A leaner, meaner Iranian regime - Mahan Abedin

The sum effect of this new political reality is going to be very disappointing to those people who had hoped that the brief period of street rioting and mayhem would spell the beginning of the end of the Islamic regime. Notwithstanding the damage to prestige and legitimacy, the emergence of a leaner and meaner regime will present new strategic opportunities for Islamic Republic loyalists in the region and beyond. Mahan Abedin is a senior researcher in terrorism studies and a consultant to independent media in Iran. He is currently based in northern Iraq, where he is helping to develop local media capacity.