[Chewbacca]

Very insightful article about Iran:

US-Iran Relations since 9-11: A Monologue of Civilizations


*SNIP*

September 11, 2001 is seared into the minds of many Americans as 911. If you mention this number to anyone in the US they will think of the World Trade Towers and the Pentagon attacks, and the 3,000 persons who were murdered that day. If one mentions the number 444 to many Americans, they will immediately think of the hostages from the US Embassy held by Iran for 444 days. For many Americans the first things that come to mind when one mentions Iran are: the hostage crisis, the bombing of the marine barracks and the embassy in Lebanon in the early 1980s, support for Hezbollah and other "terrorist" groups, and mullahs in black turbans leading demonstrators yelling "Marg bar Amrika" (Death to America). Many Americans do not have good feelings about Iran (2). The press has not helped. The Congress, with its many laws and regulations, and resolutions, has hardened certain perspectives.(3). The lobbyists have pressured the President and Capitol Hill to keep the pressure on Iran. The voices in Iran that seem to get through the most are those of the hardliners who rant against the US at almost any opportunity. Not many Americans think of the many people who signed the sympathy books in Tehran after 9-11, or that reformist leaders in Iran made statements of sympathy toward the US. Even some of the hardliners condemned the 9-11 attacks. Many in the US may also be unaware of the growing pro-Americanism amongst the youth in Iran.