O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave...

So the Iranian government, in an attempt to insult the US and Israel, has been painting US and Israeli flags on the ground and on staircases in high-traffic areas as a way to get the Iranian people involved in stomping on those horrible satanic symbols. And the Iranian people have responded... by doing their best to avoid treading on other countries' national emblems. Here's an excerpt from the relevant article, which comes via Instapundit:

Probably the most overlooked aspect of the “flags on the sidewalk” phenomenon in Iran is that, as the regime paints those flags everywhere, hoping Iranians will step on them, it is basically symbolizing its – the regime’s – effective “occupation” by its obsession with the Great Satan and the Little Satan.

Not focusing on that point is as it should be, of course. The nobility and honor of Iranians who refuse to tread on the foreign flags are what is most important. Americans and Israelis are awed to see such courageous signs of goodwill and respect. I know I speak for many when I say we wish we had more direct ways to convey our reciprocal admiration and support to the Iranian people.

[...]

There was a time – call it two weeks ago – when no one would have imagined the Iranian regime painting its territory over with the flags of the United States and Israel. Step back for a moment from the regime’s intent, which is to induce people to trample on the painted flags. What the regime is actually doing is obsessively painting those flags everywhere – on its own territory.

Who is living rent-free in whose head? Who is “occupying” whom?

[...]

The mullahs can’t even play it cool. A choleric religious leader railed at Iranians in an address on the topic, proclaiming that students who refuse to walk on the foreign flags should be killed, as agents of the U.S. and Israel.

Scott Fisher, in his 2006 book Axis of Evil World Tour, wrote about how regular Iranians are genuinely confused when confronted with the idea that America is the enemy. Most of the "Death to America!" chanting is coming from theocrat-favoring partisans and rich, overprivileged elites. If we could design a bomb that would Thanos-dust just those sorry individuals, Iran's problems—its diplomatic/geopolitical ones, anyway—would be solved. In the meantime, it's important for us Yanks to remember that regular Iranians aren't the enemy, just as regular North Koreans shouldn't be mistaken for their vicious government.