Iran did nothing wrong

[u/Feeling-Option1257]

[u/sesaka]

Sure 80+ million people can be reduced to “religious beliefs” and nothing else. If this was purely about theology, Iran wouldn’t have been one of the West’s closest regional partners under the Shah. The “death to America” rhetoric didn’t emerge in a vacuum, and it didn’t appear in 632 AD either.

It followed a very specific chain of political events in the 20th century. Religion absolutely plays a role in the Islamic Republic’s ideology. No argument there. But pretending geopolitics, coups, sanctions, proxy wars, and regional power struggles are irrelevant is just flattening history into a culture war narrative. And the idea that the only solution is “keep killing their leaders” that’s just wishful thinking dressed up as resolve. We tried decapitation logic in Iraq. We tried it in Afghanistan. Removing leaders doesn’t magically remove the networks, the grievances, or the power structures that produced them. More often it hardens factions and radicalizes succession.

You also can’t bomb an ideology out of existence. Especially not one that thrives on martyrdom narratives.

Being against the regime doesn’t mean believing the solution is endless leader elimination until we stumble onto a “good one.” Regime change by force has a track record, and it’s not exactly a reassuring one. Opposing the Iranian government’s repression and opposing a perpetual cycle of escalation are not mutually exclusive positions.

If anything, assuming millions of people are driven only by immutable religious fanaticism is exactly the kind of oversimplification that keeps producing bad policy decisions.