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The article highlights Iran's role in conflicts across the Middle East, emphasizing its support for proxy forces like Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthi movement in Yemen and providing weapons to Hamas in the Palestinian territories. The recent direct missile strikes by Iran in Iraq, Syria and Pakistan are seen as a display of force, driven partly by domestic issues and rising tensions in the region.

As the West raises the pressure on Iran over its nuclear program, Arab governments, especially the small, oil-rich nations in the Persian Gulf, are growing increasingly anxious. But they are concerned not only with the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran but also with the more immediate threat that Iran will destabilize the region if the West presses too hard, according to diplomats, regional analysts and former government officials. On Thursday, Iran will meet with six world powers to discuss a variety of issues in what will be the first direct talks between Washington and Tehran since the 1979 Iranian revolution. Iran would appear to enter the discussions weakened by a bitter political dispute at home and by the recent revelation of a second, secret, nuclear enrichment plant being built near Qum. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Men hold all of the meaningful levers of political power in Iran, but it is a woman they fear. If not, why is the mullah-led government trying to shut down the operations of Shirin Ebadi? Ms. Ebadi, a lawyer and her country's leading human rights activist, is the first Muslim woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize. On Monday, the authorities stormed her private office, seizing her computers and her clients' documents. A week earlier, they closed her Center for Defenders of Human Rights, a coalition of human rights groups and other activists whose members had planned to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Reports that a political power struggle engulfed Iran's government when an Islamic religious council disqualified half of the candidates in parliamentary elections in February 2004. Outrage among reformers; List of rejected candidates; Lack of public explanation by the council for its decisions.

WASHINGTON -- An unusual proposal by Iran's supreme leader to eliminate the position of president has highlighted an increasingly bitter struggle within the country's political elite, as the leader and his allies continue to try to undercut the powers of Iran's ambitious president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told an academic gathering last week that ''changing Iran into a parliamentary system'' in which voters no longer elected a president would not be a problem. His words were widely seen as the latest blow in a battle that began in April when Mr. Ahmadinejad crossed a line by openly feuding with Ayatollah Khamenei -- who has the final word in affairs of state -- over cabinet appointments. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The jokes among Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's detractors are legion. In one, he looks in the mirror and says, ''Male lice to the right, female lice to the left.'' In the West, one American tabloid rarely misses a chance to refer to him as ''Evil Madman'' and in the days before his re-election here he was taunted as a ''monkey'' and as a ''midget.'' But the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who was announced winner of a second four-year term this week is no cartoon character. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

International U.S. ANALYSTS UNIMPRESSED [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Iran's war games this week featured more bluff and exaggeration than displays of menacing new power, military analysts said Friday. The half-truths, the analysts said, included not only a doctored photo of a salvo firing but also misleading statements about the range of the largest missile and two videos that made the firings seem more numerous and fearsome than they really were. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Focuses on the role of Iran as the siren of the Middle East for successive administrations in the U.S. Power struggle between reformers and hardliners in Iran; Confusion of the administration officials under President George W. Bush on whether to press for democracy; Need of the country for the help of Iran to keep Iraq and Afghanistan stable.

The article discusses the agreement of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to reduce petroleum production, including the support of Iran and Saudi Arabia for increasing oil prices. The relationship between Saudi Arabia and Iran, including their vying for political influence and power in Syria, is discussed.

The article considers the hypothesis that North Korea and Iran have looked to the U. S. failure in Iraq and decided that the moment was right to develop and reveal nuclear weapons programs. While the current American administration argues that world politics are more complicated than blaming all ills on Iraq, President George W. Bush has acknowledged that the U. S. has lost some of its moral authority with Abu Ghraib, while its military power is tied up in Iraq.

Examines the outlook for U.S. foreign policy in the second President George W. Bush administration. Issue of limits on American power; Role of presidential advisers, including Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice; Outlook for repairing ties and acting within alliances; Attitudes within the administration; Views of political analysts; Bush and nation-building; View that Bush has limited options in both North Korea and Iran; Speculation on why Rice is being sent to the State Department; Outlook for Rice, including her handling of Russia.