When five British hostages were driven away from the government building they worked at in May 2007, two Iraqi intelligence officers were following. “They drove to a remote brick factory in Mehran”, reveals one of the officers, “headed for the Iranian border”. Mehran is the little-known base for Al Quds - Iran’s crack foreign special operations force. Returning with this information, the officers were told “forget everything”. “The Iraqi groups couldn’t have pulled this off on their own” confesses a former Iranian Revolutionary Guard member, “I’m certain that the Supreme Leader [Khamenei] knew all about it”. Intelligence reports commissioned by the men’s employers, both concluded that the men were likely in Iran. Yet the British hostages had found themselves in one of the world’s darkest diplomatic pits. “One of the reasons the [four] men are dead is the British government”, declares one of the kidnappers in an exclusive interview. Bartered by superpowers, perhaps the kidnapped men weren’t famous or important enough to be rescued. Yet just months after the US Government released several Revolutionary Guard members, Peter Moore was released.

"I don't think we're talking about Iran building an atom bomb. It's about the regime being in a position to force concessions from the West through its potential to build an atom bomb", says nuclear physicist Behrooz Bayat. However, there's a fear that Israel will respond to this threat with violence. "They already have the knowledge to build their own nuclear bomb! Now is the time for decisions", says the director of Israeli military intelligence. The UN is committed to a policy of sanctions, but if Thursday's talks with Iran yield no results, will they have to think again?

Young Neda Soltan lying in a pool of blood last month became the tragic icon of the uprising. Posted on Youtube, the footage shot from a mobile phone was seen by millions around the world. ‘They locked up journalists but they didn’t count on people with mobile phones and video cameras being able to get that information out’, comments an Iranian expat. Networking sites like Twitter are used to keep the public informed on a minute-by-minute basis. In today’s world, cyber-dissent has become a powerful weapon: ‘It’s given the government a kind of political auto-immune disease in which they have to attack their own infrastructure to shut the dissent down’, says this Internet expert, ‘No economy could sustain this long-term’. However, technology can backfire. The regime is now using ‘deep-packet inspection’ software that filters Internet data, to trace IP addresses and hunt down dissidents. Phone calls are also monitored. ‘People who have spoken to any foreign media are contacted moments later’ confirms a BBC reporter. Will this build up to a new Tiananmen? At least now, ‘the world sees that the Iranian people want change and they want freedom!’

“All my friends take these pills”, states 21 year old Maran. “We’ve even created a new expression for it. We say ‘tonight, we’re going to blow ourselves up”. At a university rock concert, pills are readily available. Students may be strictly segregated and forced to remain seated at all times but even that isn’t going to stop them partying. “We do it because pleasure is a foreign word in this society”, states Goldis. “The mullahs want us to mourn endlessly”. Another escape they have is skiing. The mountains are packed with people looking to escape the restraints of daily life. “Up here I feel like I’m in another country”, states Sannaz. “Boys and girls can meet much more easily – it’s a good place to find a boyfriend”.

“Have you ever seen a satellite dish?” we ask one young village girl, “almost” she replies. The village elder is just as evasive, “I haven’t seen anything with my own eyes. I wouldn’t lie. If I’d seen anything I would tell.” We politely avert our eyes from the wires disappearing across his garden.

'Iranians are fed up with state television's propaganda', so many illegally view foreign television. For many Iranian women, satellite TV offers escapism. 'When I leave the house, I am subject to the persecution of the moral guards' says one woman; 'that's why I prefer to sit at home and watch satellite TV'. However, many Iranians are being forced underground as the Mullah state imposes strict sanctions including banishment on anyone who views anything other than state television.

“Everybody drinks it. They all love it. Especially the mullahs”, states one smuggler, loading his horse. At base camp in the Kurdish mountains, business is brisk. A caravan of horses stretch as far as the eye can see. “We sell lots of whisky and beer”, states camp manager, Omer Mohamed Rassul. “From here, it’s smuggled to Iran”. Those who can’t afford horses strap the whisky to their back. Over the years, hundreds have died on this route. “Iranian border guards started shooting at me”, describes one man. “I tried to escape but ended up stepping on a landmine”.

For decades, sharing a taxi was one of the few opportunities for unrelated Iranian men and women to mix. But many women were uncomfortable sitting so close to men. “They sit badly and make you squeeze into the corner”, complains Dr Bokhary. She’s become a regular customer of the Women’s Taxi Company.

“She focuses on women’s rights and shows things the way they are”, states a fan. Milani’s latest film, ‘Payback’, is her most contentious to date. It’s about four women who meet in prison and form a vigilante gang, posing as prostitutes and handing out their own brand of justice to men. “I wrote the story but the characters are based on real people”, Milani states. Although Milani is Iran’s most commercially successful director, filmmaking for her is about much more than making money. As she explains: “I think I have an ability to make a positive cultural change”.

“Anti-semitism has never been the general policy of the Iranian government” explains Maurice Mottamed, the country’s sole Jewish MP. There are of course “glaring differences” in treatment between the majority Muslim population and religious minorities. But remarkably most of the time Iranian Jews are “comfortably doing everything they want to do here. We can perform all our religious celebrations.” This is an image very much at odds with fashionable Western opinion.

On the streets of Tehran, there’s a deep sense of outrage at the West’s criticism of Iran’s nuclear programme. “Many Iranians believe the West doesn’t want Iran to advance scientifically”, states Prof Sadegh Zibakalam. But critics accuse the President of playing up the nuclear issue to disguise the failure of his other policies. “Frankly speaking, not one of his policies has been successful in the last 17 months”, states economist Saeed Laylaz. On entering office, Ahmadinejad spent billions on big infrastructure projects and salary increases. This dramatic expenditure led to a surge in inflation. “Everyone is worried”, states Laylez. “The Supreme Leader is personally supervising the situation”. In last year’s elections, the President’s supporters suffered heavy defeats. There are rumours Ahmadinejad has lost the support of Iran’s Supreme Leader. Ayatollah Khamenei. Some even claim numbers are being gathered in parliament to impeach the President. But ironically, pressure from the West could save him. “He has identified himself as the champion resisting foreign pressure”, explains Prof Zibakalam. “Going after him now seems unpatriotic”.

The Mujahadin-e-Khalq (MeK) is playing a key role in the standoff between America and Tehran. In the past three years they’ve made almost 20 intelligence revelations stressing the danger posed by Iran. But the IAEA questions their intelligence. Others point out that MeK; “are detested in Iran – seen as traitors”. However powerful voices in Washington are listening to MeK’s message.

“The West will not have the guts to attack us”, states one man. “When foreign countries are against us, we stand behind our president.” On the streets of Tehran, everyone is worried. Iran is in crisis. The middle classes are dwindling and signs of poverty are everywhere. “The present looks very dark and the future even more so”, confides one man. Rumours are even circulating of a power struggle within the Conservatives. People here may be desperate for change but the one bond they share with Ahmadinejad is over nuclear policy. The fear is that an aggressive stance from the West will increase his popular support.

In a squalid back alley in Tehran, addicts are shooting up. “I have no hope in my life any more”, despairs one. Iran has the highest heroin addiction rate in the world. No other country even comes close. Back in the days of Ayatollah Khomeini, addicts were executed. But faced with an HIV epidemic, the current government has adopted a more enlightened approach. “People think the current government is more conservative and fundamentalist. But it supports our programmes much more than previous governments”, states drugs counsellor, Bijan Nassirimanesh. Addicts are now treated as patients not criminals. The state subsidises free syringes, medical care and treatment programmes. “The needle exchange programme has massively brought down the number of HIV cases”, praises one addict. And it’s a policy that has the long term support of Ahmadinejad. “When Ahmadinejad was mayor of Tehran, he ordered the city authorities to build 40 drop-in centres. Now that he’s President, he’s always talking about methadone treatment.”

A 2006 report on Montazeri’s support for democracy and against the Iranian dictatorship. “It makes me laugh. The press say we respect human rights in Iran. It’s a joke”. Montazeri was branded a traitor and placed under house arrest after he questioned his friend Khomeini. He believed all violence to be un-Islamic. “There were no political prisoners during the reign of our prophet”.

Zia Atabay was once a famous pop star in Iran. Now, he’s pouring his money into his own personal TV station to send his message back home. “I know the Iranian government is dangerous,” he states. By publicising dire images of the regime’s misdeeds, he hopes to bring about change. Other satellite broadcasters are using more subtle methods to bring down the government. Dancing girls, pop music and fashion videos are all banned in Iran but lapped up by a hungry young audience. “Viewers want to see what they don’t have. They want to see young people’s lives in Western countries,” explains TV presenter Luna Shadzi. Cultural freedom may prove more powerful than all the political propaganda.

“I believe we have a real reason to be nervous. The regime is totally unpredictable,” states Israeli politician Yuval Steinitz. Preventive strikes against those threatening Israel’s stability have always been a key part of its defences. It’s determined to halt Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

Loud techno music blares out from a makeshift Tehran sports club. To the beat of every note, twenty seven year old Yelda pummels her opponent. She’s a qualified lawyer and has black belt in karate. She’s also highly frustrated with life in Iran. “I do karate and body-building. It gives a feeling of power,” she explains. “Maybe that’s why so many woman are doing it here.” Twenty one year old Khaled understands her frustrations. Hidden in the basement of an apartment complex is his small, sound proof rehearsal room. He practices his drums here every day, prevented from playing his heavy metal music in public. Iran is slowly changing. Women can buy stylish clothes, only to wear in the privacy of their own homes. But change can’t come fast enough for these youngsters. They dream of immigrating to America. (Club Media)

“Iran is very close to getting the bomb,” states opposition MP Alireza Jafarzadeh. It could be only months away from becoming a nuclear state. Diplomats claim Iran is merely protecting itself from the Israeli nuclear threat. But is an arms race in the Middle East really going to make anyone more secure?

They’re even exempt from the ban on alcohol, although discretion is advised. Iran’s Jews have been here nearly 3,000 years. In 1979 most fled the Islamic Revolution to the US, fearing a pogrom which never came. Robert, a real estate agent has come back from LA to look for an Iranian wife and Shabbat prayers on a Friday night is the place to be. But times have changed. He’s looking to marry young, and most girls think his age too high a price to pay for a ticket to the US and ’freedom’. Behind closed doors Jews throw off Islamic dress and party freely to celebrate the birth of a boy. Soraya, baby Ramtin’s aunt, says he can still expect a life of discrimination. ‘They prefer to have Muslim people in their universities or in their factories’. But for many Jews here, Iran is in their blood and Islamic fundamentalism will not drive them out.

In the Middle East’s most internet connected nation, a new challenge to the ruling hard-line clerics is emerging. Iran’s massive youth revel in the liberal lifestyle afforded by the ‘net. ‘The internet is an independent space, relatively accessible, relatively uncontrolled’ explains female web logger Mahsa Shekarloo. The anonymity of the web has opened up politics to a whole new audience. ‘Iranians just want to express themselves – whether it’s weblog, newspapers or any other means, as long as it’s no risk to them’ says cyber-dissident Farid Modarresi. He works for a Government funded web-site during the day, but by night maintains his own anti-regime site, conducting opinion polls, interviewing opponents of the regime and documenting protests. He hopes the internet can reach a whole new audience, since independent film and newspapers are easy to suppress. Hussein Shariatmadari is a close confidant of the religious Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khameni: ‘Currently we only shut down the websites and blogs that have destructive moral effects’ he says. Iran’s cyber dissidents know it’s a race against time to realise their online dream of democracy.

Khosrow Hassanzadeh is an ex-soldier, artist grocer. “My generation saw a revolution and a war,” explains Khosrow. “Many of my friends became martyrs, prisoners of war or were disabled during the war.” Faced with this suffering, he started to question the value of the conflict. “In Iran, only a specific group of people is allowed to talk about the war,” he complains. In contrast to official murals glorifying war heroes, Khosrow’s paintings are not about fruitful sacrifice. From shrouds displayed in shop windows to pallbearers in bodybags, his images of war are anything but heroic. But his paintings are too controversial to exhibit, so he organises private viewings on his roof.

The event had been organised in total secrecy. The girls arrived individually, clothed in shapeless hajabs and trying hard to avoid attention. Then the boys sneaked furtively into the allocated building. But the teenagers weren’t planning a political protest or plotting a robbery. They were having a party.

Father Pierre Hamblo is a French priest in Tehran. He has gained Iranian nationality since the revolution and is positive that Iran can encompass a multi-cultural society. “Anyone would suppose that Iran is a beard, a chador and a machine gun, but this is a totally falsified image.” He does however admit that Christians are marginalized by the all-embracing Islamic laws. “Since the revolution, only Islamic laws exist, applicable to everyone, defining their everyday life”.

At a secret location in Tehran, four student leaders describe how they were detained and tortured for calling for reform. Despite their horrific experiences they continue to defy their government. “We advocate active resistance,” proclaims leader Zarezadeh. Fellow leader Sanjari agrees. “We will not give in to this oppression. We will not put one step backwards.” The students played a crucial role in securing President Katami’s election in 1997. However, when his proposed reforms were blocked, they took to the streets in protest. The regime reacted harshly and over 10,000 people were arrested and tortured. Nevertheless, the student movement has proved hard to crush. The students’ greatest concern is the strong relationship between religion and politics. “We want a divorce between religion and politics,” says Zarezadeh. Tension is growing as students increasingly believe that reform will only happen with a revolution. They want to call a referendum giving the unheard voices of their generation a chance to vote on how the republic should be run. “If they continue to prevent the young from breathing, a collapse from within will follow with a scream, with a revolt.”

At a university in Tehran, students listen engrossed to the words of their tutor. “God is love,” he begins. “That’s what Ingmar Bergman said.” Today’s lesson on the importance of family love is illustrated by watching one western film: ‘Natural Born Killers.’ “If the family had been in the picture earlier, these murders wouldn’t have happened,” the teacher explains. “Oliver Stone’s courageous analysis is that all abuse or human weaknesses are a result of the absence of love.”

The streets in Tehran throng with protestors. “The government does nothing for us,” complains one woman. “It is only concerned with American politics!” The protests started in opposition to Government plans to privatise the universities, but exploded into general dissatisfaction with the ultra conservative and oppressive leaders. Despite the closed ears of the Mullahs, students and journalists continue to press for reform, but at great risk to their liberty

A man wheezes as he struggles to fit on an oxygen mask, before coughing and spewing into a metal bowl. Every movement is agony for Sa’adat since he was contaminated by Iraqi choking agents. In the wake of Saddam’s 1980s chemical campaign, hundreds of families like Sa’adat’s have had to watch relatives undergo agonising deaths. “One day he threw up as if a pitcher was emptied,” recalls one victim’s son tearfully: “Whole pieces of liver and lungs came out.”. Thousands of people were affected. “We are facing more than 30,000 victims,” explains a leading chemical weapons doctor. “We aim to relieve their afflictions. But there is no cure.” Politics have meant the tragedy has largely been neglected outside Iran, but the hundreds of sufferers are unable to forget.

A central grievance is the strict religious ban on public affection. Sexual frustration has led to a boom in prostitution: with a secret camera we film prostitutes in Tehran. Many are forced onto the street because of lack of opportunity for women in Iran, but some also see their work as a protest against the regime. With a population growth of 32 million since 1979, the nation’s youth are clamouring for reform.

This fascinating piece profiles Iran’s dissident filmmakers whose work proves that “censorship is the mother of all metaphors”. Cinema here uses symbols to explore the darker side of society. “The Circle” tackles forbidden subjects like prostitution in defiance of Iran’s hardline clerics. The film has sold to 37 countries, but has never been seen in Iran. Its director Jafar Panahi refuses to make the cuts demanded by the censors. The clerics have threatened to burn the film if they ever see a copy. Panahi says “They are afraid that if awareness increases or a new idea is expressed, they may lose their power”. Tahmineh Milani has run into far more trouble with the authorities. She could face the death sentence for crimes she’s accused of due to her film “The Hidden Half”. It’s a love story set in the brutal period following the Revolution. Her husband says the charges are a fabrication to silence filmmakers. Bahman Farmanara says cinema in Hollywood, where there is “censorship by financing” can be just as restrictive. And Iranian filmmakers have the power to shape society.

Friday prayers at Tehran university: “Death to America” shout the crowds.This is what most people in the West expect to see in Iran. 10 years ago, this pavilion would have been packed with Islamic radicals. Today, its a much smaller and older crowd, mostly bussed in from mosques around the town. Young Iranians have found a much better way to spend Fridays . They come to the mountains surrounding Tehran to picnic, flirt and dance – activities the mullahs have banned. ”This is our fun – we can’t go anywhere else,” says one young woman. Nearly 70% of the country voted for reform in 1997, when Khatami was elected President, and re –elected in 2001. But in Iran, real power rests not with the President but with the religious leader – the Ayatollah Khamenei. He controls the military, the police and the courts. The hardliners are still in charge and their enforcers are never far away. ”There have been no reforms at all. Mr Khatami has no voice,” observes one young reformer. America’s condemnation of Iran has forced the reformists to contend with America’s hardliners as well as its own.”They gave a footing to conservatives from which they were able to attack the reformists,” says reformist MP Logmanian. But the student movement is growing and providing much of the impetus for reform. A speech at a student rally by reformist cleric Dr Kadivar shows how assertive the movement has become: “To attain freedom we need to pay much more – we haven’t paid enough”.

The yard of a vicarage in Schwardorf, Austria is home to a number of Iranian refugees, forced to flee their homeland due to their religious faith. The refugees themselves are reluctant to appear on camera. But the vicar who took them in, Gerhard Gary, explains the problem: “They are not persecuted directly for their faith, but they are hugely disadvantaged by it.” Their faith is preventing them from gaining access to the same education and employment opportunities as their Muslim counterparts. There is no question that, in recent years, Iran has gradually become more liberal in its outlook. But the state religion is deeply ingrained in the country’ psyche, with political, and even economic issues heavily influenced by it. Although the President of the Christian organisation, Pro Oriente, denies that there is real persecution of Christians in Iran, the fact remains that the discrimination they experience is leading thousands of people to leave their countries in search of better lives elsewhere.

This gives them supernatural abilities, allowing them to force sharp implements into their heads and bodies without experiencing pain.

This documentary examines Iranian football histeria and its impact on the society as a whole. It includes remarkable footage of street party scenes in Tehran after Iran’s qualifying match for the World Cup, France 1998.

And now - the ultimate western extravagance; cosmetic surgery,
is taking hold. It is the latest teenage craze on the streets of Tehran, the
post nose-op plaster. These bandages are proudly worn like designer labels.
We follow 18 year old Aida under the surgeons hammer and chisel as her conk
is cracked and re-shaped. Her father helps to stump up the $3,000. It's seen
as a good investment, since fortune still largely depends on marriage in
Iran. However, Aida gasps in horror when her bandages are removed and her
newly westernized nose is revealed. In some ways it seems that an inflexible
concept of western beauty is replacing traditional dogma in Iran.

The Kurdish mechanic faces execution. The Golden Crescent is the source of 80% of the world’s heroin. We join the Iranian drug force fighting to stem the flow of heroin that is creating a huge underclass of addicts in Iran and flooding on into Europe and beyond. We meet abandoned addicts on the streets of Tehran: “when they know you’re an addict everyone turns away”. We visit the prisons housing 85, 000 smugglers from all over the world. A man from Tanzania tells us he believed he was carrying marijuana but in fact swallowed capsules of heroin. Desperate Afghan refugees trying to escape famine are lured by the drug traffickers. Inside large storage rooms lie tons of confiscated drugs waiting to be incinerated. It’s the result of Iran’s billion dollar crackdown on smugglers. Still it represents only 5% of Afghanistan’s annual production. Despite world-wide implications of smuggling, Iran receives little help from outside. To the West “Iran is still on the borderline between ally and enemy”, says a UN expert on drugs.

Since this report Dr Forohari was murdered by extremists. When the fundamentalist Mullahs seized power back in 1979 they urged the country to pro-create. They wanted lots of young revolutionaries and they wanted them now. Twenty years later Iran has a massive population problem. From 34 million in 1979 to 73 million today, over 60% are under 25. Now the Mullahs, in a remarkable display of political pragmatism, have made a complete turn by instituting one of the world's most enlightened population control Programmes. Vasectomies are encouraged and condoms are distributed free. Even sex education classes of surprising candour are now compulsory for all couples about to get married. This feature investigates a surprising development in deeply religious Iran and introduces the "condom king" of the Middle East, Kanran Hashemi. He convinced the clerics that if Iranian men were slipping on condoms, they might as well be Iranian condoms and he set up the region's only condom factory - pumping out 50 million condoms a year in a 24 hour-a-day operation. A fascinating look at the contrast between secular and traditional Iran.

On a sunny afternoon in Tehran, young couples crowd park benches giggling flirtatiously. It’s not a sight you expect to see in Iran but times are changing here. The strict moral guardians no longer arrest women for revealing their hair or wearing lipstick. Bahor Hosseini is typical of a many young Iranian women. She dates a boyfriend, albeit secretly. “We met in the university library… I couldn’t give him my number as I would have got into trouble with my parents.” Ironically it’s the Chador, the black shroud often perceived as a symbol of repression, that is being credited with increased female freedom. It’s been obligatory since the '79 revolution and it’s given conservative families the confidence to allow their daughters out. This freer generation is now determinedly reaching beyond Islamic isolationism. Western-style Malls throng with such middle-class teens. The mullahs may Clip liberal reform at every turn but in demographically youthful Iran it the kid’s aspirations that may shape the future.

Gathered around a ring of fire the faces of chanting Zoroastrian worshippers are lit like demons. It looks like a satanic ritual yet this is a ceremony of the first religion to believe in a single omnipresent God, a religion at least 4000 years old. Today there are thousands of followers in the ancient Persian cities of Yazd and Chak. Tough heritage preservation laws protect their architectural gems. And in direct contrast to the persecution experienced by Iran’s other minority religions, Zoroastrians receive respect from the mullahs. They regard Zoroastrianism as part of Islam’s heritage and do not force followers to convert to modern Islam. However this spirit of religious tolerance is tinged with economic pragmatism. Tourists flock to see the ancient towns providing a rare stream of top-dollar revenue. It’s a rare prize for a nation that has isolated itself from the global economy for so long.

In a stage-managed out pouring of grief Iran’s chest-beating fundamentalists are in full voice: “Death to America” they chant. But this is the fading rhetoric of a revolution some 20 years past. Behind the façade fewer Iranians are listening, the real chant now is for social and political reform. But for the powerful and well-armed Bahij, Iran is again being polluted with the decadent western influences so many of their number died to defeat. And that sense of betrayal is being drummed into the young. “Their only aim is to become a martyr for Islam,” explains a teacher inside a rarely accessed Bahij school. Despite huge support for reform, Iran’s future could still belong to fundamentalism.

At 6.8 on the Richter scale, the latest earthquake in Kerman could have killed 1,000 people, as one in 1981 did. In fact it killed only 5. That’s because Iran is learning to fight earthquake damage. In 1990 alone, earthquakes killed a staggering 40,000 Iranians. A drum beats, men beat their chests and women wail at funeral for earthquake victims. We follow Ali Sayed as he returns to his home village of Abiz where his parents were recently killed. “When we got my parents out, they were lying facing Mecca.” All around him is the familiar rubble. It took just ten minutes for the earthquake to kill 180 people from Abiz alone. The Red Crescent Society normally co-ordinates aid, but on this occasion Iran called on the international community for help because of exhausted supplies. To prevent such catastrophic events from re-occurring the Iranian government asked the UN to draw up specifications for architects and engineers carrying out reconstruction work.

Nasser Nikpay shows us around an eerie, deserted village, half-buried in the sand. The village is famous for the ‘120-day’ wind. Nasser works for the Jihad-e-Sazandegi Ministry – which is at war with the ever-encroaching desert. Iranians irrigate their land using qanats, underground channels which carry water from the mountains. But the sand is harder to control. The land can only be cultivated if the shifting sand dunes can be anchored in Place. And the Iranians have come up with a very clever way of keeping the desert from drifting in the wind. It seems like horrific pollution, but petroleum mulch from oil refineries is sprayed with a big gun onto the errant sand. A month later trees are planted. The petroleum mulch prevents the sand moving and the water evaporating. After five years the mulch will be removed, by which time the desert has been miraculously fixed in Place and greenery abounds. Land has already gone to the farmers who need it most for reforestation and cultivation. Now pistachio trees and alfalfa can be grown. A garden blooms with an abundance of pink roses - a testament to the regeneration of the land. Man’s ingenuity triumphs over nature and pollution.

‘Islamic laws for women have more to do with male politics than the benefit they bring to our society’s morals'. But times are changing, and young couples can now be seen on Park benches together - once unthinkable. Will attitudes soften yet further?

An Iranian MP denies support for international terrorism saying Iran wants to de-nuclearise the Middle East. Iran’s 50 million people still display anti-West fervour on special occasions, parading effigies of ‘Uncle Sam’ in the streets, but enthusiasm is waning. Iran’s ski slopes are busy with affluent Iranians determined to forget their woes. Despite the changes Iran’s leaders still fear the libertine influence of the West. They seek a balance between ancient Koranic principles and 20th century realities. It’s an uneasy compromise.

For centuries Kurdish nomads have freely crossed the mountainous borders which officially split their homeland. Iran is determined to divide up the Kurds and is spending millions on new roads and military bases along its border with Iraq. It wants to quench support among the Iraqi Kurds for the separatist Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran. KDPI fighters have based themselves in villages in Northern Iraq in preparation for their campaign in Iran. From their mountain vantage points Kurds watch Iranian shells destroy their homes. Torn apart between four countries, the shelling is a stark reminder of just how vulnerable the Kurdish nation is.

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