Following the decisive U.S. missile strikes that killed Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei along with an estimated 47 other Iranian officials over the weekend, American military officials said Monday that the operation could last another four to five weeks. Amid the Trump administration’s insistence that the military operation is not intended to install a new Iranian regime, heavy questions remain as to what kind of government will take shape in the power vacuum.

During a press conference Monday, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth remarked that the military operation in Iran “is not a so-called ‘regime-change war.’” He added that America’s goal is not to create an “endless war” akin to the eight-year-long Iraq War, but instead “was a clear, devastating, decisive mission” to “destroy [Iran’s] missile threat” and “destroy the navy” to ensure it cannot build nuclear weapons.

General Dan Caine, who serves as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated that more U.S. forces are currently being added to the Middle East as conflict broke out across the region. Iran targeted Saudi Arabia and Qatar’s energy sectors over the weekend and on Monday, damaging a liquefied natural gas facility in Qatar and an oil refinery in Saudi Arabia. Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz all but ground to a halt, paralyzing the movement of one-fifth of the world’s oil. The Iranian regime also hit airports in Dubai and Abu Dhabi with drones, shutting down the airports and cancelling thousands of flights.

So far, four U.S. servicemen have been killed, and President Trump warned that more casualties will likely take place. As noted by The Wall Street Journal, the president “outlined four main objectives: destroying Iran’s missile capabilities; annihilating its Navy; preventing the country from obtaining a nuclear weapon; and stopping Iran from arming, funding and directing terrorist groups outside its borders.”

Numerous world leaders and experts have so far expressed their support for the U.S. strike, including Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. The editors at National Review pointed out that at least 603 Americans were killed “as a direct result of the Iranian regime’s material support for insurgents in Iraq.” The ayatollah also had a direct role in the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing that killed 241 U.S. Marines. In addition, the ayatollah’s Islamist forces apparently killed 32,000 Iranian citizens as he desperately attempted to hold on to power. The regime was also well known to be “the world’s foremost exporter of Islamist terrorism.”

But the kind of Iranian government that will arise after the demise of its Islamist dictators remains a very open question. On Saturday, President Trump called for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps to surrender its weapons or “face certain death.” He also urged the Iranian citizens to take control, remarking, “When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations.” He did not specify how the Iranian people would go about doing this, especially since there does not appear to be an alternative armed force in position to take power within the country. As reported by CNN Sunday, “[D]espite some scenes of celebration, there is little sign that Iranians are taking to the streets to try to topple what remains of the regime. Nor are there signs of defections by elites within the security establishment.”

As former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Bing West has observed, the Iranian people have no arms to attempt to overthrow the remains of the regime. “The problem is that one armed zealot/hard man can control one hundred townsfolk,” he pointed out. West called on the U.S. to supply the Iranian people with arms via parachutes, which has proven to be a successful strategy to arm insurgencies against malign regimes in past conflicts. “Israel and the US have hundreds of thousands of semi-obsolete weapons — AK-47s, machine guns, old anti-tank explosives, etc.,” he noted. “Also available are disposable, cheap communications systems.” Without this vital equipment, he argued, “The people lose.”

Meanwhile, conservative leaders like Family Research Council President Tony Perkins say that while the U.S. strike on Iran was “necessary and justified,” the moment calls for sober reflection and prayer for U.S. leadership and the Iranian people.

“Scripture reminds us there are deeper forces at work (Daniel 10),” he underscored. “Behind visible conflicts often lie spiritual strongholds that shape events in ways not immediately seen. I believe President Trump made the right decision. Still, there is more unfolding than what appears on the surface. The days ahead may be complex and demanding. This is where the Church has a distinct and indispensable role — to stand in prayer, to seek God’s wisdom and protection, and to engage the battle in the heavenlies with spiritual discernment and steadfast faith.”