memes

Ok but the last part here sounds like you’re still looking at this through the eyes of an American. They went out of their way to humiliate the CURRENT AMERICAN PRESIDENT AT THAT TIME. WHO he is or his political affiliation were secondary considerations.

That doesn't make any sense. They helped ensure that Carter would be replaced by someone from the other party, and even made secret deals with Reagan, who sold them weapons in return for hostages. But somehow, this...didn't matter? It didn't factor into their calculus that Carter would be humiliated by having someone from the other party come to power, and that that wouldn't factor into their calculations now?

Your response implies that Iran is making strategic calculation and triangulation based on the specific political terrain of the U.S. atleast the second part does.

I'm not implying it, I'm saying it outright.

I would argue that their goal is much more general upheaval of the U.S. political system. Every subsequent American president is going to factor in the Iranians ability to upend their political mandate regardless of party affiliation. They arguably already were until the current admin.

That doesn't contradict what I'm saying. They ensured that Carter and the Democrats would suffer a humiliating defeat and now they're doing the same to Trump and the Republicans. Every president after Trump is going to have to consider those consequences, regardless of what party they belong to. They are specifically encouraging a democratic party victory in this case, but would do the opposite if, say, Kamala were overseeing this war. It's not that hard to understand.