>> today after two years of negotiationing united states achieved something decades of animosity has not. a controversial deal with iran america and iran, two old enemies in the middle east shook hands. over the next 30 minutes i'll take you on a journey through the streets of iran to show you a side of america's old nemesis that you may not have seen before, a trip where i'll meet men and women from shopkeepers,

butchers, mechanics to vice presidents and the youth. it's a rare insiders look at a time in iran where life is changing, i was there as negotiatesors put the final touches on a deal led by rain and six nations. tehran agreed to open the door to inspectors giving them them access to sites. in return oil and financial sanctions that crippled the economy were agreed to be lifted. after 20 months of bargaining, the deal was down. whether you support it, there is a deal agreed upon which iran and the world powers. the iranian street is alive with talk of what is to come. to make sense of it all, you have to go there. i had to be there to talk to people, to understand their history. and to listen to their stories. i had to go behinds the deal.

the first thoughts when i landed was how everyone i saw looked different. you didn't have to have your head covered on the plane, as soon as you got off that plane you were in iran and needed to put your headdress on, that's correct what they needed to do to get into the country and not get into trouble. the morality police in iran. when i drove in that first night and the sun came up that morning and we were in our hotel and we had a good view of tehran, the city that most came to mind was los angeles. it was a city, there were mountains, it's rel tifl flat, it's spread out and there are freeways everywhere and they are heavily trafficked, high-rises, apartment buildings, commercial areas with low slum buildings. we rolled with a team of five.

there was our photographer, my producer, our handler, who is a representative of the agency. there were about a handful of agencies who handle you on behalf of the government. mostly they help you because it's a state in which when you are shooting for tv, you get stopped all the time by various levels of police, all the time. we had a little i.d. cards we carried, that they had made for us, and papers that said we had permission to shoot, but d did not matter, this is a society where everyone checks their papers, ask their friends if they are okay. the handler helps you out. he came with us, morning to night. there's a few levels of different story. there's the story with the cameras on, with the government minder there, with his phone recording the conversation. that is the at least story you get. then you get a different story with the camera off, but the government minder there, there's a slightly more casual feel.

then you get a different story when the minder stopped recording or maybe walked away with his phone and the cameras are off. that story resembles ease, it's a conversation. we got used to the fact that iran everything was watched or recorded. eventual i you don't worry about it. one guy we took a shoot at his autodealership and he said "no." my cameraman said you are not doing anything illegal, what are you scared of. he said "this is iran, we are scared of our own shadows." iran is a wiredly hospitable society. when one meets you they try to tell you how much better you are than they are, and you have to offer, it's almost a game, it's poetic. you are constantly building up the other person and taking yourself down a notch. the people are pious, religious, there's a beautiful environment and they are connected to it.

religion seemed for personal in iran than i expected is to be. i expected this is a state religion, i should see and feel it everywhere. i did not. it's interesting. iran is the only theocracy in the world, but the mosques they have tend to be smaller, and some are beautiful, mind boggling. they allowed us to be part of it and watch it. i looked at the scene, and the photographer walking nonstop through it. you can't be taken by that. there must be some could coming out of this that isn't is say there are real problems there.

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tehran is dusty, conservative. it's a little more religious which talked to the guys that have been in an ancient business. they are the weavers, diers, and these are carpets that everyone thinks is beautiful.

before the sanctions this one little shop that i was in,s owner would ship 10 of these you'd buy them in fancy stores. since the sanctions he sells no car mets. i said to him, being the economics ky, i said this is a problem. if the sanctions are listed, the demands will increase, and the cost of your car pelts will increase, how will your business change. he said why no, no, the cost of the carpets will come down, and i thought to myself that he was missing my point. he said no, the profits will come down, because profit margins will be reduced and i make the same money selling 100 as 10. he thought the whole thing through economically, and

everyone in iran as done that based on what they buy and sell. they see the end of it, they taste what it looks like at the end of it. >> reporter: for years sanctions on iran over the nuclear programme have taken a toll on the country's economy. they have done little to curb iran's nuclear ambitions. it took more recent banking sanctions effectively booting iran out of the international financial system to get the iranians to the negotiating table. when i came to iran i had to bring all the cash i need. my credit cards and atm cards don't work.

in 2012 iran was called off the swift system, the society for worldwide international transaction, an society that allows global trade through the transfer of money, because it's off the swift system, iran, iranian bangs and people can't move money electronically around the world. not all trade with iran is prohibited. imports of food and drugs are allowed. the inability to wire money kids iran up i think there was no major problem. as hard to see the effects of

sanctions. business is still brisk. it looks the same with iran's pords. business with the rest of the world has taken a hit. they can't pay for businesses going in or receive exports going out. shipping volume is measured in 20 foot container egive lent. in 2010 this port handled 2.5 million equivalence, and it dropped 28%. the reason is sanctions. the pain of sanctions is felt across the major export industry - like oil and auto. sanctions hit iranian consumers who must contend with hyperinflation, devaluing the currency si to a third of its value. >> iranian leaders decided to make a dale. they have decided to more or

less close down the nuclear programme, which they spent a lot of money on, people died for it. in return, what they want is lifting of sanctions. in the end, the forced belt tightening and workers pushed negotiators to prioritizing sanctions over the capacity. >> tehran is cool, it doesn't have humidity. i was pleased to not have a tie, because it's hot. it felt world, i do my work in a uniform, as it were, this does not exist in iran. you'll go into government officers, meet with officials, go into banks, see the bank manager. no one has a tie. at one point, the interesting thing is the ayatollah khamenei after the revolution indicated that dressing like this is the uniform of the west.

and, you know, when the shah of iran was in power, there was a little more pageantry. he had a uniform and he tried to do it in iran. there was a backlash against it when the islamic revolution came around. they were mostly fit. we didn't see a lot of big people in tehran for some reason. it was popular after the resolution to have the beards that were well kept and closely shaved. i understand that that was a sign of being one of these people that fought in the revolution or supported the revolution. women dressed in a certain way. women had their head covered in public. what they'd do is have a ponytail or a bun. i'm a guess person to illustrate this. there would be a head covering and you'd see the back of their hair, their head, and most of the front of it. about a quarter or an eighth of their head would be covered. and you go to other areas where

they were in a fedora, fully covered head to toe. we didn't see people with faces covered in iran. you saw variation in the women, those lightly covers had a fashionable sense about them. there's a history of hostility between iran and the united states that spans decades, for americans, that history dates to 1979. >> there was more chanting and shouting. >> reporter: that's when radical students fired up by the revolution stormed the u.s. embassy in tehran and took 52 americans hostage. the captivity lasted 444 days. for iranians, hostilities started a quarter of a century earlier. that's when the prime minister led a government at a time when

iran was experimenting with democracy. at the height of the cold war the u.s. opposed masadic because of plans to nationalize the oil industry. back then it was dominated by british interests. u.s. leaders accused mosad. >> c of being a communist. the crime was saying that the money they get from the oil is not nearly enough, they need more. >> at the time iran was getting 16% of what the british said they were making in profits off oil sales. saudi arabia and venezuela were getting 50%. in 13953 the c.i.a. org strated the democratically elected but nationalist prime minister. over time hate red for the shah and the americans that supported him grew deep. the c.i.a. occupied the second floor of this, a former embassy,

a building referred to as a den of spies. by 1979 iran was in the throws of an islamic revolution. popular protests led by the clerics deposed the shah and they denounced the role in supporting him. up until that point america never faced off against a political force that used islam for motivation. things came to a head when a group of student protesters breached the walls of the embassy in traehran, justifying the all the on the iranian fears that it might support another coup. diplomatic relations were severed and the hostility grew worse over the decade. in the 1980s, iran accused the u.s. of backing saddam hussein during the iran-iraq war. in 1988 the u.s.s. vin sens

shots on iran air passenger jet off the coast, killing 290 people. the u.s. never formally apologised for the attack. despite all the bad blood over the years, most iranians we talked to say they like americans. just not american foreign policy. >> i like america. i like american muscle cars. i don't hate america. many years passed since the revolution, the current people you see, 40 years, they have no memory of the shah's regime. they don't have the a memory of americans doing bad things in iran. and now we have the nuclear negotiations. this is an opportunity for the west. snoop now that a deal on the programme is in place with the u.s. and other world powers, some hope it signals a new

direction in hostility. it won't happen overnight. >> in 2003, i had a chance to work as a journalist in my father's native land of iran. >> a demonstrator was killed. many felt their voices were not heard. people ask where are you fro. >> i rarely say america. i was in my home on january 31st, when at 9 o'clock in the morning four men from the intelligence ministry came to my home. i would be taken there that evening. iranian reporter roxana saberi gaoled in tehran. >> i was interrogated, blindfolded, facing a wall, by up to four men, and was in solidary confinement for several days. >> the charges against her was

baseless. she has been subjected to a process that has been nontransparent. non-predictable. arbitrary. >> people were calling for my freedom. i was not alone. >> i was told half an hour ago she would be free as of today. [ clapping ] . >> welcome home. >> i'm so happy to be back home. honestly. >> i went to "trainwreck" because i wanted to learn more about my father's native country and learn the language, and i learnt to love the country, and definitely i hope to go back some day. day.

>> i went to "trainwreck" "

about 10 years ago we did a

story on the strait of hormuz, it's a checkpoint where the oil from the gulf goes to the indian ocean and the world. every day 17 million barrels of oil goes out through that point, and at its narrowest the distance between iran and oman, an arabian country on the southern side is 21 miles, it's a tension point. we said that we'll get down there, when we went to iran, we went down. it was the middle of summer, and the feel was 137 degrees, and people kept asking us, why are you going down there, and we couldn't explain that it was in our destiny, we were going down to the gulf. just general business, trade, things going out of iran and into iran dropped by 27% because of the sanctions. it's easy to explain, you can't pay for these things. you know, water looks like water. the strait of hormuz looks lick

any other water. [ ♪ ] iran considers itself a superpower in the middle east and wants the world to give it the respect it thinks it deserves, and despite agreeing to curbs n its nuclear ambitions, iran's regional influence is bound to grow as sanctions are lifted and economic isolation ends. >> it's time for american leaders, some european leaders to realise that iran is a major player, and live with it, the same way they live with russia, chi china why not live with iran. if they decide to do that, they'll encourage forces in iran that are willing and able to accommodate western interest.

one thing iran is willing to help the west with is confronting i.s.i.l. backing the government in the war against i.s.i.s., but in neighbouring sir i can't, where i.s.i.l. -- syria, where i.s.i.l. controls territory, iran and america work in opposing interests, because they back opposing sides. in almost every contentious area and issue facing the middle east, syria israel, yemen and the flow of oil to the world, iran and u.s. are on opposite sides. nowhere is it more apparent than in the strait of hore muse, a narrow waterway connecting oils with the gulf and indian ocean. at the narrowest points 21 miles separate iran. let me give you a sense how

strategic a choke point there is. across the strait there's american military installations. iran considers it a threat and said it will mine the strait if attacked. it's done it again. the u.s. navy escorts american flagged ships and have started doing it for other vessels. >> the tight military force, iran has ways of floouns power in the -- influencing power in the middle east. and uses soft power to win the hearts and minds of people in the region. >> iran has a natural soft power in the hearts and minds in the shia population. it's like the vatican. voices inside iran say it's willing to use its influence in cooperation to solve the myriad problems consuming the middle

east today. >> today iran merged as a major player. the islamic revolution has a lot of influence. there's a lot of areas where iran can play a prominent role. >> sol we were really interested -- so we were really friday in talking to government officials, business owners and regular working people about politics and the economy. i hadn't scheduled to do a lot of cultural things. everyone tells me we have to go to the area on thursday nights, thursday night in the muslim world is like friday night in the western world. we went into one area, a few windy little streets. everyone cruising. people have their cars, they were shiny or nice, driving windows open, music playing. young guys on motorcycles, 2-3 to a motorcycle are, for lack of a better word, cruising for

girls. women will be together. walking, they were showing the exhibition about artists pushing the boundaries, drawing. >> it occurred to him he was pushing the boundaries of this strain of art in a country that is built on not pushing the boundaries of anything. of what authorities tell you you are supposed to do. you wonder who are the demons, who are the people you don't know. that is the problem, and people see the world differently. but the basics are the same. in the course of all my travels, one thing was clear, there's not just one thing about iran. the country is politically and culturally as with hardliners, conservatives, jockeying for

positions. the usual suspects in america and iran are lining up to tell you why the other side can't be trusted. when it comes to the nuclear agreement, there's one thing that all sides can agree on. it will go down history. president obama and president hassan rouhani have taken a landmark step. however it's viewed, each man is tavked with charting a way forward for his country, in what are largely u.n. chartered waters. whatever happens next - i'll be here to keep you informed and take you behind the deal. i'm ali velshi, thank you for joining us.

>> this week on "talk to al jazeera": international piano superstar lang lang. >> the art, you know, it's about, you know... the distance and in and out, big picture, precision. >> billions of people around the world have seen him perform. at the beijing olympics... the world cup in rio... even jaming at the grammys. >> as a musician we will collaborate with great musicians. >> lang lang grew up in an industrial city in northern china. his father was a tough task master, demanding he practice 8 hours a day... once even urging his young son to commit suicide. >> it's kind of a hard thing to even think about it. it's something that... i think the love become too extreme.