“The Twilight of the Iranian Revolution,” Dexter Filkins, New Yorker, May 18, 2020.

“Iran’s Interior Ministry Claims No Responsibility For November Protests, Consequences,” Radio Farda, May 18, 2020.

“The dangers of Iran’s military mistakes,” Mohammed Al-Sulami, Arab News, May 18, 2020.

The Revolutionary Guard has continued to assert itself, and in the process marginalize Pres. Rouhani.  See “IRGC exploits pandemic to solidify control,” Steven Terner, Jerusalem Post, May 18, 2020.

“Iran claims fuel shipment to Venezuela perfectly legal,” Al Monitor, May 18, 2020.

“Iran No Longer Banking on European Support for JCPOA Rights,” Financial Tribune, May 18, 2020.

Don’t criticize the rulers.  “A prominent Iranian reformist lawmaker has been sentenced to 21 months in prison and given a fine after he called on the former head of the judiciary to make his finances public, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.  Mahmoud Sadeghi, who had appealed a preliminary sentence handed down in April, posted a picture of the court ruling on Twitter on Monday. It said that seven months of the jail term relate to his “insulting the head of the judiciary.”  In 2016, Sadeghi had written to cleric and then-judiciary chief Sadegh Larijani seeking the publication of his financial assets.”  See “Iran Jails Reformist Lawmaker for Criticizing Top Cleric,” Golnar Motevalli, Bloomberg, May 18, 2020.