[piercehawkeye45]

I was talking about an internal revolution that is sparked by external forces. If there was a purely internal Iranian revolution, referencing other Arab Spring countries in the Middle East, especially Egypt, there is no guarantee that a democratic government will arise even when a regime is overthrown by democratic protestors. The clerics and revolutionary guard in Iran are not going to give up their power easily.

If the internal revolution is sparked by external forces, considering the history of western intervention in Iran (Operation Ajax, etc), there is a good chance the resulting regime could be even more anti-western and more nuclear prone than the current. I'm sure Iran is convinced that once they get a nuclear weapon they will have much more power and be safer from attack and sparking a revolution from external forces when they do not have the bomb will only solidify that view, making their drive for nuclear weapons even stronger.


I'm not sure taking down trade sanctions would help start a revolution in Iran. Many Iranians are unhappy with the current regime, but many others are happy as well. Also, assuming the clerics in Iran are rational, they will most likely liberalize before allowing a revolution to happen.