I'm an Iranian living in the states and I hate the Islamic Republic to the bone. Islamic Republic is the evil of my era.<p>With that being said, I truly don't understand what the U.S. plan is at this point. Do they want to make Iran another Syria? Or Iraq? Because <i>everything</i> they've done in this administration is aligned with one of those examples.<p>Basically U.S. strategy is like holding a gun to someone's head and saying "kill yourself or I will kill you".<p>Of course that person is gonna fight back.<p>I am worried about a war and I'm worried the U.S. population doesn't slightly care about government's actions outside the country. And the U.S. has been acting quite hostile for many years now.<p>This is truly sad news. Not because I liked or cared about that genocidal motherfucker.
Because Islamic Republic is (probably) gonna have to respond.<p>I think there are 2 important questions:<p>1. Can Iran retaliate this?<p>2. Are they willing to?<p>I think the answer to this question 1 is, yes, they can. Shadow of war has been on Iran for more than a decade now and Iran has strong influence in Iraq and Afghanistan. I'm pretty much sure they have plans ready to attack U.S. targets in case of war. Because of course Iran cannot defend itself against U.S. in a classic war.<p>But hopefully, the answer to question 2 is, No. Supreme leader Khamenei understand that if they try to "really" retaliate this, the war may be imminent. And over all these decades he has shown that he is afraid of war and he would step back if necessary.<p>But again, we've never been this close to a war. At this point any side can miscalculate the other one's reaction.<p>Another point I want to make:
Islamic Republic is not a match for the U.S. obviously. But you have to remember: Their pain threshold is quite different.<p>Islamic Republic may lose a general or a thousand soldiers. They can take it.
But if Islamic Republic responds back with a few bombings and killing of a few American diplomats, it's enough to make it a full-blown national disaster for both the administration and the country.<p>I'm sorry about the long post. I'm afraid for my home country, family and friends who are already crushed and destroyed by the sanctions and are now threatened by war and I'm not necessarily level-headed.