A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Thursday, April 2, 2015

The Deal: A Glimmer of Hope?

I'm unsure whether the fiercest opposition to the Lausanne deal is going to come from the Republicans in the US Congress or the hardliners in Tehran, and it's far from set in stone, leaving aside he Israeli and Saudi opposition for now. But with so much going from bad to worse in the region, it's a  glimmer of hope, though one many will be working hard to extinguish.

But I think an important indicator is not how the Iranian government has responded, but how ordinary people in the streets of Tehran responded: with celebration. That puts even more pressure on the hardliners not to backslide, and gives Rouhani and Zarif more leverage to sell the deal at home.

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