This is John Batchel, a conversation with my colleague Richard Epstein of the Hoover Institution,

asking the question, should Israel, should Bebinatinehu, take the shot now at Iran,

before the new administration in 2025, and noting that Mr. Biden is no longer using leverage or can use leverage against Israel's

for something called the wider war, should the shot be taken by Bibi Netanyahu to end the regime

in Tehran, undermine the regime in Tehran, put it on its course to the ash heap of history?

Richard answers carefully.

Richard Epstein, Hoover Institution on the end of the Mullahs, question mark. More of this later.

Look, I mean, my view is whenever you have an opportunity, you take it. And the reason it's an

open shot now, since Trump is not formally in power,

they can do this without having as many domestic repercussions in the United States as would

otherwise be the situation. And so I think they should do it. I don't know exactly what or how.

I'm not a tactician, so I don't know what the sights are. But if it means taking out some oil fields, I can't rule that off the table.

If it means going after the nuclear plants, can't rule that off the table.

My guess is the latter would require some assistance of American military expertise.

The former does not.

It's also clear that you don't have to take it all out.

You can take some of it out. It's also clear that what don't have to take it all out. You can take some of it out.

It's also clear that what you can do is interdict any ships carrying oil outside of Iran to China

and other places in order to stop that flow from happening. So it's to put the pressure on the

Chinese and so forth. But I think in effect, one has to basically destabilize that regime.

And if there's a massive reduction in revenues, the rest of the population there may well

boil over, which would be a transition that always has its risk, but those risks are small

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