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The screws are tightening on Iran. A new International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report claims that Iran could be on the path to developing nuclear weapons.
The US issued harsh new sanctions and their allies, the British, agreed to support them in the event of an attack. The other players in the region, Russia, China and Turkey have urged caution. Israel replied with threats, war games, and long-range missile "tests" capable of hitting the Islamic Republic.
Would Israel really attack? And would the US get drawn in? Or will they resort to covert warfare, assassinations or even virtual cyber-war like the mysterious computer virus, Stuxnet?
The timing of all this activity is suspicious. When Mohamed ElBaradei, the previous director general of the IAEA, issued reports he would re-write them countless times to avoid the agency being used as a political smokescreen.
Now that Washington is reducing its military presence in Iraq, and Iran's influence in Baghdad is growing, are we witnessing a seismic shift in the balance of power in the region?
Empire finds out.
Guests: Dr Rousbeh Parsi, Institute for Security Studies; Dr Yossi Mekelberg, International Relations, Webster University; Dr Arshin Adib-Moghaddam, SOAS; Dilip Hiro, author, Iran Today.
Interviewees: Dana Allin, co-author, The Sixth Crisis; Professor Paul Rogers, Global Security, Oxford Research Group; Professor Dan Plesch, director, Centre of International Studies & Diplomacy; and Patrick Henningsen, managing editor, 21st Century Wire.
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