still perpetuate violence. they are operating in southeast asia. they are operating in yemen and in other countries. so i don't for a second believe that we're out of the woods for isis. and i don't also for a second believe that we're out of the woods in temples of the sunni problem in iraq. when you destroy saddam hussein, you destroy the bawtist party and destroy all of the infrastructure military and civil and political around sunni leadership in iraq and now the shia and iran are going to be much more in charge of everything but the kurdish region, then the sunnies are going to feel on the back foot. >> rose: i want to stay with the kurds and go back and raise another point. with respect to the kurds. >> yeah. >> rose: is there going to be an independent kurdish state. >> i think there will be in iraq. well, they have a referendum coming up in the fall. and. >> rose: does he want it soon or are they willing to wait. >> i think they are willing to wait because they know they have toment but they want a mark thary says we have voted and we're completely in favor. that will give m

places like iraq, syria, lebanon and now yemen. even reached as far as afghanistan. so our concern is the expansionist policy of iran, is the hedge mondayic behavior of eye iran, and as a diplomat that represents a country that has three of it's lands occupied by iran, until today, since 1971, there is not theoretical. we see iranian footprints everywhere in the region. and if you are to map out 15 years ago where iran's influence, iran's footprint was and would you do the same math today, that area would be much, much larger. they have a much stronger influence in iraq. much stronger influence in syria and lebanon. and part of the reason we are in yemen is to prevent that from happening in yemen. we do not want to see iran replicate hezbollah in yemen. >> rose: what is our-- what do we plan to do in this government as far as you know about iran's behavior? >> so what i understand, yousef knows more than i do, is that we plan to challenge in specific places in the middle east iranian misbehavior. mostly behind the scenes. but we're going to take it on. and there is a significant change. f

operating in yemen and other countries.i don't for a second believe we are out of and -- forrisis isis. and -- for when you destroy saddam hussein, , and alloy the party the infrastructure, both military and civil and political around the leadership in iraq, and now the shia and iran are going to be much more in charge of everything but the kurdish region. charlie: i want to stay with the kurds and then go back to another point. with respect to the kurds, is there going to be an independent kurdish state? ian: i think there will in iraq. they have a referendum coming up. i think they are willing to wait because they know they have to, but they want a marker that says we are, in favor, we have voted. the turks cannot say they want -- charlie: but they are less resistant? ian: i think they are, because they have a state that some of the turks have been able to do business with. you have satisfied a level of kurdish independence without , as well asng kurdish separatism in turkey the problem is that. president already one can never say this publicly because of his challenges with the kurds in

front, and you see that in their mission in yemen, which hasn't gone very well, but, nevertheless, they point to as a maturation of the g.c.c. and the willingness of some of the states within the gulf cooperation council to work together militarily. >> glor: as it relates to the gulf cooperation council how much of this blockade were the saidies emboldened by the visit from the president? >> if you talk to officials in the gulf, they say this is something that has been brewing for quite some time. they decided to take the action when they did because they did not want to do it before president trump visited saudi arabia. they felt that they had to give him the opportunity to come and say what he had to say in riyadh in late may, things that the emiratis and the saudis liked very much, but, once that was over, they decided that, from their perspective, there are an accumulation of things that the qataris had done, that the qataris had not adhered to a 2014 agreement that they had struck with them to -- concerning the muslim brotherhood, al-jazeera and other issues and, thus, it was time

, northeast nigeria and yemen isn't quite in africa, but the u.n. said it's the worst humanitarian catastrophe for 60 or 70 years, and what's interesting these familiarens are a product of political division and conflict. it's war producing the conditions that people don't have the access to food. they can't grow crops and there is a g20 initiative around them but if you compare to the scale of after the second world war there is no comparison, it taken engagement to turn into something powering forward. that's when i think people are asking the question around the world, in western europe, and also in china, india, where is america going to put its effort, is it only going to focus on its home front or does america first mean room for engagement abroad as well. >> frost: in your take as has the u.s. position changed in stark context since your boss left office? >> i think so, demonstrably. in my six months being home and trying to reacclimate, it's great to be home. i was in a self-imposed media blackout the first few weeks and went back and read great books and watched great docu

iraq to isis and all of them, to yemen. so let's concentrate, let's not be too ambitious, that's concentrate on this region. >> rose: no israel now. >> no. which has been the hot bed of extremism, violence and war and conflict. and let's deal witness. we are ready to deal with it. we are ready to revolve the problem. we are ready to engage in dialogue and confidence building measures. and we believe that others should not look for an enemy. there is no need for an enemy. we don't need an enemy. we already have enough enemies. enemies from -- >> rose: so you don't see the united states as an enemy. >> i'm talking about our immediate neighbor. the united states can be fine its relations with iran. at this time and for some time the united states has defined its relations with iran in terms of hostility. this is nothing new. not particular to this administration. unfortunately the united states has followed the hostile policy towards iran and it has received a reciprocal -- >> rose: from president obama. >> president obama pursued hostility towards iran and then he came to the concl

, and now yemen. they have even reached afghanistan. our concern is the expansionist policy of iran, the hegemonic policy of iran. i am telling you this as a diplomat that represents a country that has three of its islands operated by iran until today this is not theoretical. , 1971. we see iranian footprints everywhere in the region. if you were to map out 15 years ago where iran's influence was and you would do the same map today, that area would be much larger. they have a much stronger influence in iraq, syria, and lebanon. part of the reason we're in yemen is to prevent that in yemen. we do not want to see iran replicate hezbollah. charlie: what are we planning to do as far as you know about iran's behavior? michael: what i understand, he knows more than i do, is we plan to challenge in specific places in the middle east on iranian this behavior. mostly behind the scenes, but we are going to take it on. this is a significant change for the united states. time,very long period of we ignored iranian misbehavior in the region, even when it was focused directly at us. the beirut em

mission in yemen which has not gone very well, but nevertheless they point to as a maturation of the gcc and willingness of some of the states to work together militarily. >> as it relates to the gulf cooperation council, how much of this dramatic announced blockade was the saudis being emboldened are the president -- visit from the president? >> if you talk to officials in the gulf, they say this is something brewing for quite some time. they decided to take the action when they did because they did not want to do it before president trump visited saudi arabia. they felt they had to give him the opportunity to come and say may.he had to say in late but when that was over, they decided from their perspective there was an accumulation of ,hings the qataris had done that they had not adhered to a 2014 agreement concerning the muslim brotherhood, al jazeera, and other issues. thus, it was time to take this step. of course, they were very pleased with what president trump said in riyadh. and they do feel they have the president's support. if you look at the readout of phone calls the pre

, the u.s. operation against iraq, to al qaeda, to isis, the human -- to yemen. let's concentrate. let's not be too ambitious. let's concentrate on this region which has been a hotbed of extremism, violence, and war and conflict. and let's deal with this. we are ready to deal with it. we are ready to resolve the problems. we are ready to engage in dialogue. we are ready to engage in confidence building measures. and we believe others should not look for an enemy. there is no need for an enemy. we don't need an enemy. we already have enough enemies. charlie: you don't see the united states as an enemy? dr. zarif: talking about our immediate neighborhood. the united states can define its relations with iran at this time and for some time, the united states has defined its relations with iran in terms of hostility. this is nothing new. it is not particular to this administration. unfortunately, the united states has followed a hostile policy towards iran and received a reciprocal reaction. charlie: what about president obama? dr. zarif: president obama pursued a very hostile policy towards

yemen, which is not quite in africa, but for the first time, the u.n. has said it is the worst catastrophe in 40 or 50 years. these famines are not because of lack of food but political division and conflict. war is producing the conditions that mean people do not have access to food and are not able to grow crops. humanitarians can't reach them. there was an important g20 initiative around support for africa. if you compare the scale to the marshall plan after the second world war there is no , comparison. it takes american engagement to turn what could be a marginal initiative into something that is really going to power forward. that is where i think people around the world are asking the question. they are asking and western, china, and india -- where is america going to put its effort? is it only going to focus on the americant, or does put first have there room for engagement abroad? wilfred: has the u.s. position on this issue changed since your boss left office? matthew: i think so, demonstrably. in my six months being home, it is great to be home, and i was in a little

in places like iraq, syria, lebanon, and now yemen. they have even reached afghanistan. the hegemonic policy of iran. this is not theoretical. we see iranian footprints everywhere in the region. if you were to map out 15 years ago where iran's influence was and you would do the same map today, that area would be much larger. they have a much stronger influence in iraq, syria, and lebanon. part of the region we are in yemen is to prevent that in yemen. we don't want to see you ron replicate -- iran replicate hezbollah. charlie: what are we planning to do as far as you know about iran's behavior? understand, he knows more than i do, is we plan to challenge in specific places in the middle east on iranian misbehavior, mostly behind the scenes, but we are going to take it on and this is a significant states.or the united for a very long metal of time, we ignored iranian -- a very long period of time we ignored iranian behavior even when it was directed at us her. in marine barracks bombing lebanon goes back to tehran, the united states did not respond. shia militia getting advanced ied's