Meir Javedanfar
Meir Javedanfar is the editor of The Iran-Israel Observer. He tweets at @meirja. Chances of a U.S. attack against Iran's nuclear installations remain minimal for the next year, at least, a major reason being the election of Hassan Rouhani as president. One of the biggest reasons why Ayatollah Khamenei allowed Rouhani to be elected -- and did not falsify the election results as he did in 2009 -- is because of the sanctions. The Iranian government is in serious trouble. A mixture of sanctions and mismanagement by former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have created more than $200 billion worth of debt for the Iranian government to Iran's banks and contractors. With sanctions barring the Iranian government from reaching its funds abroad, it will be very difficult for the government to solve its economic problems without the lifting of sanctions. This can only happen after Iran has changed its nuclear policy and shown compromises to the West. So why should the U.S. or even Israel attack when the Iranian government itself could end up having to curtail its own nuclear program? (AP Photo)
