," the global public square, coming to you today from iran, the capital tehran, a place few journalists are given access to. this hour one-on-one with mahmoud ahmadinejad on his turf. we're in iran at a crucial point. the islamic republic currently faces serious charges from the united states that it has plotted to assassinate the saudi ambassador to the u.s. i will press president ahmadinejad on this issue. we are also here, of course, just days after the death of another enemy of the united states, moammar gadhafi, and i'll ask the iranian president for his thoughts on the leader's demise. but we are also witnessing serious internal tensions inside iran as the president appears locked in a power struggle with other powerful forces in the regime, perhaps the most powerful of all, the supreme leader. meanwhile, economic sanctions against iran appear to be having an effect, and the country is dismantling many of its subsidies. and while the winds of change are blowing through the arab world today, they have bypassed iran as the regime has been able to crush the opposition green movement.

hollywood movie script iran is accused to have been behind a plot to assassinate the saudi ambassador to the u.s. denies this the washington promise is a strong reaction to our american and iranian relations again on a collision course the same can. start. to cross talk us radian relations i'm joined by one hundred more randi in beirut he's a professor at the university of turn around in television we go to michael omar man he is a writer and journalist and in washington we cross to matthew das he's a policy analyst and director of the middle east program for the center of american progress all right gentlemen crosstalk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want may very much encourage it but first marcia tell us the latest chapter in this troubled relationship that's been our relationship hostility for three decades now but last week so yet another downturn in u.s. iran ties after washington came out with accusations that iran had been wanting to assassinate saudi arabia's ambassador to the u.s. it is an outrageous act that really arrays are going to have to be held acc

relationship over the years. the saudis are deeply concerned about iran's nuclear program and worry that it would endanger the saudi kingdom. there's a huge rivalry between iran and saudi as a result. it's a huge development when you see them make these allegations against the iranian government, that the al quds were directly involved in plotting an assassination against the saudi ambassador to the u.s. brooke? >> i want to run down the counts. conspiracy to murder a foreign official, foreign travel and use of interstate and foreign commerce in the murder-for-hire, to engage in foreign travel and use interstate facilities in the commission for murder of hire. commit to use a weapon of mass destruction and conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism. eric holder earlier said that they will hold iran accountable. isha? >> let's play for our viewers some of what the attorney general said a short time ago as we leave out details of this alleged plot. let's listen. >> good afternoon. today the department of justice is announcing charges against two people who allegedly attempted to carry out deadl

getting these reports: that the plot reportedly involves iran and plans to bomb both the saudi and israeli embassies in washington, d.c. as well as to assassinate the saudi ambassador to the united states. the details as being reported by another news agency now suggest that the operation that our government conducted began in may when an iranian-american from texas approached a dea informant seeking his help to assassinate the saudi ambassador. again, a news conference on what we are being told was a foiled terror plot by iran targeting the continental united states and these embassies. in less than 20 minutes, right here. >>> another alert now as the news is breaking in missouri in the search for baby lisa. emergency crews at this moment are searching a well under a deck at a vacant home that is nearby the home in which this little girl lived. joining me now by phone is captain steve young of the kansas city police department, he is currently at the abandoned house where this search is taking place. captain young, thank you so much for being back with us. >> which thank you. megy

sponsored and was directed from iran and constitutes a flagrant violation of u.s. and international law, including a convention that explicitly protects diplomats from being harmed. in addition to holding these individual conspirators accountable for their alleged role in this plot, the united states is committed to holding iran accountable for its actions. the two are charged with conspiracy to murder a foreign official, conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction and conspiracy to commit an act of international terrorism among other charges. arbabsiar has been in custody since september the 29th, 2011, while shakuri remains at large. according to the complaint earlier this spring, arbabsiar met with an informant who was posing as an associate of a violent international drug trafficking cartel. the meeting, which took place in may and in mexico, was the first of a series that would result in an international conspiracy by elements of the iranian government to pay the informant $1.5 million to murder the ambassador on united states soil. according to documents that we filed today

abrams. the impact of this year's political uprising in arab countries and potential threat iran. we expect it to get underway in just a moment. live coverage on c-span 2. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> we are going to get started. personal welcome, everybody who has come here today. my name is cliff may come president of the foundation for defense of democracy, policy institute created just after the attacks of september 11, 2001. i want to thank out the speaking here today in particular michael oren will make remarks at the conclusion of today's discussions. thanks for coming. there will be other strictly menaced bothö discussions. thanks for coming. there will be other strictly menaced both. once we get started via c-span li

israel. one of the panel's focus on how israel is affected by iran's nuclear program. this is still less than an hour and a half. >> this panel is the threat to the united states and israel and we're going to jump right in and make a few introductory remarks and then turn over to our distinguished panel for a brief five minutes each and then q&a and i really want to encourage a vibrant discussion and questions from the audience. it's clear that iran has all one of the foreign policy agenda after june, 2009 and the fraudulent election and iran on the dissidents it led to extensive media coverage. 2,009, 2010 salles diplomatic activity by the obama administration, a lot of talk about sanctions and a lot of action about sanctions both internationally at the security council, the united states congress passed the comprehensive iran sanctions accountability act last year signed into law by president obama, and there's been a fair amount of activity and fair amount of success when it comes to sanctions. that all ended with great revolts in the arab spurring, the debt ceiling crisis, the europe

. american officials are outraged and say iran will pay. this texas used car salesman is the unlikely suspect in an alleged assassination plot backed by iran. the u.s. claims that mons orr arbab arbabsiar was going to kill the ambassador of the united states. saying ar baubs yea wanted to blow up a restaurant killing the diplomat and potentially many americans right along with him. officials gathered in washington and gathered the diplomatic corps at the state department to ensure them they are safe. the obama administration is also deciding how to respond to iran. >> it's an outrage that violated one of the fundamental premises of which nations deal and that is the sanctity and safety of their diplomats. this is really over the top. they have to be held accountable. >> the u.s. linking the alleged plot to the elite quds force that is part of iran's revolutionary gad, but it is far from clear if quds was acting on its own or from top iranian leaders. iran calls the plot a fabrication and accusing the united states of stupid mischief, quote/unquote. >>> president obama says the fight f

for the new democracy movements in iran, given>> thank you cong. i thank you for your good wishes. i appreciate it. i think we were all heartened when we saw this emerge in iran some time ago and deeply saddened when we saw the tremendous repression to try to squash any ability of an opposition to form. at the same time, but we believe the aspirations of the iran and people are to have the same freedoms that the rest of us do. in response to the question earlier today from the congressman, we have quite an extensive bram to try to ensure that information can reach the iranian people, that they have the technology with access to that information. there are other things we can do to be helpful in supporting the aspirations of the iranian people. we would be glad to give you more detail. >> thank you. >> i have nothing to add. >> then i will turn to syria. there has been ongoing violence. secretary rice led an effort to vigorously. my question is, what is ever strategy moving forward? there has been progress made building international consensus. the question is, what are our next st

between the you state and iran. a precipitous level. >> i want to ask you, congressman king, diane feinstein telling kate bolduan a few moments ago, i'm reading off my black ber, it's surmising on her part, before a country goes after an ambassador in a third country like this, that they would have had the acceptance of the government, i don't see how this could be done any other way. what is your information or sense here of how high this does go in the iranian government? >> well, again, i just surmising also. but i also know that chairman rogers, the intelligence committee, he basically has the same as senator feinstein. that's mine as well. you could not have planned something of this magnitude without the very top levels of the iranian government knowing it. the supreme leader or the president. this is such -- again, this violates all international law. basically, you're talking about an act of war. i think we have to -- the united states has to consider taking significant action. i don't think sanctions alone are enough. i think we should consider actually deporting or removi

. and for iran to have been involved in a plot like this indicates the degree to which it has been outside of accepted norms of international behavior for far too long. this is just wanted ample of the series of steps that they've taken to create violence and to behave in a way that you don't see other countries doing. so with respect to how we respond, our first step is to make sure that we prosecute those individuals that have been named in the indictment and i will leave it to the attorney general the task of describing how that will precede. the second thing we're going to continue to do is to apply the toughest sanctions and continue to mobilize the international community is further and further isolated for this kind of behavior. keep in mind when i came into office i think iran saw itself as being able to play various countries against each other and avoid the kind of isolation that it deserved. since that time, what we've seen, whether it relates to its nuclear program for its state-sponsored terrorism that more and more countries have been willing to speak out and forceful

2011. with regard to iran they said growth recovered on the strength of international oil prices, a strong rebound in the international oil sector, a rapid credit expansion was contained while external credit conditions improved. this is the i.m.f. i am worried the iranians seem to be accelerating in their aggression toward you. in the very week that marze is convicted of 90 lashes for appearing uncovered, we have now learned the 330,000 bahis have been excluded, all of their kids kicked out of university, and their houses have been registered, i would simply suggest this is a movie we've seen in a different decade wearing different uniforms: . backbone on almost anything -- and yet they are way ahead of you. and you knew about the plot in june. >> with respect to the plot and when the united states became aware of it -- i will not comment on that. i will not comment on what we were doing between when we learned about the plot and it was revealed in on selling the complex two days ago. we responded the same day the complaint was revealed with a series of individuals included in the

pressure on and isolate iran. >> we'll have more on what the u.s. is doing towards iran rigts now, but you had a chance and played that clip inadd ver tantly. you asked the president about the jobs bill that he got defeated in the united states senate this week. what did he say? >> he's been saying he's going to ask congress to break up the bill and vote on pieces of it. he declined to say which piece, but i did ask whether he would invite republicans over to the white house for a sit-down with them to negotiate on a bill that they could agree on. on something they could get done to get jobs started now. here's what the president said. >> i don't think the problem here, jessica, is that i have not been unwilling to negotiate with republicans. i've shown repeatedly my willingness to work over time, to try to get them to do something to deal with this high unemployment rate. what we haven't seen is a similar willingness on their part to try to get something done. >> now, senior administration officials have said they expect the likeliest pieces of this package to pass, the extension

. >>> el presidente barack obama afirmÓ que eados unidos aplicÁ la s duras sanciones cora irÁn para garantizar que cada vez estÉ mÁs aislada y gue por su conducta. >>> no desamos ninguna opciÓn en el tÉrminos deoperar, lo que sÍeguiremosplicando medios presiÓn que ndrÁn un impacto en el gobierno, no hay duda de la conexiÓn del gobierno iranÍ en la conspiraciÓn anunciada esta semana para en washington, un iranÍado pagÓ y lo que serÍa la ayuda de "s zetas. >>> el ma llevo parotra a una reuniÓn. y dÓndelgunas naciones tienen vÍnculos con irÁn. >>> y si mÉxico piensa que irÁn es un socio bueno para ellos deben pensarl de otra manera, porque es un paÍs que igual que nos quiere hacer daÑ a nosotros quiere destruir a mÉxico tambiÉn. >> a miembros de ambos partidos preopa que irÁn hubie implicado a mÉxico. >>> si fuera mÉxico estuviera enojado, tienen que evaluar esto, porquea verdad es mo es un paÍs libre y sobarÁn como es mÉxico. >>> se acusa a irÁn de conseguir un ataque terrorista en buenos aires contra la asociaciÓn mucho actual israelita argentina en aÑ

we have to face them down over taiwan, we will not be up to respond if there is an incursion by iran and israel. we will not be able to do it. iwe will have to make those choices. i think the american people need to understand what these defense cuts mean. they mean we will have to make those choices. we will not be in the south china sea. it will only be in the arabian gulf and mediterranean. at we are not on to be up to take on iran if they invade israel or hit israel with knicks because we are involved too much with china or another sector of the world. terrorism is not going away, folks, it will be here forever. it is expensive to maintain the military and respond to conventional threat like china or north korea? yes, and it is extremely expensive to have that conventional force and still be up to respond to terrorism through the world in all of the different myriad ways that terrorists are not work together now. they are decentralized. we have to hit them where they are, and they're everywhere, including here in the u.s. if we cut defense spending at the drastic levels we're tal

saw yet another downturn in u.s. iran ties after washington came out with accusations that iran had been plotting to assassinate saudi arabia's ambassador to the u.s. it is an outrageous act that where the razor going to have to be held accountable and i think when you see the case presented you're going to find there is compelling evidence. which few have found the evidence compelling enough to think the allegations are not part of a larger effort to further isolate iran and pursue tougher sanctions against it and these sanctions already up for discussion in congress could include a ban on financial transactions with iran central bank as well as a ban on petroleum products sold by companies controlled by the country's elite military force the islamic revolutionary guard corps said to be involved in the plot meanwhile iran has continued to dismiss the accusations as a us conspiracy boy threatening to retaliate. they conduct such conspiracies against us frequently and they are all useless and ineffective they say that they want to isolate iran but they have become isolated themselves

officials are blasting iran over the plot. prince turkey, the former saudi intelligence chief, the former chief in washington warning, i'm quoting, someone in iran is going to have to pay the price. we're also digging deeper into the american citizen charged in the case. lisa siylvester has been investigating. >> the 56-year-old is the man investigators say is at the center of this plot and authorities are describing him as ruthless, unconcerned about killing innocent people, but his closest friends say they have a hard time making sense of this. they described the guy they know as a nice guy, someone who's disorganized, forgetful and incapable of being a master mind of this kind of plot. he went by the name jack accord tog a friend of his prodescribes him as a r normal guy. >> he didn't care about what happened with government. that's why i found it very shocking to see he was you know, accused of doing this. >> he lived a relatively quiet life. in the early 1980s, he attended texas a and i university, but dropped out there. he tried his hand as small business man. at one point, he co-ow

united states and iran to a precipitous level. >> dianne feinstein said a few moments ago, i'm reading off my blackberry, that it is sur prooiz mizing on her party but before a country would go after an ambassador of another country in a third country just like this, they would have had the accept dance tans of the government. i don't think how it could be done any other way. what's your sense or information of how high this does go in the iranian government. >> again i'm surmising also but i know chairman roger of the intelligence committee he has the same opinion as senator feinstein and mine as well that you couldn't have planned something of this magnitude without the top levels of the iranian government and knowing the supreme leader, the president. this is such -- again, this violates all international norms, violates international law and basically you are talking about an act of war. i think the united states has to consider taking significant action. i don't think that sanctions alone are enough. i think we should consider actually deporting or removing the iranian off

sharpest minds, best sources, hardest talk. one, iran beware! >> we don't take any options off the table in terms of how we operate with iran. the united states will join with its partners and allies in making sure that they pay a price. >> president obama announced this week that an elite military unit of iran's armed forces was plotting to assassinate saudi arabia's ambassador to the united states, where he lives. the u.s. department of justice says flat-out that iran's military unit known as the quds force planned to hire a mexican drug cartel to kill the saudi ambassador to the united states at a d.c. restaurant. but federal authorities foiled the plan because one of the two plotters, manssor arbabsiar, worked with an informant of the u.s. government. arbabsiar, who has dual u.s.- iranian citizenship, is now under arrest in a federal prison in new york. the justice department says that arbabsiar and no concerns about how many u.s. lives would be lost if this plot were to be carried out. >> when the confidential source noted that there could be 100 or 150 people in a restaurant where

rippling across washington, this after a foiled terror plot on u.s. soil between iran, saudi arabia and israel, our own country stuck in the middle of the israeli embassy in washington, d.c., along with a local restaurant. the venues for the theoretical plot. the state department has now issued a terror warning to americans around the world for the potential ofmore attacks against u.s. interests which is interesting because the attacks were against israeli and saudi arabia interests that were planned, i don't know. this afternoon secretary of state clinton called for international response to the whole thing. >> this plot was a flagrant violation of international and u.s. law and a dangerous escalation of the iranian government's long-standing use of political violence and sponsorship of terrorism. >> now, the iranian suspects which include a u.s. citizen planned to assassinate the saudi ambassador. remember, iran and saudi arabia are in a bit of a cold war between the north and the south and the middle east. meanwhile, the story gets better. the scheme was for iran to employ a mexi

subcommittee looked into recent allegations that iran attempted to assassinate the saudi ambassador to the u.s. and iran's covert operations internationally. including hezbollah and mexico's drug cartels. witnesses include retired general keane who developed the iraq surge strategy for president george w. bush. this is two hours and 40 minutes. >> the subcommittee will come to order. we have a joint subcommittee. oversight subcommittee and intelligence subcommittee meeting today to hear testimony regarding the iranian terror operation on american soil. the iranian government is a threat to the international community, building weapons of mass destruction. it is a threat to the middle east dominating the region through intimidation and support for terrorist organization that recent reports indicate the iranian government is a threat to the homeland security by attempting to assassinate the saudi ambassador on our soil using drug cartels operating on our doorstep. enough is enough. in the past we in the international community have attempted to use economic sanctions. is obvious these sa

relationship between united states and iran to a precipitous level. >> dianne feinstein said a few moments ago, i'm reading off my blackberry, that it is sur prooiz mizing on her party but before a country would go after an ambassador of another country in a third country just like this, they would have had the accept dance tans of the government. i don't think how it could be done any other way. what's your sense or information of how high this does go in the iranian government. >> again i'm surmising also but i know chairman roger of the intelligence committee he has the same opinion as senator feinstein and mine as well that you couldn't have planned something of this magnitude without the top levels of the iranian government and knowing the supreme leader, the president. this is such -- again, this violates all international norms, violates international law and basically you are talking about an act of war. i think the united states has to consider taking significant action. i don't think that sanctions alone are enough. i think we should consider actually deporting or removing the ir

saudi ambassador to the u.s. will further isolate iran with the allegations expected to increase sanctions on tehran to iranians were charged over trying to harm members of a mexican drug cartel to carry out the attack something to iran dismissed as a comedy show with more details i'm not joined by r.t.s. kind of who is in washington so america seems to be piling more pressure on iran. well bill the administration strongly believes in the case against this uranium war a man who is accused of trying to block the fascination of the saudi ambassador in washington the administration seems to be willing to take the accusations to the next level they're calling for the world to unite against iran we hear reports that the u.s. might raise the issue at the u.n. security council they're talking about the need to completely isolate iran in the international community and they are trying to get other countries on board on this one so a lot of tough words against iran drums all four are beating loud and clear in washington although the u.s. administration officials are not talking about a mi

. >> president barack obama missed an opportunity and lost with iran. when he first came and gave the speech and cairo to iran among others my question is how does this initiative has to do with the lobby? this is a question i wanted to ask before about the u.s.-israel relationship. how much is effective competing hostility? >> when it comes to the relations between iran and the united states, if the iranian government wants to have an agreement with the united states and it could have had it when iraq invaded kuwait that was an opportunity for iran if the supreme leader of iran wanted to have an opportunity he could have done it and could have had it and there's nothing they could have done and i am not saying that the lobby is weak. i'm not saying that. it's up to the leader of iran as the final decision maker and the foreign policy. if the ayatollah khomeini wanted relations the could have had. the reason the fed people absolutely. at the end of the day but stops with the supreme leader until both are not wanted i think the case specifically. >> i want to put aside for a moment the task o

ideas. >> this conspiracy was conceived, sponsored, and was directed from iran. >> this week on "inside washington," the plot to kill an ambassador on american soil. >> we call upon other nations to join us in condemning this threat to international peace and security. >> the senate defeats the president's jobs bill. >> i will not take no for an answer and i hope you won't either. >> republicans now have a jobs plan of their own. >> the president believes the government money creates jobs. we believe business creates jobs. >> is a herman cain just another flavor of the week? >> the difference between flavor of the week and hÄagen-dazs black walnut, because it tastes good all the time. >> a new hampshire primary it before christmas -- are you kidding? [unintelligible] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> the united states government this week accused the government of iran of plotting to assassinate the saudi ambassador to the united states on american soil. the alleged plot reportedly involved the payment of $1.5 million to a mexican drug cartel to kill

blanca, acusÓ aos lÍderes del irÁn de hÓcritas. enedio de esa atenciÓn, la posibilidad de que jÓvene venezolanos de origen Árabe estÉn preparÁose como militantes radicales. avivÓ la controversia. nos tienen mÁs de la investigaciÓn acerca de los enlaces de irÁn con varias naciones latinoamerican. >> en es momento, irÁn se estÁ convirtiendo en el principal enemigo estratÉgico de estados unidos, busca profunzar su Área de influencian amÉrica latina provocando gn preocupaÓ por el contexto antiamericano qur insisten en recalcar. >> venezuela es parte de esa preocupaciÓn, segÚn lo expresÓ este miÉrcoles el ngresista en una audiencia sobre el tema en el congreso. >> irÁn se ha dedicado a reclut jÓvenes para usarlos como milittes y agentes de inteligencia. algunos van a irÁn para entregarse. >> esto urre mientras continÚan los vuelos misteriosos entre caracas y y teherÁn. >> ademÁs, un vlo en el que funcionarios de inteligencia se refieren como aeroterror, transportando a sospechosos de terroristas. el operativo a sudamerica. >> venezua e irÁn están trabajando de esp

says it's committed to holding iran accountable well let's get the latest now on this developing story from marty's gonna gonna. in washington tell us what exactly did the u.s. official saying. well bill the u.s. attorney general explicitly said that the u.s. will be holding the uranium government accountable for the plots to kill the ambassador of saudi arabia to the united states also the u.s. is accusing iran of conspiring to stage two bombings at the really embassy in washington and at the embassy of saudi saudi arabia and washington and here is how the u.s. department of justice came out with those those accusations the f.b.i. and the u.s. drug enforcement agency have arrested a new born u.s. citizen in a sting operation his name on store r.b.s. . u.s. investigators say the man tried to plot the assassination of the saudi ambassador to the united states and was ready to pay one and a half million dollars for the murder so that according to the americans this ukrainian man turned to members of the mexican drug cartel who turned out to be undercover f.b.i. operatives investigators s

and find the full story to you dot com. the u.s. president has taken a firm stance against iran promising tough sanctions against the country over claims it was plotting to kill the saudi ambassador to washington barack obama says there's enough evidence of iran's guilt and is calling on the international community to make it pay for its behavior by further isolating tehran more on this when i was joined by professor saeed mohammed by randy from the university of tehran let's cross lives are now under professor thank you for coming on the program today washington is accusing elements of the iranian regime of being behind the alleged plot promising measures to hold iran accountable is it possible that these measures could go beyond sanctions. everything is possible but the whole point really is that the united states is being part of the dishonest iran has absolutely no motive to carry out such an operation the prince is not a senior prince he's not very important so iran gains nothing out of such an operation if you ron did hypothetically want to carry out this operation they co

withdrawn from iran and do not reverse course. >> thank you, mr. chairman. let me begin by describing the effort that we have been undertaken and how that has resulted in what we have seen is a dramatic reduction in iran's access to the international financial system. dating back before fasada the treasury department was active in going out to the international financial community, the private sector, as well as government officials around the world, and explaining the case for why they should voluntarily withdraw from the iranian financial sector, in particular the designated iranian banks, banks sanctioned for involvement in iran's proliferation activities and its support for terrorism. we were making good progress in isolating iran in limiting the number of banks around the world that were willing to do business, particularly with designated iranian banks. the number of banks, turkly in europe, that will willing to continue to do business with iran were reducing iran's ability to access the international financial system. with the enactment last july, that provided us a powerful ne