Bibi won!

[Al B. Sure!]

ISIS isn't a threat to us but they're a humanitarian crisis. Iran is neither.

[Jon Miller]

I don't think ISIS is a threat to the US.

JM

[regexcellent]

Iran has been a humanitarian crisis for decades, just not one that we're doing anything about. Ditto plenty of other countries like North Korea. In any case Iran's not going to make humanitarian conditions any better; it'll just make sure the Shiites are on top and not the Sunnis. That's the long and short of it.

Iran is threatening because of its funding of international terrorism and the fact that it getting nuclear weapons is hugely destabilizing to the region. It'll lead to widespread nuclear proliferation among Arab states which is near about the last thing we want.

Moreover the Iranians were/are responsible for much of the insurgencies in both Iraq and Afghanistan. They are not and never will be our friends.

[Jon Miller]

My office mate is from Iran and many other physicists I know.

It isn't great there but not a humanitarian crisis. They have more freedom than Saudi Arabia and other similar nations. They are probably the most secular Arab state (naturally, the people aren't particularly interested in being strict muslims) after Turkey and Morocco.

I don't care if Iran will be our friends, probably they shouldn't be after our behavior the last 30 years.

JM

[C0ckney]

iran is a bastion of human rights and democracy compared to most western allied states in the region.

[DinoDoc]

They are probably the most secular Arab state...

[Jon Miller]

For example

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/08/20138512624781648.html

JM

[Hauldren Collider]

They're so secular they threw out their relatively secular shah for a bunch of ayatollahs

[Jon Miller]

That was because the shah banned public displays of religion and such things. It was anti-muslim, not just secular.

JM

[regexcellent]

More to the point they're not Arab, secular or no.

[Imran Siddiqui]

It's more because the Shah was a brutal despot who was getting ridiculously rich while the people lived crappy lives. And yes, I'd agree, Iran is likely less secular as a society than the Arab states. And they aren't a threat to the US (neither is ISIS, but ISIS is a far greater humanitarian threat). And Bibi is a ****ing warmonger and no better than the Ayatollahs of Iran. And reg has his heads up his ass.

[Proteus_MST]

Hm ... Iran isn´t a threat to the USA or europe ... but the most secular state in the region? I don´t think so


I don´t believe that, for example in saudi arabia, people would get incarcerated and flogged just for making a video where they dance to the song "Happy"

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29272732

(of course saudi arabia does a lot of **** on its own ... but AFAIK no **** that Iran doesn´t do as well)

[Imran Siddiqui]

Women can't freaking drive in Saudi Arabia, while they can in Iran.

Hell, 60% of Iranian university students are women and women can vote in elections. Try seeing that on the Arabian Peninsula.

[Proteus_MST]

Women can't freaking drive in Saudi Arabia, while they can in Iran.

Hell, 60% of Iranian university students are women and women can vote in elections. Try seeing that on the Arabian Peninsula.

They aren´t allowed to drive in SA ... I give you that (but are allowed to fly ... which creates the hilarious situation that female pilots aren´t allowed to drive to the airport themselves, before then they can freely enter an airplanes cockpit and take control )

But 70% of SAs students are women
In contrast to this, the percentage of women in iranian universities has declined, when in 2012 a study showed that women got better grades than men and several un iversities in the iranian republic responded by banning women from several study topics, like nuclear science, computer science, electrical engineering and many more

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Saudi_Arabia#Women.27s_rights

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_the_Islamic_Republic_of_Iran#Banning_of_women_from_universities

While I step back from my previous statement that SA is more secular than Iran, I still grade them both as equal with regards to their status of religious control and their human rights violations ... just both in their own respective ways.
I would never ever want to live in any of those 2 countries ... especially not if I were a woman

[DinoDoc]

Are you talking about the state department funding anti-Likud activists in Israel? Cause that's wasted (and ****ing corrupt as hell) whether they win or lose.

If we're going to try and buy an election in a foreign country, I'd at least like it to be a successful venture. Otherwise they might as well have spent them money on hookers and blow.