One of the best gifts that the ruling mullahs of Iran can receive is if Joe Biden, former Vice-President, becomes president of the United States.
The regime is currently struggling politically and financially. Tehran’s economy is on the verge of collapse. Inflation and unemployment rates are at record high levels, and the regime is finding extremely difficult to pay its employees, let alone its more luxurious obligations. Iran’s economic conditions have become so dire that even some officials are warning of possible revolt and the collapse of the Islamic Republic.
The Iranian regime, in short, is in survival mode and — to maintain its power as its oil exports continue to decline — in desperate need of cash.
Before the Trump administration re-imposed sanctions on Tehran, Iran was exporting more than two million barrels of oil a day. According to the latest reports, Iran’s oil export is now around 70,000 barrels a day. Iran’s currency, the rial, has also been rapidly losing its value.
From the perspective of Iran’s leadership, however, a significant amount of this pressure can be lifted if Biden wins the 2020 presidential elections. Iran’s state-owned newspapers and politicians are, in fact, deliriously optimistic about Biden defeating Trump in the November elections. The headline in the newspaper Mardom Salari on July 20 read, “Biden Getting More Popular at Time of Trump’s Decline”.
If the former vice president wins the 2020 presidential elections, he can indeed solve many of the mullahs’ problems. The Democrat Party’s platform has already committed itself to returning to the JCPOA nuclear deal, which enables Iran in a few years to have an unlimited nuclear capability, and which President Donald J. Trump abandoned decisively.
The change in administration in the United States would mean that all sanctions will be lifted and billions of dollars would once again be flowing into the treasury of Iran’s regime. It would be capable of deploying the extra revenues once again to fan the embers of unrest in the Middle East.
