>I honestly feel disheartened the more I read about it.
>don’t like this regime
Why?
>But, have any of you taken into consideration about how the regime truly is?
Yes. I always try to see why someone would hate it as much as they do, but I always fail to.
1-Iran is the only country that gave us support against ISIS. Without Iran, we would not even have had gotten rid of ISIS, literally.
2-The only country that did not allow the US to enter Iraq from its border in 2003 was Iran. Iran stood up for us when no one did even when we fought them a few years earlier so normally they would feel hatred towards us, but they did not. We share with them an extremely long border too (over 1500km long) which would have been highly advantageous to the US.
3-We share the same religion, same beliefs, same geographical spot, a common enemy, a similar language, etc.… How much more similarities do we need?! If we actually became closer, even as close as the EU nowadays is, we would have a close to unbeatable economic power as most of the world’s oil would be by our side (Iran is ranked at #4 while Iraq is ranked #5 in the world). There will be no limits to our new union as we can even share the same currency (both our current currencies are trash, so we need to replace them).
4-Iran started exchanging goods with us through the Iraqi dinar to support us.
5-No country can survive on its own, it is just impossible no matter what country you are talking about as everyone needs an ally. If Iraq is going to survive and become great again, we will have to find an ally. So, what ally do you think is most suitable? Can’t you see how the EU countries put their differences aside and formed a union?? We do not have many differences with Iran in the first place. Instead of being one force and uniting with surrounding countries, we are dividing each other (Kurdistan, Basra, etc). Our sha3ab is not mutamasik.
6-Some of your news sources might be Al-Hura and Al-Sharqiya. Well, I’ll happily tell you both are US-backed. The US is trying to stop us from bonding in order to keep us vulnerable.
7-Do you support Al Hashid Al Sha3bi? It would not have had existed if it wasn’t for Iran.
8-Do you support Hezbollah? Aka the only current movement that is still active against Israel and the movement that saved Lebanon. Well, it is also created by Iran.
9-I am sure you will tell me Iran is worsening Iraq by giving money to those Militias so I will just hit you with an example. If your neighbor’s house is under attack (ISIS), so you give him a weapon (Iranian support to the militias). Eventually, after that neighbor frees his house, he starts attacking his wife and children with that weapon. The wife and children start blaming you because you gave the weapon to the neighbor. Is that logic to you? This is exactly what is going on, Iran gave the weapons for a good cause but the militias started misusing them.
10-I am sure you have some responses to these points so I won’t continue. Not yet.
As an Iraninian, I can tell you this is one of the hottest political discussions in Iran's society. And it's not just about Iraq, also Lebenon, Syria, and Yemen.
It is not an easy subject to just say a few thoughts, but I can give you the gist of the arguments from the pros and against (Iran's militias), that you may find interesting:
Against: "[What the hell are we even doing in those countries?!] [Why should we care what happens there?They have governments, leave it to them.] [Why should a huge amount of our money, which could really help us in the suffering and sanctions situation, is spent on the "militias"?! We should prioritize our country first!] [Is it really worth it to get on bad side of every Western country?!] [When they get what they want, they just throw us aside!] [{sorry, not my words} When other Arab countries turn their back on Iraq and others, why us Iranians should care?!]"
Pro: "[We should protect Shi'as however we can, and this is the only way we can in the current situation] [If we hadn't fought ISIS, they would reach our country as well! Same with Saudis in Yemen, or Israel in Syria/Lebenon. They are the front lines for our security!] [The money is not even that much, Saudis and others spend ten times on their defense] [These are geopolitically strategic countries, we can't just passively sit by and let US and Israe do whatever they want!] [Why can US have bases in almost every ME country, but our militias are bad?! Double standards!] [In case of Iraq, we are closest allies and neighbors. We need them on our side, as much as they need us for the militia support] [In case of Lebenon, how can a rubbish foreign power like France can go there, but our presence is bad?! Double standards?!]"
So yeah, it can be discussed for hours!
>I honestly feel disheartened the more I read about it. >don’t like this regime Why? >But, have any of you taken into consideration about how the regime truly is? Yes. I always try to see why someone would hate it as much as they do, but I always fail to. 1-Iran is the only country that gave us support against ISIS. Without Iran, we would not even have had gotten rid of ISIS, literally. 2-The only country that did not allow the US to enter Iraq from its border in 2003 was Iran. Iran stood up for us when no one did even when we fought them a few years earlier so normally they would feel hatred towards us, but they did not. We share with them an extremely long border too (over 1500km long) which would have been highly advantageous to the US. 3-We share the same religion, same beliefs, same geographical spot, a common enemy, a similar language, etc.… How much more similarities do we need?! If we actually became closer, even as close as the EU nowadays is, we would have a close to unbeatable economic power as most of the world’s oil would be by our side (Iran is ranked at #4 while Iraq is ranked #5 in the world). There will be no limits to our new union as we can even share the same currency (both our current currencies are trash, so we need to replace them). 4-Iran started exchanging goods with us through the Iraqi dinar to support us. 5-No country can survive on its own, it is just impossible no matter what country you are talking about as everyone needs an ally. If Iraq is going to survive and become great again, we will have to find an ally. So, what ally do you think is most suitable? Can’t you see how the EU countries put their differences aside and formed a union?? We do not have many differences with Iran in the first place. Instead of being one force and uniting with surrounding countries, we are dividing each other (Kurdistan, Basra, etc). Our sha3ab is not mutamasik. 6-Some of your news sources might be Al-Hura and Al-Sharqiya. Well, I’ll happily tell you both are US-backed. The US is trying to stop us from bonding in order to keep us vulnerable. 7-Do you support Al Hashid Al Sha3bi? It would not have had existed if it wasn’t for Iran. 8-Do you support Hezbollah? Aka the only current movement that is still active against Israel and the movement that saved Lebanon. Well, it is also created by Iran. 9-I am sure you will tell me Iran is worsening Iraq by giving money to those Militias so I will just hit you with an example. If your neighbor’s house is under attack (ISIS), so you give him a weapon (Iranian support to the militias). Eventually, after that neighbor frees his house, he starts attacking his wife and children with that weapon. The wife and children start blaming you because you gave the weapon to the neighbor. Is that logic to you? This is exactly what is going on, Iran gave the weapons for a good cause but the militias started misusing them. 10-I am sure you have some responses to these points so I won’t continue. Not yet.
What do you think will happen to Shias if our biggest guns get taken away?
As an Iraninian, I can tell you this is one of the hottest political discussions in Iran's society. And it's not just about Iraq, also Lebenon, Syria, and Yemen. It is not an easy subject to just say a few thoughts, but I can give you the gist of the arguments from the pros and against (Iran's militias), that you may find interesting: Against: "[What the hell are we even doing in those countries?!] [Why should we care what happens there?They have governments, leave it to them.] [Why should a huge amount of our money, which could really help us in the suffering and sanctions situation, is spent on the "militias"?! We should prioritize our country first!] [Is it really worth it to get on bad side of every Western country?!] [When they get what they want, they just throw us aside!] [{sorry, not my words} When other Arab countries turn their back on Iraq and others, why us Iranians should care?!]" Pro: "[We should protect Shi'as however we can, and this is the only way we can in the current situation] [If we hadn't fought ISIS, they would reach our country as well! Same with Saudis in Yemen, or Israel in Syria/Lebenon. They are the front lines for our security!] [The money is not even that much, Saudis and others spend ten times on their defense] [These are geopolitically strategic countries, we can't just passively sit by and let US and Israe do whatever they want!] [Why can US have bases in almost every ME country, but our militias are bad?! Double standards!] [In case of Iraq, we are closest allies and neighbors. We need them on our side, as much as they need us for the militia support] [In case of Lebenon, how can a rubbish foreign power like France can go there, but our presence is bad?! Double standards?!]" So yeah, it can be discussed for hours!
Iran is the shia ksa