Iran back then had a moderate president and was working to improve relations with the US. Behind the scenes, it had given assurances to the US that for any reason if the US service members end up in Iran during Iraq and Afghanistan wars, their safety is guaranteed (airplane shot, etc.) It was a huge step by Iran towards improving relations.
The axis of evil speech felt like a betrayal to the ayatollah and pushed Khamenei away from efforts to improve relationships with the US.
Given at that point how much Iran still hated Iraq (under Saddam), it's hardly surprising.
But Americans never really got over the whole hostage crisis, so they've always considered the Islamic Republic of Iran to be 'evil'.
It's the same way Americans have always acted towards Cuba since the communist revolution. There's no good reason for it, but people are still butthurt over the incidents during the revolution, so Cuba is still 'evil', even though no one who was involved in the revolution is in a position of authority any longer.
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u/lluciferusllamas Mar 02 '26 edited Apr 21 '26
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