Iran’s foreign minister flew to Beirut last week to bolster Lebanon and Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia and political group that plays a powerful role in the government. Both the militia and the government had been caught in a ferocious public backlash over the explosion that destroyed much of the city. But almost as soon as he had landed, the foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, was blindsided by a new affront to Iran: a deal between two of Tehran’s chief regional rivals, Israel and the United Arab Emirates, to open formal diplomatic ties. Together, the two developments amounted to another brutal month for the government of Iran after two very difficult years. The Iranian economy has been driven to the brink of collapse by the Trump administration’s two-year-old campaign of economic sanctions.

Source: New York Times August 16, 2020 19:42 UTC