use strict;
my $str = '\'<a class="class">\' . $variable . \'</a>\'
"<a class="class">" . $variable . "</a>"
<a class="class">{{ $variable }}</a>
<a class="class">{{ __("words") }}</a>
<a class="class">some words</a>
<a/>some words<a>
<a/>some words</a>
<a/></a>
<a>Some words</a>
<a><a>Some words</a></a>';
my $regex = qr/(<(\w+)(?:\/|.*?)>)((\w+\s?)+)(<(?:\/|)\2+>)/mp;
my $subst = '$1{{ __("$3") }}$5';
my $result = $str =~ s/$regex/$subst/rg;
print "The result of the substitution is' $result\n";
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for Perl, please visit: http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html