Even though the Second Iranian Revolution may, for the time being, be quelled by the Mullahs, many different foreign policy factions in the West see the events of the last few weeks as good for their preferred Iran policy.
Writing in the Guardian, Jonathan Freedland argued it has helped the anti-war contingent. Now that the world has seen how freedom-yearning Iran’s youth is, how can anyone condone a bombing campaign against Iran’s nuclear facilities that may kill some of the Twitter-using students?
But a very senior US official, who spoke on background, told me that the State Department, at least, see the incipient revolution as good for its potential post-engagement Iran policy. How, the rhetorical question went, can Europeans ask for leniency towards the regime when it has shown itself to be so barbarous?
Others, in turn, have worried that the unrest will make the Iranian regime even more eager for a nuclear weapon.
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