It would make sense for the U.S. government to open up an initially low-level line of communications with Hamas in Gaza and even with Tehran. (It would have been vastly better if either President Bill Clinton or President George W. Bush had had the wisdom to start such a dialog when Muhammad Khatami was president of Iran. But they both seemed determined to throw that opportunity away.)

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took the opportunity of the Islamic Revolutions 29th anniversary Monday to launch a scathing attack on the West and his domestic opponents, vowing to vigorously pursue Irans nuclear and technological programs, as he appeared to incite his supporters against his critics at home.

Monday, Feb. 11 is the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution when followers of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini officially declared the end of the monarchy, turning imperial Iran into the Islamic Republic of Iran. That was 29 years ago.

This Feb. 11 will mark 29 years since the collapse of the monarchy in Iran put an end to the rule of the Pahlavi dynasty and gave rise to the Islamic Republic of Iran. Over a few crucial months in 1979 Iran underwent drastic changes, the repercussions of which are still being felt to this day throughout the Middle East and beyond.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has, in one form or another, managed to keep Iran in the headlines since his election in 2005; though not always in a positive manner.

Many observers who watched U.S. President George W. Bush smiling and posing for the camera next to the king of Bahrain could not have failed to notice that he was raising his sword in the face of Bahrains increasingly powerful neighbor: Iran.

During his stop in Abu Dhabi U.S. President George W. Bush gave a keynote speech in front of an audience of officials, academics, students, and prominent businessmen. In his speech, the American president accused Iran of exporting terrorism, of interfering in the affairs of its neighbor, Iraq, and of supporting a number of organizations considered to be terrorist groups by the U.S. and EU, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Palestinian territories.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will become the first Iranian sitting president to perform the Muslim Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca since Irans 1979 Islamic revolution, in another sign that relations between Tehran and its Arab neighbors are warming up.

A dissident Iranian ayatollah criticized the judiciary Tuesday over a recent spate of student arrests, as another student leader was reportedly detained by the authorities.