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Source: http://www.jns.org/latest-articles/2017/3/30/is-iran-a-paper-tiger
Is Iran a Paper Tiger?
(JNS.org) Ariel Ben Solomon - Iran's military is in much worse shape than is commonly believed and is overextended in Syria, experts say. Yigal Carmon, president and founder of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), said Iranian claims of domestic development of military technologies are "complete nonsense." The only serious concern, he said, is the country's acquisition of North Korean missiles. Dr. Harold Rhode, a former U.S. Defense Department official, said Iran and North Korea "appear strong, but are weak and rotten inside." Rhode said Iran is ignoring domestic problems such as a water crisis "that threatens to render vast swathes of the country near-uninhabitable within the coming decades." Another domestic challenge is Iran's rampant opium drug problem. Rhode speculated that Iranian authorities want "to keep the people preoccupied so they don't concern themselves with overthrowing the government." Rhode articulated what he believes the American or Israeli approach should be. "We expect changes to come slowly, but that is not how it works in totalitarian societies like Iran. The moment the people see the regime has lost its ability and willingness to keep itself in power, the regime will topple very quickly, as happened to the shah in 1979." Iran, he said, is "potentially a paper tiger" and it is "our job to encourage regime change - and we can."