Under the Shah Iran was quite Westernized. The women could dress western and we had friendly relations. Iranians were not a threat back then. The Shah could be counted on to counter problems in the direct vicinity. Iraq was never a problem until the Shah was kicked out.
Carter is the root of everything that went wrong with Iran/Iraq and a lot of the terrorist activity that has taken place over the last 15-20 years.
I say this because Iraq and Iran have both played tippy-toe with terrorists. Iran runs arms through Iraq into Syria and Southern Lebanon. Iraq was developing WMDs and using it on it’s own citizens. Hussein was paying the families of suicide bombers in Israel.
Much of this was the direct result of destabilization, the Ayatollahs and the aftermath of Carter’s sheer brilliance.
>>Carter is the root of everything that went wrong with Iran/Iraq and a lot of the terrorist activity that has taken place over the last 15-20 years.
Worth saying again. Carter undercutting the Shah and allowing the mullahs to gain control of Iran is what really got modern Islamic expansionism and international terrorism rolling.