Campus Conversations

Why Iran Says No

February 26, 2013

Examining U.S.-Iran relations

In an op-ed in today's Los Angeles Times, "Why Iran Says No," Hussein Banai argues that reaching a lasting deal with Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has never been about Iran's nuclear program but rather the political legitimacy - and thereby survival - of the Islamic regime. 

Hussein is an assistant professor of diplomacy and world affairs and the coauthor of “Becoming Enemies: U.S.-Iran Relations and the Iran-Iraq War, 1979-1988.” You can read more of Hussein’s work on his website or listen to his talk from earlier this month at the World Affairs Council of Oregon on the prospects of U.S.-Iran relations.