Regarded book that is now out on paper back and will soon be an hbo documentary. Im pleased to have ari shavit back at the table. You have in your hands what . Ari i have the text that will transform the middle east. I think will shape the next decade and possibly the 21st century. Charlie the 21st century . Ari i think this is the most important, dramatic document ive read in recent years. And probably the most important document, International Document of recent decades. Charlie why do you say that . Charlie a nuclear iran is not an israel issue. Thats where i disagree with my Prime Minister. A nuclear iran would be a challenge to our civilization because it will make the middle east nuclear, it will destroy the world order, and longterm will endanger europe and america. Charlie let me interrupt you just before you go on is it because iran will threaten the use of a Nuclear Weapon or because Nuclear Proliferation will interrupt erupt in the region . Ari the second. Even if we have a guarantee i dont think the iranians will throw a bomb in tel aviv. I think they are too smart to do that. Just by having a Nuclear Weapon, they will force saudi arabia egypt, turkey and other gulf countries to have Nuclear Weapons. You will have a multi polar Nuclear System in the worlds most dangerous region. As a result of that, you will have potentially Nuclear Terror and the next 9 11s will not be conventional. We will feel it in 10 or 20 years, not now. Charlie in other words, it there are that many Nuclear Weapons with that many parties somebody with a nefarious mind will be in control of one . Ari absolutely. The greatest achievement of the International Community in the last 70 years, the greatest achievement of america, and im such an admirer of america, i am much more proamerican than many of my american friends, is the fact we prevented a postnagasaki disaster. If we brought this nuclear demon into the world and we controlled it in a remarkable way for 70 years. If this deal is right charlie the doctrine of mutually assured destruction worked. Ari right. If this deal is the right deal, great. But if there is a mistake, the implication all this discussion about israel and specifics and even about the americaniranian relationship, all of this is pennies. The main thing, the main danger that if this goes wrong, the 21st century will be about Nuclear Terror and nuclear war. This is the danger. Charlie when you say that, the president of the United States would argue with you that this is the best way, this document is the best way to prevent iran from having a Nuclear Weapon and there is no alternative. As likely to prevent them as this document. That is his argument. Ari let me say two things. I have deep respect for the president of the United States. I think the values he represents are my values. I am totally with him in what he wants to achieve in the world, unlike some others who oppose him. I am totally with what he represents and what he stands for. Charlie including his policy toward israel . Ari i have no doubt he loves israel and cares and wishes the best and is a very able man, very intelligent. I have deep respect for him. The second thing that is important for me to say years as here is that as an israeli, when it comes to america, i have gratitude and respect. This decision regarding this deal has to be an american decision and i will not do anything to intervene in this, unlike some of my countrymen. Charlie including your Prime Minister. Ari i think it is very important, but having said that, we israelis and some arabs live in the middle east. I think it is worthwhile to listen. Perhaps we know something. The challenge is how to take the obama values that i cherish and implement them in a brutal dangerous region that is so politically incorrect . This is how we should begin to address this document. Charlie you are right on target to suggest that is where our focus has to be. Ari i am not saying there is better alternatives. Im not saying the decision was wrong. I want what i think its important to understand the implication that perhaps there is no better alternative. But first of all, lets see what we have, and if i may, there are two achievements and there is a hope. One achievement is the iranians have a declaration, a very strong declaration that they will not pursue Nuclear Weapons. Thats an important declaration. I dont believe them, but its an important declaration. The second achievement which is dramatic is that this agreement diffuses the old Nuclear Program of iran. The sites will be monitored, theres no doubt about it, stockpiles will go down, and the old danger will be suspended. The president s hope which i understand, is that change will come in iran before nuclearization. Doing this, you will unleash the Constructive Forces in iran and we will have a new iran before we have a nuclear iran. Thats on the positive side. What the problem . The problem is that one, this document in an incredible way, guarantees the future Nuclear Program in iran. It does not only stop all the holes, it is affirmatively says iran will be able to produce these sophisticated centrifuges that will make field once make the old ones ridiculous. So from 2025 on, we will have a vigorous, robust, new iranian Nuclear Program. That is number one. Number two, the danger is you will not have enough ability to control what is happening outside of the known sites. The problems with verification and control should the iranians go forward with the operation Clandestine Operations will be very difficult to monitor. I think they wont do it right away because the deal is so good for them, they are not stupid. Later on, they might try. The third problem i think as dramatic, is the lifting of the sanctions is almost irreversible. What is so amazing about this step is you totally crash the sanctions regime while you maintain the foundations of the nuclear infrastructure. I think there should not be symmetry altogether, but the symmetry goes the wrong way. Sanctions are gone, as of today, by the way. On the other hand, the Nuclear Project is at best suspended. It is definitely not crushed. Charlie what you are arguing is that the Nuclear Program not as it has been, but as it might be. Thats a crucial point. Ari do we want to live after 2025 and how to we want our children to live in 2035 . The present will be much rosier than the alternative, but the future is something. Somber. Charlie and there is unlikely to be any change in iranian leadership . Ari there could be. But its a gamble. Sanctions work in such a remarkable way that there is ability to have more sanctions for a longer time, but it was the only diplomatic option. When you have to strike a deal with the mafia, you have to be very tough and are members its and to remember its the mafia. Dont pretend its mother teresa. I think there was an opening but i will tell you what i think are the implications. I dont think the iranians will throw a bomb at israel or any other country soon. But we will have longterm, in the future we will have a future Nuclear Arms Race. Second, we will have an immediate conventional arms race which is already beginning. Mr. Carter is going to the middle east to deliver arms to everybody. Already, its a much more dangerous charlie and first off is israel. Ari israel will get its share. Iran is remarkable. My respect for the iranians. I think they are an evil regime, but i love the iranian people. I deeply respect the iranian civilization and i hope they get rid of the regime. What the arabians were able to iranians were able to do is remarkable. When they were nearly bankrupt, they built a military Industrial Complex that is one of the best in the world. They are today where the israel was in the 1980s and 1990s. They can manufacture satellites, accurate missiles, drones, you name it. They did it when they were nearly bankrupt. Now, if you are going to inject 10 billion or 30 billion into that, you will have a conventional monster. Hezbollahs budget is about a billion dollars. Now they have the ability to triple or quadruple that. You will have the return of strategic, conventional danger in the middle east like we did not have a long time. Number two, while they were an international pariah, the iranians took over indirectly or directly four capitals. Beirut damascus, tag dad, and solder baghdad, and solder. The sense of victory and glamour they will have in the region the danger of them becoming a hegemonic power is imminent. The arab world is sadly so week now, there is an arab chaos. Its almost like political clay. Its like to unleash a tiger on steroids that will be able to walk around. That is dramatic. The fourth point, and that is the last one, is the fact that there was no demand for conversion. I am a positive person. I believe in change and im willing to take leaps of faith. But when you deal with a convict, you want to see conversion before he goes out. The fact that the deal itself leave aside israel, the deal does not respect america. There is honor to iran here on every page. Theres more respect than there is to american congress. How do you think if you do not have any signs the Supreme Leader goes to talk about the legitimacy of death to america. If you want conversion, if you want peace, you need to be respected and honored. Definitely in the middle east. Some marriages go bad. But if the evening before the wedding, one of the partners says about the other one that his death is legitimate, where would the wedding go . What can you expect of the future . There are achievements here. Theres definitely goodwill here, but the dangers are serious and these 60 days are 60 days of reckoning. Its a great opportunity for your great democracy to discuss it and take about what the think about what the implications are. Charlie if in fact you have studied it as you have and if in fact you know the middle east as well as you do, your editorial positions should be please american congress, stop this deal. Ari we are at the crossroads. All options are there. Are bad. It is not the end, it is the beginning. It is a new beginning and all options of stopping the deal will have tremendous costs. I am an israeli. I have no right to ask american senators and congressmen to take that decision. Charlie but you are public intellectual and you have the right to say i have looked at the deal and this is what i think are the consequences of this deal, and they are bad. You are saying the consequences of this deal are bad. Ari what i say is within americanisraeli relations, our role is to be respectful, and i hope people in washington and elsewhere throughout the world would listen to us, listen to israelis who have been thinking about it. And again, many other people in the middle east. It is only an american decision because either way, the prices can be very high. Its not for me to take the decision. This is an american decision and it must be taken by americans. I will not say anything about your political system and whats happening. I hear its a wonderful system. But i charlie sometimes, sometimes not. At the same time, you have to argue and you say this is the most interesting thing you have read in a long time. Because it is what for you . Ari first of all, it is really brilliant. It is a brilliant document. With dramatic consequences. What is striking about is if you come from mars and you read this document come you think iran is read this document, you think iran is one of the leading seven great powers the world. The iranians have managed their diplomatic brilliance is uncompromised. They have managed to turn the process around in a way that its like a totally legitimate discussion between the seven or eight powers and them. As i said, they are more respected in this document. Theres no sense of guilt, of we have done something wrong or we are changing our ways. Charlie you know who help make the run in the perception of the world a power was israel. Prime minister netanyahu, his primary worry is iran, not the palestinians or his neighbors, it is iran. That has been the force of his rhetoric over the last four or five years, correct . Ari i am much more free to discuss my Prime Minister than your president. Mr. Netanyahu deserves the credit that he is worth that he sees the problem. I think he is worth listening to and his historical analysis is a good one. He made every mistake in the book. By making it an israel issue, by being not friendly enough to the american president , by not paying in palestinian currency. Head israel gone for a peace initiative, clearly a peace loving and peace searching country, if we would have had a much better relationship with the president , everything would have been different. Mr. Netanyahu likes to compare himself with winston churchill. Winston churchill knew that you could not win the fight without winning the heart of Franklin Delano roosevelt. He is worth listening to and his analysis is sadly pretty accurate, but he made many mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes. The old stories over the last decade, many mistakes were made and now its time to have a much more intelligent and serious conversation. Charlie i want to come to him in just a moment but the interesting thing is the president will and does argue it is his argument that is the principal argument, which is the reflection of the opinion of his administration, he will argue that mr. Netanyahu, at the time of the framework deal, came to the United Nations and came to america and said this is terrible and these are the things that are going to happen, and none of them happened. Thats the argument. The Prime Minister made all of these arguments and they didnt come true. Therefore we shouldnt listen to the Prime Minister as if he has superhuman wisdom. Ari we should listen to everybody. I think some combined thinking and insights is what is called for. But let me talk about where mr. Netanyahu and president obama succeed. The policy led by president obama in 2011 and 2012 with harsh sanctions and harsh rhetoric, making it very clear to the iranians that he is tough, that changed iran and brought them to the table. If there is still an option, perhaps it is too late, to go back to that kind of attitude of diplomacy led by a person who represents the best of america and the free world, but saying to the people out there who have different ideas and different psyche and a different approach to life, that we will not have it, that we will not let them take over the middle east and endanger world stability. Charlie this is the best possible deal in best possible way and that there is no alternative as good as this is what the president would say. That is his argument. His argument is this will stop iran from getting a Nuclear Weapon, and you agree with that over the next 10 years. Lets assume where we are now. With the passion you have, the intelligence you have, any experience you have and the amount of energy you have applied to this, what is the alternative in your judgment . Ari i think the first thing is not revolutions. To understand where we are in this junction, both options are very problematic and we will pay the price for them. I think if there is any sort of options to have this return of a certain diplomatic roach while assertive diplomatic approach whether while accepting it or after rejecting it, that is the only way to make sure what we dont have here is done out of this document, that the demand for and iranian conversion, the demand we will see a new kind before iran unleashes its new power into the unstable middle east, that is crucial because the alternative is, as i said, Longterm Nuclear danger. Not now, because it has been suspended, but we might have in the short to medium term conventional implications of a mistake if we god for bid made a mistake. Charlie in terms of where it is or in terms of syria . Ari i think there is a danger of iran taking over larger parts of the middle east. And the danger of iran having through its proxies such capabilities that will in danger and danger israel and saudi arabia and others. The main danger is not immediately clear warfare, but Nuclear Warfare but the reactivation of the conventional warfare. We have enough bloody revolutions and civil wars. If now the iranians be much stronger conventionally and politically. The arabs will arm themselves. Israel will arm itself. These are the ingredients of a strategic mess. We might have this strategic hell later on with nuclear capabilities, but right now, the mess we have seen in the last three or four years, this will not stabilize it. This will make the middle east much more chaotic and the world more dangerous. Charlie why do you think the saudi and emirates are not saying this as vehemently as you are . Ari if im not mistaken, after Henry Kissinger wrote his memoirs, he said politics in the middle east is the most sophisticated than any other region he has seen. 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 americas position in the region and obviously endangers the arab moderates. And israel. Charlie where are we in syria and where will we be because the iranians will have 100 early in 100 billion of which some of which will clearly go to hezbollah . Ari this will enable the iranians to support president assad. And hezbollah much more than they did before. Charlie will it therefore be much less likely to find a transition or negotiated agreement even though it was said the russians were maybe moving to that kind of stance . Ari he is in big trouble and he is very weak, but he read this agreement as a great hope. Perhaps it is not good enough. Perhaps he is too weak and cannot survive. But this will definitely enable the iranians to support him in a big way. Charlie they have money. Ari they have money, they have weapons, iranian rockets and missiles have become so precise and sophisticated, they will now have the ability to fill the middle east. We have 100,000 rockets at our northern border. Charlie are you safe because of the iron shield . Ari it will not be good enough. Israel will be exposed im not talking about nuclear, what troubles me more is the danger that we will have a more unstable region with more sophisticated weapons, the result of which is americas allies will be much more endangered. Charlie my question for you is what is israel likely to do now . If this deal goes through, is it likely the israeli Prime Minister will feel compelled to avert the horrors you suggested and do something to make sure it doesnt happen . If that is possible . Ari first of all, let me say even the lesser evil is evil. That is my point. Even if its true there is no better option, we have to realize what we are walking into. That is my point. I wish the people in israel would be engaged in a dialogue in the respectful and friendly way not with all of this that bad blood. Look at the problem we all face and look for better solutions. Talking of israel, a major mistake. This is not about israel. It has dramatic implications for israel, that is true. But the major mistake in the entire discussion for years was making it an israel issue. This is not about israel. Its about the middle east, it is about world order and longterm, it is about america. Americans, i hope and pray, will take the right decisions because its good for america and good for the free world while looking at the dangers we face and finding creative solutions. Charlie it is clearly on the part of the president and others to take a look at the warnings you and others will make and say how do we avert that is to mark avert that . Its great to have you here. Back in a moment. Ian bremmer is here. Charlie we continue our conversation now about iran with ian bremmer. Hes the president of the Political Consulting firm, the eurasia group. Im thankful for having him in and for sitting in for me while i was away. He said to things to me. One, you have a complicated relationship to it. You look at it and see things many people might not see. The coverage has not been as good as it might have in in been in explaining all the ramifications. Ian i think that is true. I think part of it is because obama has been arguing for the iran agreement on the terms of the actual nuclear deal and frankly, thats not a very good argument. Its a fairly weak deal. It doesnt get us a lot of what we want and we are they are likely to cheat, and enforcement will be challenging. On the other side, the geopolitics are actually quite favorable for the United States and those are not eating argued being argued by the white house or by many people at all. Charlie they come later and you can do that later. Ian it is a question of oil, a question of regional balance. Some of that comes pretty soon. Charlie whats the connection between the deal and the geopolitics . Ian when you are actually working with the iranian government, that means the sanctions are removed. You will have another one Million Barrels of oil a day on the market by the end of 2016. That is an unmitigated good for the u. S. Economy. We benefit from Lower Energy Prices as do consumer states all over the world. Charlie do Lower Energy Prices hurt our emerging fracking industry . Ian we are producing almost as much as we were at the peak. Just like old producers, when gold producers, when prices go down, they are fairly efficient and quite competitive, so they find ways to become even more efficient. The United States is not saudi arabia or russia. We are an incredibly diversified economy and most of the American Economy is not about energy production, its about energy consumption. Our citizens will benefit from having lower prices. Charlie what will Lower Oil Prices do for iran . They clearly have not been a factor. But saudi arabia and russia . Ian the saudis and the russians are going to take it on the chin. With oil prices around 50 a barrel over the course of one year, with their present budgetary projections, the saudis will burn through about 1 6 of their total reserves of cash. That is a lot. The saudis have a very rapidly expanding population, so its hard for them to turn back and limit what they are spending. Their security environment is getting much harder. The terrorism in saudi arabia itself coming from yemen challenges with the iraqi border, and the need to provide support and aid to a lot of countries in the region having their own challenge like the egyptians, lebanon and jordan. For those wondering if iran gets into the Nuclear Arms Race the saudis are not in an economic position to do a big arms race. They are under the gun and the russians also will be under much more pressure going forward. These are countries venezuela, saudi arabia, russia are countries the United States does not want to see lining their pockets. Charlie one benefit is Lower Oil Prices. What are other benefits that come out of the deal . Ian three others. One of them is easy we have been working on this deal for a very long time. The United States has not had an enormous amount of diplomatic credibility on big diplomatic deals over the past years, certainly not in the middle east. Now, we have a deal we have led. We led the sanctions, we led the coalition. It was john kerry who was there focusing almost maniacally on iran. And weve got the deal done and i think the americans get the credit for that, with their key allies, the brits, the french, the germans and canadians. If it had fallen apart charlie thats why the president argues that if congress does not do the seal of approval on this, thats why he would be in trouble with his allies on this issue. Ian a third, which is important is you have spoken to many israeli leaders, pretty much all of them. And they are not happy. But the gulf states, listen to the gulf states. They have come out either assertively in favor of the deal and even the saudis have said we have always said we wanted an agreement with the p5 plus one and we will immediately come out and say you dont like it. Charlie didnt the king of saudi arabia say they had some problems . Ian they had some reservations and said they wanted to study it carefully. That is a radically different perspective than you get from netanyahu. Other gulf arab states like qatar immediately embraced the deal. So heres whats going to happen the saudis realized the ron iran gets stronger and thats a problem for saudi arabia with everything in the region its a problem with iraq, a problem in yemen, a problem with syria. You name it, the iranians and saudis are on alternate site. Sides. But in terms of the other gulf arab states and even a country like pakistan, they are going to see the iranian deal and they are going to say we are going to work with both countries. We want to hedge. We would like to do business with both. We dont want to be part of a coalition of sunni arab monarchies. We want more flexibility. That is a plus for the United States and absolutely beneficial. Charlie these are geopolitical relationships. The president s hope is what will come out as a better relationship with iran and some capacity to ameliorate their behavior. Is it likely . Ian a better relationship with iran is more likely. More capability to regulate their behavior is not more likely. Charlie more leverage. Ian i dont think their behavior is going to change much in the near term, but when you open iran jeb bush today came out and said we should criticize obama for rushing into opening an embassy in cuba. After 55 years, i dont know what the rush was, but he is from florida and marco rubio they have the cuban population so they are doing that. But now that we are opening an embassy. It silly and its politics. And now that we are traveling to cuba, the places to open up. Place is going to open up. It is much more likely that the cuban government is going to start becoming either more engaged with the american war with americans or will ultimately fall. Charlie the big question is with the castro brothers being as old as they are, what happens after them . Ian im willing to bet its a government for more receptive to working with americans that if we had 50 years of sanctions on 60 years of sanctions on the cubans. With iran, it is the same story. Iran is a dynamic culture and civilization. It is very educated. Women play a very large role in their society. They have 80 Million People in their economy. Charlie more politically involved. Ian and its not a petro state. They manufacture cars, and petrol stations. 30 of their industrys shuttered and when they start seeing more money, its not just going to be oil and gas. That means the wealth that comes into the country wont just be controlled by the regime. Charlie the ayatollah has said its ok with him. He did not oppose it. Ian he also said it would not change his relationship with the United States. Hes playing a hard life. Line. There are still people who demonstrated and say death to america and the Iranian Regime has not suddenly become a friend to america overnight because of this deal. But if you ask me, five years in, are the iranians going to be significantly more close to the United States as of the because of the demographic and economic changes that occur, that occur as a consequence the answer is yes. , mom has always been one of those people who needs to keep busy. If shes not working her garden, shes probably on one of her long walks with bailey. She was recently diagnosed with a heart condition. I know shes okay, but it concerned me shes alone so often. So i encouraged her to get a medical alert button. Philips lifeline offers the best options to keep her doing the things she loves in the home she loves. If she ever falls, or needs help, i know we can get to her quickly and with her condition that can be critical. And even though she doesnt typically go far from home, the button always goes with her. These days, shes still as busy as ever. Just the way she likes it. Innovation and you. Philips lifeline. Lifeline is americas 1 medical alert service. Visit philipslifeline. Com caregiver today or call this number for your free brochure and ask about free activation. Charlie there are those who speculate we will be closer to iran in five years than we are saudi arabia. Ian i have speculated that. [laughter] thank you, charlie. Charlie i didnt know if you wanted to own up. Ian i will own it. Charlie closer to iran in 10 years. What does that mean for saudi arabia . Ian bad things for saudi arabia. If i were advising the Obama Administration right now, i would be saying look, on the one hand, the saudis feel very vulnerable. Their economy is going to hell and they know it and they are worried about the relationship. On the other hand, because you have pakistan much closer to china and you have qatar that doesnt want to be under saudi arabia, thats when the americans can say lets start working with you in a way thats more sustainable. The saudis just two days ago announced they arrested some almost 450 charlie it was like a grand sweep. Ian individuals they say connected to isis. I find that timing interesting. They were not doing that years three or six months ago. Charlie theres a growing realization of the threat. And there are more and more terrorist acts around the world. Ian i think all of that including the toronto deal the iran deal, creates a saudi arabia that should be more receptive to working with the americans in a way that is more sustainable. Charlie the deep connection between the intelligence agencies of the United States and saudi arabia . Ian that will not go away. Theres also an interest to connect the American Energy demand with the saudi supply and that has gone away. Charlie because we found another supply. Ian we found another supply right here. There is a lot of concern the saudis are not going to reform their economy. They have not been willing to stand up and say were going to do some because we have many clerics within our own country continuing to proselytize extreme ideologies supporting a lot of young man that are now men that are now part of isis. If the saudis have gotten this today, it was a little late. I do believe the americans and saudis can maintain workable relationship, but i absolutely believe opening up toward iran gives americans more leverage and i think we should use it. Charlie does that include some lessening of their influence or support of hezbollah . Ian that is the real question. Charlie day our foot they are foot soldiers in syria and other places. Ian the fact that the iranians will have 100 billion made available to them, and frozen after the deal is in effect, their own assets, and you cannot snap that back. Im sure some of that charlie even the administration realizes a significant portion in the beginning will go to that. No one assumes its not going to be used to support their own activities, especially in yemen and syria. Ian i asked that question to suzanne maloney, who is a strong expert on iran. I said dont you think the iranians are going to misbehave and she said theres no reason to believe that. I dont buy that. The president alluded to that himself. Charlie we are not naive. Ian i think it is a good deal for the u. S. But i have to recognize, im not just in the tank for this deal. I think there are problems with it. I dont think the iranians are gagging to have a Nuclear Weapon tomorrow. I think they wanted credible strategic ambiguity. They were getting closer to it and it gave them more leverage. But the existence of this interim deal was not bad for the u. S. And we signed this deal too quickly. I think the iranian government across the board completely understood that the best deal they were ever going to get signed and implemented was under obama and john kerry. They knew anyone else likely to become president and 2017, they were likely to have a much more significant challenge. Charlie including hillary clinton. She would be much tougher on iranians. Ian i believe so. Especially because implementation, including congress, was going to take eight months. That meant as we got closer to t minus eight months at the end of obamas presidency, the iranians would be under more pressure. I absolutely believe the Obama Administration should not have been gagging for, rushing for, getting this thing signed. Charlie you suggest your perception of where iran is is closer to where people including the Energy Secretary and secretary of state including a range of people from intelligence and other sources have waited in on this. Waited in on this. You are saying our team vastly misperceived the negotiating tact of the arena hands iranians . Ian im sympathetic to john on this. He was there for weeks in the area longer than any secretary of state on any issue then George Schultz in 1983. When you are spending 20 hour days working on a 150 page document, you get so monomaniacal about it that its hard to take a step back and think bigger picture. Charlie and the deal would have been better because the arms embargo would not have been tampered with. Ian the arms embargo was a real problem and because the russians came out late in the process and unilaterally, publicly split from the United States, which they had done before and said we hadnt done before, and said we think the revocation of the arms embargo needs to happen. The russians undermine the u. S. Charlie the president said russia was very helpful here. Ian he did say that. Theres a lot going on there. The americans are trying to find ways to not talk about ukraine. Not just talk about ukraine. Charlie where they helpful . Ian i would say the russians were 90 helpful until the last week or so because they saw the americans were close to a deal and they said we can get something we want here. At that point, it would have been smarter for obama and john kerry to say we dont have to. We have missed three deadlines we can miss the fourth. There were many that wanted to do a deal in the previous there were many people thatll mean John John Kerry wanted to do a deal the previous thursday or friday and was reined in by the white house. I happen to think closing this iran deal after the Transpacific Partnership is the most positive and significant thing the Obama Administration has accomplished in six and a half years and im a supporter. Ive given you all the reasons geopolitically i think it works. Charlie its not a perfect deal. Ian the composition of the nuclear deal, on a scale of one to 10, i would give it a three or four. In part because it was an incredibly hard negotiation but a lot of things were hard. We should have taken longer on this and we could have gotten more. At the end of the day, the americans drove the negotiation process. The implementation will be driven by the p5 plus one. Charlie i think the iranians very much wanted a deal and they were driving the deal and did not want to give up because sanctions were hurting them. Give credit for the fact that they made a deal at all. Ian if i am giving a five minute soundbite on iran, we dont have to get into this. If im coming on yours show and your show and saying these guys are done and im giving them a be plus or a minus, have to talk about how we could have gotten a better deal. The reason im going to do that is the Obama Administration has to sell the deal and they have to sell it domestically to the gop which for the next few days, the republicans, all they are going to talk about is how this is a horrible deal and obama is not going to be talking about the geopolitical things. Hes going to focus mostly on the merits of the deal. I spent the last couple of days talking to democrats and republicans. They have been saying we hate the Iranian Regime, the lets talk about why we have to do it. I think this debate will be acrimonious and i suspect almost every republican will end up voting against it. That could of been mitigated somewhat. Charlie by . Ian by the United States taking a longer time and leverage not just from the sanctions but the iranian danger that, even if obama signed it, it was going to be another president who implemented it and that would be worse for them. I think the americans wouldve had more leverage going forward. Charlie perhaps youre right. Deals like that are never perfect. Ive never seen anyone walk away from a deal and say i got 100 . Negotiations are about finding Common Ground so you can move forward. In which you are not losing. Ian my concern is the iranians are walking away from this deal feeling better about the deal than we are. Charlie certainly not better than the administration feels about it. I dont think. Ian that may well be the case. Charlie let me turn to greece. Whats going on over there . Ian when you and i last talked about agrees and we had a few people saying there was no way they were actually going to stay and, i felt that wasnt the case. The deal happened because the Prime Minister was able to build a mandate for himself in greece and make it clear to Angela Merkel that if the deal didnt happen, she was going to be blamed for the disintegration or removal of one member of the eurozone. Charlie he had a no vote, which was an affirmation of what he campaigned for, rejected this offer. My impression is he went and took the offer. Ian he took the offer with the explicit understanding that had to come with a level of debt restructuring from the germans and europeans. Whether or not they will actually get there is an open question. Angela merkel has come out publicly and said there will be no haircut. We are willing to talk about making the Interest Rates lower or extending up the date of out the date of required repayment from the greeks which is not where she was or her government was before the Prime Minister had his referendum. From that perspective, he had a political victory. The economics of greece will not be fixed i the negotiations we by the negotiations we are having right now. The debt is still completely unsustainable. Charlie what do they have to do . Ian what the greeks signed up for includes a raft of pension and labor reforms, significant increases in taxes on just about everything. That will really hurt their Consumer Sector and the tourism sector. Its the privatization of some 50 billion euros of greek assets that will have to go into a fund to deal with their debt. That implementation there are very few economists that believe its going to happen. The terms they have agreed to, they probably cannot get done. Meanwhile, the International Monetary fund has come out publicly with a report that the europeans knew well about and said no bailout, no additional bailout can be made unless there is a reduction in debt. Charlie how was it that Christine Lagarde came down and became the best friend of the Prime Minister . Ian this came out weeks before. It wasnt given to the public. Shes not a public diplomat. Thats not her role. It was given to the europeans and the americans. And the response to the imf private report on the part of the europeans was we dont agree and we are going to view this as an adverse scenario. This is the baseline best that the best economists in the world are coming up with and the europeans say its an adverse scenario. It was not an adverse scenario for the europeans, but it was a realistic scenario. The reason the report came out is because it was obvious people needed to understand if greece if there wasnt going to be a deal, you had to have some level of debt forgiveness. Going forward, the germans are on the hook in large part because of the imf. If they dont deal with the debt, theres no deal, no bailout. I see two things that are hard to get done, both of which will scuttle what we had in last week. Charlie ian bremmer thank you very much. Of the eurasia group. Thank you very much. See you next time. Rishaad it is wednesday and this is trending business. Live in sydney, tokyo, and mumbai. Heres is a look at what we are watching. Iphone sales rising 35 percent, yet still missing estimates. What about the watch . Apple is not saying. Oil hovering around 50 a barrel. The Bloomberg Index showing commodities cheaper than at the height of the financial crisis. Nick their reactions, iran Nuclear Reactions irans investigator insists he did not cave in. Do not forget to include the allimportant hashtag. What happened in the u. S. Overnight, a lot of red across the asia pacific. David extending the losses we saw on wall street overnight. The Chinese Markets opened up, shanghai, dont Pay Attention to that. That goes all sorts of directions. I will talk about this later. Led by japan and hong kong, down to 1 . Similar losses are cross taiw