> A provocation might have been Iran waking up one day and deciding to hammer Israel or US bases with missiles.
That's what happened! Iran is just adding a layer of indirection by funneling money and missiles to Hamas and Hezbollah, who in turn launch the attacks. They don't even try to hide it. Why should acting through a middle-man insulated them from culpability?
> Even then, targeting a head of state might be going too far.
I actually agree with you on that. But I don't think it's fair to downplay the "fucking around" that Iran did before they "found out."
> Iran has a “beef” with Israel because of Palestine.
Which makes no sense geopolitically. Iran has no dog in that fight. Iran has no sympathy to Palestinians--they host millions of Afghan refugees, but nobody from Palestine. The Arabs hate Iran too. If Israel wasn't there, Iran would be the primary focus of Arab antagonism. Israel and Iran had good relations with each other between 1950 and 1979, and that made logical sense from the perspective of what was most beneficial to the people of both countries.
I view Iran as a real tragedy. Not because of "human rights and democracy blah blah blah." I have no problem with Iranians having a theocracy if that's what they want. What blows my mind is that Iran has the potential to be a highly functional country, but simply chooses to waste it's money and political capital on irrationally antagonizing countries that it could have been allied with instead.
That's what happened! Iran is just adding a layer of indirection by funneling money and missiles to Hamas and Hezbollah, who in turn launch the attacks. They don't even try to hide it. Why should acting through a middle-man insulated them from culpability?
> Even then, targeting a head of state might be going too far.
I actually agree with you on that. But I don't think it's fair to downplay the "fucking around" that Iran did before they "found out."
> Iran has a “beef” with Israel because of Palestine.
Which makes no sense geopolitically. Iran has no dog in that fight. Iran has no sympathy to Palestinians--they host millions of Afghan refugees, but nobody from Palestine. The Arabs hate Iran too. If Israel wasn't there, Iran would be the primary focus of Arab antagonism. Israel and Iran had good relations with each other between 1950 and 1979, and that made logical sense from the perspective of what was most beneficial to the people of both countries.
I view Iran as a real tragedy. Not because of "human rights and democracy blah blah blah." I have no problem with Iranians having a theocracy if that's what they want. What blows my mind is that Iran has the potential to be a highly functional country, but simply chooses to waste it's money and political capital on irrationally antagonizing countries that it could have been allied with instead.