Spring of freedom

Iranian regime officials are concerned over how to compensate for the lack of foreign currency.  While international sanctions against the regime ruling Iran increase and every venue for exporting oil comes to a close, the ruling theocracy in Iran is going into a panic mode. Petrodollars, in addition to covering Iran’s hegemonistic ambitions and its export of fundamentalism throughout the Middle East, also provided for part of the government’s budget. Now that the U.S.’ zero-export-policy is firmly implemented, Iranian regime officials are concerned over how to compensate for the lack of foreign currency. This prevailing issue looms large over the already hot internal debates between Iran’s opposing factions inside the ruling elite weighing the right approach towards the international community. In response to the new no-waiver policy for Iran’s oil exports, the mullahs’ Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani claim Iran will sell as much oil as it wa...

With the president’s signature on H.R. 3364, formally known as the  Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act of 2017 , the Trump administration — eager for legislative accomplishments in the wake of the GOP failure to repeal the Affordable Care Act — can take credit for turning the page on failed Obama-era policy toward the Islamic Republic of Iran.  The bipartisan passage of the long-anticipated sanctions bill by both houses of Congress allows the administration to take aim at rogue regimes in Iran, Russia and North Korea. Disagreements over U.S. policy toward Russia notwithstanding, the White House can be confident that legislators overwhelmingly support confronting threats emanating from Iran and North Korea and are prepared for even stronger measures to curtail the influence of these dangerous regimes. The White House should now build on the successful passage of sanctions legislation to push for regime change in Tehran as an appropriate next step. ...