So why is the US really messing around with Iran?
In a word, control.
By controlling Iran, which contains a huge percentage of the world's oil reserves, at least for now, the US can control the economy of every nation on the planet.
The problem for the US is that Russia, China, India and every other nation on the planet know it as well; and they aren't going to permit this to happen without a fight. Compounding this problem is that our leaders either don't know or don't want to recognize this. They see themselves as an invulnerable Caesar.
Our leaders live in a fantasy world. They think they can step in and depose the current Iranian government much like Allen Dulles did in 1953. Thus the sanctions and tough talk.
The Russians, Chinese and Indians aren't stupid. They know that by controlling Iran, the US can bankrupt or hold their economies hostage for nearly a century barring some miraculous innovation in energy use. This would then relegate them to second-class status for a long time, which is why they will pitch in and defend Iran.
Our leaders, along with their equally delusional counterparts in Great Britain and Israel, who have consumed a steady diet of their own BS for decades now, seem ready to take on Iran. By doing so, they desire to avert any attempts by other countries to begin trading for oil in anything but US dollars.
Trading for oil in the yuan or any other currency would render the US petrodollar near worthless as other countries would quickly dump it. The results would be catastrophic for the powers-that-be who have been printing money like a bat out of hell for decades now.
The thinking goes that such inflation would be devastating for us as well.
I doubt it. When leaders start thinking about us first, what they're usually worried about is their own hide.
Indeed, lesser reliance on the petrodollar might be a good thing for us commoners; it might finally shake some sense into our leaders that the world is a big place and that other people count also. It might force our leaders into thinking less about controlling the world's oil and more about our needs here at home. We might even get some investment in domestic infrastructure. And along the way, we might make some true friends in the world rather than people who ally with us out of fear.
Friends, you say? Oh, the horror, the horror. Why, Caesar doesn't need friends.
Or does he?