nuclear-news

 At Tehran University, a group of hard-line students starts a petition urging Iran to withdraw from an international treaty regulating nuclear development. There’s no doubt Iran carefully stage manages much of its backlash to Western pressures over its nuclear efforts. But not all.

Iran’s defiance remains one of the few patches of common ground in a nation with multiple divisions: Hard-liners against opposition groups; power struggles between the ruling clerics and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; infighting among various parliament factions.

“Iranians don’t agree on much these days, but you could say the nuclear issue is one where they more or less speak in a common voice,” said William O. Beeman, aUniversity of Minnesota professor who follows Iranian affairs.

He said that gave some breathing room to Iran’s ruling system.

“That’s a big advantage,” he said. “They can concentrate on the fight with the U.S. and others and — with this case at least — don’t have to deal with internal tensions.”

For Western leaders and their allies, the showdown with Iran is without much nuance: A nonnegotiable drive to halt suspected steps toward a nuclear weapon. Within the Islamic Republic, however, the nuclear question is deeply intertwined with powerful elements — such as national pride and efforts to become an Islamic leader in scientific progress — that have left little room for concessions to Western pressures…..

“There is a major perception gap,” said Theodore Karasik, a security expert at the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis. “What the West sees as a potential threat, Iran sees as their right.”

Iran’s state-scripted nuclear narrative has gone into overdrive after last week’s report by the IAEA, which alleged that Iran conducted secret weapons-related tests and is close to developing a nuclear warhead. For years, Iran has claimed it only seeks reactors for energy and research……

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2011-11-15/iran-nuclear-program/51221980/1