During his bid for the White House, Obama indicated a strong willingness to engage in dialogue with Tehran - in stark contrast to his predecessor who placed Iran in the "axis of evil."

When Israel attacked Gaza, Iran was initially encouraging the Muslim world to rise up and fight on behalf of the trapped Palestinians.

But then Tehran quickly subdued that call - possibly in the interests of leaving a window open for president Obama to initiate talks.

What support would the US leader get for engaging with a country that called the US "the great satan?"

What prospect is there for an US engagement with Iran now that Barack Obama is president?

To discuss these issues Riz Khan is joined by the former US ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk and by author and leading expert on Hezbollah, Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, who teaches at the Lebanese American university.