In Hindsight: Dealing with Iran

Iran may be the biggest foreign-policy challenge of President George W. Bush's second term. FP dips into its archives for a look at this issue through the years.

"The American consensus on Iran is persistent and clear: The leaders in Tehran are crazy, blindly ideological, resistant to international law and opinion, and virtually impossible to deal with."

"The American consensus on Iran is persistent and clear: The leaders in Tehran are crazy, blindly ideological, resistant to international law and opinion, and virtually impossible to deal with."

— Henry Precht
"Ayatollah Realpolitik" (Spring 1988)

"[T]he international community has been just as fragmented as Tehran’s leadership. A case in point was the Clinton administration’s decision in 1995 to impose new sanctions…. The American action pushed U.S. allies to make a choice: work with Washington to squeeze Tehran to stop its nuclear programs and end its alleged terrorism or continue to trade with Iran. Not a single government was willing to cut economic links with Iran to side with the United States."

— Robin Wright
"Dateline Tehran: A Revolution Implodes" (Summer 1996)

"Neocons think the only way to ensure U.S. security is to topple the tyrannical regimes in Pyongyang and Tehran…. Regime change may seem like a radical policy, but it is actually the best way to prevent a nuclear crisis that could lead to war."

— Max Boot
"Think Again: Neocons" (January/February 2004)

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