Amid a power struggle among Iranian elites, those advocating negotiation over confrontation may increasingly have the upper hand, analysts say.

In the wake of recent strikes by Israel and the United States on Iranian cities, military sites and nuclear facilities, a troubling paradox has emerged: actions intended to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons may actually be accelerating its pursuit of them and encouraging other countries to follow suit.

Rather than helping to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, the Israeli-initiated 12-day war on Iran damaged the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. In response to the attacks on its nuclear facilities,