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Source: https://www.wsj.com/opinion/how-trump-miscalculated-in-iran-b7d30da4
The Iranian Regime Can Claim It Stood Up to America and Israel
(Wall Street Journal) Reuel Marc Gerecht and Ray Takeyh - The Islamic Republic gains strength among those Iranian men who still believe in the revolution. These believers still seek a defining struggle of good vs. evil. The hardened men who rule Iran see this war in existential terms. Its rulers truly believe that the country's vast internal dissent is in part fueled by foreign conspiracies. Compromising on anything fundamental through diplomacy with Washington threatens the regime at home. Too much of the Islamic Republic's aura has already been compromised. The regime can now claim, with some justification, that it stood up to America and Israel and beat the Great Satan in the Strait of Hormuz. The Persian Gulf has become Tehran's indispensable hostage. Mr. Gerecht is a resident scholar at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Mr. Takeyh is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.