Middle East expert Dr. Mordechai Kedar told Arutz Sheva that Iran is facing economic collapse, something which could potentially destabilize the government's rule.
"The Iranians fear, and rightfully so, that the US sanctions will drag in other Western countries who signed the 2015 agreement," Dr. Kedar explained. "I don't know of any bank in Europe which would prefer to work with Iran instead of the US. And we are witness to the fact that even now, the Iranian rial is plunging. Every Iranian is trying to get rid of his rials and buy dollars or gold. Today the dollar is worth 70,000 rials - a drop of 30-40%. There's no such drop in the world, and it shows the population's lack of trust in the economy and the government."
Dr. Kedar also does not believe that the Iranian government will withstand the pressure.
"They took too big a step: On the one hand, the Iran deal collapsed, and on the other hand, they're involved in Syria. Iranian citizens are asking themselves how much more of their money will be spent on Syria, on missiles and people and corpses whose blood is being spilled in Syria. The civilian in the Iranian street knows what the economic price of Iran's involvement in Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon is, and in my estimation, the US sanctions on Iran, together with the enormous amount of money being poured into the Middle East, place the Iranian government in a precarious position," he said.
"If I estimate correctly, we're about to see the Iranian government collapse, because of the terrible internal situation. We're already seeing arrests within the ruling echelon, and there will be more isolated and bilateral assassinations. The pressure makes people go out of their minds, and Israel's intelligence accomplishment, which gave Israel Iranian documents on the country's nuclear program, makes them crazy. It prove that they are spies and accomplices within them, and everyone suddenly becomes a suspect.
"Their failure makes them seem clumsy and unsuccessful to the public, as if they can't even keep the most important thing - the nuclear program - a secret. And that's in addition to the fact that they're still dealing with Kurdish and Balochi rebellion in the south and west of the country. Soon, we'll see upheaval over there."
