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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
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Simon Tisdall

Menaced by foreign foes, facing mutiny at home: how long before Iran goes nuclear?

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
The Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei: 85, myopic and obstinate. Photograph: EPA

Choices, choices. In life, there’s always a choice, or so that complacent saying goes. It didn’t really hold true for the people of Syria, bound and gagged by tyranny for half a century. Yet finally, after infinite pain, they chose freedom. Now the Middle East spotlight shifts to other victims of state oppression. Who’s next for revolution? Step forward, Iran.

A sudden collapse of the hardline theocratic regime in power since the Shah’s overthrow in 1979 is unlikely. True or false? Surprises happen, as all Syria knows. How Iran navigates the changing post-Assad landscape is fiercely debated in Tehran. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and senior mullahs face fateful decisions about the country’s path.

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