Iran’s regime is weaker than it looks, and therefore more pliable
America should deter it from escalating the Gaza war, but also engage with it
Twelve months ago Iran was reeling from protests sparked by the death in custody of a young woman who had been arrested for showing too much hair. Its theocratic regime was increasingly isolated, as Arab states forged closer ties with its enemy, Israel. The economy was a mess, adding to popular anger at Iran’s ageing supreme leader and inept president. The Islamic Republic had not seemed so vulnerable in decades.
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This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Nervous in Tehran”
Leaders December 16th 2023
- Rishi Sunak’s strategic genius
- Can you have a healthy democracy without a common set of facts?
- Iran’s regime is weaker than it looks, and therefore more pliable
- The Fed gives in to the clamour for looser money
- London’s resilience is a lesson to policymakers everywhere
- In a first, COP28 targets the root cause of climate change
From the December 16th 2023 edition
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