we have two children that are iranian americans. their mother is iranian. they were both born there. >> so you are married to an iranian? >> yes. yes. 46 years now. so we have two -- >> did you meet her in tehran? >> i met her in kurdistan many years ago. we were both teachers there. so at the time of the revolution we had been married 13 years and had two children already. and the children remember iran. they have wonderful memories of good times there. and now they have their own children who are one-quarter iranian and probably about all -- the only relation they have now is their grandmother's cooking. but i would very much like for them to see that part of their origins. >> john limbert, was your family there in november 1979? >> fortunately, they were not. some of them -- some of my in-laws were there and were able to get out. my wife and children did not come to tehran. it was what in the foreign service we call an uncompanied post, a post without family. they stayed in -- we had been in saudi arabia before, and they stayed on in saudi arabia, which

they were followed by iranian f86's.united states, the iranians showed themselves to be fine pilots. the iranian pilots spotted their targets and peeled off. forward air control guided the planes to their targets. after the strikes, the planes returned to the air base. the final objective, united states troop aircraft assemble for the long trip back to the united states. redeployment began at once, for the element of speed was important to the united states forces. the giant planes airlift men and equipment back to united states safely and on schedule. >> it is important to realize that for the first time in our history, an entire army airborne brigade with all of its heavy equipment was transported 12,000 miles on an ally's call for assistance to help stem the tide of aggression in their country. united states military officials have devoted considerable effort to the evaluation of exercise delawar and the contributions to the defense of the free world. they believe the success of the exercise has given a strong boost t

a lot of talk about an iranian nuclear program, an iranian nuclear program. being the eternal optimist that i am i didn't think we would be in such a bad place, even after what had happened -- what had happened in 1979 and 1980. when we flew out of teheran in those planes, if you had asked me i would have said, in five years, seven year, ten years at the most tempers will cool. we in the iranians will realize that we have mutual interest, that we have things to talk about with each other. not necessarily as friends. but as countries. as states do. because we talk to many states with which we are not friendly -- friendly. we from time to time talk to north korea -- we talk to north korea. we talk to syria. we talk to many places -- many places. but it hasn't happened. it's a very unusual and almost unique situation that we're in with iran. where this estrangement, this inability to talk to each other has gone on now for 32 years. and despite efforts to change the relationship to break it, i think -- i think this president, president obama made a very sincere e

jason is iranian/american. and his wife, a full iranian. this is their city, tehran.ral seems to be ever-shifting. is fun even a good idea? >> a lot of push and pull. a lot of give and take. when i first started coming here you wouldn't hear pop music in a restaurant or -- >> now it is everywhere. >> we have police they arrest girls or women for having -- not being covered enough. it know it that we live with the police in our head, you know. >> one of the first things that people will say when you say, i'm going to iran. yeah, but don't they make women do this, this and this? >> actually -- not so much, not as much as our friend. compare and contrast, women aren't allowed to drive in saudi arabia. >> that's right. >> or vote. >> you can drive. you can vote? >> yeah, of course. of course. >> my sister is an accountant. she has her own company. girls are allowed to do almost everything, except if you want to go and watch football. >> can't watch football? >> we cannot. >> women's issues are often at the spear point of change or possible change here. on one hand, prevai

to the iranian economy. it would help them in a scenario in which criticism will be shouted down because people are sensing immediate and tangible economic benefits. mindful of the difficulty that the president has in lifting sanctions, that doesn't seem to be something the u.s. team is willing to offer because of the political costs, but in a be able to offer because of tensions with congress. i think that shows something. sanctions can be a tremendous leverage, but also turned into an obstacle if you don't have enough control in which you could lift it in a swift manner. this is where the tensions between congress and the president has moved away from being a sort of clever and highly effective good cop bad cop game to something that becomes a card in the negotiation. >> david, you talk about potentially oil dropping 250 or $60 a barrel -- to $50 or $60 a arrel. what with impact be for regional players? saudi arabia, iraq. how does that impact isil? they profit off of oil smuggling. does that impact that i

when we return, a closer look at the iranian nuclear program.ain got the bomb, or once and for all moved way from it. what benefits might follow for the islamic republic. stay with us. >> an american tonight investigative report >> i want the schools to want me >> no matter what... i'm still equal... >> what if you had a brilliant mind? >> i want to get into a competitive school... >> but life has been a struggle... >> black and latino kids... they feel shut out of these schools and shut out of the opportunities that they offer >> and you only have a solitary chance to turn your world around >> the way to get entrance is through taking one single exam... >> testing under fire an america tonight investigative report only on al jazeera america >> at the height of the cold war >> we're spies... intercepting messages from embassies, military bases... >> one of the america's closest allies... >> we were not targeting israelis... >> suddenly attacked >> bullet holes... ...just red with blood... >> 34 killed... we had no way to defend ourselves >> high

as one iranian insider told me, rouhani has prevented the collapse of the iranian economy. he's a stark difference b to his predecessor, mr. ahmadinejad, who now has openly spoke -- talked about in iran his management skills decimated the iranian economy, and i think mr. rouhani has proven himself to be an asset. so i don't think we'd see his disappearance, but we'd certainly see the conservatives and the hard liners come out with their knives to make a play to gain power. keep in mind that the iranian parliament has an election coming up. i think, certainly, moderates, reformists would be undermined in that. so there'd be a cascade effect that would not be good for those who are more reform minded. >> i think i agree with suzanne, this would not be the end of rouhani's presidency. it would, however, risk being the end of some of the orientation towards the wes that he has been pursuing. it could be an end to part of that foreign policy approach. because what it would do is that it would vindicate, in my view, the wrong narrative in iran. there's a hard line narrative in ir

when we return, a closer look at the iranian nuclear program.ain got the bomb, or once and for all moved way from it. what benefits might follow for the islamic republic. stay with us. the factory floor... al jazeera investigates broken dreams: the boing 787 only on al jazera america >>> whatever your beliefs, whatever your ideological bent, you might be willing to concede that nations do things for a reason. they want to accomplish something for themselves, they want to force their enemy's hands, they see advantage in one activity as opposed to another. from the time iran began to enrich you ar uranium its facede it's pleasure of the u.s., international organizations, neighbors and a straight-up promise to destroy their facility from israel. and yet, iran persists. why? matthew, the two most recent countries to go nuclear are pakistan and north korea. looking from teheran over at islambad and pyongyang, are these instructive examples? does it tell you, hum, we ought to press on with this or maybe we ought to stop? >> no, it's an spw-pg point. b

and from the iranian point of view, they needed to get rid of these people.re killing them. >> the negotiations to gain freedom for the hostages in iran continues to move forward. >> the negotiations took place in algiers, and they arranged to negotiate through proxy nations so they couldn't be accused of negotiating directly with the great satan. >> we have now reached an agreement with iran which will result, i believe, in the freedom of our american hostages. >> they did actually resolve the crisis sometime in december. but they waited for inauguration day in order to deprive jimmy carter of a final, triumphant moment before he left office. >> only a matter of hours now before the hostages will get up to begin the day they have been waiting for, for 14 months. >> they came in and said grab your stuff. we didn't have much stuff. boom. they just started taking us out. blindfolded, mind you, took us out, i was put into a van with the two women who we had no idea were still there, ann swift and kate koob. >> this was the first time we had been put in a situati

opposition groups or for other iranian potential adversaries such as us.next, forthcoming was important for them that the sadr movement not be allowed to develop as an indigenous iraqi nationalist competitor, shia islam's competitor to the islamic republic which is why as an which is why as a sponsor their militant proxy group inside iraq it was important for them to do that within the sadr movement so they could co-opt some of the sadr movement and control. and lastly, and a duty to comment on this too much, it was important for them to contain the influence so it could not be a threat to the islamic republic's legitimacy, which is why didn't i think it was important for them to have a shia militant proxy community that they could use within the iraqi shia islamic sphere that could be a challenge. i will leave it at that. any of the things we can expand and follow-up. >> super. thank you for that detailed look and those lessons learned. karim, we will close with you with some broader conclusions about what this means for the is the reigning relationship.

the iranian political context, i think we often times give too much credit to iranian elections as if we are talking about norway. hominy, as long as he is healthy, there is no signs of any threat to his position of supreme leader. so in the assembly of experts, i see him getting unanimous support, almost, and as ray was talking about earlier, it's dividing the spoils between various shades of conservatives. it's not that there's going to be a parliament which comes in and really calls for sweeping change in iran. i will just say a couple sentences about the prospect post -- if there is a nuclear deal, what happens to iran's regional policies. the optimistic perspective is the prag ma 'tis, the more pest mystic point of view is that iran is now going to be freed up financially, right? they will have far more financial resources to continue to support these groups, and as i said, i think we always have to warn against conflating our hopes and analysis. the pessimistic point of view usually prevailed and they are putting ideology before national interests, and then finally on the questi

you have iranian revolutionary guard on the ground, directing iranian militias being supported by the kurdish. it was a couple of months ago, the general warned that the u.s. air force shouldn't be the air force of the militias. at times it seems that it was the air force and being fed it is iranians and fighting alongside the shia militias. i quote, we are ready to deal with the devil. i don't know if he means the central government or they reached the maximum in iraq. they may have potential to increase and there many reasons for isis popularity in sunni areas. isis is a story scene and dignity being a voice. i know this may sound professional, but we are witnessing the beginning of isis. we are witnessing the beginning. even though i think from our perspective, the worrying is going to and they have the same feelings and they do not mind going into a state of their own. all limits in the presentation, we have a large number of people here and i'm sure they have lots of questions for them. what we have as a statement, isis ruined everything. the kurds were about to have a state. the

and now the iranians unz that the americans need a deal, but the iranians say that the litmus test comese nuclear negotiations. the united states has to recognize iran's sovereign rights if the americans act on that fact front then i think the iranians will believe the americans are serious and they can move gradually forward. >>> engineers are planning an upgrade of the biggest hydro electric plant in afghanistan. it was supposed to be a priority for nato and the u.s. government, but work stalled six years ago. now afghans are taking control as jennifer glasse reports. >> reporter: afghanistan's biggest hydro electric plant could soon be generating even more electricity. this man has kept the power plant running for the past 36 years. he knows every piece of equipment in this plant designed and built by american engineers in the 1970s. he is looking forward to the upgrade. >> this is analog everything. now analog is gone. now we will replace by digital. >> reporter: the equipment is so old there are no spare parts. the system requires constant monitoring. >> for us where is the problem,

he knew iranian history. so it was just the detai detail-- details we had to talk about. >> rose: tell me about going into the making of the film, here are you with the daily show, you take 12 we cans off. >> correct. >> you are going to go to amman jordan, you are making a movie. >> that's right. >> rose: you have written a script, you got the cast you want. what is surprising? >> what was terrifying about all this? >> it's not so much-- the most terrifying thing about the project is not to let maziar down. you know, when are you telling somebody's story you feel a great responsibility to tell it with integrity to reflect, his memoir is a reflection of his time in prison. this film is natural leigh going to be an impression of that reflection so it's already twice removed. i'm not eye anian so i'm to the going to have the same nuanced ear that a great iranian director is going to have. so within that, it's sort of owning your own inauthenticity while trying to best express the more universal elements of the

i'm half iranian and at the time i didn't know know much about my iranian identity. so i wanted to move to iran and learn about that part of my history and to report from the country because i knew it was going to be an important country for years to come. but supporters of the government say they're not trying to reverse his achievements. >> i was trying to write a book about iran beyond the headlines so i was interviewing a lot of people you don't usually hear from in the news and i was working on that for about two years when one morning i was arrested. i was sleeping and four men forced their way into my apartment. they were with iran's intelligence ministry and they took me away to another building after going through all my belongings. they questioned me for several hours and then told me i was not cooperating so they took me to prison which is known as the most notorious prison in iran. they said at first that i was threatening national security or endangering national security. they accused me of being a spy. i did confess to being a spy under a great deal of

the new iranian history. it is the details we had to talk about. >> going into the making of the film, you take 12 weeks off. you are going to go to jordan and make a movie. you have written a script. you have the cast you want. what is surprising? what was terrifying? >> the most terrifying thing about the project is not to let maziar down. you feel a responsibility. his memoir is a reflection of this time. it is already twice removed. i am not going to have the same nuanced year a great iranian director is going to have. it is owning your own inauthenticity while trying to best express the more universal elements of the story, and not screw it up, to be frank. to just do justice to what he went through, and to be able to articulate that story with the proper intention, and in a way that dramatizes the way we thought. >> did you seek advice from other directors? >> no question. as someone like yourself, you interview people. you can have directors on the show. we would talk about a project. i would find my w

the iranians keep making progress.e've only frozen part of the program that the iranians have declared but they have a 20-year track record of deceiving the west, deceiving the international community and maintaining a part of the program in a covert fashion. so this is part of the problem. we are imagining that we're seeing the whole of their program but we know from past experience that there's always something else. >> anybody here a little more optimistic take on this? >> it's hard to be more optimistic. the thing the administration won't forget or liberals won't recognize, iranian is a idealogical revolution and legitimacy is defined by getting nuclear capability. they have spent billions and billions of dollars to get to this point. the idea they are going to negotiate that sets this aside is simply a pipe dream but liberals like john kerry and barack obama won't recognize rea aalty. >> if you put inspectors in there and get them to reduce the uranium they enrich and limit the number of centrifuges, don't you at

these difficult questions kindle may be solved with iranian can only ben -- solved with iranian participation in the long-term. it is the sheer danger of not having an agreement that is driving things, because everybody would end up worse, including the situation of israel would end up worse if there is no verified winding down of aspect of the iranian program. >> what is your assessment of the iranian program at this time? what is the fear of the west of the capability that they could get their hands on it? >> there is no evidence whatsoever iran is conducting research into nuclear weapons. they have no nuclear weapons program at present. the question is might they capabilityuture the which is used for civil purposes for military purposes? i have to say something elliott said was misleading. he talked about concern to reduce iranian holdings of highly enriched uranium and plutonium. they have the facilities 100% safeguarded by the atomic energy agency. the potential reactor which might be used to generate is not yet complete. it is not yet operating. and the facilities to generate , which th

if you travel you feel that there is an affinity between americans and iranians. so i think the potential to reestablish those diplomatic relations is a big one. i would love to see us have an ambassador in tehran and for iran to have an ambassador here in washington. i would love to see the economic relations that we heard about earlier come to ruition. and as much as anything i think the iranian american diaspora here in the united states, which i know trita can talk as eloquent as anyone, wants to see this. they are very successful part of population. they want to see the relationship between our two countries, our two governments flourish. and i think we would all benefit from that. look at the past 30 years, the lack of people to people exchanges between our societies i think has hurt us. and with a deal i think we could see that move forward and build the relationships that we once had with iran. >> if i could just add a couple of points to that. the obvious first benefit of course is that the deal would close off any path iran would have towards nuclear wea

-iranian relations.ith a more detailed assessment of the nuclear diplomacy. mark zandi will conclude to assess how the tumultuous regional developments, particularly the war against isis, will affect nuclear negotiations. after these initial presentations we will have an exchange among the three of us and open the floor to questions. it should be a straightforward trade-off between technology and transparency. iran would retain a limited nuclear program under international safeguards, in return for the lifting of economic sanctions. technical details, such as numbers of permissible centrifuges, the scope of international inspections, and a timetable of sanctions based on iranian compliance, could be worked out. on technical grounds, such an agreement would fall within the declared u.s. and iranian position. iran's nuclear program is determined and incremental, but it is not the manhattan project. it is a crash program to acquire a weapon in the face of an existential threat. the dilemma is that iran has

i'm half iranian, at the time i didn't know much about my iranian identity. i wanted to move to iran to learn about that part of my history, and report from the country. i knew it would be an important country for years to come. supporters of the government says they are not trying to reverse the achievements. i was mostly trying to write beyond the head lines, i was interviewing a lot of people, and working on that for two years, when i was arrested one morning. i was sleeping and four men forced their way into my apartment. they were with the iran intelligence ministry and took me to another building, after going through my belongings, they questioned me and said i was not cooperating and took me to prison, the most notorious prison in iran. they said at first that i was threatening nasal security or endaningering national community. i confessed to being a spy under a great deal of pressure. it was a false confession, because they promised they would free me and i was frightened what would happen if i stayed. soon after i recanted it. in court i was sentenc

he wants to lift sanctions as the iranian perform. and the best way to do that is just to suspend them so that if the iranian stop performing, he can put them back on. that does not lend itself well to congressional votes, so don't look at the 4th as a deadline. look at the 24th as the end of a quarter. in all of this. because in the political process, in iran and in the united states, there's going to be a lot left. i often say to people, getting this deal doesn't require having one deal. it requires having three deals. it's a deal between the u.s. negotiators and the iranian negotiators. it's actually probably the easiest one of the three. there's a deal between the president and the foreign minister in iran and supreme leader and the irgc. that's a really tough deal. and there's a deal that has to be struck between our president and our congress. and that's an equally tough deal. so, the 24th is a fascinating marker. i'm sorry michael won't be around to have it in his book. i'm looking forward to reading those parts he swung by me

but the iranians try to play, you know, it offers a very productive way. it is a little

about the talking need for more concessions from iranians. the question is, do think there room for more flexibility on negotiations from p5 +1, taking into account that the of each country -- the overall political situation -- you view us politics and so forth. thank you. last one over here. mark from the national college. iran got, by think 2003, to proving the technology needed to produce a nuclear weapon? is it possible that they prove to their own satisfaction? go okay, why don't we just down the row and deal with his remaining questions and any concluding remarks. >> several people asked the question about sanction release. i think one of the big problems an agreement is exactly as professor said, iran's concern that the us will not be able to deliver on sanctions relief. clearly, the president is not convince be able to congress to repeal all of the sanctions against iran that are in place. does have the ent authority to waive the sanctions -- most of the ones that really count -- every six months. the protection iran has is that obama

all lost on the negotiators on the iranian side. i know our team over there will disabuse them of that notion as you in the final phases before november 24. last thing, just a thought, and i'm overtime but hey, i'm the last guy with questions so i can easily do this. something i'd like to respond to. we focus our energy as we often should come as we should on the problematic areas, you know. .. but there's also some very positive examples and leaders around you be around the crisis zones one of the ways you help things go better in places in colombia and central america or lessons in tunisia that could be used in places like algeria approaching the next five or ten years. so i would encourage that and if you have any thought of that type of glove to hear your response. >> i appreciate that you did the spotlight on a number of positive developments where we have been working behind the scenes and giving advice in just those ways we have seen the qs in the relationship you've just pointed to. it started with me and the clinton adminis

john kerry spoke with the iranian foreign minister for 80 minutes. hopeful a deal will be reached. >> i'm confident that if we reach a deem that is verifiable, and that iran does not have breakout capacity not only can i persuade congress but the american people that it's the right thing to do. >> our jonah hull has more on the talks from vienna. >> in vienna the, the foreign ministers iran and the powers are into the early hours. some sources suggest it could be missed altogether. a former state department official who's been speaking to both sides believes talk of failure is premature. >> i think not only is it too early to talk about failure, but failure is not an option. neither side can leave vienna empty handed. what they're looking for is a break through. i think the foreign ministers are working right now to get that little bit of progress into tomorrow to figure out exactly what they'll be taking home to their respective capitals. >> this was president obama's assessment in a prime time interview. >> the good news, has definitely stopped ira

i didn't know much about my iranian identity. wanted to move to iran to learn about that part of my history. and report from the country, because i knew it would be an important country for years to come. >> but supporters of the government say they're not trying to reverse the achievements. >> i was trying to write a book about iran beyond the headlines. people that you don't usually hear about from the news. and i was working on that for about two years, when one morning, i was arrested. i was sleeping, and four men forced their way into my apartment. they were with iran's intelligence ministry, and they took me away. after going through my belongings, and they questioned me for several hours, and told me i was not cooperating, and took me to the most notorious prison in iran. they said that i was threatening national security and accused me of being a spy. i did confess to being a spy, under a great deal of pressure, though it was a false confession, because they promised they would free me, and i was too afraid of what would

he is founder of the national iranian-american council and an expert on u.s.-iranian relations.us now from vienna. thank you so much for talking with us. now, as we mentioned, you're -- >> thank you for having me. >> absolutely. and you're there in vienna, it's just after 8:30 in the morning. what are you hearing about the likely outcome of these talks and whether an extension of time 3450i9 might be a viable option so that discussions can at least continue? >> well, the good news is frankly that we're not hearing that much. the negotiators are quite tight-lipped, and it's actually very much looking like it did exactly a year ago in geneva, when the discipline of the negotiators was very, very strict. they didn't talk a lot to the media. they negotiated intensely, and a couple of hours past midnight they actually had a deal. a lot of people are hoping for the same outcome. we're seeing a similar pattern. there is, however, of course the likelihood that there would be an extension. the current deadline is more of a soft deadline. the real hard deadline that they have to work agai

-iranian relations. david sager will follow with a more detailed assessment of the nuclear diplomacy. mark zandi will conclude to assess how the tumultuous regional developments, particularly the war against isis, will affect nuclear negotiations. after these initial presentations we will have an exchange among the three of us and open the floor to questions. it should be a straightforward trade-off between technology and transparency. iran would retain a limited nuclear program under international safeguards, in return for the lifting of economic sanctions. , such as details numbers of permissible centrifuges, the scope of international inspections, and a timetable of sanctions based on iranian compliance, could be worked out. antechnical grounds, such agreement would fall within the declared u.s. and iranian position. iran's nuclear program is determined and incremental, but it is not the manhattan project. it is a crash program to acquire a weapon in the face of an existential threat. the dilemma is t

the iranians have long maintained that those cities are a red line.that if they come under isil pressure, the iranians will have no choice but to send in ground troops. this is seen as an important victory for the iraqis and iranians, but in some ways it was relatively easy. the town was the weakest link in isil's territory, and one the group was finding difficult to defend. krit circumstances of the operation have accused shia militia of committing human rights violations. despite that the iranian iraqi cooperation many feel is something that should be further developed in other areas. >>> the fight against isil continues across iraq and syria. as robin reports the inspiration to join up may be coming from a georgian. >> reporter: it's a far cry from the ravages of conflict. this valley is little more than a day's drive to syria. there the war has claimed another of this valley's young men. this woman learned two weeks thatting her son had been killed in battle. he was 21. >> translator: from syria he messaged me several times that he was okay. four

ban on iranian oil imports. a move that didn't stop countries such as japan from buying up their crude. an effort that hampered president clinton's efforts in the 1990s. but in 2006, one hardline iranian president, ahmadinejad, with the program, started to take shape. in december of that year, the security council approved the first line of sanctions against iran. but by 2011, with iran still failing to comply with the international demand, washington upped the ante and barred foreign financial institutions from conducting oil sanctions with iran's central bank. measures that would cull my ate in europe from blocking access to the international system. by far, it's their most valuable export. and today ultimately force tehran to the nuclear negotiating table. >> they not only haven't been able to go around these sanctions that they have done with earlier sanctions, they have admitted to themselves that there's no way around t. >> in 2013, under the leadership of the newly elected reformist president, iran agreed

the iranian president faces many of the same pressures. if a deal is reached, he'll need the approval of hardliners in iran, many who don't want any deal with america. to talk more about the agreement, let's bring in a researcher for the program on signs of global security at princeton university and senior fellow for science in international affairs at the harvard kennedy school. great to have you with us. >> thank you for having us. >> thank you. >> another possible extension, realistically, however apart are we in reaching a nuclear deal? >> there's two issues at hand here, one is technical and one political. on the technical aspect, i believe that there two sides ever bridged a lot of their differences, and while there is some remaining issues, since it is technical, we have solutions to those. unfortunately, as you've mentioned in the piece, there needs to be a political will for us to be able to push this nuclear deal forward, and where it lacks is our hawks in washington and iran who want this deal not to happen. on a technical aspe

so nobody is going to listen to what the iranian people wants.all depends on the facts and figures on the ground and everything for the time being goes against final deem. i don't think that that is going to happen any time soon. >> all right, very good too hear your thoughts on this. joining us there live from teheran, thank you for your time 123-4678 now, to libya where there are fears of a humanitarian disaster in ben gas a versus loyal to the renegade general a are fighting rival militias for control. dominick kane reports. >> reporter: this is the fight for benghazi. the libya group attacks a base near the international airport. the base has been controlled by forces loyal to the general since late october. so its value is clear. >> translator: we are in total control of the february 17th martin brigade base and the university. god willing, we'll have major surprises for them in the coming days. we'll defeat the tyrant general and his cronies. >> reporter: but so far, they are not defeated. these pictures from the west of the city show the f

iranians have indicated -- this is leverage. ok, the united states is now invested in this region in a way it wasn't before. it now needs iran. it considers isis such a fundamental threat to the region, it knows that it would need iran toss help in order to beat back isis. the united states does need them to some degree. i don't see any direct military cooperation between the united states and iran, but i would certainly guess that there would be some indirect intelligence discussions going on. because that is what intelligence officials do. they tried to figure out what the other side is up to, especially when there is some common ground. a little bit of speculation on my part but it wouldn't be surprised at all. there is this common interest that iran might interpret as leverage and could overplay. they could think -- this is their chance to get the most of what they can get because the united states needs them against isis. but there is a risk here as well. the danger that faces iran, completely misplaying its own strength. n

ordinary iranians have been hit hard. commodity prices have surged, after the country's currency, the real, tumbled. iranian officials have been calling for the lifting of all sanctions on its crude oil exports. but the west wants to phase out its sanctions over the next few years. based on iran's move. >> p5 plus 1 is not really to trust iran so they consider confidence building measures would be sort of a step by step process rather than having it all at the same time. they would want to keep some sort of a pressure against iran that they would -- that the iranians would further move towards removing the sort of threat. >> reporter: tanaka said negotiations are basically deadlocked. but he said there are signs of hope. >> so i think it's going to be rather, say, logical to have a midterm agreement, basically coming from three to seven years at the most. and then the iranians under that sort of a certain period of time, they could agree to limitations to their enrichment program, as well as the p5 plus 1 or the europeans