It's the Ryan Lair show on WNYC. Good morning again, everyone.

We'll return now to the Israel Hamas war. We'll focus specifically for this segment on

the questions facing the United States with respect to the war, how much and what kinds

of involvement should the United States have with two leading journalists, Ishaan Therur,

who covers U.S. foreign policy for the Washington Post, and Robin Wright, columnist and contributor

for the New Yorker, who, among other things, is a leading expert on Iran. Her books include

the last great revolution, turmoil and transformation in Iran, with Americans as well as Israelis

among the hostages. This is definitely an immediate U.S. interest foreign policy challenge

very directly right now, and it spreads out from there to a number of complicated policy

decisions facing the Biden administration in Congress, if Congress can ever start doing

business again with the turmoil in the House leadership. So, Robin Wright and Ishaan Therur,

now on the risks and benefits for all involved and the options from a U.S. foreign policy

perspective, among Ishaan's recent articles as a Washington Post news analysis, had lined

Biden, hope, hoped for a quiet Middle East, so much for that, and among Robin's recent

New Yorker pieces, an almost prescient one from last month, had lined freedom for five

Americans, doesn't end flash points with Iran. Robin and Ishaan, it's awful that it's under

these circumstances, but welcome back to WNYC. Thanks, Brian. Thank you, Brian. Robin,

I'm going to dive right in on your September article that I just mentioned. Remind people

of the prisoner exchange with Iran just recently that freed five Americans? Yes, the Iranians

in the United States through intermediaries swapped five prisoners, each country releasing

five. The United States also issued a waiver on South Korea, which allowed it to pay back

Iran $6 billion. It owed Tehran for oil that it had purchased. The United States did

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