Tara Mahtafar

WASHINGTON/TEHRAN—Iran’s internal crisis has done more than thrust the legitimacy of the Islamic political system under the leadership of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei into the public spotlight. It also has begun to chip away at one of the ruling hardline elite’s few successful policies in recent years—its high-stakes gambit with the West over nuclear power and its implied threat of developing a nuclear bomb. more»

Maurizio Martellini and Riccardo Redaelli

COMO, Italy –By its very nature, the Islamic Republic of Iran is unpredictable. Its unwieldy political system and fractious political elite complicate any attempt at understanding Iranian political trends, aspirations, perceptions, and goals. Iranian political language is replete with tactical poses, rhetorical stances, and contradictory tones. more»

Keyhan Kasravi

BERLIN/TEHRAN—Since the rise of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the radical faction to power in the Islamic Republic in 2005, Iran’s nuclear issue and the possibile consequences of an Iran armed with nuclear weapons have received much more attention in the West than in the past. more»

Jamie Fly

WASHINGTON—The revelation on September 25 that Iran has been constructing a covert uranium enrichment facility near the holy Shiite city of Qom for several years complicates an already complex picture of Iran’s nuclear capabilities and intentions. more»

ROME — In 2008, Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs held four meetings in Europe that included some Iranian officials as well as some Iranian experts from the West and a few countries from other regions. The scope of the meetings was to address ways to develop discussions with Iran that could bring about a more constructive climate and possibly yield some positive results. more»