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> has Saudi and the Gulf monarchies against it close by, and is an enemy of Israel It is a self declared enemy of Israel. There is over a thousand miles and tw

> has Saudi and the Gulf monarchies against it close by, and is an enemy of Israel It is a self declared enemy of Israel. There is over a thousand miles and two countries between them. Israel has never threatened Iran and has no interest in attacking it. As for the Saudis and Gulf monarchies, religious differences and hegemony struggles aside - as far as I know Iran are the sole aggressors supporting proxy wars and attacks in the gulf (they literally regularly blow up Saudi oil refineries). I don't think it is at all threatened by the Saudi and Gulf armies, which are not formidable, and has never been attacked by them. This is some Scooby Doo villain level inversion. In case it isn't completely clear to you, Iran is an expansionist rising power competing with Turkey for control over the ME and Persian/Arabian gulf over a Shia/Sunni cold-religious-war type background, a centuries old holy war... their beef with the house of Saud is about who should control Mecca, feel free to read up about it. > A more balanced view, understanding the motivations of all sides, may help arrive at an actual solution to this awful standoff, where innocents bear the brunt. That would involve some knowledge of the history of the region and basic understanding of the cultures and actors involved. Start by understanding what an Ayatollah is and why they have been ordering their own citizens to be hanged from construction cranes, disappeared, and tortured, for half a century.

pradn 6y ago
So the points are are "Iran started the enmity" and "Iran is worse than the other countries." I have a hard time buying either. Wouldn't the nakba be the original source of enmity created by the state of Israel between it and the Muslim nations? In any case, who started it doesn't change the ground geopolitical realties that must be solved for us to achieve a world with active peace. I am absolutely no defender of the enormous amount of violence that Iran's supply of rebel groups and militias in the region has caused. But I have a hard time ranking these crimes, and their internal oppression vs Israel's apartheid state vs the Saudi's internal oppression and funding of militias and rebel groups vs the US's war in Iraq, where between half a million and a million people died. It's unclear to me what you mean by the "culture" of Iran? Do you mean their political religiosity? I don't find that a convincing source of differentiation between them and other countries in the region. Israeli Zionism, Saudi Wahabbism, etc.
- recuter 6y ago
  The point is Israel is not threatening Iran. The nakba has zilch to do with Iran, prior to the Ayatollahs (and even briefly at the start of their reign) there was no enmity. And world peace is certainly not the goal of the current Iranian regime. It is borderline willful ignorance to suggest that. > It's unclear to me what you mean by the "culture" of Iran? Do you mean their political religiosity? I don't find that a convincing source of differentiation between them and other countries in the region. Israeli Zionism, Saudi Wahabbism, etc. Why flaunt your ignorance? Certainly without equivocating to whatever your beliefs might be or getting bogged down in metaphysics and moralities or saying one is somehow better than the other, if you want to understand the geopolitics you need to be able to differentiate between them.

pradn 6y ago

So the points are are "Iran started the enmity" and "Iran is worse than the other countries." I have a hard time buying either. Wouldn't the nakba be the original source of enmity created by the state of Israel between it and the Muslim nations? In any case, who started it doesn't change the ground geopolitical realties that must be solved for us to achieve a world with active peace. I am absolutely no defender of the enormous amount of violence that Iran's supply of rebel groups and militias in the region has caused. But I have a hard time ranking these crimes, and their internal oppression vs Israel's apartheid state vs the Saudi's internal oppression and funding of militias and rebel groups vs the US's war in Iraq, where between half a million and a million people died. It's unclear to me what you mean by the "culture" of Iran? Do you mean their political religiosity? I don't find that a convincing source of differentiation between them and other countries in the region. Israeli Zionism, Saudi Wahabbism, etc.

recuter 6y ago
The point is Israel is not threatening Iran. The nakba has zilch to do with Iran, prior to the Ayatollahs (and even briefly at the start of their reign) there was no enmity. And world peace is certainly not the goal of the current Iranian regime. It is borderline willful ignorance to suggest that. > It's unclear to me what you mean by the "culture" of Iran? Do you mean their political religiosity? I don't find that a convincing source of differentiation between them and other countries in the region. Israeli Zionism, Saudi Wahabbism, etc. Why flaunt your ignorance? Certainly without equivocating to whatever your beliefs might be or getting bogged down in metaphysics and moralities or saying one is somehow better than the other, if you want to understand the geopolitics you need to be able to differentiate between them.