see now in iran and saw in iran last year. first of all, the beneficial of islamic republic consists of millions of people in iran and on the other hand. the machinery of the republic, is working, and pro it ises since last winter and we see that the iranian government was able to control everything. so why do you think that the government is living a crisis which makes it vulnerable in the face of opposition effort? >> let me say what you said correctly. the situation in iran in terms of being revolutionary, you're suggesting that it is not existing because of the-- >> i mean, iran, the government has confidence in operations, the opposition, and actually having control of all of this protests that happen here and there, and in the foreign policy. why do you think that the islamic republic is so vulnerable before, in the face of the effort made by opposition or despite all the foreign pressure. >> i think that would be a first if we begin to think that oppression is a sign of confidence. oppression is a sign of complete insec

what threat does it perceive iran has you know. these are the hawks of comeback and bolton and we've got to remember that bolton national security council director is just you know he was advocating only us shortly before he took office for the overthrow of the iranian regime these are people who've been seeking the overthrow of the iranian regime for a long time and the undermining the iranian regime certainly pinning back its here its and. that had gone out of style with obama who is looking to us in a sense offshore balance iran a little bit with saudi arabia in the gulf not pick a side in this fight and to keep this keep the regime on iran so that wouldn't develop nuclear weapons but to undo the sanctions now we're completely reversed that it's going to be difficult for the united states to develop this strategy this very you know strictly anti iran strategy because. because not everybody shares this in the middle east we seem to turkey which is now has a base in in kuwait and is reaching down into the region has in a sense for

economy incentives in iran so that iran does not quickly go to recession donald trump says there will be no deal on trade with china until he has a sit down meeting with chinese leadership u.s. and chinese officials have been having talks in washington to try to end a dispute that seen the world's two largest economies impose trade tariffs on each other now there are reports of a possible summit between trump and shoot him in next month the background here is that both leaders did agree to a ninety day truce in december but if there's no deal the truce will end in march and the u.s. will increase tariffs to an additional two hundred sixty seven billion dollars on chinese goods more with our white house correspondent kimberly halkett now kimberly this is classic donald trump isn't it he wants the big meeting there are meetings going on at a high level in washington but he wants the big photo op. yes absolutely the president self will be meeting in a couple of hours with the chinese vice premier but no deal until he meets with president xi at least according to donald trump donald did w

process with iran making it ok for americans to speak with iran showing that we could do deals with iran could help over time change iran's foreign policy as opposed to always just containing iran and being against iran where you're. in the declarations made by the supreme leader and other senior figures that there was this idea that if the nuclear deal work correctly applied and everyone respected their commitments and promises then it would bring concrete results i mean nobody you know. it would be possible to enter into other negotiations on other issues on the basis of the success for jewish business. from here on iran hope to normalize its relations with the west but the country was then confronted with a syria and iran crises which would give it the opportunity to use other methods than diplomacy to once again become a major planet in the middle east. behest as a cemetery in tehran is the biggest in the country. the man on this post was named. day he was an officer in the revolutionary guard who was killed in september two thousand and sixteen in syria. the revolutionary guard corp

the key take away when it comes to iran if iran was never in iraq to defeat isis. iran was in iraq to defeat future sunni threats from iraq and also to establish itself in iraq's political, economic and security apparatus and that is where we have iran and syria and white israel is willing to strike the cubs first target because of this i would call it a failed u.s. policy in iraq the last 15, 16 years. it is not because people at the time were doing the wrong things. it's because it wasn't consistent. because success wasn't mirrored. success wasn't followed. it doesn't mean that by any means the american generals at the time were doing the wrong thing. it is just an american generals are doing different things over the course of 15 years that have led to a continued cycle of violence that will have 10-year-old americans fighting in iraq is 20 rows because iraq and the middle east will continue to incubate the existential press whether it be the next iteration of al qaeda coming next iteration of isis. now we have this new added dynamic. the atomic revolutionary gu

and iran. everybody says it's not job -- there is the religion pushback against iran's influence in iraq. however, every pilgrimage to anyplace in iraq is facilitated iran. the iranian tourists. iran had a a capable of buildig airfields and airports and providing more electricity to iraqi civilians that its own government did. i think saudi can do a lot more but it needs to have a consistent strategic message. but muqtada al-sadr is not your guy. the one thing we talked about his national security iraqis are proud. people talk about her individual parties need to do more and iraqi sunni sake know, we've got this. let us do it. give us the weapons. give us the funds. it was the intel and we can do it. the problem is the scope of what they want to do is take back baghdad and kick i went out and take over the country again. instead of killing isis and cultivating charismatic leaders but, unfortunately, with de-baathification and distant isis law where, why three degrees of separation if your third

iran and iran it's really quite puzzling trying to understand what that foreign policy from the white house and from the state department what direction they really want to go to really he did not address many important issues the palestinians shogi calling the saudi arabia to live up to the iranians to live up to the human rights standards of saudi arabia what is going on with this administration go ahead in damascus. the point of the well the fact of the matter is that the united states will always be seeking more influence and more stable and strategic influence in the middle east they're currently threatened by russian expansion because of the american policy in syria which you know created the circumstances for a russian increased influence in the region. very traditional allies of the united states very established allies are not only talking more to russia. they're also having all these even weaponry like in the turkish example so the in the case of iran the united states probably thinks that having iran as a sole. enemy would gather as much allies under on one front along with

iran's role in the operation is to good or earlier this year was last pronounced unusual its role in the current southern the found safe and daraa is even more limited would it be fair to say that iran has already partially deliberate what the americans and to some extent these rallies are asking for. or present in syria doesn't related to the desire of the united states and other western countries which are following the diplomacy of the united states or some regional countries which are connected with the diplomacy of united states we are in syria on the basis of the invitation of legal government of syria to help the current of people of syria he support the to his whole integrity of syria and you're. fighting you're helping the syrian golan and if you close syria for fighting against terrorist groups. with the help of russia and some other countries fortunately we have overcome me because he's the. government of syria and syria have been facing and we do believe if. they stop. and russia which are available in syria leave and he should remain there to. maintain these military aga

i think you portray iran as if iran is in a prerevolution condition. why is the difference within what we see now in iran and what we saw in iran in last year's -- and there is beneficiaries, millions of people in iran and on the other hand, the islamic republic is working, despite the sporadic protests. we see that in the iranian government was able to control everything. so why do you think that government is living -- is facing a fatal crisis which makes it vulnerable in the face of oppositions? well, lete sure i understood what you said correctly. the situation in iran in terms of being revolutionary, you're suggesting that it is not existed because there is repression? yeah. i mean iran -- the government thinks they have confidence in the opposition and actually having control over all this, you know, sporadic protests that happened here and there. and foreign policy, why do you think the islamic republic is so vulnerable in the face of efforts made by opposition or despite all the pressure? well, i think if -- it will be a first if we believe tha

and iran go from here? >> first of all, iran is very well we are not taking u.s. airpower and surveillance out of the region. we are not taking u.s. forces out of iraq. there is a strong u.s. coalition presence remaining there. iran is well aware that we are watching them at all times. as to where this goes longer-term, you know, we need to see iran settle down and it's harder to get the resolution. the trouble of choruses russia stokes their activities, that iran spends $700 million per year on hezbollah alone and that is why secretary pompeo has called them the number one state sponsor of terrorism. it's terrible and irresponsible. and how much more we could do in the middle east without this malign activity by iran. eric: no doubt the u.s. is watching by air, by sea, by land. dr. rebecca grant, thank you. >> loved ones in the people of davis, california grieving the loss of rookie police officer donnelly corona. she was killed in the line of duty on thursday. what we learn about the suspect in what authorities described as a cold-blooded ambush. >> the fact is

is is that why you leaders appear to believe that they can save the iran deal. whether they can save it in this sense it's difficult to say because we don't know yet what the u.s. government will do in the future but they're trying to sort of keep their side of the deals because this re countries this signatories off the deal and they say as you just mentioned we think iran is sort of up holding its obligations and we see no reason to sort of trash the deal and also of course it's supposed to encourage iran to engage is europe because at the same time of course the european leaders say we have criticism about the regional role about the sort of interval a stigma silence and we would like to talk we would like to talk further about that but this signal just to sort of keep channels open was iran all right our very own barbara visa on the story for us tonight in bucharest barbara excellent reporting thank you very much. here in berlin germany's parliament today remembered the victims of the nazi regime in commemorations marking the seventy fourth anniversary of th

the impact inside iran. he says we'ave had a miraculous effect, we're forcing tehran to think again. just how hard are those sanctions biting? we were talking about the british mess, but now we are going to a global mess, which is coming very, very soon because of president trump's position. his strategy is dividing people, to be honest. he is dividing the middle east, he is dividing europe, he is dividing the international community. but there are two developments, two very important developments. the trip to the middle east. security of state. he went there, mike pompeo, and he went to mobilise the arabs in the gulf states, egypt and jordan, to establish an arab nato to confront iran. this is one thing. the second thing — he called for middle east peace and security conference in warsaw, poland. so, he created problems on both sides because many people in the middle east, the six gulf countries, they are divided. three of them would like to join trump in his adventure against iran. the three others are r

that includes syria and into iran if need be. we have the tools. american diplomats have the power and leverage behind sthepl. i am confident in our military capabilities in the middle east. >> brennan: does that mean having troops in nearby iraq fill any pulling out of seer ya. >> we have amazing ar kwrorz wa. we have an enormous amount of military capacity. what we need to achieve military is this. my task as secretary of state is to make sure we don't have to use that tool. we get the diplomatic out comes to secure the middle east and protect the american people as well. >> brennan: when it comes to iran the american administration has taken confrontational tactics here saying iranian threats would be matched here. we saw this week another american, a navy vet, michael white, has been behind iranian bars since july. so the not stopping iran from taking americans hostage. what is happening with this american? >> this administration is proud of the work we have done to get americans released from across the world. with respect to the michael white

there is no justification for the treatment these people get in iran. or outside of iran. so, i completely understand the frustration you and a lot of other people have. it's legitimate. thank you. please. go ahead and introduce yourself. i know you, but others do not. >> hi. i'm eric waters, a local community person here. i am also a romantic at heart. i was peru's in your -- per using your book. can you tell me more about chin chin and her relationship with sardari. dr. mokhtari: this is a love story. ain chin was an opera singer, musician, artist from china. her parents were industrialists and the father was an industrialist. had sent his daughter and his son to france, because she wanted to study music. and the parents did not want her to be alone. so, the brother, shortly after the war started -- when the war started they could not communicate with china because that was a time of the revolution in china had started and so on. so, chin chin and her brother were cut off from communicating with home. shortly after the war started, the brother, chin chin's bo rother, got

iran may think it owns lebanon, iran is wrong. in iraq, the united states will help our partners build a nation free of iranian influence. this past may, iraqis rejected sectarianism in a national election and we will support that whole heartedly. the people there refuse to be cowered by iranian-backed thugs and armed groups. iraqis have strengthened ties with arab neighbors, peacefully resumes cooperation with the kurdish region and baghdad and renewed focus on fighting corruption. in yemen, we will continue to work for a lasting peace. i think this is clear, but it's worth reiterating. the united states fully supports israel's right to defend itself against the iranian regime's aggressive adventurism. we'll continue to ensure that israel has the military capacity to do so decisively. the trump administration will also continue to press for a real and lasting peace between israel and the palestinians. again, we have adhered to our word. president trump campaigned on the promise to recognize jerusalem, the seat of israel's governm

what threat does it perceive iran has you know. these are the hawks of comeback and bolton and we've got to remember that bolton national security council director is just you know he was advocating only us shortly before he took office for the overthrow of the iranian regime these are people who've been seeking the overthrow of the iranian regime for a long time and the undermining of the iranian regime certainly pinning back its here and. that had gone out of style with obama who is looking to us in a sense offshore balance iran a little bit with saudi arabia in the gulf not pick a side in this fight and to keep this keep the regime on iran so that wouldn't develop nuclear weapons but to undo the sanctions now we're completely reversed that it's going to be difficult for the united states to develop this strategy this very you must strictly anti monster energy because. because not everybody shares this in the middle east we seem to turkey which is now has a base in in kuwait and is reaching down into the region has in a sense for

but they saw what they themselves paid in kind to discuss that i'm now joined by a senior advisor to iran's supreme leader ali akbar velayati really a great pleasure talking to you thank you very much for your time yes more you're most welcome. to the. friendly. as you may know moscow is a pretty hectic city these days just yesterday israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is still by to watch football. palestinian leader mahmoud abbas is visiting on the same day as you but none of you your visit formally the upcoming meeting in helsinki is this just a coincidence that all your schedules happen to overlap. know any connection between your attendance. to in your country and the presence of others. mentioned so i have come here independently only for the talking with the hiring of them president putin i have cherry the messages of for great leader and also for president and president putin. we could try an opportunity for about two hours the discourse of. every shoes including the bilateral relations regional cooperation international cooperation but i'm sure your fall of the international

i die only for iran. and we may die, we may die, but we will reclaim iran. for almost 40 years, i have worked towards a single objective; a secular, democratic iran built upon the pillars of human rights and the rule of law. i have insisted that the islamic republic poses an existential threat to iran and its people and that the islamic republic cannot be reformed. i have been steadfast in my belief that a secular democratic iran may be achieved only throughen nonviolent means -- through nonviolent means, and i have been unwavering in my faith that the iranian people and will be the principal agents of this change. but international attention and support remains critical. dr. martin luther king is one of my personal heroes. as i work to build international support for the iranian people's struggle, i often recall his famous covenant that we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. in that vein, i want to make clear that the iranian struggle should not be viewed through the prism of domestic partisan politics in this or any

is exporting its food stuffs to iran iran can act as a transit hub to other countries to neighboring countries like afghanistan so that could somehow develop some. economy incentives in iran so that iran does not quickly go to recession and it's old enough to preserve the deal as well the deal has been shaky obviously since the united states or donald trump decided to pull the united states out the fact that you say it's not really a deal for big businesses is it still mean it's enough to hold the principles of the j c p o in place. at least it sounds as as it does because. iran was expecting the e.u. to to do something and now e.u. did something in return and at least e.u. i mean political or european union cannot incentivized a multinational business to do trade or wrong but actually in few months when it is operation on iran can also benefit from this mechanism from other third party countries like china even even though in the past few months chinese trade media iran has reduced to a two day relations we do with the united states but other countries can use this facility these th

iran may think it owns lebanon iran is wrong in iraq the united states will help our partners build a nation free of iranian influence this past may iraqis rejected sectarianism in a national election and we will support that wholeheartedly the people there refused to be cowered by iranian backed ugs and armed groups iraqis have strengthen ties with arab neighbors peacefully resume cooperation between the kurdish region of baghdad and ever knew of their focus on fighting corruption and in yemen we will continue to work for a lasting peace and i think this is clear but it is worth reiterating the united states fully supports israel's right to defend itself against the iranian regime's aggressive adventurism we will continue ensure that israel has the military capacity to do so decisively the trump administration will also continue to press for a real and lasting peace between israel and the palestinians again we have it here to our word president from campaigned on the promise to recognize jerusalem the seat of his rose government as the nation's capital in may we moved our embassy the

maintain these three against a terrorist group if he is iran syria the us is states. he. will continue the search for supporting of tourists who once again. the dumbest of the champions of. syria will be in danger and dangerous situation and once again we've faced the. development of new development of the two risk issues still. to the syria because the main. responsibility of the defend the country. of the people syria. has here just. wanted out the iranian policy is has no relation to the american policy do not correlate but i'm sure you know very well that russia does try to your cards made its policy with all the actors on the ground with a specific reason of achieving a point when all foreign troops i assume including russian troops who could be withdrawn from that country and syria would be able to provide its security on its own is that concurrent where power iran sees the out cement go in in that country you know the russian federation moscow has its own polish we also follow your obvious they are some corporation which seem to show it's in the community. if there

intelligence community even said that iran appears to be adhering to the iran nuclear agreement so that there's a you have got for many years which is true but still we have this contradiction between the u.s. side and the european side and we have to wait for the next few months to see if other economic sectors can be involved in this initiative or not. tell that from brookings doha we appreciate you coming in tonight sharing your insights thank you so much you very much thanks. all rights imagine having to walk to the nearest field or forest every time you need to use the toilet now this is a reality for millions of people in india the government set out to tackle the problem back in two thousand and fourteen but the toilets that it claims to have built more than a hundred million of them well they seem to have been flushed down the drain of broken political promises. sonia found the car is in northern india on the hunt for toilets. it's a must in season and with the british the lush fields here have a dirty secret. davey has never had a toilet. she has to walk more than a kilometer e

sanctions on iran. that's right leaders are meeting in book arrest and they are expected to give more details of a transaction channel a new payment mechanism that they have set up to bypass the sanctions on iran and try and keep the nuclear deal alive now what european media is reporting so far is that it would be called in stakes it would be a transaction channel based in paris run by a german banking manager but with a supervisory board based in the united kingdom and it would deal mainly with trade between the e.u. in iran in areas such as food medicine and medical devices but it could be expanded to other things in the future now just to give you a bit of a back story ever since donald trump announced that he was re-imposing sanctions on iran last year the european union has been scrambling for a way to try and bypass those sanctions to keep that european trade alive and as i said to try and keep supporting the iran deal so what does this mean then for trade with iran and how significant is the mec

intelligence committee even said that iran appears to be adhering to the iran nuclear agreement. >> the e.u. has said for many years, which is true, but still we have this contradiction between the u.s. side and the european side. we have to wait for the next two months to see if other economic sectors can be involved. brent: from brookings doah. ha. we appreciate your sharing your insights. thank you very much. all right. imagine having to walk to the nearest forest every time you need to use the toil. this is a reality for millions in india. the government set up to tackle the problem in 2014, but the tour lets the claims to have built, more than 100 million of them, they seem to have been flushed down the drain or broken political promises. dw's sonja -- is in northern india on the hunt for toilets. reporter: it's the mustard season here. the lush field however harbor a dirty secret. she has never had a toilet. she has to walk more than a kilometer every day to. relief herself the ritual fraught with indignitities and risk. >> at night, we have to carry a torch and a stick. i come he

iran's foreign minister reacted to that. reminder to host participants of anti-iran conference. those who attended last time are dead, or dismarginallized. they now host desperate not an anti-iran circus. they will meet with the crown prince of saudi arabia. the secretary will raise the murder of journalist. >>> they are confirming strikes on hundreds of iranians. this is after the idf, israeli defense force has discovered an sixth tunnel dug for cross border attacks into northern israel from lebanon. the prime minter -- >> he took strikes on syria including over the airport. this is coming at his weekly cabinet meeting talking about actions in syria something rarely done by the government. they congress firms reports that the attacks occurred on friday. they filed a come plait on saturday about the air strikes. they claimed most of them were stopped by defenses. this is days after secretary of state supported israel's right to protect themselves the israeli military redeclared today after finding a sixth tunnel they have completed the latest operation against the iranian backed

the title of the article was to stop iran, bomb iran. very subtle. bolton's position has been -- let's not be surprised. we got to keep an eye on it. what we're hearing from bolton and pompeo. >> they are looking for a pretext to escalate this with iran. >> an excuse. >> always one step forward, two steps back on these tweets. no-fly zone, a safe zone cannot happen without boots on the ground. how do you withdraw from syria and do what the president is saying. >> we talked about how mattis was reining in president trump. he's got. >> over this. >> over this. >> we have a former head of boeing running the defense department if that makes you feel better. iran will likely be an air war. bolton and pompeo have always been promilitary action. mattis was as well. the adult in the room who will pull this back. i take you back to the bob woodward book where he quotes mattis or he sources people that say mattis would get those calls from trump, do this, do that and mattis would get off the phone and we're not going to do that. >> we have no real generals in

regime it to mean that iran will be coming to the region and it will have the upper hand that's why i think still tookie and americans will have a congress i want to do one more thing. you know i understand what nicholas have said regarding some coach concerns about the turkish penetration to the region but if you look at what the regime is doing over there with barrel bombs with chemical weapons and it is being called as the regime's control but when turkey is entering into the region it is bringing you know the hospitals and the social. services old then and it is being labeled as invasion i don't. articulate your response to that you know i don't look i mean i'm clearly not here to defend the assad regime and i think people in turkey should ask why it is that so many kurds living in syria would prefer the regime to return their turkish forces that seems like a damning indictment of turkey's behavior in how it's administered regions like afrin after it's taken them over yeah coming back to the issue of iran because it's interesting i mean key figures within the trump administratio

sanctions against iran so that trade with iran remains possible and the nuclear deal stays alive but will the u.s. just sit idly by and watch. how korea is becoming the world leader in the sports industry e-sports. competitive computer gaming and it's huge. this is a business. model first in berlin walk several issues states have created a new payment channel in a bid to bypass u.s. sanctions on iran it's called in sticks and germany france and the u.k. behind it it's designed to allow iran access to european markets without having to rely on international banks because banks face penalties under the u.s. sanction regime the new payment system will allow iran to sell products like oil for example to european customs in sticks would then get and keep the payment for it in turn european companies can deliver food or medical supplies to iran while getting paid by instinct that would allow participants on both sides of the system to avoid running afoul of u.s. sanctions that only forbid monetary transactions with iran which in states so combatants still companies using in states might ri

sanctions and keep trading with iran. when hey in me and thousands of come out to mark seventy years since a rebel group took up arms against the government a cease fire is in place that will tell you why a permanent peace seems to be drifting further away. and why don't trump's battle over a border wall could allow immigrants to stay in the u.s. a lot longer. so as you've seen here on al-jazeera the venezuelan opposition leader speaking at a university in caracas he has been laying out his plan for how he can take the country forward trying to convince key military members especially to withdraw their support for president nicolas maduro majority self is under pressure to step down more protests were held in stay with the aim of forcing him out basically on gross's the country needs to be rebuilt i mean this is the central element of our plan to get back the state and place it in the service of the people the problems of the state are terror and fear the state uses these two things for social control the state is like th

president and iran. al-jazeera. iran has had back at the dress in which he said that america retreating from international affairs lead to chaos iran's foreign minister mohammad tweeted whenever wherever the us interfere is chaos repression and resentment followed. so the democratic republic of congo in our the election commission has surprised many by naming opposition candidate kerry the winner in the long delayed presidential election but officials from the roman catholic church say that his results don't match the tallies from their observers as head of metasearch reports from the results although provisional have led to celebrations for some bought protests by others. and once meant few expected one that could set the stage for the first democratic transfer of power since independence from belgium in one thousand nine hundred sixty feel it had seen his father lead congress opposition for more than thirty five years had a message of unity. i know how many of you find it hard to accept but i say with sincerity i

part of that is making sure that iran doesn't destabilize or continue to destabilize syria. so yes, we will use the full power of the united states to achieve that outcome. eric: as part of the power, the secretary of state announced the u.s. will host a world summit on iran next month in poland, to focus on curbing o curbing the s influence in the region. iran is on the top list of the state sponsor of terrorism in the world. mark dbowitz joins us. the meeting in poland will help create they hope a an arab nato. do you think the european nations that slapped more sanctions against iran, do you think they can unite against that regime? >> i just got back from the gulf, met with top leaders in the gulf, era countries arab coo got back from india, and there is deep concern about the activities of the country of iran. they will be talking about the destructive activities. i think this is something that is necessary. i think even the europeans who opposed president trump's decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal understand that the islamic republic needs to be stopped. eric:

actually attacking iran. so what he means is he wants europe, becausejohn bolton the security adviser, he wanted a regime change in iran. are they capable to do so? i don't know. how tough is the situation in iran right now? definitely there is a sanction against iran. so it's biting and causing economic pain? there is pain now, the currency is collapsing, the standard of living is actually very high stop food and other goods have been rocketing in price, people are not actually coping with that. do they blame the own government? they are divided. part say the government policy is responsible, why are we involved in syria? why are we involved in iraq? why are we involved in yemen? other people say no, i think it is the americans who are putting pressure on us. what i want to say is that because president trump and his policy is not working it is causing a lot of confusion among iranians people. when he imposed a sanction, suddenly he changed his mind, he exempted eight countries from actually importing irania

withdrew from the iran nuclear deal last year, and then snapped back sanctions on iran, the europeans objected strongly. today, they took a major step ta try and helpget around .hose sanctions. here's nick schifr >> schifrin: when the u.s., iran, and the europeans sileed the 2014 n deal, iran froze its nuclear program in exchge for billions of dolla of economic benefits. the trump administration's withdrawal fm the deal meant iran never received much of the revenue it was promised. which is why the europeans todap announced a y, financed by germany, france and u.k., that's designed to allow iran to both gain some of that revenue, a keep them in the nuclear deal. the new company allows iran to barter goods with foreign companies without any money exchanged. that means they avoid u.s. banks and u.s. dollars, so they could avoid u.s. sanctions. the europeans say the first goods that iran will receive include drugs and medical devices, which iran nes. to talk about this i'm joined by david o'sullivan, e.u. ambassador to the u.s. ambassador, thank you very much, lcome back to the "newshour

and iran alive in order to keep the iran deal alive all right let's thank the touchable for their let's continue this conversation with ravi he's joining us of course live from the iranian capital tehran iran is the one that's going to feel whatever comes out of this of course how confident are people that this is going to encourage business with iran. well semi iranian leaders and people alike have been discouraged by how long it's taken to get to this place but be that as it may iranian leaders say they are feeling optimistic the caveat is they leave the door open to reconsider their stance on the twenty fifty nuclear deal which is the constant sort of political threat if you will that iranian leaders have been using trying to force european leaders to fulfill their end of the deal to help iran keep getting some kind of financial benefit from signing a deal that was agreed upon in two thousand and fifteen now as far as how positive they actually feel about this we've heard from a number of leaders that this is a positive signal the foreign ministry's deputy abbas or rocky who's in eur

i die only for iran. we may die but we will reclaim iran. for almost 40 years i've worked towards a single objective a secular democratic iran based upon the pillars of human rights and rule of law i have insisted it poses a threat to iran and its people and that the public cannot be reformed. i've been secular in my belief that iran may be achieved only through nonviolent means and i have been unwavering in my faith that the people can and will be the principal agent of this change got international attention and support remains critical. doctor martin luther king is one of my personal heroes as they worked to builwork to build intl support for the people's struggles i often recall this famous comment that we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. in that i want to make clear the struggles shouldn't be viewed through the prism of domestic partisan politics in this or any other democratic nation. this is a struggle about human dignity and liberation and it deserves equal support across the political spect

and then say well let iran do whatever it wants to do in the region so certainly bolton it's. explain trump to the region saying look maybe trump say's all kinds of things but the strategy is we remain engaged in syria so much so that he upsets president their guard by saying their kit cannot do much in northern syria without checking with washington first president the one even took at the bit further by saying taking american permission to do anything though the syria that said it does not wash in turkey that consider a broker in northern syria that is that is the one of the been tasked by president trump after the full conversation to do what needs to be done now but as i now do and apparently assured the american president that he does distinguish between kurds as a people at between p.y.g. and and the cake the kurdish party as being more terrorist something like an enemy of turkey worse than isis as we've heard before i don't think they've agreed that's what that's what explains the fact that they had two hour meeting and certainly aired the one continues to speak down at

/iran nuclear negotiations, and he was released in 2016. there are still americans held hostage in iran right now, but relations between the two countries are much, much worse. jason zion is now suing the iranian government and he is retelling his grim experience in his new book "prisoner." and he's joining me from washington. jason rezblierngs welcome to the program >> thank you so much for having me on. >> so you know, your book has a dramatic title, "prisoner." how difficult was it to write? >> well, it went in spurts. i wrote the outcome of what happened to us and the first months of freedom, which is at the end of the book first because it was so hard for me to get myself back into that mind-set of being in prison, not that it wasn't accessible for me, but it was pretty painful and triggering and set off all sorts of nightmares. it was a hard process. it took me a while to do, but i would get myself into a frame of mind where i dipped myself back into those experiences for several weeks at a time and i would need a break. that's how i

the second point of what would a war with iran look like, i think iran favors asymmetric approach. it would look like a lot of the wars that are building now. shiite militias. eventually, that is how a war iran would launch with israel would be waged. one of the most dangerous things out the conflict in syria is if we reduce our influence, it is going to help iran buildup syria as a base for aggression. what they have done is effectively control lebanon through hezbollah which controls the country through force but a somewhat -- but also a somewhat legitimate parliament. they have built up a massive rocket arsenal. timescial estimate is 10 what they have. their looking for a chance to open a second front, using syria as a second lebanon. if of the fears i have is syria sees more and more advanced precision weapons coming in, it will go more aggressively against syria and lebanon. if we inflame the region and have multiple countries fighting, we don't know the exact path but it could draw the americans in. host: there was some indication as we were seeing the plan being developed by