That doesn't make it any less weird that we're letting up pressure with one hand and bombing them with the other. But we aren't also sending them money... as if that made a difference.
- martyrdom of the previous ayatollah
- increase in energy price globally
- increased ability for the west's adversaries to sell their oil at higher prices through reducing sanctions
This has the benefit that politicians have their name on the record and cannot weasel out of it if things go bad. Besides there is something unseemly of asking people to give their life for war that nobody wants.
That's true, but from an international policy perspective they are part of the US.