cooperation on the middle east affairs. i think there are three reasons why we embark upon this very meaningful profit. first of all the strategic importance of the middle eastern region. and this is the concentration of all the difficult conflicts relations of country to country, major power, religions et cetera. if you want to understand how the international affairs are working, you must understand how it works. secondly, some people say now we reduce the dependence of united states on the middle east oil and the gas of the shale revolution et cetera the united interest is on the wane but i don't think so. this is very superficial. and the understanding, they the most of their money, manpower, political will. and just look at the secretary of state, john kerry. how many times he is doing on the middle east affairs. and also this is a place where china and the united states could complement each other. the united states is the most strong strongest and influential country in the region whereas china maintains good relation

cooperation on middle east affairs. read the report and i share with many opinions of the colleagues presented in the report. i think that -- i totally agree that china-united states actually have many common interests in middle east. the two countries can cooperate with each other in this region. and another thing i want to mention here is that actually i think chinese and american scholars share a vision, what is happening in middle east now, they both notice that there is a kind of great transition transformation in middle east now. it is just opening. and it is justin process of the transformation. and china and the united states to some degree have to adapt to that kind of change. that's a very big change in middle east. it seems that the united states is reframing a kind of strategy to middle east. and they are trying to build up kind of new balance in the region, to readjust relationship in that region. of course the united states is a major player in middle east. china at current stage is still as not active as

at least it will effect everything in the middle east. it is that important and certainly it's important to those two parties that are most concerned, saudi arabia and israel and here and our viewers around the world to make things clear we need to separate two issues and are very much related and need to be looked at separately and one is the nuclear deal itself and what does it mean in terms of verifying limitations on iran's nuclear program and lifting of sanctions, that is one. two, what are the implications of a freer, stronger, more robust iran for the rest of the middle east region? i would say for the oil markets and for western parts in the middle east, for american alliances in the region and israel and policies and for the islamists in the middle east and for saudi arabia and its policy in yemen, for iraq forcier yeah for i.s.i.s., for turkey for afghanistan and pakistan, so i think this deal is going to have historic major implication for the rest of the middle east that we will see as you know as the days come upon us that if

and china in the middle east. but the fact is both of us have vital strategic interests in the region. clearly a lively dinner set off a year of back and forth and dialogue and culminated in being able to issue a report today. i'm just going to quickly let you know who is on the stage with us. immediately to my right is a senior fellow shanghai institute and deputy director of the department of american studies. dr. wu is focus said on china/american security relationship and arms control and nuclear deterrent issues very relevant in the middle east as we speak right now. immediately to her right is rudy deleon senior fellow here at the national security team at cap. he's been at cap since 2007. many of you know rudy well. former deputy secretary of defense for the united states. he has been very deeply engaged in u.s./china relations. among the people here he probably splits his time between the middle east and china more than anyone else. he is perfectly suited for this job today. immediately to his dr. is senio

perhaps we know something about the middle east. the challenge is how to take the obama values, which i cherish, and to implement them in a brutal, dangerous region that is so politically incorrect, this is the challenge, this is how we should begin to address this. >> rose: define the important dialogue to have, and you're right on target to suggest that's where our focus has to be. >> absolutely. and, therefore, i'm not saying there is a better alternative. i'm not saying the decision was wrong. i want what i think is very important is to understand the implications. perhaps there is no better alternative. i am willing to get into that, but first of all let's see what we have here. and if i may, first the achievement. there are two achievements and there is a hope. one achievement is that the iranians have a very strong declaration that they will not pursue the nuclear weapons. it's an important declaration. i don't believe them, but it's an important declaration. the second achievement, which is dramatic, is that this deal, this

i gained a better perspective on the raging issue in the middle east. iran considers itself a influence in the middle east, and iran's regional influence is be bound to grow as sanction he arsare lifted. >> it's time for leaders to realize that iran is a major player, live with it the same way they live with russia, with china, why not live with iran? if they decide to do that then they will encourage forces within iran that are willing and able to accommodate western interests. >> one thing that iran is eager to help the west with is confronting i.s.i.l. both iran and the u.s. back the iraqi government in the war against i.s.i.l. fighters, but in neighboring syria where i.s.i.l. also controls territory, iran and the u.s. work at cross purposes. that's because they back opposing sides in syria's civil war. in fact, in almost every contentious area and issue facing the middle east today syria, israel, yemen, and the flow of oil to the world, iran and the u.s. are on opposite sides. nowhere is that more apparent than in the straight of hormuz, a narrow wa

is the most influential foreign country in the middle east.refore, if a deal collapsed, imagine these two regional international power's are going to go to a greater confrontation . politically economically, covertly. then you can imagine with such a shaky region what will happen. therefore, i believe we have only one choice. diplomacy. to resolve the nuclear through international rules and regulations. to continue negotiations for peace and stability in the region. charlie: i see you everywhere. give us a sense of how closely the rest of the world is watching this and what are the ramifications of the failure. lyse: the failure will resonate on the number of levels. the level of diplomacy. never has the middle east seen so many conflicts, conflicts with which we can see no solution in sight. therefore, you have one where there is a fighting chance that diplomacy can work. if this does not work, they will go home and say, we exhausted the diplomacy. we did everything we could. of course, then we are back to all options on the table, including

the middle east knows, many people in the middle east know how to say a, want b and do c. we israelis sent to have the -- tend to have the exact opposite -- we are too direct, we are too loud, we say what we think, sometimes in a very blunt way. i know this for a fact -- all the arab leaders with the exception of qatar are terrified. but as they see iran as a potential winner and the rising power, they want to hedge. charlie: they want to hedge with respect to iran? ari: i have no doubt. some of the statements you see that make people feel better should actually make people more worried because the fundamental danger is you have iran, because it is such an able nation, if it becomes the regional power before it becomes the benign iran we all wish for, that is the major danger. you see signs here of this process where people are afraid of it and they are thinking perhaps this is the new ruler of the region and that endangers america's position in the region and obviously endangers the arab moderates. and israel. charlie: where are we in syria and where will we be because th

next, what the new deal means for the middle east. a former terrorist interrogator >> government committees. >> they're spending money, they're not saving it. >> costing millions and getting nothing. >> it's a bogus sham. >> america tonight investigates. money for nothing. >> they've gotten away with it for years. >> al jazeera america, weekday mornings. catch up on what happened overnight with a full morning brief. get a first hand look with in-depth reports and investigations. start weekday mornings with al jazeera america. open your eyes to a world in motion. >>> tonight we are looking at the battle for influence in the middle east between iran and america. chairman and chief executive at the private intelligence consultancy that advises government and companies on security risks. previously he was an fbi counterterrorism agent, taking part in investigations into al qaeda and other groups. he is seen here on the left is credited with helping to uncover sheikh mohammed as the mastermind behind the september 11th attacks. he obtained

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look we were headed towards war in the middle east. most certainly if we don't stop this nuclear proliferation, there is going to be war. within a year or two years. this is a compromise. it's not the best deal. yes, there's problems with it. it will staif this off for at least a decade if not more. in that amount of time i think there could be some meaningful changes in the middle east. i'm more optimistic about the middle east than i've been in a long time. >> all right. some of the changes might be that places like saudi arabia which are more afraid of iran than israel right now, may nuke up as well. >> i'm more pessimistic about the middle east after this. the iaea said iran is cheating and building smaller centrifuges to cheat. they're burying their capability in mountains. we can't access now military sites. this is a really bad deal, and, you know basically what susan rice is doing, and this is the administration's way of doing things is tactical. it's their way of saying you know we were on the record as saying this could happe

cooperation on the middle east affairs. i think there are three reasons why we embark upon this very meaningful project. first of all, the strategic importance of the middle eastern region. and this is the concentration of all the difficult complex relations of country to country major power, religions, et cetera. if you want to understand how the international affairs are working, you must understand how it works. secondly, some people say now we reduce the dependence of united states on the middle east oil and the gas because of the shale revolution et cetera, the united interest is on the wane, but i don't think so. this is very superficial. and the understanding, they spend most of their money manpower political will and just look at the secretary of state, john kerry. how many times he is doing on the middle east affairs. and also this is a place where china and the united states could complement each other. the united states is the most strong, strongest and influential country in the region whereas china maintains goo

account for afghanistan and other parts of the middle east. this is over and above our regular defense budget. this one-year $82 billion appropriation would more than pay for a six-year highway bill which everyone on both sides say they want. let's stop trying to foolishly rebuild the middle east and start rebuilding america. let's bring all those hundreds of thousands of jobs home.

in the middle east without understanding i.s.i.s. is a very stronglstrongly antishia antibe sunni force. if you don't understand that then you won't understand how you can defeat i.s.i.s. >> in the iranians in the story i just ran i spoke to one of the vice presidents of iran who pointed out that america and iran can work together in defeating i.s.i.s, they would actually like americans to see that as the greatest threat to the middle east. that is not been something that's played out until now. in fact we've seen americans actively avoiding collaboration with iranian - -backed shia forces in iraq. >> that's exactly the case. you can look at the issue from two different angles, stability versus terrorism issue and then we can think of many sunni countries being our main ally in fighting i.s.i.s, or you can look much more closely and see whether it's in syria or whether it's in iraq that i.s.i.s. really speaks for the sunni objection to shia rule and to iranian influence and then it became the question of shia-sunni, because i.s.i.s.

next, what the new deal means for the middle east. a former terrorist interrogator says iran is a dangerous state, but may be less so now. he'll explain when he comes back. >>> tonight we are looking at the battle for influence in the middle east between iran and america. chairman and chief executive at the private intelligence consultancy that advises government and companies on security risks. previously he was an fbi counterterrorism agent, taking part in investigations into al qaeda and other groups. he is seen here on the left is credited with helping to uncover sheikh mohammed as the mastermind behind the september 11th attacks. he obtained that intelligence during interrogation. he wrote about his experiences in a book. he said the iran nuclear deal is history in the making, but cautions we don't know the long-term implications and warns that both have a chance to act in a constructive or constructive way. >> iran and north korea are the only state sponsors of terrorism, after taking off cuba. if it prevent iran having a nuclea

iran and the middle east. >> like we are very sneaky and like we have a nuclear program. okay, we have but it's a peaceful nuclear program, it's peaceful. i will blow you up then we hug you. >> reporter: he was born in tehran and his family left in the middle of the islamic revolution and he grew up in california which has one of the largest iran/american populations in the u.s. >> there is a lot of iran and a lot of different view points. there is persian jews and persian muslims and persian armanians and different relations and persian republicans and persian democrats. >> reporter: he wrote a book showing how much they get wrong of middle easterners. >> trying to make fun of how hollywood mixes it up with arab or pakistan or whatever it is they put us altogether. >> reporter: says many believe that iran's are untrustworthy. >> and see it with talks and different factions that come and say don't trust iranians but many don't trust them in general. >> reporter: since 1979 the relationship between the u.s. and iran has been bitter and sometimes violent. still he finds way

is the most influential foreign country in the middle east. therefore, if it did collapse, imagine these two regional international powers are going to go to a greater confrontation. politically, economically militarily, covertly intelligence, then you can imagine with such a shaky region what's going to happen. therefore, i believe we have only one choice diplomacy to resolve the nuclear through international rules and regulations, to continue negotiation between iran and the u.s. for peace stability in the region. >> rose: lyse you traveled as an international correspondent with the bbc. we see you everywhere. give us a sense of how closely the world is watching and what are the ramifications of a failure. >> i think the failure is resonate on a number of levels, first on the level of diplomacy. never has the middle east seen so many punishing conflicts with which we can see no solution in site and no political solution. so therefore, you have one, where there is a fighting chance that diplomacy can work and not onlyaare negotiators exhauste

this being the middle east. it's more complicated than that. here is what i mean, turkey agreed to help the united states knock i.s.i.l. out of a 60 mile protected scene of northern syria. the move following a suicide bombing turkey blamed on i.s.i.l., and is allowing the united states to use its air bases to attack i.s.i.l. friends helping each other battle a common enemy. turkey started bombing forces of the kurdistan workers party, known by its acronym p.k.k. they have been fighting for an autonomous region, the pst kk, and the y.p.g. have become america's strongest partners fighting i.s.i.l., they are the ones that stayed and fought when the iraqi army cut and ran. u.s. and its allies listed the p.k.k. as a terrorist group. zeina khodr is in turkey and has the latest on the campaign against the p.k.k. >> for the first time turkish fighters jets targeted the p.k.k. on turkish soil, following an exchange of fch fire between turkish security forces and the groups. over the past few days turkish jets targeted the group across the border in nort

policy in the middle east is in free fall. we are flailing from iraq, libya, afghanistan, syria - the whole region. we need a strategic realignment to recover our own position in the middle east. >> let's assume you are correct, that the united states standing in the middle east is a free for all, would it make sense instead of antagonising israel, saudi arabia, and those turning to russia instead of iran, and antagonising egypt, turning to russia, would it make sense to listen to them and not worry about iran. this is the problem. we don't have strategic balance in the middle east, we relied on allies not representing the majority of the populations whom they control, and turn to them, each though the allies in saudi arabia continue to arm fund and train jihadis across the region. osama bin laden, one of the first armed, trained and funded mosqued into the al qaeda, four morphing into d.a.e.s.h. >>> iran will continue to arm, train and fund hezbollah, no matter what agreement we reach with them on the nuclear deal. >> what ir

the agreement signalling a shift in middle east politics. iranians flood the streets of tehran in celebration. hopeful for a brighter future. but many of iran's neighbours remain skeptical of their sworn enemy. >> what a stunning historic mistake >>> and the battle lines are drawn in the u.s. with opponents on capitol hill and beyond. >> if it's as bad a deal as i think it is at the moment, we'll do everything to stop it. >> president obama says he's ready for the fight. >> i'll veto any legislation that prevents the implementation of this report >>> tonight, inside the deal. here is john seigenthaler and antonio mora >>> we begin with what iranian president hassan rouhani said was a new chapter history, a landmark agreement between iran the u.s. and five powers. the deal limits iran's nuclear ability for more than a decade removing two-thirds of iran's existing centrifuges used to enrich iranian and allows international inspectors to monitor sites. in exchange sanctions will be lifted, only after inspectors verified that iran is living up t

you have been to the middle east several times.state kerry has been to the middle east far more than you have. secretary of state kerry is saguy who in a prior life was shot at during a war, so he understands danger. he recognizes war. he recognizes lethality of war. do you really think he's that naive that he does -- >> yeah, i do. i really think john kerry and barack obama are incredibly naive. when they drew a line against assad and did nothing about it they set in motion holy hell in the mideast. i think john kerry is a good man, but at the end of the day, they want a deal so bad they cannot stand it. when you go to the mideast and ask a sunni arab leader what do you think about a nuclear program in the hands of iranians that by the mere passage of time, will grow. i don't like it. john kerry doesn't listen very well. what do you think israel has told john kerry? please don't give iran a nuclear capability. don't give them more money until they change their behavior. he's not listening to the region. the arabs and israelis are

the middle east is a west because the westerners have been involved for a long, long time. it's time to let the... >> them agree with you. >> time to let the people in that region make the decisions. >> you wrote our obsession with expanding a sphere of influence was designed tore empire building, not national security purposes. what do you mean by that. >> the excuse is it will make us more secure. and that's why we have truth in 150 countries, i think we are less secure, there's blow back to be concerned about. we've been involved because of this philosophy and the policy, in the vietnam war, and there is - we make it safe before, we jeopardise ourselves. we wasted money and lives. i think we make ourselves unsafe. we are less safe now because of what we had done in the last 100 years. because of monetary. the chapter "making america safe for empire", we have a quote. zionism played a role. it influenced, encouraged extreme interference in the middle east. what do you mean by that? >> i think of it with some of the christian brethren who put the burden on their believers,

defense as he can ash carter is in saudi arabia on the third leg of his middle east tour. >> taking a look at how that iran deal could lead to an arms race across the region. >> get out of the car! i will light you up! get out! now! >> a police video is released showing the arrest of an african-american woman who died in jail three days later. a murder inquiry is underway. >> a member of burundi's main opposition is calling for the formation of a unity government following a controversial election. the vote was boycotted by some, but the electoral commission says preliminary results show a 74% voter turnout. earlier, u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon called for a stop so the violence. one civilian and a policeman were killed. >> the president's spokesman condemned the attacks at acts of terror aimed at intimidating voters. the president is expected to win a third consecutive term despite a constitutional limit of two terms in office. opposition boycotted the vote. tell us about the call for a unity government, people are trying to find ways of limiting violence after the result of th

iran wants to be the big player in the middle east. does this deal that i have here, does that encourage saudi arabia, turkey and egypt to develop nuclear weapon capability to deter iran? >> it sure does in my opinion. as others have said general hayden, it does something else. it raises real alarm in the minds and hearts of our traditional allies and the sunni muslim world and in israel about whether the u.s. has changed its traditional alliance relationship with those countries and now it is either tilting toward iran or at least pulling back to a kind of neutrality. if this agreement is left to go into effect, i think one of the great imperatives for the u.s. is to not do whatever it can it is going to be hard to reassure the muslim arab countries, sunni muslim countries and israel that we're still with them. >> one more question. general, this question. icbm's, when iran gets icbms, what would be the purpose have to be nuclear but a weapon of mass destruction. and, of course - where would they go to this iran? >> those kind of weap

another war in the middle east? where trying to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons throughout the middle east. if iran gets the bomb -- what if yemen had nuclear weapons with the mess it is in? if iran it's the bomb that saudi arabia and the united emirates -- all of those people will think they need one also. the middle east is supposed to be a nuclear-free zone. people never talk about the fact that israel has nuclear weapons and they are not supporting the president. i am not a scientist, but if all of the members of the security council signed off on this deal i appreciate the president's efforts and i support him. host: a call from new jersey jane on the independent line. caller: this is such an exciting day. i am having trouble with my emotions. i have been praying for peace and praying for this thing to go through. host: as far as the deal itself, what do you think about it and what you think about i run's -- iran's perspective? why do you trust iran? caller: they are a people that are ready to have

our interests in the middle east are the following.we are there as disorder let's try to build order. egypt, we are there as order, let's try to make it a little more decent. where there is decent order jordan, uae, kurdistan, try to make it more consensual and where there is consensual order, tunisia, lebanon, protect it like a rare flower. we got to go right down that checklist, it seems to me but do not buy into anybody's schtick. there's a deep shia-arab-sunni thing going on here. you and i are not part of the story. i have said before -- it is so deep. iran is like your big brother walks out the door 36 years ago and and slams the door. charlie takes the stereo. charlotte takes his favorite pen. and we have a sole relationship with dad in washington. 36 years later, big brother is back. i won my pen, i want my stereo i want my bicycle, that is what is going on, so the arabs are freaking out because there has never been an iranian ambassador in washington. they have had a sole monopoly based on dialogue here. that is going to break

charlie: it makes the middle east even more of a powder keg. tom: exactly.n a region that is already a powder keg. i just do not hear anything coming from the critics that persuades me that will be better than this. i understand prime minister netanyahu's reluctance, but what do i hear him saying? more sanctions would lead to a better deal. in other words, the iranians are perfectly logical. if you increase the pressure, they will increase the concessions. he said that monday, wednesday and tuesday and thursday he says friday. they are wild and crazy. if you give them a bomb they will drop it on the jews the next day. are they rational or irrational? but i do not take israel's concerns lightly. i covered a lot of iran's handiwork firsthand. i covered the hezbollah inspired bombing of the u.s. embassy. i covered the bombing of the u.s. marines in beirut. i was in israel when hezbollah emerged. to me hezbollah has been a terrible organization first and foremost for lebanese shiites and for lebanon in general. i am stunned the degree to which hezbollah has beco

. >>> plus how the nuclear agreement with iran may not only be a game changer for the middle east butlso alter the fight against isil. that's next. ♪ >>> welcome back. president obama is continuing his push to sell his iranian nuclear deal. he is meeting with the foreign minister of saudi arabia. the united nations security council has set a vote for monday to consider endorsing the plan. >>> iran's influence in the middle southeast expected to grow once the sanctions are lifted as ali velshi tells us what the country is really looking for now is respect. ♪ >> reporter: iran considers itself a super power in the middle east and wants the world to give it the respect it thinks it deserves. and despite agreeing to curbs on its nuclear ambitions, it's regional influence is bound to grow as sanctions are lifted. >> it's time for american leaders and some european leaders to realize that iran is a major player. why not live with it? and if they decide to that that they would encourage forces within iran that are willing and able to accommodate western interests. >> reporter: one thing that

while neither were a part of the negotiations, you have both recently traveled to the middle east to speak with your counterparts. on a range of issues including how iran may use sanctions, expand its support to terrorist proxies, and invest more heavily in its military. these are serious concerns and ones which i share. our partners this israel see iran as an ongoing threat. while prime minister netenyahu is unlikely to ever endorse this deal it is incumbent on the united states to deepen our cooperation with israel and better understand the concerns of the israelis. it's also critical that our partners and allies know the united states will not abandon the region in the wake of this agreement. the may 2015 joint statement following the u.s. and gulf cooperation council meetings at camp david provided a road map. it also makes clear the department of defense will be at the forefront of these efforts. critics of the agreement point to flaws related to iran's ballistic missile capability. the camp david joint statement outlines our commitment to the gcc and improving inner operability

the middle east is more complex. it's more difficult. there are more factors, more actors, many more external forces. there is no iran issue in northern ireland. right now islam is going through a very difficult period of internal conflict. some of it dates back to the prophet mohammed. the sunni-shia divide is not a religious argument. it is a political argument that arose upon mohammed's death in the succession context for authority. david snow erupted fiercely, notably in iraq and syria with the devastating consequences for the people of those countries. and all of these have a facts, not to mention the arab spring not to mention places, all of the others. so i think it's a very, very difficult to it is compounded by the fact that there is not only a lack of trust. there is a high and active level of mistrust between israelis and palestinians, and arabs and israelis cheerleader even though they share many common interests. most notably with respect to iran. positions of israel and saudi arabia are very close with respect to iran but t

in so many ways it is a game changer for the middle east region. >> what about in the middle east, theremixed reaction from the area in terms of what it might mean in terms of iran's power base. >> for iran's neighbors, they think an emboldened iran is going to encroach more on their national sovereignties, interfere more and dominate more in countries like iraq put -- or throw it's weight in a place like syria, lebanon, and even yemen, the gulf region and other places. so they are quite anxious in the sense that iran will be able to do more of the same and in a chaotic region an important organized country like iran it will be able to flex its muscles. as for israel it's a different story. because israel is already a nuclear power. it reported has 100 to 200 nuclear war heads, and it occupies its neighbors and terrorizes a number of them so for the prime minister complaining about the west cap it lating with iran is a bit of a stretch. >> where they now on this? i mean obviously they are kind of outside of this in their reaction, but would they act unilaterally at this point? >> i think

trade has exported to countries in the middle east. within somalia demand for bananas has always been high. it is perhaps the most popular fruit here, in fact no meal is complete without a banana or two. they are cheaper than they used to be but not all are happy. they say things are so bad now they have stopped keeping track of their losses. >> translator: when we buy i.t. in the farmer they sell owners it from the farmer they sell it to us, they cover the weight not the number of banana. we sell it to the customers because of competition and large supply. >> as peace slowly returns to the country they pray that the good times continue. hamza mohammed, al jazeera somalia. >>> nasa revealed high definition pictures of pluto today. they reveal ice mountains 11,000 feet, canyons that appear six times deeper than the grand canyon. scientists say pluto and its moon do not expert tidal influence on one -- exert hidal influence on one another so they have no idea how the canyons formed. merritt is upamerica is up next. >> on america: cosmic

iran considers itself a superpower in the middle east. and it wants the world to give it the respect it thinks it deserves. and despite agreeing to kerbs on nuclear ambitions, the regional influence is bound to go as sanctions are lived and economic sanctions end. >> it's time for american and some european leaders to realise that iran is a major player. and live with it the same way as russia and china, why not live with iran. if they decide to do that, they'll encourage forces within iran that are willing and able interests. >> one thing that iran is eager to help with is confronting i.s.i.l. both iran and the u.s. backed the iraqi government in the war against i.s.i.l. fighters. but in neighbouring syria, where i.s.i.l. controls territory, iran and the u.s. work at cross-purposes. that is because they back opposing sides in syria's civil war. in fact, in almost every contentious area and issue facing the middle east, syria israel, yemen and the flow of oil to the world, iran and the u.s. are on opposite sides. nowhere is that more impo

pokes fun at stereotypes and plays for laughs about tensions between iran, the automatic isn't middle east. >> we have a nuclear program ok, but and it is peaceful nuclear program. >> he was born in tehran. his family left in the middle of the islamic revolution and he grew up in california, which has one of the largest iranian american populations in the u.s. >> there's a lot of iranians but there's also a lot of different viewpoints. there's persian jews, persian muslims, there's persian armenians, so there's different religions, persian you republicans, persian democrats. >> he wrote a book showing how much american popular entertainment gets wrong. >> i'm trying to make fun of how hollywood mixes us up altogether, whether iranian or arab or pakistani and puts us altogether. >> he said many americans believe iranians are untrustworthy. >> we see it with the nuclear talks and different factions saying don't trust the iranians. i think a lot of people here don't trust iranians in general. >> since 1979, the relationship between the u.s. and iran has been bitter and sometimes violent. stil

what is means for america's credibility in the middle east. since 1979, republican and democratic administrations thought to contain the islamic republic of iran and prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons capabilities. our allies and partners have entrusted much of their own security to the u.s. because they believed that our commitment. i fear this agreement will undermine our willingness to play that vital stabilizing role. our allies and partners in the middle east have increasingly come to believe that america is withdrawing from the region and doing so at a time when i ran is aggressively seeking really -- seeking to advance its hegemonic indigents. now we reached an agreement that will not only legitimized the islamic republic with a new -- nuclear enrichment capability, but will also unshackle this regime in its pursuit of conventional military power and may actually consolidate the islamic republic control in iran for years to come. after turning three decades of u.s. foreign policy on its head, is it any wonder that this agreement

so according to a pugh center survey, china is more popular in the middle east than the united states. so a starkly different policy. and so the chinese and the scholars does that mean they like the chinese approach or the u.s. approach. thank you. >> and to the middle. to the gentleman there. >> my name is mr. rubin. i'm assistant director for the jewish community. i want to ask four scholars from china. china and india have had close ties from the palestinians -- the people and since '91 have had growing ties with israel and how could both countries join the p5+1 -- not the quarter i agree with you -- excluded china, to help forth along the middle east peace process and ensure israel's security with the kind of threats that iran makes. thank you. >> three really simple questions. the first is on the -- on the belt and road. is the united states welcoming or not welcoming and should it. and the second on how do you reconcile the deep differences and the key there is the different approaches and per sepgs about the arab spring between the united states and china. and the third is can

-- behavior elsewhere in the middle east.harlie: and they have said, we are not changing our policy. william burns: right. and therefore i think it is important for us to base our policy on the assumption that that kind of behavior is going to continue to drain our interests and our friends interests. but i also believe the behavior would be more threatening if they had a nuclear weapon or the program was unconstrained and uninspected. charlie: do you believe they would have had a nuclear weapon sooner without the agreement? william burns: i think there would be a real risk iran could accelerate its program and get closer and closer to that point and i think that adds to a degree of instability and fragility in a region that has its share of both. charlie: but they are a month away from a breakthrough. william burns: without the agreement, the iranians would be two or three months away from developing enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon. that is just one dimension of what you have to do. y'all the need a nuclear expl

a new nato for the middle east. where you take countries like egypt, jordan saudi arabia arab emirates. as a side matter some participation and some form with the israelis in order to make it clear that an expansion by the iranians will not be permitted and will not be satisfactory. and perhaps with the united states' leadership in a new nato in the middle east we can provide some stability. >> i might say one more thing on this before we go. >> before i come up with a question. >> well before. it's terribly important that we build up the united states military not for war. and i think that we've been too quick sometimes for that. i think we need to build up the united states military for peace. its peace strengthens the reagan model. >> if you do nato in the middle east that means one attack on one is an attack on all. meaning if there's an attack on the united arab emirates it's an attack against the u.s. and we're at war on the ground. that is what you want? >> as president i think i would have the ability to def

iran considers itself a superpower in the middle east. and it wants the world to give it the respect it thinks it deserves. and despite agreeing to kerbs on nuclear ambitions, the regional influence is bound to go as sanctions are lived and economic sanctions end. >> it's time for american and some european leaders to realise that iran is a major player. and live with it the same way as russia and china, why not live with iran. if they decide to do that they'll encourage forces within iran that are willing and able to accommodate western interests. >> one thing that iran is eager to help with is confronting i.s.i.l. both iran and the u.s. backed the iraqi government in the war against i.s.i.l. fighters. but in neighbouring syria, where i.s.i.l. controls territory, iran and the u.s. work at cross-purposes. that is because they back opposing sides in syria's civil war. in fact, in almost every contentious area and issue facing the middle east syria israel, yemen and the flow of oil to the world, iran and the u.s. are on opposite sides. nowh