The former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger once said that Iran needed to decide whether it was "a nation or a cause". The "cause" was to spread the Islamic revolution, Shiite style, the priority of the ayatollahs since the overthrow of the Shah in 1979. That involved crushing the rival brand of Islam, the Sunni version practised by most of its Arab neighbours. It included defying the US, otherwise known as "the Great Satan", under the rallying cry of "Death to America". And, of course, it required the destruction of Israel. This to-do list didn't leave Iran with too many friends in the world, though it made common cause with...
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