IRAN TAKES A TOUGH LINE

Last week, Iran's President Ali Akbar Rafsanjani treated the Western media to a rather odd display of antipathy towards the United States and Britain. But his real audience was, in all probability, the turbulent political factions inside Iran. The hardline which even known moderates have adopted in the past few weeks is a clear demonstration that the radicals in Iran remain a force to be reckoned with, not to say pandered to.