Ramin Mostaghim

This leads to the possibility of other issues coming out that certain quarters say will not be to the benefit of many countries, including the United States.

While the state-owned media played down Shirin Ebadi's Nobel Prize victory, reformists believe that this is 'another nail in the coffin' of Iran's Islamic regime.

Some see a more potent brew of religion and politics in the Middle East following the ouster of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Experts hold another view.