14th July 2008
"Iran's nuclear Programme: Past and present"
by Dr Akbar Etemad

There is no indication that Iran is trying to get nuclear weapons. Of course, there is a suspicion, because of some of the rhetoric used by the regime. But suspicion alone is not enough. It is not a casus belli                          

If Iran makes nuclear weapons, this is not a threat to the security of the world. Why, when other countries did it, did nothing happen? When Israel, India and Pakistan, developed nuclear weapons nothing happened. Why should Iran be a threat to world peace and security? People say that Iran is undemocratic; but I ask you: is Pakistan a democracy?

In the 1970s the Shah of Iran invited Dr Etemad to begin an Iranian nuclear programme. Dr Etemad explained in detail the origins of Iran's nuclear programme from its inception to the start of the Iranian Revolution. He has been a member of the panel of expert on nuclear reactor shielding for IAEA and a member of board of UNESCO on educational innovation in Asia working on the international university for UNESCO. He has published numerous papers and articles in the field of nuclear energy and education, some of which have been included in the documents and publications of the UN, IAEA and UNESCO.

4th February 2008
"Iran Decides? The consequences of the upcoming elections in Iran"
by Karim Sadjadpour

Iran is not a dictatorship; everything is done by a consensus. There just isn’t consensus right now on the nuclear issue though.

Karim Sadjadpour is currently an associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and previously worked as the chief Iran analyst at the International Crisis Group based in Tehran and Washington, D.C. He is a leading researcher on Iran, and has conducted dozens of interviews with senior Iranian officials, and hundreds with Iranian intellectuals, clerics, dissidents, paramilitaries, businessmen, students, activists, and youth, among others.

22nd January 2008
"Bush’s Middle East Tour; what are the implications for Iran and the wider Region?"
by Professor Shai Feldman

Shai Feldman is the Director of the Crown Center for Middle East Studies at Brandeis University. In 1997-2005 he served as Head of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University. He also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Harvard University's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. In 2001-2003 he served as a member of the UN Secretary General's Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters.