I never said Iran should be a NATO puppet or whatever. You obviously didn't get my point bro. What I meant is you can be independent and still cooperate with the west/U.S, do you think China,and Russia(prior to ukraine issue)are NATO puppets? They are the two biggest rivals we have in the world (farrrrrr more than Iran can ever be), but that doesn't stops them from trading, cooperating with U.S on other world issues of mutual interests. My point is you shouldn't base your foreign policy on ideology or look at it from as zero sum game. INTERESTS are always paramount over anything. That's what your mullahs don't seem to understand. Hopefully your new president Rohani will change this, he seems to be pragmatic/realistic not like ahmadinejad
All the difference in your point of view and what we Iranians and out leader think comes from a different stand point of view. The way you talk, shows you are under influence of Western mass propaganda. I,m not because I am both logical and living in Iran too. The difference comes from your view as seeing the WEST as the only option to grow for better. It is now years that this perception mostly changed. Today, countries like Iran are trying to fit into treaties like SHANGHAI PACT. You call Hamas, Hizbullah terrorist while we call them resistance forces. You see Hamas and Hizbullah az killing Israeli solders and firing rockets so they are terrorists, but we see them more logical. We see Palestine as a nation who has been living in Palestine for thousands of years. It is called their COUNTRY and land then. We oppose Israel becoz it forced itself into poor Palestinians with the help of Not-terrorist UK and US. They killed hundreds of thousands of them, forced them out of their mother land to live in refugee camps and still instead of so called FREE WORLD help these poor Palestinians they help occupiers and murderers to fit better in their evil intentions. It is funny and sad to hear, some plus 2000 poor people burned in cold blood in GAZA (hundreds of innocent children among them!!) got killed by Israeli troops and the FREE , CIVILIZED WORLD hooora them, and US and other Western non senses, condemn Hamas solders from killing A FEW Israelis mostly soldiers!!! Let,s imagine I punched you in face first and kicked you out of your house who you and your family lived for thousand years. Let,s just imagine... I kicked you out and killed as many family members as I could... now, after a while, you come up defending yourself and kill only one of my family members... Let,s even imagine, I started first... i did it first... I killed to of your soldiers... do u have the right to kill thousands of my family kids? Hizbullah is the same... They are defending their land... Instead of standing with rightful defenders and poor people , you stand with killers??? This is one reason I doubt the existence of any sane leaders in west.
If you go back into history you see that Iran was a part of Western alliance or so called FIRST WORLD formed after WW2. What happened? Iranians did not want a KING so they started to fix an elected prime minister (mussadeq). US admitted they overthrown him in order to install a YES, SIR SAYER pupet king They admitted it and expressed their regrets by Modeline Alberite. They financed every gangster and supported them with all they need in order to destabilize Iran and change its regime. Is current Iranian government system bad? Iranians themselves chose it by election in 1980. Is n,t it democracy to let local people decide what they want?? ok, in last 35 years after the first Constitution Election, Iranians participated in 35 elections. Elections to elect Presidents, Parliament, local municipality members or Constitution oversee counsel members. So, it is even more than DEMOCRATIC... let,s say in comparison... well...most European so called democracies are in fact Monarchies or semi-parliamentary monarchies. UK is a monarch. OK, let,s get to the more democratic countries... let,s talk about USA, Canada, Australia and other well known so called democracies... Ok, President is elected in USA...but how? people has right to vote but also have those unelected senate members... Let,s talk about SENATE or UPPER HOUSES...Are they elected by people? or they get elected by a middle medium? IF it is the case, %90 of Iranian seats are elected directly and other %10 are elected by medium, by those we got elected already by people... Like any other stable countries Iranian main line of policies is relatively FIXED and no president or supreme leader can behave against it... Is n,t it the case for two part system of USA? can Barak Obama tomorrow, do something against main like of USA interest and policy??
So, Iran is one of the most democratic nations around the planet. It is funny how unelected, absolute monarchs around the world with good relations with West are good...and worthy to complement by western leaders... but Iran with its system that created, elected and are electing still..is a dictatorship!!!
If you read the history you see clearly that IRAN became an enemy to the WEST only after SHAH of Iran felt strong enough to act on its own... last couple of years of his rule is well shown in his last interviews (YouTUBE it)..
Iran says one simple thing... West has two choices...either to embarrass itself with further of this or to accept Iran as its people want it... anybody told you the opposite that most Iranians don,t want this system is delusional... Anybody leaves in Iran knows that still the majority over %70 of Iranians support the current system... Is n,t it enough? IS n,t it democracy?
Western leaders are full of sh...it when they talk about freedom, democracy and fairness. The only country to acquire nuclear weapons (WMDs) and use it against innocent ordinary people is USA. Other criminals are exactly those who act accordingly... whether it be Saddam who used chemical weapons against tens of thousands of Iranians and innocent Iraqi Kurds in Halabce, or your Christian Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini... Christians have killed hundreds of millions... yes, hundreds of millions of innocent people by waging religious, racial, expansionist wars in Europe or around the world. Between 5 to 10 million Iranians or half of its population in WW era were killed out of starve due to UK, US and Soviets using its land and resources to feed their armies. If we want to be fair, we should let Iranian kill at least equal numbers if not more!!
The current dual, two face double standards of the west makes me sick... Nuclear bomb is bad and Iran can,t have it becoz it says, Israeli should give Palestinians rights back to them... But Israel can easily talk about NUKING Iranian nuclear sites!!! funny right? ... France talks about using Nukes when necessary against what they think are their enemies!!! USA, RUSSIA and all other nations can have nukes and it is good and only for their defense...but when it comes to Iran who has not attacked any country and surrounded by 5 atomic powers and other enemies, Iran has no right to defend itself!!!! If you tell this to my 2 years old cosine she will laugh hard back at you... You have the right to defend yourself but I don't!! It is bad to hang drug traffickers and murderers in IRan but it is more than OK, to behead hundreds in KSA or in USA by injecting or electric chairs!!!
Please stop this non sense... This kind of propaganda only is useful for people like you in west... We chose our way 35 years ago... Maybe in future, Iranians themselves, decide to change government system...but as far as people of Iran don,t want a change..who the hell you or your western leaders are to tell us what to do?
Despite all these funny , non sense double standards...
Our new president and other authorities opened their arm for western countries with on simple condition... Respect for Respect... Equal respect... I can assure you from what I know from my people in Iran... Iran will never change its way... we rather die than seeing others offend our pride... most of Iranians are ready to starve for a while but do whatever they like to do... One fair human being must cry a river when seeing this circus style western policy...
And don,t worry my western friend... Iran and other proud nations like India, Pak, Russia, China and other ones will rise again soon... although they already are RISING... and PROUD... one can not comment on our way of life unless he lived with us and knows our type... we are what we are... will be a good friend of west only if they act like a friend... we will accept standards only when it is not double standard... I sometimes wonder how naive western people are to be fooled with this lousy propaganda that no logical reasons are supporting it...
Sorry for my looooooong essay... but needed to tell you and others who think like you about these facts... either you are a fair person and modify your understanding and respect as as we respect ourselves or never try to convince an Iranian to leave what he chose in order for you to be satisfied of us...
PS: btw, If Iranian leaders does nt understand your simple reason so how come Iran is growing even stronger day by way since we turned it an Islamic Republic??? Do n't you think, maybe they are smart and this is the way every other sovereign proud nation must follow??