hillary mann leverett worked in george w.onal security counscil for director f global affairs. hooman majd is one of the finest authors and commentators, the author of "the ayatollah's democracy." born in tehran, he now lives in new york. welcome. hooman, you spent much of the last year in iran. >> yes. >> describe to me, what does life in iran look like with these mounting sanctions. >> difficult. life is difficult for the ordinary person. the inflation rate is very high in iran, as you know. you were there yourself. it's getting worse. foreign exchange, the foreign exchange rate has fluctuated dramatically the last few months based on people's anxiety about the sanctions and anxiety about the possibility of war. so life is actually difficult for the ordinary person, particularly in the big cities. >> wlom do you think odor -- whom do you think ordinary people blame? >> they a little baffled by the obama administration approach or the western approach to iran. they don't quite understand why these sanctions are being applied