Does Iran really belong to an axis of Evil? Is Iran really a nuclear threat? This is the inside story of Iran, by one of the world’s leading experts on the Middle East.

‘Hiro is a model political analyst. His approach is as incorrigibly non-partisan as it is methodical’ – “Sunday Times”.

President George W. Bush brands Iran part of the axis of evil, and has, in the past, launched surgical military strikes because of its alleged secret nuclear weapons programme. Meanwhile, Britain and Europe try to negotiate with the regime in the search for a peaceful resolution and to avoid a possible military conflict. Iran is certainly the most strategically important country in the Middle East, yet it remains an enigma to most Westerners.

The Iranian Revolution of 1979 was guided by two very different forces; a pro-Democracy, anti-Shah, leftist movement of the middle class, and an anti-Western anti-Shah, rightist movement that appealed to workers and country people. These two forces collided rather than colluded in establishing the Islamic Republic, first under Ayatollah Khomeni and then Ayatollah Khamanei.