The article questions whether the Iranian theocratic regime will be able to survive the economic crisis it currently faces. The central question is whether the ayatollahs will be able to stay in power in the face of serious financial problems.
The text suggests that Iran now faces prosaic economic challenges, rather than the "heroic martyrdom in the Great Jihad" that the regime traditionally promotes. The comparison with the Soviet Union is direct: just as the USSR withered away and ultimately collapsed due to economic problems, Iran may follow the same path.
The article does not present specific economic data or sources, but establishes a historical comparison between Soviet decline and Iran's possible trajectory. The implicit thesis is that the lack of money, and not military defeat or religious martyrdom, could bring down the ayatollah regime.
