eastern trail, texas. and a reminder that you can keep up-to-date with all the news on our website any time, aljazerra.com. get the latest on all of the stories we are following. aljazerra.com. i'm ali velshi. "on target" tonight, the big squeeze, how the pain of sanction he drove iran to the negotiating table. plus, rescued again, greece gets a debt deal but not everybody's happy about it. no deal yet, the united states iran and five world powers have hobbled through yet another deadline in the nuclear talks. that's where we stand 20 months after the

iran, the u.s., and other countries agreed on an interim deal, 2013. the latest blown deadline, 20 straight days of talks in vienna, u.s. secretary of state john kerry meeting with javad zarif, and u.n. policy chief frederica mogherini, in exchange for lifting painful economic sanctions. eliminating the economic sanctions has been at the heart of iranian president h5n1 hassan rouhani's campaign. has you calz sanctions a form of violence. i want to examine the effects of the essential on iran and its people. something i saw firsthand over the past two weeks and the

obviously place to start is the sanctions against iranian oil exports. in 2012 the u.s. and the european union slapped new sanctions on industry. as a result, between 2011 and 2014, iranian owl exports plunged 46%. they were 2.6 million barrels a day down to 1.4 million barrels a day. this decline is a big deal. oil makes up 40% of iran's export earnings and 50% of government revenue. right now, iran has half a dozen legitimate oil customers, indian indian, turkey, few others. expect that to change quickly, if and when economic sanctions are lifted. iranian officials say they hope to double oil exports soon after the sanctions fall.

the news that the talks are dragging on and on sent prices up a bit. they still settled down 1%. oil now trades at $52 many en 24 a barrel. after spending two weeks in iran i can tell you, it's not sanction he, but the ability to buy and sell goods and services on the world market. for them, the big squeeze of the sanctions has been about money and how it travels around the globe. ♪ for years now sanctions on iran over its controversial nuclear program have taken a toll on the country's economy. but they've done little to curb iran's nuclear ambitions. it took more recent banking sanctions, effectively booting iran out of the international

finance system, to get iran to the negotiating table. i had to bring all the cash i needed. my credit cards don't work, nor does my bank card. the society for interbank financial transaction, which allow for global trade through transfer of money. because it's off the swift system, iran, iranian banks and iranian people can't move money electronically around the world. not all trade with iran is prohibitunder prohibited under sanctions. the inability to wire money to pay for them effectively cuts iranians off from importing necessities like medicine. >> day to day, for specific patients for example, children with leukemia.

children with brain tumors, we have major problems. >> it's hard to see the effects of sanctions up front. in iran's shops and busy about bazaars, they have taken a hit because they can't pay for imports coming in or pay for exports going out. shipping is measured in 20 foot container equivalen equivalent equivalents. a drop of 28%, the reason for that is sanctions. the pain of sanctions is being felt across iran's major export industries like oil and autos. but sanctions also hit iranian consumers who must also contended with hyperinflation

that's devalued iran's currency to a third of its value in 2010. >> iranian leaders have decided to make a deal. they have decided to more or less close down iran's nuclear program which they spent a lot of money on, people about died for it. in return, what they want is lifting of sanctions. >> in the end the forced belt tightening by iran's businesses and workers, have prioritized over preserving iran's owner nuclear capacity. a iranian who spent more than 40 years in the united states, to promote understanding and dialogue. no deal yet. >> no deal. >> you think there's going to be one? >> not tonight. there will be one.

>> at this point it's been 17 days they've been sitting around. for some reason, kerry and the european negotiator and zarif are just not leaving. >> that's right. that's why they are expecting a deal at some point. i think at the last minute, it has been a case in the last two years, actually, any time they have come to a point that everything is settled, they still keep going just to show their constituency that they are trying hard -- >> who is trying, iranians? >> iranians and mr. kerry as well. both sides are playing a game, a public diplomacy game, to show they are powerful and resisting around negotiating the last point. the fact is they have already made all the decisions and they are not telling the truth. >> i want to talk about what that is, hold on, it's not sanctions that's causing the most pain for iranians.

he'll tell us why when we come back.

>> everyone has a story... and the only way to see all of america, is to see the human stories... one at a time. get to know the people, their struggles, their hardships and their triumphs. >> it gives me a lot of pride. >> our american story is written everyday. it's not always pretty, but it's real... and we show you like no-one else can. this is our american story. this is america tonight. >> let's return to professor alady, the founder of the iranian american council, trying

to provide understanding and dialogue. professor, you say these are not causing the most pain for iranians. what is? >> obviously the sanction he are causing pain. more than that the mismanagement of the economy. during the ahmadinejad time, iran spent $100 million god knows on what. there is no problem with money, it is how you yuf whatever money you have. >> i got that impression, every time i referred to something that ahmadinejad did, everybody rolled their eyes. everybody was disassociating themselves from them. >> that is the way the iranians are, they are opportunistic. i tell you why, they voted twice for him. he got without any dispute, 17 million votes.

and even with dispute he got 17 million to be fair to him. he got elected. >> people don't dispute that the elections he got more votes than the others. >> that's right. again ahmadinejad was a pop pop you a last. populist. he miss managed the economy. the iranian economy is almost 70% government public and only 30% private. and the private sector is very weak. and this even becomes even weaker when you have a government that is very much dominated. >> let's explain that a little bit. i heard if you want to get a loan to buy a house if you are not a government employee they treat you a little less seriously. if you work in our world for the government

sector -- in the private serk that's held in high esteem. >> in iran your job in private sector is very insecure. unless you are really at a high pay level and you already have lots of money in the bank and so on you are not taken seriously and it's really tough to get loans or anything. the iranian banking system is really not developed, to begin with, and therefore when you have a economy that's controlled by the government central bank, that controls all the banks, private banks, on the basis of supposed to any law on economics that's how things happen, a country that is very corrupt, another problem, nepotism and all kinds of other issues here, this is what they call crony capitalism. really not capitalism. it is a system that doesn't work on the market basis it works on

the basis -- >> will that change if there's a deal on the sanctions? >> no. for a long time it will continue, actually president rouhani's government, like a merchant government, merchant is going to have to be charge in opposition to the industrialist. >> that's interesting because iran is a manufacturing economy, it can do very well if sanctions are lifted, the bank being sanctions, allowing iran to purchase goods that should bring down prices in iran. how are they going to get that done? >> first, before the revolution, iran had started to become really industrialized. and iran was even ahead of south korea then. but after the revolution, merchants took over. the industrialists left the

country they were ex appropriated and destroyed. but the industrial sector is very weak and the merchant capital is the dominant force in the country. and they are largely an export import guise, they are very supportive of this deal. when the deal opens, the export import opens and they can get into it. >> the world is supportive of this deal. when i was in davos, right after rouhani was elected, the delegations from the west one after another, to reindustrialize iran, is that your belief? >> not necessarily industrialize, but just to get iran engaged. not everybody that was there is an industrialist. there are merchants, there are banks, there are oil companies, all the groups that are going. there are tourism, so on. so again i don't think the gm of ford was there for example. there are other kinds of government entities --

>> but the auto industry is actually fairly developed in iran. that was a place they could sell maybe two million cars a year if the sanctions were lifted. in america we sold 16 million. that's pretty good. >> iran has developed a car industry that is largely assembly. it is not native. >> you get international brands made in iran. >> largely south korea and europe in particularly, french. >> french citroen and peugeots. >> it will happen depending how well how fast but at the end of the day the management of that economy and it has to have the right person in place. >> but it's a highly educated society. i would imagine these people exist whether they're ex-pats or in iran. >> unfortunately the system is quite seclusionary. it does not include the people

who are not religious or who don't believe in the system or opposition. doesn't matter if they are religious like the reformists that are outside the system now. again, there is a very monopoly monopolistic and seclusionary system. these are not the right people to manage the economy particularly in the economic field. >> your point it is not a meritocracy. >> i believe the iranian economy 's problem is largely management. iran has to include if it wanted to benefit from the sanctions from the international trade investment all that, it has to include a broader section of the iranians. abroad and domestically. it has a lot of as you said educated people very well

trained. but unfortunately there are sides to this. >> professor is a former presidential candidate. he is board member of the iranian american council. good to have you. >> glad to be here. during this critical time in the country's relationship with the united states and the world, my team and i had access to the government and its citizens, we traveled throughout tehran and the straight of hormuz. a fascinating look at a country that the world is watching closely with concern and hope. ♪ >> i'm ali velshi in tehran. a farsi language newspaper main story says nuclear zero hour. deals distrust and deadlines. the world is watching. >> we have to work through some difficult issues. >> these are the things that iran doesn't seem willing to do.

allowing its nuclear scientists to be interviewed and allowing full and complete inspections of its facilities. the foreign minister of iran, javad zarif has returned to iran. >> i will walk away from the negotiations if it is in fact a bad deal. >> we are determined to do everything we can. >> not finding all sorts of people who want to come up and tell me what they think is wrong with their government. >> the issue here is that the economy has stagnated. inflation is rampant. the currency has devalued. these 600 bills amount to $100 but three years ago in 2012 this was worth $250. this is a city that in the day has 15 million people in it. we're trying to talk to as many of them as possible. i keep running into people who seem to like america. the drink of choice around here seems to be coca-cola. saw more places selling apple products than i had seen in some cities in the united states.

there are places that you can come across where there are some antiamerican messages. referring the zionist issues. to not buy these products . >> i was at the big friday prayers in tehran. the sermon was a little bit religious, a little bit political. there were revenues to these negotiations. >> at this point these negotiations could go either way. >> while there is a great deal of pride in this country about their nuclear program, the people want their sanctions lifted. that's their bread and butter. before the sanction they would send a container of carpets to america. now they don't sell these things to america. the effect of oil on the economy, the effect of the sanctions, the biggest

container port that was doing two and a half containers a year dropped to 1.8 million now because of the sanctions. if i needed to transfer money to you today from iran can't do it. you cannot use the world banking systems. medicines you can't buy, you can't buy car parts. you can't choose if you're in iran, you either is have to build it here or buy it from someone who will sell to you. unprecedented access to this the capital city of iran. and we'll have that for you all week. greece has been saved from financial collapse. that is one way to look at it. here's another, greece last been humiliated. i'll tell you the story coming up. >> these are babies in prison. >> he stood in that bathroom and nobody went to help him. >> how many people have to get raped before somebody says

"whoa, we got a problem"? >> "faultlines". >> what do we want? >> al jazeera america's hard-hitting... >> today the will be arrested. >> ground-breaking... >> they're firing canisters of gas at us. >> emmy award-winning, investigative series. >> we have to get out of here.

>> marathon negotiations have resulted in another economic life line for greece. greek prime minister alexis tsipras accepted terms for a third bailout in five years, removing the threat of imminent disaster but the bitter negotiations also left hard feelings particularly in greece. patricia sabga is in athens and joins us now. >> ali, emotions here have ruj the garunthe gamut today. age are especially with the germans for what they say as imposing humiliating conditions on the greeks. people felt disappointed, and then skepticism set in. wondering whether these conditions can ever be met. for a lot of people fatigue has been setting in. they have been living this crisis for five years now. in the last five and a half

months, the economic deterioration has accelerated and in the last five weeks this economy has gone into a death spiral and the cross fire of this crisis ordinary people have been caught struggling to hang on. >> 73-year-old nick and his wife lost their daughter to cancer and their son-in-law two years after. they have been raising their rambunctious grand sons, ever since. they're pension amounts to only $824 a month. >> the money is not enough. if we didn't have support from neighbors and nonprofits we'd be finished. >> reporter: lacking the funds to cover even basic necessities they haven't paid their utility bills in six months. a hand to mouth existence and they are hardly alone. >> they raise their children's children and families are

destroyed. people are completely destroyed here. and now in these last five months of negotiations it's all over for us. the banks are now closed. we are in a catastrophe. >> reporter: the day-to-day political jockeying of this crisis tends to command most of the headlines but behind the multibillion dollar bailout figures and acrimony and exchanges through finance ministers another crisis is deepening, a silent crisis engulfing for and more greek families threatening to tear apart the very fabric of this society. costas is founder of smile of the child. founder of 13 care homes for children in grease, centers offering food medical services and counseling for people in need. conceived by his son andreas,

who conceived of this logo before succumbing to a brain tumor at age 10. they serve more people, four fold over 2011. >> a lot of violence within the family, a lot of domestic violence also there are a lot of divorces. so you see, there is a domino situation. >> reporter: one that's now threatening this vital life line for greek families. smile of the child is funded from donations from greeks, generosity that's untenable in the wake of bank closures and rationing. >> we have one week of possible survival. >> but he's prepared to do whatever it takes to keep the safety net intact. >> we'll fight going away going to the states begging international doing everything we can.

to show our cause. to show that there are some children here that need to survive. please support us. >> reporter: and unwavering commitment to family echoed by them. >> even if we are standing up if we have nothing to eat, we'll go out whatever it takes to raise them. no matter what happens, we will raise them. >> and ali even though an accord has been reached, there is no relief in sight to these people. they are facing more cuts to their pensions nor austerity. they have less than a week's operating funds left. the reason they are so cash strapped right now, because of the generous donations that they relied on, people are in no position to give them donations. word has come down that banks will remain closed until

wednesday, so this organization is in a very, very desperate situation. ali. >> that's our show for today, i'm ali velshi, thank you for joining us. >> on al jazeera america, >> technology...it's a vital part of who we are... >>they had some dynamic fire behavior... >> and what we do... don't try this at home! >> tech know, where technology meets humanity... only on al jazeera america

close to a deal iran and six world powers are due to make an announce opt limiting iran's nuclear program. ♪ ♪ hello, this is al jazerra live from doha. also ahead on the program. burning anger, greeks react to the bailout agreement with the e.u., calling it cat strove us ancatastrophicand humiliate i g. iraqi says used to come here for a holiday now it's a refuge for families escaping the identifying. the debate over polygamy a report why