I had taken it for granted that the supporters of the Green Movement in Iran were opposed to new sanctions, as both Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Kerroubi have made statements to that effect. And with the Obama administration moving toward a new international sanctions regime in the new year, I figured that would be a good story to report. I mostly found that to be the case. But I also found less unanimity than I figured I would. The hatred — justifiable hatred — felt toward the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps is inclining at least some Green supporters to warily accept sanctions targeting the IRGC specifically. My story today for the Washington Independent:

“There’s a diversity of views, with some in favor and some opposed,” [Carnegie's Karim] Sadjadpour said. “Post-June 12 was a real earthquake. Many friends who unequivocally opposed U.S. punitive measures in the past now believe [IRGC-focused sanctions] could be a necessary evil. But I don’t claim that’s necessarily a majority view, just that the view exists.”

An example of the heated debate within pro-Green communities in the United States came earlier this month in New York, when a student group expressing solidarity with the Greens held a forum featuring Columbia University professor Hamid Dabashi and Akbar Batebi, a former Iranian student activist leader. According to an account of the forum posted on Iranian.com, Batebi contended that “we have to use sanctions against the coup government,” while Dabashi countered that “sanctions would be a precusor [sic] for military strikes on Iran, as they had been in Iraq.”

Everyone, however, is opposed to military action against Iran, for obvious reasons.