"Is Iran Imploding?" (Does U.S. have a hand in it?)

Hundreds of Iranian police in anti-riot gear clashed with protesters in Tehran's currency exchange district Wednesday.

Why? Their currency is collapsing.

The rial has hit record lows against the U.S. dollar, falling 40% in just one week. Panicked Iranians are scrambling to exchange their rials for dollars in hopes of salvaging at least some of their buying power.

Is this a sign that U.S. sanctions are beginning to work?

Back in January, the Washington Post reported a senior U.S. intelligence official told them that the "goal of Iran sanctions is regime collapse." The anonymous official also said the administration hopes that sanctions "create enough hate and discontent at the street level that Iranians will turn against their government." The White House denies the allegation, but wouldn't an internal overthrow of the mullahs and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad be a good thing?

All over the Middle East governments have been toppled as the Arab Spring swept through the region. Some, like Libya, have been aided by U.S. intervention. Why not Iran? We're not necessarily suggesting military intervention.

With a population of 78 million, if the Iranians themselves call en masse for regime change, the U.S. could help by:

• funding arms to opposition groups
• destabilizing the currency
• using media propaganda (websites, satellite TV, radio)

Ahmadinejad and the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are not exactly the reasonable types. It's not likely they can be negotiated with or pressured into curbing their nuclear activities. Something needs to be done and regime change from the inside sounds a whole lot better than war.

"Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called the children of God." Matthew 5:9

A wise man once said: "In the end we will not remember the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." --Martin Luther King

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