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Iran: The Revolution Is Over
(Economist-UK) Talks to curb Iran's nuclear program have less than a month to run. Iran insists that it wants civilian nuclear power and not a bomb. But nobody really believes that. If the talks break down, atomic weapons could proliferate in the Middle East; or, in a bid to stop Iran, America or Israel could launch a military attack on its infrastructure. Either outcome would be a disaster. Much that Iran does is wrong. It finances terrorists and militias in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories and backs the murderous regime of Bashar Assad in Syria. Its politicians routinely deny Israel's right to exist. They treat opponents at home with cruelty and injustice. The UN's nuclear agency recently complained that Iran is failing to come clean about its nuclear research - part of a litany of evasion and deceit. Our special report describes a country whose revolutionary fire has been extinguished. As people have moved from their villages to the cities they have got richer and acquired a taste for consumer goods and Western technology. The traditional religious society that the mullahs dreamt of has receded. With the passing of time, the mosques have started to empty. Here is one Islamic state where religion is in retreat.