The Iranian Challenge

• Although the ruling clergy in Iran are very unpopular, they are not going anywhere anytime soon.



• Iran often conceals its real objectives behind layers of ideological rhetoric, with the aim of confusing potential enemies



• Intrusive inspections is the best tool to ensure that Iran doesn't divert its civilian program into a military one.

Iran will be the top foreign policy challenge for the United States in the coming years. Washington’s failure to understand Iran is partly because it for a long time could afford to ignore that country – and adopt self-serving and ultimately false assumptions about Tehran.

Today, Washington can no longer afford to be in the dark about the realities of Iran. For the next President of the United States to be successful in dealing with Iran, he or she must first reassess these assumptions before a new policy can be adopted.

In the piece below, published in a special edition of The Nation Magazine, he discusses these assumptions and describes how Washington can change Iran’s behavior by modifying its own.keep reading