Throwing Ahmadinejad a lifeline

Trita Parsi of the Ploughshares-funded National Iranian American Council writes in the New York Times about a proposed embargo on gasoline.  He and co-author Hossein Askari explain, “In an effort to squeeze Iran into submission over its nuclear policy, Congress and the White House are edging toward a gasoline embargo. This would do nothing to force Iran into submission. In fact, it would be a blessing for the hard-line government to once again be able to point to a foreign threat to justify domestic repression and consolidate its base at a time when opposition to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is increasing among conservatives.”