Is the U.S. using Middle East uprisings to blame, discredit Iran?

The protests sweeping the Middle East appear to be entirely indigenous, borne of discontent with unemployment and the lack of personal freedoms, but that hasn't stopped top U.S. officials from suggesting Iran has a part and trying to send a message to Tehran.

The U.S. seized upon the hypocrisy coming from Iran in celebrating the revolutions in Tunisia and Cairo as a vindication of its 1979 Islamic revolution, while crushing it own opposition with a violent crackdown.

As Defense Secretary Robert Gates pointed out this, the behavior of the militaries in Tunisia, Egypt and Bahrain "contrast vividly with the savage repression that the Iranians have undertaken" against protesters in their own country.