Episode Details

Back in February despite uprisings, sanctions and the ongoing conflict with Israel negotiations were underway between the US and Iran over its nuclear ambitions. Those negotiations saw Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rushing to Washington to influence any potential deal.

Two weeks later Israel and US made their first military strikes.

A vital question at the time was: how does Iran sit within the wider region? And what deal did the US really want? 

Today, despite ongoing negotiations for peace deal between Iran and the US those questions still stand.

Geraldine Doogue and Hamish Macdonald are joined in studio by Vali Nasr, who advised the US State Department on Iran during the Obama era to talk about why Trump fell for his own saviour narrative, and how October 7 is still reshaping the region.