![Campaign pins of Iranian presidential candidate and lead nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili are displayed for sale at Tehran University in the Iranian capital on June 3, 2013. The eight candidates standing for president this month may differ on several issues, but when it comes to Iran's nuclear drive they are united in pursuing what they see as its peaceful atomic ambitions. AFP PHOTO/ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/06/169842122.jpg/169842122.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=vkBQvAPt)
Mohammad Ali Shabani is Al-Monitor's Iran Pulse Editor and a doctoral researcher at SOAS, University of London, where he focuses on Iranian foreign policy. His work has appeared in outlets such as the New York Times, National Interest and BBC World News. He has also offered commentary on CNN and Al Jazeera English among other leading channels. On Twitter: @mashabani
![Campaign pins of Iranian presidential candidate and lead nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili are displayed for sale at Tehran University in the Iranian capital on June 3, 2013. The eight candidates standing for president this month may differ on several issues, but when it comes to Iran's nuclear drive they are united in pursuing what they see as its peaceful atomic ambitions. AFP PHOTO/ATTA KENARE (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/06/169842122.jpg/169842122.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=vkBQvAPt)
![EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to film or take pictures in Tehran.
An Iranian man looks on as he sits on a bus in Tehran December 22, 2010. With Iranians feeling choked by foreign sanctions, broken promises and money worries, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad faces as much pressure on the economic front as from politics. Ahmadinejad has cut fuel and food subsidies to save $100 billion on the state budget and to make Iran less vulnerable to an](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/05/1-RTXVZ4G.jpg/1-RTXVZ4G.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=JR5KSMTc)
![Former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani (C) waves as he registers his candidacy for the upcoming presidential election at the interior ministry in Tehran on May 11, 2013. Rafsanjani, who has been isolated since the 2009 presidential election which saw massive street protests against the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, registered his candidacy to stand for office again. AFP PHOTO/BEHROUZ MEHRI (Photo credit should read BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/05/Rafsanjani-registers-for-election.jpg/Rafsanjani-registers-for-election.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=ECaEgOdk)
![Members of the Iranian delegation, led by Supreme National Security Council Secretary and chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili (3rd L), sit at a table during talks in Almaty February 26, 2013. World powers began talks with Iran on its nuclear programme in the Kazakh city of Almaty on Tuesday, in a fresh attempt to resolve a decade-old standoff that threatens the Middle East with a new war. REUTERS/Ilyas Omarov/Pool (KAZAKHSTAN - Tags: POLITICS ENERGY) - RTR3EAS0](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/04/RTR3EAS0.jpg/RTR3EAS0.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=JGCTL7Z9)
![Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad talks during a news conference at the end of his visit to Cairo, February 7, 2013. REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3DGPT](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/03/1-RTR3DGPT.jpg/1-RTR3DGPT.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=8aAthi4N)
![Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary and chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili listens during a news conference in Almaty February 27, 2013. World powers ended two days of talks with Iran on Wednesday with no sign of a breakthrough, and the two sides have agreed to meet at expert level in Istanbul next month and to hold further high-level negotiations in Kazakhstan in April. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov (KAZAKHSTAN - Tags: POLITICS ENERGY) - RTR3EC82](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/02/RTR3EC82.jpg/RTR3EC82.jpg?h=4573e33e&itok=lVkOSmkM)
![EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on leaving the office to report, film or take pictures in Tehran.
An election official sits in front of an image of Iranian warriors at a mosque, used as a polling station, during the parliamentary election in central Tehran March 2, 2012. Iranians voted on Friday in a parliamentary election which is expected to reinforce the power of the clerical establishment of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over hardline politic](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/02/RTR2YQDO.jpg/RTR2YQDO.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=imR6leHE)
![Seized highly corrosion-resistant valves are seen inside a warehouse in an unknown location in this handout picture provided by the Spanish police January 11, 2013. Spanish police arrested two men and seized the contents of a truck bound for Iran loaded with materials destined for use in the Islamic state's nuclear programme, the Interior Ministry said on Friday.The European Union has banned the sale of such material to Iran, which denies Western accusations it is seeking to develop a capability to make nuc](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2013/01/RTR3CC3O.jpg/RTR3CC3O.jpg?h=89899943&itok=prIKwdn3)
![An oil production platform is reflected on the sunglasses of an Iranian worker at the Soroush oil fields in the Persian Gulf, 1,250 km (776 miles) south of the capital Tehran, July 25, 2005. Picture taken July 25, 2005. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi CJF/KS](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2012/q4/1-RTRIU15-001.jpg/1-RTRIU15-001.jpg?h=2d235432&itok=XngvnTPf)