Long-term instability in Iran is an alarming prospect for western countries keen to resolve disputes over the country's nuclear programme and other contentious issues. But continuing political weakness in Tehran is also likely to produce the opposite effect – increased regime concern about external attempts to interfere, destabilise, and exploit its current vulnerabilities. This paranoid trend threatens unpredictable, even dangerous consequences – but may be justified.
The pinning of blame for Iran's post-election turmoil on malign foreign enemies is already under way among so-called principalist, conservative factions. The pro-Ahmadinejad Keyhan newspaper today denounced plots by "politically bankrupt dictators" to thwart the popular will. "The hopes of the imperialist triangle (America, UK and the Zionist regime) for a crawling coup d'etat in the Middle East and revival of the dead Middle East plan have been dashed," it declared.
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