No Victories? Invent Some: Biden’s Quest To Middle East Domination

I know doc, there is only one true side…..the one and the only one. It must be resurrected at all cost. No matter what. Heck, even I’m all for it…….but it better be a glorious one, if it comes back.

But You are not killed.

yes…….and you neither fool……the clergy must be moved to Yazd and then grow the movement from within. Start thinking.

yeah but for Zoroastrians resurrecting the Sassanian empire is the number 1 priority. You don’t know anything about Zoroastrians or Iran. Just be quiet.

You donytt half a camel about what I know.

And true, I dont relate to old almost irrelevant days. I dont care half a camel about Your doubts. I know who I am and someone like You on a very low of knowledgeabot whats imnprotant for Iran and the world should and wont change that.

Debeta elasso is about finding better solutions, which also is not only about copying good and bad thongs for the past.

I allow me to look at today and not how and whwen arabs took Persia and Zaratustra was mixted in by sick LSD dreams, or whatever happende once upon a time ago.

What You want to debate about is history from the past, which already is well descriebed. All has some history not only the Persians living there.

I take it again. Today those old days are not that important, but today and the future is. vItal things happend when THe Tzar and Ottman Empires collapsed, so I mainly take it form there.

I also allow me to say, that Iran/Persia is no well defines unit and mopre like a big conglomerate have several big and small affiliates, whcih is good and bad.

I see those in Afganistan, in Iraq and Armenia/Azaerbaidian right now. I also include the Iranian Kurds, which for good reasons pop up now and then.

That where I am.

No you can’t do that……you said it yourself many times its all about blood relations. We can’t mix blood and you know it. No new converts into the old order or forever be cast out and you know they follow the mobeds command. No Zoroastrian will allow this blasphemy. You will destroy us and Iran with this type of thinking. You think we don’t have Zartushti friends. And they know more than you. You’re not even Iranian anymore. You left Iran a very long time ago……its your fault. Don’t you put the blame on Iran for this. It was you who ran away like a coward.

Thanks for your detailed reply but I’m afraid I’m going to pull you up on a few things you’ve said.
I don’t think Iran’s being pragmatic and sensible by deploying threatening infrastructure near the Israeli border, I think they’re actually inviting imminent disaster.
If Iran was truly pragmatic and sensible they’d work out a satisfactory nuclear and ballistics deal with the western powers and to all appearances adhere to them. Then with the lifting of sanctions they should grow their economy with the vast resources they have available [even trade with Israel itself], and become a dominant member of the international economic community, then in a decade Iran would be in a much stronger position than they are now. Economic influence, political influence, and social influence are all enhanced by international trade and cooperation.
But covertly they should be doing everything they think they need to do to ensure the security and safety of their own nation [even nuclear weapons], but do it in a way it’s impossible to get caught, don’t pull out a gun and keep threatening to kill your neighbor, he may kill you first.
That may sound terrible to some but I’m convinced after a decade of peace and prosperity the Iranian people and Government would soften their stances, they might even find they have more influence and power without all their military might [early industrial China for an example], so if I was the Iranian Supreme Leader that’s what I’d be doing to be pragmatic and sensible.
And that doesn’t mean they should stop supporting their allies in Syria and Yemen, but they definitely shouldn’t use their proxies to threaten their neighbors, Israel and the Saudis for example.
I’d love to see the Saudi Monarchy destroyed but only if it means a Muslim Brotherhood Government doesn’t just takes it place, even if it’s a fairly elected Government [wash my mouth out].
Up until 10 years ago I used to call for the destruction of Israel too, and not just for the crimes they’ve committed, but their very existence in Palestine, but then I realized there’s at least 3 or 4 new generations that aren’t guilty of committing the original sin [stealing someone else’s home], they just grew up there, and I’m not including the recent immigrants as innocent, just their children, so I no longer call for the destruction of Israel, I want to see an acceptable solution for ALL parties, and beneficial for ALL parties.

And this comment,

“The people which you saw asking not to spend on foreign war, simply do not understand or provocated (more on the end).”

Is there a possibility they might just have a different opinion to you, sometimes they do understand and don’t like what you’re offering, and they’re not always provoked by foreign influence, sometimes internal factors drive the dissent, shortage of resources for example.
A father who has a dying child doesn’t care that the reason his child can’t obtain vital medicine is a noble cause, he just watches his child die for reasons he thinks are no where near as important as his precious child’s life.

I use Iran news daily for my Iranian news, https://irannewsdaily.com/, and occasionally use Iran International, https://iranintl.com/ and find they’re both good news sources, I’ve linked many articles from Iran news daily to prove points.
All media is biased in some way or another, some are purposely biased, some are negligently biased, and some are somewhere in between, and some are even on the odd occasion practically unbiased [only occasionally], but I find I need to read them all to understand the big picture, if I try to pick just one type I miss a lot of the important stuff.
I support Assad’s Government but I know he lies to me all the time, and he doesn’t tell me things I want to know, but I also know why he doesn’t tell me, that’s why I have to find out certain things from the media that opposes him.

And I’m not so sure you’re right when you say no one wants Iran to regain it’s rightful place as a dominant player in world affairs, maybe some of us are just scared Iran would start a nuclear war with Israel if thing went bad, some Governments think the same thing too, even the most sympathetic.
Up until 2 years ago I’ve always said Iran has the right to pursue a nuclear direction, even become nuclear weapons capable, and also have the right to deploy long range ballistic missiles in Iran.
But now I’ve changed my mind and I only accept the ballistic missiles demand. Otherwise I fear the safety of the whole region would be in jeopardy, and I say that because I’ve seen the way they’re now operating in Syria and I’m totally opposed to it, Iran is way too divisional and obstinate in it’s operating methods, and too headstrong.

Being pro Iranian I suspect you wouldn’t have any problems with pro Iranian trolls/hackers, they wouldn’t need to target you, on the other hand I’ve been very critical of many of Iran’s activities in Syria lately, so I’m the one who’d have a big Iranian target on my back.
I have windows 10 and free anti virus but I’ve already found the best solution for my problem, I just don’t reply to their posts on my comments.

I know about the past injustices Iran’s endured, I was a young boy when it happened, I saw the blossoming democracy Iran enjoyed for a short time destroyed by US and English greed, and then it was rescued by the Faithful.
But something was lost in the transition, now the government no longer truly represents all the people, the strong have taken over, some voices are no longer being heard, and I think it’s because Iran now has religion as it’s top tier of government, and that’s totally unchangeable unlike a constitution [which is].
Nothing God created is unchangeable, everything we experience changes with time, but Sharia Law can’t change, it’s set in stone, but stone eventually changes into dust, so laws must change as well.
As people become wiser and understand more they should be able to interpret some of those old laws with better understanding, even question some of them, but in Iran that’s next to impossible now, Iran has become totally unchanging in some aspects, but everything else in existence changes.
Would you be able to forgive Israel for all it’s sins if they ever came to the negotiating table with a sincere and mutually acceptable compromise.
I know they won’t because they’re just as stubborn as your government is, but would you if they did.
And no I don’t support Israel in any way other than their right to enjoy a peaceful and mutually beneficial existence with all their neighbors, so I do understand their reasons for wanting to stop any Iranian advancement in Syria. But that doesn’t stop me condemning the injustices they commit in Palestine, or criticize some of the stupid things some Palestinians do to incite even more problems.
There’s a solution to every problem and the Israelis and the Persians are pretty smart people, they could work it out if they really wanted to, but more of you from both sides need to really want to work it out first.
Some of the past hatred has to be left behind to do that, and I know hatreds a hard thing to give up, especially if it’s been the very thing that’s sustained and possibly saved you. So I do sympathize with Iran for past injustices, as I do with Palestine, but as I said before, everything God created changes, and so should Iran and Israel, otherwise something better can never be born.
Cheers and have an excellent day/evening.

OK. I have to go to details and start from scratch, so it will be a very long reply. I write a tl;dr version at the end if you don’t feel to read it all.

Do you know when was the first time that Iran went under sanctions and its assets stolen? Right after 1979 revolution. Then something similar to a civil war light happened (some provinces, mainly Kords tried to partition the country, with the help of – I let you guess it.
Then came the war. On our side the country was still in disarray. Our former friends, Americans who in fact controlled our army saboutaged everything they could (they even planned to steal our fleet of F-4s and F-14s but time didn’t let them) from fighter jets to artillery and tanks.
The whole west (and east for that matter) supported Saddam in his invasion of Iran. First it was the eastern block which armed him and western block gave him intel, then all of them re-armed him and helped him in any way they could. Who paid for all this? The Arab states of the Persian Gulf (Iraq tried to attack Iran once before 1979, but at that time we were America’s puppet, so nothing major happened).
Not only the conventional weapons, but the Americans and West Germany gave him key-in chemical weapons plants (meaning they built the whole thing for him, fully knowing what it is). He used it on us (but now you only hear about Kords) whenever Iran was winning a large operation. How did he know where to attack? Americans told him.
All this while no country sold us anything to protect ourselves, I’m not talking about weapons, even gas masks, medicine, all the things Iran bought and paid for like utility ships and such. Anyway, the war finished, our armed forces totally depleted and no way to replenish the losses while Saddam’s army was even stronger than when he invaded us. What happened to him after that (getting into the Americans’ trap) is another matter. The UN recognized Iraq as the aggressor but the west initially accused Iran (being invaded) of being the aggressor! We said no problem, they’ll come around and notice they were wrong. Despite UN ruling, the west prevented Iraq to pay reparations (>%400bn in damage).

After the war we tried everything to appease to west and I mean everything. You know we bought 4 nuclear power plants from France and Germany and have shares in Eurodif and its parent company. Naturally, being European they didn’t act according to the contract, didn’t deliver anything and even prevented us our own property. We said no problem, they will come around and notice they were wrong.

During years of Rafsanjani and Khatami (1989-2003) we did again everything to make friend with west. Gave them big contracts which they negated whenever they could, but they still didn’t give us the paid for 4 nuclear power plants. We said no problem, they’ll come around. Turned to Russians, they redesigned and started to build a nuclear power plant which took more than 10 years. Near its finish, we faced another problem: despite being a major shareholder of Eurodif, nobody sold us the fuel, not %3.5 for the new and not the %20 for the older one. We said no problem, they’ll find out they’re wrong eventually. Being a party to NPT and a member of IAEA, we started making our own fuel and the whole west shrieked. To appease more and make trust, we voluntarily accepted the additional protocol (which no other country on earth accepted). It let the west to inspect us whenever, wherever. But apparently it still wasn’t enough.
I forgot to mention in all these years, there always was the clear threat of war and invasion from Israel and US. Despite all these concessions (we were within out borders then, not a single Iranian advisor were abroad) came the sanctions, one after another. US attacked Afghanistan, then Iraq and they openly said Iran will be next. What would YOU do? All we could do is to defuse the threat from Israel by empowering Hezbollah, so in order to attack Iran, they needed to destroy Hezbollah first and you how it went in 2006.

Ahmadinejad came to power, Iranian leaders who were sure it doesn’t matter how much they give points to west and concessions, started to resist. So the sanctions and threats became hundred-folds and they managed to isolate us to a great deal. At that time US was busy crushing resistance of Afghanistan and Iraqis, we were still within our borders. Still nobody sold us any weapons, even Russia stopped delivery of defensive S-300 for 10 years. The threat of war was very real because we still had nothing to defend with.

When Rohani came, he restarted the appeasement. Gave west everything they asked for. The result was JCPoa which if you read in full, you’d understand no country is willing to give so much and receive nothing in return. In this midst, Syrian war happened (thanks to west and Arabs) and being an ally, they asked us for help, which we provided in shape of advisors and volunteers.
Syrian war turned into ISIS (thanks to west and Arabs) and spilled into Iraq (which US left shortly before). Mosul fell, ISIS got close to Erbil, Iraq asked US and EU for help and they looked away because they had a plan to create a Kurdistan, a Shi’istan and a Sunnistan. Iraq asked us and we immediately helped. Thus we entered Syria and Iraq, busy fighting ISIS.
What west did? They started attacking the forces which were fighting ISIS in both Iraq and Syria. It was then that the new strategy formed. We knew after Syria and Iraq, ISIS will turn its attention into Iran and with the help they received, it would be a great danger for us. Another war inside out borders would be inevitable and everybody knew if ISIS gets inside our borders, so will west to play war with ISIS. It was and is unacceptable, so we increased our help to Iraq and Syria and with Russia’s help, we crushed ISIS there. But the threat of war from west still remained. Notice at the time we had JCPoA and a very thorough inspection regime which we fully adhered to.
The US didn’t want us to adhere to the deal, they wanted an excuse for war, so Trump breached the deal (in fact he also breached a UNSC resolution which they signed too) in hopes that we come out immediately. We didn’t. Then another wave of sanctions came to a degree that they cannot find new entities to sanction, so they re-sanctioned many institutions twice! EU3 which also signed the JCPoA and the resolution did nothing and sided with US. The sanctions hit the ordinary people hard but it doesn’t matter what government does. As long as we don’t give them our central bank and a base in our soil, they continue. You are right, the father of a ill child doesn’t care about these things, he wants his child to be cured, but how? Can you guarantee if we give up our right in nuclear energy, they will lift the sanctions? What about our defensive weapons? Shall we turn into another Qaddafi?
That’s why I say they do not understand, because like you, they watch Iran International, a media which is created by Saudi money (just look it up and find out who owns the company).

If we give up our nuclear energy, they will want our missiles. If we give up our missiles they want us to not be in the region which our country located. If we accept that, they will want another thing and this list is endless until we give up our sovereignty. This ill cycle has to stop.
So in first steps, we stopped the voluntary additional protocol and they shrieked. We have no choice but to increase the enrichment (which is fully within our right as party to NPT and IAEA) and we have to increase the range of our missiles into ICBMs. We banned Nuclear, Biological, chemical and a range of other weapons for ourselves out of our own belief, but if it’s needed, we’ll build them because apparently west doesn’t understand cooperation and always demands more. Maybe if they feel we’re equal or stronger (in case of EU countries) they behave differently.

I wasn’t like this in 2009, I was the opposite and wanted the IR to fell, an avid watcher of BBC and VOA Persian, receiving my news about my own country from the sworn enemies. But I got slapped so hard in the last 10 years that resulted in the “now me”. Now I give my life to protect the IR because it’s the only thing that holds my country in one piece.
You know what was the first slap? I was watching BBC and they showed the air pollution is so bad in Iran and flood in Ahvaz but the footage of pollution was from Iraq (dust storm hitting Basrah) and the flood from Bangladesh. It was the first spark that made me dig and find out the truth and my friend, I do not care one bit what do you or anybody else thinks. I know the truth, in years I studied media and now I am able to differentiate between a lie and the truth.
Feel free to keep watching whatever channel you like and keep your opinion or don’t.

Iran is in this region, Baghdad used to be Iran’s capital for nearly a thousand years (Tisfoon which you might know as Ctesiphon), Syria was a province of Iran and so was the whole southern Caucasus and southern shores of the Persian gulf. I don’t mean we want to recapture them, but they are part of of DNA and we are in theirs. We are the center of this region and will remain so. What business a country from other side of planet has here and what right does it have to tell us what to do?
They can shove their sanctions where the sun doesn’t shine. In 3 months you’ll see a lot of changes in Iran.

Now the tl;dr:
The hostility of west has nothing to do with nuclear program or military or human rights or anything. You see countries like Pakistan possessing nuclear weapons and good relations with AQ, Saudi Arabia with its barbaric system, beheadings and crucifixions and their atrocities in Yemen, UAE with its brutal secret police and west is very friendly towards them. We are none of the above, but they are hostile to us and will remain so until we give up our sovereignty and central bank to them, then they let us have any kind of WMD imaginable (which we don’t want anyway), let the government kill and behead the opposition (which it never did) and let is enrich to %110 and cheer for the government to kill any opposition.

Poof! I got tired of typing, if this doesn’t open your eyes, nothing will until the spark happens to you too.
Take care and have a good day.

Judging from what I’ve read you’re 3500 comments are worth reading, you’ve never offended me, you’ve sometimes enlightened me, and you’re always precise, it’s a milestone you should be proud of, well done.

For me the Iranian nation was destroyed in 1953, that’s when the United states and England helped depose the elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh.
He tried to nationalize Iranian oil production which upset the US and UK oil industries, and then the US and UK Governments intervened to stop him, that was the precursor for all of Iran’s problems, they reinstated the old Sha and set in motion everything that’s happened since.
The 1979 revolution tried to rectified that travesty but the subsequent religious Governments have never achieved the same success their predecessors did.
When I say success I’m referring to political, economic and social reforms only.
Pre 1953 Iran was on the perfect path to freedom and prosperity, independent of international influence, focused on domestic and foreign relations, and free of secular constraints, a real beacon of hope for the whole middle east [as Turkey was], but sadly US and English greed destroyed that beacon of hope in 1953.
So I think we admire different aspects of Iran, you seem to be more in favor of the religious Government Iran has now but I actually admire the post 1953 Iranian Governments.
Pre 1953 Iran was doing all the same things all other nations did to free themselves form the tyranny and oppression, they were putting the common people first, that’s the Iran I loved and want to see again.
The religious Government you support are more focused on political and military power, possibly rightfully so since they have so many enemies trying to destroy them, but it still means the common man/woman has no real voice in the direction the Iranian Government takes. The Iranian Government now leads the common Iranian common man/woman in a direction the Government wants to go, but pre 1953 the common man/woman led the Iranian Government in the direction they wanted to.

As to all the rest of your comment it has a common theme, justification for the current Iranian Government to continue doing what they have been doing, which is defending themselves from a foreign onslaught.
All the things you listed I can’t argue with only sympathize with, I know Iran tried to do everything they could to appease the wests unfair demands, and I know every time they did the west changed the rules and made them even more unfair, but that’s not why I’m upset with the Iranian Government, I still support the Iranian Government on some of those issues and continue to condemn the west/US for their deplorable actions. The people in the US administration who though depriving sick Iranian children from much needed medicines or depriving hungry people from desperately needed food have a special place in hell reserved for them, and if I had my way it would start during their lifetimes on earth.
I know I have no right to tell another man not to defend himself so I don’t, but I can tell the Iranians not to endanger Syrian lives in their quest for better self defense capabilities, I continually criticize the US for keeping weapons and bases in foreign lands and feel justified in saying the same about Iran.
You seem to think that expanding Iran’s military influence closer to Israel is the key to better self defense but I don’t, I prefer the Gandhi approach.
Using Lebanon and Syria to prop up Iran’s defensive barrier isn’t just morally wrong it’s dangerous for all concerned, especially when most of the populations of those countries aren’t even pro Iranian, Lebanon 27% Shia, Syria 17% Shia, but Iran’s roping them all into the cause whether they like it or not, that’s also something I continually criticize the US for.
So in short you see a big difference between the US and Israel compared to Iran but I don’t, I actually see they have more in common with each other than they have different.
Iran does exactly the same thing the US Government does, it ropes unwilling people into a cause they have no desire to be a part of, the south Koreans who oppose US bases in their country are no different to the Sunnis and Druze in south Syria who protest against Iranian missile bases and infrastructure being built in their neighborhoods.
As the old saying goes 2 wrongs don’t make a right.
Do you think Syrian and Lebanese mothers and fathers want to see their children used as the first line of defense in a war between Iran and Israel, I can tell you they don’t, and I can also tell you they know Israel’s not building threatening bases in their neighborhoods, they know who is.
This deplorable activity will come back to haunt Iran just as it has the US, mothers and fathers don’t want to see their precious children used as pawns.
People who use innocent children as pawns are not good people full stop, they’re deplorable.
The Iranian Government in 1953 was the model of what all democracies should be, they were focused on the people they represented.
The current Iranian Government may be defending itself from an unfair and unjustified onslaught, but deplorably they also shield themselves with innocent children, and for me that’s the greatest sin that is ever committed, so they must be stopped.
I’m sorry we have to disagree on Iran’s justifiable defense policies but I draw the line on endangering unwilling participants in this conflict, everything else you said is understandable and beyond criticism, but it still fails to stack up and balance out the simple fact Iran’s dragging unwilling and innocent participants into the conflict.
You get a 1,000 points for all the justifiable reasons Iran is doing what it is and the west loses 2,000 points, but then you lose 3,000 points when you say Iran has the right to defend itself using Syria and Lebanon, which brings your overall total to a negative 2,000, and the US is already on negative 2,000, which gives you both the same score in my eyes.
I’d prefer to see Iran lose the negative 3,000 score and get back to positive numbers, which would then mean that Iran was left with 1,000 positive points and the US is still on negative 2,000.

I was already convinced on nearly all your points before you even posted your comment, but that one specific point that I don’t accept is something I could never be convinced of, even God couldn’t tell me it was justifiable, I’d even argue with God on that point.

Cheers and good luck with your 3501st comment, but I’ll bet it’s a short one if your fingers feel anything like mine.

Thank you for your kind words.
Regarding your feelings about Iranian government and situation of “democracy” here, I suggest reading more if the subject appeals to you.
My country experienced 2 short periods of total freedom, one right after the “constitution revolution”, starting from 1905 (Qajar dinesty, near end of Mozaffar-eddin Shah reign) and brutally ending with the help from Imperial Russia and the mentioned Shah’s son, “Mohammad Ali shah”. The result was an all out revolution and Mohammad Ali Shah fled to Russia, leaving the throne for his son “Ahmad Shah” which preferred to spend time in Paris instead of being the king.
This opened the way for an unknown man from the Kosak brigade (made by Russians), named Reza khan Pahlooyi which the British elevated first to be the war minister and then prime minister. Iran was a constitutional monarchy then with a parliament and all.
The British wanted to turn Iran into a republic (it’s one way to get rid of stubborn kings who do not cooperate with them) but parliament opposed. Reza khan did a coup and long story short, Qajar dinesty ended and Reza khan became Reza Shah Pahlavi. Thus a dark reign of terror started which lasted until WW2, 1941. The same British who made him king, overthrew him and even wanted to return Qajar dinesty, but couldn’t find a suitable candidate. Reza Shah did some good things for the country but was very brutal. Personally I cannot forgive him for giving up 800km2 of our soil to Turkey to make Ataturk happy (Qaresu vally, which today connects Turkey to Nakhjavan, republic of Azerbaijan) and 3000km2 to Amanollah khan, king of Afghanistan which contained an important water source for our thirsty south-east. Needless to say these 2 gifts still bear poisonous fruits for us. He also made a modern army which except for 2 local commanders, did not fire a single bullet against the invaders of WW2. but the army was very good to silence the population.

After dethroning him and expelling him to the St. Morris island and then Johannesburg, South Africa, they (US, UK, USSR which invaded Iran) made his Swiss-educated son the king, MohammadReza Shah which you know simply as “Shah”.
His shaky reign started while he didn’t have any real power and powerful PMs managed the country. This one (from 1941 till 1953) was another brief period of total freedom in Iran. When Mosaddeq nationalized the oil, Shah deposed him unlawfully. This led to 2 consecutive coup a few days apart, with the first Shah fled to Rome and with the second he returned as an absolute monarch. We still had a parliament and a senate but Shah chose the representatives. He like his father made a very powerful army which was impressed on paper. Sent forces to Oman to fight in Zoffar (then the west had no problem with Iran sending forces to other countries) and crush their revolution. He did some good things and very awful things. I personally cannot forgive him for losing Bahrain and a few other islands. Savak crushed every opposition and Shah didn’t like to listen to anybody, he wanted yes-men and that was his downfall.

Now about our first line of defence in other countries. Maybe you preferred ISIS pillaged and raped all Syrians, Iraqis and Lebanese? I sure don’t. We helped them and continue to help.
We don’t plan to fight Israel in Syria, we plan to fight Israel in Israel, not Syria nor Lebanon and this only happens if they attack. Our presence there is a deterrence to prevent the war, logically if they feel the attack will hurt them, they will think twice before doing anything.

And yes, I defend the Iranian government in some fields which includes the foreign policy, military and I absolutely support Ayatollah Khamenei (unbelievable for me 15 years ago) because frankly I’m tired of the democracy $hitshow, it’s all a lie in presidential form.
I still have my own differences with the government, one of which is civil liberties like dress code. Freedom of speech is NOT one of them because we have no problem in this regard. We are like every single other country on earth: As long as you don’t talk about overthrowing the government and the system, everything is fine. Do that in any country and see what happens.
My other problem with government is that they let a large fifth column grow inside the government (like current admin), uprooting them will be very difficult and undoubtedly causes the west to shriek even more.
I love my country, I’d die for it if needed without a second of hesitation and I do everything in my power to help it to regain its rightful place.

You’re very welcome, you represent your nation well.
I do appreciate everything Iran did to help Syria stop Isis and the Turks, but that’s where I think it should’ve stopped, this extension of the conflict into a direct confrontation with Israel and the US isn’t helping the Iranians or the Syrians, it’s just pushing the enemy to strike first and to strike decisively, which would probably mean a repeat of the Iraq scenario, and win or lose that would be devastating.
And your assertion that Iran allows freedom of expression is at odds with everything else I read, all the independent news sources and nearly all the NGO’s all say the same thing, freedom of expression is brutally repressed in Iran and human rights abuses are rife.
Even official Iranian Government statements confirm there’s obvious repression of human rights, the mass detentions of human rights activists, lawyers, environmentalists, woman’s rights activists, government critics etcetera, are all indicative of oppression of self expression.
Women’s rights in Iran are deplorable, the dress code for one is totally unfair I agree, but it’s not the worst infringement against women’s rights, and the morality laws repress self expression in a way I thinks very unfair.
So we have to disagree on some things, what you might consider to be the fifth element is more likely what I’d consider to be a representation of the average Iranian citizen just using their right to self expression. Though I’m sure there are elements of Iranian society that are working to overthrow the Government, I don’t think everyone the Government’s locking up is actually working to violently overthrow the Government.
But we do agree on something,
“This one (from 1941 till 1953) was another brief period of total freedom in Iran”
I’d bet you’d prefer to live in that type of democracy if you could, and I hope one day you’ll be able to, but only if 66% of the Iranian population want to.
So thanks again for you detailed reply, I appreciate your sincerity even though I don’t agree with all your objectives, but I do agree with you much more than I disagree with you, so I hope you achieve what you want to without any further conflict.
I hate to ask since you must be tired of typing by now, but would you be able to tell me what your religious leanings are, I’m just assuming you’re a member of the Shia faith but that’s not what I’m asking,
are you non religious,
mildly religious,
averagely religious,
strongly religious,
or fanatically religious,
I’ve rightfully or wrongfully assumed you’re mildly religious.
And you don’t have to reply to that question, I know it’s none of my business and I won’t be offended if you don’t.
I think I’m averagely religious but I don’t adhere to any one religious doctrine, I tend to pick and choose from most of the major religions and even some of the pagan religions too, I tend to let my conscience decide which rules and philosophies I should adhere to.
So thanks again for your comprehensive reply, I enjoy reading them all because they help me understand the Iranian point of view much better than any news articles do, I appreciate that. I like to know what the average Iranian citizen is really thinking, not what I’m told they’re thinking.
Cheers.

About military planning, let’s agree to disagree. If there was any problems, I have no doubt we’d hear from the Syrian, Iraqi or Lebanese governments, the latter being a Saudi puppet.

I stand by what I said about freedom of speech. I think you trust too much on your sources being “independent”. I assure you that: 1- None of them are, every single one them are funded or supported by one of my country’s enemies (either US, Canada, UK, Fr, Du, Deu, Sw, GCC). No country on this planet allows your freedom of speech target the system of governance. Doubt me? Try it in your own, Whatever it is, speak against it and see the result.
The other problem is the definition of NGO or “activist”. Since you’re an audience to Iran International, I guess you unknowingly adopt their definition of activist. Yes, we had some of those “activists” executed and justly. Iran Int’l just doesn’t tell you they call every smuggler, spy, murderer or armed separatist an “activist”. They (with other +200 anti-Iran TV channels and countless sites) turned some words totally meaningless. Not long ago, I was one of those activists, cursing the system and the leader, burning tires and garbage bins in the streets and beat the crap out of any poor police or security force we managed to gang up on. I was a street commando thanks to trainings from foreign governments and “independent” NGOs. I bet your government kisses you if you did the same activity!!! This is how I know anything about an “activist” is pure bull$#it.

Dear friend, I wrote from 1941 till ’53 was total freedom, not democracy and certainly not security. I am content with the era I live in.

And they are fifth element alright. Actions and deeds are my compass. Simply put, in my book anything that targets the country or the people (not the government) is my enemy. Anyone who tells people sanctions is for their own good, or US bombs will free them is an enemy. And anybody in the government who gives something to foreigners without receiving something in return is fifth element. Anyone who targets the strings which connects 4 corners of this nation is an enemy.

For your last question, I wish you were more specific. Now I have to explain. Or not. I’m a non-practicing Shi’a born like much of other Iranians. I follow some of the rules like don’t steal, don’t kill, don’t gossip, don’t hurt, be kind to your neighbour and animals, help the poor, give, be generous and so on but these things are not Shia exclusive. I also don’t drink for my own reasons (I think it’s now more than 15 years since I stopped) and very happy that I stopped.

And since you seem to be interested in matters related to Iran, be very careful in choosing your source. You know the reason (the last straw which broke the camel’s back) that Khashoggi was murdered was that he revealed Iran International was established by Saud al-Qahtani with MbS’s money? Do you know that the head and CEO of BBC has no authority over BBC Persian? The same also goes for VOA Persian, DW Persian, RFA Persian, Radio Farda (Netherlands). There is no independent English/Foreign news about Iran anymore, simply because producing content needs money and ads don’t generate enough. Funds must be injected into any entity with the main focus on Iran.

I don’t know in which country do you live, but if your country is a “democracy” and its official network news has a dedicated Persian service, I have an eye-opening mission for you [evil laughter]: Go to or write to your representatives and ask why your tax should turn into a very active Persian service while your country has the X problem, and listen to their answers, if they give you any.

The whole point is, I wasn’t always this side of the isle. I gradually migrated from the opposite side and therefore I know the lies about the country and the government. I used to invent and tell them.
I remember in 2007 right after the Lebanon war, my Christian Lebanese friend (of Armenian origin) came to Iran. We used to argue, he defended Hezbollah and Iranian government vehemently, I made fun of him and told him this is OUR money and government has no right to send it to Lebanon and it’s basically stealing. That day he couldn’t convince me, I was a brain-washed idiot who couldn’t accept anything other than what I was told. I needed time and the spark which thankfully BBC gave me with a little lie that I recognized. Now I think we do not spend enough on Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Why the hell aren’t we spending on Jordan, Cyprus and Egypt to receive “something” in return?

Now I believe in the following sentence: Any country is lucky to have a leader like Ayatollah Khamenei for life. I would gladly give my years to him if I could so he remains longer while I’m gone, to hold the country longer and return it to where it deserves. I guess that sums it up.

Take care.

Thanks for the answer to my question.
I read Iran News Daily far more frequently than I do Iran International.
I’m Australian and you’d be surprised at what we can get away with here, unless we’re calling for the mass murder of politicians we can get away with saying just about anything else, our politicians are pretty thick skinned.
You take care too.

Iran news daily is better, less lies.

Well, you’re right about your thick skinned politicians, they are one of a kind and not in a good way.

But it’s not what I meant. Try to change what matters, like the system of governance, turning Australia into a republic, break a taboo (like asking questions about the Holocaust) or even pure financial or environmental matters, like wold-fires, ruining environment in protected territories for coal, gas and oil. Or lock-downs, the control. Why Australia should fight American wars or hurt itself financially following American illegal sanctions. Something like that.
Or like our “activists”, burn something, take arms and shoot and kill a police or security force. Try to overthrow the government. Then you’d be surprised how every country is similar.

By the way, I immensely enjoyed the work of your countrymen and women in “theJuiceMedia.com” with its “honest government ads. They are simply brilliant. I’m heading there now to see if they published something new. ;)

I wish you could live in Australia for a few months so you could see what freedom of expression means for us.
Many people here call for a change in the political system, some want to reform the current parliamentary system, some want to switch to a Presidential system, etcetera.
We had a referendum to switch to a republic back in 1999 and it failed, but some people have been calling for a republic for 50 years before that, and now we’re due for another one anytime soon, which will pass according to all the latest polls.
As to financial, environmental, resources management, lockdowns, Holocaust, matters you’re in for a bigger surprise. We have 3 major parties here and several minor parties, and all of them have very different stances on the varying issues you listed. Sometimes their interests coincide and sometimes they don’t, sometimes they ally along some lines and sometimes they oppose each other on others.
It makes for a real mishmash of priorities that puts our democratic system at a disadvantage to other more autocratic types of democracy like yours or Russia’s. Your systems are more one minded and can get things done in quick time when they want/need to, but our type of democracy spends so much time arguing amongst themselves so we never get anything done when we should/need to.
And up until only 12 months ago I was one of the people who wanted to switch our style of democracy into a more autocratic system that could compete with nations like China, but not anymore.
I finally realized I really love all the freedoms that Australia’s won/achieved over the years, and I know some of those precious freedoms would be lost if we switched to a system like yours or Russia’s.
We also have a Federation of 6 states and one Territory, which means we can have the ruling Government of the Federation belonging to one party and the leaders of each individual state/territory belonging to either of the 2 other major parties, or a coalition of 2 or more minor parties.
As I said our political system makes it really hard for our governments to do what they want/need to do, but on the plus side it also makes it hard for them make us do anything we don’t want to.
You don’t have that freedom in Iran and I wish you did, I wish everyone in the world had that freedom.
I think if everyone in the world could have a taste of the freedoms we enjoy here in Australia [one of the few things I’m very proud of], everyone in the world would prefer to switch to our ‘not as efficient’ political system, because even if our system isn’t as efficient as the more efficient political systems are, we get a choice in many things none of the other systems allow.
There’s an old saying,
“you can’t miss what you’ve never had”,
And that may be true, but I prefer to use this saying,
‘you can aspire for more if you choose to’ [allowed to],
As to following the US into all their wars, no that’s not something I’m proud of, or ever supported during my voting life.
As a child I watched the end of the Vietnam war on TV and was sickened by it. In my teens I saw all the documentaries that exposed the US’s debauch activities [Donald Rumsfeld] during that war and developed an anti US mentality, which I still adhere to even now [except for the 4 short years Trump was in office].
I liked Trump’s non interventionist foreign policies [except his policy on Iran and Palestine], and his focus on China as an economic threat, and his focus on rebuilding US manufacturing and primary production, and I loved his anti LGBTQI stance most of all.
Cheers and best wishes.

I’m here too doc……stop talking to yourself.

“Yours are infected and not even look up availabel facts, which are on internet for free”,

I think I look up more facts than anyone posting on SF.
Did you understand the link I sent you explaining how the Iranian Presidential election system works, it showed you were wrong with your facts, very wrong, so don’t throw stones when you live in a glass house.

Before 2018 I condemned both the Arab League and Israel’s actions/intentions in Syria and applauded Iran’s intervention, but since then I’ve changed my stance, now I condemn Iran’s current activities in Syria and sympathize with Israel [not support them], and I also applaud the Arab Leagues efforts to assist Assad’s Government [even though the Saudi Prince is a vicious murderer].
But I haven’t changed my stance on all 3 nations because I’ve changed my biases in any way, I’ve changed my stance because the situation has changed, I support anyone who benefits the Syrian people, even old enemies, and I condemn Syria’s allies for their misbehaviors too, and occasionally even criticize Assad and his Government.
Education has nothing to do with anything, our primitive caveman ancestors managed to get smarter and better without any formal education, morality and obedience to ones own conscience are much more important factors when it comes to working out our differences and problems. Well educated people aren’t more moralistic than uneducated people, just smarter, and it’s the smart people who got us into this mess in the first place, so I say get rid of them and let some moralistic philosophers take over.