more and more control over large parts of the country? i ll go with that one. it s very hard to have peace talks when one side is making such gains day by day, week by week as the taliban now is. that doesn t mean it s absolutely impossible to have a deal, they may be less strong and capable of holding on to cities if they capture any than their progress in the past few weeks would suggests. but they are on a roll at the moment, and that is a very hard time to do a deal. but the neighbours are serious. iran, uzbekistan, probably pakistan with a bit of british encouragement, are serious about not wanting an implosion or civil war within afghanistan
back in 2015 isn t the deal that we really want. we want to have more wiggle room about a whole variety of conditions. if that happens, then it could all dissipate. i would say at the moment, the betting is still that a deal will be done because it is in both sides interest, the us and iran. that s iran. there s a chance now for each of you to tell us about a story that hasn t had as much attention as it should have, or if it s had attention then we haven t been as across it as we should be as people are interested in what s happening around us in the world. nesrine, first of all with you? i d like to mention - the guardian s investigation into the pegasus phonej hacking/spying scandal. it has had a lot of attention. i think it s absolutely staggering the number of people whose phones have been - compromised both in the media and in politics, the threat. that this presents to media freedom and to political. freedom across the world is one issue.
so that pressure is gone, but diplomatically, we ve had six rounds so far in vienna i ve been reporting that everyone is thinking the timetable is up until the election, which gives you a chance where he is still there. that went, then there was talk of the incoming president to do it. that s gone because this week we ve had various officials in iran saying we won t do anything until the new president comes in, the new administration s position. despite the rhetoric, the pressures, it still looks like a deal is essentially there, it s been pretty much agreed. who will actually get it over the line and commit to it is still a big question. what could really change that is from the iranian perspective of saying, under a new president, we are thinking that that deal
of the iranian side of the 2015 nuclear deal. in a sense, it makes it less complex and clearer that the line is there. so i think what matters is that two people who aren t there any more, donald trump in the us, his policy of maximum pressure backed up by his administration brought us to essentially where we are, brought the reflex action from iran moving away as it has more and more from the deal. without that, even with the biden administration being in a slight quandary over where it goes, in a mexican standoff with the iranians, that is still a defining feature. and benjamin netanyahu in israel has gone, who was a major voice since forever. he was saying exactly the same things in the 1970s about iran then as he has been saying the past few years. there has not been a change in the attitude in israel, but it s less of a major issue for the political class there. that takes some of the pressure off. you re also seeing the other major push against any kind of agreement, saudi arabia
six rounds so far in vienna i ve been reporting that everyone is thinking the timetable is up until the election, which gives you a chance where he is still there. that went, then there was talk of the incoming president to do it. that s gone because this week we ve had various officials in iran saying we won t do anything until the new president comes in, it s the new administration s position. despite all the rhetoric, despite all the pressures, it still looks like a deal is essentially there, it s been pretty much agreed. but who will actually get it over the line and commit to it is still a big question. the one thing that could really change that is from the iranian perspective of saying, under a new president, we are thinking that that deal back in 2015 isn t the deal that we really want. we want to have more wiggle room about a whole variety of conditions. if that happens, then it could all dissipate.