No one wants that. The average American does not want that. The average Iranian does not want that. The average Israeli does not want that. Anyone with a lick of common sense does not want that.
So, now we come to the conundrum. To understand the situation one needs to realize that Iran is basically a third-rate power, but a power that holds strategic and geographical advantages, oil and the Strait of Hormuz, through which 40% of the world's oil needs pass. At this point I can offer only problems, and sadly, not solutions, but, perhaps, a line of thought that can help define the problems we are facing. The first step in solving a problem is defining it.
Who is in charge in Iran? I have always believed that the Supreme Leader and the Supreme Council were in charge. Now, I am not so sure. What is certainly a possibility is that Khamanei and his council are responsible for domestic issues, but that the Revolutionary Guards may have usurped external issues, meaning foreign threats and issues. On more than one occasion it appears as though Iran has two power bases, not one, and it is known that the Revolutionary Guards has a huge influence on Iranian infrastructure and is practically a financial empire within Iran. Is it possible that the religious leaders of Iran, heretofore the supreme leaders of Iran, have lost their supremacy over the Revolutionary Guards?
If so, that presents a problem. But that is only a problem if our current President thinks so and reacts in a belligerent fashion. If he does not, that is merely Iran's problem, not ours. In and of itself, forked tongues, not unlike missile testing, a common practice by the U.S., is not a reason to blow a nation to hell.
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