Stanislav Filippov / AFP - Getty Images

Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili speaks at a press conference after the talks on Iran's nuclear program in the Kazakh city of Almaty on Wednesday.

ALMATY, Kazakhstan — Another round of talks between six world powers and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear program ended Wednesday. And like the air in fog-engulfed Almaty, the Kazakh city where the meetings were held, nothing was very clear at the conclusion of the latest negotiations.

The only thing both sides seemed able to agree on was that they would meet again: The next high-level talks will be held on April 5 and 6, again in Almaty.

While Tehran maintains it is not seeking nuclear weapons, both sides seemed just as far away from an agreement to resolve the dispute that could lead to military conflict in the Middle East.

Israel has hinted that it could strike Iran's nuclear sites if current diplomatic efforts failed to stop its enrichment of uranium to near weapons-grade. Israel is thought to be the only country in the region with a nuclear arsenal.

An American diplomat speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity said that Iran was offered minor sanctions relief if Tehran was willing to scale back certain elements of its nuclear program. It is generally accepted that neither side wants a complete breakdown in talks.

Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili was upbeat and smiling after the talks concluded, and said that the offers made by the world powers was more realist than previous ones.

"In this round of talks we have witnessed that despite all the attitudes during the last eight months, they tried to get closer to our viewpoints," he told journalists.

He also said Western powers had made no demands that Iran shut down a uranium enrichment facility in Fordow, which is hidden deep inside a mountain.

Jalili concluded by saying that Iran had made massive achievements since the last round of talks and that it would not give up its rights.

One Western diplomat who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that that halting enriching uranium to 20 percent fissile purity — a short technical step from weapons grade — shipping out current stockpiles and shutting Fordow was still a prerequisite for world powers.

Speaking to journalists for the six powers, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said that she was glad that the Iranians saw this as a positive meeting.

"I hope the Iranian side is looking positively on the proposal we put forward," she said.

"We have to see what happens next,” she added, striking a cautious tone.

She only took three questions from journalists, replying with very short answers.

Whatever the outcome of the negotiations, one thing that the Iranian team has to look forward to is the approaching Persian New Year.  This, the most important holiday on the calendar, is a time for shopping, buying presents for family and friends and decorations for the festive season.

The sense that a deal is on the horizon could strengthen the Iranian currency, which has been in free-fall under pressure from Western sanctions.  A strengthened rial would give ordinary Iranians more purchasing power, and the government more breathing space.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Raheb Homavandi / Reuters file

A money changer holds Iranian rial banknotes as he waits for customers in Tehran's business district in this January 7, 2012 file photo.

The United States, the European Union and the U.N. have imposed tough economic sanctions against Iran, blocking access to the international banking system and curbing sales of Iranian crude oil as a way to persuade Tehran to abandon its nuclear program.

As a result, Iran’s currency, the rial, is in a constant state of flux, but mostly on a downward trajectory. These days, it seems to fall in value against the dollar on an hourly basis. On Tuesday the currency hit an all-time low against the U.S. dollar, trading at 26,500 to the U.S. dollar on the open market, according to Persian-language currency tracking website Mazanex. 

“Our money is becoming more and more worthless every day,” said Sarvenas Sadi, an elderly woman doing her daily shopping in Tehran earlier this week.

She picked up a handful of limes and exclaimed, “These were 100 percent cheaper last year!”

Asked whether she ever thought she would see the currency devalue so much, she replied, “Never! I remember before the [1979] revolution $1 was worth 70 rial, now it’s worth 26,000! Who would have ever have thought!”

Iranians feel the pain of sanctions: 'Everything has doubled in price'

Did she think things would ever balance out and the price of goods would come down to what they were before. “Unfortunately I don’t think so. The thing with Iran is that once the price of something goes up, it never comes down again.”

So what’s the solution?  “Eat less limes,” she jokingly replied. 

AP

Two potential Iranian customers look at fabric bolts in Tehran's old main bazaar in this picture taken July 14, 2012.

Manufacturing hit hard
The financial situation is affecting people from all classes. Thousands of workers have been laid off and have not been paid back wages because companies have simply run out of money. Majid, a 32-year-old mechanic who used to work for a large car company was recently laid off and is owed six months’ salary.

“They are laying off people left, right and center. I doubt there will be a company left by the New Year,” he said, giving just his first name because of the sensitivity of the issue in Iran. Persian New Year will be on March 21, 2013.

The car industry, one of the biggest manufacturing sectors in Iran and a massive employer, has been affected dramatically; Iranian media have reported a 30 to 50 percent drop in car and component production in the past six months. Iran was the 13th-largest auto maker in the world in 2011, producing 1.6 million vehicles.

The Iran Khodro Company, the country’s leading vehicle manufacturer, had become the largest vehicle manufacturer in the Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa.  The company won the annual national prize for export activities in 2006 and 2007 with Russia, Syria, Turkey, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Egypt, Algeria and Bulgaria among their key consumers.

But higher prices, due to the soaring costs of components as a result of the sanctions, have caused a drop in demand.

Israel's Netanyahu: Draw 'clear red line' to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons

For instance, France's Peugeot Citroen halted shipments of vehicle kits for assembly in Iran earlier this year, saying international sanctions barring transactions with the country's banking system made it difficult to obtain sales financing.

Majid, the mechanic, said he is looking for work elsewhere but it is proving very difficult. “There are not many jobs going and it is getting me more and more depressed.”

Oil sales to travel - down
The oil sector has been hit hard too.  The Iranian Labor News Agency reported that a letter on behalf of 20,000 oil workers from across the country was sent to Labor Minister Abdolreza Sheikholeslami complaining that they had not been paid in months. The letter demanded an increase to the worker’s salaries of $120 to $285 a month, adding that at the current rate they were "way below the poverty line.” 

Mohammad Reza Bahonar, a prominent Iranian member of parliament, said oil exports in June-July had dropped to "around 800,000 barrels per day," according to a report by ISNA news agency. That’s a low not seen in more than two decades, and less than half the 2.3 million barrels per day exported just a year ago.

But Minister of Petroleum Rostam Qasemi was quoted by ISNA saying that overall oil production this year "will be the same as last year."

The strangling of the economy isn’t just affecting blue-collar workers.

Middle-class Iranians had become accustomed to foreign travel – to Dubai, a playground for Iranians only an hour and half away, Turkey, one of only a few countries that does not require visa’s for Iranians, and Thailand. But the cost of travel to any of these destinations is prohibitive to many.

More Iran coverage from NBC News

Maryam, a travel agent in Tehran who also only gave her first name, estimated that the number of travelers has been halved in a year. “The price of tickets and organized tours increased almost a hundred fold. They say that this will boost domestic holidays, but I think that is even too expensive for most people.”

This was evident to me last month flying back to Tehran from London via Dubai. Usually the flight from Dubai to Tehran is jammed, but not this time. Business and first class were full with the super-rich of Iran, but 70 percent of the plane which makes up the economy class was almost empty.

Expected to get worse
Mehdi is a young entrepreneur who imports computers and accessories who also spoke on the condition of anonymity. He said people are just not buying in Iran right now. His biggest wish was that the value of the rial would just stay fixed against dollar – even if it was at an unfavorable rate – just so consumers would know how much things would cost in a weeks’ time, a day or even in the next few hours.

While the sanctions have certainly taken a major bite out of the economy and are hurting people from all walks of life – it does not seem to be making the government authorities buckle. If anything it seems to have stiffened the government’s resolve and things are set to become even more difficult in the not too distant future.  

Britain, France and Germany are urging their European Union partners "to further step up the pressure" on Iran. Further sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic's energy, finance, trade and transportation sectors are expected to be formally adopted on Oct. 15.

Slideshow: Everyday life in Iran

At schools, in shops, and on the streets of big cities and small towns, daily life plays out in Iran.

Launch slideshow

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Ali Arouzi / NBC News

NBC's Ali Arouzi chats with locals in the village of Charai Qamber, just outside Kabul, about the security situation in Afghanistan. Mohammad, left and pointing, expressed disdain over President Hamid Karzai's rule. Babur, right with scarf, bemoaned the lack of security in Afghanistan.

KABUL – Afghanistan seems as fragile as ever. There is a sense that with the U.S.-led NATO draw-down expected in 2014 the country could slip back into some of its darkest most socially-restrictive and violent days. 

Most Afghans you speak to in Kabul or outside of the capital fear that their country will once again be overrun by the Taliban or be engulfed by a civil war. And most of their criticism is aimed at President Hamid Karzai, who seems to have little control over the country outside of Kabul. (Of course, NATO troops – especially American forces – face scathing criticism as well).

Almost every province that immediately surrounds Kabul is firmly in the hands of the Taliban: Logar, Wardak, Parwan, Kapisa, Laghman, and about 70 percent of Nangarhar are Taliban controlled, according to locals, and they all border Kabul.

I recently traveled to Charai Qamber, a small village just about five miles southeast of Kabul’s city limits, to speak with locals and find out what they think of the security situation.

I asked Mohammad, one of the village elders who would only give his first name, what he thought of Karzai’s control over the security situation in the country. Did he think he seemed more like the ‘Mayor of Kabul,’ rather than the president of Afghanistan? He roared with laughter and said, “Not even mayor!”

Life no better
Mohammad spoke about the president of his country with a tone of disdain. He said Karzai has done nothing for his village or for the country as a whole – instead, he had made a few cronies in Kabul rich.

While Mohammad said he did not like the Taliban, he thought his life was better before the U.S.-led invasion and Karzai’s rule. He also believed Karzai had only given the veneer of semi-stability in Kabul, but that it was beginning to show major cracks.  

In the same village I spoke to a man named Babur, which means happiness, but he seemed far from it.

Slideshow: Afghanistan: Nation at a crossroads

Ahmad Jamshid / AP

More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.

Launch slideshow

Babur, who also only gave his first name, had a litany of complaints. He bemoaned the fact that his village had never been visited by an Afghan or American government official – despite the fact that there was a U.S-funded military academy just a mile away from the village, which should have provided much needed jobs, but had not.

Nor did he have a sense of security, even though they were just a few miles away from Kabul where there are checkpoints everywhere and heavily armed security forces.

He also complained that his village did not have electricity or running water – villagers have to walk half a mile to a well near the academy. He spoke with contempt about America but seemed to be fond of Iran and Pakistan. Not a good sign for winning hearts and minds.

Taliban country
The village of Charai Qamber where I chatted with Mohammad and Babur is just about 10 miles away from the site of a horrific public execution, reportedly by the Taliban, of a woman accused of adultery in early July. 

Video of the woman’s execution outraged Afghans and the world alike – particularly since it was so close to Kabul.

I saw one woman listening to my conversation with the men and I asked her about the woman’s murder in the nearby village.

Ali Arouzi / NBC News

Scud missile casings sit outside the village of Charai Qamber, Afghanistan. Locals couldn't say if they were from the U.S. or Soviets, but had sat there for years.

She would not give her name and only spoke to me reluctantly.  She said that in Kabul it is tolerable for women to go outside. But she added that where she lives, women don’t stand a chance and are at the mercy of the Taliban. 

We tried to travel to Parwan province – its borders are just about six miles outside of Kabul. But because it is controlled by the Taliban, we only reached the outskirts; the security team we were traveling with in Afghanistan felt it was too dangerous to venture much further.

Even on the edge of the province I got the feeling that we were being watched very closely. No one approached us to talk, which is unusual in Afghanistan, and we received unwelcoming looks.

Is a Taliban takeover inevitable?
Dr. Wadeer Safi, head of the political science department at Kabul University, said he has mixed feelings about the planned NATO draw down in 2014.    

He does not believe that NATO would disappear into “thin air.”  Nor did he think the country would break out into civil war or a coup d'état. Rather, he is confident NATO will leave a strong enough presence to deal with the security situation in the country and that it will be able to handle small battles with the Taliban.

However he did point out that politics is a fickle business and if the coalition did not leave a strong security presence, the Taliban could take control. He suggested that the army and police force could always just “hand themselves over” and join the Taliban.

I posed the same question to Safi about whether or not Karzai seemed more like the mayor of Kabul, rather than president. 

“A mayor is better off than Karzai because he can leave the city. Karzai is a prisoner in his palace,” he said with a laugh.

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TEHRAN, Iran – Prior to the Islamic revolution, Iran and America shared very good relations. The former Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, had an army with modern hardware supplied by the U.S. There were direct flights between New York City and Tehran and the city was full of hotels run by major American chains.

A special NBC News series: What The World Thinks of U.S. Click here for more information

But the once-friendly relations between the two nations came to a screeching halt in 1979 when cleric-led radicals ousted the U.S.-backed shah and the subsequent Iran hostage crisis when 52 Americans were held in the U.S. embassy for 444 days. 

These days, Iranians’ relations with America are somewhat schizophrenic – the government is stridently anti-American, but many Iranians are not. 

That is the opposite of other countries in the region where governments receive large amounts of money and military hardware from the U.S., but whose people generally dislike America.

Tehran’s dentist to the stars
A popular dentist in an affluent part of Tehran represents the love-hate relationship many Iranians feel toward the U.S.

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In his Park Avenue-style dental practice, the latest Newsweek, Time and Architectural Digest magazines are on offer in the waiting room. A large flat-screen TV sits on the wall, along with an expansive fish tank and a framed dentistry degree from New York University. 

Iranians are consumers who love brand names – even when it comes to their dental care. When a friend of mine introduced me to the dentist, he told me he is the guy to go to if I wanted to brag about where I get my teeth cleaned. He is, in essence, Tehran’s equivalent of a Beverly Hills “dentist to the stars.”

A large part of his reputation comes not just from the fact that he has all the latest, modern dentistry equipment, but that he was trained in the U.S. and offers Western-style service. He was educated in dentistry at NYU and lived, worked and studied from the East Coast to West Coast.

Reuters

Coffee mugs bearing pictures of the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs are on sale as a man works on a MacBook at a shop in northern Tehran on Jan.19, 2012. Despite the fact that Apple observes a U.S. embargo that restricts the sale of their goods in Iran, their products are wildly popular there.

Sporting fashionable glasses, a crisp blue button-down shirt and tie, the dentist, who is in his mid-40s, agreed to speak with me on the condition of anonymity.  

“I am who I am because of my education in the States,” said the dentist. “I am very American, but my view on U.S. politics is very different.”

I asked him what he thought about the tough economic sanctions being imposed on Iran – which block access to the international banking system and hurt sales of Iranian crude oil – as a way to persuade Tehran to abandon its nuclear program.

Iranians feel the pain of sanctions: 'Everything has doubled in price'

“Why are there sanctions against Iran?” he said. “Wasn’t it America that helped Iran fire up its nuclear program 35 years ago? The sanctions just hurt ordinary people.” 

At the same time, he praised Iranians’ resilience.

“After 30 years of sanctions, embargoes, war and threats of war, Iran has kept its head above water,” he said. “Most other countries would have collapsed, but Iranians have found ways to circumvent these problems; they help each other.”

NBC News speaks with citizens from around the globe, asking the question, 'What Does America Mean to You?'

The dentist believes that one reason for  misunderstanding between America and Iran is that Americans have little real information on Iran – that they know only what they see on TV, which is often a very small part of the bigger picture.

For years, he says, he tried to convince American colleagues to give lectures on dentistry in Iran, but that they were reluctant to do so because of their perceptions. When one of them finally agreed to come, and experienced the famous Iranian hospitality and warmth, his perception of Iran changed very quickly.

Asked why he came back to Iran about eight years ago after spending most of his life in the States, he said he just felt like something was missing, adding that he loves Tehran because it’s like New York City – a noisy, fast-paced 24/7 place.

Steve Jobs photos on the wall
The desire for brand names in Iran that signify Western quality goes beyond dentistry. 

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Mohsen, who agreed to speak with me on condition that only his first name be used, owns an electrical goods store in Tehran selling mostly black market Apple products. (Typically, Apple, as well as other imported goods that would be subject to U.S. embargoes, come into Iran via Dubai and the Persian Gulf. They are sold openly in stores in Tehran). 

He said that most Iranians love American products and culture and that personally he longs for the day that the two countries have normal relations.

Then a frown appeared on his face. “But,” he said, “they do things that even rub a moderate person, like me, the wrong way.”

“I read an article yesterday about an Iranian-American who went into an Apple store in the States and wanted to buy an iPad to send to her uncle in Tehran. When the sales person found out she was Iranian and wanted to send the iPad to Iran, the store refused to sell it to her,” he said.

“This is crazy! I sell 50 iPads and iPhones here a week. I have a picture of Steve Jobs on the wall! These sorts of things don’t do any good for relations between Iranian and American people.” 

The story Mohsen related was widely reported in the U.S. An Apple employee in Atlanta declined to sell an iPad to an Iranian-American customer, citing company policy that aims to comply with U.S. trade sanctions with Iran that can lead to individual fines of up to $250,000.  

Iran trade sanctions get personal in Apple stores  

In the meantime, Mohsen’s Apple products will have to remain on the black market. 

Still, not all Iranians have such a moderate view towards the U.S. Hussein, a hard-line student at Tehran University, has a very negative view of the States. (He also spoke on condition that only his first name be used.)

“All America has done is try to bully Iran, chip away at its nuclear rights and steal our oil,” Hussein said.

“I don’t think we should be talking to the Americans because ultimately they want our demise,” he said. “Throughout history, they have interfered in our country, only harming us. We have nothing in common.”

This story is part of a series by msnbc.com and NBC News "What the World Thinks of US". The series aims to check the pulse on current perceptions of America's global stature during the election year and ahead of our annual Independence Day.

Share your thoughts about this story and our series on Twitter using #AmericaMeans 

Stories in the series: 

How I see America, from a former Gitmo prisoner

Bye, bye, GI: Deep impact for many Germans as US troops downsize

Post-revolution Egypt to US: Stay out 

Iran's dentist to the stars offers views on US

For many Pakistanis, 'USA' means 'drones' 

One man's mission: Promote Chinese patriotism in the face of Western onslaught

In South Africa: 'My head says China is number one, my heart says America'

Not all Thais are Gaga about America

Family moves from the Bronx to Jerusalem, but US remains land of 'liberty and freedom'

Palestinian: US supports 'an apartheid system that is suffocating us' 

Afghans are 'no different from any American

 

The United States, the European Union and the U.N. have imposed tough economic sanctions against Iran –- blocking access to the international banking system and hurting sales of Iranian crude oil -– as a way to persuade Tehran to abandon its nuclear program. 

In the short term, the harsh sanctions have had an impact on Iran’s economy -– inflation has gone through the roof, and the unemployment rate is staggering, especially among young Iranians. Prices of consumer goods have doubled, tripled, even quadrupled in some cases, according to consumers. 

The business community is in disarray, and as things keep getting worse, it’s all people are talking about.

Reuters

CLICK ON THE GRAPHIC ABOVE TO ENLARGE THE IMAGE. Iran Sanctions: Key areas affected by sanctions imposed by the international community against Iran.

Barely getting by 
At the Tajrish Bazaar in North Tehran on a recent afternoon, Ahmed, a 31-year-old unemployed man, poured his heart out to me. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, as all those interviewed for this story did because of the political sensitivity of speaking out in Iran, he told me his story. 

He said he has been unemployed for the past year, doing odd jobs, and that he barely makes enough to feed himself, let alone his wife and children. The lack of jobs and the extraordinary rise in food prices have hamstrung him. But he was most worried about what the crippled economy is doing to the youth of Iran, who he said are turning to crime and drugs if they can’t find work. 

In Iran, appearance is everything. How you dress and wear your beard says a lot about your politics. 

As I talked to Ahmed, who was dressed in Western-style clothes, another man looked on disapprovingly. He had a full dark black beard and was dressed in conservative black clothes. He was listening to everything Ahmed said and wanted to talk to us, although he declined to give us his name.

He said that people like Ahmed were making excuses and were lazy. He argued that the economy had become tougher, but no more so than the Iranian people were used to over the years. He blamed the U.S. for the bad economy, accusing President Barack Obama of unfairly trying to squeeze Iran. But he said that in the end, the rough economic times had taught Iran to be more self-reliant. 

“We need to tighten our belts for now and weather this storm with the West as we have always done. And we will be victorious again,” he said.

New sanctions' real impact
The most recent international sanctions have targeted Iran’s crude oil and banking sectors. In addition to harsh U.S. measures, 27 countries in the European Union agreed in January to ban Iranian oil imports –- giving countries until July 1 to terminate their deals. They also put a freeze on assets belonging to the Central Bank of Iran and a ban on trade in gold and other precious metals.  

Anthony Cordesman, who holds the Burke chair in strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and is a long-time Iran watcher, said that despite years of sanctions against Iran, the most recent ones have had the greatest impact –- partly because they target banking.

The banking sanctions “have had the most popular, or broad, impact. Right now Iran can’t even operate on the international clearinghouse.”   

“I think that this is the first time that sanctions have really had a major bite. Up to now, they have all been fairly limited,” said Cordesman.  “But beginning in November, and it’s just beginning to bite, you can’t bank internationally effectively, you can’t move money. You don’t have a stable conversion rate –- but the rial [Iran’s currency] is way down, so your savings are of very uncertain value unless you’ve invested in property.  You don’t know what’s going to happen to your business. You have to be very cautious about how much money you can spend on a marriage for your children or their education.” 

He added that we really won’t begin to see the full impact of the sanctions until summer, when they have all gone into effect.  “So everyone knows it’s getting worse, but no one knows yet how serious.” 

Vali Nasr, the incoming dean at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, explained how these sanctions differ from 30 years of sanctions that mostly targeted imports into Iran. 

Slideshow: Everyday life in Iran

At schools, in shops, and on the streets of big cities and small towns, daily life plays out in Iran.

Launch slideshow

“The new set of sanctions targeting Iran’s oil industry, central bank, ability to conduct international financial transactions, are of a different nature largely because they are going after the government’s source of income –- the ability to sell oil or receive money for oil,” said Nasr. “So these have had an impact because they have caused extensive inflation inside Iran. They’ve caused the government to scrap a variety of projects, which has caused unemployment.  

“There is no doubt that economic hardship has become much more pronounced. And there is on top of that a layer of uncertainty. So there is significant economic hardship that is hitting the lower rung of society and the Iranian middle class,” said Nasr.
 
Back in Tajrish Bazaar, Roya, a well-dressed woman in her 60s wearing a Hermes scarf for a hijab and carrying a Louis Vuitton bag, explained how even she is being hit by the economic uncertainty. While she is a wealthy Iranian living in the leafy suburbs of affluent North Tehran, she said her purchasing power has been halved by the struggling economy. 

“Everything has doubled in price,” Roya said. “My son lives in Los Angeles, and it’s cheaper to go shopping there -- amazing. Things have become difficult for me even though I am among the better off Iranians. I can’t imagine how difficult it is for folks downtown.” 
When I asked her what the solution was, she replied sarcastically, “That’s for the country’s economists to figure out.”

Close to the bone
For international relations analysts, like Cordesman and Nasr, getting reliable information on what’s going on in Iran is very difficult. Both analysts said that basically all of their information on the impact of the current sanctions is anecdotal. 

“You have to rely on anecdotal information especially because the Iranian government does not have an interest in revealing how painful the sanctions are. They may admit that they are hurting, but they don’t want to put numbers out there,” said Nasr. 

But it’s not all doom and gloom for the regime. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad often touts during public events that Iran has a record $90 billion in foreign exchange reserves, as well as untold reserves of gold, silver and precious stones. 

Even though experts estimate that Iran has seen a decline in sales of about 300, 000 barrels of oil per day as a result of the sanctions, this has been offset by a 15 percent rise in crude prices. 

And the effect and pain of sanctions have not been distributed evenly. While blue-collar workers in downtown Tehran can expect to eat meat once a month only as a treat, North Tehran is awash with Mercedes and Porsche SUVs costing as much as $500,000 after the import tax has been paid.    

Will the sanctions achieve goal?
So the question remains as to whether the sanctions will achieve their goal: curtailing Iran’s nuclear program.

“The sanctions have had an impact of getting Iran to the negotiating table. Iran came to Istanbul [the site of the latest diplomatic talks] with much more seriousness than in the past,” said Nasr. 

But he added that the sanctions alone won’t be enough for Iran’s leaders to give up a program they have invested heavily in –- both financially and in terms of building the nuclear program as a point of national pride.  “Just because the Iranian public dislikes this regime –- that does not mean that they dislike the nuclear program. They don’t see this as the regime’s nuclear program, they see it as Iran’s nuclear program,” said Nasr.  

In order for the sanctions to work, Nasr explained, the U.S. and other parties at the table need to give something back -– otherwise it would just seem like Iran is surrendering to the West’s demands, not an easy sell at home. 

“Until now, the whole approach has been stick-heavy and carrot-poor. And the sticks are very explicit and the carrots are vague. And maybe that was necessary to get their attention and to show that we meant business. But now going forward -– [the U.S.] can’t ask [Iran] for concrete concessions –- like stop this, stop that -– but not put concrete things on the table, like this sanction will be lifted.  If all the concessions are on the Iranian side and what they get is just a promissory note, I don’t think it will fly.”   

“End of the day, these two countries have not had a single thing they’ve agreed on or done together in the last 30 years. So you couldn’t expect them to actually be able to conclude a deal without some sort of reciprocal, trust-building, concrete steps going forward.”

Msnbc.com’s Petra Cahill contributed to this report. 

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