that supported iran. against iraq. if you look at iraq, shiism has been the center, you can't draw a dividing line between these communities as much as the saudis would like that and you have shia in saudi arabia, shia majority in bahrain and kuwait and when they are mistreated as they often are they are forced to look to iran as a protector because it is the largest shia country. we look at this in all its nuances, you don't see it as black-and-white, i am not comfortable with iran supporting the assad regime and the atrocities it committed but there is a reason for iran's involvement in these countries. >> i want to add to that, the narrative that is spreading instability which is promoted very much by saudi arabia and the gulf states and israel, let's look at the facts, playing devils advocate is well and good but we should not get away from the facts. we have only come to understand what the forces are after our invasion of afghanistan and iraq. we started, the united states started the instability in

we have the iran nuclear deal.very few months, all of the countries get together and they meet in this thing called the joint commission. a novel idea that was included in the deal. when rex tillerson goes to the podium and says that sometime i will probably cross paths, he knows he will because he has to. he doesn't have a choice. so yes, there is an opportunity, at the very least to pass messages. if we are smart and we want to use all the levers and tools of american power we will do more than just pass messages. we will sit down and have bilateral meetings and sitting down and having bilateral meetings on the sidelines of a multilateral meeting is not capitulation. it is a demonstration of strength and the obama administration proved that and the rest of the international community or the global powers that sat down and agreed to this deal with us also share that view. >> i would love to see whether it's direct or indirect through the world banks and others, some serious work around water management. that is th

that iran is too difficult to understand, as well as the idea that iran is irrational. what i consider that mad mullah problem that iran is, the iranian leadership is too crazy. i think both these ideas really handicap us in being able to understand what tehran is thinking about, how it looks at the u.s., how it formulates its foreign policies, security policies. naturally the heart of what i'm trying to do in this monograph is take the face off that confusion and say no, you can't understand this. you can learn about it. what i'm trying to do is not so much provided whole bunch of policies, policy prescriptions for this administration or for future administrations, but basically provide analytic framework, models if you will, for understand how iran develops its foreign policies, how iran develops its approaches in particular security issues, how it goes to war, how it looks at the u.s., how it looks it is your come out at its rivals in the persian gulf, out looks at threats such as isis, and in particular how it develops concepts about military doctrine, how would app

now iran, if you think about how much influence could iran possibly have, actually it's not that much because it is linguistically not the same as the arab world. culturally it's very different and it is of this minority shia sect. let me give an example. if you take protestants and catholics, how many people do you know who are protestants who will easily turn from being a protestant to a catholic or vice versa. people don't switch their religion and their faiths that easily. the idea that we have the spreading of shiism and you could even equate it to what the saudi's have been doing, it's a false narrative. it's a narrative that they have been wanting us to understand for many years and it's a false one because they are on the fringe of the saudi side and they have been putting money and resources into every single muslim community around the world and telling them our version of islam is what sunni and some really should be and i can give you lots of material on this. this is a false narrative. to your point about proxy wars, absolutely we should not be in the game of proxy wars.

iran has a rich history and culture, but the people of iran have indoor it hardship and despair due to their leaders reckless pursuit of conflict in terror. until the irani and regime -- iranian regime is willing to be a partner for peace, all countries must work together to isolate them, deny it, funding for terrorism, cannot do it. and pray for the day when the iranian people have the just and righteous government they so richly deserve. >> president trump last week in riyadh. what did you hear in addition for calling for the isolation of iran? >> he returned back to the idea of speaking to the iranian people. heard what they running people said the day before by reelecting the president. saidf the problems is he that he wanted to pursue more negotiations to resolve the remaining problems in order to give them more sanctions. essentially it was an open invitation to resolve problems. if we look back at for the history of the past 37 years, the only time the united states has managed to get them to change their behavior was through the nuclear deal, through negotiations. everything el

ensure that iran does not continue with its aggressive policies in the region and that iran adhere to the letter by the agreement made between it and the p5+1 countries, that iran sees its support for terrorism, adhere to the security council resolutions with regard to ballistic missiles and cease its human rights violations and its interference in the affairs of the country in the region. they discussed the situation in syria. they discussed the importance of working towards peace between israelis and palestinians, the custodian of the two holy mosques expressed the kingdom's optimism that president trump with a new approach and determination can bring a conclusion to this long conflict. he certainly has the vision and we believe he has the strength and decisiveness and the kingdom stands prepared to work with the united states in order to bring about peace between israelis and palestinians and israelis and arabs. they also discussed the situation in yemen, and of course they discussed trade and investment. it was a -- they had a great lunch where the conversation actually began befo

-iran relations. from washington journal, this is about 30 minutes. >> this is the founder and president of the national iranian american council. here to talk about a couple of issues. the trip of president trump that they just wrapped up last night here in washington. the first part of that trip was in saudi arabia as the elections were underway in iran. as the week wraps up, the reelection of president rouhani, the return of president trump, the speech he gave in riyadh, how do you assess u.s.-iran relations? very, very shaky relationship pretty negative relationship for the the last 37 years as i wrote in my previous book it's an institutionalized entity. both are built on the idea that they are going to be enemies. this is not something that is easy to change. however, in the past few years with the nuclear deal there were prospects for change. there were some positive movements. but in order to be able to undo 37 years of this and resolve the many remaining conflicts that exist between the two c

should not see iran as 10 feet tall and recognize that iran poses a significant threat to stability in the region but we can approach things, with greater confidence and with greater strategy and frankly, smarter way that we have in the past. >> thanks, matt. >> a good evening, ladies and gentlemen and friends. thanks for inviting me to represent so calm tonight. this is an important topic. i only wish that when we were working these problems six or seven years ago that someone had written this had written this for us to use as a tool. i'm no middle eastern expert but i am a military planner and from my perspective, tools that we can use to understand our adversaries are critically important to us as we try to provide options for our government and our secretary going forward. that's what this product does. anytime you have an opportunity to get into the mind of your adversary and try to understand decision-making process and allows you to prioritize your plan in a way that you could do otherwise. in particular with iran that's particularly important. i took a few specific things aw

iran. we don't know how to call it. in the age of trump, maybe iranians will be afraid. there was a nervousness which caused a lot of iranians to come out and say no, that is not what we want. the overwhelming attitude of the beia that this was going to a close race or we did not know what would happen, brought about more people getting engaged and saying no, we have to stop this. a vote against the conservative in some ways. more so than him as a person. iranian election. we know what the result is now. in terms of president trump's , andto the middle east sword dancing with the arab princes, it is hard to imagine something less useful for their region van to ally yourself as closely as the u.s. seems to want to with saudi arabia. especially saudi arabia. iranians, they are taking a wait and see attitude. has made ituhani clear they will wait and see what actions the u.s. takes. mocked trumpters this weekend on twitter for essentially milking the saudi's for money. in his big arms deal and

speech he did address iran. here's some of what he had to say. from lebanon to iraq, the yemen, iran funds arms and trains terrorists, militias, and other extremist groups that spread destruction and chaos across the roirge. for decades iran has fueled the fires of sectarian conflict and terror. it is a government that speaks openly of mass murder, vowing the destruction of israel, death to america, and ruin for many leaders and nations in this very room. ong iran's most tragic and destabilizing intraventions you've seen it in syria. bolstered by iran, assad has committed unspeakable crimes and the united states has taken firm action in response to the use of banned chemical keapses by the assawed -- weapon business the assad regime launching 59 missiles at the the syrian air baste from where that murderous attack originated. responsible nations must work together to end the humanitarian crisis in syria, eradicate isis, and restore stabblet to the region and as quickly as possible. the iranian regime's longest s

saudi arabia versus iran. to the extent that there is a problem with a sect here, it's one the president is not going to mention because he's in saudi arabia. and that is that a kind of gateway drug to extremism has been the wahabi islam that saudi arabia is frankly pushing throughout the muslim world. this has been a huge problem. i hear complaints from muslims all over north africa, the balkans, southeast asia, that the saudis are spending tons of money trying to push out their indigenous forms of islam, which are pretty moderate and saying only wahabi islam is authentic islam. so they are in a sense feeding extremism. it's too much to expect the president to say that while he's in saudi arabia, but it is a huge problem and it's something that i hope he is at least saying to them privately. it's really in the islamic world driving out moderate forms of islam and it's been doing that for decades now and it is one of the reasons for the rise of extremism. >> as we were seeing there and you can see wilbur ross,

iranian policy across the region, if there are more sanctions against iran, how would iran respond?olicy in the middle east has been remarkably consistent for the last four decades, there have been three pillars, hostility towards the united states, rejection of israel's existence, and rivalry with saudi arabia, which has intensified. i don't think that will change president trump's policies. but if there is more confrontation between america and iran in the middle east, whether that is in syria or yemen, it could indirectly help to unravel the nuclear deal, which would be a real national—security concern for the united states and the us partners in signing the nuclear deal — europe, russia and china. talking to senior saudi officials, they are obsessed with iran and its engagement in the region. it's not clear that even the neighbouring states in the persian gulf would put pressure on iran that saudi arabia wants to do. what is your assessment? saudi arabia sees it as an existential battle. this is not a normal rivalry. saudi arabia is a status quo power, iran isa arabia is a statu

i think iran pushes north korea to do some missile tests. if we make a preemptive strike on north korea, iran will probably come to north korea defense. got to be careful and smart about it. i am praying for it and we issued what you do. when you talked about the missile should the bill the test, issile with the wonder what is more impressive. his shooting an incoming missile down, which we don't have much time, or shooting a satellite out of space, a further distance than the satellite -- host: we will let our guest respond. guest: thanks for the question. the number have in one arms purchaser in the world for the last several years running. it is interesting to they are arming up because they are concerned about the iranian threat. but there are concerns about how ofh saudis are in possession . a war is going on in yemen and they are using advanced weaponry there. we have seen the death of civilians in that conflict. the israelis are little nervous. they have to be concerned about something they call the quality nomilitary edge which means

iran has not.nsion here. >> and in terms of the message he delivers to saudi arabia on that subject not dissimilar to what we heard from president obama previously. right now the president will walk, make the ten-minute walk to the western wall. what is the significance, fareed, of this sort of religious pilgrimage president trump is making with the whole world watching? >> i think that is, trump is doing something symbolic that is i think important. it's important whenever the american president goes to demonstrate a sort of respect for any country's most important sites, and particularly religious sites. i think it's just symbolic, but symbolism is powerful. it's important that he does it with christianity, with judaism, i think to a certain extent he did it with islam as well. as you say, the speech that he gave about islam was frankly one that barack obama could have given. he in fact even used the same terminology. he said islamist extremism, obama tended to say islamism or violent extremism.

but a lot of references to iran, what iran is doing in the region. the president saying iran will not get a nuclear weapon. let's bring the two things together as we're going to return to brett baer in saudi arain why in a minute. i want to listen for a second. >> never mentioned in the conversation. you had another story wrong, never mentioned the word israel. >> thank you, thank you. let's go, out. >> jenna: unexpected as you know the president with additional comments. what we're going to do is cut that sound for you and replay it in just a moment so you can hear it in full. what i wanted to point out, as you look at the theme of this trip abroad from the president, the president was very clear talking about iran and saudi arainia. the president very clear talking about iran in israel. while saudi arabia and is plal do not have diplomatic relations this, was the first direct flight from air force one to saudi arabia into israel because of lack of diplomatic relations. this is one thing they agree, on they do not want an empowered iran and don't wa

iran's involvement in syria?onger russian-iranian alliance and seen the fact that iran basically is continuing to finance terrorism. >> what we did see in iran is they don't have the ability to acquire or attain or develop a nuclear weapon, that is a step in the right direction. >> they lost the -- >> we can relitigate the iran deal as long as we want, right? here's the truth. now donald trump has the keys to this car and even though there was an election in iran yesterday and iran seems to be moving more to a globalized position than previously, he still slapped them in the face. that is not diplomacy. judge jeanine: richard, doesn't it bother you when you hear the iranians yelling death to america, eradicate israel, the big devil, the little devil? come on! you think they're our friends. >> bothers me as much as russia engaging in our election. judge jeanine: oh, boy. i'm will for someone to give me evidence of that. you know what? i don't want to go there. richard, richard. >> they engaged in our elections. ju

my thing is really about iran. iran has never attacked anybody. yes,they are muslims and they are terrorists just as they are in saudi arabia. they're the people who came and attacked us on 9/11. on iran's caseys and then we go over there, whether it is obama or trump, and they are holding hands and sucking up to saudi arabia, and then the big that bogeyman, iran. i do not see a whole lot of difference between the two countries except saudi arabia actually killed 3000 people here in our country. if you could explain that, i would appreciate it. thanks. guest: a lot to unpack. i would reiterate carl's point that the u.s. military has been a force for good and i am very proud of our men in uniform and i would say look, not every decision we have made over the years has been perfect but overall, the united states has attempted to be a force for good in the middle east and beyond and we should be very proud. we hear a lot of this right now about, how come we are not doing more to talk about saudi arabia. saudi arabia had 15 of the hijackers. no questi

they discussed the nefarious activities of iran and the fact that action has to be taken to ensure iran does not continue with its excessive policies in the region. that iran sees its support with terrorism and adheres to the un security council's resolution in regards to ballistic missiles. and they see their human rights violations. and its interference in the affairs of the country in the region. they discussed the situation and the importance of looking for peace between israelis and palestinians. they express the kingdom's optimism that president trump come with a new approach and determination, can bring a conclusion to this long conflict . he certainly has the vision and we believe he has the strength and decisiveness and the kingdom of the saudi's prepared to stand with the united states to bring about peace between israelis and palestinians. they also discussed the situation of yemen and investment. they had a great lunch conversation, it actually began before the meeting. , as i mentioned, is truly historic. we are honored that president trump chose to come to the kingdom of s

we will continue to judge iran based on its deeds and base our policy based on iran's deeds. if i may say something about that wehe perception is are fighting in yemen for a reason, or that we have no objective or no goals. people forget how this started. saudi arabia work together to come up with the gcc initiative which created the transition. yemen was in a transitional period. students, travel people with different religious sects. they come up with the blueprint for what the should look forward going forward. rights for everyone. they rewind to codify that insulate constitution. then they staged a coup. they attacked the city. they seized the government into total control of a country that is critically important to the security of the region. now we have a radical militia allied with iran and hezbollah oversition that has taken a friendly government. we intervened. we have said there is no military solution. the solution is political. they have to go back to the implement -- the negotiating table. less than 50,000. in a country of 28 million. it is unacceptable that the

helping the human rights situation in iran.s is what the hardliners would like. it is so easy for them to dismiss what otherwise is legitimate criticism against iran's human rights record when it is said from riyadh and said with this degree of hypocrisy and double standards. it is undermining the human rights situation in iran when it is done in the matter that rexx titillersoson did it. amy: i would like to turn to a 2009 diplomatic cable released i wikileaks on saudi arabia. the cable, which was written by then secretary state hillary clinton, said -- "donors in saudi arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to sunni terrorist groups worldwide." the cable went on to urge senior u.s. government officials to "encourage the saudi government to take more steps to stem the flow of funds from saudi arabia-based sources to terrorists and extremists worldwide." trita parsi? >>>> this trip is not about fighting terrorism. if it was, we would have actually seen much firmer position by the united states against these fu

of iran in this region.t these relationships. i'mjoined by region. let's have a look at these relationships. i'm joined by the executive director of the tent to tent —— of the arabia foundation and i'm joined by tent —— of the arabia foundation and i'mjoined by an tent —— of the arabia foundation and i'm joined by an expert on iran. you are sitting in washington, why do you think that saudi arabia has claimed this prize of being the first stop on president trump's foreign visit? what was it about the relationship? it shows the centrality of the relationship, the enormous importance saudi arabia has for america's interests in the middle east, the need to work closely with saudi arabia to fight terrorism and to deter iran. the gentleman around the president, his advisers, national security adviser, secretary of state, are strong believers in that. that's really what has pushed the symbolism of the trip, it is very symbolic for a president who said a lot of rhetoric on the campaign that caused concern but the f

i am speaking, of course, of iran.lebanon to iraq to yemen, iran funds arms and trains terrorists, militias and other extremist groups that spread destruction and chaos across the region. for decades, iran has fuelled the fires of sectarian conflict and terror. it's a government that speaks openly of mass murder, vowing the destruction of israel, death to america and ruin for many leaders and nations in this very room. earlier, i spoke to kasra naji of bbc persian service, and he said iran will look at president trump's speech with a dim view. what i have seen is some of the tweets from some hardliners on twitter, hardline elements in iran, who say that every time we showed weakness, this is how our enemies behave. this is a reference to re—electing a moderate leader, rather than a hardline leader, president, with reference to the re—election the president yesterday. a lot of this is rhetoric, big sales of arms agreed to saudi arabia, which would be more alarming than words? yes. $120 worth of hardware "110 words? yes.

that iran does not continue with its aggressive policies in the region and that iran adhere to the letter of the agreement made between it and the p5 plus one countries, that its support for terrorism, adheres to the human security council resolutions with regard to ballistic missiles, and ceases human rights violations. interference in the affairs of the country of the region. they discuss the situation in syria and the importance of looking towards peace between israelis and palestinians. they expressed the kingdom's trumpsm that president can bring a conclusion to this long conflict. he certainly has the vision, and we believe he has the strength and decisiveness, and the king of a saudi arabia is prepared to work with the united states. they also discussed the situation in yemen and also trade and investment. where the great lunch conversation actually began before the meetings. as i mentioned, is a truly historic visit. we are honored that president trump chose to come to the kingdom of saudi arabia on his first visit, and we look forward the arrowo hosting american summit, which is

iran's newly—re—elected president hassan rouhani has said iran will seek greater international engagementican secretary of state, rex tillerson, said the only way iran could change its relationship with the world would be by ending its support for what he called destabilising forces in the region. 0ur diplomatic correspondent paul adams has the details. in the end, it wasn't even close. the pragmatic hassan rouhani winning comfortably. for reform—minded middle—class voters, this was a significant victory. they came out in huge numbers, determined not to let hardliners take back the presidency. iranians know their president is not a natural reformer but they are weary of conflict and, in the cities at least, eagerfor change. mr rouhani seemed to represent their best hope. today he thanked them and addressed the international community. translation: today the world is well aware that the iranians nation has chosen the path of interaction with the world. a path which is distant from extremism and violence. our nation seeks to live in peace and friendship with the world but is not ready to ac

we will continue to judge iran based on its deeds and base our policy based on iran's deeds. if i may say something about that wehe perception is are fighting in yemen for a reason, or that we have no objective or no goals. people forget how this started. saudi arabia work together to come up with the gcc initiative which created the transition. yemen was in a transitional period. students, travel people with different religious sects. they come up with the blueprint for what the should look forward going forward. rights for everyone. they rewind to codify that insulate constitution. then they staged a coup. they attacked the city. they seized the government into total control of a country that is critically important to the security of the region. now we have a radical militia allied with iran and hezbollah oversition that has taken a friendly government. we intervened. we have said there is no military solution. the solution is political. they have to go back to the implement -- the negotiating table. less than 50,000. in a country of 28 million. it is unacceptable that the

he also used strong language against iran, saudi arabia's biggest rival. scientists in the uk are investigating whether many cases of depression could be triggered by an overactive immune system. researchers are now looking at whether some anti—inflammatory drugs might help certain patients. in spain thousands of real madrid football fans have been celebrating their team's first league title since 2012. players joined the party aboard an open top bus after beating their rivals barcelona to the la liga title. now it's time for world business report. "hundreds of billions of dollars in the us and jobs, jobs, jobs". the words of president trump as he signs a mammoth defence deal with saudi arabia — but who are the real winners and losers? plus the designs may be chic and stylish but is frantic or placed to start a technology company? we have a special report as campaigning gets under way in the parliamentary elections. welcome to world business report. i'm sally bundock — also in the programme the trans pacific partnership is back! or is it? rico willjoin us

plus will iran stay open for business?rvatives pledge to roll back rouhani's reforms, as companies nervously await next week's presidential election. welcome to world business report. i'm tanya beckett. also coming up, playing for big "steaks." china agrees to buy us beef as trade talks continue. but first: we start in europe's economic powerhouse, because in a couple of hours‘ time, germany will release its latest gdp figures. growth is expected to have accelerated in the first three months of the year, fuelled by global demand for the country's exports, like cars and machinery. but it's not all cause for celebration. let me show you why. last year, germany clocked up its biggest ever trade surplus. that's how much more it exports than it imports. at $275 billion germany has one of the biggest trade surpluses in the world. it's a source of tension with its neighbours and allies. look at how much more germany sells to these top economies than it buys from them. the us in particular has accused germany of exploiting an unde

iran's people are the longest suffering victims of iran's regime. how are people reacting and how is the government reacting to what he said? >> reporter: it certainly looks like renewed heightened an attention with america and complete reversal of the obama approach. the kmentcomments are not going well here. they are hostile. people are calling it a plot to destabilize iran. setting the staplige for antagom with iran and u.s. he said iran fresh from elections attacked by potus in the democracy in moderation. foreign policy are milking $480 billion. another stinging comment. he suggested that president trump discuss how to avoid another september 11th attack. he said you will really find out who knocked down the world trade center because they have papers and they are secret. you will find out saudis are behind this. iran's deputy minister of military here also had tough words of secretary tillerson. dismantle ballistic missile program and offer proxy in the region. he said secretary of state rex tillerson's he cexpectations of iran. he forged ahea

iran should be: very grateful to the united states because iran negotiated a fantastic deal with therevious isinistration, a deal that unbelievable from any standpoint. some people don't understand it, how he could -- it could even be thought of. instead of being thankful, saying thank you, they would have totally failed within six months, we gave them a lifeline and not only gave them a lifeline, we gave them wealth and prosperity, and we also gave them an ability to continue with trevor, and all -- continue with terror and all the things they've been doing to. no matter where we are can we see the signs of iran in the middle east, no matter where we go. in syria come where we were forced to shoot the 59 missiles a few weeks ago. no matter what area we are in -- yemen, iraq -- no matter where we are, we see the signs, every sign, whether it is soldiers, money and guns, it is iran. and instead of saying thank you to the united states, they feel emboldened. maybe they figure the deal was so good we can do whatever we can. it was a terrible idea for the united states to enter that deal

ron,otection against the protection against iran. --protection against iran.cey: we heard the saudi foreign minister saying when it comes to iran he wants to cds and not words. >> iran is not only making problems on the nuclear deal, it is interfering in yemen and lebanon. tracey: does the u.s. have the capability to do that unilaterally? >> it is going to be the russians and the chinese but they can lead. >> i just recall the moment former president barack obama was on the ground in cairo, egypt and gave his speech into the arab world. how is this speech going to be different than the last time around? we saw the u.s. president give a speech with a lot of ambition but delivered very little in terms of policy change. >> it all starts haply, let's ends happily. it started with apathy about was happening in the arab spring. so far it is good but we are early days. brought up the obama administration. trump was very critical of the obama administration relationship with saudi arabia. he criticized obama for bowing to the king. now we have pictures of trust affect

on iran, both sides seem to line up. and i think when we look at what the king here has done, it was only a year or so ago he built a very big sunni alliance of 35 nations. essentially to have a sunni force ready to go and fight, potentially, for sunni interests in syria. that of course was all kind of stood down because it was the wrong message at a time his talks were getting under way. so when it comes to tackling isis, countries like saudi arabia are under threat from isis and al qaeda. they threatened the monarchy directly because this is the holiest country for islam. are also going to have to push that keep that narrative going and define the precise support that they want. certainly saudi arabia is providing useful information over the past several years that has directly helped the united states. the white house is saying it's going to be a speech of unity, but mark, do you think that the president can speak with authority in bringing religious spaces together, particularly muslims on the same page when he has s

have you ruled out diplomacy with iran? secondly, on yemen, how does pouring in more weapons via saudi arabia actually hasten an end to that brutal war. mr. james come mr. jubeir can i get your reaction to the election of hassan rouhani? >> well, in terms of whether i would ever pick the phone up, i've never shut off the phone to anyone that wants to talk or have a productive conversation. at this point, i have no plans to call my counterpart in iran, although in all likelihood we will talk at the right time. in terms of the situation in yemen, our emphasis is on finding a political solution. we view it as a tragic situation, obviously millions of people on the brink of starvation because of the impact of the fighting, but we also think it's important to put the pressure on parties to come to the table and talk. so i want to make it clear that we have efforts under way on both fronts. i think the rebels in yemen and those that have taken over the government in yemen, have overthrown the government, have to know they cannot

ensure that iran does not continue with its aggressive policies in the region and iran adhere to the letter by the agreement made between it and the p-5 plus one countries. and iran cease support for terrorism and adhere to the resolution with regard to ballistic missiles and cease its human rights violations and interference in the affairs of the country of the region. they discussed the situation in syria, they discussed the importance of working towards peace between israelis and palestinians, the custodians execs pressed the kingdom's optimism that president trump with a new approach and determination can bring a conclusion to this long conflict. he certainly has the vision and we believe he has the strength and the decisiveness and the kingdom is prepared to work with the united states in order to bring about peace between israelis and palestinians and israelis and arabs. they discussed the situation in yemen and discussed trade and investment. it was a-- they had a great lunch where the conversation actually began before the meetings and the visit, as i mentioned, is a truly hi

china is the largest trade partner of iran and the biggest investor in iran.signed a $2 billion rail deal to connect with russia via high-speed trains. the koreans and japanese are coming back to the market. india is considering iran as a strategic trade partner, industrial partner. they are investing in a strategic port in the southeast of iran. we are talking about china, korea, india, and in some degrees, japan. yousef: next on "best of bloomberg markets: middle east," more on iran, including with mark mobius. this is bloomberg. ♪ ♪ yousef: welcome back to the "best of bloomberg markets: middle east." emerging market better and investor -- veteran investor mark mobius says he is optimistic about iran, and not simply because of the elections. >> as you know, iran has an interesting capital market for us and other investors. unfortunately, rouhani's election is not going to change things very much. as you know, the supreme leader was not enamored with him, was not really in favor of him getting that win. i don't think you will see immediate change in iran. we

you are talking about iran, earlier. it is similarto are talking about iran, earlier. talking. iran did not have the bomb, it was a reasonably democratic country, there was pressure from the people, so deals could be done. north korea is a closed country, completely undemocratic. you have a man and the people immediately around him at the top who think the bomb is the way to keep power. steve evans in seoul. thank you for that. the charity save the children is warning that a cholera outbreak in yemen could soon become a major epidemic. almost 250 people have died of the disease this month alone, with hundreds of suspected cases being reported every day. sarah corker reports. two years of war have left yemen in the grip of a humanitarian crisis. cities are in ruins. there are severe shortages of food and more than 2 million young children are malnourished. now colorado has become a deadly threat. hospitals are overwhelmed. i could see how difficult the situation has become. it's hard to provide services in a country that is suffering from conflict and lack of income and

if there are more sanctions against iran, and possibly other actions, how would iran respond?y in the middle east has been consistent for the last four decades. hostility towards the united states, the rejection of the existence of israel and rivalry with saudi arabia which is really intensified, those are the three pillars. i don't think that will change, trump's policies will not change, trump's policies will not change the strategic pillars, but if there is more confrontation between america and places in the middle east like syria and yemen, it could indirectly help to unravel the nuclear deal, which would be a real national security concern for not only the united states but the us partners in citing the nuclear deal, europe, russia and china. ali, talking to senior saudi officials, you had to say saudi arabia is obsessed with iran and its engagement in this region, but it is not clear that even the neighbouring persian gulf states would be ready to put the kind of pressure on iran that saudi arabia would like. what is your assessment? saudi arabia sees it as alexis sanch

i am speaking, of course, of iran.en,banon to iraq, to iran funds arms and trains terrorists, militias, and other extremist groups that spread destruction and chaos across the region. has fueled thean fires of sectarian conflict and terror. is a government that speaks openly of mass murder, vowing the destruction of israel -- death to america -- and ruin for thisleaders in nations in very room. amy: we're joined now by trita founder and president of the national iranian american council. he's the author of the new book "losing an enemy: obama, iran,p" out next week. still with us medea benjamin is , the cofounder of codepink and author of the book, "kingdom of the unjust: behind the u.s.-saudi connection." trita parsi come if you could respond to what president trump just said to his first foreign trip to his first country saudi arabia since becoming president? >> it is quite regrettable after the rain and people went out and despite all of the andy grammer -- and democratic obstacles they had to choose the most modera

and we need the whole world, the us and the global community to basically confront iran because iran region. not only the region but the whole world. we'll have to leave it there, thank you very much forjoining us. of course, this is a region where weather is always a metaphor for what's happening politically. this is what's happening on the evening of president trump's visit, he is now dining, a luxurious reception with both arabian and western food, for president trump and his wife melania trump, and ivanka, who's a getting a lot of interest on social media, and of course the entire trump team. our other big story today — iran's newly re—elected president hassan rouhani says his overwhelming victory was a rejection of efforts to stop the reform process. us secretary of state rex tillerson reacted to rouhani's re—election while he was in saudi arabia. he listed the things that us wishes rouhani to do. what we hope, what i would hope is that rouhani now has a new term, and that he uses that term to begin a process of dismantling iran's network of terrorism, dismantling its financing

my question is about iran though. iran has never attacked anybody, yes, they are muslims and there are terrorists and just like there are in saudi arabia. saudi arabia are the people who came and attacked us on 9/11. on what's the big deal. why we are is on iran's case in the week over there whether it's bush, obama, trump and their holding hands and sucking up to either saudi arabia, there were make in the big bad bogeyman, iran. i to me i do not see a lot of difference between the two countries. except saudi arabia killed 3000 people here in our country. if you could explain that i would appreciate it. >> that's a lot on pack with those calls. i would reiterate carl's pointnn which is the u.s. military has been a force for good and i'm very proud of our men in uniform. i say that not every decision we have made over the years has been perfect. overall the united states has attempted to be a force for good as for the debate, we hear a lou right now like how is iran so bad and how, not to a more to talk about saudi ar

try to be more friendly with iran.this nuclear deal, perhaps iran to be enticed back into a responsible community. president trump has fossaid for that. right now they're in compliance. but that's the biggest change. now i want you to have a tougher posture toward iran. >> right. i mean, i've kind of been talking about how he flip flops on a lot of things. but yeah, i think iran is one consistent theme we've heard here and the other consistency i think as people try and look at this trip and figure out what is this foreign policy going forward, we're not going to bug you on human rights. do your thing. that's not our game. maybe we'll pressure you behind the scenes at some point, but on human rights we're going to leave it alone. those are the two consistencies i think people can get. >> they're enforcing the iran deal. they have had multiple opportunities to try to roll it back. they could have not signed over the recent waiver on sanctions. what they're doing is they're taking on iran and other issues. the thing abou

as the president of iran right, you cannot do this without their help? are the source of most of the problems in the middle east and across the region. he is known as a moderate, reformer, but that isn't an accurate representation, inaccurate characterization of him. the guardian council and iran decides who gets to run in these financial elections, of course he just won the recent presidential election but it was not a fair and free election so if he wants to brag about the fact iran has free and open elections, he is just wrong. >> leland: i don't think anyone is under the delusion that iran is some kind of western liberal democracy simply because they say they are, but it brings up an important question here. you have the iranian president now, for lack of a better term, making some provocative statements. they do that a lot. in the past, especially under the obama administration, those provocative words were followed by provocative action. is that stopping at all under the trump administration, have they got the sense there is a new sheriff in town?

and we need the whole world, the us and the global community to basically confront iran because iranblem in the region. not only the region but the whole world. we'll have to leave it there, thank you very much forjoining us. of course, this is a region where weather is always a metaphor for what's happening politically. this is what's happening on the evening of president trump's visit, he is now dining, a luxurious reception with both arabian and western food, for president trump and his wife melania trump, and ivanka, who's a getting a lot of interest on social media, and of course the entire trump team. lyse doucet reporting from riyadh. all right, let's bring you up to date with some other stories making the news. china is reported to have killed or imprisoned at least 18 cia spies, in what's been described as one of the worst breaches of us security in decades. the new york times says the deaths happened during a two—year period from 2010. the agency declined to comment on the report. several hundred people, most of them men, have marched in south africa's capital, pretoria, pr

their biggest adversary is iran.here's something of a battle, has been for some time, a battle in the region for influence and dominance between saudi arabia on the one hand and iran on other. we have picked a side. the side we picked are the saudis and the side we're against is iran and we have been since 1979. we cast our lot with the saudis at least partially because of their relationship with the israelis and there's been a lot of trading of intelligence information among us in order to counter the expansion of iran. yes, we have picked sides and i don't think we're going to change, dara. >>> colonel, the president said today he was discussing the sale of beautiful military equipment to create u.s. jobs. what do you make of that comment? >> well, i think that's plang to the domestic audience here. he was talking about increasing the number of jobs and the breadth of jobs here in the united states during the campaign. it just so happens that this agreement, which by the way, has been in the works for a long, long

so where will iran are looking next? europe is the key destination. europe is the key destination. the fact that president trump has so quickly alined himself with a particular saudi view of how the middle east should be alined has opened up space for iran to really re—engage with europe at‘ deeper level of foreign policy and say that not only are there potential economic opportunities, but there is an opportunity to create a more constructive agenda for relations in the middle east at large and president rahane was re—elected because the iranian people believe that he is able to advocate for them on that stage. really interesting stuff. it's a fascinating one for us to follow. it is really good to talk to follow. it is really good to talk to you. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. the japanese technology and telecoms giant softbank says it has closed the first part of its massive investment fund after having raised more than $93 billion. masayoshi son who is the company's founder only launched it in october. apple, foxcon