This has the potential to be a complete game changer in the middle east. The thing is would Russia just stand by and let a moderate secular government arise out of the ashes? There are so many variables here that it is impossible to state what will happen.
At the very least, I would think with increasing instability in Iran, it could be the deciding factor in Iraq turning towards us. This is what I had hoped would happen in 2009, an indigenous revolution within Iran. Unlike some other areas such as Somalia and Afghanistan, the Iranian people are not a bunch of backwards 12th century religious fanatics. They are an educated people and could do well in a secular state.
As I said before, there are so many variables, for one their nuke program. If the country falls into chaos, do we work with Russia and others to get in there and secure their fissionable material? We cannot just let that stay there with the possibility of another crazy coming to power.
Yes, it certainly does. I suspect that a complete removal of radical Islam from the Iranian government might be too much to hope for but any serious blow to state level support for the militant Islamic armies in the middle east would be a huge improvement. The Saudis would appear to agree.
War has impoverished empires before. The enormous transfer of gold from the New World to the Spanish Empire in the 16th century never even got them anything other than broke because they simply could not cease military expansionism. That is nothing - nothing - compared to the transfer of oil wealth to the Saudis and the Iranians in the last half of the 20th century and look what they have to show for it. This is about far more than "the price of eggs" as one dismissive comment on FR put it - it's about an entire nation co-opted to theocratic vanity and thoroughly tired of it. I can only wish them the best of luck, because they're going to need it.