Terrorist threats and intimidations by the religious dictatorship in Iran to its neighbors and the West are seen by observers as signs of the regime’s increasing weakness and the dangers it is currently facing. Growing international and domestic isolation has led the regime to adopt more belligerent attitude on its international relations and more suppressive measures to quell internal upheavals. Since Ahmadinejad’s appointment as the mullahs’ president, the number of executions have gone up rapidly and more social restrictions have been enforced. This is why the Iranian regime is pressing to acquire nuclear weapons as a means of securing its survival, said a European political analyst.