By Chuck Wald We have passed the six-month mark of the war between the United States and the Iranian regime. Whatever Tehran’s rhetoric may suggest, its theocratic dictatorship is weaker today than at any point since its establishment in the aftermath of the 1979 Revolution. As this situation continues to unfold, it is increasingly important for Western governments and the broader international community to consider the policies needed to help bring about change driven not by foreign intervention, but by the Iranian people and their organized resistance. The country’s economy, already suffering from years of decline before the war, is now exhibiting some of its worst indicators in decades, including inflation exceeding 100 percent on key consumer goods. Predictably, these pressures have intensified factional infighting within the regime. The turmoil has been compounded by the loss of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on the first day of the war, February 28. Khamenei has be...
Iran’s nuclear program is “galloping ahead” and the International Atomic Energy Agency has very limited visibility on what is happening, said IAEA chief Rafael Grossi in aninterviewwith Spain’s El Pais newspaper on July 22. These remarks have been described by analysts as a serious warming about Tehran becoming a nuclear threshold state in the near future. The Wall Street Journal published apieceon July 25 titled “The Iran Nuclear Deal’s Convulsive Death.”
All the while the claims made by Tehran paint a completely different picture. “The path is paved for an agreement in the near future,” said Tehran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson in press conference on July 20. “If the opposite party acts in logic and reason, the negotiations can lead to results,” said Iranian regime PresidentEbrahim Raision July 26.
The correct nature of these two different viewpoints can be concluded from the latest position of EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and his op-ed in theFinancial Timeson July 26. “I have concluded that the space for additional significant compromises has been exhausted,” he emphasized.
Newspapers in Iran, such as the state-run Hamdeli daily, are also publishing articles describing the “the light of the nuclear deal is dimmer than ever,” according to a piece published on July 22. “There is no motivation to revive the JCPOA,” reads a piece in the state-run Setareyeh-Sobh daily on July 25, referring to the 2015 nuclear deal by its official acronym, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Prior to this, newspapers affiliated to regime Supreme LeaderAli Khamenei, including Kayhan, Vatan-e Emruz, and… have long described the efforts to revive the JCPOA as useless and consider the deal as a rotten corpse.
The question is when relevant parties are talking of the “JCPOA’s demise” and opportunities coming to an end for a compromise, why are we witnessing positive signals from Raisi himself and the regime’s Foreign Ministry?
The answer can be found in the unappetizing consequences of acknowledging their failure, highlighted in a piece published in the state-run Resalat daily on July 25: “Iran is not in a position to accept the responsibility, weight, and price of the nuclear negotiations reaching an official failure and the JCPOA falling short of revival… Announcing the official end of the nuclear talks and the death of the JCPOA will result in an explosive status inside Iran. In addition to the direct and immediate impact on the country’s economic conditions, the people’s living conditions, and unbridled inflation, it will have a deep psychological impact on public opinion. And most important of all, there is no method to replace the JCPOA.”
This coming from the Resalat daily, considering its close affiliations to the Iranian regime’s ruling elite, is significant in and of itself.
This “explosive status inside Iran” has led to an escalating crisis inside the mullahs’ regime. What’s even more interesting is the fact that Khamenei had Raisi be appointed as the regime president to unify his ranks and file in preparation to resolve his regime’s crises. All the while, Khamenei’s domestic calamities have prevented him and his regime from taking advantage of the opportunities placed before them thanks to the West’s appeasement policy. This can result in more sanctions against the mullahs’ regime and further fuel domestic unrest.
As a result, despite the efforts of Khamenei and his inner circle to portray a confident of their regime regarding the nuclear dossier, the death of the JCPOA will actually render an avalanche of further domestic and international predicaments for the mullahs’ regime.
Even despite the warnings issued by various observers about the mullahs’ regime reaching a nuclear threshold state, and even if they eventually obtain nuclear weapons, this will not relieve the mullahs of their main concern: the Iranian people’s enmity and their will to overthrow the regime.
Iranian Resistance LeaderMassoud Rajavisaid in January 2022: “Now that Raisi is the regime’s president, regarding the nuclear dossier, the mullahs’ regime making advances or suffering setbacks in the cat-and-mouse game over the JCPOA in 2022 will render no meaningful results. The result will be seen in further protests and uprisings.”
This article was first published by english.mojahedin
Written by Shamsi Saadati Paris, France – On Saturday, May 17, 2025, an influential international conference convened in Paris, uniting parliamentarians and prominent political figures from a wide array of countries including the United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, Malta, Switzerland, Romania, Portugal, and the Netherlands. The central theme of the gathering was the urgent need for a new, decisive international policy towards Iran, with a strong emphasis on supporting democratic change and recognizing the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) as a viable alternative to the current regime. The event served as a significant platform for global lawmakers to voice their concerns over the deteriorating human rights situation in Iran, the regime’s escalating domestic repression, its destabilizing regional activities, and its persistent pursuit of a nuclear program. A recurring call throughout the conference was for Western governments to adopt a firmer stance, including the ...
By Reza Hoseani Iran’s economic crisis is no longer just a headline — it has become part of everyday life. Skyrocketing prices, the continuous collapse of the national currency, and shrinking household purchasing power are now affecting nearly every segment of society. But an important question remains: Are these hardships truly the direct result of war and external pressure, or are they rooted in domestic economic policies and political decisions? While state media repeatedly blame regional tensions and foreign conflicts for inflation and market instability, many economists argue that the current crisis is driven far more by internal policymaking than by war itself. War as a Cover for Internal Economic Failure For years, whenever Iran’s economy entered a deeper phase of crisis, official narratives pointed to external enemies and international tensions. However, economic experts say the immediate impact of war rarely causes inflation on this scale in such a sho...
By Reza Hoseani Is Washington’s economic fury more effective than military warfare? An examination of the United States’ new sanctions targeting the IRGC’s financial lifelines and their impact on Iran’s explosive social environment. Amid the regime’s paralyzing deadlock between war and restraint, Washington has made its choice unmistakably clear: an all-out economic war instead of a large-scale military war. This choice is not the product of moderation. Rather, it reflects an understanding that economic pressure may be more lethal to the regime, less costly for the West, and more socially acceptable to the Iranian people than military intervention. 1. From “Maximum Pressure” to “Economic Fury”: The IRGC’s Lifelines in the Crosshairs In recent months, the U.S. Department of the Treasury has escalated economic pressure through two new initiatives. First came what has been described as Operation Economic Fury, announced by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. He stated explicitly ...
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