Reconstructing a universal sanctions regime will be difficult. Key international players, like China, Russia and the EU, oppose the U.S. move and have pledged to continue trading with Iran. Extending its influence across the region and its sophisticated missile program provides Iran with strategic defensive depth and a credible deterrent capability. Friendly Shia-led regimes in Iraq and Syria reinforce those links while broadening Iran’s security cordon on its own border. While the U.S. has said that new sanctions are aimed at changing Iranian behaviour, for many in Tehran, this is about regime change — as it has been since the revolution.

Source: thestar November 09, 2018 15:00 UTC