Iran and the US at the hinge of history

MSNBC's Alex Witt speaks with Director of Policy at Ploughshares Fund Joel Rubin about the phone call between President Obama and President Hassan Rouhani of Iran.

Could a phone call dramatically change years of tension between the United States and Iran and even put a stop to Iran’s nuclear ambitions?

“We’re living at the hinge of history right now… we are witnessing a change that truly is unique and historic and very hopeful in terms of trying to avoid a war and an Iranian nuclear bomb,” said Joel Rubin, director of policy at Ploughshares Fund, Saturday on Weekends with Alex Witt.

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Rubin attributes the historic communication between the two leaders to the election results in both countries. “President Obama was re-elected and he was re-elected running on the idea that he could secure our interests through diplomacy,” he said. President Hassan Rouhani, he added, “ran explicitly on the platform of improving Iran’s relations with the West, part of that being trying to find a way to end these sanctions.”

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The phone call between the two leaders could allow both nations to move forward through diplomacy, even in regards to Iran’s nuclear program. Rubin explained that Iran is under U.N. penalty and the International Atomic Energy Agency has unanswered question about their nuclear activities.

“What President Obama is doing now is testing this new idea that the U.S. can get a deal with Iran diplomatically,” Rubin said. “That can be achieved with negotiations.”