With everyone in America so focused on dealing with the hardships brought on by the economic shutdown, it is easy to miss the disaster unfolding in Iran at the hands of their totalitarian regime. What role has China played in causing Iran to become the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the Middle East? How do the Iranian people view the regime’s handling of the crisis? What is the state of the Iranian regime five months out from the Soleimani strike?

Behnam Ben Taleblu is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a non-partisan research institute focusing on foreign policy and national security, where he focuses on Iranian security and political issues. Behnam has authored or coauthored articles appearing in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Fox News, The Hill, and The National Interest. Follow Foundation for Defense of Democracies on Twitter at @FDD.