In the wake of increasingly brash statements by Iran refusing to negotiate on nuclear enrichment and demanding full U.S. capitulation for further negotiations to end the war, experts say the Islamist regime will have to be entirely replaced to eradicate its existential threat toward Israel, the region, and the world.

In response to a U.S. demand that Iran move its enriched uranium stockpile out of the country as a condition for a ceasefire agreement, Iran’s security chief Mohsen Rezaei bluntly stated Tuesday, “Not even a tiny bit of enriched nuclear material will leave Iran. Such materials constitute a major asset and national wealth for the Iranian people, intended for use within the country.” He went on to declare, “There will be no negotiations until America takes steps to build trust — a process that must begin with the fulfillment of Iran’s conditions.”

The remarks came amid a conflict that has now stretched into its eighth month, with no end in sight. Although Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi indicated Wednesday that indirect negotiations with the U.S. were ongoing toward a potential seven-day ceasefire, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard on the same day “threatened … to target undersea internet cables in the Strait of Hormuz and other U.S. ‘investments’ if the U.S. launches new strikes on Iranian infrastructure,” according to CBS News.

Meanwhile, oil prices remain near five-month highs as oil tankers and other vessels attempting to traverse the Strait of Hormuz continue to be hit by Iranian missiles and drones. Still, oil exports continued through the Strait, with a recent New York Times report noting that “over 12 million barrels of crude a day had gone through the waterway on average” in October, which was higher than the daily average in September.

Nonetheless, in recent days Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu has emphasized that he is “committed” to “finishing the job [of] bringing down the terrorist regime in Iran.” He also indicated that President Trump is on the same page. “I have spoken about this with President Trump more than once, including the day before yesterday.” For his part, Trump has repeatedly stated that Tehran must not be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon, which observers are noting will likely require the complete defeat of the Islamist regime.

“[W]e’ve gotten used to this regime that for so many years now has called ‘[D]eath to America,’ ‘Death to Israel’ — 49 years of obsession, quite frankly,” Jonathan Hessen, a senior fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, observed during “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins” Tuesday. “… [Iran’s leaders] don’t really know what they can do at a time when their economy is crippled. The United States has, through U.S. Central Command, brought about a hermetic blockade that has put the Iranian regime [in] the process of choking into submission. They don’t like the position they’re in, and they’re trying to find a way out of it.”

As to what Iran’s “conditions” would be for a ceasefire, Hessen detailed their absurdity. “[L]ifting the blockade, unfreezing … billions of dollars, including cash money, … the removal of the United States from the region, including all bases, all troops, and an end to the war. I mean, essentially what Iran is asking for is for the United States to succumb to Iranian conditions by capitulation. … [T]he brazenness is astounding.”

Hessen further emphasized that the downfall of Iran’s “death cult” is the only way to ensure not only peace for the Middle East, but for the world.

“[T]he first step needs to be to collapse this regime,” he underscored. “What comes after is something that needs to be closely monitored to ensure that whoever seizes the reins of power in Tehran does not have that same ill intent that this death cult of the mullahs of Tehran [has] … to continue to pursue nuclear weapon capabilities, the capacity to build so many ballistic missiles and drones to over-saturate any type of defenses. Not just in the region — they currently also have reached Europe, and they have already stated their intentions to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles that could reach the continental United States. So we’re talking here about a regime that is a deliberate threat, not just to the region anymore, but to the entire world.”

Hessen went on to describe a rundown of the regime’s “terrorist actions.” “[T]he freedom of navigation through the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the funding of the various proxies in the region, be it from Hezbollah to Hamas to al-Shabaab in Iraq and including the support to the Houthis that continue to attack every day [including] vital critical infrastructure in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including energy infrastructure. This has an impact on all of us, not just Israel, not just the United States. The world at large is being attacked. … [The] regime will not agree to adhere to the norms and values of an international order that essentially works for joint peace and prosperity and a rules-based order that can function in a viable reality.”

As for the Iranian people’s ability to govern the country in the aftermath of the regime’s downfall, Hessen contended that varying factions within the country will need to unify toward a common goal. “There are still divisions, and they need to unite. This is a time for whoever is going to make that step to come together, to realize that unless they are united, they won’t be able to prevail. And this is a call to all of our Iranian friends to do so.”