For almost a third of a century, the Islamic Republic of Iran has confounded American presidents. It has taken hostages, conducted terrorism, undermined the Middle East peace process, and worked unrelentingly to become a nuclear power and develop missiles with global reach.

Technology--from the telegraph to the audiotape--has played important roles in consolidating political authority in Iran. Now, technology is making the Islamic Republic vulnerable.

What Westerners think of as goodwill, Middle Easterners often interpret as weakness.

Background on the Baluchistan region.

Background on the Islamic Republic's first supreme leader.

The Obama administration may convince itself that it remains in control of the diplomatic process and has placed serious constraints upon any Iranian breakout capability, but last month's Iranian test of ballistic missiles underscored both the danger and questions about Iranian sincerity.

A review of Eric Davis's Memories of State: Politics, History, and Collective Identity.

As Recep Tayyip Erdogan approaches the end of his first decade of rule, the question for American and European policymakers should not be whether Turkey should join the European Union, but whether it even belongs in NATO.