To the Point

The Changing Face of Iran

Thanks, in part, to the War on Terrorism, relations with Russia are warmer than ever before. So what about Iran where Democracy has encroached on the rule of the Ayatollahs who overthrew the Shah in 1979? Though crowds still shout "Death to America," and senior clerics still rail against the US, the elected President sent condolences for September 11 and, this week in New York, diplomats from both countries shook hands. We talk with the son of the former Shah of Iran and others about the prospects for rapprochement with a country still high on the State Department's list of nations supporting terrorism. Newsmaker: Taliban "Retreat into Mountains" - While the US and Britain celebrate the victory of the Northern Alliance, Russia draws another conclusion from its long deadly experience with the Taliban. Predicting that Afghanistan will splinter along tribal lines, independent defense analyst Pavel Felgenhauer cautions that the key will be to control the exit routes of the heroin trade. Reporter's Notebook: Reasons for the Crash of Flight 587 - American Airlines is inspecting the tail fins of Airbus A300 jets like the one that crashed Monday in New York City. Aviation consultant Carl Rochelle reports there's also concern about damage to the jet's vertical stabilizer and wake turbulence from a plane that took off just before Flight 587 which would have left the pilot without control of the aircraft.