suzanne maloney studies iran and the middle east at the brookings institution.nt leverett is a professor of international affairs at penn state university. and reuel marc gerecht is a senior fellow with the foundation for defense of democracies. welcome to the newshour all three. you know, we're here to talk about iran, but let me first begin the news that there may be a deal that's been reached between the united states and russia over getting syria to give up control of its chemical weapons. reuel garecht, if that's happened, does that have an effect on the iran talks? >> no, i don't think so. i mean, i don't think it's likely that any deal is real in syria unless there is an enforcement mechanism that, by definition, doesn't exist. the russians wouldn't allow it. so i think the ongoing theater in syria will have relatively little affect on the nuclear question in iran. >> woodruff: suzanne maloney, how do you see that? >> i think it's appropriate to be skeptical about the short-term prospects of any break through on syria but i think we're seeing a better coo

other folks say it's exactly the opposite, that brookings institution suzanne maloney says the hard liners rouhani has to answer to at home will not be happy if he comes home with nothing more than a handshake and he has to bring home the proverbial bacon. >> i don't know what bacon they're going to bring home. >> i was going to address that fact but this is just metaphor. >> i think they both need it for different reasons. but i do think chuck made the right point, judge us by the results. a handshake is not a result, so it may be something. and it may be promising. but count me skeptical. it still feels to me like obama is making chicken salad out of something else. >> there's a lot of a flesh metaphor here. >> chicken is pretty uniform. >> he's gotten a little fortunate, and i think the level of skepticism both about iran and about syria ought tbe very, very high. >> but there is a very, there's sort of like the foreign policy reality and the domestic reality. and i think president obama plays foreign policy and i think there have been op-eds about this and i'll read those a little bit

suzanne maloney is one of the best experts on iran but one of the best experts on the sanctions history that has become so important in regards to that country. maybe not so separate. one question is to what extent is the nuclear issue of iran intertwined with the syrian chemical issue. there are red lines on both. and they are a major antagonist in syria. and now, here is the own the hill, who runs the u.s. bureau center. i appreciate your combining many things into a busy afternoon. she has written, among others and's, the best and most compelling book on vladimir putin, a key player in this as well. perhaps the person the president is spending some time with today, and some fashion or another, and whose role in the conflict will continue to be important. let me please begin with bruce. i would like you just to recap where we stand and what we know about what happened august 21 and how airtight the case really is that his forces used chemical weapons against syrian insurgent related populations? >> the good news for the administration on the intelligence issue is a case that is pretty

suzanne maloney is one of the best experts on iran but one of the best experts on the sanctions history that has become so important in regards to that country. maybe not so separate. one question is to what extent is the nuclear issue of iran intertwined with the syrian chemical issue. there are red lines on both. and they are a major antagonist in syria. and now, here is the own the hill, who runs the u.s. bureau center. i appreciate your combining many things into a busy afternoon. she has written, among others and's, the best and most compelling book on vladimir putin, a key player in this as well. perhaps the person the president is spending some time with today, and some fashion or another, and whose role in the conflict will continue to be important. let me please begin with bruce. i would like you just to recap where we stand and what we know about what happened august 21 and how airtight the case really is that his forces used chemical weapons against syrian insurgent related populations? >> the good news for the administration on the intelligence issue is a case that is pretty

suzanne maloney is one of the but one ofs on iran the best experts on the sanctions history that hasme so important in regards to that country. maybe not so separate. one question is to what extent is the nuclear issue of iran intertwined with the syrian chemical issue. there are red lines on both. and they are a major antagonist in syria. and now, here is the own the hill, who runs the u.s. bureau center. i appreciate your combining many things into a busy afternoon. she has written, among others and's, the best and most compelling book on vladimir putin, a key player in this as well. perhaps the person the president is spending some time with today, and some fashion or another, and whose role in the conflict will continue to be important. let me please begin with bruce. i would like you just to recap where we stand and what we know about what happened august 21 and how airtight the case really is that his forces used chemical weapons against syrian insurgent related populations? >> the good news for the administration on the intelligence issue is a case that is pretty compelling. n

and suzanne maloney is one of the nation's best iran experts but certainly the best expert on iran's economy and the sanctions history that is now becoming so important in regard to the country and a separate issue. but maybe not so separate. one of the questions today for the nation is what extent is the iran nuclear issue closely intertwined with the d.c. area chemical issue because president obama's red wine issue about both and of course iran is a major protagonist in the conflict in syria. and now the year up center and again, fiona hill thank you for being here and we appreciate your combining many things in a busy afternoon. fiona has written among other things perhaps the best and most compelling book on vladimir putin who's a key player in this drama as well and perhaps the president spending some time today and in one fashion or another his role in the conflict is continuing to be important. without further ado, let me please begin with bruce. i would like if you could just to recap where we spend august 21st and how airtight the case really is the use chemicals in a delibe