Iran's Military Crackdown: Concession or Show?

As the United States threatens to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal, Iran is ordering its entire military -- made up of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the regular army, Artesh -- to divest any economic activity unrelated to its core mandate. The move is a significant one, considering how entrenched the IRGC is in Iranian politics and the economy. But the jury is still out on whether a legitimate crackdown is underway or if it's all for show. There are domestic drivers that could be behind the crackdown and that should not be dismissed, but international drivers certainly have influenced Tehran's calculus. The United States is pressuring Iran economically and urging the European Union to do the same, in the form of a supplemental agreement that increases the scope of the Iran nuclear deal. If a supplemental agreement is not signed, Washington says it will pull out...