"It is a country with a dismal record on human rights", no better than some countries which are close allies of the USA.

And if Iran was to get attacked, in the same way as Iraq was, its prospects for moving towards becoming a freer society would be far far worse than they will be otherwise.

A major factor in preserving a repressive regime in Iran has been external pressure, notably including the murderous war against Iran launched by Saddam Hussein with the encouragement and support of the then US government.