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Focuses on Iran. President Mohammed Khatami's news conference warning that the United States and Iran remain far apart on key issues; Mention of his address to the United Nations at the opening of the General Assembly in fall 1998; The country veering politically between moderation and extremism; Mention of the death sentence imposed against an author by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989; The struggle for power within Iran and the government debate on whether to attack Afghanistan. INSET: A step forward, a step back.

The article discusses the political and economic outlook of Iran for 1986. The fanatical mullahs of Iran are massing infantry for an attack across the Tigris River, aiming to cut the main road to Basra, Iraq and break the stalemate in the six-year old war with Baghdad. It has been said that if the Iranian offensive cracks the hard-pressed defenses of Iraq or political morale, the weak gulf state will be left vulnerable to political and military pressure from Iran.

Iran's election last week made it clear that the Islamic Republic founded by Ayatollah Khomeini 25 years ago has not evolved as some had hoped into a serious democracy. So the predictable outcome was a victory for the religious conservatives. Iran's leaders insist that they do not want nuclear weapons, and never have. With each new leak, Iran has changed its story. It now admits to having had a secret programme to enrich uranium. Along with Libya and North Korea, it seems to have been one of the main customers of Abdul Qadeer Khan, the disgraced Pakistani who ran a global nuclear-smuggling network. The mere prospect of Iran acquiring a bomb has prompted Israel to ponder aloud the case for a pre-emptive strike. If Iran got the bomb, sometime enemies such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia might feel compelled to follow suit. In short, though a nuclear Iran may not be worth fighting a war to avert, it is a danger worth averting.

The article focuses on Prince Mohammed Reza Pahlevi and his political career in Iran. His father was dethroned in 1941 and Prince Mohammed Reza was torn between the lesson he learned from his ruthless father and the reality of paternal humiliation. In the end Prince Mohammed Reza was given a second chance with the help of the U.S. and the mistakes committed by his enemies. For twenty five years he controlled the fulcrum of the past and future of Iran. After all those years, he was once again torn between progressive goals and traditional methods of implementing order in an unruly land. After succeeding for so long, his sudden descent is particularly surprising.