Whenever there is any kind of mass protest in Iran (especially the "Green" movement protests from 2009-2011), I wonder if the end is near for the current regime in power. The Iranian people never asked for a theocratic regime after the overthrow of the Shah...it just so happened that the followers of Khomenei were the most visible and organized compared to the pro-democracy advocates and communists. I am of the opinion that the people will eventually rise up and overthrow their current government, it's only a matter of time. But, it is hard to say when protests like these end up creating a domino effect that takes down the entire government (like 1979).
Hopefully sooner rather than later. If a liberal, pro-democracy regime takes over, then we can start talking about restoring good relations with Iran.
It's amazing to think that Iran and Israel had fairly good relations until 1979 considering how poor relations are right now. If I am not mistaken, Iran was the second Muslim-majority country to recognize Israel (after Turkey). I took a Persian history class in college and I remember a discussion on how Israel and Iran were actually natural allies at one point because of their mutual distrust of Arabs...
Well, Iran was certainly not a pro-democracy regime before 1979. They had even fewer freedoms then.
At least they didn't have religious police.
