these are the top stories. the u.s. secretary of state is in the middle east, hoping to strengthen the cease-fire in gaza. in an effort to men ties with palestinians, he announced millions a canoe aide and says the u.s. is reopening a consulate in east jerusalem. >> i informed prime minister netanyahu that the united states will notify congress of our intention to provide $75 million in additional development and economic assistance for the palestinians in 2021. we will provide $5.5 million in

immediate disaster assistance and a little over $32 million for humanitarian appeal. >> security camera video shows the moments after palestinian was shot in the back by israeli security forces. the 16-year-old was wounded by a steel bullet last week. she had been standing outside her home. officers fired a stun grenade into the house. the incident happened during protest against the forced expulsions of palestinians from the neighborhood. airlines are changing ports-- international outrage and -- a dissident journalist on board who was arrested. the plane escorted the jetline after what turned out to be a false bomb threat. belarus is accused of faking it. u.s. media reporting that new york prosecutors investigating

donald trump. his organization and those close to it have convened a grand jury. it is unclear who would be an line for indictment. the panel is hearing several matters unrelated to the former president's, as well. two people have been killed and 28 others injured in baghdad. police fired rounds into the air and used tear gas to dispel people. those of your headlines. news continues after the next story. ♪

>> to get the iran nuclear talks going. tehran and the world nuclear watchdog extended an agreement to monitor atomic sites. can this put an end to sanctions on iran and provide the 2015 deal? this is inside story. rob: this is inside story. a fifth round of negotiations between european powers and iraq to state the near clear deal in vienna on tuesday. tehran agreed to a month-long extension to a deal which allows the international atomic energy agency to inspect iran's nuclear

facilities. that pact had originally been agreed back and february for a three month. . it was a way to get the bill passed by parliament to suspend surveillance. it set in february deadline for european sake --signatories to give relief from oil and banking sanctions. >> this is a device we came up with to continue having these monitoring activities, while at the same time recognizing the fact that as you all remember, there was a law passed by the parliament of the islamic republic of iran suspending a number of rights. we have to fight some way. >> this coincides with the selection of candidates i'd -- eligible to become president in the next month's election. what iran hopes to get out of the talks. >> the extension of this deal

with the iaea comes when iranian negotiators have tried to return to the net to revise the nuclear deal. it is important to note that it is only for a month, unlike the three months agreed on back in february. the spokesman has been saying about it. this is what he has to say. >> the temporary deal between iran and the u.n. was extended by the supreme national security council for a month because reports suggested talks were progressing. this is a signal of a good work just are. we hope it can be a sign to the people of the united states and the iaea that iran intends to reach an agreement. the only response is implementation of the commitments under the u.n. resolution 2231. we don't plan to get engaged in

talks of attrition. >> we know the parliament here, dominated by the conservative opposition, were never happy with the agreement. they accused the president and his government of going against the legislation. the supreme leader had given that three month deal. the president and his foreign minister have been public about their opposition to the legislation. it called for restricting iaea inspectors on certain nuclear sites and for recordings --video recordings to be turned off. they said it wasn't helpful and parliament should allow diplomats to do their job. time is running out. the election is less than a month away and the united states and europe may be faced with a president and a government far more hostile to negotiations. the government here has said an

attempt to revive the 2015 deal that had u.s. sanctions lifted is closed -- close. the question is how close? any news of sanctions lift could be used by candidates wanting to be the next president of iran. inside story, iran. >> let me take you to how all of this began. in 2018, president trump pulled the u.s. out of the nuclear court, calling it the worst steel ever negotiated. he reimposed sanctions on foundation control by the supreme leader. tehran responded by scaling back its commitments to the deal and enriching its uranium levels beyond the agreed cap. the european signatories are trying to maintain both the deal and business with tehran. iran what sanctions lifted before it complies with the accord, but the u.s. says iran must curb its activities before

it is prepared to rejoin. let's bring in our guests in iran. we have a professor of political science at tehran university. a former national security official and diplomat and in vienna, the former head of edification and security policy. the coordination officer at the international atomic energy agency. thank you for being with us. i would like to start with you. why else do you think iran has agreed to this extension, other than a willingness to hold the talks? >> i think the senior officials at atomic energy organization of iran, headed by someone who is the vice president of iran, they understand providing cooperation

to the iaea is in iran's interest and that were the agency to report it is unable to verify, that would play badly. the iea i -- i should add despite the media talk, the iaea is not running blind. iran is implementing fully and without any restrictions its comprehensive safeguards agreement under the nonproliferation treaty, the bedrock of iaea inspections. even though they have restricted some iaea -- under the safeguards agreement, the iaea is still able to verify and next week, we expect the report that the iaea i -- will provide details. two days after this sabotage on the 10th of april, the iaea i

reported there were center fuses -- centrifigues where the sabotage took place. 5000 and 60 are in the same configuration as from 2015. it suggests the sabotage was not successful in disrupting the enrichment program, nor in disrupting the vienna talks. >> i want to ask you about a statement made by the head of the iaea when this extension was put forward. he referred to the fact that it was significant that data collected up to this point would not be deleted but that it would be under the previous agreement. fo those of us who don't understand the finer parts of this, why is that important? >> there are different electronicevices that are installed.

they measure, for example, the real-time -- the level of enrichment. this is the online enrichment monitor. it has been, in a sense -- iran has said this particular data will not be provided to the iaea. on the other hand, the iaea -- level of enrichment and quantity of nuclear material. what iran has done is provided some obstruction to the iaea in connecting some data but not all data. >> some parts of iran's leadership have made it clear the 2015 deal was a bad deal for their own reasons but it was bad for iran. >> i think it shows the deal is actually supported by the highest levels of the iranian government and i am not only

talking about the will honey government -- decisions made in the security council have to be approved by the supremleader. this extension was not approved by the leader. i think the fact that it was only extended for a month and not three months like before -- i think it shows growing impatience, especially from the conservative circles in iran. many current lawmakers in iran were critical of the deal in 2015 and we have to remember we have iran's presidential election in less than four weeks and it is likely -- is going to win and he has been critical of the deal from the beginning. the clock is ticking and as more time passes, it will become more difficult to reach an agreement. >> the biden administration has been criticized by iran for not

doing anything about sanctions for the first three to four months. is there an argument first adjusting the biden administration has been playing a long game? we have the elections coming up. one would imagine that if sanctions were able to be agreed prior to or during two those elections, it would make it easier for the eventual president to sell the deal to the iranian people. is there anything to suggest this is a strategy by the biden administration? >> there is a strategy within the biden administration. there is not consensus for it but there is a strategy that has to do with u.s. domestic politics more than iran domestic politics. the iranian domestic paradigm is coming up soon at the end of june. in washington, the focus within the biden administration is on the midterm congressional elections in the united states next year in 2022.

the senate here is almost evenly divided. if the democrats lose just one senate seat, the democrats lose control of the senate and biden's entire domestic agenda is in jeopardy. from what i understand, that is the focus -- that biden has not wanted to rejoin the iran nuclear deal as it was in 2015, because it would have called on the united states to lift -- not just waive or suspend -- but lift sanctions on iran with the cooperation and implementation done by the u.s. senate. that was not going to happen. biden did not want to waste, in his view, his domestic political capital pushing through any iran nuclear deal that only has lukewarm support. what you see on the u.s. side is very much a focus on doing as little as possible to contain the status quo. the problem was that iran wasn't being contained. israel was killing iranian

scientists, lowing up facilities, --there was this hot gauntlet percolating and exploding between israel and iran that president biden was afraid would backfire on the united states, dragon is further into the persian gulf, and ruined president biden's domestic agenda and to the extent he has a foreign policy interest, focusing on emerging conflict with china. those are the calculations. it is a lukewarm embrace of the iran nuclear deal, one the biden administration is pursuing with reluctance because of u.s. domestic politics. it is different than under the obama administration. >> i wanted to talk to you more about the role of israel because we are seeing antony blinken, secretary of state of the united states, in israel. he has been holding a press conference with prime minister

netanyahu of israel, who took an opportunity to reiterate that iran should not become a nuclear threat. given the strength of feeling israel has about this -- that it would take the opportunity during talks about the israeli-palestinian conflict, to embrace this matter again --how difficult will this make negotiations with israel on the sidelines. >> the role of israel in the u.s. israel relationship is central to what is going on with iran. the secretary of state is in israel as we speak. he is talking about iran. is not so much what happened in palestine. it is about iran and the israeli prime minister's determination to continue his aggressive militaristic campaign against iran. it comes back to the u.s. domestic politics. i can't emphasize this enough.

president biden, unlike president obama, is a creature of u.s. to mastic politics, spending nearly 40 years in the u.s. senate and as vice president. it comes down to u.s. senators. the senate majority leader, chuck schumer, is absolutely a pro-israel hawk. the chairman of the u.s. forest --foreign relations committee is a hawkish pro-israel member of the senate. biden is focused on israel and u.s. domestic politics and to the extent he differentiates with the obama administration, it is about israel and that is central. i want to add to this -- forward secretary of state mike pompeo from the trump administration is also on his way to israel because he understands that for biden, having the relationship in a good place is critically good for biden and important for secretary pompeo's prospects to run for president in 2024.

this gets into the nitty-gritty but in terms of what is driving the u.s. agenda with iran, it is very much u.s. to message politics and the u.s. israel relationship. >> i want to ask you more about the nature of the deal itself. the u.s. as a rent needs to dismantle some of its nuclear activities before the u.s. is going to join the deal. what will the u.s. need to see to get to a position where it would be willing to rejoin? >> that's a very good question. it is not only the united states but also the three european powers. what i understand is since iran stepped out of the jcpoa limits on enrichment, starting in the summer of 2019, it has gathered experience in operating the centrifuges and reaching 22% and now up to 60%. somehow, this expertise leads neat --

not only that the extra centrifuges are more authentic and off-line, but that the data accumulated over the past two years is also erased. this is something very difficult . there is no way of verifying this period i understand iran is not prepared to do that. it is also arguing for maintaining some advances it has made in operating the advanced centrifuges and it says this is compensation for the economic damage suffered by iran as a result of the sanctions and the human cost to the iranian population, many of hume have suffered and died because of medications, cancer, covid, and so on. it is a complicated agenda on both sides. iran also says the last time around, in 2015, the jcpoa was frontloaded.

iran took all the technical actions and the jcpoa came into effect. they want to see the u.s. sanctions removed. they would be prepared to get more significant steps in rolling back the enrichment program to the 2015 levels. >> do you have any impression of how far back that robot go within the iran in terms of erasing data and unlearning expertise that it has developed over the last figures? that seems a tall order. >> i think the expectations from iran are high from the other side. i am learning the expertise they have gained in the past two years is almost impossible. they can erase the data, perhaps, but the expertise is going to be there. nevertheless, we have seen very little flexibility from the other side, regarding a variance demand speared as mentioned,

-- iran is worried that the biden administration is only going to remove sanctions on paper and iran is not going to reap the benefits. they want us to be able to sell oil and transfer money from foreign banks to iran and be able to take it side of the beale --deal to clement its obligations under the deal. so far, the administration has not accepted that. there is also the issue of the sanctions implemented during the trump administration -- over 1000 sanctions. some of these sanctions are labeled under terrorism or human rights. iran's position is it what's all sanctions lifted. the reason is if some sanctions remain, that is going to muddy the water for foreign investors. it is going to be very difficult

for them to tell if they are abiding by some sanctions and other sanctions that have been removed. it would be a complicated picture. on that front, what we are hearing is so far, the biden administration has refused to take out all of the sanctions. there is also the concern from the iranian side that if some of these sanctions remain, they are going to be used as leverage for future negotiations. the biden administration has already talked about a so-called bigger and better deal. that is not something iran really wants. iran feels when the u.s. is saying a better deal, it means a better deal for them and a worse deal for iran. >> you were talking about the fight the biden administration has seen through the lens of domestic politics. in your experience, how far do you think the administration will be prepared to go without

jeopardizing the domestic politics element you have been talking about? >> it varies from administration to administration. i have served in several period i served in blush -- bush and clinton administrations. i have watched all of them up close. president biden is the most knowledgeable politician, in terms of the u.s. political system -- what he can get done and what he thinks he cannot. i think his point about a u.s. reluctance to lift sanctions that were redesignated or double designat under president trump is an important consideration. for president biden, it will be difficult to say he is lifting sanctions or waving sanctions or temporarily suspending sanctions on iran if they have been designated under the rubric of terrorism or human rights.

that will be a difficult sell for him domestically and from what i understand, the administration is reluctant to take on. i think president biden is looking to contain iran as much as possible and i also think his point is important about the biden administration looking forward. for them, it is almost a necessary evil to get the jcpoa back on the table and everybody signed up to it. the real goal for the administration is to move onto the next step. to contain iran's nefarious or malevolent behavior with regiona l parties outside iran and on its human rights situation and its missile capability. those are the focal points for the administration and they want to have as much leverage as possible going into future talks. in my view, they are going to undermine themselves, even having the opportunity for

future talks, if they don't or realistically engage to come back into the jcpoa. that is a calculation within the biden administration. 100% political and focused on the next categories of talks because of u.s. domestic politics, because in u.s. domestic politics, that is what they care about. iran's relationship with the jihad and hamas. that is where american domestic politics are. that is what biden needs to contain in order for him to pursue his domestic political agenda. >> very briefly, we only have a couple of minutes left -- the only leverage is the threat of enrichment progress being ramped up and working toward eventual rep in the station -- weaponiza tion. that is a concern nobody outside of the process wants to see happen but is there going to come a point where if these

talks fail or are stalled and sanctions are not lifted, iran is going to have to use that leverage? he could see a point where iran is focused -- forced into recognizing -- weaponizing its nuclear capabilities and opening itself to outside attack from countries like israel? >> there is no talk, even among the most extreme conservative circles, regarding weaponization and there has been a clear fatwah --islamic rolling =-- ruling against it. it would be very difficult to reverse that. but they are talking in conservative circles is for a to put the deal aside and become closer to the east -- especially china -- iran has to --is selling close to one billion barrels of oil per day, even

though the sanctions exist. their solution, if you will like, is not to --is to go towards the eastern camp and build iran's power through relations with china and russia. >> thank you very much. i want to say thanks to all of our guests. thank you too for watching. you can see the program at any time at aljazeera.com or facebook.com/ajinsidestory. you can also join the conversation on twitter. bye for now. ♪

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new cuisine, you have to be kind of savvy and also a little bit careful, right? you're trying to create a market when it's not there. the fact that thai food had gained a reputation in west hollywood and other places as, you know, delicious food, but it was a certain kind of thai foo that opened the way for these newer chefs to say, "you know what, we can be unique and different within ts food culre." like, chefs are artists, and so they're coming up with stuff all the te. it's not to say it doesn't happen in thailand, but i think being in l.a., this kind of cross-pollination might be opening up new tastes and flavors in thai cuisine.