i ran -- has iran's priorities changed. iran —— iran has iran's priorities changed. i ran —— iran specialises has iran's priorities changed. iran —— iran specialises in this kind of killing. there may be paid back but few people are surprised. they know how this back and what happens in international politics and they will make their future calculations based on their own interests not on the style just for this individual or qasem soleimani or anyone else. it is interesting, at the start of this year, we were having plenty of conversations almost exactly plenty of conversations almost exa ctly o n plenty of conversations almost exactly on these lies after the assassination of qasem soleimani, at the time everyone was wondering whether that would change the complexion of the middle east. did it? no, in a nutshell, at least not yet. let us acknowledge the iranians are patient and tragically they are good at what they do, others in the most corrupt and lethal parts of the infrastructure and they may be biding their time, they may be biding their time, they may

well, the country is powerful, is iran and, and secondly, iran needs to get out of sanctions. iran has to move forward. iranian people are fed up their poor, the currency has collapsed. we have about 70 iranian students in our university, and they can't pay their bills. it's a terrible situation and that's just the tip of the iceberg for iran. so iran needs a deal. the united states needs a deal. this. this showdown in the persian gulf is, is, lucy, is the political will, to do a deal. and the world, as you alluded to,, it is in a different phase as it was 5 years ago. you know, u.s., european relations maybe aren't as good as the where it's hard to know. there was so much international diplomacy at the time was in there trying to carve this deal . do you think it can be saved? do you think they can get back to some sort of normalization, to get in a room together at this stage and say, you know what? there's too much at stake. this needs to be saved. there's a new administration, iran come to the table, let's do that. i think they're, i think it could be done. united states w

and iran are essentially nonexistent. the trumpet ministration, quit the key nuclear deal, which was struck back in 2015. hale bopp and outlines the tense diplomacy right now between washington and tehran. well, the trajectory of u.s. iran relations over the past few years has been quite negative. things have been moving in quite a bad direction between the 2 countries. donald trump has presided over a situation where the usa and iran are moving further apart, and prominent iranians have been killed. back in january, donald trump ordered a drone strike directed against qassam solomonic that resulted in qassam somani death on that caused outrage throughout the region. he was a leader of the islamic revolutionary guards. he ran military operations against isis ill, to protect christians in syria, and in iraq. and he was designated as a terrorist by the united states. now when he was killed, there were protests throughout the region. there was, there were protests in the arab world in pakistan, and yemen in turkey. there wer

iran to cooperate. and you can imagine why it's because every day, almost every day or every week, there is a further incident, which is in fact under international law, an act of war such as this latest one. and by the way, when i was in tehran about a decade ago at a conference in support of the palestinian resistance, we were not allowed outside of our hotels without, without minders. because the week before israel had this as an aide and one of the top scientists in iran, while he was driving his car home from work. and this is that op, the opus the modus operandi of this latest assassination of most, and most, and falk resodded, resembles exactly the incident that took place in tehran. a week before i was, i arrived there 10 years ago. we just do have to say on the program. there's no certainty at run this killing us to start is what we're reporting on all through the hour though. just another point, maybe before we let you go, you've been very good with your time. and there were some reports that

israel, the one country whose spies might actually know more about iran than iran knows about itself. has had this to say. i have no clue who did it. it's not that my lips are sealed because i'm being responsible. i really have no clue. and the united states, the same united states that kicked off 2020 with an open assassination of iran's top general has been completely mute this time. and it would be perfectly fine given the total lack of evidence and nation thousands of miles away from iran had anything to do with the killing except in the past 2 weeks. several unconfirmed reports claim that donald trump was seeking options to attack iran. to further deal rael its nuclear program. factories that there would make a perfect target given he was quite a celebrity for israeli intelligence in number than moon 5 years ago. so here's his direct and uses. the general aim is to announce the closure of project. but then he adds special activities. you know, what are those special activities will be carried out under the title of scientific know how developments. and in fact, this is exactly wh

and iran are now at rock bottom. iran has even proclaimed to the un, it has the right to defend itself from provocations, both from israel and the u.s., but with joe biden preparing to take the throne. european powers have already sat down with him to rehash the deal with germany specifically urging all parties to avoid an escalation at any cost. a few weeks before the new u.s. administration takes office. it is important to preserve the scope for talks with iran, so that the dispute over iran's nuclear program can be resolved through negotiations . we therefore urge all parties to refrain from any steps that could lead to a further escalation of the situation. biden himself even said he's considering diplomacy would offer to iran a credible pause. but to diplomacy, if iran returns to strict compliance with the nuclear deal, the united states would rejoin the agreements as a starting point for follow on negotiations. with our allies, we will work to strengthen and extend the nuclear deals provisions while also addres

for the iranians, right in the heart of iran. so close to the capital. this kind of strike against one of the most prominent, probably the most well-guarded, officials in the country. really, a strike against the country's intelligence services and its security apparatus. so, some would say it is going to have to retaliate, in some way, to save face here. and, how is that going to happen is the question? is it going to go after any u.s. or israeli interests in the region, directly? is it going to go after any of the u.s. or israel's allies in the region? and one country that would, most definitely, be watching this very carefully and it's really tense for them is, of course, iraq. we have seen this happening here, earlier this year, as you recall. the assassination of qassem soleimani in iraq. and, you know, the concern is that country that was the proxy battlefield for the united states and iran, for years, it turned into a bloody confrontation, earlier this year. and their concern is they will be dragged into it, once more, and

iran relations over the past few years has been quite negative. things have been moving in quite a bad direction between the 2 countries. donald trump has presided over a situation where the usa and iran are moving further apart, and prominent iranians have been killed. back in january, donald trump ordered a drone strike directed against qassam solomonic that resulted in qassam somani death, and that caused outrage throughout the region. he was a leader of the islamic revolutionary guards. he ran military operations against isis ill, to protect christians in syria. and in iraq, and he was designated as a terrorist by the united states. now, when he was killed, there were protests throughout the region. there was, there were protests in the arab world in pakistan, and yemen in turkey. there were also protests in response to that killing by donald trump. a huge amount of outrage. many voices internationally spoke up and felt this was a very unnecessary escalation of tensions between the united states and iran. and we also recall that prior to that

israel and iran. and as eager as donna explains, that creates a real headache for a future biden administration. so far it's been up to run to make accusations and israel alongside with the u.s. quite expected. lee are its prime suspects. warning against any adventurist stick measures by the united states and israel against my country. particularly during the remaining period of the current administration of the united states in office. the islamic republic of iran reserves its right to take all necessary measures to defend its people and secure its interests. in response. israel, the one country whose spies might actually know more about iran, that iran knows about itself, has had this to say. i have no clue who did it is not that my lips are sealed because i'm being responsible. i really have no clue. and the united states, the same united states that kicked off 2020 with an open assassination of iran's top general has been completely mute this time. and it would be perfectly fine given the total la

he was a target for his enemies inside iran and outside iran. so, within months of each other, there were two mysterious murders where the victims were both opponents of the iranian regime. the matter of the fact is they were both assassinated mafia style. there was a bmw, i think it was a hit—style by proxy. i think a professional criminal organisations were hired to do the assassination. who did the formal order is unclear yet, but there are some indications that the state of iran was responsible. in early 2018, dutch police arrested two associates of this man, amsterdam crime boss naoufal fassih, in connection with the first killing, that of ali motamed. those who had followed the case were baffled at first. from what i understand of the police investigation, there are no ties or connections whatsoever connecting this man to criminal activity, money—laundering, drugs. nothing. naoufal fassih and his associates were found guilty of ali motamed's murder. the prosecution claimed the hitmen were each played 10,000 euros for pulling the trigge

iran accused israel of orchestrating the killing, which iran says may have been conducted by an automatic remote-controlled machine gun placed inside an empty vehicle. iranian president hassan rouhani said iran will retaliate at the quote, proper time. >> this brutal and cowardly terror attack showed that our enemies have experienced weeks of anxiety, whethey feel theirtress has be reduced and global conditions are changing. amy: many analysts say the assassination of the iranian scientist was designed to make it harder for president-elect joe biden to rejoin the landmark 2015 nuclear agreement with iran, which president trump withdrew from in 2018. we'll have more on iran after headlines. ethiopia's prime minister said saturday his military had taken complete control of the capital of the northern tigray region, capping a three-week offensive against separatists that forced tens of thousands to flee to sudan amid reports of mass atrocities. ethiopian prime minister iy ahmed, who wothe nobepeace prize in 2019, refused international demands for talks with the tigray people's liberation fro

iran free today about you know weapons actually and iran is a member of the nonproliferation treaty which means it is not to go down that path and the nuclear deal put in place the most intrusive inspection mechanism under any country with international monitors on the ground and that is why actually with the rollback of the bronx commitments that these international monitors can actually validate what iran is not like this is why we know exactly where iran is expanding its nuclear activities in response to the pressure campaign for up by president's not response a question i mean we couldn't really get a bigger stake than what we have under the top administration while going to military conflicts that they will have we have seen really the sanctions toolbox being also by this administration the political isolation to what's being exhibited by this administration so i think if we are dealing with the 2nd something the station israel and other countries in the middle east we have to ask themselves whether they want to double down its maximum pressure policy that is in my view the next phas

diplomacy with iran. namely, the 2015 nuclear deal. nick paton-walsh, cnn, london. >> and for the latest developments, cnn journalist. cnn's jomana karadsheh cnn. >> as we heard there, the foreign minister, spoke. now, president rouhani. what is your read on what the messaging is? >> michael, i think officials -- top officials here are -- to explain to the people and to their domestic audience that there is no letup for the nuclear technology advancement and the development and missile projects, while they are adding martyrs for the sake of nuclear technology and for national security. so, from artificial angle, there is no letup. they will continue doing as they have for the past two decades. and from their angle, the assassination of nuclear scientist. it's not a new case and it won't be the last one, from their angle. >> and to that point, will this be seen as -- by some as a failure of domestic intelligence, given that it is the latest in a series of incidents on iranian soil? >> yes. from the hardlin

today iran's supreme leader, ayatollah khamenei also vowed revenge for the assassination, saying iran's first priority was the definitive punishment of those perpetrators and those who ordered it. he also showered praise on fakhrizadeh's scientific achievements in the nuclear field, in the missile field, in the defensive field, saying that the country lost its most eminent nuclear scientist, who was martyred by brutal mercenaries. underscoring just how important he was in this country amongst the ruling establishment. iran's president hassan rouhani also blamed the u.s. and israel, accused them of having blood on their hands, saying iran would seek revenge, but at the proper time. they may be the key to determining iran's next move as this may not be the best time for them to exert revenge. an upcoming change of administration in washington may have also changed calculations here in tehran. unlike the counterstrike at the beginning of the year, after iran's top general soleimani was killed, iran may want to hold become on avenging their top nuclear scientist because the playing field ha

both iran and the u.s. to reassess their relations. a different future this want to be easier as you said no question it won't be easy. but i think also that there are. things that have been achieved with the. because of what was perceived among many foreign policy observers as to many concessions made by the obama administration to iran so i think. but i think that there is an opportunity for the u.s. and iran to reestablish their relations. and to have the big deal the beginning was haitian the big bargain between the u.s. and iran taking place. something that can be possible under the by the not mr xi it want to be an achievement in the 1st year that's certainly not it will certainly not be the case in over the next 3 to 4 years remain i think that that is a possibility because the demonization of iran will cease right thing and we will not have these fronts against iran so that's a possibility than a serious possibility in the current near future by the not ministration matthew it looked to me like you

iran has accused israel of being behind the killing. the united states has now recorded more than thirteen—million covid cases — just six days after the country reached 12 million infections. more than 264 thousand americans have been killed by covid—19 and experts are warning that the long thanksgiving weekend is likely to lead to a further rise in cases. three french police officers have been suspended after an online video showed them beating up a black music producer in paris. the incident has sparked outrage across france. president macron described the images as bringing shame to france. the police officers are being held for questioning. in about ten minutes we'll have this week's

the thinking in iran is it's an attempt to prevent any talks between iran and joe biden. that nuclear deal that president donald trump pulled the united states out of and imposed sanctions on iran, president-elect joe biden said he would like to return to that deal, and iran has indicated they would be willing to return to their commitments if the united states was to rejoin. this assassination would make future talks, negotiations very complicated and increase tensions in this region. >> to tell you more, he was a university professor of physics, a senior scientist at the iranian ministry of defense. western and israeli intelligence claim he was in charge of iran's attempt to build a nuclear bomb, but tehran denies ever trying to build a nuclear weapon. every landmark report by the iaea said he played a key role in developing nuclear technology. he is believed to have links to iran's revolutionary guards. mohsen fakhrizadeh was subject to an asset freeze because iran refused to make him available for an interview with the iaea. let's speak with mark fitzpatrick, previous

missile program iran's defense is central to iran's defense and one of the only reasons that iran hasn't been attacked is because it's strong militarily so iran does not want to make any more concessions at least what they're saying publicly but there have been rumors and certain reports outside the country that they have been talks taking place between the united states and iran now no one has confirmed that in fact they deny it flat out but that door that door is always open there's always a possibility of secret talks but at least at least in the face of iran is saying we will not compromise that red line is defense but they are hoping that the 2015 nuclear deal can be saved our thanks to mona in baghdad in tehran as all thank you both donald trump has radically changed the u.s. role in the peace process between the israelis and the palestinians his administration recognized jerusalem as israel's capital and moved the american embassy to the city here in veiled a peace plan that's been widely criticized by palestinian leaders and negotiated a normalization of ties between israel and 3

where on joe biden's list of priorities would iran fit? that joe biden wa nts a would iran fit? that joe biden wants a different approach to iran from the failed approach from the trump administration where they pulled out of this far—reaching nuclear deal and imposed very harsh sanctions on iran which have only led to more iranian bad behaviour in the golf and iran edging out of the golf and iran edging out of the nuclear deal and coming closer to the edge of nuclear weapons capability —— golf. president—elect biden said he wa nts to president—elect biden said he wants to get back into the deal if iran wants to return to compliance with the deal and use it as a foundation for negotiating further restraints —— gulf. the ethiopian prime minister, abiy ahmed, and the army chief of staff have issued statements claiming that federal government troops are now in total control of mekelle, the capital of tigray province. there's been no independent confirmation of the claim with regional communications cut off. tigrayan leader has indicated his forces would fight on. mark

guest: and iran voted against. what i mean is not a vote of the international system how many people in each country support a system. if the majority of iranians don't support the death penalty, that would be a different story, but every poll in iran shows a very large majority of iranians to support the death penalty and i don't see how foreign countries get to impose their will on the will of the iranian people, so i don't see how that can work. anchor: it's hardly an imposition if you have a vote in it. guest: iran voted against it, so if there is a vote in the united nations, let's assume 100 countries in the world vote against having the option of having the hit job. does that mean iran should abolish that because other countries voted against the system? each country separately within their own system, the will of the people should be implemented. even in the united states, the latest poll shows almost two thirds of americans support the death penalty. if americans want the death penalty, i think the governm

the assassination of iran's top nuclear scientist, iran is blaming israel and the u.s. creating a major challenge for the incoming administration and europe's own one tunnel. a rights report says hundreds of high school family members with european citizen ship are being held in inhumane conditions. kurdish controlled refugee camps in syria plus teachers and norway say they would be afraid to show cartoons of the prophet muhammad in class. after last month's murder of a french teacher, r.t. talked with one of them. after the murder of i decided not to show them at all because i felt i felt my profession was attacked. a very warm welcome to the program from all of us here in moscow. thanks for joining us this hour. now we have some news just coming in in this last hour from france, parliament has suspended a bill that would have severely restricted the filming of police officers after 2 weeks of nationwide unrest. opponents say the measure named article 24 would have violated press freedom and allowed the police to cover up acts of brutality. and we can cross live now to

iran calls the killing an act of terror and points the finger at israel. we look at how the killing may impact the iran nuclear deal after the us president elect joe biden had been hinting he wanted america back at the negotiating table. for french officers are suspended for beating a black man in paris. after a video of the incident goes viral follows a wave of anger in france against a controversial bill that could ban police from being filmed in public, even a neighborhood. my screams, she called me and asked what's going on. i explain and been attacked and he wanted to call the police, but it was the police. it's outrageous. and a relative of a civilian reportedly killed in a u.s. drone strike in yemen says he continues to live in fear as a top court in germany rules. berlin can legally distance itself from american operations conducted from german soil. a very warm welcome to you here at r.t. international. my name's donald quarter taking you through your world news stories this hour. welcome to the program. a scientist labeled, the father of iran's n

when that see a spy is arrested in iran or on a terrorist is arrested in iran, immediately western human rights organizations, governments, the media pundits, experts all say that they're innocent as if they have some sort of insider information. yet when these attacks are carried out, these attacks are carried out with the help of spies with the help of terrorists, and they gloat over it. and instead of condemning it, they go and you know, they try to make him look as if he's evil, these lows will respond. so you cannot put the blame on these will everything, disposable in the middle east and in prison, these bodies and lead them identify them. and if they claim that he's behind it, let's see if those people are really israelis. i use it right now very much in 2015, iran even agreed to limit its nuclear activities for the lifting of u.s., sanctions. it was part of the j c.p.o., a deal between to iran, washington, russia, and other world powers the same deal that donald trump scrapped as the war steel ever in 2018. and to the great praise of israel, i went through how the last administra

negotiated, if there are negotiations with iran, iran has said very clearly, it's not going to negotiate toll until america comes back into compliance with the j. c, p o 8. and sorry, if said the only way to do that is he's got to comment. they've got to come in line with the security council resolution 2231 which falls into it if you write that, that j. c, p o, a text. so he says, if you can come in with that and be get rid of all of the sanctions, all of the adverse things have happened since you can do it through executive orders. then maybe we can talk. but i think that speech by zarif met the degree of criticism him back in iran. fall saying that was an old friend of biden knows him quite well from his time when he was in new york and feels as a possible chemistry. but i don't think that that's really likely to take it very far. and at the moment, washington is putting on its new sanctions. they promised sanctions every week. but what's different, what's important about these sanctions is that these are not sanctions on the nuclear issues. these are making inskeep type sanctions. i

he was iran's top nuclear scientists with his own team of bodyguards, and yet he was killed inside iran, just outside the capital. when you heard that out, rick, how surprised were you that that could have happened? well, you know, in one way it is surprising. in other way, it's not. israel has a history of been gauging in very provocative actions at the times where there's a transition and in the u.s. presidency before president obama came into office right up until the last day or the preceding 48 hours. israel was bombing gaza arming it ceaselessly. so in one sense, we're, we're not surprised to see some kind of provocative action from israel. how grif do you think the danger is now that iran will, in essence of it, in return, it's got a lot of, ah, lies in that region. you know? yeah, i think it's very dangerous. the organization, the american organization code pink, has been very quick to produce a statement and a petition that is rapidly gaining signatures every few seconds. people are signing on to this petition and they're condemning the assassination as illegal. dangerous and a

what has iran got to hide? iran blamed all 5 murders. they face nuclear scientists on israel. why would it blame your country for no reason? you know, i don't know what their entire line of thought is. what i can see is what their actions are. these people, you know, the ayatollah sort of like an octopus, sending their tentacles all across the region. they want to create a regional hedge moni right there, looking back thousands of years. they want to be ahead timony over the entire region and turn it into a center of nuclear weapons that would create a weapons race that it took decades to do away with the united states u.s.s.r. nuclear race. now we have a new one, but in a very area, this is something that no one in the world could want. do you think that this assassination is going to make it harder for president elect biden to operate in the region as iran says it will? no, quite the contrary. i'm sure that president biden, who has said time and again that he would accept nuclear weapons in iran. i'm sure he would not want iran to go nuclear with weapons and in that sense, i

iran suspects israel of involved. ethiopia's government is denying that the prime minister has rejected talks with to grand leaders. 3 african union special envoys met in addis ababa. he told them he'd only speak to representatives operating legally in the region. the mass rally has been held in iraq's capital baghdad, in a show of support following shipler bid to run in parliamentary elections mixture. thousands of people gathered in tahrir square, which was once the focus of now for french police officers have been detained after a video emerged, showing them beating a black music producer and paris' president emanuel has called that incident unacceptable and shameful. the assault has sparked outrage towards a police force already under scrutiny. the heavy handed tactics, the tosh about to reports from paris, a shocking video police officers brutally beating a man in a music studio in paris. images captured on c.c.t.v. record producer michele's seculars says police force their way into his studio physically and raci

, a free pass on iran's missile development and worst of all a free pass on iran's plan to develop nuclear weapons with the purpose of conquering the middle east. deserve no of tehran free passes. israel is grateful to you, i am grateful to you. thank you, mike, for your tremendous friendship and your invaluable contribution to our alliance and to israel's security and to the expansion of the circle of peace. thank you, friend, and hope to see you next year in jerusalem. secretary pompeo: thank you. mr. prime minister, it is an honor and joy to be with you today. i had a chance to walk through the city of david. you and i met looking out over the old state. e peace, the increst creased prosperity and reduced risk to citizens across the region and hearing what we have accomplished together is historic and you should be proud o have led your work and president trump is proud of the work we have done along side you. you went through the list, whether it is the simple fact of recognizing the reality of jerusalem is the true capital of israel. crazy that the united states hadn't done this for d

when they see aspires, arrested in iran, or in a terrorist is arrested in iran, immediately western human rights organizations, governments, the media pundits, experts all say that they're innocent as if they have some sort of insider information. yet when these attacks are carried out, these attacks are carried out with the help of spies with the help of terrorists, and they gloat over it. and instead of condemning it, they go and you know, they try to make him look as if he's evil. these laws will respond, so you cannot put the blame on israel. everything is possible in the middle east and in present these bodies and then to fade them. and if the claim that is behind it, let's see if those people are really israelis right now, i doubt it very much the american aircraft carrier, the u.s.s. nimitz, is currently heading to the persian gulf, to protect troops withdrawing from iraq and afghanistan. that's according to local media, citing military officials who deny it's linked to the murder of the iranian scientist, auntie's new york correspondent, and looks not the tense relationship betwee

with iran in the region. there was also the what trump calls his historic peace deal, which was essentially getting countries throughout the region to recognize israel and align with israel in the hopes of further isolating iran. and we recently saw u.s. secretary of state mike pompei o going on a middle east tour on this is some of what might pompei o said when he was in the region. thanks to president troop, the u.s. pulled out of the nuclear review with the wrong place, crippling sanctions on the union regime and eliminated the move to close them soon be a record speaks for itself. during the trip administration, america stands with israel like never before. now, many were predicting that there could possibly be a change, of course, with joe biden. in the white house. you'll recall that it was barack obama, who signed the iran nuclear agreement. the joint comprehensive plan of action that donald trump ultimately withdrew the united states from and some were expecting that as biden appoints new members to h