actually believe it.
People seem to forget that Iranians were rioting in the streets in the weeks leading up to the US attacking. The Iranian government was shooting protestors and pulled the plug on the internet.
The US (well Israel) saw this as the stars aligning. Trump even called on Iranians early in the engagement to seize the opportunity.
But the ground swell didn't happen, and the US got played. Trump rolled a critical fail.
From the videos and analysis I have seen, it was Kurdish militia that was formenting the riots. The US and Israel have even admitted to arming them. They were burning and destroying infrastructure, fighting and killing legitimate protesters, and fighting governement forces. So it was a 2 way fight between the militia and government forces with innocient protesters in the middle. Not trying to cast blame or defend any side, but these protesters are not fighters or soldiers, they are kind of like gen-Z TikTokers. So to plan an entire war around this "event" is kind of crazy. But the US government doesn't care, they just needed to sell the justification and everyone bought it.
I guess it doesn't matter if the Iranian people want regime change in their country. Lots of people want lots of different things (plus a pony). It only matters what they do. And it doesn't appear that they want regime change enough to take the risks of making it happen. I suppose this is the hubris of polling.
A.) Would you be happy if the government changed? (85% approval)
B.) Are you willing to potentially sacrifice your life and the lives of your sons to change the government? (3% approval)
