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Iran increasingly dominates international newspaper headlines and foreign policy agendas, but its people and regime remain poorly understood in the West.
The decision to release one of the three detained U.S. hikers demonstrates the tension between the Iranian judiciary, President Ahmadinejad, and other members of the regime.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei is one of the most important leaders in world affairs and understanding his comprehensive control over politics, economics, and society in Iran is critical to any discussion of the future of the Islamic Republic.
International tension over Iran’s nuclear ambitions has turned the nuclear program into a major domestic political issue and has caused conflict between the regime and conservatives as well as the opposition.
While Turkey and Iran share geography, culture, religion, and a long history of conflict and cooperation, they also symbolize two opposite poles in the Islamic world.
In considering Israel’s response to Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Prime Minister Netanyahu must set aside personal animus and consider the nature of Iranian politics and the character of the regime in Tehran.
Aside from the improbability and imprudence of a U.S. attack on Iran, it would also be a major political misstep for the Obama administration.
When President Obama and his top national security staff briefed journalists this week on Washington's strategy toward Iran's nuclear program, he was making the case that the administration's approach for isolating Iran is working.
Although Iranian scientist Shahram Amiri has told conflicting stories regarding the nature of his time in the United States, his defection represents the growing dissatisfaction of the Iranian people towards the regime.
It is unlikely that sanctions alone, regardless of their magnitude, will deter Iran's nuclear activities if Iran's principal aim is to become a "virtual" nuclear weapon state.
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