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KATY CLARK: I'm Katy Clark. And this is The World, a co-production of the BBC World Service, PRI, and WGBH Boston. President Obama unveiled his new plan for Afghanistan and Pakistan this morning. The main goal is still to defeat the Taliban and al Qaeda militants in both countries. He called for the creation of a new contact group for Afghanistan. And he singled out Iran as a prospective member. Relations between Tehran and Washington have shown some signs of warming in recent weeks. Today in Moscow, officials from Iran and the U.S. sat down together at an international conference on stabilizing Afghanistan. Los Angeles Times correspondent Borzou Daragahi has been watching the changes in Iranian-American relations from his base in Beirut. Borzou, first we're going to play a bit of President Obama this morning talking about a new international effort on Afghanistan and Pakistan:

BARACK OBAMA: Together with the United Nations we will forge a new contact group for Afghanistan and Pakistan that brings together all who should have a stake in the security of the region; our NATO allies and other partners: but also the central Asian states, the gulf nations, and Iran, Russia, India, and China. None of these nations benefit from a base for Al-Qaeda terrorists.

CLARK: That's President Obama speaking this morning. Borzou how does the President's new plan for Afghanistan and Pakistan look from Iran's perspective?

BORZOU DARAGAHI: I think, on the one hand, the Iranians really would like to see Afghanistan secured more-so even than Iraq because of the linguistic and cultural ties. The descent of Afghanistan into further chaos is having a profound impact on Iran.

CLARK: How so? How is it having a tremendous impact on Iran?

DARAGAHI: Well, just the flow of drugs, opium, and hashish, and heroine, from Afghanistan into Iran, it's just a dramatic increase. Just judging by the number of drug seizures it's quintupled since 2001 in terms of the weight of drugs captured and the number of Iranian security officials who've been killed in ruckus gunfights with the smugglers has increased dramatically. If you look at the Iranian press every single day there are reports of drug seizures. It's like an episode of cops. Just watching the news and they talk about human trafficking networks based in Afghanistan. The dysfunctions of Afghanistan are dramatically seeping into Iran. Just in the past two years Iranians say they've spent six hundred million dollars on their drug war.

CLARK: Well, as we noted at the top, Iranian and American officials are convening in Moscow today in a meeting led by the Shanghai group. That's China, Russia, and the central Asian states. They're gathering to talk about the resurgence of the Taliban. How important a step are these types of gatherings for building relations between Tehran and Washington?

DARAGAHI: Well, I think it's really interesting because you've got Obama talking a lot about setting the reset button on relations with various countries. And in a way he's trying to set the reset button back to that period of flowering of diplomatic ties between Iran and Washington just after the overthrow of the Taliban. But what's really complicating the issue is that back then Iran was enriching zero uranium and now it's, according to most nuclear scientists, has enough uranium for a bomb if it took the drastic step of further refining its supply. And, also, over the past five years, six years, this nuclear program has become so wedded to Iranian national identity that it's going to be really hard for the Iranians, especially this group now in power, to stand down from their position. Back then you had a rather liberal, moderate government led by President Mohamed Khatami. Now you've got the hardliners in Iran having the upper hand. And, so, it's a lot more complicated to set that reset button.

CLARK: Borzou, you've been watching Iran for many, many years now. What will you be looking for as a definitive sign that there's been, indeed, a thawing of relations between Washington and Tehran?

DARAGAHI: I think that if you start seeing these two parties, the U.S. and Iran, start actually talking to each other about these substantive issues again that'll be a big crossing of the threshold. Because the group that is now in power in Iran is so married to its anti-American posture if it were to do that it would be a major step for them and that would change some of the dynamics inside Iran and perhaps create an opening.

CLARK: Los Angeles Times correspondent Borzou Daragahi joined us from Beirut. Thank you Borzou.

DARAGAHI: Always a pleasure.

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