On Monday, Google became one of the first American companies to take advantage of newly loosened U.S. sanctions against Iran. With a Google Plus post, the search giant announced that it was offering its Play store to Iranian citizens, allowing them to download free apps from its app marketplace. The Treasury Department, which sets the export restrictions, issued the new rules back in May. But the recent easing is actually part of a longer process that doesn’t just change U.S.

Syria warned the United States against any military action over a suspected chemical weapons attack in its civil war, saying it would "create a ball of fire that will inflame the Middle East". President Bashar al-Assad's closest ally Iran also said Washington should not cross the "red line" on Syria, where doctors accused his forces of a poison gas attack that killed hundreds last week.

In June, Hassan Rouhani was elected president of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Rouhani ran as a reform candidate, and many have interpreted his victory as a harbinger of a possible liberalization or rationalization of Iranian domestic and foreign policy. But the dominant figure in Iranian politics is not the president but rather the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iran, whose relations with Ankara have been strained due to the Syrian crisis, aims to punish Turkey by dealing a blow to Turkish soft power in Lebanon, as Ankara has suspended its cultural and commercial activities in Beirut after a Turkish Airlines (THY) captain and co-pilot were kidnapped by gunmen last week. Turkey's contact with the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah, a key ally of Tehran, on Thursday as part of efforts to secure the release of the two Turkish pilots, raised question marks in some minds over an Iranian link in the pilots' abduction.

The Mexican law student was surprised by how easy it was to get into Iran two years ago. By merely asking questions about Islam at a party, he managed to pique the interest of Iran’s top diplomat in Mexico. Months later, he had a plane ticket and a scholarship to a mysterious school in Iran as a guest of the Islamic Republic. Next came the start of classes and a second surprise: There were dozens of others just like him.

Those who speculate that Iran will somehow absorb western Afghanistan into its sphere of influence when US and NATO forces drawdown in 2014 have not been through the doors of the threadbare “Public Library and Cultural Center” in Herat. Iran built the domed structure and stocked its library and classrooms seven years ago, a $190,000 project that it presented as a gift to the Afghan government. Today the center fulfils a critical need for its 700 mostly poor Afghan student members: English, math, art, Quran, and computer classes, and a study hall to prepare for university entrance exams.

The US has offered Iran a "willing partnership", after President Hassan Rouhani was inaugurated in Tehran. The White House said Iran now had a chance to allay fears over its nuclear programme and meet its international obligations. Mr Rouhani used his inauguration speech to promise a government of moderation for all Iranians, but also called for international sanctions to be lifted.