Iran is an important country from a number of perspectives, and has a particularly significant place in the international oil and gas domain. But Iran is also a country whose policies and actions have long been cause for deep concern. Given its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and missile delivery systems, its place as the leading state-sponsor of terrorism, its support for violent opposition to Middle East peace, its unhelpful role in Iraq, its oppression of its own citizens and abysmal human rights record, Iran poses, as Under Secretary Burns recently said, a profound threat to US interests.