As protesters mount the most significant challenge in years to Iran's ruling regime, Middle Eastern affairs experts argue that the Biden administration has been caught flat-footed in its response to the human rights horrors inflicted on the nation's populace and has watched from the sidelines as the Islamic Republic's leadership adds a bloody but lucrative revenue stream by selling its "kamikaze" drones to Russia for use in bombing Ukraine.

The nationwide demonstrations demanding change from the religious dictatorship that rules Iran were spurred by the death last month of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, also known as Zhina, after she was detained by the country's "morality police" for violating the country's strict dress code for women.