>> are you still getting horror stories out of tehran? >> right now horror stories are concentrated around the way the vigilantes and guards are treating the protesters. there is news of beating them up with knives, with chains, throwing them down the windows of the dorm mature reese -- dorm mature reese -- abducting them. that's theparis, some women have set themselves afire what do you think of that form of protest? >> well, i don't approve of it. i feel a great deal of sorrow and anguish when an individual reaches the stage where she has to set fire to herself in order to make a statement about her life. i blame the system that makes people that desperate. but i also blame the leadership of the organization that they belong to the knew that jaed dean -- knew that jaed dean who encourage the rank and file to resort to such measures. but i think the islamic republic should take responsibility for what has happened. >> do you see a larger mobilization of this kind in iran? >> well, i see a larger mobilization of more -- you know people in

meanwhile and tehran has reiterated its readiness to resume nuclear talks with major powers to discuss the country's controversial nuclear program. that's well israel has stepped up its stance against iran with prime minister benjamin netanyahu saying tehran's aggression must be stopped but he repeated his claims that iran was behind recent bombings allegedly targeting israelis in india georgia and thailand israel says there are links between the incidents despite authorities in india and thailand saying there's no such evidence and iran denying any involvement tehran inturn says israel is waging a psychological war that many fear might pave the way for military action well expert on mideast affairs are the risks there's this view saying israel's claim. lacked credibility. with respect to these latest incidents about bombings occurring in in the georgia and thailand when you hear the rhetoric which is being said the language being used by israeli officials for example they say you're wrong poses a threat to the world it poses a threat to the region i think what they're trying to do is

well there's more on iran on our website as washington continues to pressure tehran over its nuclear program the u.s. plans to invade iran from a financial group which would hurt the country's oil sales quote in turn have global consequences had argued dot com for more details. syria's president bashar assad has ordered a referendum on a new constitution to be held in eleven days according to the country's state run news agency it could put an end to the one party rule of the president's baath party inscribed in the current constitution but changes to the law were a key demand by the opposition at the beginning of the country's eleven month uprising but in the wake of deadly clashes with the army many opposition leaders are now insisting that the president quits an element of a referendum came amid reports of new outbreaks of violence with tanks shelling the fourth largest city of hama and an oil pipeline blown up in the rebellious city of holmes reports of atrocities coming mainly from the rebels there are concerns that one side of the conflict is being largely ignored as me for a n

nhk world has more from tehran. this came in increasing defiance. here is the report from tehran. >> reporter: iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad announced the new centrifuges at a speech at the country's atomic energy agency on wednesday. he said the new centrifuges at the uranium enrichment facilities in natanz have three times the production capacity compared to the older centrifuges. earlier, the president attended a ceremony where he loaded the country's first-ever domestically made nuclear fuel rod into a reactor near tehran. iran says the fuel rods and the reactor will be used to produce radio isotopes to treat cancer patients and for other peaceful research. western countries are calling on iran to stop the enrichment, which they say could be used for military purposes, or face more economic sanctions. ahmadinejad's announcement is expected to spark a strong reaction from the west and israel. mojtaba sanati, reporting for nhk world, tehran. >>> on its nuclear program, the eu is considering the offer. iranian media says the secretary of th

instead officials have issued this warning to tehran. >> you are exposed. we know you are responsible. we can take it for now, but we won't. >> reporter: it is just the latest warning in recent weeks. this was a publicized military exercise last month. israeli paratroopers simulated invading a country. raising an unanswered question, are the warnings a prelude to an attack on iran or diplomatic strategy to avoid one? the talk of unilateral attack died down. although netanyahu's speech today was tough, it seemed more an appeal for help rather than a threat israel was getting ready to strike back. >> stephanie gosk rounding out our coverage from tel aviv, thanks. >>> in syria, there is a big cloud of smoke over the city of homs where we've seen one of the deadliest assaults in the ruling regime's crackdown on protestors. an oil pipeline caught fire after being ruptured. we were able to obtain a view from 500 miles up. there are conflicting reports about who is responsible, but is likely the result of almost constant bombardment in that area. >>> a lot of peop

tehran has already retaliated and has stopped selling crude to french and british companies.monday, the iranian foreign minister appealed to the eu to work to improve relations. >> one of the other priorities of the foreign minister of tehran is to have a better engagement with the european union. unfortunately, we did not receive any, i would say, response that would encourage such a relationship. >> the foreign minister made it clear that the iaea delegation would not be allowed to inspect iran's nuclear facilities. >> there was more chaos monday for airline passengers trying to fly to and from a frankfurt. germany's biggest airport was paralyzed by another day of strike action, and there's no relief in stride. >> not at all. the air-traffic controllers union says the work stoppage could continue for another couple days. callingected an arbitrati it excessive. >> airlines have canceled over 220 flights today. about one in six scheduled flights are affected. many travelers have switched to other forms of transport. others are hoping they will be among the lucky ones. >> i am

and just returned from tehran what is the message iran wants to send by today's move why the targeting britain and france and excluding the more fragile economies in the e.u. such as greece well i think the lesson is first of all that economic sanctions are a game that two can play and turnabout is fair play in international affairs the european commission and the relevant powers have been making a big noise over the past couple of weeks about how they are going to embargo and boycott iranian oil starting on july first well it's pretty obvious the iranians decided not to wait around until july first and if this report is correct which it seems to be they've decided to to impose their own embargo boycott on the offending powers and they're starting with the the two biggest imperialist bullies on the schoolyard the british and the french who are now so weak that they can only act together they are a kind of imperialist bicycle built for two so they get slammed first they haven't had time to carefully arrange the fallback options and the alternative sources of oil so this is a little bit

nuclear inspectors arrive in tehran with tensions increasing between iran and the west. welcome to "bbc world news." i'm geeta guru-murthy. also in this program -- it can't cause the disastrous floods, now the bbc discovers illegal logging continues in the philippines. and the royal seal of approval is giving british designers a boost at london fashion week. >> as eurozone ministers gather in brussels to decide go to give the go-ahead for a new bailout of the greek economy, the french finance minister has said all elements are in place for an accord. he's said that greece has done enough to secure this second bailout package. the greek prime minister has fled to brussels for this crucial meeting. his country remains perilously close to bankruptcy and desperately needs the loan of 130 billion euros. in the last few minutes, it's been reported the greek finance minister has said although some technicals still need to be sorted out, he believes a long period of uncertainty for his country is coming to an end. even if this round of funding does go through, however, there are

he's jacob greaves reports from greece one of the countries believed to be subject to the oil cut by tehran. the latest reports here what we hear is the arabian foreign ministry has cooled up these are bastards of the six nations concerned and told them that cuts will happen but not right away or they will face a ban on exports to their nations but they'll be given some leeway and that's what they termed humanitarian reasons the cold snap that's been sweeping across europe that will go down if implemented preempt somewhat those sanctions imposed by the e.u. back in january due to be implemented in july six nations in question here well those reported to be in the really thick of it when it comes this economic crisis we have the netherlands of france but also portugal italy spain and greece as well as already been questions raised here because tehran says that he can find other people to buy its exports that's the likes of india and china where is this down to being raised as to whether or not the e.u. can really you place that good and quite cheap supply of oil to those who have been so str

as of tensions between tehran and the west were not high enough, today iran announced in grand fashion that it has made two major advances in its nuclear program. president mahmoud ahmadinejad watched as the first reactor was reportedly loaded for the first time with domestically made fuel rods. the nuclear agency said that they had expanded their ability to enrich uranium and they seem to make a mockery of recent sanctions. >> president ahmadinejad occasionally enjoys playing the part of nuclear physicist. this afternoon, he unveiled what he billed as great achievements in the nuclear sphere. two years ago, iran said they could not produce the fuel rods on their own. now, they say they can't. the message of this ceremony, sanctions will not stop their pursuit of nuclear power. >> they were strict scientific achievement for themselves, especially advanced science. they have used it to fight humanity. science should be invested in people's well-being and for organize international relations based on friendship, respect, and justice. >> the president and his colleagues paid tribute to nu

as of tensions between tehran and the west were not high enough, today iran announced in grand fashion that it has made two major advances in its nuclear program. president mahmoud ahmadinejad watched as the first reactor was reportedly loaded for the first time with domestically made fuel rods. the nuclear agency said that they had expanded their ability to enrich uranium and they seem to make a mockery of recent sanctions. >> president ahmadinejad occasionally enjoys playing the part of nuclear physicist. this afternoon, he unveiled what he billed as great achievements in the nuclear sphere. two years ago, iran said they could not produce the fuel rods on their own. now, they say they can't. the message of this ceremony, sanctions will not stop their pursuit of nuclear power. >> they were strict scientific achievement for themselves, especially advanced science. they have used it to fight humanity. science should be invested in people's well-being and for organize international relations based on friendship, respect, and justice. >> the president and his colleagues paid tribute to nu

meanwhile, tehran is conducting military maneuvers near the persian gulf.icials say the exercises are aimed at improving air defenses around nuclear facilities. officials at the iaea say they still support constructive talks with iran, but for now, they have made little progress in coaxing to iran to reveal more details of its nuclear ambitions. >> and we will have more on iran coming up later in the "journal ," but let's talk about business news. ratings agency fitch is not impressed with this week's 130 billion euro bailout agreement for greece. it has downgraded the country's debt rating to c, the lowest possible level prior to default. a greek default is highly likely in the near term. fitch warned last summer that it would take this step to any further bailout deals included a big debt write off. that is part of the latest plan, of course, which asks private investors to take a 107 billion euro hair cut on their loans to athens. on to the equity market action this wednesday. german stocks were treated for a second day, running in reaction to weaker tha

this little circus so china of course has people that can read a map from tripoli to damascus to tehran they see trouble being stirred up into a bet they see trouble being sort of good russia just as the the embryo basically of the things that started out in these other places and it's very clear that with the u.s. engaging in an attempt to encircle china from the east and the south in australia in the philippines that this kind of activity on their south western flank is not good for them and so i think they're starting to wake up and realize that the u.s. it may be coming for them soon and that they need to stop it here when we know china and russia have used their veto power what is the next step will the u.n. redraft of the resolution take into account russian and chinese objections or will we be at a standoff well apparently a standoff at the moment because the amendments were offered by russia they were supported by china and this bloc that the united states has assembled from portugal to france to south africa again i don't understand zuma still how he's getting away with that bu

stating the facts about iran there are surrogates who are revelations of a much less threatening tehran was recently disclosed during intelligence briefings the agency assesses iran isn't likely to initiate or intentionally provoke a conflict they continue to develop their enrichment capability. but they've made a decision to proceed with developing a nuclear weapon. many experts have labeled iran america's new iraq critics then and now say washington paves the path and corporate media plugs the message was iraq. you know. again it doesn't matter if it. is some of the bush administration it's the same strategy it's all well there might be things but on new york there are no know the intelligence so well no it's not really credible don't know it's making a material. jack up is worked only goes well when you combine all characters together that you get is a meeting where they want to impede the most story. could you can scrutinize it but instead if you have engine by the bandwagon you see it time and time again and. according to recent polls americans consider tehran to be be us is top en

all roads lead to tehran as the syrian crisis deepens and the violence intensifies concern that grows it that if the assad regime falls it's a key ally iran would be left isolated and forced into a more aggressive position. love it has rejected a proposal to make russian its second official language the country's a russian a community which makes up the third of the population initiated the referendum to draw attention to what they call decades of that discrimination. as euro zone nation struggle to get to grips with their financial troubles the idea of a united europe is losing ground at some schools in the bloc are accused of brainwashing pupils into believing that the union is still going strong. and i'm broadcasting live direct from our studios in central moscow this is r t i'm john thomas good to have you with us with syria becoming further engulfed by conflict one of its key allies in the region iran is also feeling the strain experts warn the young rest could cross borders and impact the middle east as a whole analysts are concerned that the collapse of the assad regime would b

that some of these nonproliferation based economic sanctions may be aimed at toppling the regime in tehran. greaves there was focus back on syria now the main news this hour the seven nation friends of syria group meeting in chin is it a bit earlier that meeting is no broken up but across it very much for us our correspondent. is joining us live from damascus bring us up to date on the outcome what was achieved around that table. well kevin more than seventeen nations arab and western countries that took part in the meeting of so-called friends of syria have urged more sanctions against the regime of bashar al assad have condemned the violations of human rights here in syria and have called for an immediate bolivar's happening here on the ground the members of this mission have also come out saying that the supports the idea of sending a joint u. and arab league peacekeeping troops to syria to move into the situation and to implement. the cease fire this idea has been pushed forward earlier by the arab league and has been rejected by russia actually because i doubt that any peacekeeping fo

might stop supplying them with oil in response to a series of sanctions which include an embargo on tehran's key export and iranian official has added the only reason they're not stopping crude sales immediately is europe's extremely cold current temperatures are she's drake agrees reports now from greece one of the countries believed to be subject to that oil could bite her on. the latest reports here what we hear is the iranian foreign ministry has cooled up these impasses of these six nations concerns and told them that cuts will happen but not right away or they will face a ban on exports to their nations but they'll be given some leeway and that's what they termed humanitarian reasons the cold snap has been sweeping across europe it will go down if implemented preempt somewhat those sanctions imposed by the e.u. back in january and due to be implemented in july six nations in question here well those reported to be in the really thick of it when it comes this economic crisis we have the netherlands of france also portugal italy spain and greece is well there's already been questions rai

meanwhile tehran has reiterated its readiness to resume nuclear talks with the major powers to discuss the country's controversial nuclear program this why israel has stepped up its stance against iran with prime minister netanyahu saying tehran's aggression must be stopped he repeated the claims that iran was behind recent bombings allegedly targeting israelis in india. in thailand israel says there are links between the incidents despite authorities in india and thailand saying there is no such evidence and iran denying involvement terrine in turn says israel is waging a psychological war that many fear may pave the way for military action political analyst chris bambery explains why he thinks israel is acting as it is. i have to take israel's claim that iran is behind the attacks on its diplomats in georgia and india with a pinch of salt forcefully should be said israel has a long record of using assassination as the tool i think it might be better of original to turn around and say in response to those there is going to stop its assassination policy and with other nations like iran

label islamic republic as the nation's biggest enemy larry harper support military action against tehran. and the face of brutal in london and find out how the man who took to be russia's next president has been actually imagination of british authors and filmmakers less than a fortnight before russians head to the polls. well news and much more twenty four hours a day this is r.t.m. kerry johnston the future of the syrian crisis will be the focus of a meeting between the u.s. european and arab nations opening in tunisia today the so-called friends of syria group is expected to discuss new measures to cripple the assad regime which they blame for the nearly yearlong violence in the country russia and china meanwhile have refused to attend the meeting. says the group is biased in its attempts to settle syria's internal conflict by ignoring the role of armed opposition groups in the bloodshed in which thousands of died meanwhile washington is reportedly holding talks with the u.k. france italy and turkey preparations for military intervention in israeli website and then for links to intell

meanwhile tehran house has spoken to stopping oil supplies to some e.u. states due to the extremely cold winter in europe the measure had long been contemplated in response to the blocks of bargo and radiant crude exports due to come into force in july but the founder of the trends research institute gerald celente says imposing such sanctions in the first place is equal to a declaration of war well here's a taste of his interview coming up in full in twenty minutes. the united states again with the national defense authorization act part of that was that president obama affectively has declared war against iran the latest legislation put sanctions on foreign companies dealing with iranian banks defectively putting in a bar go. wrong it's an act of war go back to world war two it's like when the united states stopped japan for being able to buy oil now the iranians can't sell it if they lose just twenty percent of their of their ability to sell oil you're looking at sixty percent of their g.d.p. comes from oil sales you're putting a bad a business. there

according to recent polls americans consider tehran to be the u.s.is top enemy and nearly half of all citizens support a military strike against iran. when factoring human beings it's necessary for hours of coverage with these new reports and this constant drumbeat is i'm supposed to tell. you if you don't question the iranians then sure. r.t. new york. remember you can always log on to our t. dot com for the latest stories and comment here's what's a click away right now. napoleon alexander the great or winston churchill moscow vader's voters face a tough choices the city's election committee stages of the presidential poll discover who the other highflying candidates are a click away plus. pancake fever sweeps russia's the country celebrates muslim needs so the traditional festival bidding farewell to winter. the u.s. soldier accused of passing classified secrets to wiki leaks has been officially charged at a military court bradley manning declined to enter a plea he's already been held for nineteen months and subject to treatment that a group of t

following crowds gather i should say over tehran following israel's accusations that the islamic state was behind monday's the times on diplomatic personnel. live from our headquarters in central moscow you're watching archie with me and he said now i four pm here in the russian capital two pm in damascus and the u.n. general assembly could soon vote on a new draft resolution on syria which is believed would put all the blame for the violence on the country's government saudi arabia and qatar drew up the tax in a fresh bits of pressure at the syrian president the move follows the recent double veto of virtually the same document by russia and china at the u.n. security council is an associate churkin law is following developments in new york . this meeting has definitely lasted the entire day we've been hearing speeches from dozens of countries that started early in the morning and of course this comes only a week after a double veto from russia and china blocked an arab and western backed resolution on syria at the security council so what we saw as an attempt from the saudi arabia an

iaea inspectors recently held talks in tehran. they were mad at the airport by protesters. the report said there was no agreement on how to clear up the questions about the nuclear work. iran dismissed the concerns as unfounded. the report is likely to tighten -- heightened the tension about iran. >> they increase their ability to produce enriched uranium, and they have refused to answer questions about alleged weapon is asian programs. -- weaponization programs. >> iran has indicated it wants to keep talking to the iaea. despite the tougher sanctions imposed on the country, tehran is showing little sign of compromise with the west. >> an italian court has -- is expected to reach a verdict in a bribery case against berlusconi. he is accused of paint a british tax lawyer to provide false testimony in court. he denies any wrongdoing. a gunman in northern nigeria have attacked the city of gombe and opened fire on a nearby police station. four civilians were killed during a two-hour gunbattle. a british man has admitted starting a fire, which destroyed a furniture shop in south

the islamic republic is being high but concerns of pending military action grew after israel blamed tehran for two bomb attacks on its diplomatic staff on monday actually peter oliver following developments around iran and now joins us live with the latest developments peter what exactly was said by the russian military with regard to this or rainy and standoff well this came from the chief of staff of the russian armed forces he said he couldn't rule out a plan being in place for the west to attack iran by well by the summer of this year now he was basing this statement on the fact that since the arab spring began russia has been monitoring the the region of the wider middle east very closely and that is his findings from the monitoring that's being going on now this comes just a day after two israeli diplomats were targeted in the capitals of georgia and india now they were targeted with bombs being placed in cars the bomb in georgia was able to be found in diffused but the bomb in india exploded injuring several people now. what. the israelis were very very quick to point the finger of

iran and israel exchange threats of preemptive strikes put tel aviv's allies want an attack on tehran could cause a wave of chaos across the middle east. and civic conscience replaces indifference as russia's upcoming presidential election sees an awakening of people wanting to take part in the nation's political life our top stories this hour. international news and comment live from moscow this is. another day of violence in the flashpoints of crisis like syria it's an edge heavy shelling by government forces in the city of homs has left dozens dead and there are reports the army has fired on demonstrators in the capital damascus even aid workers say they are now unable to deliver vital supplies to the worst hit areas. is in the syrian capital. here in the capital damascus we're hearing shootings from time to time either in the morning or late in the night but actually this is the only thing that i can confirm in terms of violence other reports of clashes and army search in residential areas in the ras these things are very hard to be very far it's mostly because protests and demons

you to agency says tehran has expanded its uranium enrichment and the i.a.e.a. also criticized iran for not having its inspectors into a key military site countries facing tough u.s. and e.u. sanctions and threats of an attack from israel over its nuclear program which it insists is peaceful. from the national iranian american council and a former u.s. state department officer says to resolve iran's nuclear issue the u.s. and its allies should change their approach. the american intelligence agencies and for that matter the israeli intelligence agencies and many other foreign governments intelligence agencies are saying that iran is not made the political decision to pursue weaponization and that leaves time for diplomacy to be pursued to find a peaceful solution that's beneficial to all parties involved the primary sticking point the primary truck problem that we see is that nobody trusts one another people in the people plus one don't trust each other iran doesn't trust anybody in the p five plus one so in an effort to try and move things forward and shift tha

according to recent polls americans consider tehran to be the u.s. is top enemy and nearly half of all citizens support a military strike against iran. when factor in human beings it's necessary for the internet i suppose with and these media and this constant drumbeat of piling on that. if you don't actually i mean sure. are to new york. and all the stories we're covering it. for a real picture of what's happening in the world and while you're there here's what else we've got wind up. there reality of relativity why i and star in celebrated period theory of light speed travel wins the first round is big bang scientists botch an attempt to prove the genius wrong. and why the ice isn't so nice for these rare pelicans whose food has been frozen out by the lengthy cold snap and we were poured on the race to save the birds at our team. the u.s. soldier accused of giving hundreds of thousands of classified military documents to wiki leaks declined to enter a plea during his arraignment bradley manning i was already spent nineteen months in custody but onl

and thailand saying there is no such evidence and iran denying involvement tehran in turn says israel is waging a psychological war that many fear may pave the way for military action to discuss the events unraveling in and around the region i'm joined live from london by chris bambery political analyst with the international socialist group so what do you make of today's reports that iran is looking to cut oil supplies to six nations and how likely do you think to iran is to carry out this threat. well the first thing to see is the deal we've also seen in europe and america for the tightening sanctions financial sanctions on tehran and the aim is to drive iran out of the international oil markets and to cripple their economy and iran's response is twofold is on the one hand the hard response by threatening to cut off oil supplies to these five countries the five poorest countries of europe or mentions and offering to talk to the european union and america over the whole new career issue and incidentally. iran has also offered to talk to america after hillary clinton delivered the. me

all roads that lead to tehran as the syria crisis deepens and of the violence intensifies concern grows that if the assad regime falls it's a key ally iran would be left isolated and forced into a more aggressive position. deciding on the rights of minorities lafayette holds a referendum on recognizing russian as a second language the countries of the russian community which makes up a third of the population says it wants to draw attention to decades of discrimination and open dialogue with the government. as a euro zone nations have struggled to come to grips with their financial troubles the idea of a united europe is a losing ground but some schools in the bloc are accused of brainwashing people's into believing that the union is still going strong. and that you are watching r t glad to have you with us let's get your top stories with syria becoming a further engulfed by conflict one of its key allies in the region iran is also feeling the strain experts warn the unrest could cross borders and impact on the middle east as a whole analysts are concerned that the collapse of the assad

the assad regime would be a devastating blow to iran leaving it isolated and potentially forcing tehran to adopt a more aggressive policies artie's last month has been. iran's military is put through its paces but how long will this carry on being a drill as the conflict in syria gets bloodier by the day western powers range against president assad ally iran the strategic position looks increasingly shaky which some suggest is no coincidence there is a proxy conflict between israel and its western allies and iran which basically only has one ally in the region which is the syrian republic so if you can get syria away from iran either through a diplomatic deal which they're trying for many years all through regime change which seems to be the direction of travel now that would definitely weaken iran and all the roads in the middle east right now do seem to lead back to tehran experts are calling the last thing deployed and hope that bring down throw rainy an asset and replace it with the opposition because you've already said they did talk to nancy tehran foreign policy for life i think

according to recent polls americans consider tehran to be the u.s.is top enemy and nearly half of all citizens support a military strike against iran. even factoring in beings it's necessary for the hours of coverage with. this constant drumbeat as it is i'm supposed to tell you that if you don't question the iranians they will question your marina porter r.t. new york. find more in our stories on our web site r t v dot com for what's going on in your world right now here's what's a click away right now. the reality of relativity while and celebrated theory of light speed travel wins the first round is big bang scientists botch to try to prove the genius wrong. and why the ice is not so nice for these rare pelicans whose food has been frozen out by the lengthy european cold snap the report on the race to see the birds. the u.s. soldier accused of giving hundreds of thousands of classified military documents to wiki leaks has declined to enter a plea at his arraignment bradley manning's already spent nineteen months in custody but only just been charg

early he announced the nuclear fuel rod into a reactor near tehran. iran says the fuel rods and the reactor will be used to produce radi radioisotopes. they say the enrichment could be used for military purposes or face more economic sanctions. it's expected to get strong reaction from the west. >> meanwhile, iran has told the european union it's ready to resume negotiations on its nuclear program. the eu's considering the offer. iranian media says the secretary of the supreme national security council sent a letter to eu foreign policy chief catherine ashton. the letter says iran is willing to resume talks in a manner best for both sides. success will depend on whether the west adopts a constructive attitude. she says she's evaluating the contents of the letter and will consult with the united states, russia, and other partners. the eu coordinator says they will not resume talks unless iran is prepared to discuss concrete confidence-building measures without preconditions. last month eu announced plans to ban iranian oil imports in its toughest econo

france also portugal italy spain and greece as well as already been questions raised here because tehran says that he can find other people to buy its exports that's the likes of india and china where is this down to being raised as to whether or not the e.u. can remove place that good and quite cheap supply of oil to those who have been so stricken in recent times greece in particular is in a sticky situation right now failing to guarantee another bailout plan even though they push through further popular austerity measures just on sunday and this really raises a bit of a concern at the moment that those imposed sanctions on iran back in january by e.u. member states could shortly come back to bite them. stay with r.t. for more analysis of the situation with marshall will join us later this hour for his perspective meanwhile tehran has reiterated its readiness to resume nuclear talks with major powers to discuss the country's controversial nuclear program this while israel has stepped up its stance against iran prime minister benjamin netanyahu saying tehran's aggression must be stopped

last year we had the last round of talks in istanbul, and last month i went to tehran, and i encouraged and called for another round of talk. they said they are accepting. i spoke with -- she accepted. we you now, in these days we are workingf talk. knowing all the details, i can tell you the problem is not a technical problem. the technicalities of nuclear issue could be resolved in a few days, because it is clear what iran wants is right for peaceful -- we will tell them, you will have that right, like other nations, but you will comply with mpt and iaea regulations and they will check. what we want, and p-5 plus 1-1, that there is, there should not be a nuclear are military technology. so there should be certain assurances for both sides to be given to each other. for turkey, our position is clear.

this is the first time that pakistan has brought tehran on board. it is suggested that with the relationship between the united states and pakistan in its decline, pakistan is looking to iran in order to help them manage their relationship with afghanistan. i think that they are banging together in order to protect their assets. >> this is coming at a crucial time. we have hamid karzai going into this meeting saying that his government was having talks with the taliban. what does he hope to gain? >> he was stretching the truth. these are still between the u.s. and the taliban. president karzai wanted to send a signal that i am already talking without you and i want you to deliver to the table. there is a lot of tension between pakistan and afghanistan. that is why they need iran in order to manage afghanistan. >> in some ways, it is in part because the u.s. policies are leaving a vacuum. >> exactly. we are losing pakistan and some levels. they are looking to iran for gas deals. they are looking for them to help in afghanistan. >> you mentioned the p

troubled waters as tension rises with taiwan not -- with tehran as the uss abraham lincoln sales through the straits of hormuz. this valentine' day, the duchess of cambridge had them lining up in the poll. -- in liverpool. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. it is not often that a foreign vice-president gets an oval office meeting with president obama, a lunch at the state department, and enough media attention to dwarf most heads of state, but then again, this is the future leader of china we are talking about. today, xi jinping made the rounds in china while conceding the need for civil rights. >> xi jinping is known to be a fan of hollywood war films. in the oval office, a first date. a chance to see how we feels about iran, syria, and a growing u.s. presence in asia. >> we are a growing nation and we are very interested and focused on continuing to strengthen our relationships and to enhance our trade and commerce and nature that we are a strong and effective partner. >> mr. xi said that he was here to reinforce the vacations' and friendship but that the di

the countries in nato membership officials have firmly disapproved of calls for a strike against tehran reluctant to go along with what they see as western economic bullying jihan news agency chief i don't believe she says anti iran hysteria does no good for the entire region. it will be a very important headache for turkey because turkey is part of nato and because of that turkey has certain responsibilities but iran is a very important neighbor that two countries iran and turkey did not have war for centuries it's very difficult to get a settlement to get a solution by attacking iran which is more than eighty million population big country but as far as i know the current israeli government are not helping to find. a peaceful. diplomatic solution to the crisis thank you in terms of the internal political interests i hope i i see that unfortunately it helps and the tension helps and for the world it is this sponsibility store to see this and to push really do much to me as far as possible in order to get rid of the possibility that we have another war in the middle east which would be

international inspectors are in tehran to discuss the issue. elizabeth palmer has more. >> reporter: iran's revolutionary guard started war games this season in the country. they're meant to send a message to the world that iran is ready for as its foreign minister put it any worst case scenario. in other words, an attack by israel. but in an interview broadcast today, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general martin dempsey said that the u.s. is a against a military strike. >> we think that it's not prudent at this point to decide to attack iran. i mean, that's been our counsel to our allies, the israelis, well-known, well-documented. >> last week iran's president said again that iran's nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. few western politicians believe that. but for the moment they argue that bombing iran's many nuclear installations would only slow the program. businesses in iran have a hard time getting international financing and the price of food and essential goods is rising fast. the price of meat, say tehran shopper