Since this appears to be iran versus america day i shall throw my sombrero into the ring.
The question never asked:
what is the basis of america's animosity towards iran?
Members of the current american regime dealt with freshly revolutionized iran in 1980 to prevent jimmy carter from being reelected president - the origins of l'affair iran/contra.
for those who have forgotten, american hardliners negotiated a deal where iran would not release the u.s embassy hostages until after the 1980 presidential election. in return iran received weapons from both the u.s and israel for use in its war against iraq. a war that saddam hussein was encouraged to start by his western backers.
so what has happened?
since all wars are based on economics there is obviously a hidden economic agenda. i strongly suspect that hidden reality is that the internal contradictions to america existing as a single nation are about to come to the surface.
contrary to the fantasy of the u.s as an immensely wealthy nation, the truth is that without massive federal financial intervention many of its states would collapse, and that it is only the current level of astronomical defense and deficit spending that is preventing this from occurring. and once that unsustainable spending level substantial decreases as it soon will, then what?
couple that with the fact that america's southern neighbors are essentially failed states with populations that are totally dependent on remittances from immigrants in the u.s.
the millions who are there and the millions more who are coming are setting the stage for an unaviodable and violent backlash.
the same is true for israel. it cannot continue to exist as an island of false prosperity, a prosperity guaranteed only by american financial support, in a sea of desperately poor populations that far out number it. its days in existence are numbered, too.
therefore the beating of the war drum is a diversionary tactic. the american regime, and the israeli, are in complete desperation and must use all means to divert their citizens from a very inconvinent and ugly truth:
playtime is over.
An additional note:
quite often the deeds current american regime is compared to that of richard nixon's. there is an extreme difference that is curiously overlooked, president nixon inherited a domestic and global situation that was in complete turmoil. if nothing else his actions most likely prevented the u.s from fracturing then.
and the most important point: his regime was never accused of stealing a single dollar. not one red cent. contrast that with the present regime which is engaged in "smash and grab capitalism" on a massive scale.
could this be a clear and unmistakable sign that extreme financial difficulties are very near at hand?