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Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/05/world/middleeast/05iran.html
Iran Seals Its Doors Tighter Against the West
[New York Times] Michael Slackman - The police shut down 20 barbershops for men in Tehran last week because they offered inappropriate hairstyles and women have been banned from riding bicycles in many places, as a crackdown on social freedoms presses on. President Ahmadinejad's economic missteps and the animosity generated in the West by his aggressive posture on the nuclear issue have helped his government stymie what it sees as corrupting foreign influences, by increasing the country's economic and political isolation. A Western diplomat said, "They are convinced the rest of the world is trying to put pressure on Iran to keep Iran down....They believe if Iran makes a concession to the West on the nuclear issue, it will be the first step toward regime change."