Iran’s famine of the wise

by Nik Kowsar

n private conversations, U.S. officials often sound less confident than their public rhetoric suggests.

Americans can pressure Tehran, but they can’t manufacture a legitimate Iranian leadership — and they know it. The danger is not only that the Islamic Republic may stumble into a crisis, but that a vacuum could be filled by the loudest brand, rather than the most capable hands.

Iran’s problem, in other words, is not just drought in its reservoirs. It is drought in its leadership pool.