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Citizens lives? reporter: it s having a massive effect on iran s economy. there s no doubt the economy here is in a big recession. growth has been negative throughout this entire year and last year as well. the currency has been in a downward spiral and oil exports, i wouldn t say virtually nonexistent but dialed back a great deal because of the sanctions. the effect is on regular folks. basically all we spoke to said their economic situation has gotten worse. after the big sanctions came into play after the u.s. pulled out of the nuclear agreement, a lot of international companies not only didn t come to iran to invest here but a lot also pulled out. the offices of a lot of companies have pulled out here and many people lost their jobs. at the same time it s very difficult for iranian companies to do business internationally as well. that s also caused or gotten people a big hit on their incomes and caused a lot of ....
Sending some 1,000 additional troops here to the region, as already sent a new carrier strike group and new bombers to the region is something that didn t go down withal with the iranians. they believe this is an aggression from the united states. now, the iranians on the one hand, i think, were request quite surprised by some of the things president trump said last night when he justified the fact that he called off those strikes, those retaliatory strikes. on the one hand calling for making iran great again. essentially asking the iranians to go back to the table and talk, and apparently praising the iranian leadership for not shooting down a manned aircraft shortly or around the time that they actually shot down that drone. that s actually being shown part of president trump s statement is being shown on iranian tv. as far as sanctions are concerned, the iranians are saying that right now it is still quite a dangerous situation here in the middle east. a senior general came out ....
United states, if there was a strike bit united states, he said that very quickly that could lead to an unemergenciable situation in the middle east. one thing the iranians have been saying, not just after the recent tensions on the tanker attack and shooting down of drones as well, if there is going to be a confrontation, if it comes to trading of fire into a shooting war, the iranians are saying that is not going to remain limited to the militaries of united states and iran but most certainly would involve their proxy forces around the region as well, natalie. no one wants war, they say, in the region, which has been ripped by war in recent years, but still the rhetoric and the threats continue. i want to ask you, fred, now we know more sanctions are coming on monday. you were there inside iran. mr. trump is working to choke iran economically. how is it affecting the economy there as you see it and everyday ....
Have been telling me again and again, senior iranian commanders, they say, look, one of the things the americans need to understand the iranians have proxy forces in the region. almost every american military base in the middle east, there s an iranian militia that would be ready to get involved if there s an escalation with the united states. one of the things the iranians said earlier today, they said if things escalate between the u.s. and iran, the security situation here in the entire middle eastern region could become unmanageable, as they put it. strong words coming from the iranians. the clear indication that any sort of hostilities between the u.s. and iran would not stay limited to the military forces of these two countries but would, indeed, the iranians put it, spread throughout the entire middle east. fred pleitgen, thank you for the latest. we appreciate it so much. ....
President trump took some shots at his predecessor s nuclear deal. he has long been very critical of the obama nuclear deal and yet suggested he wants to take a similar approach, which is to use the economic pressure of sanctions to drive iran to the bargaining table, some deal that results in iran giving up its pursuit of nuclear weapons. president trump suggested iran could unlock economic prosperity if they were to abandon its nuclear pursuits. take a listen. iran wants to become a wealthy nation again. become a prosperous nation. we ll call it, let s make iran great again. does that make sense? make iran great again. it s okay with me. reporter: this is similar to the argument president trump has used in his approach to north korea, which is suggesting if north korea gave up its nuclear arsenal, they too could achieve economic prosperity. president trump said he initially imposed sanctions ....