Page 28 - INSS | 2019-2020

3 Iran: Defiance and Audacity,
alongside Internal Challenges

Sima Shine, Raz Zimmt, and Emily B. Landau*

Khamenei.ir [CC BY 4.0] Recommendations

Snapshot Prepare a credible option for a military attack
in Iran • Prepare for the possibility of an
Ongoing violations of the nuclear agreement • “improved” nuclear agreement • Continue to
Iranian audacity in its use of force in the Gulf obstruct Iran’s regional entrenchment and the
and Iraq, which prompted the targeted killing precision missile project
of Soleimani by the US • Increased danger of
escalation

Introduction

2019 was marked by Iranian audacity on the nuclear issue and in regional activity, and over the year the confrontation
with the United States intensified. The sanctions that the American administration imposed on Iran after withdrawing
from the nuclear deal in May 2018, and especially the cancellation of the waiver on importing oil from Iran in November
2018, have created severe challenges for the Iranian economy. Iran abided by the commitments stipulated in the
nuclear agreement for a year, in the hope of dividing Europe from the Trump administration and receiving adequate
economic compensation from the other partners to the agreement. However, Europe’s lack of success in creating an
alternative mechanism for conducting transactions with Iran and a heightened US “maximum pressure” policy, along
with public criticism of Iran’s regional activity, led to changes in Tehran’s policy. The first sign was Iran’s failure to
adhere to the restrictions on its nuclear program imposed by the agreement. In addition, Iran undertook provocative

*published posthumously

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