I honestly don't get what's so special about Iran.

[redgreenandblue]

Yes yes, they are a dictatorship. So are most other countries in the middle east. Being a dictatorship has never been a criterium for who is a "bad guy" and who isn't. Qatar, the Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are all dictatorships. So is Singapore for that matter. Even Israel is just barely a democracy at this point.

If I was forced to pick a place to live at gunpoint, Saudi Arabia would be below Iran on the list.

There has been a lot of talk lately how international law protects tyrants. So I guess India can simply invade Singapore, because it's a dictatorship?

Also the nuclear weapons thing was settled for me when Obama made a deal with them. That Trump and Israel wanted to back out is purely on them.

[Bettie]

1. Iran has been the big bad since

they overthrew the dictator the US chose for them.

Yes, they treat women badly....so do a lot of the states in that region.

Fundamentalist religions all tend to treat women poorly.

I wish they'd all just start acting right, but that won't happen because their versions (visions?) of god are created to make their worst behaviors seem reasonable.

NOTE: I know they are still a dictatorship....that the leaders are terrible, but it isn't our job (the US) to change that. You'd think we'd have learned with Iraq and Afghanistan, and the orange man and his many minions aren't going to make anything better.

[womanofthehills]

11. Women in Iran are very educated compared to many countries

AI -

In STEM broadly: Iran has one of the highest proportions of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields globally. Commonly cited figures (from sources like UNESCO-influenced reports, Forbes archives, and Iranian official data) indicate that around 70% of graduates in science and engineering are women — far higher than in the US or many other places. (Note: Some global datasets show lower overall STEM figures around 35%, but the 70% often refers specifically to certain science/engineering subfields like biology, medicine, and pure sciences, where women dominate.)

- University education: Women constitute over 60% of university students overall in Iran, with very strong representation in professional doctorate programs (around 58%, similar to or exceeding the US).

Iranian women have made notable contributions and achievements in these areas, despite various societal and political challenges. Examples include:

- Maryam Mirzakhani — The late mathematician who became the first woman (and first Iranian) to win the Fields Medal (math's highest honor, often compared to a Nobel).
- Many women among Iran's most-cited researchers (e.g., over 130 Iranian women in the global top 1% most-cited in recent years, especially in clinical medicine, biology, chemistry, and related fields).
- Recent recognitions (e.g., in 2025): Scientists like Sepideh Mirzaei-Varzeghani (cancer research), Sara Pahlavan (stem cell/heart regeneration), and Bibi Fatemeh Haghiralsadat (nanobiotechnology) gaining international awards and attention.
- Other prominent figures: Zahra Emam-Jomeh (food science, often called "Iran's Marie Curie&quot , and many in nanomedicine, regenerative medicine, and biotechnology.

This high participation in education and professional fields like medicine and science stands in contrast to restrictions women face in other aspects of life in Iran, creatin

[Irish_Dem]

2. What's so special about Iran is that it has 309 million barrels of oil.

The third largest oil reserves in the world.

A famous bank robber was once asked why he robs banks.
He replied because that is where the money is.

Trump goes where the oil, money, land is for his crime syndicate to get richer.

[mwmisses4289]

3. This is it exactly.

[Blue Full Moon]

8. Bingo that's why

1953 the USA overthrew their democratically elected Prime Minister to install the Shah. The reason, because he nationalized the oil reserves. Groups of Iranian people overthrew him. Unfortunately as happens in such cases they got a dictator.
Wash rinse repeat. The USA did the same in Afghanistan for the oil that was found with satellites.

[Cosmocat]

16. Bottom line - I would also add two other elements

1) The countries (Sunni) over there that don't align with Iran (Shia) have put a LOT of money into DT's pockets, so they are getting what they paid for.

2) This guy is an absolute cuck to the worst of the worst on the planet. Obviously Putin, made a fool of himself for Kim Jong Un his first term, acts like a teenage girl over Erdogin, and Bibi is in that club and 100% like Putin, knows how to manipulate him.

[Irish_Dem]

19. Yep. Trump does nothing unless it benefits him personally.

He does not give a rat's ass about freedom, democracy, human rights.

He is aligned with the world's worst dictators.
He is a child rapist, traitor, etc.

[malaise]

4. They refused to allow the imperialists to control their

OIL.
Up is down on this planet. The global bullies say they’re the good guys.

[sop]

26. Iran became "evil" in 1951, when Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh nationalized the Anglo-Iranian Oil

Company, ending decades of foreign control over Iran's oil. Britain and the U.S. orchestrated a coup in 1953, overthrowing Mosaddegh, restoring the Shah to power and reversing the nationalization of Iranian oil. Iran became even more "evil" when the Shah was overthrown in 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini established an Islamic Republic, and Iran's oil industry was again nationalized.

[QueerDuck]

5. Well, they have claimed to want to "wipe Israel off the map"...

... and the "cancerous tumor" would be eliminated by 2040.

So, there's that, I guess.

[redgreenandblue]

10. Under the deal negotiated by the Obama administration, they were giving up their path to any means of doing so.

Israel and Trump wanted to pull out of that deal for some reason.

[Easterncedar]

23. They were the second Muslim country to recognize Israel

They had substantial, historic Jewish communities. We wanted their oil and tried to steal it. We overturned their elected government and set up the shah, whose abuses led to the Muslim revolution and the ascendency of Ayatollah Khomeni. We did this. And now we want to arm the Kurds, start a civil war and install the dead shah's son? It's madness.

[Goonch]

6. ;-{).....

[OC375]

7. They fire at all nations ships right now

I’m guessing it has something to do with getting along with the other kids.

[cachukis]

9. They are Shia, descended from Muhammed.

They moved into Jerusalem to become a world religion. They do not take kindly to the return of Israelis.
The are pissed at the Abraham Accords which they classify as a Sunni sellout to the western use of usury; finance.
They have a conservative view of the Quran. They make up 10% of Islam, holding on to their dogma.

[Martin Eden]

12. Trump is jealous. Iran's dictatorship rules with an iron fist

The Ayatollah has a mandate from God to rule the country. Comparatively, Trump’s support from evangelicals is weak sauce.

The Ayatollah has the Revolutionary Guard at his disposal. They are badass and professional. Compared to them, ICE agents are incompetent wannabees.

The Iranian regime doesn't pussy-foot around with dissenters and protesters. He publicly executes them after sham trials, or shoots them down in the streets by the tens of thousands.

It gnaws at Two-Dolls Donnie that, despite everything, he still can't rule with an iron fist like the Ayatollah. He can't simply murder those who criticize and mock him. He can't burn the Epstein files, and imprison those who complain. The Supreme Court -- including two he appointed -- ruled against his tariffs!
............................
Actually, I doubt this is anywhere close to the main reason why Trump invaded Iran -- though I have no doubt he wishes he had that kind of dictatorial power.

[Intractable]

13. You mean the land formerly known as Persia? You're right. Nothing special about it.

[dalton99a]

30. Trump: "It is the greatest killing of a Persian leader since Alexander killed Darius and took his rugs"

[EdmondDantes_]

14. They also fund terrorist groups like Hezbollah and Hamas

I'm not saying we should have attacked Iran, but it's not accurate to leave that out and pretend Iran is just another dictatorship.

[mysteryowl]

15. It is a head scratcher, I agree.

I woke up this morning with essentially the same question.

The repuks say we have been "attacked" by Iran for 40 years. I could not remember those news reports.

I looked up the history of it and media has been providing the history for us, but nowhere is there reporting of Iran has attacked the US for 40 years!

[Ol Janx Spirit]

24. They have been attacking us through proxies since 1979. We cannot pretend that...

...they are innocent here. That does not mean this "war," or "situation," or "conflict," or "operation," or whatever it is can be remotely justified though.

But they have been funding groups that have been attacking us, trying to commit terrorism against us, and attempting to hack into our IT infrastructure for decades.

Don't forget that Iran-backed Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad carried out the 1983 U.S. Embassy bombing which killed 17 Americans; and the 1983 Marine barracks bombing in Beirut, which killed 241 U.S. service personnel.

[mysteryowl]

28. I'm just saying that if we are under attack for 40 years

The media should be reporting on it or we don't know we are under attack.

That's all.

[ihaveaquestion]

36. I suppose that they should have just allowed the US and UK to control their country to steal their oil then?

The middle east countries weren't interesting to western powers until their vast oil reserves were discovered. Then they were divvied up to be exploited and when they resist exploitation they are labeled rogue nations. I think they remember being manipulated for profit and resent it greatly, as anyone would.

[Ol Janx Spirit]

46. They have every right to feel resentment towards America and the west, but that doesn't justify...

...attacking us, nor does it mean that we should sit back and take it when they do.

None of that justifies the current "war" or whatever it is--I'm not saying that.

I was just saying that they have in fact been attacking us and our allies.

Interesting aside:
Brittan's (and Europe's) involvement in Iranian politics goes back further than oil. Like all things British, one of the big issues was tobacco. At the end of the Anglo-Persian war in 1857, the Qajar government was forced to grant countless concessions to foreign powers. The 1890 tobacco concession granting control over growth, sale, and export of tobacco to an Englishman, Major G. F. Talbot, set off the Persian Tobacco Protest which climaxed in a widely obeyed December 1891 fatwa against tobacco use.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco_Protest

The first commercial discovery of oil in Iran occurred on May 26, 1908--almost 20 years after the Persian Tobacco Protest.

They could have made the choice to be a constructive part of the region after the 1979 revolution, but their decision to back Shia militancy across the region to combat Sunni influence and establish Iranian dominance in the Arab world led them to be in the position they find themselves today. It is why they find themselves with no real friends in the region willing or able to come to their aid now.

[displacedvermoter]

37. Saudi Arabia?

9 -11?

[Melon]

39. Saudi has been cracking down on extremism

For years. 9-11 was a huge black eye that they still have. This is yesterday Saudi. The government has been pushing a more moderate interpretation of Islam for a decade. They send radicals to rehabilitation programs. There is zero comparison to what is happening in Iran. Iran pays the Houthis in Yemen to actively attack Saudi infrastructure. Iran has zero no regional government support.

The entire region is moving away from extremism except Iran. The cities are developing quickly and looking for routes away from oil. Extremism ruins their reputation and costs them money. Nobody wants it.

[displacedvermoter]

40. Ok

I don't think their cutting down on extremism means quite what you are alleging, and Prince Bonesaw is still an international terrorist.

But ok

[Ol Janx Spirit]

47. The 9/11 Commission found no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior officials...

...directly funded al-Qaeda--but of course that doesn't mean they didn't.

But, even under President Obama the U.S, maintained strong security cooperation and over $90 billion in arms sales, so clearly we've had an entirely different relationship with the Saudi government.

I don't see a perfect analog with Iran.

But hey, Saudi Arabia certainly has "laundered" their reputation with the current President haven't they?

I guess Iran didn't get the memo on where to deposit their money to avoid this "war"....

[Hope22]

17. We live under a dictatorship.....

Stinky, illegal, immoral, deadly state of thieving politicians I can’t presume to rank the rest!

[Ray Bruns]

20. "You're foolin' yourself! We're living in a dictatorship. A self-perpetuating autocracy in which the working class...

Woman: “Oh, there you go bringing class into it again”

[randr]

18. China has made huge investments in Iran

I'll bet they were targets.

[Easterncedar]

21. They have oil and they defied us

They were the second Muslim nation to recognize Israel way back when, by the way. But then we broke them, overturned their elected government and imposed the shah, they went from modern to medieval (as my Iranian sister says) and it all went to hell.

[malaise]

42. Just the truth

Rec

[Melon]

22. It's not that they are a dictatorship. It's that they are a terrorist state.

They pay proxies to attack the US and allies. They start each day in the military by chanting death to America. Iran has been developing nuclear weapons and hiding production. They have incorporated death to America and Israel as part of the religion. .

[redgreenandblue]

35. "Iran has been developing nuclear weapons and hiding production."

So do you think Obama and Biden were both fooled by Iran, but Trump saw things clearly?

[displacedvermoter]

38. Saudi Arabia

Prince Bonesaw?

[malaise]

41. Not one effin country on this planet should have nuclear weapons

That is all

[Melon]

43. Agreed....but here we are.

[jonstl08]

25. OIL

The administration can say all they want about human rights and etc but it all comes down to like most conflicts now. It is about Oil. Look at what this administration has done. Venezuela has one of the largest oil reserves in the world. They bombed Nigeria with their statement of protecting christians but that country has one of the largest oil reserves in Africa.

[Chemical Bill]

27. They sell oil without using US dollars.

Global oil trade in US dollars is propping up the US economy. We have no manufacturing, and we don't tax billionaires, so our financial structure is weak.

Iraq sold oil using Euros, we invaded. Venezuela sold oil to China in their currency. We invaded. Russia sells oil to China without dollars, but they have nukes. Iran sold oil without using dollars, so it has been only a matter of time.

[Blues Heron]

29. The thing about Iran is that Trump is in the Epstein files more than 1,000,000 times

[David__77]

31. The lesson the US seems to be teaching all countries is "get nukes"

[dalton99a]

32. Or American hostages.

[JCMach1]

33. They weaken KSA hegemony on oil price.

They spread terrorism through their proxies throughout MENA. They are Shia in a world that pits them directly against Sunni and Jewish nations and power.

Honestly, nuclear ambitions are kind of a small reason. Just look at the region and understand why they wanted nukes. Pakistan, India, China, and Israel. Also wouldnt shock me if KSA and perhaps UAE have their own clandestine programs secretly approved by the USA.

The real reason for war involves, oil, $$$ for Saudis and Trumps pockets and China.

[617Blue]

34. We need a military base there.

[gulliver]

44. They took Jimmy Carter's second term from him.

For a start. Carter was a great man, and he deserved his second term.

Iran's behavior (theocratic, patriarchal, homophobic) shows there can be no honorable, valid liberal or progressive support for the Iranian Islamic Republic regime.

[GreatGazoo]

45. Iran is the biggest regional power

and it backs militias that oppose Israel. It has supplied drones to Russia for use in the Ukraine war.

The likely, yet unstated, goal of this war is to balkanize Iran into smaller countries, each with a mix of factions, eg the way the UK did other countries in that region such as Iraq after WW1. The belief is that this will make the region more manageable in the long run.