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Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran-nuclear20-2009jun20,0,3004472.story
A Shift in Iran's Leadership Would Not Change Its Nuclear Policy
[Los Angeles Times] Jeffrey Fleishman - Even if presidential challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi comes to power in Iran, this is unlikely to dramatically change the country's nuclear ambitions or the strategic complications the West faces in countering Tehran's political gambits across the Middle East. Iran's nuclear program is ingrained in the national psyche. It was begun decades ago and is embraced across the Iranian political spectrum. "The reformers, however, might be more willing to open a dialogue with the U.S., and this could lead to compromise," said Hassan Nafaa, a political scientist at Cairo University. Mousavi, who has a long history of support for atomic energy, is perceived as more amenable to defusing international tensions that could lead to Iran working with the U.S. in Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon.