company, the tiegress was in international waters at the time and such a hostile action is said to go against accepted standards of maritime law. and this, of course, comes at a crucial time for iran as it tries to finalize a nuclear deal with the west. i wanted to dig deeper and understand the collective psyche of the persian people, if one could do such a thing, where their heads are at this important juncture in history. we all know how americans feel about the nuclear deal. there s cautious optimism from its supporters. i think this is the best that s going to get done. and not so cautious pessimism from its detractors. you will see a nuclear armed middle east, and that is incredibly dangerous. but we know little about how iranians feel. to talk about that, a special guest is here in studio. thomas erdbrink is the tehran bureau chief for the new york times and he knows iran like few western reporters. he s lived there for 13 years and is married to an iranian woman.