The election of Mahmud Ahmadinejad as president of Iran in June 2005 was an unanticipated political event that led to a significant and negative change in the 'Western' perception of Iran and its international policies. 1 It is true that Iran and the West had had difficult relations since the Iranian Revolution of 1979, but during the presidency of Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005) the image of Iran had improved in much of the West due to the latter's persistent advocacy of a 'dialogue of civilizations' and his administration's pursuit of diplomatic engagement in various international fora. 2 The exceptions were Israel and the United States, neither of which had relations with Iran and both of which continued to regard that country with deep suspicion. 3 Since the late 1980s, Israel (with US concurrence) had asserted that Iran was a main state sponsor of international terrorism; specifically, Israel accused the government of the Islamic republic of supporting non-state armed groups such as the Palestinian Hamas, the Islamic Jihad and the Lebanese Hizbullah. Iran never denied providing moral support for these groups (while generally ignoring the issue of material support), but also it insisted that Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hizbullah were not terrorist organizations but rather were national liberation movements engaged in legitimate struggles for self-determination. 4 In addition to concerns about Iran's regional policies, since 2002 Israel and the United States have also expressed alarm about the Iranian nuclear program, accusing Tehran of using its civilian nuclear power project as a cover for the secret development of nuclear weapons. Furthermore, the US administration of George W. Bush (2001-2009), far from sharing the Europeans' interest in dialogue with Khatami, actually advocated 'regime change' in Tehran. Indeed, in his January 2002 State of the Union address, President Bush asserted that 'Iran aggressively pursues those weapons of mass destruction and exports terror.' For this reason, Iran, along with Iraq, North Korea and 'their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil.' 5 Three years later, when Ahmadinejad was inaugurated as the new Iranian president, the United States was already pushing its European allies, especially Britain, France and Germany, to pressure Iran to abandon key components of its nuclear program, especially the enrichment of uranium.