Martha Crenshaw

The targeted killing of General Qassim Suleimani, one of Iran’s most prominent military leaders, sent shockwaves around the world. The strike came more than a year after the United States unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA and launched a series of punishing economic sanctions that have drastically reduced Iran's oil exports and crippled its economy. The administration’s defenders argue that this "maximum pressure" campaign is necessary to protect American interests, quell Tehran’s human rights abuses, and halt Iran's support of terrorist networks across the region. But opponents see maximum pressure as dangerously misguided. They contend…