Sorry to be posing this question so harshly, but who cares?

What sort of percentage of the total passenger numbers on a random CDG-BOM or SIN-AMS or DXB-LHR flight will be American citizens? 2%? 5%? 10%? Probably not much more than that, unless you've got a codeshare full of connecting pax.

Why should a relatively small portion of the total passenger volume dictate an expensive and cumbersome detour? I can understand the need for El Al to fly detours like these, but for any other airline it's a colossal waste of money.

And besides, as you can see from the news story I cited above, even the Iranians can be civilised on occasion.