that order the iranians opposed but it wasn't the iranians who destroyed it. it was the united states going into iraq, failing so miserably and not weakening itself to the extent that it has the ability to reestablish a new order. so the reason essentially has been orderless. this has unleashed a tremendous amount of rivalries. saudi arabia and iran for instance, who are two per hour houses. they are struggling to define a new order. the saudis are on the losings end and have been working very hard to get them and supported in this struggle. what i think the missed opportunity here though is that the nuclear deal was obviously centered oven making sure that the iranians would not be able to get a nuclear weapon but he also had a separate funk. by taking the nuclear issue off the table. by having a path wear to the a nuclear bomb and bringing them into a diplomatic process it opened up the the path for a regional security dialogue that was all inclusive, that could have included the iranians and saudis and everyone else, and that could have led to a different p

they are protecting iranian interest and iranian interests are that iraq is on one side of them whichrought a war in afghanistan on the other where they almost went to war with the taliban. it was there before the invasion in 2002. so, i think looking at how iran is spreading instability, it's actually just protecting its own view, it's protecting its interest. whatever it does in iraq it is protecting its interest as far as the iranian people are concerned. by and large, i'm not saying everybody, they are protecting iranian interests to prevent terrorism from crossing the borders to prevent complete destabilization in afghanistan which threatens iran. if afghanistan is stable iran is not threatened. and, to support shiite communities where they are being oppressed by the majority sunni which is less about sectarian sectarianism than we would like to think about, but it's only because there she is that there supporting them. i think most iranians don't even think about the hollow whites as -- the alawites as shia. they look at it from a purely strategic way and they look at it from a

then iranians at home do. everybody during the two-week includingeriod, various american journalist, would talk to voters. they overwhelmingly were talking about how the atmosphere for social change had been better under president rouhani. the impression insider ron is better -- the impression inside iran is better. a few others. >> there are many others. and then the house arrest. that is something a lot of iranians care about. that is not the biggest priority for them. like to see that, of course. more political freedoms, no question. we see human , ands as a bigger issue americans interested see it as a bigger issue than a most iranians inside iran. more ability to speak their mind, freedom of the press. as opposed to actual people in jail. when you look at the population of young people in jail, it is not significant. 40,000ve not imprisoned journalists. how many did turkey in prison? ms. slavin: not 40,000. >> my point is, president rouhani is well aware. he has to provide a better economy first and forem

caller: the iranian -- guest: the iranian public overwhelmingly supported the large,rly on, but by and there is a tremendous amount of disappointment. a expected far more sanctions. they believed the deal would lift the sanctions and enable iran's economy to lift off. so far, that has not happened. there are many reasons for this. the main reason is that the trump administration's language about the deal in criticizing uncertainty infused about the situation. they see obstacles. the key obstacle is the political risk on the u.s. side. they are afraid the united states may walk away from the deal and reimpose sanctions and they do not want to pay the price of going into the orion market and having to leave again because sanctions would be reimposed. that combined with the fact that there are a lot of primary sanctions that were not part of has now turned out that the primary sanctions do have a significant chilling effect on the ability of companies -- beyond chilling effect going into that. the united states is very good at imposing sanctions. lifting sanctions, however, is something w

imagine how humiliating this is likely to the iranians. the fact that for something that is so vital from their perceived geopolitical and, frankly, ideological interest, at least in syria, and iraq, they have a certain jew political interest in iraq, but syria and the lot is a combination. for something that is so vital to them, to depend on superpowers to save them. i can be kind of crude in describing that. it's a very human leading thing for them. i think this is something that change threat perception, the degree of the best way of pushing i think the irgc itself may have to change. ma have to become something different, or they may have to become something different with the irgc. i think this is the big question. they are so do with it. i don't think their figured out the answers to these questions. i think that's why we are seeing them, i think 2015 is an inflection point does you saw the supreme leader talk about these issues, see him talking about offenses. you see them changing the leadership of the armed forces general staff to

the iranians app stark choice became an obvious choice for most iranians, even people in the provinces many people thought would vote for a conservative because everyone assumes if the system, the regime if you want to call it and the supreme leader himself are in favor of one candidate then surely he will have a huge advantage. it has been the opposite, the system or regime doesn't know that. you make it very clear, the chances of him winning become less so i think the iranians saw that in iran and they voted in huge numbers as barbara was talking about earlier, they saw there was this opportunity to either reject this populism, return to the old days of difficulties with sanctions, isolation of iran from the international community or move forward. as we got closer to the voting day and the media both inside iran and outside iran, throughout the world saying it is a close race, could easily be in the age of trump, they would be afraid, there was this nervousness that caused iranians to say that is not what we want, the overwhelming attitude of the media that this would be a close rac

this is humility, frankly, to the iranians. for something that is so vital from their perceived geopolitical and ideological anti- rack is they haven't syria is a combination of the geopolitical and ideological interests there. for something that's so vital to depend on superpowers to save them, i can be crude in describing that but it's a humiliating thing for them. i think this is something that changing threat perception and a degree of embarrassment is pushing these changes that ir gc may have to change. it may have to become something different or the our cash might become something different with the ir gc. this is the big question. i think they're struggling with it. i don't think they figured out the answer. that's why were seen -- 2015 is an important point because you saw the supreme leader talk about these issues. you see him talking about offenses, changing their leadership of their armed forces and staff to bring in new leadership and create a new structure there. to execute these type of campaigns you see in syria

>> the iranians were not pleased the president singled out the iranians in his address so they are notey an happy with this underscores there is talk about hassan rouhani being a moderate but the entire system is notot moderate and is run by the supreme leader who was not moderate. so the problem is perigee not the elected leader so they're still on a collision course but i don't expect things to be smooth sailing. >> has the financial analyst we will talk about that but first tallahassee florida independent line. >> caller: good morning. thanks for taking the time this new arms deal it has to do with missile defense does that help them protect and attacks from iran? because everyone is release supporting north korea in that pushes them if we have a preemptive strike that iran will come to north korea's defense some have to be careful and smart but i appreciate what you and then shooting down the other missile with the test i wonder what is more impressive shooting thatng incoming missile or shooting a satellite out of space? that is farther away but we can do both?. >> thanks for the qu

>> i think it depends partly on iranian behavior, of course. i couldn't say he loosened the sanctions. there was some tightening of ancillary sanctions, let's call them -- >> missile related but not nuclear. >> but not nuclear. no. it's pretty clear whatever the president said during the campaign, the nuclear deal is going to stay in place unless and until iranian behavior changes. and it may not. but i think it was, as your correspondent was saying, it was a very interesting, clear convincing victory by rouhani. no effort by the supreme leader to fiddle with the result, as has been the case in previous elections sometimes. and the question now is whether rouhani can actually deliver the economic improvements that he's been talking about and a loosening of the system, because as mr. erdbrink said, he really made some interesting criticisms of the iranian system while he was running for president. criticisms of the revolutionary guard, for example. so the question now is what really can he deliver in his second term as president. >> again, we're

therefore he is elected the next iranian president.gainst the islamic hardliners who had intimidated them, jailed them, executed them, exiled them and drove them out of theirjobs. this, just before the final results were announced. translation: i'm glad he was re—elected. of course, if, by the end of today, they announce it as a certain result i would be very happy. turnout was unprecedented, more than 73%. here in teheran more than 5 million people voted, twice that of 2013. many ran out of time while they waited in long queues although the authorities extended voting by five hours. there were indications that the hardliners had pulled all the stops and mobilised all their resources to oust president rouhani. that spurred the supporters of president rouhani to come out in big numbers. iranians have given president rouhani a big mandate for change, greater freedoms at home and engagement with the outside world. but islamic ha rdliners are not done yet. they will fight tooth and nail at every turn to frustrate his efforts. kasra nasri,

one in eight iranians is unemployed. the wealth gap is widening.the lead in rebuilding the economy, rather than dealing with the west, and wants more trade links with countries like china and russia. he also promises to create millions of newjobs for young iranians. but he has not yet said how. jeremy howell, bbc news. reza shaybani is chairman of the british photovoltaic association which is working in the solar energy business in iran. welcome to the programme. thank you. are you concerned about the elections? some of the markets could be reversed. not really. we see the acceleration of the growing economy will carry on regardless of... because the desire is there to make it happen? absolutely. iran is a growing economy with a young and dynamic highly educated population. it has the ability to grow further in the region. so i don‘t see any problem with it. what has been your experience during the time that hassan rouhani has been in power? before that, things were different. things are different. look no one can fix the economy and everything els

guest: the iranians were not pleased. the president signaled out -- singled out the iranians in the address. they are not happy. what this underscores here is there is a lot of talk about him being a moderate, the entire system is not moderate. at the end of the day, it is run by a supreme leader who is not moderate. the regime not being the elected leader in a questionable election, we are still on a collision course with iran. i will not say conflict is imminent but i do not expect things between the united states , iran, and the arab world. the department of treasury, he played a role in the designation of numerous -- we will talk about that in a bit. first call for you is from christopher, tallahassee, florida, independent line, you are on with our guest, jonathan schanzer. caller: thank you for taking the time this morning. my first comment is the new arms deal that trump made with saudi , i believe some of it has to do with missile defense may be before saudi arabia. i wonder if it is because -- .rotect them iran is

the iranian backed militias are all over the place.le eastern nations, but also american interests. pure american interests. so it is very important for the kingdom and the arab and muslim world to turn a new page with the new administration, so they can move forward and confront the challenges. there was some calling on iran to undo the terrorism there. there is some observers who believe that saudi arabia exaggerates the involvement of iran across the region. the idea that we are exaggerating the fact about iran is, i don't see that to be accurate at all. why? because it is not only are saner. the whole world is saying it. just be treasury department, they just sanctioned hezbollah in syria. we are talking about a region which has 75 syrian backed militias in iraq. just has 75 syrian backed militias in iraq.just in iraq. has 75 syrian backed militias in iraq. just in iraq. they are getting involved in syria. they can people in syria, and disposing i2 involved in syria. they can people in syria, and disposing 12 million people there.

regime is willing to bea until the iranian regime is willing to be a partner to peace all countriesogether to isolate iran, deny yet. 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. so much to discuss they are. —— there. with me is esfandyar batmanghelidj, founder of europe—iran forum. this is his first foreign trip and he signed his huge deal which i am sure he is extremely pleased about. it ticks boxes with his electorate in the united states. what is your ta ke in the united states. what is your take on this arms deal? there is an argument to be made that trump and the saudi rulers may have overplayed their hand. over the last few days, two big events have collided, one is the iranian presidential elections which happened on friday. the incumbent won with a 72% voter turnout and nearly 60% of the vote. now nearly a few days later trump gives a speech in which he rails against the human rights violations of iran. the suggestion is that the spectacle of the summit may have actually come

are voting on with macro iranians are voting on with macro iranians elections are always an free, anns are always an free, an fairand unpredictable, and only six individuals were allowed to i’ui'i. only six individuals were allowed to run. i think that the incumbent, hassan rouhani, was the most moderate options that many iranian moderate options that many iranian moderate voters have. ebrahim raisi oi'i moderate voters have. ebrahim raisi on the other hand, is in many ways a mini me of it around's supreme leader who wants to stay loyal to revolutionary principles, animosity to the united states, a regime which retains its islamic piety, so i think even though the fact it was a close election, there was a stark choice between these two candidates and competition between them is genuine. but the big question will be, this election was rigged beforehand be, this election was rigged before hand given so be, this election was rigged beforehand given so many candles we re beforehand given so many candles were disqualified, the big question is, will also be big after the votes are counted?

iranians vote for the next president. incumbent hassan rouhani faces a strong challenge from populist hardliner egrahbrahim raisi. u.s. president donald trump says he is the victim of a domestic witchhunt, this as he gears up for his first international trip. president emmanuelle rock thrown -- emmanuel macron who has arrived in molly to reaffirm france's commitment to fight jihadists -- has arrived in mali. those are live images from mali, the country's east. we are moments away from a press conference that will be taking place. this is president macron first trip abroad outside of europe. he was sworn into office, installed as president, this past sunday. this marks his first week in office as the head of the french state. a shorted here in mali time ago, earlier today, and he is standing next to the malian president. we will hear from both men. >> [speaking foreign language] molly: we're waiting for our translation to come through. once again, we have president macron meeting here. they have been speaking for an hour o

iranian nuclear deal. so, there's a lot of hope writing with president trump that he can reverse this, if it's not too late. julie: i want to ask you with regard to terrorism. president trump and kenneth trump campaigned very hard about the fact that he will defeat isis. so far, he has certainly done a magnificent job in taking such a strong stance in syria where isis has eventually been allowed the opportunity to grow by the tens of thousands because of that whole no boots on the ground policy that our former president obama had implemented and by not growing there on the ground many military officials would argue that that essentially gave isis time to grow. in this trip, while in riyadh, he, the president will be attending the inauguration of the global counter extremism terrorism center. what can he learn from that visit? >> what he needs to learn in syria, in particular, is the assad regime that has been fueling the rise of isis. it is the brutality of the assad regime in just killing hundreds of thou

>> the iranians aren't happy. the iranians and saudis are their enemies. the iranians had a giant boone economically under the obama ad ministration because of that iran deal that ushered in billions of dollars to the reigning economy, eased pressure on their nuclear program, set their nuclear program back a few years, eased up pressure on their missile program so now the united states is back in terms of reestablishing traditional alliances and not putting up with terrorism the iranians continued to support and what they have been doing in the middle east which is causing problems and upheaval. the rest of the world appreciates a clear, strong, unwavering american president and that is what they having donald trump. >> live pictures on the left side of your screen, a number of different supply lines and members of the administration, the saudi regime taking pictures after the signing ceremony was completed. a number of things, arms to this region and the president wanting a stronger stance from saudi arabia so the united states doesn't bear the full burde

therefore, he is elected the next iranian president.ation, a big victory against the islamic hardliners who had intimidated them, jailed them, executed them, exiled them, and drove them out of theirjobs. this evening, tens of thousands of them came out on the streets in many cities across iran, this in tehran, celebrating the day they defeated the hardliners. but islamic ha rdliners are not done yet. they will fight tooth and nail at every turn to frustrate president rouhani's efforts. kasra nasri, bbc news. brazil's embattled president says an investigation into his alleged obstruction ofjustice needs to be suspended. in a televised address, mr temer said the court had first to rule whether a secret recording made by a top brazilian businessman appearing to implicate him was valid as evidence. translation: today, we're making a request at the supreme court to suspend the proposed probe until the authenticity of the clandestine tape can be definitely proven. the scandal has engulfed brazilian politics, with a third of mr temer‘s cabinet

remarks that at other times could land iranians injail.thused by the candidates. for many, it's a choice between bad and worse. the main challenger is ebrahim raisi. he is a veteran conservative hardliner. he is deeply suspicious of the west, and if he wins, there could be crises ahead. president hassan rouhani wants to have another term. he's a moderate who would like more openness in politics and society. rouhani was elected last time because he promised better relations with the outside world and the relaxation of economic sanctions through making a deal about iran's nuclear plans. president rouhani is running on the success of the deal in which iran accepted restrictions on its nuclear industry. if he loses, it's because voters think he's handling the economy badly. raisi opposed the nuclear deal when it was being negotiated, but now says he'd keep it, though he insists his toughness will make sure iran stays strong. whoever‘s going to be the next iranian president, whether it be hassan rouhani or ebrahim raisi, it's going to change th

three months ago talk to any iranian, rouhani was odds-on favorite. raisi has been promoted by khomeini. even before that, raisi probably would have come third in a first round. he's a constructive candidate, representing as ali just said, representing a more conservative view, a more inward looking view of iran. iran is not naturally an inward looking country. the experience of multiple layers of sanctions over decades has tended to foster a strong suspicious tendency among the population. so raisi's message is not without strong populist support. i think raisi again, the turnout is crucial here. if we look at 70% plus, which is what rouhani's people think they will get that will be -- that would favor the president. much less than that and we might be seeing a more conservative outcome. of course you look back to 2009, where the apparent favorite mr. mousavi lost in a landslide. that led to six or eight weeks of serious riots and protests, mr. mousavi is still under house arrest. >> let me pick up on that point. is there a risk that we'll be seeing

that is an interesting statement come from this iranians. >> the iranians used to be provocative simply sitting back and watching a bit, that is meaningful. we heard from prime minister netanyahu he said about the iran deal. repeal and replace. president trump in the campaign talked about ripping up the iran nuclear deal and has a slightly different view of it? >> very much so. that is candidate trump versus president trump is different. he's said for a while that he would be ripping up the deal and now he's president, he's come to realize it is a deal that is intricate. this is a a deal with russia, the uk, united states, france and germany and china. it is not so much that we can go rip up an international agreement and decide to start a new. this is something that the iranians have come and signed up for and just tearing up something that is deelt with an intricate matter in the past few years doesn't seem like a likely choice for the administration. >> it doesn't seem that the president is going to do that. holly, i appreciate your insight as always and this is a growing issue over

a lot -- iranians. other things were talked about in terms of what's being described as a productive and historic visit, according to the foreign minister there, and they talked about the strengthening of the partnership between the u.s. and saudi arabia as it pertains to economic deals, military deals and strengthening existing relations between the two countries and he said, they signed a declaration, the president of the united states and the king of saudi arabia, signing a declaration to elevate a strategic relationship. all right. mean time, now let's get a peek into the meeting, bilateral meeting, that took place between the president of the united states and the crown prince of saudi arabia. let's watch and listen in. >> that was a tremendous day. i just want to thank everybody. tremendous investments in to the united states and our military community is very happy. we want to thank you and saudi arabia. hundreds of billions of dollars of investments into the united states and jobs, jobs, jobs. s

is hitting iranian forces in syria.e iranians more than the saudi arabians and the president is on his way to saudi arabia. coincidence? >> well, i think in this particular case because what was happening was the u.s. supported a rebel force was actually being approached by a -- the force that's described as a pro iranian force. now, that pro iranian force included -- apparently now, i'm getting this back channel. david: okay. >> it included syrian troops, hezbollah troops, and guard core. and they were warned, transmissions were sent to the russians to stop, u.s. f-16 did their cold passes, then they fired warning shots. and when it approached, they were hit. and it knocked out a number of armored vehicles and trucks. i'm told that the force consistent of several hundred syrian arm troops, hezbollah fighters and likely members of the revolutionary guard core. and it was a threat, so it was described i think properly by the pentagon as a force protection measure. david: interesting. now, clearly the saudis are not upset

one day to go before the iranians go to the pulse.sident trump going with a few more sanctions overnight but stands by the current iranian deal. more to come. this is bloomberg. ♪ anna: welcome back. this is bloomberg daybreak: europe. in new study suggests the u.k. exit bill may be as little as 5 billion pounds or no more than 30 billion pounds. the study is good news for prime minister theresa may as she releases her conservative party election manifesto today. manus: i caught up with the former bp ceo and he gave me his view on how britain should approach brexit negotiations. remain but now that we have decided to leave, we must make it really work. and it is important to say we have to find points of advantage between us and the rest of europe and we need to find that very quickly. for us i think as a nation, the has lived on its wits were very long part of its history, we are after all a resource for nation in the middle of the sea. we have lived on our wits, our ,rading wits, innovation wits and our financial wits so we must mak

and an iranian expert, welcome to you. thank you.ng in washington, why do you think saudi arabia has claimed this prize of being the first stop on president trump's first foreign visit? what was it about this relationship? it shows the centrality of the relationship, the enormous importance that saudi arabia has for american interests in the middle east. the need to work closely with saudi arabia to fight terrorism, and to deter iran. i think the gentleman around the president, his advisers, his secretary of defence, his national security adviser, his secretary of state, all strong believers in that. that is what has pushed the tremendous symbolism of this trip, a symbolic trip for a president who had a lot of rhetorically on the campaign that caused people concerned. the fact he is making this tremendous gesture coming to riyadh now, addressing the muslim world, it is an achievement for saudi arabia and shows this relationship is very strong and enduring. what do you think, is this causing worry in teheran? the us—saudi relationship

and an iranian expert, welcome to you. thank you.tionship, the enormous importance saudi arabia has for american interests in the middle east. the need to work closely with saudi arabia to fight terrorism and to deter iran. his advisers, his security advisers, secretary of state, they are strong believers in that. that is what has pushed the tremendous symbolism of this chip, for a president who had a lot of rhetorically on the campaign that caused people concerned. the fact he is making this tremendous gesture coming to riyadh now, addressing the muslim world, it is edge achievement for saudi arabia and shows this relationship is very strong and enduring. what do you think, is this causing worry in teheran? the us— saudi, it provides a more natural equilibria in the triangle and for decades we have seen containment of confrontation with iran. the president barack 0bama demonstration pursued a different approach to engage with iran which was ultimately not successful. the trump administration is going back toa trump administration is

you mentioned the iranians.entioned them specifically in the speech and try to rally the rest of the muslim nation around confronting iran because they are the primary sponsor and exporter of terror in the region. >> a rand definitely is. what we have in our favor is they are the shia and the sunnis initiate don't get along so saudi arabia is worried about the nuclear potential we gave to iran as his israel which is interesting because it will have people like saudi arabia, egypt, maybe some of the other arab emirates negotiating. >> that has never happened before, and in a strange way the fact that he gave the iranians all this dough to slow down their nuclear weapons program might have actually caused the israelis and some of these muslim nations to come together. >> it should because right now with the iranians and the vacuum in iraq, what they are doing in baghdad and all the revolutionary guard and the rebels partnering with hezbollah all the way to the mediterranean sea, they just fired a missile the day b

we'll have more free you on the iranian elections later in the show.n the meantime, we also have kevin cirilli. the rouhani victory comes at a time when donald trump is visiting saudi arabia and the saudi's are going out of their way to welcome him. walk us through what you've seen on the ground in riyadh. presidentnt -->> >> trump is on a dealmaking spree worth billions of dollars. he is met with top ceos and leaders here in saudi arabia. here is what you secretary wilbur ross told me. rosss. secretary wilbur told me. >> i could not imagine a business day mortgage for the united states and for the thedom -- more good for united states and for the kingdom. >> the investigations in the united states could risk ever shadowing his international trip. he is facing a lot of allegations about his international ties to russia. tracey: we did see u.s. markets take a tumble off the back of some of the domestic headlines surrounding president trump. now that he is in saudi, what is going on on that front in terms of his domestic standing in the u.s.? >> back in

region since the agreement was made with that iranians concerning nuclear? >> i believe the iranian behavior has not decreased work it has probably increased and poses a significant threat to the united states and its allies. >> cannot allow the witnesses to leave without significant questions. senator sullivan. >> mr. chairman, i'm glad you were so interested in the arctic mr. karem, i would like to follow up on iran. you know, a number of us have been following that issue for quite some time even well before we started negotiations with the iranians and there is some serious doubt, i think, both in unclassified unclassified venues on whether and to what degree the iranians are actually complying with the nuclear agreement and i know that that i ate a recently confirmed that they believe they were in compliance, but a number of us who follow this closely have skepticism with regard to that issue. i think it's an incredibly important issue. if confirmed, will you commit to looking at that outside of what they have stated and give us-- give this committee you

the treasury department has sanctioned hezbollah in syria, the iranian militias are killing people inacing people. we are not exaggerating, we are seeing iranian backed militias, we are seeing them operate in yemen and kill civilians on a daily basis. we're not exaggerating, not at all, we're putting our hands on the facts and nothing but the facts. and we need the whole world, the us and the global community to basically confront iran because iran is the root problem 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. chin

council has asked me to moderate this panel about the iranian elections and president trump's visit to the middle east. before we start i want to thank congressman hoffman. thanks to him we have the room. a few foundations and funds for supporting the

the iranian reje regime longest suut people. the people of iran have endured heart ship and despair through their leaders reckless pursuit of conflict and terror. until the regime is willing to be a partner are in peace, all nations of must work to isolate, delead it. funding for terrorism, cannot do it. and pray for the day when the iranian pumple have the just and righteous government they so richly deserve. the decisions we make will affect countless lives. king salman, i thank you for the creation of this great moment in history. and for your massive investments in ameri

you mentioned the iranians.in the speech and try to rally the rest of the muslim nation around confronting iran because they are the primary sponsor and exporter of terror in the region. >> a rand definitely is. what we have in our favor is they are the shia and the sunnis initiate don't get along so saudi arabia is worried about the nuclear potential we gave to iran as his israel which is interesting because it will have people like saudi arabia, egypt, maybe some of the other arab emirates negotiating. >> that has never happened before, and in a strange way the fact that he gave the iranians all this dough to slow down their nuclear weapons program might have actually caused the israelis and some of these muslim nations to come together. >> it should because right now with the iranians and the vacuum in iraq, what they are doing in baghdad and all the revolutionary guard and the rebels partnering with hezbollah all the way to the mediterranean sea, they just fired a missile the day before president trump got t

until the iranian regime is willing to bea until the iranian regime is willing to be a partnerfor peacel nations and countries must work together to isolate iran, deny it funding for terrorism, cannot do it and pray for the day when the iranian people have thejust and pray for the day when the iranian people have the just and righteous government they so richly deserve. esfandyar batmanghelidj is the founder of the europe—iran forum. hejoins us in the studio now. let's talk about the deal. a big deal that trump has been keen to hail as deal that trump has been keen to hailasa deal that trump has been keen to hail as a successful outcome of that trip. it was began by obama, but $110 billion, what do you make of the deal? well, i think the deal and the deal? well, i think the deal and the riyadh summit was largely an opportunity for saudi arabia to demonstrate that they are controlling sort of the us approach to middle east policy and the size of the deal, $110 billion is a transparent attempt to put a price tag on the us—saudi strategic relationship. if you look at it from the prospect o

canrks that at other times land iranians in jail.ranians don't seem particularly enthused by the candidates. for many, it is a choice between bad and worse. the main challenger is the ruisi deeply suspicious of the west. he wants there could be crisis ahead. president has wants to have another term. he is a moderate who would like more openness in society. rouhani was elected last time because he promised better relations with the outside world and the relaxation of the through making a deal about iran's nuclear plans. president rouhani is running on the success of the deal, and in which iran accepted restrictions on the nuclear industry. if he loses, it is because voters think he is handling the economy badly. raisi opposed to the nuclear deal when he was being negotiated, but now says he would keep it, although he insists his toughness will make sure iran stays strong. >> whoever is the next president, whether it be hassan rouhani or ebrahim raisi, it will change the tenor of iranian politics and its ability to dialogue with the in

but it has hamas, backed by the iranians, so on iraq and syria.alculation across the region you have a web which is controlled by the iranians. you have to deal with iran to relax the region, then we can go and address the other problems, economic or social. >> jenna: we are looking at scenes, i want to remind the viewers we pushed back by show of force in syria, pro-assad forces on the ground inside syria, turns out we learned later in the week that the pro-i sad forces were iranian. the pro-assad forces. watching things moving ahead. great to have out program, appreciate it very much. >> thank you. >> leland: big topic of conversation between prime minister netanyahu and the president during this brief meeting, was iran. our next guest, editor have the jerusalem post on why the prime minister wants to talk more about iran and less about the peace process. >> leland: we're waiting for president trump and israeli prime minister bep gentleman min netanyahu to address the press after their meeting this afternoon in jerusalem. that to you as it happe