and as you mentioned there is really nothing much different iran had offered to engage previously iran did. and its nuclear program in two thousand and three for two years and as an act of good faith still while the one has a lot of hope of the current discussions surrounding the current discussions to borrow from martin luther king you know one would face final disappointment but one should never give bob indefinite hope i think there is hope there but one has to understand that washington needs to change washington that the nuclear program the civilian nuclear program is an excuse for washington to impose this sanctions it's not a reason and until they come to terms with. iran will never give up its rights. for head. ok we actually have a fire alarm here but i just want to jump in to say that this conversation is a little too slanted and biased it's it's both sides don't need to compromise it's not just washington iran has a whole history of deceiving the international community about its nuclear program it's documented it's on record this isn't information that should be debated but

in the iran-iraq war. is happening in syria, but iran has come out a bit of a winner. so speaking about red lines, it's interesting to note that netenyahu used the same language last year in the general assembly to refer to iran's nuclear program and the international community failed to act on assad's violation of those red lines. basically what that means for diplomacy is at the moment both sides tend to be in a more or less set position where iran is much more stable and confident about its position. the united states needs a bit of luck in the diplomatic arena, and they may be able to help each other in a lot of ways. and what that would mean could be a scaling back of places in lebanon, syria, iraq, and afghanistan. >> we're out of time. but this is certainly a conversation that will continue. gentlemen thank you. that's it for us in washington, d.c. thanks for watching. ♪ >> are you guys ready? in the event of any emergency, let us know through coms. >> high above the artic circle, >> stand by.... >>

iran would be more than willing to open it's nuclear program. iran has nothing to hide.he only thing that iran doesn't like is the so-called all options are on the table including military. the good news is that iranians were very happy yesterday when president obama did not repeat this rhetoric of all options are on the table. that's a good sign. we're hopeful that there will be cooperation with the united states. they miss this kind of good relations with the united states, but i don't think it will happen overnight as mr. obama himself mentioned yesterday. >> what are some of the internal challenges that president obama faces? >> internal challenges? well, what we're seeing is on both sides. it's nothing more than the practice of diplomacy. people have forgotten how to do it, apparently. we and the iranians have not practiced democr diplomacy for 0 years. we need to pull out the books, dust them off and figure out how to do it. what we do know how to do is call each other names, insult each other threaten each other. now we have to do something new. we have to live to

power plants but iran had a huge cheer and it still has a huge share in your death the shah of iran invested in you were there and they enrich uranium and they refused to supply iran so iran cannot develop its oil fields you know the sanctions in iran one thousand nine hundred six sanctions that has nothing to do with the nuclear power plants and they can't invest in this all feels it can't have any foreign investment it can't have nuclear energy so what are the iranians supposed to do you can't have seventy five million people perish because mr netanyahu is on this point figure somebody else plus the fact that iran needs these medical isotopes wish to put on the table the twenty percent enriched isotopes for medicine all purposes because of the sanctions because there can be no banking going back and forth their children women and old people dying because america needs to impose its will and it just shows you that america united states which which calls itself the friend of human rights is actually kills women children and the helpless that's not greatness this weakness really and

and iran? washington is playing down the chances of a handshake between barack obama and his new counterpart. has tehran turned over a new leaf? will syria into the uranian nuclear standoff -- the nuclear standoff? the hour begins in the newsroom. >> these are the headlines. failing to ci two i, russia disagrees with france that a u.n. report fails to prove syria used chemical weapons last month. a gunman who killed 12 people in washington navy yard on monday as identified as a navy contractor. stage one complete, after a 19 hour operation, the wreck of the costa concordia is turned up right. first, a day after a u.n. report confirmed that chemical weapons were used in damascus last month, a visit by french foreign minister to moscow has highlighted sharp divisions over who used them. rents, which pushed -- which pushed for military action, france said it was the syrian regime and wants russian support for a stronger yuan resolution. moscow says it is likely the rebels are to blame. >> despite

and iran? i take us back to 1979, hostages held for 444 days and the united states back then was considered to be the great satan. has that much changed? >> well, i think it is time for dialogue. we have a painful past with iran. iranians like to talk about the fact that the united states was involved in the overthrow of their government in 1953, and they have to talk about all the targeting of american citizens, terror attacks and taking hostages. we have to learn not to look backyard in this relationship but forward. i'm very much in support of dialogue with iran. it's time to do that. it's been an extraordinary cold war, if you will, between iran and the united states, and that should end. i hope very much there would be a diplomatic solution with no need of force. but you heard obama today, we need a serious negotiating team. >> i remember when then senator obama said they wanted to open a discussion, he was roundly criticized. do you think he'll be criticized today? >> i don't. i think mos

iraq-iran war .verybody in the iranian regime is convinced assad did it, but they cannot admit it for the moment. >> at one point the former president made a statement at a rabbi. there is an audio transcript. they said he was misinterpreted. >> he is now an old man. he is a bit above the political fight, so he can speak. i believe he spoke the truth. all in all, the message was very well understood by everybody in iran. >> majid rafizadeh, did they use of chemical weapons -- is that going to alter in any way tehran's position in its support for bashar al-assad? >> i do not think so. before just answering your question, if i can add one thing to the previous comment you're just made -- your guest made. the focus of the syrian crisis has shifted. we have to understand chemical weapons have killed less than one percent of the syrian people. 99% of the syrian people were killed by conventional weapons. i do not think any deal, even if it is reached within the u.n. general assembly, which is very unlikel

of iran. can you assure the world that president assad will give up all of his chemical weapons? >> translator: well, you know that, you know, we are ourselves the victims of chemical weapons. therefore, we are very sensitive about this weapon. we are wishing for the remoefl of all chemical weapons around the world and especially in the sensitive region of the middle east. in this regard, we won't stop doing whatever we could possibly do. >> can you assure the world that president assad will give up all of his chemical weapons? >> translator: we are not the syrian government. we are one of the countries of the region that seeks peace and stability and the elimination of weapons of mass destruction in the entire region. >> do you believe the united states, president obama looked weak in backing off an air strike on syria? >> translator: we consider war a weak weakness. any government that decides on what, we consider that a weakness and any government that decide on peace, we look at it with re

it was because of the internal dynamics in iran, clearly referring to iran possibly leader. it really just underscored the trust that there still is between the two sides. on thursday there will be a meeting between the members of the un security council and iran's prime minister. that will be the highest level in counter between an american and an iranian since 1979. so that is significant. should remember that. on balance, this week at the united nations, has it been a disappointment, or given cause for optimism for those who think there is a diplomatic solution? >> i think it is only really just beginning, but there is certainly tremendous excitement. remember just three or four weeks ago, the prospect of a military strike against syria by the u.s. the potential cooling of , andions with iran bubbling underneath all of it is the israeli-palestinian peace process. good sign that maybe something is going on there. >> thank you very much for monitoring all of the day's event. by a former state department official who is now a dean at johns hopkins. watching were president ro

and iran, correct? >> correct.the coup, iran became one of america's closest ally, and by a few years before theist lammic revolution of 1979, iran has become america's most trusted and closest ally in all of the middle east with the exception of the state of israel. in the mid-1970s, there were over 50,000 americans living in iran. relations were as good as it could have been, and then came the islamic revolution, and then less than a year after he came to power, a group of misguided students took over the american embassy, and as a result of that, president carter decided to sever relations between iran and the us. and they became bitter enemies. >> i want to go back to that date, 1979 is the day that sticks in american's minds the most. the show is overthrown. 52 americans held hostage for 444 days. as far as america is concerned, that is where the relationship with iran soured, and it has been like that for three decades. >> correct, but the iranian students did was in violation of human decency and internation

problems that iran can help with. right now we have the president of the muslim republic preside t hassan rouhani. no one knows what will be stayed but we assume it will be close to what he wrote in the op-ed in the "washington post." watch out for any references to israel. last year past president ahmadinejad came up with quite vicious language towards israel. will president rouhani do the same and damage any future relationships with the united states is one of the key questions we're all waiting to find out. as we go to the speech now from the general assembly >>> professor what are you expecting to hear from this speech. first of all you are already on the record saying the president obama made a speech you really enjoyed. there we see iran's president rouhani about to be introduced. what are you expecting from his remarks? >> remember, this is his inaugural speech to the international body. and he has signaled in every way that he is going to change the tone of the iranian presence in the international community.

slap sanctions against iran during the. me administration. the iranians were sympathetic to the united states after september the eleventh and in afghanistan they both had in an interest in fighting extremism then iran was called the axis of evil during. the nature of administration the united states the iranians agreed to talks with the united states in iraq again the united states simply increased sanctions against the country and now as soon as president rouhani comes to power the united states implements even further sanctions are on the eve of his inauguration which is extraordinary it shows that the united states simply does not have goodwill how is the iranian government. going to convince it be convinced that the united states can sit down and talk with the united states when the united states behaves in such an irrational and hostile way and on the other hand the united states at this stage has isolated itself. are improving relations thanks to obama with the. sions with the chinese with the indians with brics countries and other non

and iran. at the un he said that iran was willing to, quote, engage immediately in time-bound and result-oriented talks to build mutual confidence, end quote. on iran's nuclear program. the new president noted that io januaries had voted for, quote, a discourse of hope, both home and abroad, unquote. they did so in june. when he was elected. iran says the president would be willing to cooperate on a range of foreign policy issues including syria. question, was new ground broken this week between the united states and iran? >> yeah, it certainly was. we have in this fellow tough, intelligent, grainy and diplomat, a hardliner, someone who has been given the franchise to negotiate with the morning, to get rid of the sanctions on iran because they are hurting badly. and i believe that this fellow is basically committed to do that and get that accomplished. he knows what the americans will want. and there's a real possibility we could have a deal with this fella. frank through opposition to this, hi

i would establish a comparison between iran and syria. in iran, sanctions have been decided. for syria, the menace of strike have been decided. it means that it's not new. if we don't have-- we have-- coming back to iran-- to bear in mind that that they are asking for the cancelling of sanctions. okay. we will be able to examine that when decisive gestures, which have been done by the iranians. >> rose: what about fact of transparency, and the fact that the i.a.e.a. says it has not been allowed to do what's necessary for them to do. >> it's absolutely necessary. there has been interesting dialogue between president helen and president rouhani. at the time, president rouhani said-- oh, no, i am confusing. it was a did you log between me and my-- dialogue between me and my counter-part. one of the two dialogues. and the iranians say, you know, the difficulty is that we cannot prove the nonexistence of something. >> rose: they have this expression in english called, "we can't prove a negative." >> okay, and they say that. and they elaborated that. ... and it was both political a

and iran. at the u.n. president rouhani said that iran was able to engage and result oriented talks to build mutual confidence. on iran's nuclear program. the new president also noted that iranians had voted for, "a discourse of hope both home and abroad." they did so in june when he was elected. iran says president rouhani would be willing to cooperate on a range of foreign policy issues including syria. question, was new ground broken at the u.n. this week between the united states and iran? pat buchanan? >> yes, it certainly was. with this fellow, rouhani, tough, intelligence, iranian diplomat, a hardliner, but someone who has been given the franchise to negotiate with the americans to get rid of the sanctions on iran because those are really hurting badly. i believe that this fellow rouhani is basically committed to do that and get that accomplished. he knows what the americans are going to demand and what they're going to want. there's a real possibility we could have a deal with this fellow. frankly

so why does iran matter?t sits between two key countries iraq, and afghanistan, and has influence on both of them. and the west has accused iran of trying to build a nuclear weapon, but iran says it is only interested in generating electricity. iran is also a main ally of bashar al-assad. iran and russia with the two main suppliers to assad, hezbollah is heavily backed by iran, the group is thought to be more powerful than the lebanese army. iran also supports political and armed groups like hamas in the gaza strip. israel says that has set back negotiations on a two-state solution. however, iran's president he will support any democratic decisions made by the palestinians. we're joins now by a professor of iranian and middle eastern history at brooke college. it is good to talk to you, sir. first of all, what are your thoughts on the agreement to have discussions -- further discussions about iran's nuclear program next month in geneva? >> it's a major break through. as your former speaker said, we haven't ha

of iran being included in the geneva two peace talks, saying iran cannot be used to divert attention away from that countries push to develop nuclear weapons. no date has been set for the syrian peace talks. russia is also pushing for iran's attentions. >> aljazeera will have special coverage of the penalty's address at the united nations, beginning at 10:00 a.m. eastern time. >> police in chicago have now charged two men in connection with a shooting that injured those 13 people there. the shooting breaking out last thursday at a basketball court in a park on chicago's south side. 21-year-old byron champ and 21-year-old kiwani gate wood are accused of playing different roles, but don't think either man pulled the trigger. >> a hayesing incident forced the cancellation of the men's lacrosse team. older teammates forced new members to binge drink. a lot of them got sick as a result of their participation. those behind the binge drinking have now been told to participate in anti hazing programs, saying victims of the hazing will also be receiving support from the school. >> there was a

the united states and iran? >> i wouldn't want to get too far out in front. just on friday the first conversation between president obama and the new president of iran, first communication in almost 35 years, secretary kerry met with his counterpart first meaningful exchange at that level in the same period of time and negotiations really have not even begun in a substantive way under the new leadership in iran. it's way too soon to presume either the prospect of an agreement on nuclear program, which we hope to be able to achieve but we're quite sober about the potential for that and that obviously would need to be a first step before going on to discuss other aspects of the u.s./iranian relationship which has a long way to go to get to the state of normalization. obviously ultimately if we could get there, that would be in the interest of the iranian people whom the united states and the american people have had long standing respect for and it's a very talented group of people in a country with a rich history

it was because of the internal dynamics in iran, clearly referring to iran possibly leader. it really just underscored the trust that there still is between the two sides. on thursday there will be a meeting between the members of the un security council and iran's prime minister. that will be the highest level in counter between an american and an iranian since 1979. so that is significant. should remember that. on balance, this week at the united nations, has it been a disappointment, or given cause for optimism for those who think there is a diplomatic solution? >> i think it is only really just beginning, but there is certainly tremendous excitement. remember just three or four weeks ago, the prospect of a military strike against syria by the u.s. the potential cooling of , andions with iran bubbling underneath all of it is the israeli-palestinian peace process. good sign that maybe something is going on there. >> thank you very much for monitoring all of the day's event. by a former state department official who is now a dean at johns hopkins. watching were president ro

and iran. the group found that 51% of americans and iranians questioned say they favors direct talks between the two nations. it sparks some protests in the streets of new york. kristen has that part of the story. avenue nearly four decades of silence, demonstrators are saying enough, it is time to talk. >> you don't solve problems by going into separate rooms and slamming doors. they want their leaders to talk. they want them to be saved. >> newly elected president hassan came to the united states egg tore find a way to end cripples economic sanctions. imposed by the west, so fry to stop iran from developing weapons. but mistrust runs deep. >> we are at agelong vagues across from the u.s., organized by a group. and the people they have organized demonstrations like this for the past several years calling for an end to iran's religious leadership. that year, they are getting a lot of support. from norm city mayor, to u.s. u.n. ambassador. mesh wants to succeed in negotiating with iran, can't do

this is not peculiar to iran. anybody who has talked with heads of state or foreign intoters and starts to get details of nuclear policy issues realizes they don't follow those details. but they get the general principle. principle is going to be if it is fair. to give up to asked a lot more than we are getting. in are they picking on us? terms of thinking about how to design a deal and how to approach it, i think we have to have those general principles in mind. so the framework that i would suggest as we think about it borrows from president reagan. hise of you who remember famous thing about negotiating arms control with the soviet union, which by the way, the people who elected him in 1980 did not expect. the early reagan would not have been expected to have been a major leader of nuclear arms reduction, but in his second term he did that and he said trust but verify. that was how he explained what they were going to do. the run i think we should distrust and verify. so not trust but verify, but distrust and v

and iran. that's right and he might not be very happy about it let's remember that netanyahu is a rival to the state's comes just days following historic fifteen minute phone call between president obama and rouhani it was the first conversation between the nation's leaders in thirty four years obama has suggested that a breakthrough on iran's nuclear issue could also signal even deeper ties eventually between the u.s. and iran but in addition to who the head of iran's elite revolutionary guard is in pleased with how quickly u.s. iran are repairing ties according to reports mohamed jaafari believes rouhani should have turned down the phone call conversation until the u.s. government shows more sincerity towards iran but nonetheless president rouhani is dancing to the beat of his own drum and i say that because recently he requested that aviation authorities study the possibility of resuming direct. flights have been halted since one thousand nine hundred seventy nine for the israeli prime minis

they're not open to the idea of iran to support. what i think you will see in the region going forward is that what we're seeing essentially is the collapse of the american water and united states is not the decisive power as it was in the past and as a result conflicts that were kept in check are no longer in check and there were sitting up there bubbling up and conflicts that could be resolved that are not getting resolved because there's no decisive mechanism any longer to really be able to do so that's going to lead to unfortunately years of instability and it's probably going to be several different iterations of shifting alliances until in new equipment is found in the region i think however that is an inevitable process i don't see us in any way shape or form being able to get around it and i don't find it very likely that the united states is going to be able to one to be able to really adopt a position of being the ultimate guarantor of the security of the region being the hedge amount of the region as it was before two tho

and attacked iran was also an arab state, stood out and chose to support iran. and therefore, our relationship goes back to the hard time, the prime of war, the time of defense as far as we were concerned against iraq's invasion. also you know it rests in a region in part of the world that is extremely sensitive. the entire middle east is very sensitive these days. we have important interests as a result. one of our key interests is the stability of the region. if the region is destabilized further, it will affect all of us and create a predicament for all of us. the entire region needs peace. the peace must prevail across the region. if there is war in one corner of the middle east, the heat of the war, the frames of the war reach all and breeds problems for us. we're also deeply concerned about the strengthening of terrorism in the region. it seems that all categories of terrorists groups have gathered in syria so our interest is to ensure that terrorism is not empowered. we deeply concerned by the civil war in syria. because this country is on the drinking of

to remind you we're discussing syria and iran. ok moments ago back to you in turn it was about ten days ago benjamin netanyahu the israeli prime minister told c.b.s. news that iran is building intercontinental ballistic missiles that could strike the united states in a matter of years. i think you know where i'm going here i mean talk about this dynamic because you know when it comes to iran people israel has a big hearing be it in the lobby in the united states there's a big hearing is that in america's national interest definitely not i mean the united states is basically because of israel. pursuing policies that are totally against the national interests of the united states the united states out of spite because of its hostility towards iran has allied itself with al qaeda it has al light it indirectly at least with saudi arabia the place where the al qaeda like ideology stems from with a talent dictatorships like that it is allied itself with the worst worst regimes in the world and it is behaving and it is supporting these g

the united states and iran? >> fareed, i wouldn't really want to get too far out in front. just on friday, we had the first conversation between president obama and the new president of iran. secretary kerry met with his counterpart, first meaningful exchange at that level in the same period of time. and negotiation at the p5 plus one have not really begun in a substantive way. so it's too early to assume either the prospect of agreement on the nuclear program, which we hope to be able to achieve, but we're quite sober about the potential for that, and that obviously would need to be a first step before going on to discuss other aspects of the u.s./iranian relationship, which has a long way to go before you get to the state of normalization. if we could get there, that would be in the interest of the iranian people and a talented group of people, in a country with a rich history. if we could have a peaceful resolution of a nuclear program and other behavior that has concerned us, we could begin a serious discuss

hawks here in iran, just as there are anti-iran hawks in washington.oderate, centrist strategy. what's remarkable is the hard-line factions have been relatively silent. we haven't seen any faction here in iran be critical of rowhani. some say that's an indication that the supreme leader behind the scenes had gathered the factions and told them to say united, essentially telling rowhani that this is your campaign, and do what you can, and we're going to back you. so hard-line factions remaining silent. wolf, what's critical to point out is that despied the opt such, iran's core issues when it comes to the nuclear program have remained the same. first and foremost, they are not going to stop what they call a peaceful nuclear program. they're not going to stop uranium enrichment. there's speculation they may suspend uranium enrichment at 70% or open up some of their militaries to perhaps broader inspections, but they have made it clear in these negotiations, whatever happens, they don't want to be viewed as appeasing washington or backing down to demands.

iran, syria. as far as iran is concerned, the words are good. and they are new. and it's's important. but what matters at the end of the day is actions, deedses, and, there were, all tests will be sure that the iranian people do implement what they are talking about. that's our perspective. if there is an opportunity, we have to seize it because the situation is very serious. we are discussing about nuclear, okay. they have the right to have any nuclear-- what they want but as far as nuclear weapon is concerned, it must be simple-- it's no. in the meet we had-- when it was it, the day before yesterday-- with the minister of foreign affairs, zarif, what was interesting for not only whatat zarif said, but the fact that all of us, i five-- chinese, russians, americans, british, ourselveses -- we said to iranian representative as far as nuclear weapon is concerned, it's no. now, to come back to president rouhani, no doubt is intelligent. no doubt he knows he has been elected only because the iranian population wants to change, because of the sanctions, sanctions, and

can iran be trusted? president obama seems skeptical. >> the test will be meaningful, transparent and verifiable actions. >> reporter: another problem, rouhani is not the ultimate power in iran. the supreme leader ayatollah is. >> translator: the supreme leader i can tell you, has given his permission for my government to negotiate freely on these issues. >> reporter: the next step are likely to be small ones not big ones, confidence-building measures in advance of a meeting in october. iran could agree to release western prisoners, including the american christian pastor and the u.s. could ease some sanctions. george, the bottom line is, after these historic headlines this week, now comes the hard part, the really hard part. >>> let's get more on that hard part from iran's foreign minister, dr. zarif joins us. welcome back to "this week." your first time in 26 years. >> yes. >> it's been a long time. this week, analysts in the middle east have called the events a game-changer, one even liking it to the f

then you have the iran hawks, anti-iran lawmakers that dominate the u.s. congress.ave not given any ind kags that they will support president obama's efforts to establish some sort of relationship with iran, wolf. >> reza sayah in tehran. nick paton walsh is here. did you notice when he arrived the new iranian president put out there on twitter -- he has a twitter feed right now that he's putting stuff out. a picture of himself in the limo, driving in to new york city. i don't know what it says, but he's pretty active on twitter all of a sudden. >> gives you a new idea of how different this approach is from tehran. how do these tweets that said everything from happy new year to the jewish population, how much -- >> reporte >> that's a good question, reza. how much does that represent the mood in iran right now? the u.n. sanctions led by the u.s. are really biting. >> what nick asked was what's the mood inside the inner core of the leadership. there's no access to the inner core. a lot of the decisions in iran happen behind closed doors. the supreme leader is still t

same here with iran.ve heard positive statements, as you noted, from the new president rouhani, president obama made clear the road is going to be very difficult and this, too, could fall apart. take a listen. >> i don't believe this difficult history can be overcome overnight. the suspicions run too deep. but i do believe that if we can resolve the issue of iran's nuclear program, that can serve as a major step down a long road towards a different relationship. >> reporter: big if. obviously, you mentioned the iranian foreign minister, there is president rouhani. he is going to be addressing the u.n. general assembly late this afternoon, so we'll all be watching that very carefully. in the meantime, his foreign minister, as you noted, will be meeting with secretary of state john kerry, the highest level contact between the u.s. and iranian government since 1979, but also earlier the foreign minister had this tweet, quote: >> r eporter: that has critics coft administration raising eyebrows that the west h