General Discussion

And while Iran didn't start this war, let's not frame it as if they're totally innocent here by calling them the "victim state". Framing this in the same terms as Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine is wildly disingenuous.

They're a regional power with ambitions of being something greater and they're a huge destabilizing influence on the Middle East. They support Shia militias such as the Houthis (who have attacked unarmed merchant vessels in the Arabian Sea) and Hezbollah (who have repeatedly launched missiles into Israel from Lebanon). They have a wide network of intelligence operatives across the region. They paid bounties to Taliban-aligned fighters in Afghanistan for killing US personnel.

Internally, Iran is a theocracy that punishes its own people with ruthless indifference to their human rights. Just this year they've killed thousands of their own citizens for the crime of daring to engage in free speech. Their theocratic bullshit is horrifically repressive to women in particular. The killing of Neda Agha-Soltan is just one example

All that being the case, I'd still prefer we hadn't attacked Iran and I think Trump has made a huge error in doing so. The stated justifications for the attack change by the hour and there's obviously no clearly defined objective or desired end state.

Both things can be true at the same time. Iran can be a bad actor in the geopolitical affairs of the Middle East and the US military action against it can be a terrible idea. They're not mutually exclusive.