Well, US is aligned with Israel. And Israel and Iran are mortal enemies by tradition now. The iranian leadership has the US and Israel as the enemy as their core agenda that is thought in schools. Israelian hardliners brag how about they will wipe out iran (and do carry out attacks) It is hard to break out of that cycle.

Plus, it is much more complicated, because the other Ally, Saudi Arabia is mutual enemy of iran, too. Not just geopolitics, also religious reasons. And .. a whole lot more.

I think it is sad, because the iranian people I met, were very nice persons.

If the Iranian leadership did not have Israel, they would find something else to fill the same role - Turkey, India, Saudi.

Picking fights with neighbours is an effective way to keep the focus of your citizens away from internal corruption and injustice. Foreign guerrillas are a cheap form of power projection, and their antics entertain your supporters.

In recent times, Hussein, Gadaffi and Putin have all run the same strategy, as have countless African strongmen who we never hear about on the news because they don’t have oil.

Live-and-let-live is not a universal ethos. Just as the Nazis and Stalin were pure power play regimes, so are many current regimes.

The ayatollahs do not lead a democracy, and do not deserve your sympathetic words.

"The ayatollahs do not lead a democracy, and do not deserve your sympathetic words. "

I do not have any sympathy for the ayatollahs. I have sympathy for iranian people. That is not the same. But the way I see it, the more outside pressure goes on iran as its whole(and not their government), the more they close ranks, naturally.