Neither have been its main nemesis, the Saudis, Israelis and the U.S.
I find this kind of isolated statement doesn't help to explain anything, but paint the Iranians as irrational. I have 1000 problems with their form of government, but I don't think they are irrational.
One of these is not like the others:
Israel for all its warts has been quite consistent in leaving alone those who doesn't mess with them. Of course it makes competely sense given how they are consistently outnumbered in every way but quality, but still.
They also have a long history of peaceful sharing of civilian technology etc etc.
Technically that's true of the Iranians too. You can't credibly say that Israel or the U.S. hasn't been 'messing with them' for ages, can you?
Iran is suspected to fund and ship rockets that are used against Israel. I won't say it is confirmed but it will be no bif surprise if the rumors are confirmed.
Iran officials often speak about eradicating Israel. The opposite never happens.
Israel is not known to operate any milits in or around Iran, they are not suspected of shipping rockets to Irans neighbors and they are not known to talk enthusiastically about flattening Iran or killing its inhabitants.
I think we can agree that it is a poorly kept secret that they are probably behind a number of assassinations, industrial espionage and possibly sabotage but the difference is still enormous.
Both Israel and the United States extensively fund political parties around the world, some of which have military wings.
> Israel is not known to operate any milits in or around Iran,
There is a long history of Israeli-funded paramilitaries in the region, I know someone who worked in one. They also funded militias in Syria.
> they are not suspected of shipping rockets to Irans neighbors
The US does that for them.
> hey are not known to talk enthusiastically about flattening Iran or killing its inhabitants.
Hamas offered Israel a ceasefire and Netanyahu responded by going on camera and ripping up the offer.
Like armenians?
I agree. OP said the Iranians have been virtuous. My point is nobody is virtuous in these sorts of conflicts.
Washington has the original sin of supporting an authoritarian against the Iranian people. But we have supported bad leaders in lots of places, from Cuba and Korea to Vietnam, that didn’t start menacing their neighbours and sponsoring terrorists.
I'd argue Cuba suffered worse sanctions than Iran and yeah, their government is much more humane than Iran's.
1. Assasination of Jacob Israël de Haan (1924), a Dutch-Jewish diplomat, for attempting to make a peace deal with the Emir of Mecca - his plan was a Palestinian state in a Jordanian federation, the Zionists would drop the Balfour declaration and any claim to a state in exchange for unrestricted immigration. He was assassinated when leaving a synagogue by Avraham Tehomi (who admitted to it much later), on the orders of Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, who later became the 2nd President of Israel
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Isra%C3%ABl_de_Haan
2. King David Hotel Bombing (1946) where right-wing Zionist terrorists attacked a British HQ located within the hotel killing 91 and injuring 46. The leader of the perpetrators, Manachem Begin became the Prime Minister of Israel in 1977
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_David_Hotel_bombing
3. USS Liberty (1967) where Israel deliberately attacked an American Cargo Vessel killing 34 without any repurcussions: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Liberty_incident
4. Deir Yassin Massacre (1948) where 110 villagers were slaughtered, some members of the perpetrators were at a later time, absorbed into the IDF, one even became PM of Israel
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deir_Yassin_massacre
5. Document [1] from IDF archives (1948) which after translation states:
"In the villages lying between Nahraiya and Tarshiha there are no foreign troops for the time being.The villages are armed and ready for action[2]. Your orders are to occupy, kill the men[3], destroy and burn down the villages of Kabri, Umm al-Faraj and al-Nahr."
[1]https://i.redd.it/e8q5ore6vi231.jpg [2] Ilan Pappe notes that the villagers had no proper arms, only for hunting purposes and people who served in the police; without Arab troops that were absent they stood no chance [2] In April 1948, the Intelligence of the Hagana defined men as anyone above the age of 10
6. Palestinian Exodus "Nakba" (1948) was an expulsion of 700,000 Palestinian Arabs from their Homeland during the war and establishment of Israel in May 1948, these includes testimonies of massacres, rape and looting:
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-how-is...
7. Assassination of Folke Bernadotte, (1948) UN Mediator for Palestinian Refugees by Israel's Zionist Paramilitary Group, Lehi. The killing was approved by the three-man 'center' of Lehi, one of which, after the assassination, became 7th Prime Minister of Israel (Yitzhak Shamir). No one was convicted for the assassination:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folke_Bernadotte#Assassinati...
These are just some of many incidents.
I don’t think we should be assassinating scientists. But Tehran has been no angel [1]. Which is sad, since their people are one of the more peaceful in the region, judging from the limited polling we have.
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_and_state-sponsored_ter...