With the election of Hassan Rouhani in Iran, people want to know what this development means for the nuclear programme and Iran’s relationship with the West. Plenty of armchair commentators are lining up to offer answers.

Yet as I wrote on Ynet last year, how many of those who pronounce on this issue can say they have any real knowledge of the minutiae of the Iranian nuclear programme and the complexities of the Republic’s political scene?

A man who has both in spades is writer David Patrikarakos. I’m currently reading his book Nuclear Iran: The Birth of an Atomic State. His thoroughly-researched book is based on extensive research, primary sources and first-hand interviews with the key actors throughout the 60-year history of the programme.

Unlike most ‘commentators’ on this issue, David has visited Iran several times. He is not only interested in how the country’s politics may impact on the West, he actually cares about the 77 million people of Iran.

In other words, he’s the real deal. Read the New York Times’ review of Nuclear Iran here, Michael Ezra’s review here and follow David on Twitter here.

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I came rather late to the Nando’s party. The chain first appeared in Britain in 1992 and over the last 10 years in particular it has become a huge and growing hit. I had my first Nando’s last summer, but how I have made up for it since.

I think it would be fair to say I’ve become obsessed with Nando’s. I’m far from alone in the level of my obsession. While Pizza Express has customers, and Wagamama has fans, Nando’s has devotees. (Take a look at the Rate Your Nandos website and feel the love in the room.) Though its peri-peri chicken is magnificent, I think the chain’s cult-like appeal centres less around the food than the overall experience.

For the uninitiated, I shall describe it. You arrive, are allocated a table and handed a menu. When you’re ready, you go and place your order at the counter and pay. You collect your own cutlery and pour your own drinks. A waiter brings you the food when it’s ready.

This is what’s known in the industry as a ‘mixed service’ model. Well, it works for me. I like the slice of responsibility this system hands to the customer and it just feels so liberating to be able to leave a restaurant as soon as I’ve finished eating, rather than having to grab the attention of an overworked waiter so I can pay.

Here’s another industry term, the umbrella of which Nando’s falls under: ‘fast casual dining’. It’s true, Nando’s occupies a middle ground. It is neither a McDonald’s, nor a ‘proper’ restaurant, but somewhere brilliantly in the middle.

A lot of Nando’s customers are, I suspect, people who either cannot afford to eat in ‘grown-up’ restaurants or who feel, rightly or wrongly, they would not be accepted in them. For instance, it’s popular among young Muslims, and black or mixed-race kids.

Yet the Nando’s customer base is a melting pot of races, genders and ages. Our race is Nando’s. Our gender is Nando’s. We are Nando’s years’ old.

Each outlet is our embassy in whichever neighbourhood we find ourselves. Nearer to home, for me there are three branches within walking distance: one in Windsor and two in Slough. I nearly always go to Slough for Nando’s. For if Nando’s is anything, it is Slough.

Another awesome thing about the company is how jolly and motivated its staff always seem. It has won industry awards, including the Sunday Times ‘best place to work’ gong. That comes across in the atmosphere of the branches. Also, it gives a 20% discount to police, ambulance staff and fire services workers – a fact that is admirable, reassuring and slightly sexy all at once.

I said the food mattered less than the experience but the food is delicious. Fiery chicken dishes at affordable prices (you can comfortably eat there for under a tenner). The menu is simple, yet it empowers the customer: we have to specify how hot we want our chicken.

My regular order is Chicken Butterfly (hot) with peri chips and corn on the cob. I always grab a bottle of garlic peri sauce for the table, which I introduce to my plate only late in the game. To drink I have Coke with lots of ice, and I regularly top myself up throughout the meal. Occasionally I switch to Fanta for the final glass.

Then I stagger out onto the street, in a chilli-fired daze of euphoria. A relative of mine described it as a ‘Nandos coma’. Long may they knock us out.

Do you love Nando’s. If so, why?

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When I interviewed Matisyahu in 2010, I asked him if he’d any plans to write a song about the Baal Shem Tov. He said he did and, sure enough, on his new album Sparkseeker, there is just such a track.

However, it is a different song on the album which really caught my imagination. Live Like A Warrior is just the sort of rousing, courage-injecting anthem I need in my life, too much of which I live more like a worrier than warrior.

Well, with this song in my ears as I walk down the street I quickly feel an extra foot tall. Its lyrics are beyond inspirational, so it’s a great song with which to kick off any week.

Enjoy!

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Remember when Tal gave me that amazing present last month?

I got another great present today.

My friend and sometime co-author Julie gave me a pendant made out of a Hamas rocket.

Confused? Then let me introduce you to the organisation Rockets Into Roses. It sells stunning, hand-sculpted products which have been fashioned out of actual Hamas rockets fired into Israel.

The proceeds are then used to build and enhance bomb shelters in Israel. Brilliant, huh?

By the way, Julie is now writing her memoir of philosemitism Unchosen. I’ve read two chapters and it is sensational stuff. I’m so looking forward to reading the finished product – and I think you’ll enjoy it too.

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We already knew that Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan was both a fraud and a hypocrite when he described Israel’s raid on the Mavi Marmara as “state terrorism”.

But given the ongoing horror in Turkey, rarely has there been a clearer congregation of pots, kettles, stones and glass houses.

TURKISH REBEL IN 90 SECONDS! from Memento Mori on Vimeo.

Muslim leaders from across the globe visited Auschwitz recently and prayed for those who were killed during the Holocaust. The imams, visiting as part of a Holocaust awareness program, came from countries including Bosnia, India, the Palestinian Authority, Indonesia, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the USA.

“What can you say? You’re speechless. What you have seen is beyond human imagination,” said Imam Mohamed Magid, president of the Islamic Society of North America. “Whether in Europe today or in the Muslim world, my call to humanity: end racism, for God’s sake, end antisemitism, for God’s sake, end Islamophobia for God’s sake, end sexism for God’s sake. Enough is enough.”

You can see a video from the visit here.

Why on earth did I write that headline for a post asking you to sponsor me for my Windsor Half Marathon? I’ll get to that in a moment. First, I’d like to tell you about the work Israel’s oldest charity does for widows and orphans.

Since its foundation in 1788, the charity Colel Chabad has worked to alleviate the material and emotional suffering of Israel’s poor, many of whom are widows and orphans. In fact, Colel Chabad has an entire division dedicated to widows and their children. Their approach is holistic: taking into account the material and emotional needs of hundreds of orphaned families.

The charity provides tutors for hundreds of orphans and also social workers who monitor the domestic situation of each family. As appropriate, Colel Chabad also provides widows and orphans with: cash grants, regular food deliveries, holiday clothing vouchers, career counseling and retraining, a big brother or sister, psychological support, youth clubs, music lessons, and driving lessons when a license is needed for employment.

As with all of the charity’s work, all of the above is carried out with the aim of maintaining and enhancing the dignity of the family.

One of my favourite sayings of the Chabad Rebbe is this:

Do not give charity.

Giving charity means being nice and giving away your money. But who says it is your money to begin with? It is money put in your trust, to be disbursed for good things and for others when they will need it.

Change your attitude. Instead of doing what is nice, do what is right. Put the money where it belongs.

Not ideal words to preceed an appeal for sponsorship. Or are they? I’ll see, I suppose. I’m running the Windsor Half Marathon to raise fund for Colel Chabad. If you’d like to sponsor me, you can do that here.

Russell Brand is such an intelligent writer. When he wrote about the tragic deaths of Jade Goody and Amy Winehouse he captured the moments perfectly

He has now penned a piece of clarity about the Woolwich murder and ugly reactions to it, which you can read here. As he points out, it is madness, not Muslims, that we should blame for the killing.

He concludes: To truly demonstrate defiance in the face of this sad violence, we must be loving and compassionate to one another. Let’s look beyond our superficial and fleeting differences. The murderers want angry patriots to desecrate mosques and perpetuate violence. How futile their actions seem if we instead leave flowers at each other’s places of worship. Let’s reach out in the spirit of love and humanity and connect to one another, perhaps we will then see what is really behind this conflict, this division, this hatred and make that our focus.

Perfect.

There is no doubt there have been ugly responses to the Woolwich killing, from physical violence, to the hateful words of the usual obsessive commentators, barely able to conceal their indignant glee that their warped, tired views have been proved ‘right’. Not nice at all.

Yet I’ve also noticed fresh clarity, particularly among younger generations who understand that, yes, two Muslims murdered a British soldier in London last week – but 1.62 billion Muslims didn’t.

I love this video, which is well worth viewing to the end.

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Last week, my best friends from Israel, Tal and Hadar, visited London again. As usual we had a fun day out, chatting, shopping, eating and giggling. I was reminded afresh that there are no warmer people than Yemenite Israelis.

As usual, they arrived clutching bags bursting with presents for me from Israel, including a t-shirt, a DVD, two books and a key ring bearing a quote from the Baal Shem Tov.

Then, Tal gave me this.

It is the Israeli army officers’ pin she was awarded when she finished officers’ school and became a company commander, able to command a small group of soldiers.

The design of the pin is based on a sword and an olive branch. It symbolizes the protection of the sword and the aspiration for peace with the olive branch.

What a personal and meaningful present. I’ll treasure it forever.