If anything, it’s the Saudi’s that are trying to crush Russia in retaliation for Russia helping Iran.
And everybody’s terrified to put Iran in its place over the decades? Drown Iran in its own oil it can’t sell, it has nothing else to offer the planet except misery and grief.
Iran is a lot like China in this sense, with China being substantially more dangerous in the long run.
Iran’s nukes are a very serious problem because they are islamic nutjobs. China, on the other hand is developing into an economic and military power.
Both Gov’t’s could care less about their own people when push comes to shove. Neither country, and China more so don’t care how many of their own citizens die of starvation or as soldiers.
While China’s economic growth combined with their communist government may allow them to project their military strength and expand those ambitions, the US would still hold the cards if we had a strong leader.