Causing pain in Tehran and Moscow won’t necessarily result in concessions or
cooperative behavior. It may even have the opposite effect. Iran could double down on
its support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and its efforts to
expand Shia influence to the Mediterranean and the Arabian Peninsula. And Russian
President Vladimir Putin could stir up national support by blaming Russia’s imploding
economy on a U.S.–Saudi conspiracy to overthrow his regime. Even now, despite a
precipitous fall in the value of the Russian ruble, there are few signs that Putin is
ready to withdraw his forces and equipment from eastern Ukraine.