How Will Iran Respond (GERMANY)

US President Barack Obama has given Tehran the choice: The mullah regime can either give up its nuclear program and get rewarded for doing so, or it will face intensified sanctions. But Iran has made significant progress with its nuclear facilities and is unprepared to agree to a moratorium.

It's going to be his day of festival, the "Day of the Atom." To celebrate the event, Iran's president will travel on Wednesday to Isfahan, the pride of the nation and jewel of ancient Persia, one of the most impressive centers of culture in the Islamic world. It was in Isfahan that his predecessors, the Safawiden rulers, resided and established a great civilization at the end of the 16th century.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is arriving in Isfahan from the capital Tehran on his presidential aircraft, an aging Boeing 707, and the only foreign journalists on board are reporters from SPIEGEL -- a first. The provincial capital's powerful and important people are standing at attention on the tarmac: mullahs, military officials and bureaucrats.

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