🇺🇸❌🇮🇷 Despite Iran's condemnation of 9/11 & assistance in the American invasion of Afghanistan, George W. Bush included Iran in his "Axis of Evil" speech in January 2002 over possible Iranian arms supplies to Palestinian militants, undermining Khatami's domestic position.

Bush II's extreme intransigence towards Iran destroyed the credibility of its most reformist factions. Former president Mohammad Khatami offered assistance in US invasion to overthrow Afghanistan's Taliban, though Iran was rebuffed and labelled "Axis of Evil" anyway.

In the 2000s, Iran had a relatively weak military and spent far less on its armed forces than Israel and the Gulf Countries. Iran became a major military player in the Middle East thanks to the GWOT and the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan which destroyed two of Iran's enemies which could have kept its power in check.

📖 Revolutionary Iran. A history of the Islamic Republic — Michael Axworthy, 2012.

🔗 Nemets