Quadriga - Iran Nuclear Deal: Forever Delayed?

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani needed some good news. He was hoping to be able to announce the ending of foreign sanctions against his country. That might have opened the way to an improvement of Iran's economic situation, and in turn strengthened the forces of political reform. But failure is more likely to give a boost to the conservatives who oppose Rouhani.

The aim of the talks process has been to reach a long term agreement on Iran's use of nuclear technologies - allowing peaceful applications and preventing the Islamic Republic from moving quickly to development of a nuclear weapon.

But there are plenty who oppose such a deal. Israel claims Tehran's strategy is to get the sanctions lifted, but to continue to enrich uranium nonetheless. Saudi Arabia, too, is unhappy about the ambitions of its neighbour Iran.

The situation is also uncomfortable for President Obama. He must ask if a majority in the Congress would allow the proposed deal with Iran to go through. Indeed, the Republican party is considering plans to impose further sanctions.

Does the United States have an interest in bringing to an end its 35-year old stand-off with Iran? Could the threat - seen by both Washington and Tehran - from the terrorists of Islamic State prompt them to form some kind of alliance?

Would the US, and indeed Israel, be willing to accept Tehran as a full and strong player in the region? And if not, for how long will they be able to ignore Iran?

Tell us what you think: send an e-mail to [email protected]

Our guests:

Friedrich Thelen- After earning his doctorate in law, in 1975 he took on the post of director at the German Development Service. Friedrich Thelen then worked as a journalist for the leading weekly newspaper "Die Zeit". In 1978 he switched to the business weekly "Wirtschaftswoche", where he began his career as the magazine's Bonn correspondent. Later he became the bureau chief of Wirtschaftswoche's Berlin office. He currently heads his own consulting office.

Shayan Arkian- studied Political Philosophy and Shiite Theology at the Institute for Islamic Sciences IHIW in Hamburg and the Qum International University in Iran. He is the head of the German Institute For Iranian Political and Economic Research and editor-in-chief of IranAnders - a website covering Iranian issues.

Günter Knabe- studied political science before beginning extensive field trips across Asia in the 1960s. In 1979, he joined Deutsche Welle, first as a reporter, later moving up to head of department for Afghanistan, then the whole of Asia. From 2003 on he was the broadcaster's diplomatic correspondent for Asia and the Islamic world in Berlin.