>> i'm david schuster in for ali velshi. prisoner swap between united states and iran. the new year has delivered a new dawn to the historically tense relationship between the united states and iran. over the weekend the united nations confirmed that iran is implementing its end of an agreement concluded last summer with the united states and six other world powers by dismantling much of its controversial nuclear program. in response, the united states and the european union have now lifted crippling

hurries. enemies of iran that betray allies like israel. to counter that argument over the weekend, at the same time he was lifting the sanction he on iran's nuclear program, president obama announced influence largely toothless sanctions on iran's program for ballistic missiles. despite the mixed messages, both sides managed to agree to a prisoner swap over the weekend. the deal involved four citizens release, including washington post reporter jason rezaian. another american detained in december was also released, in exchange the united states freed seven iranian american businessmen. the prisoner swap occurred only a few days after the release of 10 u.s. navy sailors who were

detained after united states stray intermediate iranian waters. tensions that have defined the relationship since 35 years ago, today, the 52 u.s. diplomats there were finally let go after 444 days in captivity. all these years later the former hostages will receive extra exceptiocompensation for time sn captivity, that's because it was included in the budget bill in december. mary snow has this story. >> reporter: when don cook peerd into his past, 444 days of captivity in iran, he also saw unfinished business. iran was never meant to pay. cook was among the hostages that were taken in 1979, he recalls

the blindfoldings, and being led to mock firing squads and finally being released. more than three decades later cook considers himself one of the lucky ones. he was able to return to a career at the state department and move on with life. >> other of my colleagues who really in some cases literally took it to their grave, never got over it. >> reporter: and he says he felt the responsibility the speak on their behalf in fighting for compensation for their time in captivity. >> part of it is to repair a wrong. part of it is to help people, even this many years on, to get over a situation which was very difficult. >> reporter: the only compensation cook and others received came from the u.s. government and was for $22,000, amounting to $50 for each day they were held. >> an expression of gratitude on the part of the u.s. government and the american people, i find that perfectly satisfactory.

as compensation for the harm caused to me by the government of iran, woefully inadequate and the iranians didn't pay it. >> reporter: the reason iran didn't pay was because of an agreement reached by the u.s. and iran to end the crisis. the algiers accord won the release of the hostages but also meant they couldn't take legal action against iran. there have been a number of attempts to undo that over the years but they all failed. behind the effort attorney tom langford, he represents the hostages, 32 of them are still alive and their families. he says there was more damage done than many americans probably realized. >> it wrecked marriages, people suicides. there is a woman today very distinguished woman who has multiple panic attacks each and every day.

>> lankford looked at congress and had a republican ally in johnny isaacson, a plan to compensate the hostages 4.4 million or more for each day in captivity. money collected from french bank bmp paraba. that provision was approved in the broader budget bill passed by congress in september. >> we with love to pursue a remedy that would erase the whole experience, but you can't. you give them money, that is how our system works and it is important as a symbol, to at least allow them the opportunity to taste a certain amount of sweetness and ocertain amount of dignity in their final years. >> mary snow, al jazeera.

>> one of the former hostages was john lindburg, among the 52 days. this is him waving in a photograph taken after iran released the hostages in 1981. he later served as a deputy assistant secretary of state for iran during the obama administration. he is the author of the book, negotiating with iran, wrestling the ghosts of history. john, it's not iran that's paying the $4 million. >> it's a huge step forward. it's not an ideal solution but in this world you don't always get ideal solutions. the ideal solutions would be for the iranians to make some gesture, including an acknowledgment that what they did was wrong, and was dishnable dishonorable and a violation of

their own values and their own religion and national values which say, if you have a guest in your country, and you are responsible for his security, you do not mistreat him. >> do you think that the attention on the iran hostage crisis and all of you who went through it and the compensation came as a result of the u.s. and eu nuclear deal with iran? >> i don't think so. richard, i think because if that had been the case, the iranians would have had some role in this arrangement. and they didn't. this was an initiative thanks to the help of senator isaacson and some of his colleagues, both in the house and senate, that brought finally an -- such an arrangement after 35 years of frustration. >> i want to ask you about the

nuclear deal in just a sec but a little personal. how are you doing 35 years later, since you were held captive? i mean what will the $4 million do for you and again, these stories about some of the former hostages who committed suicide or have panic attacks. how does it sit with you? >> this is true. think about what tom larchgford just said. o lankfordjust said. of those of us still alive, a number are quite an advanced age. in terms of the money, i mean the way the legislation works, it's going to be a while before any of us see anything. this legislation sets up a mechanism that will eventually pay us something. so it's quite early really, quite premature to start thinking about just what we are going to do with all this money when and if we actually see it.

>> how are you doing, though, moacial with all oemotionally w? >> i think i'm doing all right. after iran i spent another 20-some years in the foreign service. i think i had a very good career. i loved my profession. i was honored to be able to serve -- to serve my country. i'm now retired and i'm teaching. i have -- we have -- my wife and i have four grand children. my only desire is that at some point, i could take these grandchildren back to iran. because our children, all of our two children were born there. and i would like to be able to take them back there, and just let them discover their own roots. >> you've said that it's good to see that after 35 years the united states and iran are at least able to talk to each other, even if they don't have the dined of trust to enable you to -- kind of trust that would enable you to take that kind of

trip. what would it take in your estimation for there to be that kind of level of trust? >> it's going to take some patience. it's going to take forebearance, it's going to take the realization that if you say yes, that the sky will not -- the sky will not fall. and that it's possible to gain things through diplomacy, through reaching agreements, and that in fact is a far better way of gaining things than the old way of simply exchangin exchanging insults, threats and accusations. >> let's talk a little bit about the prisoner swap over the weekend which has been controversial in some quarters and a sign of achievement in others. what's your take on the prisoners swap, the united states agreeing to give up some of those charged in the united states for violating embargoes?

>> first of all i was very happy to see the -- to see our prisoners be out of iran to be liberated, to be back with their families. jason in particular whom i knew from his time as a reporter, was an excellent reporter doing wonderful work for the washington post. again, but the interesting thing for me, personally, was watching these reports from germany, and frankly, it brought back scenes from 35 years ago. the view of the hospital, wasn't exactly the same hospital that we were but it was close. the view of the hospital, the cold weather, the people in their coats, the reporters, it just replayed those scenes that i still remember from 35 years ago. >> are those positive memories for you? i mean a sign of freedom, the being able to talk to your loved

ones finally from germany, are those happy memories? >> of course they are. i mean, we knew at some time we would get out. but the difficult part, in addition to the conditions, was not knowing when. it was like -- it was serving time in prison where you did not know when the ending would be. >> john finally i want to ask you because we showed a little bit of the video. the navy sailors that strayed into iranian waters, and they were let go, what do you make of that incident? >> all i can say is, what a difference 35 years makes. the difference being, when we were taken, when then secretary of state vance and president carter, wanted to call someone in tehran to resolve this issue, there was no one there, who was taking their telephone calls. there was no one to answer the telephone.

now, there is a secretary kerry is able to -- is able to talk with his iranian counterpart, and this problem, and people -- i notice that some people here in the united states were from the very first hours were yelling, hostage hostage hostage. where in fact it didn't happen. now, the iranians had their own reason for this. i'm sure that when they are involved, they're involved in their own crisis, particularly with saudi arabia, and with their arab neighbors, and they've no desire to have another one. maybe they finally have given up on you know following the model of mussolini, who said the more enemies, the more honor. >> former deputy secretary of state for iran. john thank you for coming on, we

appreciate it. give and take, comes with the territory. we'll ask whether this prisoner deal with iran sets a dangerous precedent. >> "inside story" takes you beyond the headlines, beyond the quick cuts, beyond the sound bites. we're giving you a deeper dive into the stories that are making our world what it is. >> ray suarez hosts "inside story". only on al jazeera america.

>> water is a human right! >> flint in a state of emergency. >> this can cause death... all kinds of health effects. >> we're already having trouble, but now what little i have has to completely go towards water. >> only on al jazeera america. >> not everybody is applauding the deal.

it brought finality to five prisoners in iran and seven in the united states. bennie ebney says he's not surprised by the high price the united states made for the exchange. why is the deal ugly? >> well, i don't know if it's ugly and first of all of course, for the rezaian and the hek he hekmati and a abedini family, let's not confuse this deal that made three, four families very happy with some diplomatic break through or some future peace between america and iran.

>> but isn't it worth saying that because of this deal with iran over nukes, it opened up lines of communication that made it impossible otherwise to pull off this prisoner swap. >> the iranians are getting into situations that they did themselves create. we did pay olot for this deal. let's not forget that iranian citizens convicted for crimes in the united states had to be released and that more than a dozen iranians were removed from a list of wanted criminals around the world. >> but the crimes that they were released from, which was breaking the embargo with iran, now that the sanctions have been lifted it seems like a total reasonable okay, so they violated you know what happened

a few years ago. >> there were arms dealers. let's not -- let's not mince words here. we're talking about arms dealers who sold arms to one of the worst, some of the worst areas of war including syria. and are now free to do the same. and make the situation in syria much worse. >> but at least we know who they are. >> great. at least we know that they can now, say who is selling what. >> you say this, there's a very steep price at the beginning of the interview. what did you mean tbhai? >> i mean that there is an american tendency now to pretty much give iran a clean bill of health for anything it does. and the iranians as we saw a few days before the prisoner swap, the hostage swap for prisoners a few days before that the

iranians took ten americans hostages and a day before, before the plane even landed in switzerland, we had three american citizens kidnapped in iraq. >> i want to take the issue with sailors, this was not they were quote unquote taken. they floated adrift into iranian territorial waters where they were picked up by the iranian navy. the pentagon said there was a mechanical problem, they drifted into iranian territorial waters. they were picked up by the iranian navy and they were let go in 15 hours. it wasn't a hostage crisis. like the news sources wanted to say originally. >> how often do you put them on video with their hands over their heads and confess forcefully against some crimes against a host nation.

>> when the coast guard intercepts another nation's boats, it didn't take very long for them to forget there was no evil intention on the part of the united states and the situation was resolved. >> oh really, if a costa rican bode, floated into the waters of the united states, we would put arms to their head and asked them to confess on video, anybody trying to humiliate them around the world? >> our situation with costa rica is a lot better than our situation with iran. >> exactly. some break through that now makes javad zarif and secretary kerry best of friends. >> iran giving up its enriched uranium, there are many who said iran would never do this, never

live up to the terms of the deal and now they have. >> all we know is the international atomic energy agency, the iaea, gave them a clean bill of health under a lot of pressure from the united states, let's finish this already, let's get this over and done with. obama needs this as part of his legacy. >> do you think the iaea would give iran a clean bill of health just to help president obama in his last year in office? >> it's not that simple. it's much easier to put away some of the findings such as for instance cooperation in inspection, we know that for a fact that even to this very day, there is no full cooperation in inspection. which puts this whole thing under a question mark. we also know that, there's a lot of problems there, that are still there. for instance, i don't know for a

fact that the whole issue of putting concrete in that plutonium facility in iraq is completed . >> here's an idea, you and i are going to take a trip to iran and try to inspect ourselves. benny, it's a pleasure. the move made by america that forced iran to the bargaining table in the first place. >> on hard earned, inspiring new beginnings... >> these workers got the fight in them, they just don't know it. >> facing up to old demons... >> i am really, really nervous... >> lives hanging in the balance... >> it's make or break... i got past the class... >> hard earned pride... hard earned respect... hard earned future... a real look at the american dream hard earned

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>> opposition from the united states and others to iran's controversial nuclear program triggered an international embar go on trade with the country. but it wasn't until banking sanctions that iran's isolation became complete. ali velshi visited iran last summer, what he found was bet tightening, in the end all the economic pain forced the iranian government to prioritize cutting back on sanctions and its nuclear ambitions. >> 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 financial system, to get the iranians to the negotiating table. when i came to iran i had to bring all the cash i'd need. my credit cards don't work nor do my atm cards. iran was pulled off the swift system, a society of 9,000 banks in most of the world's countries which allow for global trade through transfer of money. because its off the swift system, iran, iranian banks and iranian people can't move money electronically around the world. not all trade with iran is prohibited under sanctions. imports of food and drugs are

still allowed but the inability to wire money to pay for them effectively cuts iranians off from importing necessities like medicine. >> for day to day, i figure it was not major problem but for specific patients, for example, children fighting cancer, children with brain tumors, there are major problems with them. >> it is hard to see the effects of sanctions up front. in iran's shops and bizarres, the shelves are filled with goods. it's the same with iran's ports. but business with the rest of the world has taken a big hit because iranian companies can't pay for imports coming in or receive payment for exports going out. shipping volume is measured in 20 foot container equivalents.

that dropped to 1.8 million, a drop of 28% and the reason for that is sanctions. the pain of sanctions is being felt across iran's major export industries like oil and autos. devaluing iran answer currency to a third of its value since 2010. >> iranian leaders have decided to make a deal, more or less close down iran's nuclear program which they spent a lot of money on, people died for it. and in return what they want is lifting of sanctions. >> in the end the forced belt tightening by iran's businesses and workers have pushed government negotiators to prioritize lifting sanctions over preserving the country's nuclear capacity.

>> ali velshi reporting and that is our show for today. i'm david schuster in for ali velshi. thanks for joining us, have a good night everybody. >> long disdained regulation of big finance, railed against the interference of the government in operations of big banks, and he has also taken large campaign loans from his wife's employer, goldman sachs. what do companies like goldman the? and did they get it from the freshman senator from texas? what do they say about the relationship between witnesses and campaigns? how cruz plays the game. it's the "inside