The Obscure Bank Collapse That Sent Iran Into a Tailspin

The biggest harbinger that things were about to fall apart in Iran didn't come from the thwarted anger of the country's opposition or the frustrated hopes of young people hungry for more personal freedom. It came from the collapse of a bank.

Late last year, Ayandeh Bank, run by regime cronies and saddled with nearly $5 billion in losses on a pile of bad loans, went bust. The government folded the carcass into a state bank and printed a massive amount of money to try to paper over all the red ink. That buried the problem but didn't solve it...