http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/keyword/iran Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Sat, 25 Apr 2026 14:47:40 -0400 Sat, 25 Apr 2026 14:47:40 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1343/stuxnet-the-worlds-first-cyber-boomerang By Alex Middleton - In June 2012, two years after the initial discovery of the Stuxnet worm,1 an excerpt from David Sanger's then soon to be released book entitled Confront and Conceal was published in the New York Times.2 This piece, purportedly based on the testimony of several current and former American, European and Israeli officials, declared that Stuxnet – "the world's first fully fledged cyber weapon"3 was engineered by the United States and Israel as part of a wider covert operation aimed at undermining the Iranian nuclear program.4 Whilst the United States and Israel had long been suspected of developing... Sun, 31 Jan 2016 12:00 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1343/stuxnet-the-worlds-first-cyber-boomerang http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1487/power-religion-and-capital-punishment-a-comparative-analysis-between-abolitionist-turkey-and-retentionist-iran By Mariam Azhar - Turkey and Iran are both predominately Muslim-populated countries with a history of powerful political leaders who have shaped their societal values and perceptions towards capital punishment. Until the 1920s both countries employed a fairly punitive policy with regards to capital punishment. However, with the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923, Ataturk Mustafa Kemal finally achieved Turkish independence, which started Turkey on the road towards Westernization and secularism. Similarly in 1926, Reza Khan deposed an age old monarchy in Iran and followed the Kemalist ideology to lay the foundations for... Fri, 15 Nov 2013 12:00 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1487/power-religion-and-capital-punishment-a-comparative-analysis-between-abolitionist-turkey-and-retentionist-iran http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/631/russia-and-iran-strategic-partners-or-competing-regional-hegemons-a-critical-analysis-of-russian-iranian-relations-in-the-post-soviet-space By Moritz A. Pieper - Russia and Iran have a long history of being geographic neighbours, rivals, competitors and partners - a history which has coined mutual expectations, stereotypes and interactions. Still present in the Iranian collective memory, Tsarist Russia expanded territorially into wide parts of what had hitherto been part of “Greater Iran” in Central Asia and the Caucasus. That way, Tehran lost Tbilisi and Baku to Russia in the 1813 Treaty of Gulistan and the khanates of Yerevan and Nakhichevan in the 1828 Treaty of Turkmanchai (Katouzian 2009: 144) - a historic disgrace which not only took... Sat, 07 Apr 2012 10:52 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/631/russia-and-iran-strategic-partners-or-competing-regional-hegemons-a-critical-analysis-of-russian-iranian-relations-in-the-post-soviet-space http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/505/understanding-iran-between-central-asia-and-the-gulf-cooperation-council By Tamim K. Kashgari - The Islamic Republic of Iran today sits at the crossroads of Asia between the Middle East and Central Asia. This inherently places it in very close proximity to over half of the world's known energy reserves both in the form of petroleum and natural gas. Thus, an understanding of Iranian intentions and motivations in both these regions are of paramount importance for the entire global community. On a superficial level, these regions share striking similarities. Both the Central Asian States as well as the Arab Gulf States are predominantly comprised of Sunni Muslims. They also share the trait... Tue, 05 Apr 2011 10:35 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/505/understanding-iran-between-central-asia-and-the-gulf-cooperation-council http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/257/how-to-think-about-iran-demystifying-a-complex-international-challenge By Michael J. Norris - "When can we expect a pro-Western, pro-business government in Iran?" asks a US government official in the quasi-fictitious film Syriana. Today, it is highly probable that the same question is still being asked by anxious diplomats the world over. Iran’s nuclear aspirations, domestic repression and vast oil reserves have posed concern to both Western powers and its Arab neighbours. The resulting stigma which surrounds Irant—that of a backward nation run by basket-case ideologues—has perpetuated the string of diplomatic failures. Misinformation about Iran is rife and consequently... Mon, 21 Jun 2010 08:05 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/257/how-to-think-about-iran-demystifying-a-complex-international-challenge http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1294/discerning-iran-exploring-the-motives-for-iranian-foreign-policy By Sohaib Perwaiz - One may wonder why Iranian political leaders would risk such high stakes with an obstinate position against a superpower. This could be answered if one looked beyond the realist perspective that oversimplifies a complex nation’s problems into the overused balance of power equation. This paper hopes to provide another, lesser mentioned perspective on the motives behind Iranian foreign policy and looks to internal political dynamics, rather than elusive security dilemmas, for answers. By bypassing the security dilemma perspective of Iranian policies that has become so popular nowadays, we... Thu, 01 Nov 2007 12:00 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1294/discerning-iran-exploring-the-motives-for-iranian-foreign-policy