Iran's Shrinking Sphere Of Influence

Stephen Walt makes an obvious point:

The ability of Iran's current rulers to suppress the current challenge to their rule is both disheartening and unsurprising, but there is a silver lining. By forcing them to reveal their true colors, recent events have further diminished whatever regional appeal the Islamic Republic might once have possessed. If Obama's diplomatic outreach to Iran does not succeed and we are forced to rely on some combination of containment and deterrence, Iran's tarnished image will make that task much easier.

But as we see, the Iranian people are not done yet.