16th April 2006

HUGH BARNES, Director of Democracy and Conflict at The Foreign Policy Centre and co-author of 'Understanding Iran', speaking ahead of the launch of the FPC's report said:

"The West's failure to engage successfully with Iran is due to a failure to understand the structure of the Iranian regime and the background to recent political changes.

"The diplomatic crisis sparked by Iran's nuclear programme has focussed attention on the balance of forces within the Islamic Republic. Some analysts have claimed that Iran is divided into reformers and conservatives – a gross simplification."

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10th April 2006

HUGH BARNES, Director of Democracy and Conflict at The Foreign Policy Centre and co-author of 'Understanding Iran', today said:

"A plan to attack Iran with nuclear weapons smacks not just of a deranged strategic miscalculation but of sheer hypocrisy and idiocy.

"Media coverage in recent weeks has sought to create the illusion that armed conflict is inevitable. It is neither imminent nor inevitable, nor does it seem likely to be supported by the UN Security Council. Politicians, journalists and others in the public sphere need to act in a calm and rational fashion. This hyperbolic speculation emanating from some quarters is damaging to the painstaking diplomatic negotiations.

"Both sides of this dispute are in danger of talking themselves into a war – they need to take a deep breath and calm down."

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16th January 2006

STEPHEN TWIGG, Director of the Foreign Policy Centre today said:

"Libya, not Iraq is the model for dealing with Iran, and bringing about a solution to the country's nuclear ambitions.

"The current coverage in the media of the crisis over Iran's moves to resume research and development of nuclear fuel is in danger of being portrayed in the same light as the build-up to the war with Iraq. While Iran's move to resume nuclear fuel research is a worrying development, there is still the opportunity for a diplomatic solution to the current crisis."

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