Yes they're expressing opposition and that is condoned by their government and Supreme Leader. It means nothing. It's propaganda. We're the Great Satan. This perpetuates this notion. The leaders of Iran could hardly be more happy with this deal. However, as I said, we're stuck with a bad deal now. At this point we're probably slightly better off agreeing to it than rejecting it, but rejecting it isn't practically possible anyway.
Still makes no sense. Literally the only thing we are giving up is money that already belongs to them. And only about a third (?) of that money is even in the U.S., so they were going to have the rest of it available to them, anyway. Ultimately, what are we giving them, once their debts are subtracted, about $18 billion? $18 billion of their own money in exchange for no nukes? If they build nukes, anyway, you might have a complaint, but if you think they are just going to ignore the deal, then no deal is a good one. This sounds like partisan grandstanding on your part.
Still makes no sense. Literally the only thing we are giving up is money that already belongs to them. And only about a third (?) of that money is even in the U.S., so they were going to have the rest of it available to them, anyway. Ultimately, what are we giving them, once their debts are subtracted, about $18 billion? $18 billion of their own money in exchange for no nukes? If they build nukes, anyway, you might have a complaint, but if you think they are just going to ignore the deal, then no deal is a good one. This sounds like partisan grandstanding on your part.
You're making me agree with toasted in this thread. Do you realize how rare that is? You must really be off the reservation to make that happen!
Iran has the human resources to be a force for modernity and change in the Middle East and South Asia if we can just get their government to progress properly. Of course, we could say that about Lebanon 30 years ago, and nothing came of that. Which was ironically partially Iran's fault.
The reality is that our experts aren't so unrealistically idealistic as you seem to be. Iran's leadership isn't interested in peace, love and understanding. They're interested in dominating the Middle East region and controlling it with their radical Shia version of Islamic theocracy. They officially say they want to destroy Israel. They actively support terror groups that kill Sunni Muslims and Jews. The Iranian leadership isn't moderate under any reasonable understanding of the word "moderate."
Here's the problem. I say, "Iranian politics are complex." You hear, "Iranians want peace, love and understanding."
Spoken like a man whose only understanding of the wider world is how it affects America. Absent the Shia/Sunni divide, you ask any person which regime they'd rather live under, I bet 9/10 say "Iran."
Saudi Arabia? No way. That's lunacy.
If they are only interested in self preservation, why do they support terrorist groups focused on targeting and killing civilians in Israel, hundreds of miles from Iran?
Because, much as many Israelis think that keeping Iran down is good for their own security, many Iranian leaders probably feel like keeping Israel occupied with the Palestinians is good for Iranian security. You keep your enemy occupied close to home, and he can't come snooping around your place.
It all depends on what you consider moderate and what you consider radical. I've been in Saudi and Qatar, as well as Bahrain, Oman, UAE, Kuwait, Iraq and Afghnistan. From my perspective, they're all radical in one way or another. In this context radical is suupporting, as a government, terrorist groups that target and kill innocent civilians of other countries.
Saudi Arabia is radical in almost every which way. And almost all of modern Islamic terrorism traces its roots back to late 19th and early 20th century Wahhabism.
Of course it isn't. The Wahhabi movement is evil as far as I'm concerned. However, the Iranian government has officially funded terrorist groups broadly and have been directly and indirectly responsible for killing 100s of Americans and many thousands of Jews, Christians and Muslims in the Middle East.
I'm no fan of Saidi Arabia by any means. However the government is supporting us and ME countries against ISIS, a Sunn terrorist group.
I actually agree with you as far as average Iranians and Saudis go. I much prefer dealing with an average Iranian. Governments are another matter.
No, I think Iranians have complex human motivations. Because they're humans.
That's insanely idiotic. If you want to predict what a foreign government is going to do, recognizing that it is made up of people is going to be a necessary first step.
And there's no deal that wouldn't satisfy Democrats as long as a Democratic president made it.
There's no possible deal that would satisfy Republicans.
To justify irrational policies, it's helpful to imagine that the Iranians are insane -- despite all evidence to the contrary.
