My father is Persian. I don't defend the Iranian government, and the people have good reason to rise up against them, but I am of the opinion that what Mearsheimer describes in his article below is roughly what has played out in the recent weeks.

Iran wouldn't have been in this mess in the first place if it wasn't for the constant meddling/sanctions imposed on the country by the west. Read about the coup d'état in 1953 as one stark example; without which the ayatollahs wouldn't have risen to power in the first place.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iranian_coup_d'%C3%A9tat