Many Pakistanis both Pan-Islamists and secularists see Iran as the brave country that stands up to Western imperialism simply because it has cut off economic, political and diplomatic ties with America and does not comply to Israeli and Western demands.
Pakistanis and other Muslims who believe this are missing out on many facts.
Firstly Iran, unlike Pakistan, has large oil reserves that it can export abroad and make huge profits from the oil market as well as use it domestically. Add to that, it has a much smaller and stable population and more resources that Western sanctions do much less damage to a country like Iran than an overpopulated country like Pakistan which has limited energy resources and a much larger population.
But even with all these factors put in place there are many negative things that the Iranian people have had to suffer through compared to Pakistanis.
While Pakistan is a relatively secular country and gives better rights to it's women and minorities, Iran is a much more strict society where women have to cover their heads in public.
Ironically Sunni Muslims are given fewer rights than non-Muslims.
Punishments for minor crimes (though now possibly decreased) such as alcohol consumption are severe. Public executions are frequent. People with personal relationships outside of marriage have to keep their relationships a secret from the state.
Many Iranians regret allowing the Mullahs/Islamists to take over and there are various movements in the country to overthrow the Mullahs.
Iran also lags behind Pakistan in technology and transportation safety, thanks to these sanctions. Recently many incidents of air crashes by various Iranian airliners both government and private have been reported.
This is because of Western sanctions that don't allow Iran to buy modern airliners such as Boeings and Airbuses, forcing the country to use outdated Soviet built aircraft which come with all sorts of technical problems, making them a serious hazard to public safety.
Iran has been able to buy a few second hand Western planes, but very few companies are willing to sell aircraft of high quality whether new or used.
Pakistan on the other hand has been able to maintain an excellent fleet of modern aircraft and purchase new planes.
While on the subject of aviation, it is worth mentioning that Boeing has bought over a hundred million dollars worth of components from Pakistan including engine parts for the GE94 engines in it's Boeing 777 series and other components for it's B767s. This would not be possible under sanctions.
People who argue that Iran has managed to protect it's sovereignty despite being militarily weaker than Pakistan should know that Iran has close military ties to the Russian Federation (RF).
With NATO's heavy presence in Central Asia and the Middle East, the Russian Federation is most likely react sharply to any American, Israeli or joint NATO attack on Iran.
Iran is an important ally for the Russian Federation being rich in energy resources both strategic and militarily.
Western sanctions have opened an opportunity for the RF to sell it's products in the Iranian market as a substitute for all modern technology that Iran is unable to purchase.
Many ignorant hardliner religious Iranians and their admirers ignore the fact that the Iranian government has been silent to Russian atrocities in Chechnya or the fact that Iran sided with Armenia against Azerbaijan in the Karabakh wars.
This is all despite the fact that Azerbaijan is Shia Muslim like Iran and the top officials in the Iranian government ever since the revolution are ethnic Azeris including the supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
All these facts must be observed by people before they reconsider the Iranian regime as the tough kid in the neighborhood who stands up to the big bullies.
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