This is MacKotter, my colleague and co-host, and we're very pleased.

Malcolm Honeline, back from traveling to report on the critical stories across the Middle East.

There's so many we need to start right away.

Thaddeus?

Malcolm, let's start with Iran. They have elections. We're hearing reports

that their missile and nuclear production is up and that they're actually trying

to subvert some student networks here in the United States.

Can you enlighten this as to what's going on?

I wish I could enlighten, but I can try to inform a little bit, make sense out of the

that's coming out.

So first it's good to be with both of you and to be back.

As I said I just arrived this morning and have seen so much that I hope we'll have a chance to discuss in the future but

right now the election in Iran is pervasive subject of discussions not

because it's significant it's considered not significant in a

in a sense that Masoud Posechkin who's the new reformist quote

politician he's of Zari and Kurdish descent, won the election against Saeed Jalili, who until very recently was considered the front runner and a shoe-in,

he's a hard-line member of the Iranian Ultra

Conservative Party he had links to the IRGC as did Zeshy on so both of them are

IRGC affiliated but the latter supports

women's rights and the right to protest and he wants to rejoin the

JCPOA but but the election itself, the turnout, is not at all what is being suggested

in the media reports.

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