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Interview with Iranian Vice President; Iran's Rising Influence; Imagine a World. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired April 20, 2015 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[14:00:08] FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN HOST (voice-over): Between confrontation and reconciliation, we're live in Tehran tonight, where we'll

hear from top military and government officials.

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PLEITGEN: Good evening, everybody, I'm Fred Pleitgen, sitting in for Christiane Amanpour tonight in this special edition of the program, live

from Tehran.

And you know, it's such a fascinating time to be here in this country and in this city. And so many people here are brimming with hope that change

could be on the way and that better times are on their way as well.

All this of course hangs on a final nuclear deal and the possible lifting of sanctions which is by no means a certainty.

Tomorrow Iran and the West meets to hammer out a final deal, or at least to try to do so as hardliners on both sides try their best to derail it.

Iraq's foreign minister wrote in "The New York Times" today, calling on the West to show more political will. Iran has shared objectives with the West

as well in combating ISIS but still stands accused of destabilizing the region both in Syria and in Yemen as well.

But it is clear when being here that the Iranian government is in a bold mood at the moment, as I saw first-hand at Iran's National Army Day.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PLEITGEN (voice-over): A show of force by a clearly very confident nation, Iran parading its military personnel and hardware for its National Army

Day.

President Rouhani even praising the force as peacemakers.

"Today our army is the source of our national stability," Rouhani says. "And even more than that, it's also a source of security and stability in

the entire region."

PLEITGEN: The National Armed Forces Day Parade is an annual (INAUDIBLE) but this year, Iranians feel especially bold about their military.

(INAUDIBLE) sanctions reflect (INAUDIBLE) and Syria (INAUDIBLE) as well would lead Tehran to believe that Iran is the up-and-coming power in the

Middle East.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): Iranian military officials say their country is pretty much the only one serious about fighting ISIS with the elite

Revolutionary Guard troops in Iraq and Syria training and advising local forces.

In a rare interview, the chief of staff of Iran's armed forces tells me he'd welcome closer cooperation with the U.S.

"The unity of humanity based on the right of all human beings to live and their rights to freedom dictates that all human society is threatened by

ISIS and all humans should unite against ISIS and work against them."

At the heart of Iran's big boost in confidence and optimism is the possible nuclear agreement with the P5+1 nations, which now appears within reach.

While there are many critics here, the vast majority of Iranians feel a deal would finally help unlock their full economic potential.

"Naturally, we are happy," this woman says. "We expect better days economically and culturally. We want better relations with the rest of the

world."

"I have a good feeling about it because my country will be free of the fear of war," this man says.

However, U.S. President Barack Obama remains cautious and says the threat of sanctions should remain even if a final nuclear deal is reached.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our main concern here is making sure that if Iran doesn't abide by its agreement, that we don't have

to jump through a whole bunch of hoops in order to reinstate sanctions. That's our main concern.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): Distrust, animosity clearly exists on both sides as these pictures show.

"Death to America," these members of Iran's notorious besiege militias chant, and their message to the U.S. is clear.

"They must be afraid," this young man says, "there's nothing else for them to do but be afraid. When they see the besiege, when they see these young

men like us, they must be afraid."

So far, cooler heads have prevailed in the process of Iran changing relations with the West. There still is a long way to go before real trust

can be established.

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[14:05:00] PLEITGEN: My first guest tonight lives and breathes politics, Masoumeh Ebtekar was the spokesman for the Iranian students who occupied

the U.S. embassy in 1979. She then became a member of the Tehran city council and then Iran's first female vice president in 1997 in the Khatami

administration. Now she's the vice president once again and also the head of Iran's environmental protection agency.

Vice President Ebtekar, thank you very much for joining the program.

MASOUMEH EBTEKAR, IRANIAN VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you.

PLEITGEN: When we look at the nuclear negotiations going on right now, it seems almost bizarre as though your government, the Rouhani administration

and the Obama government seem to be doing more to try and fend off critics in their own countries than actually negotiating.

EBTEKAR: Well, I think as you mentioned, both sides, we do have the radical groups, those who are trying to spoil the negotiations, the deal.

But the overall understanding, at least in Iran, we're quite sure -- and I feel that it's the same in the United States -- the general population is

looking forward to an agreement which is just, with balance, that keeps the dignity of both nations, particularly the Iranian nation, and makes sure

that the gain is for the multilateral approach, for the approach that looks forward to engage for the benefit of peace and stability in the world.

I think that that's very important and that is what the general population looks for. We have the radical groups, but they're the minority groups.

PLEITGEN: However, how do you view the current negotiations? How do you view the way things are going? There have been statements made by the U.S.

There have been statements made here outlining red lines.

How big do you think the possibility is?

(CROSSTALK)

EBTEKAR: I think that the initial agreement was a great breakthrough, was an important step forward, a political agreement. But we still have a long

way to move forward. In Iran, there are a lot of hopes vested in the current government because there's a lot of support for Dr. Rouhani --

PLEITGEN: -- visit for you, too, to stand up for these hardliners?

Because they're powerful. They're not the majority but they're powerful.

EBTEKAR: -- it is. But I think it's also part of the democratic process. I think it's part of -- the ethical politics that we also have to pursue as

a religious democracy. We have to make sure that all the voices are heard. But of course within the context of the law. And therefore it's very

important to make these voices heard and you -- as you've probably seen, we've had these debates going on now in different colleges and universities

in the country and they're all discussing different dimensions of the nuclear negotiations.

And it's very important for this country because people know the history, they know the history of the involvement of foreign forces like the United

States and Iran. They know how it is now important to come to a just and balanced approach. They also realize the conditions that we have in the

region, the emergence of this very terrible entity called daish, which is nothing to do with Islam, but uses the words Islamic State and tries to

promote a very negative image and very, very violent image of Islam --

PLEITGEN: What do you think are --

EBTEKAR: -- they understand these different equations. So it's important for them to come out with a very clear, first of all, picture of what's

going on and to make sure that it's just and it's balanced.

PLEITGEN: Where are the red lines for Iran? (INAUDIBLE) we've heard about no access to military sites. We've heard about numbers of centrifuges.

What do you think --

EBTEKAR: -- very clear, it's the dignity of the Iranian nation, the integrity of the state, the people believe and they're ready to descend

with all their might, the Islamic revolution, the Islamic Republic of Iran and so this is, of course, very important to us in negotiations. And I

think that our negotiators are very well -- they are very well trained and they have the experience and expertise, both in the field of nuclear issues

but as well in diplomatic areas, particularly pertaining to the rights of the Iranian nation, where it comes to international rights, when it comes

sometimes dealing with issues which we call double standards and that's, I think, a very important issue that we're facing now in the international

arena. And it's one of those issues that we have to deal with very openly during the negotiations for sure.

PLEITGEN: A lot of this is about building trust between these two nations, because there isn't very much trust there right now.

Isn't it also time for Iran to tone down the rhetoric a little bit? We were at this military parade; you hear the "Death to America" chants,

"Death to Israel" chants.

Isn't it time to tone that down a little bit as well?

EBTEKAR: Well, first of all, as it's very evident the Iranian nation feels that they need to be ready to defend themselves. And it's very evident

because you see all the different military bases around Iran, surrounding Iran in all the different surrounding countries.

[14:10:01] PLEITGEN: That's a different thing that --

EBTEKAR: Exactly. But it's -- but it's -- still it's a sign of the necessity to defend the country. It's no aggressive tone. There's no

aggressive tone in what is being done and particularly the role that Iran has played in the region during all these years and bringing about civility

and siding with the nations in the region and trying to --

PLEITGEN: There is, of course, debate about that.

EBTEKAR: There is debate but --

(CROSSTALK)

PLEITGEN: -- today especially that has caused a lot of uproar in the United States, there's on the one hand, of course, the case of Amir Hekmati

and then there's the case also of Jason Rezaian, which today came to a head once again.

How can it be assured that he gets a fair trial? He's been in jail for a very, very long time. It's forever for the charges to come out. There's a

lot of news agencies here in this country that have written some terrible things about him when he can't defend himself.

EBTEKAR: These are issues which have to be dealt with with the judiciary. The judiciary has its own mandate --

PLEITGEN: But they're being dealt with in the media, aren't they --

EBTEKAR: -- the media, well, you know, in Iran, we have an open media and different groups, they have the opportunity to speak about these different

issues. It's not necessarily the general policy, the government policy which is mentioned. But the important thing is that the judiciary has its

own principles, its laws and regulations. And I feel that a fair approach will be taken on all those issues as well. And this is what the government

looks forward to as well

PLEITGEN: One thing that we need to talk about, since you are the head of the environmental protection agency, is the environment as well, because

you are potentially looking at a lot of tourists coming here. You have a lot of cultural treasures. You have a lot of natural treasures.

You also have a lot of environmental problems. You have desertification. You have sandstorms. You have rivers that are drying out.

How are you going to address that?

EBTEKAR: One of the important policies, which the government of Rouhani has pursued successfully has been to set environmental goals as priorities

for the government. And we started off quite well with dealing with the issue of air pollution of our major cities. The improvements of the

quality of the petroleum provided to our cities during the past year resulted in better air quality in our major -- including in Tehran, the

major cities. And we're working in that direction. We have a major plan to abate air pollution and that's very important because that's important

for the --

PLEITGEN: It's important to Tehran, isn't it, especially --

EBTEKAR: -- it's important for Tehran. It's important for major cities like Isfahan, like Tabriz, like Shiraz, like Ahvaz. And we're working on

all those different areas. But it's of course, a difficult issue. Issues, sandstorms goes back to the fact that we are facing an increasingly arid

climate and some of that goes back to climate change.

We're facing a gradual decrease in precipitation in Iran. That means that we need to change our current agricultural practices and that is underway.

Water consumption policies are rapidly being revised and that mostly is dealt with in the agricultural sector, because they use up about 93 percent

of the water but also in the urban sector as well. We need a revolution, a change in the way that we consume water, we manage water. We have a very

stringent strategy to now protect our biodiversity, our wetlands. Specifically we have projects with a different wetland in Iran, including

Anzali wetland, which the president visited last week, but also Hoor Al- Azim on the border of Iraq and also Hamun. I had a meeting with the president of Afghanistan yesterday, Mr. Ashraf Ghani. And we spoke about

protection of the Hamun wetland, is a transboundary peace part between the two countries.

PLEITGEN: So there is certainly still a lot --

EBTEKAR: There's a lot to do. There's a lot to do. But we're very hopeful because the government is very serious and the president himself is

moving forward --

(CROSSTALK)

EBTEKAR: -- very seriously on those issues.

PLEITGEN: Masoumeh Ebtekar, thank you very much for joining the program tonight. Thank you.

So as we can see, there is an atmosphere in hope here in Tehran. However, there are also issues between Iran and the West, specifically Saudi Arabia.

When we come back, I'll be speaking to Mohammad Marandi of Tehran University.

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[14:16:45] PLEITGEN: Welcome back to the program. You're watching a special edition of the AMANPOUR show, live from Iran. I'm Fred Pleitgen,

sitting in for Christiane today.

Now after years of trading barbs, the U.S. and Iran finally found some common ground this month with a signing of a deal restricting Tehran's

nuclear program. Since then, we're hearing a new kind of conciliatory language. Yet the two countries remain at loggerheads over the crisis in

war-torn Yemen. The U.S. accuses Iran of fueling.

Today Iran summoned Saudi Arabia's top diplomat in Tehran after a rocket landed meters away from the Iranian embassy in Yemen. Professor Mohammad

Marandi joined me earlier from Tehran University to discuss the (INAUDIBLE).

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PLEITGEN: Mohammad Marandi, thank you for joining the program today.

MOHAMMAD MARANDI, TEHRAN UNIVERSITY: Thank you for having me.

PLEITGEN: One of the big issues right now between Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United States is the conflict in Yemen. There's been big criticism towards

the Iranians coming from the Saudis and the U.S. There's also been big criticism going the other direction.

Where do things stand right now with the Iranian deal?

MARANDI: I think the Iranian perspective, the most important thing that's happening is that the Saudis are basically fighting on the same side of the

battlefield as is Al Qaeda. In other words, the new government in Yemen with the new political establishment, the popular committees, the Ansar

Allah group, the Houthis and the army, they're being bombed by the Saudis on the one hand and attacked by Al Qaeda.

PLEITGEN: But the U.N. itself is also issued a ban on delivering weapons. So there seems to be an international consensus that there is a legitimate

government that hasn't gotten rid of.

MARANDI: Well, the U.N. Security Council is a very complicated matter. The United States has a lot of influence on the Saudis --

PLEITGEN: The Russians didn't stop it either.

MARANDI: -- well, there was a lot of pressure coming from oil money in the Persian Gulf region. But the fact is that the former president, Mansour

Hadi, he was never elected through a democratic election. He was the only candidate. And when he was elected, he was supposed to be a transitional

president for two years. He stayed on.

Ultimately he had to resign after staying on a lot longer than two years. And when the popular committees in Ansar Allah and the Houthis, they went

into the capital, there was no resistance. There was no bloodshed because he did not have any popular support.

So they don't consider him to be the legitimate president of the country.

PLEITGEN: But the Iranian government has said it's not going to stand by and let this happen.

What do you think the Iranians can do?

I mean, they're sending ships into the area but clearly that's not going to make much of a difference.

MARANDI: I think the Iranians believe that the Yemeni people are strong enough to defend themselves. Yemen is not a small country. The population

is at least the size of Saudi Arabia and also in 2009, with the -- when the Saudis had a series of battles with the Houthis alongside the Saudi-Yemeni

border, back then the Houthis were a much, much smaller group.

[14:20:03] The Saudis lost. So the belief here is that this is a war that the Saudis have already lost.

PLEITGEN: But it's also one where people see that it's leading to an even bigger Iranian-Saudi conflict.

How big do you think that danger is?

Because the war of words at this point is already pretty heated.

MARANDI: Well, I don't think that the Saudis are in a position to initiate a war against Iran and the Iranians have no reason to want military

conflict with the Saudis.

The problem that the Saudis have from the Iranian perspective, again, is that they promote Wahhabism. They promote an extremist ideology. And this

is the same ideology --

PLEITGEN: They accuse Iran of doing the same thing, though --

(CROSSTALK)

PLEITGEN: -- supporting Hezbollah, supporting other extremist groups.

MARANDI: ISIL and Al Qaeda both have the same ideology as does Saudi Arabia, as Wahhabism. It's the same ideology that we see in Nigeria, Boko

Haram. In Somalia, Al-Shabaab, the killings in Kenya just recently. In Libya, Ansar al-Sharia. These are all -- or the Taliban. All of these

have the same ideology as does Saudi Arabia. And the Iranians believe that this is the disaster that's destroying the whole region.

PLEITGEN: One thing where the U.S. and Iran have a very common interest is the fight against ISIS.

How do the Iranians view the U.S.' position, the coalition, what it's doing in light of what they're doing themselves?

MARANDI: I think the Iranians believe that the Americans are not doing nearly enough and that they're not really all that serious in fighting ISIS

because U.S. allies are supporting ISIS, the Turkish government is allowing ISIS to work -- move across their border and also other groups, which are

just like ISIS, the Nusra Front, which is Al Qaeda, is being supported both by the Turks and the Saudis.

The feeling here is that as long as the Americans allow the Saudis to fund these extremist groups, whether in Yemen, in Syria, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria

and so on, as long as they allow their allies to do these -- carry out these policies, the Americans really aren't seriously dealing with the

problem of extremism.

PLEITGEN: Is there a scenario where you could envision U.S. planes and Iranian-backed forces, possibly with Iranian advisers working hand in hand?

Coordination?

MARANDI: No, not under the current circumstances. I think the important thing right now is that the United States -- if it wants to begin a process

of rapprochement with Iran, they first have to solve the nuclear issue. If the United States is serious about solving the problem and moving on to the

next level, the Iranians want to see it happen now.

If there is a solution, the Iranian leader himself said this would be a sign that we could begin thinking about talking about other issues. But if

the United States doesn't solve this problem with Iran, Iran has no incentives to talk about anything else. This is the most important issue

for us with Americans. It's sort of a litmus test.

PLEITGEN: Mohammad Marandi, thank you very much.

MARANDI: Thank you for having me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PLEITGEN: And from an educator to a conductor, imagine a world where classic Western music makes a comeback in Persia -- right after this.

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[14:26:04] PLEITGEN: And finally tonight, imagine a world where silence makes way for the triumphant chords of a lost symphony. That is the world

of Tehran as its symphony orchestra is born again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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PLEITGEN (voice-over): Music and culture have at times been controversial and even neglected in Iran. But in this past month, one of the country's

cultural gems has risen from the ashes to the chords of Beethoven's 9th Symphony.

After laying silent for three years, the Tehran Symphony Orchestra has been revived and given a world renowned conductor.

(AUDIO GAP)

ALI RAHBARI, CONDUCTOR, TEHRAN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: Without the ministers and ambassadors, everybody, stand up, that is we have standing ovation

before to play even a note.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): Originally formed more than 80 years ago, it survived wars, coups and the Islamic revolution only to fall silent into

financial stress after a new bout of Western sanctions. But the sound of silence resonated to the very top of Iran's government, to President Hassan

Rouhani.

RAHBARI: It was pitied (ph) at the close, he said. And it is not only him. His minister of cultures, the same opinion and after that, any

person, which is involved now, they are helping me. I must say this time it's really worked.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): From this Wednesday onwards, the orchestra will perform four concerts a month, hoping to bring Western classics to a

Persian audience and the firm belief that music will often bridge divides more effectively than words.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: And that is it for our program tonight. And remember you can always see the whole show again online at amanpour.com, and follow me on

Twitter, @FPleitgenCNN. Thank you for watching and goodnight and goodbye from Tehran.

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