Iran

A range of military and political developments, from the very rare planned deployment of three huge United States armadas in the Persian Gulf to Israeli fears of Barack Obama’s re-election, is evidence of rising danger around Iran.

This question has provoked extensive debate not only among the Iranian left and democratic forces, but between these forces and the extremist neo-liberal forces in Iran. Disoriented progressives world-wide have failed to understand the nature of the Iranian regime.

Military action against Iran, and even the continuing threat of attack, is likely to give the Islamic Republic a new lease on life

Conflict with Iran is looming, with the US and Israel circling around the possibility of a pre-emptive strike to prevent the manufacture of nuclear weapons. What course should Britain take? And what is the role of the Liberal Democrats?

A sense of enduring history and more recent experience of bitter conflict inform Iran's nuclear stance. To understand this could be a way to avoid war.

The diplomatic and political elites of Iran and Turkey give the impression that they are keen to adopt some form of leading role in the transformation processes of the Arab Spring. But how will their messages be received in the region?

The prognosis of a thirty-year war looked outlandish as Saddam's regime toppled, persuasive as Iraq's insurgency erupted - and now less plausible amid American forces' retreat. But two core issues continue to give it life.

With increasing geopolitical instability in oil producing states and the barriers that stand in the way of reaching a multilateral policy, the threat of sanctions in Iran only serves to intensify uncertainty surrounding oil price forecasts for 2012

The real Iranian threat is not its nuclear capacity but its independence. If Iran continues to stand as a model of defiance for increasingly poverty-stricken and restless populations of family fiefdoms in the Gulf, the current US-backed setups will either fall or be forced to democratise. These potentially catastrophic losses of empire go a long way to explaining the rising beat of war drums in the region.

Paul’s stance on Iran may place him outside the mainstream of Republican presidential candidates. It doesn’t place him outside the mainstream of the American public.

How are recent events in Iran to be interpreted? History has a lot to teach us, argues David Madden

The tensions between Washington and Tehran are being further fuelled by naval exercises and discussion of strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities. This makes the absence of a direct communications channel all the more worrying.

The selfless struggle of many brave Iranians against tyranny bestows a legitimacy that their rulers cannot match, says Nasrin Alavi.

A series of developments - in Iraq, the United States and Iran itself - nudges the balance of calculation towards an attack on Tehran. The additional danger is that this could happen by inadvertence.

In the context of worsening relations between Iran, Syria and the west, Saeed Rahnema gave a bleak assessment of the likelihood of impending conflict. Though serious, Paul Ingram argues there are reasons to remain optimistic.

The argument in America for war against Iran is often couched in religious-apocalyptic terms. But the decisive element in the end will be strategic and political calculation.

This article assesses the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya in terms of their legality, their consequences - local, regional and global - and their impact. It describes the growing impotence of western powers in reshaping global politics by force. Rather, it argues, the flawed application of organised violence as a tool in the defence and projection of western power has dissolved the grandiose project of the ‘American century.’

This is an appeal to the global citizenry to wake up to the dire situation unfolding before our eyes and to raise our voice. It is time to put concerted pressure on our respective governments, who are complicit in this cynical spectacle, and urge them to act responsibly for the benefit of all nations.

Revolutions have overthrown post-colonial regimes throughout the Middle East and north Africa, but the region is still in a delicate phase of transition. Rivalry between Iran, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Turkey could destabilize the region further, with dire consequences

As relations between Iran and Syria and the west deteriorate further, what are the possible outcomes of this escalation in the diplomatic crisis?