America needs to destroy what really sustains the Iranian regime

Excerpt

Iran’s ruling ideologues are murderous and resilient. The Trump administration’s limited military strikes and efforts to “sever every economic lifeline that sustains” the regime are commendable. Yet the thugs in charge won’t abandon their most cherished goals until they fear being unable to suppress the next round of riots by angry Iranians. As long as their hired enforcers believe payment will resume when the government next outwits Washington, Tehran’s negotiators can hew to a hard line.

Coercion, not ideological fervor, buoys the Islamic republic. To sustain an unpopular regime, the core believers recruit thousands of trigger-pullers who brutalize civilians. They also pay regional proxies, in cash and in weapons, to intimidate foes and to spread an image of a hegemonic Iran. The domestic opposition calls them “mercenaries.” They don’t come cheap. Oil — and crucially, the promise of future oil revenue — greases the empire.

Lewis Libby served as Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff from 2001 to 2005. He is a distinguished fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where Jason Fields is a senior editor.