Did the attack on Iraq embolden Iran?

Bush Sr. was smart enough to know that keeping Saddam in place, while distasteful, was the smart thing to do. He spent enough time in the CIA to know the threat Shiite Iran was vs secular Iraq. Now the Iranians have us by the short and curleys Because the US surrounds them, they get external support from the normally hostile sunni states such as Syria, Egypt, Sudan, etc. Also internally it give the conservatives an excuse to hold power. "Fear the crusading Christian west" So the hard liners stay in power under a blanket of fear (sound familiar?) Before the US invaded Iraq, Iran was actually taking serious reform steps, but those have all taken a back seat now due to the hardline clerics. And since the US is bogged down in Iraq, and would have no international support (except Israel) they know the US will not invade. So they are sitting pretty. Also they know after watching North Korea, that even the smallest nuke program will give them bargaining leverage. Now add their new best buddy in the world, China. China needs oil. And Iran loves selling it to them. And China is not going to be happy about anything that disrupts the flow of oil to them. And China has loaned the US government LOTS of money so they have us in their pocket. So we can talk and threaten all we want. Truth is, we can’t do crap about Iran.