I'm starting to think the opposite. The only thing that might shake the West out of it delusions, is a full blown raving Islamo-nut with nukes. Perhaps even a nuclear mushroom.
The United States has invested a great deal of life and treasure to dealing with this scorpion nest. To which most of the West has been far less than helpful.
Perhaps it is best to let Iran's presidential nut-case go wild, while their means of deliver and number of weapons is limited. The French, Germans, Swedes, etc. simply aren't going to grow up until it is THEIR problem.
We've tried to protect the prissy kids on the playground from the bully, but all we've gotten is snide comments from the prissies that they can't tell who the real bully is.
My only problem with your idea is that in ALL their rhetoric, the Ayatollahs refer to America as the Great Satan. They seldom if ever refer to any European nation.
If they can master multi-stage rocketry, the difference between hitting Paris or London and New York or Washington isn't as great as many might realize.
"but all we've gotten is snide comments from the prissies that they can't tell who the real bully is.
"
it really does seem that corporate policy is dictating foreign policy in a lot of this. A lot of the european attachment to iran is that their companies do business with them (aside from the fact they are a petro-nation as well as a theocracy), and they will sell as much rope to iran as they want to avoid hanging themselves.