even more interesting right now, beyond the dynamic of iran and saudi arabia, saudi arabia and the u.s., you know, since the arab spring

even more interesting right now, beyond the dynamic of iran and saudi arabia, saudi arabia and the u.s., you know, since the arab spring really took root here in the region, we've seen

arabia, who is now king abdullah of saudi arabia. as i point out, very close to king abdullah. he's flying from washington to saudi arabia almost every other week to brief the king personally on the latest developments. let's continue our breaking news coverage right now with our national security contributor, fran townsend. she serves on the external advisory boards of both the cia and homeland security department as well as the former fbi assistant director tom fuentes. i want to get to both of you in just a moment, but i'm just learning that jason carroll is outside the court house in new york where the suspect, manssor arbabsiar, is about to be arraigned in this courthouse. jason, what do we know? >> reporter: let me set the scene for you here, wolf. basically this was a procedural sort of event what we saw at the courthouse here today and we got our first look at manssor arbabsiar. he wore blue jeans, he wore a blue plaid shirt, he was basically looking somewhat relaxed as he entered the courtroom. he spoke briefly with his atto

it was not nearly as totalitarian as either in its own way, saudi arabia or iran. both saudi arabia and iran are, i think, quite clearly theocratic totalitarian country, one sunni, one shiite, and that is one of the things that has produced, among other thing, their treatment of women. for these guys, totalitarianism often begins at home, beating their wives, having their daughters' genitals mutilated and a lot of the things that they do, so i do think that there are some similarities between the extraordinarily dictatorial autocratic totalitarian methods in iran today and in saudi arabia, but there are some -- some important differences as well. >> and how -- and how do americans reconcile saudi arabia as our ally in the context you described and iran as the enemy when their fundamental social structure, asset structure, gender structure has more in common in many ways than it -- than different? >> well, for three years and eight months, from '41 to august of '45 in world war ii, we were a close ally and major financial supporter of history's greatest murderer, jo

forces in saudi arabia in 1995. the same group from the irgs, the revolutionary guards wouldn't take such a dramatic step of what peter king called a potential act of war without assuming they had the approval at the top. so i would switch the burden of proof in this case not to be skeptical about it, but to assume the supreme leader would have in some way authorized his people to continue this covert war against saudi arabia through this method and crazy scheme involving the dea informant. >> what about the revolutionary guards, i know the numbers are all over. we've done reports between 30 and 80% of the economy is controlled by them. that's a big range. you can get numbers all over the map. the first thing the u.s. has done, fran, is to come out and increase sanctions. we already had a lot of sanctions. is that the best we can come up with? >> well, i think you also heard secretary clinton in her statement indicate that they're going to the u.n. security council. they've not called an emergency meetings. they're

arabia, these current rulers of saudi arabia, become too old to rule, when it will it become the next generation of leaders this ascend the higher a kirk people younger? currently the people appointed king of is saudi arabia have all been sons of the original king, king abdul aziz a lol lot of royal intrigue, power intrigue in saudi arabia, people wound what happened. king abdullah seemed to be progressive, seemed to be more from a more liberal camp in saudi arabia. crown prince sultan and his brother, the second deputy premiere, the interior minister, are seemed to be prom a more conservative wing of the royal family and this power struggle the last few years between the more progressive wing of the royal family and the more conservative wing of the royal family. they are all vying dominance. who exactly come out on as soon as possible this comes at critical moment at a time in saudi arabia, more and more people are pressing for reform or calling for a constitutional monarchy, they want to see things kahne change within that country and this will certainly be a flashing point in that

saudi arabia is the largest provider of oil in the world. this attack is directly on the kings closest adviser al jabbar and close to abdullah. i think it will put these countries in an uncomfortable position of having to choose between iran and saudi arabia. my guess is if the awe studies are as angry as they should be that they should be able to convince china and russia to do more than they have up to now. >> why do you think, fran, the saudis -- they have put out a brief statement but not a formal response yet. why the delay do you think? >> i do think -- well, look, we understand this was a plot uncovered by the united states. the saudis have been in the receiving mode. tom donilon briefed the king on this and they kept them up to speed on the investigation but for the moment the saudis are con toent let the united states make public the details of the case and sbe gin international action against them. it is characteric of their foreign policy to sit back, see how the coalition is forming and then weigh in once they have a better sense

arabia is not doing well at all it's fearful of its waters with yamin inside saudi arabia so it would be useful to sort of make this so the ruling family the victim here so it does benefit the united states in many ways but there's another point that i'd like to mention and that is the the repetition of the claim that iran is behind terrorism. the americans have made these claims in iraq and afghanistan many times both iraqi government and the afghan government have denied them time after time after time and also importantly it's the irony is that is the united states that regularly care carries out terrorist attacks a use that uses drones to kill thousands of people this occupied numerous countries and iranian scientists have been put on sanctions for this and the same people who have been who are put on those later assassinated and of course the western media shows absolutely no some sympathy whatsoever for their families for their children because they assume that iran is developing a nuclear weapon this why the fact that there's never been any evidence evidence to show that so in

arabia is not doing well at all it's fearful of its borders with yemen in inside saudi arabia so it would be useful to sort of make the saudi ruling family a victim here so it does benefit the united states in many ways but there's another point that i'd like to mention and that is the the repetition of the claim that iran is behind terrorism. the americans have made these claims in iraq and afghanistan many times both the iraqi government and the afghan government have denied them time after time after time and also importantly the irony is that it's the united states that regularly carries out terrorist attacks a user a uses drones to kill thousands of people it's occupied numerous countries and iranian scientists have been put on sanctions for this and the same people who have been who are put on those lists later assassinated and of course the western media shows absolutely no some sympathy whatsoever for their families for their children because they assume that iran is developing a nuclear weapon despite the fact that there's never been any evidence evidence to show that so in

arabia is not doing well at all it's fearful of its borders with yemen in inside saudi arabia so it would be useful to sort of make the saudi ruling family the victim here so it does benefit the united states in many ways but there's another point that i'd like to mention and that is the the repetition of the claim that iran is behind terrorism. the americans have made these claims in iraq and afghanistan many times both iraqi government and the afghan government have denied them time after time after time and also importantly it's the irony is that is the united states that regularly care carries out terrorist attacks a user uses drones to kill thousands of people that occupied numerous countries and iranian scientists have been put on sanctions list and the same people who have been who are put on those later assassinated and of course the western media shows absolutely no some sympathy whatsoever for their families for their children because they assume that iran is developing a nuclear weapon this why the fact that there's never been any evidence evidence to show that so in the

saudi arabia is the largest provider of oil in the world. this attack is directly on the kings closest adviser al jabbar and close to abdullah. i think it will put these countries in an uncomfortable position of having to choose between iran and saudi arabia. my guess is if the awe studies are as angry as they should be that they should be able to convince china and russia to do more than they have up to now. >> why do you think, fran, the saudis -- they have put out a brief statement but not a formal response yet. why the delay do you think? >> i do think -- well, look, we understand this was a plot uncovered by the united states. the saudis have been in the receiving mode. tom donilon briefed the king on this and they kept them up to speed on the investigation but for the moment the saudis are con toent let the united states make public the details of the case and sbe gin international action against them. it is characteric of their foreign policy to sit back, see how the coalition is forming and then weigh in once they have a better sense

arabia is not doing well at all it's fearful of its borders with yamin inside saudi arabia so it would be useful to sort of make this so the ruling family the victim here so it does benefit the united states in many ways but there's another point that i'd like to mention and that is the the repetition of the claim that iran is behind terrorism. the americans have made these claims in iraq and afghanistan many times both iraqi government and the afghan government have denied them time after time after time and also importantly the irony is that if the united states had regularly carries out terrorist attacks he used a uses drones to kill thousands of people this occupied numerous countries and iranian scientists have been put on sanctions list and the same people who have been who are put on those lists later assassinated and of course the western media shows absolutely no sympathy whatsoever for their families for their children because they assume that iran is developing a nuclear weapon despite the fact that there's never been any evidence evidence to show that so in the west the pro

arabia is not doing well at all it's fearful of its borders with yamin inside saudi arabia so it would be useful to sort of make the saudi ruling family the victim here so it does benefit the united states in many ways but there's another point that i'd like to mention and that is the the repetition of the claim that iran is behind terrorism. the americans have made these claims in iraq and afghanistan many times both iraqi government and the afghan government have denied them time after time after time and also importantly it's the irony is that is the united states that regularly care carries out terrorist attacks a user uses drones to kill thousands of people that occupied numerous countries and iranian scientists have been put on sanctions for this and the same people who have been who are put on those there so later assassinated and of course the western media shows absolutely no some sympathy whatsoever for their families for their children because they assume that iran is developing a nuclear weapon this why the fact that there has never been any evidence evidence to show that s

in the eastern part of saudi arabia. saudi arabia has said that it will crack down fiercely on these protests by the shiite minority. it does not want this to be a problem in this oil-rich country. there's also lebanon. there's hezbollah. hezbollah has sided with the bahrainian protesters, but for instance sided with the syrian regime. it's difficult not to see this through a sectarian prism. >> iran says it's a fabrication, the united states making this up. iran does not have a great credibility, level of credibility, shall we say, but the question is, you have the law enforcement case, you have the one suspect who has been arrested. the second suspect, as you read through the complaint, and it's like a movie script everybody the second suspect said to be in iran somewhere. account obama administration do? what can the world do? what can you do? >> this is very brazen, i mean for them to plan an attack on our soil. think about it, that hasn't happened before. we need to work together with the other world leaders. china

arabia is not doing well at all it's fearful of its borders with yemen in inside saudi arabia so it would be useful to sort of make this so the ruling family the victim here so it does benefit the united states in many ways but there's another point that i'd like to mention and that is the the repetition of the claim that iran is behind terrorism. the americans have made these claims in iraq and afghanistan many times both iraqi government and the afghan government have denied them time after time after time and also importantly it's the irony is that is the united states that regularly care carries out terrorist attacks a user uses drones to kill thousands of people that occupied numerous countries and iranian scientists have been put on sanctions list and the same people who have been who are put on those later assassinated and of course the western media shows absolutely no some sympathy whatsoever for their families for their children because they assume that iran is developing a nuclear weapon this why the fact that there's never been any evidence evidence to show that so in th

iran has never heard a single saudi anywhere at any time if you recall saudi arabia funded saddam hussein's war along with the americans and the europeans here they funded the weapons of mass destruction program in the europeans americans helped them develop it but killing many thousands of iranians but the iranians never retaliated so why would the iranians do such a thing now so the then of course their violence is pretty bogus as well but i guess we'll get to that later years ok michael if i go to you in tel aviv what do you think of the merits of this case because it looks like a lot of legal people are looking and saying this is an obvious case of entrapment of a buffoon. i don't know about entrapment i have to say the case itself works strange to say the least. but let's not forget that there is between iran and saudi arabia just seven months ago we saw the wiki leaks really is quoted the saudi king and saying that the head needs to be cut off the snake of iran. not to mention that iran has. been very pleased with saudi involvement in bahrain and there have been clashes recently in be

arabia is not doing well at all it's fearful of its waters with yamin inside saudi arabia so it would be useful to sort of make the saudi ruling family the victim here so it does benefit the united states in many ways but there's another point that i'd like to mention and that is the the repetition of the claim that iran is behind terrorism. the americans have made these claims in iraq and afghanistan many times both iraqi government and the afghan government have denied them time after time after time and also importantly it's the irony is that is the united states that regularly care carries out terrorist attacks a user uses drones to kill thousands of people this occupied numerous countries and iranian scientists have been put on sanctions for this and the same people who have been who are put on those there so later assassinated and of course the western media shows absolutely no some sympathy whatsoever for their families for their children because they assume that iran is developing a nuclear weapon this why the fact that there's never been any evidence evidence to show that so

arabia is not doing well at all it's fearful of its borders with yamin inside saudi arabia so it would be useful to sort of make the saudi ruling family the victim here so it does benefit the united states in many ways but there's another point that i'd like to mention and that is the the repetition of the claim that iran is behind terrorism. the americans have made these claims in iraq and afghanistan many times both iraqi government and the afghan government have denied them time after time after time and also importantly it's the irony is that it's the united states that regularly carries out terrorist attacks a use that uses drones to kill thousands of people it's occupied numerous countries and iranian scientists have been put on sanctions list and the same people who have been who are put on those there's a greater assassinated and of course the western media shows absolutely no sympathy whatsoever for their families for their children because they assume that iran is developing a nuclear weapon despite the fact that there's never been any evidence evidence to show that so in the

saudi arabia is calling the alleged plot despicable. and iran calls the allegations fabricated and baseless. cnn's mohamed jom june joins us now live from abu dhabi. mohamed, what more can you tell us about the reactions coming from both the saudis and iran? >> well, carol, reaction from the iranian officials was immediate. they were outraged by these allegations. you have the speaker of iran's parliament calling it a childish play by the americans and that the americans were attempting to divert attention from their own domestic problems. shortly after that, the ambassador to the u.n. for iran wrote to ban ki-moon and expressed outrage over the allegations, said he strongly rejects the baseless allegations. reactions from the saudis took a bit longer. most officials in saudi arabia around speaking about this. there was a short statement issued by the oil embassy of saudi arabia in d.c. in which they call the attempted plot a despicable allegation, that it's not in accord with the principles of humanity. what's yet to be seen is how thi

arabia is not doing well at all it's fearful of its borders with yamin inside saudi arabia so it would be useful to sort of make the saudi ruling family the victim here so it does benefit the united states in many ways but there's another point that i'd like to mention and that is the the repetition of the claim that iran is behind terrorism. the americans have made these claims in iraq and afghanistan many times both iraq and government and the afghan government have denied them time after time after time and also importantly it's the irony is that is the united states that regularly care carries out terrorist attacks they use the uses drones to kill thousands of people that occupied numerous countries and iranian scientists have been called on sanctions for this and the same people who who are put on those there's a greater assassinated and of course the western media shows absolutely no sense whatsoever for their families for their children because they assume that iran is developing a nuclear weapon is why the fact that there's never been any evidence to show that so in the west th

with saudi arabia and israel speaking of cooperation with saudi arabia the us has brokered the largest arms deal with saudi arabia in its history worth sixty billion dollars the u.s. would justify its enormous contribution to further militarization of that week as well iran's some experts believe that undermining the government of iran has been a long time coveted goal of the united states it's not clear how this incident will play out but it definitely makes the drums of war beat louder here in washington and as you can reporting there michael scherer have former cia intelligence officers as there are a lot of holes in the allegations against this apparent iranian backed plot. one of the biggest problems in the united states for if or telling what the terrorist threat is in our country is that the f.b.i. runs these sting operations and then claims great credit for breaking up a plot that wouldn't have existed except that they lured somebody into doing it my initial reaction is if the iranians wanted to kill a saudi ambassador why do it in the united states when it would cause a war be

arabia is not doing well at all it's fearful of its borders with yamin inside saudi arabia so it would be useful to sort of make this so the ruling family the victim here so it does benefit the united states in many ways but there's another point that i'd like to mention and that is the the repetition of the claim that iran is behind terrorism. the americans have made these claims in iraq and afghanistan many times both iraqi government and the afghan government have denied them time after time after time and also importantly it's the irony is that is the united states that regularly care carries out terrorist attacks a user uses drones to kill thousands of people that occupied numerous countries and iranian scientists have been put on sanctions list and the same people who have been who are put on those later assassinated and of course the western media shows absolutely no some sympathy whatsoever for their families for their children because they assume that iran is developing a nuclear weapon this why the fact that there's never been any evidence evidence to show that so in the west

with saudi arabia and israel speaking of cooperation with saudi arabia the us has brokered the largest arms deal with saudi arabia in its history worth sixty billion dollars the u.s. would justify its enormous contribution and to further militarization of the region as well iran's some experts believe that undermining the government of iran has been a long time coveted goal of the united states it's not clear how this incident will play out but it definitely makes the drums of war beat louder here in washington. reporting that michael sure a former cia intelligence officer says there are a lot of holes in the allegations against this apparent iranian backed plot. one of the biggest problems in the united states for for telling what the terrorist threat is in our country is that the f.b.i. runs the sting operations and then claims great credit for breaking up a planet that wouldn't have existed except that they lured somebody into doing it my initial reaction is if the iranians wanted to kill a saudi ambassador right do it in the united states when it would cause a war between the unite

with saudi arabia and israel speaking of cooperation with saudi arabia the us has brokered the largest arms deal with saudi arabia in its history worth sixty billion dollars the u.s. will justify its enormous contribution into further militarization of that we as for iran's some experts believe that undermining the government of iran has been a long time coveted goal of the united states it's not clear how this incident will play out but it definitely makes the drums of war beat louder here in washington. michael assured former cia intelligence officer things these current intensified friction between the us and iran and believes there are many suspicious issues about the investigation. one of the biggest problems in the united states for before telling what the terrorist threat is in our country is that the f.b.i. runs these sting operations and then claims great credit for breaking up a plot that wouldn't have existed except that they lured somebody into doing it my initial reaction is if the iranians wanted to kill a saudi ambassador why do it in the united states when it would caus

with saudi arabia and israel speaking of cooperation with saudi arabia the us has broken at the largest arms deal with saudi arabia in its history worth sixty billion dollars the u.s. would need to justify its enormous contribution to further militarization of the week and as for iran's some experts believe that undermining the government of iran has been a long time coveted goal of the united states it's not clear how this incident will play out but it definitely makes the drums of war beat louder here in washington that is reporting there michael sure a former cia intelligence officer says there are a lot of holes in the allegations against this apparent iranian backed plot one of the biggest problems in the united states for before telling you what the terrorist threat is in our country is that the f.b.i. runs these sting operations and then claims great credit for breaking up a plot that wouldn't have existed except that they lured somebody into doing it my initial reaction is if the iranians wanted to kill a saudi ambassador why do it in the united states when it would cause a war

with saudi arabia and israel speaking of cooperation with saudi arabia the us has brokered the largest arms deal with saudi arabia in its history worth sixty billion dollars the u.s. would need to justify its and more most contribution into further militarization of the week and as for iran's some experts believe that undermining the government if you ran has been a long time coveted goal of the united states is not clear how this incident will play out but it definitely makes the drums of war beat louder here in washington. reporting their own model sure a former cia intelligence officer says there are a lot of holes in the allegations against this apparent iranian backed plot. one of the biggest problems in the united states for for telling what the terrorist threat is in our country is that the f.b.i. runs the sting operations and then claims great credit for breaking up a plot that wouldn't have existed except that they lured somebody into doing it my initial reaction is if the iranians wanted to kill a saudi ambassador why do it in the united states when it would cause a war betwe

oil relations with iran and saudi arabia in the 1970s. i started to look at the whole subject of oil in a much more holistic way. by studying the impact rising oil price had in the 1970s on the economies of countries like the united states, portugal, greece, italy and spain. but also economies of countries like south vietnam, tanzania, sri lanka, canada and chile. taking the force conversation as my starting point, i am of my research investigation back in time hoping to locate the moment when it looked to me as though things had started to go wrong. the start gate if you will of the road that led to president ford's confrontation with the shah of oil prices in his final weeks in office. that meant i had to move back in time past the recession, past watergate, nixon's resignation, beyond the arab oil embargo, past the vietnam war, the 1972 presidential election, indeed, back as far as the shah of iran's visit to washington to attend the funeral of former president eisenhower in 1969. that's the point in which my book begins. in the fall o

with saudi arabia and israel speaking of cooperation with saudi arabia the us has brokered the largest arms deal with saudi arabia in its history worth sixty billion dollars the u.s. would justify its enormous contribution to further militarization of the week as for iran's some experts believe that undermining the government if you ran has been a long time coveted goal of the united states it's not clear how this incident will play out but it definitely makes the drums of war beat louder here in washington you can report in there and michael sure a former cia intelligence officer says there are a lot of holes in the allegations against this apparent iranian backed plot. one of the biggest problems in the united states for for telling what the terrorist threat is in our country is that the f.b.i. runs these sting operations and then claims great credit for breaking up a plot that wouldn't have existed except that they lured somebody into doing it my initial reaction is if the iranians wanted to kill a saudi ambassador why do it in the united states when it would cause a war between the

with saudi arabia and israel speaking of cooperation with saudi arabia the us has brokered the largest arms deal with saudi arabia in its history worth sixty billion dollars the u.s. would justify its enormous contribution to further militarization of that week and as for iran's some experts believe that undermining the government of iran has been a long time coveted goal of the united states it's not clear how this incident will play out but it definitely makes the drums of war beat louder here in washington now it's gone reporting there michael shore a former cia intelligence officer says there are a lot of holes in the allegations against this apparent iranian backed plot one of the biggest problems in the united states for for telling what the terrorist threat is in our country is that the f.b.i. runs these sting operations and then claims great credit for breaking up a plot that wouldn't have existed except that they lured somebody into doing it my initial reaction is if the iranians wanted to kill a saudi ambassador why do it in the united states when it would cause a war between

americans arstill fascinated, scared by saudi arabia. and they look at it, and they just wonder, is this still a place that is a breeding ground for a certain kind of islam, a certain kind of attitude toward modernity that is fundamentally anti-american? what would you say to people who have these fears? >> well, i would start by saying that saudis are equally scared and interested and curious about the united states, whether it is fundamentally a strategic friend as our governments and our leaders have been consistently saying and performing on that assumption. and sometimes there are questions as to whether that strategic friendship is equally strong on this side of the world as it is in the kingdom. the only way we can get over that, i think, is to know each other better. >> but many people feel that at the heart of the regime's stability is this compact it has made with a religious establishment that is quite extreme. why is it so difficult to make that break? it seems as though the king is well liked, he clearly is a modernizer. god

opec is to the extent with saudi arabia wants to be. in the interest of the saudis are usually swing power. so that their power is the most important force in the oil markets in the world. >> i guess in the interest of full the closure, i must say that i am an iranian american. i've been here 52 years. the last four years as a lawyer -- as a loyal citizen. there is a lot of resentment in this country because of our dependence on the middle east oil. and this is even before 9/11 and the terror and all the problems. we also resent the fact that the price keeps going up and we are paying a lot for it. i've watched on the discovery channel that concluded of the amount that we pay at the pump, let's say $3.40 or what have you, only 1 dollar of it does not go to taxes. all the rest is consumed by taxes of one kind or the other. which we impose and we collect, and it is a significant part of our economy. it's a significant part of our revenue. that last dollar pays the middle east, the transportation of crude oil, refining it, storing it, and

americans are still fascinated, scared by saudi arabia. and they look at it, and they just wonder, is this still a place that is a breeding ground for a certain kind of islam, a certain kind of attitude toward modernity that is fundamentally anti-american? what would you say to people who have these fears? >> well, i would start by saying that saudis are equally scared and interested and curious about the united states, whether it is fundamentally a strategic friend as our governments and our leaders have been consistently saying and performing on that assumption. and sometimes there are questions as to whether that strategic friendship is equally strong on this side of the world as it is in the kingdom. the only way we can get over that, i think, is to know each other better. >> but many people feel that at the heart of the regime's stability is this compact it has made with a religious establishment that is quite extreme. why is it so difficult to make that break? it seems as though the king is well liked, he clearly is a modernizer. god

in with saudi arabia and israel speaking of cooperation with saudi arabia the us has brokered the largest arms deal with saudi arabia in its history worth sixty billion dollars the u.s. would justify its enormous contribution need to further militarization of the region as for iran's some experts believe that undermining the government if you read has been a long time coveted goal of the united states it's not clear how this incident will play out but it definitely makes the drums of war beat louder here in washington. reporting there and michael sure a former cia intelligence officer says there are a lot of holes in the allegations against this apparent iranian backed plot. one of the biggest problems in the united states for for telling what the terrorist threat is in our country is that the f.b.i. runs these sting operations and then claims great credit for breaking up a plot that wouldn't have existed except that they lured somebody into doing it my initial reaction is if the iranians wanted to kill a saudi ambassador right do it in the united states when it would cause a war between

oil relations with iran and saudi arabia. i started to look up the whole subject of oil and a much more holistic way. study the impact of rising oil prices in 1970 on the economies of countries like the united states, portugal, greece, italy, and spain. also economies of countries like south vietnam, tanzania, sherlock, canada, and chile taking the heavy conversation as my starting point in moving my research investigations hoping to locate the moment when it looks to me as though things have started to go wrong. the start date that led to president ford's confrontation with the shot of oil prices in his final weeks of office. that meant i had to move back in time past the recession, passed watergate, nixon is resignation, beyond the oil embargo, the young to poor work, the vietnam war, the 1972 presidential election and back as far as the visit to washington to attend the funeral of former president eisenhower. and that is the point which my book begins. in the fall of 20083 years ago during the financial collapse of remembe

americans are still fascinating, scared by saudi arabia. and they look at it, and they just wonder is this still a place that is a breeding ground for a certain kind of islam, a certain kind of attitude toward modernity that is fundamentally anti-american? what would you say to people who have these fears? >> well, i would start by saying that saudis are equally scared and interested and curious about the united states, whether it is fundamentally a strategic friend as our governments and our leaders have been consistently saying and performing on that assumption. and sometimes there are questions as to whether that strategic friendship is equally strong on this side of the world as it is in the kingdom. the only way we can get over that, i think, is to know each other better. >> but many people feel that at the heart of the regime's stability is this compact it has made with a religious establishment that is quite extreme. why is it so difficult to make that break? it seems as though the king is well liked, he clearly is a moderni moderniz

in with saudi arabia and israel speaking of cooperation with saudi arabia the us has brokered the largest deal with saudi arabia in its history worth sixty billion dollars the u.s. would he justify its enormous contribution need to further militarization of the region as for iran's some experts believe that undermining the government if you ran has been a long time coveted goal of the united states it's not clear how this incident will play out but it definitely makes the drums of war beat louder here in washington that as you can reporting there i'm not sure have former cia intelligence officers there are a lot of holes in the allegations against this apparent iranian backlog. one of the biggest problems in the united states for for telling what the terrorist threat is in our country is that the f.b.i. runs these sting operations and then claims great credit for breaking up a plot that wouldn't have existed except that they lured somebody into doing it my initial reaction is if the iranians wanted to kill a saudi ambassador why do it in the united states when it would cause a war between

ambassador to saudi arabia. on the shia/sunni tensions saudi arabia came to the defense of the bahrain regime. that's really a sunni minority -- a shia majority rising up against the bahraini sunni royal family. and the sunnis -- the sunni royal family in saudi arabia came to their defense. why? because they believe that bahrain is a proxy fight between the sunnis in saudi arabia and the shia of iran. so this will only serve to heighten those tensions right now. and there's a substantial shia majority in the eastern province of saudi arabia. in the 1980s iran and the shia were part of an attempt to overthrow the al sauds as part of the hajj, the royal pilgrimage. that's coming up now. the timing of this is very important in terms of the shia/sunni tensions. >> the stakes are incredible. thanks for your help tonight. let us know what you think. we're on facebook or you can follow me at twitte twitter @johnking.cnn. >>> could his remarks help or hurt this republican presidential campaign? and just one week after r

he was backed by saudi arabia. a u.n. investigation found the people who killed him were supporters of he has bla. hezbollah denied any involvement in his killing. >> also accusations that the syrians were involved. they're close allies of the iranian as well. proving a motive in this case could be crucial as where the u.s. and ohs go from here. >> it could be. because if this is true and if a motive the proved, it could speak to how high up in the regime this went. right now in public at least, u.s. officials are not tieing this to ahminedjad or the se prum leader. if they can prove a motive, there could be some ties there. >> could be some serious ties, ramifications. thanks very much, brian todd. >>> the obama administration is directly venting its anger at iran accusing the government of involvement in the alleged plot. all this despite the fact that the two countries don't have official diplomatic relations. listen to the headline today. >> we have had direct contact with iran. i'm not going to give you any further d

the saudis pointing to iran. iran pointing to saudi arabia. a lot of tension and it's been boiling over as of late. suzanne? >> mohammed jamjoom, thank you. >>> the juv gloves came off again. the latest debate, a lot of facts and figures thrown around. some you true, some, not so true. tom foreman from washington to do fact checking. listen to comments from one of the front-runners, mitt romney. >> if you go back a few years before that clip and go to jfk's time, the government at all levels, federal, state and local, was consuming about 27% of the u.s. economy. today it consumes about 37% of the u.s. economy. >> so, tom what do we think? what do we make of that? >> what he's trying to imply, suzanne. the idea, the growth of government has become sort of rampant. crazy. have to bring it under control. government expenditures risen dramatically since the 1960snumbers are basically right. total government spending in 1963, about $27.7% of gdp, the last year of john kennedy the presidency. 20010, a dramatic increase. something he's not mentions.

has brokered the largest arms deal with saudi arabia in its history also according to the saudis and agreement is underway between the two countries on the purchase of artillery systems worth one hundred and eighty six million dollars the u.s. would need to justify its enormous contribution into the militarization of the region and only say this incident in the eyes of the world audience could partly serve that purpose as for iran's some experts believe that undermining the government of iran has been a long time coveted goal of the united states it's not clear how this incident will play out but it definitely makes the drums of war beat louder here in washington. reporting there live from washington d.c. thank you very much indeed and of course we'll bring you more information on this developing story as we get it. well we go now five years in captivity as a hostage is coming to an end for israeli soldier gilad shalit following an emergency cabinet meeting these really prime minister binyamin netanyahu announced a deal has been agreed with hamas involving a prisoner swap for around

all right, so there are some minor, seemingly archaic policies towards women in saudi arabia. like our blue laws. they're on the bookes, seldom enforced, nod, nod, wink, wink. >> a saudi woman sentenced to 10 lashes for driving a car. >> jon: that's (beep) up ( applause ) why do we let-- why do we let saudi arabia get away with this stuff? how can we put up with them denying women basic human rights and still call them-- wait a minute-- allies and all that. i just-- why can we-- how can we did that and still-- i can't stay mad at you. ( laughter ) that was weird. all right. of course, it's overseas. democracy overseas can be a little messy. it's new. here, america, the cradle of liberty, we're long past those fits and starts. what the ( bleep ) was that all about? ( laughter ) what happened? did those ladies try and drive? what? that's here in america? apparently, that footage came from the march on wall street this past saturday during an ongoing demonstration called, oddly enough, occupy wall street. >> this is what democracy looks like. ( laughter ) >> jon: all right, i gue