Blackouts and dry water taps are nothing new for Iranians, but this year the country’s infrastructure problems have become a true crisis, one that is gripping 90 million people at once. Water scarcity, extreme heat and power outages further weaken an already strained economy, in a population so disillusioned with the regime that some openly praised Israel’s airstrikes in mid-June against nuclear sites within the regime.
The likelihood of nationwide unrest is sharply rising, potentially posing a greater threat to clerical rule than attacks on Iran’s nuclear program. U.S. President Donald Trump has launched a “maximum pressure” campaign against the regime, yet so far, that campaign has not focused on amplifying the Iranians’ own efforts to oust the dictatorship. That should change. With