My Iranian friends tell me....

...that you or me, just about any American citizen can walk down any street in Tehran and be 100% safe. Even if you get lost you can stop and ask directions and get friendly help. I even saw something on the news last week about the many American basketball players over there who play in the Iranian leagues and they love it there and the people there love having them. But of course the Bush administration is trying to force them to leave as playing basketball, being friendly and diplomatic is just not acceptable and I'm sure Hannity, Limbaugh and Coulter would call it treason and being unpatriotic.
They (my Iranian friends) and I both agree this is just another version of the "Cold War". Using scare tactics both here and over there to justify huge and excessive defense budgets and to benefit both nation's leaders politically.

Like over here, the same goes over there:

"Sorry my citizens, there is not enough money for education or health care programs as we need every dollar we can spare to build up our armies and build more lethal missiles to protect you from those people overseas that want to come over here and kill you and your family"

the "Cold War". We have been lied to and slipped right back into another Cold War era.

Those big eyebrowed, bear looking people (the stereotyping the media did back then) all hated us and wanted to kill us, yadda, yadda.
The hidden story was they wanted to be just like us. Black market Levis fore $200 in the eighties, American cigarettes, music, etc.
Oh yeah, one thing they always forget to mention, they all have families that they love, wives, husbands, children and parents, etc. They work, go to school but forget the human side, just bomb them has been the most popular policy over the years.