Source: CSPAN's Washington Journal

The recently passed UN Security Council resolution imposing sanctions on Iran is only the beginning of a process intended put pressure on the Islamic Republic. Arguing that this new round of sanctions will cause little harm to the regime, Carnegie’s Karim Sadjadpour suggested that the influence of countries like Russia and China, who have strategic interests in Iran, led to the sanctions being diluted. Ultimately, “the sanctions are more politically consequential than economically consequential,” concluded Sadjadpour.

Turning from the sanctions to the domestic situation in Iran a year after the June 12, 2009 controversial presidential elections, Sadjadpour contended that discontent in Iran is out of sight, but it is certainly not out of mind. “The political, social, and above all economic malaise which spurred people to go to the streets still very much exists in Iran,” asserted Sadjadpour. However, the government has successfully been able to quell the streets protests and forced the opposition to reorient its strategy. As such, Sadjadpour contended that the Green Movement must go beyond street protests in its efforts to promote a democratic revolution in Iran.
 
The underlying problem with Iran is not its nuclear program, but the character of the Iranian regime, concluded Sadjadpour. Any type of military action by the United States or the Israelis, even surgical strikes, will only exacerbate this problem by entrenching the most problematic elements of the regime. Instead, the United States should “provide moral solidarity while being sure to not taint the indigenous nature of the opposition movement.”