I've been reading a lot in the last couple of days about the situation in the Middle East after the assassination of Solimani. One argument I keep seeing over and over by conservatives is that Iran started hostilities against the US back in 1979 when it stormed a US Embasy, taking American hostages.
This is NOT the whole story, and this is NOT when the problem started. The rest of the story is that in 1953 the US CIA helped the British stage a coup against the then DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED leader of Iran. The reason for this was due to the leader wanting to nationalize their oil fields...oil fields that Britain controlled. Yes, you read that right...it really is all about oil! After helping to overthrow the leader of Iran, the US backed the monarch. This new leader was quite the authoritarian. The Shah exiled those who opposed him...including Ayatollah Khomeini (if you were around in the 80's, you are very familiar with this name).
In 1979, the Shah fell out of power due to revolution. The country was united in it's distrust of the US, after the US did what it did in 1953. At this point, Khomeini returned to Iran. Later in 1979, the US allowed the Shah to come here for medical treatment. Iran demanded the extradition of the Shah due to what they perceived as crimes against the Iranian people, but the US refused. THIS resulted in the storming of the 1979 storming of the US Embassy!
So, while it may look like Iran was the initial aggressor in all of this when you fail to note all parts of history, the actual truth is that the US was the initial aggressor...by sticking it's nose in stuff that was not their business...all over some oil!
Add to all of this that Iraq saw it's own revolution that eventually lead to the Saddam taking power in 1979. During much of the 80's, the US played both sides of the Iraq/Iran conflict...backing Iraq, while selling weapons to Iran (Iran-Contra affair ring a bell)!! That is, until Saddam invaded Kuwait, which forced the US to stand by it's Gulf allies (again, all about the oil, baby)! After Saddam was overthrown, Iran still viewed Iraq as an enemy, which, well, the US was trying to help rebuild.
Learn your history!!