Don't Expect Iran to Fight for Assad

The Iranian government is suffering from some of the toughest sanctions in its history. Its economy is losing $133 million a day because of them, while its currency lost has lost almost 100% of its value in the official exchange rate. Should Iran walk away from talks, that would give those in the West who want to ratchet up sanctions even more the perfect justification to do so. And it would be almost impossible to stop them. More sanctions, especially those restricting Iran’s access to funds abroad even further would mean pushing the Iranian economy closer to the edge of the abyss. As difficult as it would be, Ayatollah Khamenei can live without Assad in power, but he can’t live without a functioning economy. It could lead to the collapse of his regime, which is far more important than anything Assad could offer.