Bombing Iran Won’t Help the Protesters
Annelle Sheline on Trump’s embrace of chaos in the Middle East.

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Iran is facing upheavals at home and abroad. For more than two decades, the Islamic republic
has faced waves of protests from citizens demanding a more democratic society. Over the past
two weeks, these protests have erupted with a new ferocity and are being met with violent
repression. Meanwhile, the Israeli government is pushing the United States to renew bombing
Iran, a military objective now being given the guise of a humanitarian mission. To discuss the
turmoil in Iran and place it in the larger context of regional instability and competing visions of
the future of the Middle East, I spoke with Annelle Sheline, a research fellow at The Quincy
Institute who studies the region.
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Donald Trump speaks to the press upon returning to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.
(Mandel Ngan / AFP via Getty Images)Iran is facing upheavals at home and abroad. For more than two decades, the Islamic Republic has faced waves of protests from citizens demanding a more democratic society. Over the past two weeks, these protests have erupted with a new ferocity and are being met with violent repression. Meanwhile, the Israeli government is pushing the United States to resume bombing Iran, a military objective now being given the guise of a humanitarian mission. To discuss the turmoil in Iran and place it in the larger context of regional instability and competing visions of the future of the Middle East, I spoke with Annelle Sheline, a research fellow at The Quincy Institute who studies the region.

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The Trump administration has announced a new set of harsh sanctions against Iran. This is a strange development since originally Trump launched a war on Iran on the pretext that sanctions weren’t working. Trita Parsi of the Qunicy Institute argues the current tactic won’t work and is a holding action as both the US and Iran bide their time in a long conflict. Parsi’s writings can be found on his Substack. In the interview, we discuss his column on the surprising way many governments are rooting for Iran to check US imperialism.
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