"I have lived on the lip of insanity,
wanting to know reasons,
knocking on a door.
It opens.
I've been knocking from the inside!" ~Rumi

Now Persians are so materialistic--a far as I know, very few of them are religious fundamentalists like the media portrays. Forced asceticism has pushed them the other way. The yamas and niyamas in yoga are supposed to develop naturally; you pursue a simpler, wholesome life naturally as you shed everything that isn't you.
I wonder what will happen there. Obama is putting together a Clinton-esque cabinet and they were very pro-war, so who knows. Clinton was hawkish like Bush, he just had a shinier package. But they are busy bombing many other places right now, I have no idea what will happen.