trump is so laughing right now.
------------------------------------------------The now nearly three-week-old protests in Iran stem from immense economic pressure and frustration with the government, but given that Iranians have felt Israel's wrath and also seen what the US did in Venezuela recently, their demands are not for foreign intervention, a slate of experts explained on Monday. While there may be some voices that are outliers, most Iranians are looking for the international community to help lift the crippling US sanctions and begin a new path forward, the scholars said on a panel hosted by the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. "
I think that [the] vast majority of Iranians would welcome a deal that lifts the shadow of war and invites the removal of sanctions," Mohammad Ali Shabani, editor of the Amwaj newsmagazine, told the panel, adding that most Iranians accept that the Islamic Republic is not going to be there forever."And in fact, what we have seen over the past 20 years is that its survival is almost extended by sanctions," Shabani said.Shabani pointed to Iran's middle class as a potential driver for political change in the country. But U.S. sanctions over the last two decades have been "hollowing out" the middle class and, in turn, organic political change.