>> talks together iran nuclear records back on track after a successful start. russia's envoy has gone public to say. >> the united states is expected to move forward towards finalizing its return to the deal. an incident in the red sea is raising questions again. -- allegedly attached to an iranian ship.

>> there is a link between the astrazeneca vaccine and fatal blood clots. this is a new find from the european medicines agency. they still say the benefits outweigh the risks. the -- france opens after the largest vaccination center yet in france. 175,000 plus people will receive their first job today. this the state of things to come as france looks to accelerate its vaccination program. thank you very much for being with us. russia said talks aimed at salvaging the international agreement on iran's nuclear program got off to a successful start, with the u.s. expected to join indirectly for the first time since joe biden's arrival in the white house. biden has said he's ready to reverse the 2018 decision his predecessor made to unilaterally withdraw from the landmark

agreement, which was supposed to ensure iran never developed a military nuclear program. >> when spring arrives in iran, so does the celebration of the iranian new year. but what is hidden here beneath the splendor of spring is stress and hardship. earning an income has never been harder for him. >> he and his wife say the cost of raising two girls has never been so high. >> the economic pain here is due in part to the u.s. maximum pressure campaign and sanctions, still choking and economy already hampered by corruption and mismanagement. >> the aim of the u.s. maximum

pressure campaign was terrain in what washington called iran's destabilizing behavior in the region and curb its missile program. today, iran still funds and trains proxy forces in the region, continues to expand its ballistic missile program, and build up its nuclear program. in its latest report, the u.n.'s nuclear watchdogs has iran's stockpile of enriched uranium is roughly 50 times more than the limit set in the 2015 nuclear deal. conservative iranian lawmaker says other than making life painful for ordinary iranians, the u.s. maximum pressure campaign has done little else. >> maximum pressure campaign was not fruitful, because it didn't bring -- to their knees but one of the highest inflation iour economy has happened with this campaign.

the iranian people have a problem towards our economy. >> they are eager to see the outcome of talks aimed at restoring the nuclear deal and lifting u.s. sanctions. until then, their ecomic pain persists, and a nuclear deal with global implications hangs in the balance. >> our correspondent in tehran at the talks to reboot the 2015 deal underway. let's get the analysis. thank you so much for being with us. are you positive about the noises you are hearing coming out of these talks? >> the talks concluded today with a lot of very strong messaging on all sides. there is posturing also underway because there is no direct dialogue between the negotiators. but the fact they are willing to

coinue the discussions through friday is definitely a strong signal that things might be moving in the right direction. >> there are reports of a mind being attached to a ship in the red sea. possibly without you knowing the full story, but i think there are implications that something might be going on that has some kind of indication of someone trying to influence what is happening in these talks. do you think it is a coincidence? >> there has been a series of targeted events that have been taking place on the open seas. let's say a not-so-subtle back between the israelis and iran ians. we don't have the details quite yet, but strong indications it could be building on a pattern we have been witnessing for a number of months. we also know netanyahu has

strongly opposed a u.s. quick return to the iran nuclear the biden administration takehat their time and use the leverage they have with sanctions to pressureran to concle a stronger, deeper, more thorough al. that is obviously a no go for tehran. so it will be quite difficult for the negotiators to try and shelter the nuclear discussions from these activities. >> thank you very much for agreeing to comment on this story. i put you on the spot, but thank you for giving your thoughts. i'm wondering, the context of what we are hearing, it is being reported as an iranian spy ship by the israelis.

looking forward about these talks, do you feel there are reasons to be positive about the next phase? >> i hope so. i think we are working with a very narrow window, both for tehran and washington. iran is about to go into its presidential election cycle, where campaigning will begin, and it will be much harder for the administration to shephd through negotiations in a more competitive, domestilandscap in tehran. this narrow window is something both tehran, washington, and the other signatories would like to capitalize on. if they can build out a timeline and agree on the steps that both tehran and washington need to take to bring them both back into compliance, this is really the optimal outcome. hopefully by friday, we will have some indications of what that sequencing will look like. >> thank you very much for

joining us. that is -- from the middle east and north africa program at chatham house. thank you for giving us your response. there will be more on that as we get it. israel's president, this is how it is reported, has unenthusiastic me nominated prime minister benjamin netanyahu to form a government two weeks after the latest inconclusive election. he voiced doubt any lawmaker can form a parliamentary majority. this was after he failed a clear path for any candidate to form a coalition capable of commending a majority in the 120 member parliament, prolonging an unprecedented phase of political gridlock. the president says in ste of the corruption charges, netanyahu is being asked to form the coalition. >> i know the position held by

many that the president should not give the candidate facing criminal charges the role, but according to the law and decision of the courts, a prime minister can continue in his role, even when facing charges. >> israel's president on the nomination of benjamin netanyahu to try and form a coalition. the top official at the european medicines agency says there is a link between the astrazeneca vaccine and rare blood clots that have resulted in fatalities. it is unclear what the connection is, and the benefits of taking the shots still outweigh the risk of getting covid-19. astrazeneca has announced it is stopping criminal trials.

marty francis has this. >> with tens of millions of astrazeneca's covid vaccine already given out, a bombshell announcement from a top official at the european medicines agency. the head of anti-infectives and vaccines told the italian newspaper "it is becoming more and more difficult to affirm there isn't a cause and effect relationship between astrazeneca vaccines and the very rare cases of blood clots associated with a low level of platelets." the comments come as oxford university has suspended its own trials on children, amid new worries about the shock. the emaas not released an official statement, but the news the problem appears mostly in young people has raised concerns with many nations now using the vaccine. in march, more than a dozen countries, including france and germany, suspended their use of

the oxford astrazeneca shop over the blood clot issue. but most eu nations restarted its use in mid-march after the ema said the benefits outweigh the risks. u.k. prime minister boris johnson addressed the issue at an astrazeneca manufacturing facility on tuesday. >> the best thing people could do is look at what the advice is to people, to keep going out and getting your jab, your second jab. >> but it is one of many agencies still investigating the blood clot concerns. in the u.s., the fda has not given the green light pending its own study in the world health organization and is investigating thblood clot concerns. if confirmed, the chances appear to be low, with a german study finding 31 cases of blood clots and nine deaths out of two point

7 million people vaccinated. the ema is expected to make an official statement sometime this week. >> that is the latest on the astrazeneca vaccine. let's bring you the latest on covid-19 across france. the figure is up 913, a total of 5626 people in intensive care due to covid-19 in france. 8045 new cases. 426 people have lost their lives over the last 24 hours. the death toll at 92,273. today, 175,180 people received the first vaccine. france on tuesday converting its biggest sports stadium to turn it into a giant vaccination center as the government scrambles to keep its promise of a giant leap forward with covid-19 drafts -- jabs. >> the largest stadium in france

transformed into a mass vaccination center. lines forming early tuesday with many people eager to receive their covid virus inoculation. >> here, 10,000 doses of the pfizer and moderna vaccines will be used every week. medical tents have been set up, with firemen from paris tasked with administering them. -- after a sluggisstart and shortfalls in deliveries.

>> the country's biggest stadium located in one of its poorest areas. the coronavirus pandemic has hit the department or where the stadium is located a particularly hard. last week, emmanuel macron announced all adults will be able to get vaccinated by the end of this summer. this as he placed the entire country back in lockdown for the third time. >> let's move on. north korea says it will not be taking part in this year's tokyo olympics, scheduled this summer, a year late. officials made the decision in order to protect north korean athletes from possible covid-19 infection. over 2200 new cases and 80

deaths in japan over the last 24 hours. the olympics are unpopular in japan. 80% of people want them postponed again oranceled. >> we will keep you up-to-date on those development and more. you're watching france 24. >> hello and welcome to the interview on france 24. our guest today is historian, chairman of the research commission on the french archives related to rwanda and the genocide. thank you for being with us. >> thank you.

>> you handed some days ago to president macron a report of almost 1000 pages. it concludes france -- has "heavy and damming responsibilities in the genocide." it is refuting the accusation of complicity of genocide. in a reaction rwanda commended an important step to a mutual understanding of the role of france. through this report, there is something striking, it is how far, he himself is really the center of whatever happens in rwanda, and maybe also during the genocide. >> at the time, he was head of state and the head of the armed forces. he decided at the time to send french military forces into the region in october of 1990 to support the president dictator's regime.

from that point onward, france put in place a policy to take over control of rwanda. rwanda wasn't a french colony, it was a belgian colony. it had an advanced position in an area predominantly under u.s.-u.k. influence. and he wanted to take over more control in the area. it was a well thought out policy. he measured the full extent of france's influence in africa and wanted to extend the french presence and power in africa. so he used that and relied on the presence of the french republic in the area, dominantly through the private staff. it is kind of like a presidential military counsel. so you normally have the head of the armed forces advised by military advisors. that was the case here, but it was private. and through his diplomatic forces, he was able to bypass all of the regular chain of

command, the head of the armed forces, the head of the army, so it was an unparalleled policy. >> he also reconstituted the chain of command. we heard about oral orders, there were a lot of them given by him. also, the head of the military corporation mission who recalls the circus in the attic, a noncommissioned officer sending direct orders to rwanda. but they decided on their own in parallel about the special politics. >> you are right, 1990 1993. during that time, they were

all-powerful. as of the cohabitation, made 1993 through 1994, where the genocide started, the government comes in. it is clear that we say the government goes to a more voluntary style approach. hats off should be taken to them. they wanted to try and help france intervene to stop the massacres. i think they are those clear stages. 1990, 1993 stage. at the time, the staff is all-powerful. so he summons into his office the chief of staff. so these are orders that are ultimately quite unclear. we were able to piece them back together. but then he insisted when he spoke, saying the orders need to be written down.

there is a lot of concern to how the french presidency is operating at the time. so we have his testimony, saying in relation that there is a direct chain of command that would go from the presidential palace or the -- was located. they had contact with forces. and we have him testified, the parallel chain of command in effect, where you have direct flowcharts of communication with the presidential palace and rwanda. and this is where we have the damming evidence coming into effect, because they wanted to bring an ethnic bench to the overall rwanda policy. at the time, you had the rpf, and the opposition based in uganda. but the private staff and diplomats said they were the

opposite of what the ip is. at the same time, there was a lot of support given to a presidential race that said they were from the majority, but were surrounded by extremist forces. and you have france with a considerable ethnic color to the region and in rwanda. what is important for your viewers and what the population needs to understand is when you put such an ethnic color on matters, you end up with a genocide. >> why aren't we accomplices? you say france is by no means associated, why such a clear-cut conclusion? there has been a law that it is not required to prove the complicit genocide. >> to be clear, we did not want to stand into the legal system, that is when everyone is wondering about.

with 1000 pages tens of thousands of archives being consulted, but what we do say is -- we did not say france is an accomplice, but the ones we looked at, there is not one single archive we looked at that showed france wanted to be part of a criminal enterprise. so it means france did not want a genocide. with that said, having that responsibility, that shows france turned a blind eye, and we needed to put it in perspective -- we need to talk about that part of the past. >> there is an issue of the operation that saw the french intervening on the mandate of the united nations.

there was a small attempt, a military operation, but you said it is in no way an operation. and we know the militaries of these soldiers from these operations testified they after day that the orders they received were puzzling, challenging, and we know there are some massacres that could have been avoided while they were on the ground. >> the soldiers on the ground were doing a terrific job. you have to -- you have toeep in mind orders are ambiguous. they were not told they would end up in an area with people committing genocide who control the administration, yet you have survivors trying to save their lives and escape. >> including the government. >> we see that in the archives. it is a decision clearly written down in the archives that we saw.

the french president at the time , the fact he and the prime minister decided there would not berrests. >> but france is required by the convention against genocide. it looks simple. >> it is complicated. while france signed it in 1950, it had not yet been fully integrated into the dna of diplomats and politicians. they do not realize it can be used to put them into arrest. >> there is a political will. we know there is a genocide with french troops on the ground. it is really questioning. >> troops realized there were killers on one side and victims. but the events, we can understand because of the troops and soldiers told they were going to be up against them on the patriotic front. for some people, what we see is

the enemy, but they were trying to stop the genocide. so it is complicated for soldiers on the ground to understand what had to be done. >> the massacre of the -- >> thousands were murdered. it is awful. but when we saw there was willingness to intervene, helicopters were sent into save those who could be saved. >> what i would like to say is it was very challenging at the time for the powers to be to break away from the policy at the time, a policy whereby france aligned with the genocide perpetrators, and those perpetrators very much tied to the presidential powers at the time. it is important to understand who they were. so it is very challenging and

probably explains why they wanted to avoid raising hell and uphold the agreements they advised the perpetrators to leave. at the same time, you had those within the diplomatic forces, like the ambassador with the turquoise forces, said we had to arrest them. france is clearly divided on that point. there are diplomats, we have the general who just recently published a fantastic article. who held close control of his command, and people with courage at the time. unfortunately, people were being told to put an end to the massacres, you also feel they were all over the place. >> a genocide. >> when faced with genocide, the international community had to act. you can just use an excuse without putting an end to, but they are massacring.

the argument does not hold up. >> rwanda commended the report, they're supposed to be a report to be published of this while a visit is being discussed. is it important for both sides to find a shared way through this work of members? >> it is very much the right way forward. for the past 30 years, talking about rwanda and france, violence, lies, intimidation. i'm convinced we are on the same page. we are researchers, and we all seek truth. >> thank you for being with us. and thank you for watching this interview. stay tuned for more news.

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04/06/21 04/06/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> the truth is that they called us social workers, but i want to ask, are we essential to the just will we make them profits? amy: essential workers denied government aid during the pandemic, some because of the immigration status, have entered their third week on hunger@a strike to demand assistance. we will speak to new york