My theory is that there is a strong potential that Iran is going to come out of this bullshit war as a regional power that can punch way above their weight class.

Large but young. A civilization as old as Iran's will know a thing or two about real politik and how to utilize leverage. Iran could easily come out of this a regional power as it has been throughout history. China has also risen much closer to its historical global standing and India is accelerating in that direction also. We are watching an era of Western hegemony fade away and it is fascinating to see. Doubt it will be as bad as the fall of the Romans and 1000 years of religious dogma and anti-intellectualism but this is a high risk period for sure.

they know the most of the democratic countries are head flimsily by AI economically, so they target where it will likely cause the bubble to occur faster.