Yes, our policy towards Iran has been a disaster since 1953 when the US backed a coup which installed the Shah into power. While it was an ostensibly pro-US regime, it was eventually overthrown under Carter's watch. I do think that Carter is often unfairly blamed for things that weren't really his fault, as he inherited quite a mess when he took office after the Nixon-Ford years.
Reagan took advantage of the situation and made backroom deals with Iran. There's been a lingering allegation that his campaign arranged to have the Iranian terrorists hold our embassy hostages until after Carter was out of office, to ensure Reagan's victory in 1980. Then his administration traded arms for hostages in the Iran-Contra deal. In the same decade, we were helping Iraq against Iran, but by the time Bush was in office, Iraq became the big enemy and Iran was put on the back burner.
I'm not sure what the future holds at this point. The situation with Russia seems a bit more disconcerting as well. Then there might be problems closer to home, economically and politically. A lot of Americans are growing weary of being the world's policeman. Many believe our government should worry about our problems here at home rather than trying to solve the problems of the whole world.
I don't know if it's entirely Obama's fault either, since this situation predated his administration by decades. If we had acted earlier, such as during the Carter or Reagan years, then it might not have gotten out of our control. Our problem now is that if we take any aggressive action against Iran, it could trigger a negative response from either Russia or China - or both.
The problem today is that the nuclear genie is out of the bottle, with more nations and individuals having knowledge of that technology. There are even high school kids who know how to build an atomic bomb. It's not like it's a big secret anymore, so all we can do is delay the inevitable as best we can.
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