In the Middle East, a familiar pattern unfolds – airstrikes, bombings of military and civilian targets, vows of retribution, then a shaky ceasefire. 

Right now, that’s the situation between Iran and Israel. 

But Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US president Donald Trump are also toying publicly with supporting regime change in Iran. 

We’ve been here before, as well, with the ousting of Saddam Hussein and the civil war that engulfed Iraq and spread to Syria. 

Dr JESSIE MORITZ from the Australian National University studies the religious politics of the region. She’s wary of outsiders trying to force change.