Iran is a country of paradox and dichotomy: Pro-west youths are juxtaposed against an oppressive theocratic democracy. Women can - in contrast to certain other Middle Eastern countries - have their faces uncovered in public, wear make-up, and take up education and employment, but must cover their hair and have certain rights curtailed. Iran is an oil-rich state with an unstable economy and an apparent quest for nuclear energy. And the country is perceived by many foreigners as an Arab Middle Eastern state, whereas its people largely regard themselves as Persian.

That the US and its allies see Iran as a threat is not surprising, given President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's anti-west and anti-Israel hyperbolic rants. The problem, however, is that the foreign policies of the US and its allies appear to target the entire nation, and not just its leaders.

Naturally, a state's foreign policy should inform its citizens of the outside threats against them as well as the allies they can rely upon. Yet the language of foreign policy, and its percolation through the media to the world's public, is key to how accurate is the overall perception of an outside threat. The general perception of Iran could be seen to be at odds with other conflicts and diplomatic pressures in the global war on terror and the west's open criticism of political oppression and human rights abuses.

In South Africa, for example, apartheid was of worldwide concern. In Afghanistan, the fight is against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. In Iraq, the focus was on Saddam Hussein and his cronies. In Zimbabwe, fingers are pointed at Robert Mugabe and his henchmen. In all of these examples, the main concern of western leaders was or is with the majority population being controlled by a minority dictatorship - often a key consideration in modern western foreign policies. Yet such consideration seems to be lacking in the case of Iran. There appears to be little talk from western governments of their fears for ordinary Iranians controlled by the doctrines of the ruling radical clerics.

Many Iranians, such as the more liberal, educated middle classes, are becoming more openly critical of their president and the clerics. Among these is a youthful population looking west for democratic inspiration.

Iran has a majority young population, with around two thirds under age 30, and within this group a not-so-quiet cultural revolution against the authorities is taking place. This demographic has a surprisingly open

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