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Are U.S. Sanctions Against Iran backfiring on America?
Which Iranians Do U.S. Sanctions Really Hurt?
(1) Which Iranians Do U.S. Sanctions Really Hurt? and (2) Do sanctions work?
Answer to Question Number One:
Iran’s middle class has significantly shrunk under maximal sactions, which were imposed by President Trump after he unilaterally pulled America out of the JCPOA — the Iran nuclear Deal struck during President Obama’s Administration.
The decline of Iran’s middle class has had dire consequences on several developments integral to Middle East geopolitics:
First, without a middle class, Iranians are less likely to seek regime change (impoversihed people rarely ignite revolutions). In fact, as my guest scholar in this interview explains, contraction of Iran’s middle class helped the Mullahs’ regime brutally crush the Mahsa Amini protests!
Second, instead of a robust middle class, Iran has generated an entrenched elite class who have vested interests in keeping Iran’s regime in power because the status quo is financially rewarding for them. In other words, Iranian billionaires (yes, Iran has many billionaires now) who may idelogically oppose this regime, are nevertheless against regime change!
