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Yes they are hypocritical to criticize Saudi and its sharia. But generally you will find the persians are not as strict as arabs. Now they have an over the top

by amalag 11y ago

Yes they are hypocritical to criticize Saudi and its sharia. But generally you will find the persians are not as strict as arabs. Now they have an over the top Islamic regime, but historically this is abnormal. You are aware Iran was much more liberal before this Islamic regime. They had 3 million demonstrators in 2009 to protest the presidential sham elections as well. This regime does not have huge populist support and it knows it so it went with this new liberal president after Ahmedijinad. I think the US can do better with the regime without an adversarial relationship. They can be better allies than Pakistan and the US should NOT land on any one side of the sunni/shia divide so making Saudi Arabia and its ideology exclusive allies is a BAD idea.

MichaelMoser123 11y ago
You are correct that Persia has a very rich history. However I think that it is difficult to predict as to how this country/culture will evolve in the future. Also the protests of 2009 were held in the cities, I am not sure that they had universal support. (Can anybody explain why Obama was neutral during the Iranian protests but supported the Arab spring protesters ?)
- amalag 11y ago
  Persians will not follow a super strict Islam like Saudi and other Sunni countries do. It will just not happen. You are aware they were quite liberal in the 1950's before the recent fundamentalists. Even now in Iran they recognize 4 religions, Muslims (sunni and shia), Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians. Compare that to Saudi in which there is one religion, sunni islam. And yes the educated cities is where the main opposition to the islamic regime is. There is support for the regime amongst the more religious fundamentalists. The islamic regime is considered by many as uneducated religious fundamentalists who have gained power by force. There is some difference from Arab countries where Islam is synonymous with government. I have met only a few Iranians in the US. Naturally they will not support the islamic regime, but you do get a sense of the culture and how Islam is an add on. They consider themselves much more european. Regardless of all this, the US should not become only Sunni nation's allies. Read the wikipedia on Religion in Saudi Arabia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Saudi_Arabia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Saudi_Arabia. It is chilling. We do not want to get involved in their thousand year clash on whom to follow, the father-in-law or the son-in-law. It would be excellent if the US can give more importance to Iran to counter Saudi influence in the region. Obama has done wonders. Republicans are really stupid if they continue to villify Iran and let support for Saudi Arabia and Pakistan go unquestioned. Iran was ready to support US efforts in Afghanistan. I think the Bush families oil connections with the Saudis got in the way.

by amalag 11y ago

MichaelMoser123 11y ago

You are correct that Persia has a very rich history. However I think that it is difficult to predict as to how this country/culture will evolve in the future. Also the protests of 2009 were held in the cities, I am not sure that they had universal support. (Can anybody explain why Obama was neutral during the Iranian protests but supported the Arab spring protesters ?)

amalag 11y ago
Persians will not follow a super strict Islam like Saudi and other Sunni countries do. It will just not happen. You are aware they were quite liberal in the 1950's before the recent fundamentalists. Even now in Iran they recognize 4 religions, Muslims (sunni and shia), Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians. Compare that to Saudi in which there is one religion, sunni islam. And yes the educated cities is where the main opposition to the islamic regime is. There is support for the regime amongst the more religious fundamentalists. The islamic regime is considered by many as uneducated religious fundamentalists who have gained power by force. There is some difference from Arab countries where Islam is synonymous with government. I have met only a few Iranians in the US. Naturally they will not support the islamic regime, but you do get a sense of the culture and how Islam is an add on. They consider themselves much more european. Regardless of all this, the US should not become only Sunni nation's allies. Read the wikipedia on Religion in Saudi Arabia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Saudi_Arabia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Saudi_Arabia. It is chilling. We do not want to get involved in their thousand year clash on whom to follow, the father-in-law or the son-in-law. It would be excellent if the US can give more importance to Iran to counter Saudi influence in the region. Obama has done wonders. Republicans are really stupid if they continue to villify Iran and let support for Saudi Arabia and Pakistan go unquestioned. Iran was ready to support US efforts in Afghanistan. I think the Bush families oil connections with the Saudis got in the way.