ivan eland senior fellow at the independent institute and speaking of iran iran was part of the axis of evil that george w. bush named after nine eleven but did this have anything to do with al qaida or with nine eleven ten years later our reporter guy answer to can took a look at the record and how history played out let's watch. if somebody gives a war on terror like the deadliest here is attack could history you know whether she would be enemy that's that's clear but the american sentiment quickly and including nations that had nothing to do with nine eleven they were defined by george bush as the axis of evil some of these regimes have been pretty quiet since september eleventh. but we know their true nature north korea is a regime arming with missiles and weapons of mass destruction while starving its citizens. iran aggressively pursue these weapons and exports terror while an unelected few repressed the iranian people's hope for freedom. do you reckon to any to punish hostility toward america and to support terror two years after nine eleven the u.s. invaded iraq on the grounds

has just become operational in pushchair in iran. well let's talk more on what iran's nuclear power plant will mean with colin nish out he said research at the school of oriental and african studies at the university of london thanks very much indeed for joining us here on our team after so many years of building the bushehr power plant as we know it's finally operating our correspondent said it's an historic day tell us how significant do you think this is for iran then i think it's quite significant first of all because iran as or also your correspondent mentioned has now the first nuclear power plants which is operational in the whole region not only in iran and secondly it's important because it has been. brought to operation against the background of political interference by many powers are tied powers in the law since the nine hundred ninety s. actually and so today is a happy day because. we are now out of the completion levels in what way will the people of iran benefit from this. i think. as you see also in the western deve

all the details about the new plant from iran. this is a truly historic day for iran as its first nuclear power plants in there is joining the national energy grid it's going to start operating at thirty five to forty percent of its capacity that is the plight thirty five to forty percent of energy and it's going to reach the hundred percent potential within the next couple of months now this is something that has been in the making for a very long time this is a joint russia iran venture russia's adam story expert has been vigorously helping the really inside of and construction of this nuclear power plant specially since the one nine hundred ninety eight the opening of the plant has been attended by russia's energy ministers and also by the head of story expert both of whom have underlines the importance office then sure for both countries now russia's energy minister has said that all of this year of course conducted by russia and iran should be simplistic or nice with international standards. incompetence through difficulties

was put out by the united ganske nuclear iran group which opposes to iran's nuclear plants and also once hotels to refuse to accommodate a good job but i want you and of the in the pan initiative think tank told r.t. that attacking iran risks increasing its desire for nuclear weapons if you remember after all nine eleven iran helped the united states apprehensive malka people and provided intelligence on the because remember. islamised government is different than the al qaeda which is sunni and the iranian government is shia and the. is hostile to the billboard furler demonizes iran so i think the problem with demonization as we've seen in the case of saddam hussein and moammar qaddafi is that the united states then seems to take out those leaders after a while and if you've got a republican administration in beat obama next year in the elections by two thousand and thirteen we could hear the drumbeat for attacking iran which of course i think would be disastrous you have to put yourself in their shoes they do have legitimate security fears but i think you had to take them into acc

intelligence on them because remember iran. islamic government is different than the al qaeda which is sunni and the iranian government is shia and the. is hostile to the billboard furler demonizes iran so i think the problem with demonization as we've seen in the case of saddam hussein and moammar qaddafi is that the united states then seems to take out those leaders after a while and if you've got a republican administration in who beat obama and next year in the elections by two thousand and thirteen we could hear the drumbeat for attacking iran which of course i think would be disastrous you have to put yourself in their shoes they do have legitimate security fears but i think you have to take them into account and you have to do everything that you can not to demonize them because that in turn creates pressures for attacking them later on this coercive approach merely makes iran want to have weapons more run sees that iraq and libya who gave up their nuclear weapons programs they got invaded or attacked. watching us now ta

the group is working to overthrow iran's ruling. the european union removed the group from its terror list in 2009. protesters are also angry over the annual u.n. appearance by president ahminedjad. he's expected to speak in about an hour. we'll bring you that speech live to see whether or not he makes some of those unprediktsable, fiery comments that he usually does. and libyan rebels to a took a cnn team to large warehouses and inside, thousands of barrels, some marked radio active. ben saw two or three bags filled with a yellow powder. he believes it could be yellow cake, a form of uranium which is a form of a nuclear weapon. >> just had a conversation with a field commander who said they are very eager for the international committee to come in and identify this material and they hope, take it away from here, because it's relatively close to this city and they're worried that it could cause an environmental disaster if there was any sort of explosion on this site. >> moammar gadhafi, he adwreeed to give out weapons of mass destr

is going to chicken reports could leave iran elma cold in its own neighborhood. as nations in the middle east and north africa are torn between the struggle to bring about change and the struggle not to let that change ruin their lives washington views the arab spring as an opportunity to finally see some of its longtime foes crumble even though iran is not an arab country the arab spring to spread to actual . and i think in many ways it's a matter of time before that kind of change before and revolution. and under the umbrella of arab revolutions washington is also being the drums of regime change in syria iran's closest ally in the region violence within the country has been widely condemned countries like russia and china call for both sides in syria to talk and end the bloodshed while america is blaming our side alone i think assad stays just like a fair number and let's hope the pressure assad is next in line they were overthrown khadafi they're going to have a proxy or client government in tripoli the next step is syria they want to overthrow syrian x. they

iran is a great nation. iran enjoys a great culture. they must come on the path of law, international laws and reason. and logic. do you not believe equal treatment undethe law for everyone? laws must be implemented, discriminatory only against us? we say equal treatment under the law for everyone. this is the logic we pure. >> rose: most amerans believe in equal justice under the law and equal treatment of the law. number two, i think that most americans, people around the world recognize that iran is a great country and a great culture. this specific question has to do with anagency of the united nations suggesting that you, that you have much more enriched uranium at 20% than you need for the medical use, that there must benother reason for you wanting as much as you seem to be. >> there is no such thing that is completely erroneous. we need one 100-- 110 kilograms for one cycle. we haven't even reached 70 kilograms. let me put your mind at ease, sir. right now as we speak, if they give us 20% enriched uranium we mr. completely shut

intelligence on them because remember iran. islamic government is different than the al qaeda which is sunni and the iranian government is shia and the al qaeda is hostile to the board for earlier demonizes iran and iran has been demonized since the late seventy's when they took over the embassy so i think the problem with demonization as we've seen in the case of saddam hussein and when market off he is that the united states then seems to take out those leaders after a while so iran is much bigger and much stronger than iraq in libya but this adds to the pressure and if you've got a republican administration in who beat obama in the next year in the elections by two thousand and thirteen we could hear the drumbeat for attacking iran which of course i think would be disastrous you have to put yourself in their shoes they do have legitimate security fears and even security interests and you may not like those interests but nonetheless i think you have to take them into account and you have to do everything that you can not to d

and iran is a country that has killed more american men and women in uniform in iraq in afghanistan than the iraqis and the afghanistan share this is last month's g.o.p. presidential debate in iowa only one candidate strayed from the script just think of how many nuclear weapons surround iran the chinese are there the iranians are the pakistan is there why wouldn't it be natural that they might want to weapons there'd be internationally they'd be given more respect but one man given very little respect on u.s. soil iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad number one villain for so many in this. last year a group united against nuclear iran with these posters up all over new york city perpetuating the idea of a hostile iran below the rest of the economy is sinking in the military industrial complex grows and grows and grows in other words war is good business not it may also be good business to take a closer look at the way the narrative unfolds this time around to ask when you hear the drums of war being beaten yet again if it is in fact and not are of preparedness and process or if it

we have now a decades long standoff between iran and the west. over the iranian nuclear program this has been very hyped of. the nuclear issue for political reasons in order to be able to garner support to put pressure on iran if you cannot control or influence a country you might go for isolation and weakening of the country in the best way to do that is through economic sanctions canonic sanctions if we just listen to the most authoritative source when it comes to analyzing the iranian nuclear program which is the international atomic energy agency and if we read their reports we see that there is no evidence for any weaponization and also this is. numerously and on numerous occasions by the u.s. intelligence services and very recently so as well so the world has to face that iran as other developed countries has a nuclear program which is peaceful according. to all the evidence that we have a lot via a party backed by the large russian community there scored a big win in a snap general election with almost all votes now counted twenty nine per

iran is not an arab country the arab spring. and i think in many ways it's a matter of trying before that kind of change. and revolution occurs in the runs under the umbrella loaf arab revolutions washington is also beating the drums of regime change in syria iran's closest ally in the region violence within the country has been widely can be errant countries like russia and china call for both sides in syria to talk in the bloodshed while america is blaming our side alone i think. just like a dolphin or not let's hope that russia is next in line they were overthrown khadafi they're going to have a proxy or client government in tripoli the next step is syria they want to overthrow syria they take advantage of any movement that exists in syria to overthrow the assad government now they have a more democratic government a more humane government but a government that is allied with the united states and after syria the next target will be iran itself watching regimes go down one by one american politicians are filled with new hopes

and this is the site that will welcome iran xp. residents and you work next week a billboard in times square accuses iran of being our. job hands for the u.n. general assembly. it's deja vu time for the greek economy once again and there's regulation it's close to default thanks to a soaring budget deficit and athens mainlander isn't helping the situation with allies of the german chancellor suggesting greece may need to default and leave the single currency by financial journalist demand. there's no mechanism to exit the euro and there are different ways but. the european central bank and the e.u. could go about dealing with a default of greece or an exit of greece portugal or some of the peripheral countries they could break the euro into two different types of euro but the fact that no one is willing to talk about that option openly and kind of admit that that's where we are with an unsustainable debt like greece has and now the fact that the country of the size of italy which is no longer really able to access the markets the w

believe that iran is. relationship with turkey in any way given those two quotes i just laid out. our own going relationship with turkey is a very good one it doesn't mean that we don't have differences this stablish means all of those radar bases and radar systems i think this mean imposed on the nation of turkey today the united states of america is a bully has force and imposes its will just as you see that is able to impose its will on many bigger powerful governments and nations but this in the long run won't benefit the united states of america today the relationships between the various nations of the world and not determined by the force of missile or weapon systems they determine by the people of those nations today we can hold a referendum in turkey and determine the honest opinion of the turkish people about the influence of the united states and at the end of the day the will of the people will prevail in syria in fact mr bashar al assad and i missed it again have very good relationships they w

many worry it could happen as well in iran if rhetoric becomes reality iran is in a very perilous position and it's obvious that the crosshairs are on them squarely if anyone wants to know how it would begin to look no further than those hoping to have their finger on the but here's john mccain four years ago that old beach boys song bomb iran. and history does in fact repeat itself with the greatest threat to the security the world is a nuclear iran iran is a country that has killed more american men and women in uniform in iraq and afghanistan than the iraqis and the afghanistan's half. this last month g.o.p. presidential debate in iowa they are one of the four state sponsors of terror in the world only one candidate strayed from the script to texas congressman ron. just think of how many nuclear weapons surround iran the chinese are there the indians the pakistan is there is really for the united states is there all these countries china has nuclear weapons why wouldn't it be natural that they might want to weapons there'd be internationally they'd be given more respect but one man give

he said, yeah, they hurt iran.ainst iran wind up hurting the united states' economy more. >> no, that's outrageous also. i think the fact is that iran imports half of its gasoline, a lot of its food. these sanctions are biting. i think internally, iran has high levels of inflation. and i think the international community needs to continue these sanctions, needs to continue tightening them because they're proceeding with enriched uranium, secret weapons programs. it's not just the u.s. and europe that should be concerned. it should be all of these general assembly countries voting on the statehood for palestine, the near 200 countries that are here represented at general assembly. >> good to have you back here in "the situation room," ambassador. thanks very much. any prospect of going back to cuba and getting that american out of there? >> i want to get him out. he should come out. alan gross. you know, if there's an opportunity, we'll get back in there. but he deserves to come home, like the two american hikers. t

carrying out saying sions having commando operations carrying out cyber attacks against iran iran had a revolution in one thousand seventy nine that's the context in other words if you strip any particular at any particular incident even one is great is the rest of these hikers from the political and historical context the story loses meaning right and the mainstream media has used this incident as an opportunity to criticize and highly human rights injustices in iran not necessarily saying that that criticism isn't deserved but why have the basket of these two young men been over like. that that the similar acts of abuse occur right here in the u.s. and it gives other u.s. governments an excuse to do to do the same thing right i mean if we had the american media doing what they did in this case and highlighting the abuse of. those who have been detained by americans in iraq those who have been detained in afghanistan including iranian officials who have been detained for long periods of time in iraq or those who have been detained at guantanamo bay or in secret prisons around the cou

with the greatest threat to the security the world is a nuclear iran iran is a country that has killed more american men and women in uniform in iraq in afghanistan than the iraqis and the afghanistan. this is last month's g.o.p. presidential debate in iowa they are one of the four state sponsors of terror in the world only one candidate strayed from the script texas congressman ron paul just think of how many nuclear weapons surround iran the chinese are there the indians or the pakistanis they are these realities are the united states is there all these countries china has nuclear weapons why one could be natural that they might want to weapons there'd be internationally they'd be given more respect but one man given very little respect on u.s. soil iranian president ahmadinejad number one village for so am i this is the. last year a group united against nuclear iran with these posters up all over new york city perpetuating the idea of a hostile iran american policy needs enemies we need bad guys we need this these threats because these threats justify an expansion of the letairis sp

this is a truly historic day for iran. nuclear power plant is joining the international energy grid it's going to start operating at thirty five forty percent of its capacity that is the thirty five to forty percent of energy and it's going to hundred percent potential within the next couple of months now this is something that has been in the making for a very long time this is a joint. venture. that's been vigorously helping the construction of this nuclear power plant specially since nine hundred ninety eight the opening of the. russians energy minister and also by the head of. the important. countries now russia's energy minister has said that all of. the international standards. the parts went through difficulties some problems build a plant and to deal with the results that are drawing the attention of the whole world i'm sure racial in operating the station and developing the nuclear energy projects will be distinguished by the atmosphere we created while working together russian engineers and specialists will stay

has just become operational in bushehr in iran. and have come under judge research from the school of oriental and african studies at the university of london told me earlier that he believes iran has the right for peaceful nuclear energy just like any other developed nation. we have now a decades long standoff between iran and the west and over it the iranian nuclear program this has been very hyped up. the nuclear issue for political reasons in order to be able to garner support and put pressure on iran if you cannot control or influence a country you might go for isolation and weakening of the country in the best way to do that is through economic sanctions economic sanctions if we just listen to the most authoritative source when it comes to analyzing the iranian nuclear program which is the international atomic energy agency and if we read their reports we see that there is no evidence for any weaponization and also this is confirmed by numerously and on numerous occasions by the u.s. intelligence services and very recently so

in europe, in the united states or in iran. we have been brought under sanctions but have we, we do believe that europe and the united states have really sanctioned themselves. they tried very hard to create rode blocks, and this was a bad way to behave. >> charlie: may i just stay with the idea of your relationship th the supreme leader. their tension. how do you review the relationship because this program as you know is seen in your country. >> these are things that are portrayed by the media. >> charlie: i'm giving you an opportunity to correct whatever impression or whatever story that you believe not to be true. most people believe there is tension because they see decisions you make overruled by him. they say you saying something about syria and he says something else. they see syria's charges against your son's father-in-law. all of this suggests tension. iran is a free today. do you expect there not to be discussions. there are competitions, there are thingshat are said, there are groups, tre are pares. they compete ag

news iran has public enemy number one. just about everywhere you look at iran and it continues to develop nuclear weapons someone whether politician or pundit are controlled by a fanatical regime is beating the drums of war how close are we to the point of no return well i think we may be past the point of no return in the sense that iran does have inside the country everything it needs to produce a nuclear weapon that point of no return often exaggerated according to journalist seymour hersh who's in-depth articles recently this one in the new yorker illustrated time and time again the lack of evidence of a nuclear threat from iran the rhetoric though has resulted in widespread support for harsh actions against the country we support the sanctions program that's the sign to stop the punishment is. aimed at stopping the arrhenius from doing something you know we know they're not doing things called for repeatedly by the obama administration so let me be clear iran's nuclear and ballistic missile actively poses a real threa

insists it is designed to counter possible attacks from states such as iran and north korea but russia sees the plans as a direct threat to its own security and had proposed building a joint shield instead a suggestion nato has a decline. in is a professor of political science based in paris and thinks america's plans could trigger a new arms race. i don't think it's really a military necessity no one really believed that there was a possibility of iran attacking europe its myside still not reach could not reach western europe i think this takes up surely political washington probably wants to reassure the former satellite countries of the soviet union so it's a political move but hardly a military necessity and also considering the state of the us economy i don't think it's a wise move in plentiful terms one of. these reset all this he would russia at least he was achieving something corp russia and key issues but this new deployment is aware of antagonizing russia which is going to turn into maybe some kind of new arms race which is totally pointless not only because the effectivenes

you know the old beach boys song bomb iran. everywhere you go. i think really it's a great read so what exactly makes you think that senator come along as we explore why the political elite seem eager to beat the drums of war against iran. as protesters chant injustice the clock ticking down to the execution of troy davis so in the eleventh hour will be us murder a potentially innocent man and what is due to the u.s. his ability to lecture on the more rally to the rest of the world. good evening it's wednesday september twenty first four pm here in washington d.c. i'm lauren lyster and you're watching our t.v. . now we begin today with our coverage of the sixty six you know. good nations general assembly and this morning we heard from u.s. president barack obama who in the midst of us wars in afghanistan and iraq but more specific to obama the nato combat mission in libya which he greenlighted for the u.s. he talked a lot about peace pursuit of peace peace is more than just the absence of war a lasting peace. he says hurt people can live in susta