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Originally Posted by pgardn
Iran is a Persian country, not Arab. They will tell you there is a huge difference. This is a shaky regime. Iran has a whole bunch more in common with the West than many of the Arab countries. This is a country that could move away from a fanatical Islamic power base very quickly. Lots of the young intelligensia dont buy into many of the governments institutions. We would be stupid to try anything militarily with things so likely to swing on their own given the demographic dynamics of this country.
The dialogue with economic pressure is the best way. It is also in our interest to exchange students on a large scale like we used to with them. Especially those interested in politics. A lot of new ideas and ways of thinking used to be infused through student exchanges. This is part of the reason that they do have a significant portion of their population that has a pro-Western attitude... Democracy, rule of law, individual rights, etc...
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I think Iran USED to be as pro-west as you suggest. Not any longer. The British got greedy with how the ran the Anglo-Iranian Oil Corp., and this led directly to the nationalization of the Iranian oil industry.
Then the U.S. CIA and Britain ran a little covert op called Operation Ajax aimed to returning the Shah to power. It failed miserably and fueled Iranian anti-West sentiment. Eventually the Shah did return to power but of course only as a dictator/shill for the clerics. He didn't last long.
Then there was the the USS Vincennes shooting down of an Iranian flight over Iran airspace that killed 250 people. This event preceded the Hostage crisis by about six months.
Shaky regime? Yes, but there are reasons for the anti-West sentiment that pervades Iran. And not all of them are poorly formed.