but who is actually going to 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 wriggle 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 phone| hacking/spying scandal. it has had a lot of attention.
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, than 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 it s a story we haven t been as across it as we should be as people are interested in what s happening around us in the world.
been resolved so they can make a clean break from the past. - bronwen, let s talk about another country that we are now seeing the world try to disengage from, which might be easier said than done, and that s afghanistan. do you think the taliban is serious about peace talks? or is this just a tactical interest in peace while it slowly strangles the cities by doing things like taking the border posts, by securing 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. 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, uzbekista, probably pakistan with a bit of british encouragement are serious about not wanting an implosion or civil war within afghanistan and are capable of bringing some pressure on the taliban to at least take part in talks. it ll be very hard to make that stick until they run out of steam. so it s rational, nesrine, for whatever criticism there might be from washington and other countries for neighbours like pakistan, like turkmenistan, like iran to make nice with the taliban if they think they ll be running the country in a few months time? yes, the political cancer will change yes, the political cancer will change very yes, the political cancer will change very quickly. - if they feel there is going to be j a surge and that taliban will be the main party of power.
not having that dichotomy between a more moderate reformist who was the architect 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. 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.