LET THE THING BE PRESSED.

At CNN, David Goldman argues, "Trump backed Iran into a corner. The regime isn’t blinking."  That might be for the benefit of the Never Trumpers and the remaining sane Democrats.

The US-led blockade and sanctions against Iran are working. Their success could determine the next phase of the war.

Iran's remaining oil for sale is nearly exhausted. Its crude production has been cut in half. The regime's primary source of revenue is drying up. Hyperinflation has left the economy in ruins.

Meanwhile, the flow of oil from other Gulf nations through the Strait of Hormuz, over which Iran had once wielded considerable influence, has effectively returned to normal.

But Iran shows no signs of folding yet. The regime isn't willing to give any concessions on its nuclear program, and negotiations on freedom of transit through the Strait of Hormuz have repeatedly stalled.

Why, when Iran's government acknowledges its economy faces a historic catastrophe, is the regime refusing to give in?

Iran has been here before. Five decades of operating successfully through punishing sanctions have taught the Iranian regime a thing or two about how to cope. Its brutal and ongoing crackdown on protests has quelled a public revolt. And the high cost of America's ongoing operation has made the status quo politically toxic for Iran's enemy.

That's why the regime may be in a far better position than it seems.

It's the Middle East, and people playing double games means it must be Tuesday.

Iran's lack of willingness to bend suggests sanctions evasion is still taking place, said Michelle Brouhard, head of policy and geopolitical risk at Kpler.

"The Iranian regime is really good at managing their country without resources," she said. "I don't think Iran is at a tipping point. So they must be receiving funds from somewhere."

Where there's smoke, there may be fire, but detecting sanctions evasion is tricky.

Iran may be transporting oil over land to Khazakstan and Russia, or by water via the Caspian Sea, suggested Brown, who noted Iran has routinely disguised its exported oil as Iraqi, and it has transferred oil to other nations' ships to get crude out of the strait. And the regime has trustees in many surrounding nations who secretively conduct transactions for the regime in the form of US dollars, cryptocurrency or other means to avoid detection, according to Brown.

Among the most intriguing possibilities, Brouhard said, is that Gulf nations exporting oil are surreptitiously paying Iran fees in exchange for safe transit through the Strait of Hormuz – even as they're secured by US military escorts. No hard evidence of such an arrangement exists, but Mazarei and Brown also said they heard rumblings that oil producers were delivering Iran a security toll to ensure safe passage.

Iran has continued to attack some tankers shuttling oil through the strait – but those could be ships that refused to pay a toll, Brouhard suggested.

News accounts suggest eleven ships hit by something explosive over the weekend.  There are no news accounts of the Iranians losing 33 ships as Our President has threatened.  It could be the mullahs and their True Believer enforcers are waiting past the Israeli and United States elections.  "That unsustainable status quo could be why Iran has been patiently waiting out the Trump administration. It may have lost its leverage in the oil market, and its economy has been battered, but Iran may be able to outlast the United States' willingness to stay the (expensive) course."  Or it might be True Believers with matchbooks and sections of gas main to play with.  Perhaps clarity will soon come, or perhaps Israeli and United States intelligence analysts are counselling forbearance, refraining from bombing that might make Iranian civilians less unfavorably disposed toward their facsimile of a government.

That's one way for the thing to be pressed.