[Jensson]

> even if they had nukes they would not have used them for anything other than extinction level threats

I'd agree for just about any other country, but Iran have a terrorist regime that is funding terrorists everywhere. They are not like Pakistan or North Korea etc, Iran is crazy and doesn't follow normal international norms.

Even Russia and Ukraine doesn't bomb third party countries in war just for supporting the other side, that is a crazy stupid thing to do and any country behaving like that should never ever have nukes.

[BigTTYGothGF]

The US has been funding terrorists for longer than the current state of Iran (or even its predecessor) has been around: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iranian_coup_d%27état#Uni... and we still haven't nuked anybody in anger since 1945.

[Jensson]

Funding coups is not the same thing as funding terrorists. Terrorists attacks and kills civilians, coups just targets leaders. If Iran funded coups in nearby countries that would be a sane thing to do, funding terrorists is what makes them an insane force that you can't predict what they will do with a bomb.

Russia also funds coups, not terrorists. You didn't see a lot of suicide bombings and such in Ukraine before Russia attacked, Russia did the sane thing and sent in Russians in the Russian areas to build support etc, funding terrorism is just plain evil and serves no purpose. That is the difference.

[BigTTYGothGF]

OK then how about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contras#U.S._military_and_fina...

[lm28469]

> coups just targets leaders.

This died day 1 when you bombed a fucking school and killed 168 girls. For a lot of these countries the US is a terrorist state. It doesn't matter if the explosive is strapped to a guy's chest or to a tomahawk

[Jensson]

> This died day 1 when you bombed a fucking school and killed 168 girls

I didn't bomb a school, I am not American. Americans are much more against this war than most people of the world. I know a lot of Iranians that are very happy that the regime is getting bombed.

[lm28469]

> I know a lot of Iranians that are very happy that the regime is getting bombed.

Ask them about the electrical infrastructure, or the unis, or the research enters, or the heritage sites... How did it go in Afghanistan btw? The "democracy" was delivered and well received right?

[hollerith]

>They are not like Pakistan or North Korea etc, Iran is crazy

NK is much more pathological than Iran is IMHO. NK basically treats its citizens like slaves; I wouldn't say the same about Iran.

The only reason NK doesn't mess with its neighbors as much as Iran does is that NK is surrounded by major powers -- or in the case of SK a country with strong backing by the most powerful country in the world -- and even then they got up to kidnapping ordinary Japanese citizens and keeping them forever and denying to the world that they ever kidnapped them.

The current regime in Iran is theocratic, which makes it very different from the societies of most of us here, but strong religiosity and a lack of the separation of religion and government have been elements of Iranian society for many centuries.

Iran was interfered with by colonial powers, especially the Brits, who hoped to use Iran to secure a reliable supply of oil (before the Brits started to be able to access North Sea oil) and has definitively shaken off this kind of predation and now stand as an truly independent (albeit poor) nation. In contrast, the regime in NK has survived only because it would make China less secure to have a US ally right on its border. The regime in NK was and is not competent enough to do what Iran has done (namely, gain true independence without constant help from a great power).

I'm not saying Iran is good. I am asserting that it is definitely better than NK.

[ImPostingOnHN]

> Even Russia and Ukraine doesn't bomb third party countries in war just for supporting the other side, that is a crazy stupid thing to do and any country behaving like that should never ever have nukes.

To the extent this might be true, it seems like it would be even more true of the two countries that unprovokedly bombed a third party country to start the war in the first place.

[Jensson]

> two countries that unprovokedly

It isn't unprovoked, Iran current regime has chanted "Death to America" since its founding. USA has plenty of reasons to attack here which is why you don't see more international outcry or support for Iran. Iran are on their own.

[ImPostingOnHN]

Seems the US and israel have been at least as unfriendly recently.

In any case, somebody chanting a thing isn't causus belli, nor is publicly wanting someone to die.

> why you don't see more international outcry or support for Iran

What you don't see is international support for the USA or israel's war on Iran, hence why the strait of hormuz is effectively closed right now.

[lm28469]

> USA has plenty of reasons to attack

Yet none have been provided, remember the anthrax scam at the united nations? At least they put some efforts into it

[Jensson]

They don't need to provide a reason, its probably related to greed etc, but greed is still a rational reason. Iran attacking their neighbors is not rational here, it just makes the middle east hate them more.

I am not talking about international laws here, just the norms everyone follows in wars. Everyone breaks the international laws, but the norms of not attacking third parties etc are there for rational reasons, since you don't gain anything for doing so its just stupid and causes damage and strife and hurts you for doing it.

[lm28469]

> They don't need to provide a reason

Of course, since they did not ask for the congress approval, which is already against their own constitution. That's exactly the kind of things you do when you're a good guy doing the right thing

> but the norms of not attacking third parties etc are there for rational reasons, since you don't gain anything for doing so its just stupid and causes damage and strife and hurts you for doing it.

What norms? No wars = no rules of war, they started something they can't control anymore

They gain plenty from doing it in term of leverage, nobody attacked Iran in such way until now because it was well understood that this is exactly how it would play out

[megous]

What actual terrorism they funded that was actually deadlier than what US created in Iraq with ISIS (created as a result of pretty much the same, let's get some country stripped by force of some [imagined] WMDs, US adventure)?

[lm28469]

> Even Russia and Ukraine doesn't bomb third party countries

Third party to who? they all host US bases lmao, a country which just attacked them without declaring war, pearl harbor style, without congress approval, against all kind of international laws, because israel was going in anyways (according to Rubio) for their holy war

Stop drinking the kool aid and plug in your brain, it's way more nuanced than you're lead to believe. No one is "crazy", they all have very rational reasons for what they're doing, the fact that you don't even try to understand them doesn't mean they don't exist.

[Jensson]

> Third party to who? they all host US bases lmao

That is no reason to bomb them. Belarus hosts Russian bases but Ukraine doesn't bomb them. International norms is that military bases that aren't actively used to attack aren't valid targets, only Iran breaks that.

> Stop drinking the kool aid and plug in your brain, it's way more nuanced than you're lead to believe. No one is "crazy", they all have very rational reasons for what they're doing, the fact that you don't even try to understand them doesn't mean they don't exist.

They are crazy, they got the entire middle east against them now with those attacks. I read all the reports from them, they aren't condemning USA about those attacks, they do however condemn Iran for launching attacks at them. Iran strategy failed fully and all they do is dig in further and launch even more attacks on these countries.

That is insane and serves no purpose.

[lm28469]

> That is no reason to bomb them.

For you, for the new leader of Iran who just lost his dad/wife/brother/son in US strikes it might sound like a very reasonable thing to do.

> That is insane and serves no purpose.

How do you qualify the original attack that started the whole thing? Iran has been pretty clear about how it retaliates and escalates, they did not attack all the targets on day 1, they gradually increased with the US/Israel strikes. They only attacked foreign infrastructure once their own equivalent had been struck first

What do you think about the US/Israel strikes on historical buildings, electrical infrastructure, schools/uni, civilian research centers? What do you think of hegseth literally saying they're here to bring death and destruction ?

I think the US got drunk on their own supply of "we can do whatever the fuck we want because we have the biggest bombs and the cultural superiority".

> I read all the reports from them, they aren't condemning USA about those attacks,

Well you clearly didn't read much outside of US/Israel propaganda

[Jensson]

> Well you clearly didn't read much outside of US/Israel propaganda

I read every update on Aljazeera, they are very representative of the views of the middle east and aren't American or Israeli propaganda. To me it seems like it is you who only read the propaganda.

[ceejayoz]

> they are very representative of the views of the middle east

Al Jazeera is primarily funded by the government of Qatar, an American ally and (currently) enemy of Iran. It reflects Qatar's views, not that of "the middle east" as a whole.

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/18/iran-war-qatar-ras-laffan-na...

[lm28469]

> I read every update on Aljazeera

It's a newspaper not analysts reports. Did you read one of the pro israeli op-ed by any chance, I can't find anything stating Iran is "crazy"

> Analysts say US threat of ‘no quarter’ for Iran violates international law

> The US-Israeli war on Iran is illegal and goes against the interests of the American people.

> Iran war updates: Israel refinery bombed as >>> retaliatory <<< strikes reverberate

> Iran has ratcheted up the pressure on several Gulf nations by attacking their energy facilities in >>> retaliation <<< for an Israeli strike on its South Pars gasfield

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/14/analysts-say-us-thr...

https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2026/3/8/we-the-american-...

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2026/3/19/iran-war-l...

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/19/wrap-iran-ratchets-...