Is Iran coming in from the cold?
Of the many troubled foreign relationships that the United States currently has in the world it's the one with Iran that is the
President Obama carries the weight of expectation on this issue.
Like Richard Nixon's overtures to China in the early 1970s and Ronald Reagan's visit to the then-Soviet Union in the late 1980s, Obama is seen as the man who can bring Iran
It is of course more complicated than just following through on his election campaign promise of "tough, direct diplomacy" with Tehran. Even his
The greater problem of course is Iran's willingness to engage with the White House. With the the usual claims and counter claims have arisen. The West of course fears the launch is part of an ongoing nuclear missile testing programme.
The suspicion between the US and Iran began in earnest, 30 years ago this week, with the return from Parisian exile of Ayatollah Khomeini, Iran's spiritual leader.
His return breathed life into a , coming as it did just days after the US-backed Shah had fled the demonstrations and strikes which had paralysed the country.
Panorama was there to witness those first few tumultuous days after the Ayatollah's return.
His supporters turned out on the streets in their thousands and fought running battles with the Iranian army before the power vacuum was filled and the Islamic revolution complete. Panorama's Richard Lindley filed his report from the eye of the storm bringing the fervour of the revolution into shocked British homes:
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Panorama though also paradoxically illustrated the lack of understanding of Islam in the West at this time later in this film - witness the questioning of a group of muslim women over their wearing of the veil:
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A lack of understanding which seemed grounded in fear of the unknown. A fear that did then find a grounding following the capture of 52 American diplomats that began the hostage crisis of 1979-80.
That incident burned Iran into the US consciousness as an enemy - a fear and distrust that lingers today.
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