IRANIANS (not all) see themselves as HUWHITE ADJACENT ergo belongs to the WESTERN CIVILIZATION. Combined that delusion with their actual history and past accomplishments you have the recipe of delusions of grandeur.I've been reading up about the next big area to invest in. According to what some China Venture Capitalists believe, its Southeast Asia with the most important areas being Indonesia and Vietnam due to their size and growth potential. Also from China's perspective, whatever feeling they harbour against them, they will get the job done well enough when asked. So thats probably why China has been doing a lot of investing there because it believes they will have the best return. A lot of other countries lack competence or are simply unstable and lack the ability to be trusted. For example Vietnam and China has a lot of bad blood but Vietnam just wants to money and the job will be done. In contrast some country like Iran is supposed to be China's friend but spends so much time insulting it and trying to pivot to the west with not much development on the money given. I know sanctions suck but at least be less arrogant about it when you're in such a state.
So all this talk about the next big thing being India might be a Red herring and the real deal is in SEA. Something India will miss out on since a few of those places are Muslim.
Most of these anti-China IRANIANS blame their incompetence and impotence to the current theocratic leadership. In their minds without those geriatric Mullahs, Iran would be swimming with great success!! Based on scant evidence and reliant solely on make believe fanatic fantasy.