Drones are, of course just one of the options available to the new CIA director, by contrast the use of sanctions looks a little old school. But when it comes to Iran they appear to be making their mark.

Experienced as John Kerry is with diplomacy, negotiating foreign policy in regions volatile to the U.S. will not be an easy task. Journalist Stephen Kinzer offers a few theories for how Kerry will confront the crises of the moment, including Iran and the ever-expanding drone war.

Hooshang Amirahmadi, founder and president of American Iranian Council and Rutgers professor and director of its Center for Middle Eastern Studies, talks about his decision to run for the Iranian presidency as an expat.

Middle East experts Flynt Leverett and Hillary Leverett discuss their book Going to Tehran: Why the United States Must Come to Terms with the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Iran is beginning to employ an online surveillance tactic known as "surgical censorship" which allows citizens free, though monitored, use of social media. Megan Garber, a staff writer at The Atlantic, explains the advantages techniques like this hold for a dictatorship.

According to a new report, Iran’s spy agency, the Ministry of Intelligence and Security, is the most powerful and well-funded government agency in the country. Noah Shachtman, contributing editor for Wired Magazine and editor of its national security blog “Danger Room” explains how the MOIS became so powerful and what it uses its influence for.

In the summer of 2009, Neda Agha-Soltan became the face of the Iranian Green Revolution after her tragic death by gunshot was caught on cell phone camera and uploaded online for the whole world to see. The international media rushed to put a face to the victim--but the face they used was that of another Iranian woman by the name of Neda Soltani, who was still very much alive. Brooke speaks to Neda Soltani, author of My Stolen Face: The Story of a Dramatic Mistake.

Ballake Sissoko & Vincent Segal- Oscarine

In the final presidential debate, both candidates made it clear they will take the country to war, if and when Israel decides that Iran’s nuclear program has reached the critical point.

After the debate, Romney's spin masters, including former Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman, had a very difficult time after the debate explaining how Romney's foreign policy would be different from Barack Obama's.

President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney will tackle foreign policy issues in Monday’s third and final presidential debate – meaning a nuclear Iran, the future of Syria, negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians and China's relationship to the United States are all fair game.

In 1979, as the Iranian Revolution was in high gear, militants took over the U.S. embassy in Tehran, holding 52 Americans hostage. While the United States negotiated the release of the 52 hostages, an entirely different rescue mission was being planned for 6 other Americans who’d managed to escape and were hiding out in the Canadian ambassador's home in Tehran.

Borzou Daragahi, Middle East and North Africa correspondent for the Financial Times, and Thomas Erdbrink, New York Times Tehran Bureau chief, discuss the fallout from the devaluation of Iran's currency.

Yesterday, hundreds of demonstrators flooded the streets of Tehran, chanting anti-government slogans and setting garbage cans on fire. The cause of the protests: money.

Rami Khouri, director, Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut, talks about the Netanyahu and Abbas speeches at the U.N. and other news from the Middle East.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad makes his final appearance at the United Nations today. European and U.S.-led sanctions and high inflation have taken a toll on Iran’s economy and Ahmadinejad remains an isolated figure abroad. Hooman Majd, author of “The Ayatollah Begs to Differ”, has been speaking to the Iranian delegation at the United Nations General Assembly.

Antonio Mendez gives an account of leading the 1979 rescue of six American hostages from Iran. He's joined by his wife, Jonna Mendez, also a former CIA agent. Argo: How the CIA and Hollywood Pulled off the Most Audacious Rescue in History, written with Matt Baglio, tells the full story of how Mendez, a top-level CIA officer, devised an incredibly risky plan to rescue the six escaped hostages. He disguised himself as a Hollywood producer and traveled to Tehran under the guise of scouting locations for a fake science fiction film called “Argo.”

"We are heading up to one of the greatest crises, I think, in modern history." This prediction about oil and the Middle East was made in 1951 by none other than Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas at a Books and Authors Luncheon.

David Sanger, chief Washington correspondent for the New York Times, WNYC contributor and author of Confront and Conceal: Obama's Secret Wars and Surprising Use of American Power, discusses his reporting on Middle East, how regional tensions are playing out, and American foreign policy towards the region. He also fact-checks one of the claims President Obama made in his convention speech last night.