Iranians adjust to living under Trump’s sanctions | Financial Times: Today, Iran is more stable than at this time last year. This may surprise Donald Trump’s US administration, which has imposed the toughest ever sanctions against the Islamic republic over its controversial regional and defence policies. Iranians had no clue where the US’s economic war was dragging them to last year as they saw their currency plunge about 60 per cent on the open market.
But as the republic tries to rebalance the economy, people have found some certainty in the uncertainty and have acted to lessen their economic vulnerability. Their resilience and hedging against rampant inflation will make it difficult for US hawks to push Iran towards the street protests — as in the 1979 revolution — and eventual regime change that they may seek.
Perhaps the US miscalculated the level of Iranians’ disillusionment with their rulers. Maybe Americans were misguided by opposition groups. It is true that the political establishment is challenged with anti-regime slogans and claims of corruption and that protests continue, although these are small and sporadic. The economy is contracting and an army of unemployed young people think they have no future in their homeland. The hopelessness is alarming.
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