Sir Richard Dalton

In a HARDtalk interview broadcast 15 July 2009, Stephen Sackur talks to Sir Richard Dalton, British Ambassador to Iran from 2002-2006.

Before this month is out Mahmoud Ahmedinejad will be inaugurated as Iran's president for a second term.

Beyond that, the future of the Islamic republic is hard to predict.

Last month's disputed election stirred not just popular discontent, but also division within Iran's elites.

Sir Richard Dalton was British ambassador in Tehran until 2006. Stephen Sackur asks him: with the hardliners digging in, what should western governments do now?

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