Long Divided, Iran Unites Against Trump and Saudis in a Nationalist FervorReading the article (excerpt below) one would think that Iran was a mild-mannered country stirred to fury by Trump's election and minor changes in Saudi Arabia. You wouldn't know that this was a country that:
1. Held repeated demonstrations where crowds yelled "Death to America" or "Death to Israel;"
2. Declared Israel a "cancer" that had to be wiped off the map;
3. Provided aid to Hezbollah and other regional pot-stirrers; and
4. Has been trying to develop nuclear weapons.
Iran is by all accounts one of the most dangerous nations on earth. Travelers are detained without reason or explanation, often on trumped-up charges. Just because Obama had some naive illusions about it being a regional force for peace, it is not.
The excerpts below would have you believe that Iran's dangerous bent is new.
After years of cynicism, sneering or simply tuning out all things political, Iran’s urban middle classes have been swept up in a wave of nationalist fervor.
The changing attitude, while some years in the making, can be attributed to two related factors: the election of President Trump and the growing competition with Saudi Arabia, Iran’s sectarian rival, for regional dominance.
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At the same time, they now believe they have something to be proud of, with Iranian-led militias playing a central role in defeating the Islamic State militant group in Syria and Iraq, increasing Iran’s regional influence in the process.
Reading the article though one wonders how the reporters reach some of their conclusions. How do they know that "Iran’s urban middle classes have been swept up in a wave of nationalist fervor" or that "they now believe they have something to be proud of" in their prowess at killing people. Do the people speak freely to the press? And if they believed in world peace and brotherhood would they open their mouths and risk getting a bullet put through the head?
Sometimes I don't know what the media is thinking when it runs this kind of garbage.