NOT even this month’s record snowfalls have chilled the mood in Iran’s capital, Tehran. Hopes that an economy long hampered by international sanctions may soon grow again have been rising ever since the election last June of President Hassan Rohani. They have soared since the signing in November of an interim deal between Iran and six world powers, led by America, over the country’s controversial nuclear programme. Further talks—the latest round of negotiations opened in Vienna on February 18th—aim to secure a comprehensive agreement to end the decade-long nuclear crisis.
