♪ >> so a chelo kabob wouldn't be complete without persian rice.soned with saffron, the rice in this country is like nothing you've ever had. >> tony, first you should take the butter and put it on your rice. bon appÉtit. >> bon appÉtit. >> it's good. >> it's really good, yeah. it was a hopeful time when i arrived in iran. a window had opened. there had been a slight loosening of restrictions since the election of president hassan rouhani, and there was optimism for a deal that could lead to an easing of crippling economic sanctions imposed because of iran's continued nuclear program. trade restrictions that have been very, very difficult for everyone. but there's a push happening between opposing factions in the government. on one hand iranians are the descendants of ancient persia, the empire of poetry, flowers, the highly influential culture that goes back thousands of years. but the ruling clerical and military class are at best ambivalent, at worst actively hostile to much of that tradition. severe religious-based restrictions of speech, dress