Abbas Amanat

Whether the balance has changed in terms of if Russia is purchasing weapons from Iran, which was unheard of,

It means that there is a new balance is emerging, a new relationship is emerging.

perhaps remains to be seen.

But if you look at the historical precedence, it would have been enormously unwise to be an ally of Russia, given its long history of aggression in Iran.

Part of the reason why it's actually Iran allied itself with British Empire

was the fact that it was so much afraid of the Russian expansion.

And as such, I don't know what's going to be the future of this relationship.

I'm not cynical.

I try to be realistic.

And I actually may be critical, but I have great hopes.

in Iran's future for a variety of reasons.

I actually did write an article, only the last version of it is going to go out today, in which the title of it is The Time of Fear and Women of Hope, which in a sense is this whole coverage about what this movement means that we see today.

Bin May fizzle.

in a few weeks' time, or it may just go on and create a new dynamics in Iranian society that would hopefully result in a peaceful process of greater accommodation and a greater tolerance within the Iranian society and with the outside world.

And I think majority of the Iranian people don't want tension, don't want confrontation, don't want crisis.

They, if 40 years they have suffered from a regime that have dictated an ideology that it's regressive,

and impractical, they want to go back to a life in which they don't really create trouble for their neighbors or for the world.

And therefore, I would see a better future for Iran.

That's for one reason.

Strategically or geopolitically, maybe in Iran's advantage, in a peaceful fashion, to negotiate