>> this is al jazeera and these are the top stories. novavax says coronavirus asked has shown to be 9% affect. they are expected to apply for analysis. they say it is effective against the new strain of covid-19. gemini's vaccine panel is likely to recommend only for those under 65 years old. there is not enough data for how

effective it is. brazil's president has vowed to quickly vaccinate everyone in the country as his popularity falls. more from you d-maryland. -- rio de janeiro. >> on the other side, he has changed his tune with china as well. he has been attacking china and china is working with is a to produce the coronavac seen here, as well as supplying material for astrazeneca to produce vaccines in brazil. the president had been attacking china all this time. it has changed because time is running out.

>> protests in lebanon have been growing as anger mounts over government corruption. four retired u.s. ambassadors to ethiopia have written an open letter to the prime minister, concerned about regional violence. fighting broke out with cross-border tensions, preventing aid groups from getting in. acquitting a man convicted of killing u.s. generalist david pearl. the country is ready to prosecute. inside story is coming up, next. ♪

>> they have preparing plans. not to join the nuclear deal. is this a real threat or psychological war? this is inside story. >> hello and welcome to the program. israel has warned that it is revising plans for a possible terry attack against iran.

they have dismissed it. the chief of staff says comments by israel's top army general are psychological war, but they are ready to defend themselves. israel has long accused the iranians of wanting to develop a nuclear bomb and put israel's security at risk. they are urging the u.s. administration to return the nuclear deal that limits uranium enrichment, in exchange for sanctions relieved. joe biden has shown readiness to rejoin the accord, but with a caveat. let's listen to what officials had to say. >> i have instructed the idea to prepare several operational plans, in addition to existing ones, which we will develop

throughout the year. the offensive actions need to be prepared, ready and on the table. >> they just talk. they are leading psychological warfare and have no plan, capacity and are not able to start. the different maneuvers that we have done are signs that we do not intend to go tomorrow, but we are serious about defending our country. >> it would be a mistake. >> even if there is a single agreement, it is operationally and strategically long. it is operationally wrong because it would allow iran to enrich uranium.

>> hermano's scaled-down its commitment to the deal after president trump abandoned a three years ago. tensions have grown between washington and tehran since trump imposed sanctions of the -- sanctions. one of the top priorities for joe biden is the relationship with ron. -- iran. >> if they come back into compliance, the u.s. would do the same thing. we would use that as a platform for a longer and stronger agreement. other issues are deeply problematic in the relationship with iran.

we are a long ways from that point. iran is out of compliance on a number of points. we are not there yet. to say the least. >> the prime minister has funded to the remarks. present violated the deal and cards -- cause harm to the population to sanctions. based on remedial measures. they will never forgot -- forget trump's maximum failure let's -- failure. we have mitchell and former

spokesman. a researcher at the center, a government affiliated think tank. hillary is a former director. welcome. when a top israeli commander criticizes aspects, is it individual or is it reflecting the whole sentiment across the political spectrum in israel? >> i would say the political spectrum is concerned with it. we have done some pulling across the region -- polling across the region.

i do not know why they would come out with this, when we do not know how they stand on some of these issues. does it put pressure on the new biden administration, make sure that there will be a new agreement? they open up the old agreement? israel is very concerned about the rhetoric and capability of this iranian vision, which seems to be supporting terror and -- iranian regime, which seems to be supporting terrorism. >> it is also expressing a sentiment opposed to any version of that particular deal, in the near future. how is that seen in iran.

>> they are a fierce opponent of the jcpoa. the benjamin netanyahu event has worked hard under the trump administration to destroy the jcpoa joe biden taking office, israel's policy pressure the biden administration to include israel's and attitude while it will discuss the nuclear issue with iran. that measure -- the biden administration's effort to save nuclear deal will entirely depend on his efforts to distance from the trump administration. it will be a key element to

measure the joe biden administration access or failure. the more a distances itself and returns to dialogue, the more likely it will save nuclear deal. americans now this. the trump administration's maximum pressure campaign failed. now there is a golden opportunity to save this nuclear deal now. >> this is exactly what the iranian president has been saying and what the young foreign minister has been saying. you think he task joe biden say, it is just --

>> i think it could incredibly easy, as iran's foreign minister has said. it could take five minutes to go back to the place when they cut them off from the deal. they were issuing waivers. sanctions were not lifted. we were issuing waivers. that is something that joe biden can five to 10 minutes. the question is whether he wants to. between the joe biden ministration and senate, he valued at a real partner. the two most powerful people who

would have are the new senate majority leader and new head of the senate one nation chairman menendez. they voted against iran nuclear deal. they have never been supporters. joe biden knows that he does not have the senate behind. within the administration self, there are division. we saw then i -- then -- need to ask -- act fast. he said, no. u.s. is happy with the situation. essentially, the view that iran is contained. there are also key members who

worked extremely hard on the deal. the crowning achievement of their entire. those three things you need very strongly in the iran deal. they would see probably a detachment of important to a multicolor, international order. they are not the entire administration. they are key figures. others are against joining the nuclear deal right now. >> a very complex malady portrayed about the u.s. with different mystic agenda. does that explain the reason official stepping in and trying

to, saying, you know why? you have to be very careful. >> there are people that voted against this. it is not just -- they felt like there was no oversight, that comedians continue to uranium. words can lead to violence. there are those who believe that trump encouraged people to go into the capital to have a revolution and attack the capital. words are very powerful. see the steve vetere of genocide. this also has to stop. words have a need to cause violence. back that up with policy, it can

fatal. the foyer, it was israel come to the table, posing it with the middle bit of whispering and help from arab state. now, they are sitting next to about a, morocco, saudi arabia -- maybe saudi arabia on the side of. you have a few coalition between these countries that will go to the joe biden administration, who will oppose this. joe biden has been a friend. yes, he was vice president, but based on supporter of israel, will have to have this plays out. >> my would iranian brush aside

all those officials as a psychological or, when the israeli army chief of staff is basically wondering a fresh, military plan to be taken into iteration. -- consideration. >> they have been trying to strike years. iran a big country. they are not in a position to carry out such an attack. that is why they have failed far to carry out threats because iran facilities are touted around the country. they had buried under mountains and iran has taken the mission

to protect you facility. at the same time, it had increased it defense power. >> at the same time -- before i go -- >> is nice to talk they, but do you think israel had a right to exist? are you going to keep going with that genocide policy? where you stand on israel? does israel have a place in the police -- middle east? >> it is based on occupation. let me finish my answer first. if they were in a position to attack iran, it would have carried out such an attack years ago. they cannot destroy the nuclear

facilities in a single, successful military operation. they will be in a position to respond decisively. that is exactly why israel has the refrain from carrying out such attacks. the strategy within its military and intelligence operators has been trying to plan a war against iran and they know how to respond. they have sufficient power. >> one of the biggest concerns by the israeli government and officials is basically the sunset clause. this is something that could be

conducive, once the deal is finalized to provide iran with a pathway to resume its nuclear capabilities and end up with a bomb. >> i served in the last for a very long time. i was in the first bush administration back in 1991 when government officials first started to me the issue of the weapons. the 4:19 in one, they did not raise it. when iraq was so soundly defeated, that was not so much threat for the israeli was. the israelis were not so worried

about iraq. what the israelis are really worried about our military might and power. there are just some facts of information. it is a huge country but a sophisticated population. that will always be a problem. joe biden understands that. he has a long history and a somewhat mixed relationship with the israeli prime minister and other leaders in the gulf. it is a complicated issue, but he does not take at face value. that the iranians have been trying to make the weapons for 30 years and unable to do so. i do not think that joe biden or anybody in the administration agrees with that.

there are people who share israel's concern that iran -- that it will always be a challenge to u.s. hegemony and power. of course they will be concerned about that, but it does not mean that there is a good pathway to break power. >> to what extent is he using iran for his own survival? >> it came up yesterday. we kind of missed it. for israelis, the holocaust was a past/present, future event. israel is an illegitimate country. we are in the when, but to him

it is an illegitimate country. in the mind of his leadership, it is ok to do anything. it comes with false pretense about occupation. it is from 1967. was israel legitimate in the eyes of the iranians? no. we have a very violent and belligerent group of people who say that israel has no right to exist. we do not know what capabilities israel has. what we do know is that in order to make the world safer place, they have to stop the rhetoric against the state of israel. the world has to make sure that

they do not get the weapons to carry out their crazy plans. we can do it. we can change the world. it is unfortunate that we still have these kinds of attitudes. >> for the sake of moving forward, you said that they are trying to promote pressure so as to not move forward with the agreement. you have iran saying that they are uranium beyond that was stipulated under the agreement. also beginning research continue uranium metal, which is a key component for the manufacturing of the bomb. are they undermining the chance of moving towards a peaceful settlement? >> no. article 26 of the jcpoa says extensions are introduced or

reimposed against iran, iran will consider it as it's right to cease performing its commitment to the jcpoa, in whole or part. iran is incrementing the same jcpoa signs with the powers. at the same time, iran is reducing commitment to the jcpoa , in order to be in a better negotiation -- negotiating position in the coming weeks. there is a political camp, comprising various lobbyist groups in the u.s. congress and the u.s. congress and biden administration, including the israeli lobby groups, that argue that simply u.s. return to the jcpoa is not enough. it is not a good idea. they argue -- >> one last question to hilary.

the israelis and those supporting maximum pressure on iran think that is efficient. it has been biting into the economy and it will yield results. this is just going to drag the region into further instability and anarchy. you look at the key lesion of players. they are looking cautiously at what will happen in the near future. how do you see the future? will it be with triggered, reactivated, under the same shape and form? will we see something different this time? >> i am concerned. we are not optimistic that it can be recess attainted. i think there is enough support

within the biden ministration and congress -- they include interest of lobby groups and other countries like israel and the gulf states. for president biden and others, they are happy with the containment of iran. the one posting area that they came together to agree on was how he dealt with the middle east. if the biden initiation we joined the jcpoa, that would that would have to go back to the senate to get less than it to lift all sanction on iran. i would set him up for failure, and i do not think he would go down that path. >> we will see who will take the first step and what the region will look like in the near future.

thank you very much for your insight. thank you for watching. you can program at any time by visiting our website, al jazeera.com. you can join the conversation on twitter. for me the entire team, goodbye for now. ♪

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