ah once a symbol of american influence in the region the old embassy in the heart of the capitol is now little more than a relic left standing only as a reminder for iranians to remain vigilant. as my message to america is that many of their previous presidents also threatened us a lot in the nantz their options on the table but nothing happens as our supreme leader said we're seeing signs of america's decline from that i am hard friendship with america's impossible it's like a friendship between a sheep and a wolf i think you know you don't i'm telling you even in the era of the shah america was our enemy the shadow didn't realize it and in the me is always in him american if it compromises with iran and iran will also never bow down to it diplomats a negotiator spent years paving the way for the two thousand and fifteen nuclear deal after trump came to power the goodwill they built crumbled in a matter of months it even earned him his own side show at this year's rally

whether iran chooses to remain committed to the nuclear deal or not the next american president may not be able to fix what donald trump has broken. let's take a closer look at what's in the sanctions companies and individuals will be barred from conducting business with iran's ports and state owned shipping companies which the government uses to transport its oil to the world united states says it will sanction anyone who buys oil from iran but eight countries have been given temporary waivers off to significantly reducing crude oil imports and cooperation on other fronts any dealings with iran central bank or other state and financial institutions will be considered a violation by the u.s. government well then there's the all important swift code many international financial transactions require this system but it will no longer be available to those who want to deal with iran well despite the u.s.

withdrawal from the deal the e.u. russia and china are all sticking to the terms of diplomatic editor james bays reports from the united nations on what they might do next. this is being described by the trumpet ministration as the toughest sanctions regime ever imposed on iran the country's oil exports are being targeted although eight countries have been given temporary waivers to allow them to still imported raney an oil for the time being the administration is now reintroducing all of the sanctions that were frozen under the iran nuclear deal in twenty fifteen the iranian economy is in a bad place there's no question about that inflation is high unemployment is high and the currency has depreciated significantly but i think it's worth noting that these are not historical anomalies for the iranian government they've been dealing since the revolution with high inflation the trumpet ministrations campaign against iran is both political and economic on the economic track iran is already hurting

and these sanctions will make it even worse politically things are much more complicated return in a move the administration is to punish and isolate iran but that isn't working when president trump chaired the un security council in september the other countries including the u.s. his closest allies spoke up in favor of the iran nuclear deal for china an importer iranian oil currently holds the security council presidency bastard i had this stance expert when i asked him if the latest sanctions were illegal we have passed the intellectual sanctions against any country and of the white house is hoping the new sanctions will send a tough message to iran but experts believe terrans calculations will actually depend more on what happens on tuesday night based on how the republicans fare in the midterm elections iran will be determining despite the hardship whether they can wait president trump out james pays out zero at the united nations. i levi's is

the iran project director of the international crisis group which works to prevent wars and shape policies for peace he joins us live now from washington thank you very much for taking the time to speak to us what changes now for iran its government and its people when the u.s. treasury department really imposes sanctions tomorrow will look without any there will be a significant blow to the iranian economy because about fifty percent of iran's oil exports would be lost and given the fact that almost eighty percent of the government's hard currency revenue comes from oil exports is going to send the iranian economy probably into recession as of next year and it's going to jack up inflation and unemployment and so it's going to be devastating for the economy but i doubt that it would bring about economic collapse i mean this was obviously a deal that was struck with the international community not just with the united

states iran is counting on political support from the other signatories to the j c p o a but what might the response be from to wrong now. look i think the iranians are still going to wait to see what the other signatories of the deal have to offer what are the lifeline the europeans have been working on along with the russians and the chinese would be economically significant enough it's a silly question that the iranians are asking i think politically they do appreciate the efforts of the remaining secretaries to deal but the question is whether economically would really have an impact on the ground and that's what will eventually informed her decision about whether they want to remain in the nuclear deal or not my fear is if the trumpet ministration sanctions are as effective as the white house is hoping for then the iranians would either decide to revive their nuclear program or did they would decide to retaliate against the u.s.

in the region by going after u.s. assets and forces which will only add more fuel to the fires that are already burning throughout the region and so following on from that point how closely do you think the iranians are watching the u.s. midterm elections as an indication of whether the trump presidency will survive into a second term. they are watching it very closely but you know the question is even if the democrats take over the house or if the numbers in the senate change that doesn't necessarily tell us much about the sus thing ability of trump azzam as a phenomenon in this country and you know even if there is a democratic president who promises to recommit the u.s. to the j.c. p.o. way and will come back to the deal in twenty twenty one that doesn't necessarily mean that the nuclear deal will be stable in two thousand and twenty one we are

only two years away from some of the restrictions in the deal starting to fade away and i think political opposition in washington will be very high and will make it very difficult to sustain the deal until and unless there is more progress on the broader context of enmity between the two countries thank you very much ali rise appreciate an analysis on this story advisory from the international crisis group joining us from washington my pleasure. own much more still ahead for you on this news hour from london. the u.n. says four hundred thousand children under the age of five are risk of dying in yemen if they don't get how. trying because president orders parliament to reconvene in ten days clearing the way for a vote on his controversial choice of prime minister and less the city's footballers attend the funeral of their own of a team owner in bangkok a week after he was killed in a helicopter crash at the stadium he'll be here with that story and more.

album in his sentence ahead of the country's main shia opposition movement to life in prison on charges of spying for cattle to other senior figures from the same policy will also jailed for life alongside man who led protests against the sunni government in two thousand and eleven well it comes months after the high court acquitted the three men of colluding with the rival gulf state bahrain along with saudi arabia and the united arab emirates severed all ties with cattle in two thousand and seventeen. and was leader of bahrain's largest shia opposition group fuck it was outlawed in order to be dissolved in two thousand and sixteen as part of a crackdown on dissent in the kingdom bahrain has a shia majority but is ruled by a sunny nicky rights groups say the charges against him a politically motivated someone is already in jail after being arrested in two

thousand and fifteen he's currently serving a four year sentence on charges of inciting hatred and insulting the interior ministry well joining me now in the studio is rights activists say it would die from the bahrain is a shoot for rights and democracy who lives in exile here in london thank you very much for coming in to speak to us so what do you think prompted this court ruling now off the shake. was acquitted of these. charges. it was a little bit to shocking to see the cue from acquittal to sentence and if it does to you anything to you it's sort of instant and because she how this and mine was a key figure which led the most one of the more spoke earlier uprising in bahrain is the recent history and therefore your severely punished by the family and this is just basically a just if occasion to keep him as an as long as they want this is not just a system basically this is a system of injustice and this it's a very blatant declared persecution against one of the most leading opposition

figures in the country and what are your thoughts on the charges themselves because early on and his two colleagues have been sentenced for spying for cattle for receiving financial help and exchanging information it's a very convenient does for the authorities i mean since two thousand and eleven those seems to be the norms before the. foreign minister was welcoming their guitar is it forwards back into two thousand and eleven or resolving in attempting to resolve the situation the political crisis and so on then one day when behaving in doing so it at a.b.n. amro it again as a part of then we seems to see ahead in the civilians are involved in this and should have is that more simply just a political poll in which is which is simply was used by the authorities by the holy first just to show up that there is some sort of these a crisis are the pinning and there is a story which they can to you worried about what this ultimately means for the

opposition in bahrain is this the final death blow to the movement it's was a clear i mean since all the political leaders are in prisons all dorset humorous advocates such as nibiru egypt and whatever basically stand up and stood up again as the authorities if it is making very blatant in the clear message crystal a clear message that there is absolutely there is no way or for this. it instigates during family no one should be dared to speak about democracy no one should be there to speak about the humorist and if you do so you will get the fate of sure i was then one of those you are living in exile now you fled torch air in bahrain can you tell us just a little bit about your experience and how it's affected you and your family i mean i was proud to take part of the fourteen february uprising this for the scarf to my forehead is a reminder to the brutal attack i received by the police and for speaking to the media including it is it an english i was english to him in prison and was tortured

or sentenced by military court for simply dating to speak of to about every uses so this is that pretty much the nature of the authorities why don't misspeaking year why i came to london i thought this will be an end of the journey but the truth is i get my family members are persecuted my own infant infant son was abused by the authorities there and with my wife karen to have my mother and or brother and a cousin centers between the city is to me as the being subjected to her effects sort of torture and this time this torture is even more painful than the torture i see myself in your ears because they coming after their own which i love and this is how they wanted to punish i thank you very much for taking the time to come in and speeches who appreciate it say and are one day from the behind institute for rights and democracy thank you for having me. well now to our other top story this hour the u.s. midterm elections on tuesday are being seen as an important test of donald trump's

presidency it's been crisscrossing the country rallying vote is in q states and is currently speaking in georgia his predecessor record bomber is also busy on the campaign trail him self he's just been addressing an event in indiana where the democratic senator is in a tight race with the republican candidate democrats hoping to take control of the house of representatives. in today's indiana you get to vote it what i believe will be the most important election. of our lifetimes. and no politicians always say that but this time it's really true . because america is not a culture of. the health care of millions is on the ballot. a fair shake from want and firmness is on the bow. perhaps most

importantly the character of our country. and. a committee halkett joins us live now from great for virginia and just hearing a clip there from former u.s. president barack obama describing some of the key issues that are going to shape this election kimberly. yeah that's right and this is exactly what the folks here in this house behind me are talking about you can see some of the people who have come here today to work on getting out the vote we often talk about here in al-jazeera the grassroots effort and what that looks like this is what it looks like it's not particularly fancy what this is is people opening up their private homes inviting complete strangers to get on phone banks and to call and to advocate for their particular candidate now this phone bank particularly is advocating for a democratic candidate and this is

a pivotal district because it has typically been for forty years a republican seat in the house of representatives that they hope will change here in this household so they are calling people to try and get them to vote on tuesday but here's the challenge a lot of women didn't come out and vote and that had a great impact on the election a lot of women say they wish they had voted because they're not happy with the turnout they don't like donald charts rhetoric and this time they're fighting back take a listen. one day after donald trump was sworn in as president hundreds of thousands of women gathered in cities across the united states to protest almost two years have passed but the u.s. president has given them little reason to change their original judgment of a man many regard with revulsion his behavior and language at times has hardened their views. after his aide omarosa manigault newman was ousted from the white

house called her a crazed crying lowlife and a dog after congresswoman maxine waters encouraged her supporters to harass trump administration officials they're not going to be able to go to a restaurant they're not going to be able to stop at a gas station called water's an extraordinarily low. zero i.q. person. but nothing has polarized the country more along gender lines than the hearings for supreme court justice brett kavanaugh christine blas a forward accused trumps nominee of sexual assault when they were in high school truck cast doubt about her testimony mocking her recollection of the decades old event how did you get home i don't remember how did you get there i don't remember where is the place i don't remember how many years ago was it i don't know. toss attacks on women are nothing new and have been dismissed by his supporters ever since the release of a video in two thousand and sixteen threatened to derail his campaign. from

shrugged off the controversy and won the white house even today well a majority of us women still disapprove of trump at least a third still solidly approve of trump's presidency when everybody makes mistakes and they're like nobody's perfect but god. he's made his mistakes that everybody else who's human hands think he's a bully i do but i think you need someone like that in the office conservative women point to donald trump's historically low unemployment numbers that are rising wages well in office they say his appointment of a female press secretary and a significant number of female filled cabinet post proves he's supportive of women in the workplace still the battle for the female vote is intensifying republicans have released the sixty second advert aimed at winning over suburban college educated women voters only shows this demographic more than most is where conservative support is waning but notably truck never appears in the advert it's

a signal even republicans realize the president remains toxic to many voters and in the fight to hang on for control of congress conservatives can't afford to lose a single female vote. and we've been talking about the importance of this district as democrats tried to take control of the house of representatives to twenty three seats they hope the districts like this one will be the start of what they're hoping will be a blue wave i want to bring in the woman who's trying to do just that jennifer waxed and is boy you've got history against you it's a tough challenge forty years this has been a represented seat by a republican and yet you feel confident you can change that how are you going to do that absolutely well by engaging voters who historically might have voted for republicans but now feel like the republicans have left them as well as getting democrats out to vote who historically have not come out to vote in midterm elections and women especially have had strong disapproval ratings of the president

as a woman you're running against a woman how do you navigate that well you know we had elections here in virginia last year we elected eleven new women and the problem with women like barbara comstock in congress is that they don't vote in ways that help other women you know they don't vote for things like affordable health care they don't do anything to stop gun violence she's actually bought and paid for by the gun lobby so when when women don't vote in ways that support other women and families you have to vote them out and we should mention for international viewers barbara comstock is the republican candidate who is the incumbent right now donald trump has been campaigning saying democrats are going to slash their jobs they're going to raise your taxes we're going to open the borders how do you answer that it's just fear tactics and scare tactics that are not based in fact you know here in virginia we've had democratic leadership for the last four years in our in our unemployment

is one of the lowest in the nation you know they tried these tactics and fear mongering trying to pit ethnic groups and racial groups against one another and they they're not going to work people in this district are too smart. and we recognize that an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us now the polls are in your favor but twenty sixteen hillary clinton also thought the polls were in her favor does that concern you at all i don't raise concerns us you know there's only one poll that matters and that's the poll on election day and that's why we're working very very hard to get everybody out to vote and that's why you're here today this is a phone bank that we're sensually that is what's happening right now absolutely and they've been enormously helpful with phone banking making sure that we have you know neighbors talking to neighbors and friends talking to friends and encouraging people first of all to get out and vote but not just that to make sure that they bring their friends with them their family members their their kids their parents you know multiple generations of voters because the stakes are too high every vote

really does count jennifer vex me freesheet you joining us here on al-jazeera and i want to bring up to sort of the fact that many people don't know how to vote or don't know that it's election day and that's one of the things they're doing at this phone bank they're literally explaining how to mark the ballot so that people know how to do that because the last election two thousand and sixteen was a close one and democrats say they don't want that to happen again so thank you so much for talking to us here in al jazeera going to head back to you in the sky all right thank you very much can be allocate with all the lights is that from grateful for. that recount of the top stories this hour the u.s. rates rate at those behind the death of saudi journalist mark shoji will be held accountable but u.s. secretary of state like iowa said washington want jeopardize its relationship with saudi arabia. well thousands of people in iran have been rallying

against the upcoming u.s. sanctions chanting down with the u.s. washington is set to reimpose some of its toughest measures in seven off alice and bahrain has sentenced the head of its main she'll position with. all that he does to lie. life in prison on charges of spying for cattle the decision reversed is that a portal by another four months earlier. when i was stories we're following egyptian security forces have killed nineteen fighters in a shootout including gunman suspected of killing seven coptic christians the attackers targeted two buses on their way to a monastery near the city of minneapolis south of the capital cairo on friday the dead included six members of the same family the interior ministry says the fighters responsible were tracked to a hideout in the desert west of minea and killed in a firefight. well to yemen now where fighting has escalated around the king port city of data with reports of more than one hundred fifty fighters from both sides killed over the weekend this is the u.n. renews calls for unimpeded access to deliver desperately needed humanitarian aid it

warns four hundred thousand children are at risk of dying because of malnutrition just a warning that mr report contains some disturbing images the name amal means hope in arabic amal died on thursday at the age of seven the doctor who treated her says there are many more cases like hers five month old ahmed abraham out junaid ask rima she'll eleven months old so here. mohammed hasan yemen has become a living hell a brutal war that has become a war children for which children have no single responsibility the u.n. says warring parties a making a delivery impossible exhilaration the onset of famine three quarters of the population do not have enough and the cost of food has increased by thirty five

percent in the last year some have resorted to eating foraged leaves the un has been escalating its calls for us to say sion of hostilities and a political solution there is now an opportunity for peace in yemen. this building wave of momentum must be seized i urge the parties to overcome obstacles and to resolve still existing differences through dialogue at the un facilitated consultations later these months there are plans for talks in sweden in the november with renewed diplomatic efforts by the united states but not everyone may survive until then the un says four hundred thousand children under five are at risk of dying if they don't get help. around forty percent of those four hundred thousand around the port city of her data. instead of aid trucks this is what's coming down the road the saudi iraqi coalition has launched new offensives over the

last week attacking sana airport and trying to retake her data thousands of troops have been sent there including so-called brigades commanded by the u.a.e. which says they're making progress. by the civil rights coming i like a macho after seizing control as you can see of the main road from my tree of supplies to the militias at various points we are now hearing to seal the last exit point we have now called in the entire city and we are advancing from all directions into the heart of the city limits and it's not just her data that's under siege in northern yemen a new wave of those displaced has been arriving in the city of an influx of nearly twenty thousand people hundreds wounded by crossfire we see a lot of patients coming from very far and offering rich and your spittle very late with complications which makes it very difficult for our medical team to then take care of them and ensure that they can survive here at this camp that's what life

has become simply trying to survive. al-jazeera. husband of a christian woman acquitted of blasphemy this week has appealed to the u.s. in person to help his family leave pakistan saying their lives are in danger ultra conservative protestors in the city of karachi have again been rallying against a sea of baby his conviction was overturned this week the government we should deal on friday to end the protests by agreeing to a travel ban preventing the mother of five from leaving the country. trying as president says he'll reconvene parliament in ten days time so a crucial leadership vote can finally be held the dismissal of randall wickramasinghe and his replacement with former president mahinda rajapaksa as throwing the country into a constitutional crisis international pressure is growing with the u.s. and japan freezing billions of dollars in aid and the e.u. threatening to withdraw economic concessions but it's missed reports from colombo.

it's unethical and despicable says opposition m.p. power through. playing recordings of phone calls he says from allies of sri lanka's new prime minister mahinda rajapaksa. bandar says he's been offered two point eight million dollars and the posting cabinet to switch sides. the scramble for votes has come after president my three policy resign or suspended parliament and fired his former ally prime minister ronald wickremasinghe or both men had joined forces in elections in twenty fifteen to oust rajapaksa but don't undermine the work of be hard on the armed group we formed his government democratically my three by the city center joined us undescribed roger parkes our group was corrupt thieving thugs and said he wanted allowed him to return the fact he's doing just that is very shameful. rajapaksa has appointed a cabinet which includes half a dozen opposition m.p.'s who have been persuaded to join him his supporters deny

allegations that anyone has been offered cash the president is accused of buying time for rajapaksa by resisting calls to reconvene parliament a constitutional amendment passed two years ago was supposed to take away the president's power to fire the prime minister. jumping run a waka a cabinet minister under ousted prime minister witnessing a says this government has no legitimacy. theories. international and national political economic and social crisis and at the meantime we are going to form a grand alliance beyond party lines to protect democracy perfect freedom of speech and protect the human values a petition the got sixteen thousand signatures in a day has been presented to the speaker of parliament demanding he use special powers to recall the chamber over the head of the president president syria saying

they will only know for sure if these high stakes gamble is paid off when parliament reconvenes if it endorses rajapaksa as prime minister and the president may well get away with what his critics call a constitutional but if parliament sticks with a finger and syria saying could face preachment burnitz with al-jazeera colomba. now campaigning has wrapped up ahead of madagascar's presidential election on wednesday thirty six candidates are vying for the top job including three former presidents and three former prime ministers it's been a tough race to see millions of dollars in campaign spending in a country where three quarters of a population live on less than two dollars a day and minimal has more now. thousands of people have turned out to watch is the final campaign rally for. many of the people here are young as these presidential candidates he's promising increased infrastructure

development as well as investment in madagascar many of the people here say that's really represents their future. this is the first time the former d.j. and now businessman is running for election after serving as transitional president in two thousand and nine. i'm here to save madagascar i'm not a candidate for the sake of my own businesses or for my own interests or glory i'm a candidate for the malagasy people and to save this country and to develop every piano is running for reelection after winning the twenty thirteen vote for many here he represents stability for madagascar. i want him to stay president because he did a good job before and i wanted to continue. i will support him until the end because he is many things he posed to purchase and did

a good job in education i want him to improve the cost of living also in the capital. former president market obama made his final push for the presidency he returned from exile about two years ago after a coup in two thousand and nine is the largest c.s.a. they want to see returned to office this is the city where the former president has a significant support base. now in new caledonia will remain a part of france after voters in the pacific territory rejected independence in a referendum on sunday the results show more than fifty six percent of voters chose to remain archipelago is a strategic military for hold for france in the south pacific the polls show a record turnout of more than eighty percent of registered voters last independence referendum thirty years ago ended in violence or french president has already welcomed the outcome saying it will be got lock on the region's future. this is.

sort of the vote israel had to make a sovereign choice with full knowledge of the facts and the relationship between new caledonia and france today the majority of them expressed themselves for new caledonia to remain french have to tell you how proud i am that we have finally passed the story stay together. andrew thomas has been watching the boat from sydney and filed this area if as looks likely you caledonians have voted to remain french well that would be a victory for those that said the new caledonia it was much better off economically as part of france france gives about one and a half billion dollars a year to its territory that's about fifteen percent of new caledonia overall g.d.p. that would have been missed there was concern to an independent new caledonia would quickly fall under the sphere of influence of china china has an increasing footprint right across the pacific other countries other pacific island nations have a lot of chinese money in terms of aid projects and infrastructure and in return

beijing expects political favors and there was concern that an independent new caledonia well it would become another target throughout all of this front and president macro was determined to stay neutral france would not have an official position it would be neutral in this referendum they did not want a situation as happened thirty years ago where those who were on the independent side of things lost the votes and then resorted to violence that was the last thing president macro wanted will be hoping everyone sees this process is fair and if they have lost those all the independent side will take that loss peacefully. severe flooding on the italian island of sicily has killed at least twelve people nine of them from the same family violent winds and strong rains across italy killed at least twenty others this week many of them in the north and around venice italy civil protection agency has described the weather is one of the most complex meteorological situations the country has faced in over fifty years. now one of

mexico's most notorious drug lords will go on trial in the u.s. on monday is the arrest of joaquin guzman also known as el chapo fighting has broken over who will.