it's not so easy of course especially with the central bank sanctions against iran iran has to find new ways but it. and iran has. many economy in trade relation with many countries including china turkey iran just increase its economy exchange and trade with turkey from fifteen billion dollars to thirty billion dollars so iran can use barter trade in such. circumstances ok and you know some countries and european countries are concerned that this oil embargo well will hurt them and a lot of countries in the e.u. say that they can't afford to have this so i mean it's almost this could be a double edged sword i mean that they're trying to impose sanctions on iran but this could kind of backfire and that's actually true i mean tree country three major european countries that tree major consumer of iranian european unions are italy spain and greece which already are facing a huge economy crisis. spanish off the shoals they mentioned they have talked to the refineries which is the main refinery of iranian crude oil in spain and they have agreed to support the sanctions but they mentioned you're going to accept t

it what about israel its recently said has made the decision to strike iran's nuclear sites was quote very far off but iran says iran the us of a where you know over more in iran we witness these reports of nuclear scientists being killed for example is not really likely to be the case a war going on inside iran's borders. well the covert war has been going on for thirty two years and america and israel have unleashed the terrorists in iraq and they've been taking out people they're killing them and sanctions are warfare there's no doubt about it so this is nothing new and they will continue to do that but i think iran has become well experienced in being able to fight off its wars and covert action and america and israel the western allies now europeans are only harming themselves iran i am confident iran will eventually sit by and again so i go back to the motivation for all this and i recently just last week both israel and the us before that admitted recently that. building nuclear weapons of the moment the didn't present any prove either that iran's nuclear program has got a military slant so why does the u.s.

over israel over iran's nuclear enrichment program as the u.s. threat is to impose sanctions on iran iran is threatening to block the strait of hormuz a critical waterway were about twenty percent of the world's oil passes through so what could possibly be behind this latest attack here to talk about this jamal of joins me here in the studio thanks for coming on this show jamal so no one has taken responsibility for this attack but iran is pointing their finger strait. at israel. and the united states has actually come out very forcefully and said we are not behind this secretary clinton yesterday categorically denied that the us had any involvement in this and i think that that's very telling this assassination comes just weeks before planned to go she asians between iran the u.s. and the p five plus one and so. while there's a lot of informed speculation nobody knows quite who was behind this but i think that what the consensus is that whoever was behind this is less interested in setting back you grans nuclear program and more interested in setting back possible ratcheting down of tens

iran with regards to iran which perhaps represents the greatest exist central threat to israel we have to make it abundantly clear it is unacceptable that i take those that word carefully is unacceptable for iran to become a nuclear nation if rick santorum and when rick santorum is president iran will not get a nuclear weapon because the world as we know it will be no more clear i want to know . very close to who i would have said publicly that i would rather plan a joint operation conventionally than push the israelis to a point where the nuclear. at a time when the u.s. bears the burden of a broken economy growing social unrest and ongoing military conflicts starting a war with iran would not be in america's best interest but in order to keep a best friend many believe president obama will be forced to put israel's national security first. r.t. new york. while the young going on western tam's to corner iran and what iran is doing in response or both tackled and people of else across town and that's coming up at seven am g.m.t. here's a taste of what's had. followed him a name as i want to bring they had me run out of a well by doing something spectacular and destructive to enemies of islam a

's fight to stop iran's nuclear program peter the german foreign minister said the new sanctions are necessary to a ramp up the pressure on iran. >> the prospect of a nuclear- arms iranunacceptable. iran continues to refuse to work together with the international community. that is why it is right for the eu to make decisions that will dry up iran's sources of financing. >> iran is dependent on oil exports to support its nuclear research, and the eu market is an important revenue stream. the eu says it is open to negotiations with tehran at any time before the oil embargo is due to come into force on july 1. >> the pressure of sanctions is designed to try and make sure that iran takes seriously the request to come to the table in need. >> iran has condemned these sanctions as an affair but insists it will keep pushing ahead with its nuclear program. >> the main eu sanctions do not go into effect until the summer. we asked our brussels correspondent, why the delay? >> well, partly because the greeks, spanish, and the italians have, as we know, deep economic problems. they will lose a series opening for their oil. they get a lot of their oil from iran. if those section

iran iran is also threatening to impose punitive steps against the western powers are we witnessing merely a game of chicken or a potential bomb ticking before the advent of war. can. start. to cross like iran and its oil i'm joined by john robson and he is a columnist and commentator for a sun news network and invited professor at the university of ottawa in london we have to settle me he is an international oil economist and technical expert with the united nations industrial development organisation and in irvine we go to our bankers our day he is a professor of engineering at the university of california irvine are gentlemen this is cross talk that means you can jump in anytime you want and i very much encourage it but first ok let's go to john robson in in london the you pushing forward july first will cut off all oil exports into the european union from iran and it is calling the strategy to avoid chaos in the middle east isn't it just actually the reverse this will create even more chaos in the middle east this is counterproductive and actually it really actually provoke iran into taking some kind of offensive move but it hasn't to that to date. well the thing is iran is already taki

and israel and iran well there are several sort of inflection points i think that if israel did decide to to potentially israel could decide to strike iran iran has made a move in the past week to. put some of its enrichment activities into this bunker in the fordo facility and that has been described israel as giving iran nuclear immunity it's a facility that would be very difficult to strike militarily particularly for israel to strike in to take out with their capabilities so the likelihood of an israeli strike has actually i think increased because of that and it's a matter of how long before that immunity for iran's nuclear program sets in. i would also you know i would say given what has happened with this is the nation given that the united states has come out so forcefully against it and denounced it if this was israel that was behind the assassination it lends some real doubt about how much the united states can constrain israeli actions against iran and so it creates some real worries that a strike that is not supported by the defense establishment in the united states and a lot of the civilian establishment could go forward very in

and the turning off of the taps as the united states maybe you again sanction iran iran is also threatening to impose. iran warns a ban on oil sales to some countries is still possible and a growing in tehran rhetoric from campaigning u.s. politicians ahead of this year's presidential race. dark clouds of war are looming over the syrian capital with heavy artillery fire heard on the outskirts of the government tanks witnessed on the streets. and it's back to brussels for years as the blog rattled by debt crises seeks to install spending seat belts for each member nation. boss prime minister putin gets down to business and comes up with russia's new economic play out in the latest article to baptise presidential bid. and in the business bulletin the russian markets started the week first training session with losses find out what to expect going forward at about twenty minutes. eleven am in the russian capital you're watching r t m arena joshie welcome tehran plans to hold or oil exports to some e.u. countries are still alive warns iran's oil minister that's despite the country's parliament temporarily post

ok everything is accepted in my opinion in iran but if america and its allies were forbidden iran to export its all in iran's opinion it's an end grind and it's not a sanction on the against iran sanctions against the clients of the iranian. china or japan macnair many countries in the water don't ask me about the possibility of conflict ok. talk to these yes these new sanctions are going to make it very much more difficult for and for run to carry out these exports because it's because of the money trading involved via these banks that's what's been clamped down on so in effect i guess the u.s. has tightened the noose around iran's oil exports no. united states is trying and doing its best and every day. they are adding new sanctions against iran and i think iran is going. away with its nuclear program and it will not stop but as i said exploitation of the oil of iran will be threatening in my opinion even though maybe iran will not close the strait of hormuz but it may disturb the navigation and in this case with the presence of pensive military butter ships from both sides we risk to have a small conflict

iran well how will that are in fact the economy of iran will it break the back of the economy or is this just another round of sanctions that the iranians will just have to absorb the iranian economy is very dependent on oil exports the we've the whole world of. european union imports from iran will not very much affect the iranian economy however if there is an effort to stop iran exporting oil and that could only happen at the united nations security council and i don't think that is a possibility will happen simply because russia or china will veto that so we are talking hypothetically about defensive measures of shutting the state of automobiles iran has the can really to mine this street over what it was and cause a blockage to various tank atta's however they will never to do that except on one condition if they were prohibited from selling their oil in that case they would take the attitude that if we cannot sell our oil we will stop all oil exports from the gulf third of that or more in an act of defiance iran is carried by a barrel of simple packaging the us the nor are installations in saudi arabia which are out of the biggest in stations and they were and from which the nine p. pair of cent of saudi oil exports are loaded. what do you think about that john mayer b

iran's oil exports only make up one percent of britain's oil imports the most in europe is italy with seven percent of it's all coming from iran so there's a lot to play with there which will severely damage iran's economy however iran has taken steps itself threatening to block the straits of hormuz which is a crucial oil shipping lane so whilst the iran oil embargo won't have any detrimental effects on britain's economy or europe's really this play by iran definitely could because a third of all seaborne oil trade goes through the straits and that could increase oil prices and have a detrimental effect and severe consequences on already fragile western economies the u.s. has already said that any such move from iran will be considered an act of war and the question is though how far is each side willing to go here for now it's just a threat. the u.k. says it will continue to pursue a diplomatic attack i increasingly sanctions with the hope of bringing iran to the negotiating table after talks over its nuclear program stalled a year ago but that tactic has been tried for the last year hasn't seemed to work tactics have actually seemed to encourage this dangerous game of brinkmanship each side c

iran if it is not serious about it and it just wants to target iran then just see. so and stop playing this game number two and i think you have to realize what and it's no use in iran has nuclear weapons it's not just that israel just finish let me just finish let me just finish let me just finish the other point here which is very important historically the united states has done a lot of dirty work that has served the interests of israel destroyed iraq it supported the destruction and crippling of egypt it has crippled the gulf and now it is looking to iran as the next target for crippling and destroying i think this is madness who is driving our foreign policy president obama or prime minister netanyahu let's be clear american foreign policy should serve the interests of the united states. you know the states israel not to attack ok mark mark i mean since i don't know your next exactly so why did why did you want to well you know so was i i want to ask you as a liability to what i did i want to ask mark a question and answer to why is that being an expert on nonproliferation and disarmament the iran's nuclear program is the most researched picked away program of

our organization produces a lot of analysis on what happening in iran as well as the dynamics between iran and the rest of the world. >> optimistic or pessimistic? >> i'm not particularly optimistic. 2012 is going to be an increasingly tense and dangerous years in which unfortunately, because of the political climate in tehran and washington and israel, something very, very bad can happen. if we can ride out 2012, some opportunities may rise to move in a direction of resolving it. but 2012 will be a decisive year. >> we are at the end of our time. thank you for the education and congratulations on the past book and the new book. thank you for visiting with us. >> for information about my new book and online video for all "this is america" programs, visit our web site. >> "this is america" is made possible by the national education association, the nation's largest advocate for children and public education. the american federation of teachers, a union of professionals. poongsan corporation, forging a higher global standard. the ctc foundation. afo communications. the rotondaro family trust

iran using gold instead of u.s. dollars this would severely hurt what the european union and washington is trying to do russia has also said that it wants to continue trading with iran using domestic currencies instead of u.s. dollars obviously the point of the e.u. oil embargo would be to bring iran back to the negotiations table over its nuclear program obviously iran has consistently maintained that this is a peaceful nuclear program the west believes that they are potentially developing nuclear weapons so in response to the use announcement on monday that it will place in oil embargo on iran iran has said that it's going to shut the strait of hormuz which is actually worth twenty to thirty percent of the world's oil supply shuttles through in the united states is that it will absolutely not allow that to happen even sort of alluding to the fact that it could potentially use military force to make sure that that strait stays open moscow has also said that things sions are obsolete form of sort of punishing a country and that it's actually going to be counterproductive another interesting thing to note here is that if beijing and new delhi continue to trade with iran with gold it's actually going to increase the value of gold. he creates the value of the u.s. dollar as the globa

iran and i mean do you think that the u.s. is ready to go to war with iran well going to war with iran is a very challenging to be perfectly blunt i mean if the united states is twelve feet tall iran in comparative terms is maybe six inches high it's a non entity militarily it can't project military power beyond its borders the fear of iran closing the straits of hormuz is much exaggerated the iranians would suffer terribly from that remember that about eighty three percent of china's oil comes from the middle east it has to pass through the strait of hormuz and through the strait of malacca and reach china the japanese the koreans are equally dependent upon it no one no one profits from the closure iran has revenues would tank it's already going to suffer as a result of sanctions nothing would improve we would not benefit so the frankly speaking this tension is artificial it doesn't have to happen it doesn't need to exist the iranians would do themselves an enormous favor by saying. unless. we would do ourselves a favor by ignoring most of it because quite frankly it's not important they're not going to do it we don't need to e

. >> iran routinely accuses the united states of espionage and it has produced this to make its -- has used amir mirzaei hekmati to make its point. iran says that he was sent to iran by the cia in order to spread misinformation among iran's intelligence agencies. it broadcast what it calls his confession. his family said that he went to iran simply to visit his relatives. the u.s. government says that he has been falsely accused and it condemns his death sentence. >> if it is true that he has been so sentenced, we would condemn this verdict in the strongest terms, and we are working with all of our partners to convey that condemnation to the iran in government. we have maintained from the beginning that the charges against him were a fabrication, and we call on the run in -- iran and government to release him immediately. >> in the last year, iran has executed hundreds of people. most have been killed for drug- related crimes, and most are entirely unknown. but this case is different. we know his name. amir mirzaei hekmati. he holds an american passport, and his fate will affect the way iran and the united states deal with one another. the two countries have only

iran in order to reduce prices. so this is a big worry for the regime in iran. it could really impact iran's economic health. so iran is being very aggressive in the persian gulf as basically a warning to the united states. but also the international community that, look, if you oppose -- impose sanctions on us, specifically the central bank, we might take action. this is basically iran's way of dissuading the sanctions. >> but it didn't stop washington from imposing its sanctions. the european union is going to do its own, the british defense secretary is in town -- was in town last week, basically said it's going to be unacceptable. at the end of the day, how is washington and everybody going to respond to this? >> i think the key is what the asian countries do, specifically china, japan and south korea. if europe stops buying iranian oil, iran will have to sell asia more oil. and, again, a lot of countries will keep buying iranian oil, but perhaps at a reduced price and so iran's oil revenue could go down. >> does iran have the capability to make good on its threat to close the strait? >> it has some decen

iran and it is iran that back when they last met in istanbul a year ago refused to meet one on one with the united states the united states and its partners had tabled a confidence building measure that iran didn't want to talk about let's hope that they are now ready to talk the idea that maybe the pressure has given them more reasons to talk maybe realistic but so far i don't think you know that all this blaming the united states is correct it takes two to tango let's let's have some real talks united states is ready you know what mark if i could just stay with you i mean in looking at the presidential when we're looking at the presidential election with the republicans i mean any talk of reconciliation many talk of negotiations is seen as weakness and i think that's one of the biggest problems and one of things i'd like to talk about in this part of the program is domestic issues ok because you have so many every single major player in these events here have a have a domestic agenda ok obama wants to look strong on iran ok but if the same time say well give him a chance but you know we saw that before. and we can see the iranians as well i mean we look at the revolutionary guard they d

iran is not based on the friendship between governments. the influence of iran is based on the kind of beliefs that exist in other nations and countries, vis-a-vis iran also the relations that we have. so we do not look at that in that way. we do not believe that changes in some governments may affect negatively iran or so on. so again, i will try to relate that any foreign intervention in syria is n productive, is not constructive and we have to let -- >> rose: but that is the argument that iran has made a foreign intervention by supporting assad with an increased flow of weapons to him. that's an intervention on the side of the government. >> do you think that intervention of other countries in the region, of foreigners is not higher than what is proposei or what is imaspoliticians here? >> rose: wl nato is not there. >> but other countries interfere with other regs in the country. i don't want to make this conversation about -- >> rose: let me speak to this. >> yes, please. >> rose: when is the conflict over? the inspection and the iaee wanting to come in and inspt or allowing the shipment of enriched fuel or fuel that will be enriched outside ofÑ

iran from shipping crude oil abroad. the european union also plans to impose an oil embargo against iran in the near future. iran relies on revenues from oil exports. if they plunge, the country will face domestic turmoil. early this month, the value of iran's rial slumped against other currencies, touching the lowest level since the 1979 islamic revolution in the nation. a local newspaper carried out this cartoon. it depicts iranians lining up to buy gold and dollars, which are more stable than real. we're here at a bazaar in iran where recent economic sanctions have greatly affected prices of basic goods, leading to consumer frustration and grim prospects for the future. >> translator: this has been caused by the sanctions. >> inflation is squeezing us hard. the price of food, clothes, and everything else is rising. the government is unable to solve this. >> reporter: however, the international pressure has so far failed to stop iran's nuclear program. earlier this month, the nation started to operate a nuclear facility in the central city of qom. iran apparently took the move to show people in and outside the