Al Jazeera World

There is brewing conflict between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan, once again at loggerheads over the territory that lies between them: Kashmir.

The neighbours have fought two out of their three wars over Kashmir and the latest crisis has once again highlighted 72 years of failure to find a solution.

After the two countries gained independence from British rule in 1947, the Maharaja of Muslim-majority Kashmir decided to join India. That did not sit well with the population in Pakistan, and the two countries had their first war over Kashmir.

A 1948 United Nations resolution, and later mutual agreements, formed a ceasefire line along what is now called the Line of Control.

On August 5 this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government made a dramatic decision to revoke the partial autonomy of Indian-administered Kashmir. To stem anticipated protests, India locked down the region with additional troop reinforcements and imposed a full communications blackout.

"India has committed aggression in the recent weeks against the people of Jammu and Kashmir," Masood Khan, president of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, tells Al Jazeera. "Everybody knows that Indian-occupied Kashmir has been under occupation for the past 72 years and India has made this fresh move to colonise the territory of Kashmir."

The move also caused an expected uproar in Pakistan, with Islamabad strongly disagreeing with New Delhi's insistence that the constitutional changes are an internal matter. In response, Pakistan's parliament decided to cut trade with India, downgrade diplomatic ties and suspend bus and train services.

On the possibility of tensions escalating into conflict, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Pakistan's foreign minister, tells Al Jazeera: "There are two nuclear-armed states and we think war is not a solution, it is mutual suicide and has never been our option."

"We are going to articulate our case diplomatically, politically and we will look at the legal options," he says.

However, India's move in Kashmir has also revealed internal divisions inside Pakistan's political system as to how to respond.

"We see that the government of Pakistan is following, not leading," says Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, chairman of the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party and a vocal critic of both the Indian and Pakistani government.

"I think that the people of Kashmir are looking to leadership. And they are looking for the Prime Minister of Pakistan to speak to their emotions and to speak to the crisis and take concrete actions, not react, not five days later decide to take any reciprocal action with India - which is unfortunately what we saw in this situation."

However, he adds: "As far as domestic politics is concerned, the various political parties obviously have their differences. But when it comes to the issue of Kashmir, we all stand united."

Although some Kashmiris feel Islamabad should do more, Khan expresses thanks to Pakistan for its response thus far.

"It is natural that the people in the street should expect more," he says, "but I've heard from other government officials that Pakistan firmly believes that there should be a diplomatic and political solution. We do not go down the path of war-mongering, we do not want to stoke war hysteria as India has done. So Pakistan has shown restraint and responsibility."

The UN has urged all sides to refrain from changing the status of Kashmir. Pakistan plans to take the issue to the UN Security Council with the help of its ally China, which also has a claim on a different part of the disputed Himalayan region.

"They [China] completely understand and endorse our point of view," says Qureshi. "They have considered the Indian action as unilateral, unlawful, and they feel the matter should be resolved under the UN charter and according to the applicable Security Council resolutions."

"What matters is what is right," Zardari says. "And what is right is that for 70 years the people of Kashmir have been promised that they will be able to decide their own destiny. It's for 70 years we have been told that the people of Kashmir will have a referendum and they will choose. We are saying allow for people to exercise their democratic rights. If the world believes in democracy, if the world believes in the freedom of choice, then the world should support the people of Kashmir."

As the tough political talk on Kashmir has a direct impact on the lives of millions of people on both sides of the line of control, we sit down with three important people on the Pakistani side and ask: Will Pakistan be able to neutralise the Indian move; can diplomacy diffuse tensions; and will other powers like China get involved, and if so, what could this mean for Kashmiris?

-

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- Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish

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There is brewing conflict between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan, once again at loggerheads over the territory that lies between them: Kashmir.

The neighbours have fought two out of their three wars over Kashmir and the latest crisis has once again highlighted 72 years of failure to find a solution.

After the two countries gained independence from British rule in 1947, the Maharaja of Muslim-majority Kashmir decided to join India. That did not sit well with the population in Pakistan, and the two countries had their first war over Kashmir.

A 1948 United Nations resolution, and later mutual agreements, formed a ceasefire line along what is now called the Line of Control.

On August 5 this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government made a dramatic decision to revoke the partial autonomy of Indian-administered Kashmir. To stem anticipated protests, India locked down the region with additional troop reinforcements and imposed a full communications blackout.

"India has committed aggression in the recent weeks against the people of Jammu and Kashmir," Masood Khan, president of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, tells Al Jazeera. "Everybody knows that Indian-occupied Kashmir has been under occupation for the past 72 years and India has made this fresh move to colonise the territory of Kashmir."

The move also caused an expected uproar in Pakistan, with Islamabad strongly disagreeing with New Delhi's insistence that the constitutional changes are an internal matter. In response, Pakistan's parliament decided to cut trade with India, downgrade diplomatic ties and suspend bus and train services.

On the possibility of tensions escalating into conflict, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Pakistan's foreign minister, tells Al Jazeera: "There are two nuclear-armed states and we think war is not a solution, it is mutual suicide and has never been our option."

"We are going to articulate our case diplomatically, politically and we will look at the legal options," he says.

However, India's move in Kashmir has also revealed internal divisions inside Pakistan's political system as to how to respond.

"We see that the government of Pakistan is following, not leading," says Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, chairman of the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party and a vocal critic of both the Indian and Pakistani government.

"I think that the people of Kashmir are looking to leadership. And they are looking for the Prime Minister of Pakistan to speak to their emotions and to speak to the crisis and take concrete actions, not react, not five days later decide to take any reciprocal action with India - which is unfortunately what we saw in this situation."

However, he adds: "As far as domestic politics is concerned, the various political parties obviously have their differences. But when it comes to the issue of Kashmir, we all stand united."

Although some Kashmiris feel Islamabad should do more, Khan expresses thanks to Pakistan for its response thus far.

"It is natural that the people in the street should expect more," he says, "but I've heard from other government officials that Pakistan firmly believes that there should be a diplomatic and political solution. We do not go down the path of war-mongering, we do not want to stoke war hysteria as India has done. So Pakistan has shown restraint and responsibility."

The UN has urged all sides to refrain from changing the status of Kashmir. Pakistan plans to take the issue to the UN Security Council with the help of its ally China, which also has a claim on a different part of the disputed Himalayan region.

"They [China] completely understand and endorse our point of view," says Qureshi. "They have considered the Indian action as unilateral, unlawful, and they feel the matter should be resolved under the UN charter and according to the applicable Security Council resolutions."

"What matters is what is right," Zardari says. "And what is right is that for 70 years the people of Kashmir have been promised that they will be able to decide their own destiny. It's for 70 years we have been told that the people of Kashmir will have a referendum and they will choose. We are saying allow for people to exercise their democratic rights. If the world believes in democracy, if the world believes in the freedom of choice, then the world should support the people of Kashmir."

As the tough political talk on Kashmir has a direct impact on the lives of millions of people on both sides of the line of control, we sit down with three important people on the Pakistani side and ask: Will Pakistan be able to neutralise the Indian move; can diplomacy diffuse tensions; and will other powers like China get involved, and if so, what could this mean for Kashmiris?

-

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- Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish

- Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera

- Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

Note: This is part two of a two-part documentary. Watch Part 1 here: https://youtu.be/AGEnhSHo2P0

Sudan has a troubled history and has been in almost constant turmoil since the 1950s.

Regime change, coups, street protests, famine, war, political division - and in April 2019, the toppling of President Omar al-Bashir.

The history of modern Sudan is punctuated by several coups, including in 1989, the seizing of power by al-Bashir, whose regime would last for three decades.

In the background was Hassan al-Turabi, the power behind the leadership, and the man many call the architect of modern Sudan.

"Al-Turabi was a successful politician, not in the sense of political achievements on the ground but in his capacity for mass mobilisation, creating an organisational structure and ensuring continuity," says Dr Al Nour Ahmed, a researcher, academic and Sudanese opposition member.

"No politician had ever created a cohesive organisational body in Sudan as al-Turabi did."

Al-Turabi was enigmatic, a learned Islamic scholar, the founder of Sudan's religious political party and an arch-politician. His followers revered him as a scholar, diplomat, spiritual leader and strategic thinker, with an uncanny knack of backing winners.

"Thanks to his quite diverse experience, he combined traditional Islamic culture with modern European thinking," says political analyst Dr Mohamed Mokhtar al-Shanqity.

But to his many enemies, he was Machiavellian, ruthlessly ambitious and sought power on his own terms.

"Al-Turabi was known for his intellectual and political flexibility. Political shrewdness is one of his greatest strengths and at the same time one of his major weaknesses," al-Shanqity says.

As al-Bashir's attorney-general, al-Turabi was at the heart of power and also at the centre of Sudan's religious ideologues who controlled the executive, the military and the judiciary.

When al-Turabi set up a General Assembly to discuss a worldwide Islamic revolution, he attracted people like Osama bin Laden who, as a then-Saudi entrepreneur, set up businesses in Sudan. However, relations with the West deteriorated and Sudan's exiled community, antagonistic to al-Bashir's authoritarian rule, grew.

In the 1990s, al-Turabi came under increasing pressure. Soon a rift developed with al-Bashir who dismissed al-Turabi in 1999. He spent the rest of his career in opposition, and spent many years in prison. His loyal following gave him continued support until his death in 2016.

Throughout al-Bashir's regime, al-Turabi was a key background figure. His political sway and his avowed mission to establish a religious state in Sudan, both formed and later challenged al-Bashir - even from his prison cell - and hold weight even in events unfolding today.

In the current power struggle enveloping the country, al-Turabi's influence is still felt - not least among some of the protesters vying with the army for civilian rule in the post al-Bashir era.

In this two-part series, we trace the rise and fall of Hassan al-Turabi, and explore the vast influence he had over five decades of Sudanese politics.

-

More from Al Jazeera World on:

YouTube - http://aje.io/aljazeeraworldYT

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AlJazeeraWorld

Twitter - https://twitter.com/AlJazeera_World

Visit our website - http://www.aljazeera.com/aljazeeraworld

Subscribe to AJE on YouTube - http://aje.io/YTsubscribe

- Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe

- Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish

- Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera

- Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

Note: This is part two of a two-part documentary. Watch Part 1 here: https://youtu.be/AGEnhSHo2P0

Sudan has a troubled history and has been in almost constant turmoil since the 1950s.

Regime change, coups, street protests, famine, war, political division - and in April 2019, the toppling of President Omar al-Bashir.

The history of modern Sudan is punctuated by several coups, including in 1989, the seizing of power by al-Bashir, whose regime would last for three decades.

In the background was Hassan al-Turabi, the power behind the leadership, and the man many call the architect of modern Sudan.

"Al-Turabi was a successful politician, not in the sense of political achievements on the ground but in his capacity for mass mobilisation, creating an organisational structure and ensuring continuity," says Dr Al Nour Ahmed, a researcher, academic and Sudanese opposition member.

"No politician had ever created a cohesive organisational body in Sudan as al-Turabi did."

Al-Turabi was enigmatic, a learned Islamic scholar, the founder of Sudan's religious political party and an arch-politician. His followers revered him as a scholar, diplomat, spiritual leader and strategic thinker, with an uncanny knack of backing winners.

"Thanks to his quite diverse experience, he combined traditional Islamic culture with modern European thinking," says political analyst Dr Mohamed Mokhtar al-Shanqity.

But to his many enemies, he was Machiavellian, ruthlessly ambitious and sought power on his own terms.

"Al-Turabi was known for his intellectual and political flexibility. Political shrewdness is one of his greatest strengths and at the same time one of his major weaknesses," al-Shanqity says.

As al-Bashir's attorney-general, al-Turabi was at the heart of power and also at the centre of Sudan's religious ideologues who controlled the executive, the military and the judiciary.

When al-Turabi set up a General Assembly to discuss a worldwide Islamic revolution, he attracted people like Osama bin Laden who, as a then-Saudi entrepreneur, set up businesses in Sudan. However, relations with the West deteriorated and Sudan's exiled community, antagonistic to al-Bashir's authoritarian rule, grew.

In the 1990s, al-Turabi came under increasing pressure. Soon a rift developed with al-Bashir who dismissed al-Turabi in 1999. He spent the rest of his career in opposition, and spent many years in prison. His loyal following gave him continued support until his death in 2016.

Throughout al-Bashir's regime, al-Turabi was a key background figure. His political sway and his avowed mission to establish a religious state in Sudan, both formed and later challenged al-Bashir - even from his prison cell - and hold weight even in events unfolding today.

In the current power struggle enveloping the country, al-Turabi's influence is still felt - not least among some of the protesters vying with the army for civilian rule in the post al-Bashir era.

In this two-part series, we trace the rise and fall of Hassan al-Turabi, and explore the vast influence he had over five decades of Sudanese politics.

-

More from Al Jazeera World on:

YouTube - http://aje.io/aljazeeraworldYT

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AlJazeeraWorld

Twitter - https://twitter.com/AlJazeera_World

Visit our website - http://www.aljazeera.com/aljazeeraworld

Subscribe to AJE on YouTube - http://aje.io/YTsubscribe

- Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe

- Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish

- Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera

- Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

Note: This is part two of a two-part documentary. Watch Part 1 here: https://youtu.be/AGEnhSHo2P0

Sudan has a troubled history and has been in almost constant turmoil since the 1950s.

Regime change, coups, street protests, famine, war, political division - and in April 2019, the toppling of President Omar al-Bashir.

The history of modern Sudan is punctuated by several coups, including in 1989, the seizing of power by al-Bashir, whose regime would last for three decades.

In the background was Hassan al-Turabi, the power behind the leadership, and the man many call the architect of modern Sudan.

"Al-Turabi was a successful politician, not in the sense of political achievements on the ground but in his capacity for mass mobilisation, creating an organisational structure and ensuring continuity," says Dr Al Nour Ahmed, a researcher, academic and Sudanese opposition member.

"No politician had ever created a cohesive organisational body in Sudan as al-Turabi did."

Al-Turabi was enigmatic, a learned Islamic scholar, the founder of Sudan's religious political party and an arch-politician. His followers revered him as a scholar, diplomat, spiritual leader and strategic thinker, with an uncanny knack of backing winners.

"Thanks to his quite diverse experience, he combined traditional Islamic culture with modern European thinking," says political analyst Dr Mohamed Mokhtar al-Shanqity.

But to his many enemies, he was Machiavellian, ruthlessly ambitious and sought power on his own terms.

"Al-Turabi was known for his intellectual and political flexibility. Political shrewdness is one of his greatest strengths and at the same time one of his major weaknesses," al-Shanqity says.

As al-Bashir's attorney-general, al-Turabi was at the heart of power and also at the centre of Sudan's religious ideologues who controlled the executive, the military and the judiciary.

When al-Turabi set up a General Assembly to discuss a worldwide Islamic revolution, he attracted people like Osama bin Laden who, as a then-Saudi entrepreneur, set up businesses in Sudan. However, relations with the West deteriorated and Sudan's exiled community, antagonistic to al-Bashir's authoritarian rule, grew.

In the 1990s, al-Turabi came under increasing pressure. Soon a rift developed with al-Bashir who dismissed al-Turabi in 1999. He spent the rest of his career in opposition, and spent many years in prison. His loyal following gave him continued support until his death in 2016.

Throughout al-Bashir's regime, al-Turabi was a key background figure. His political sway and his avowed mission to establish a religious state in Sudan, both formed and later challenged al-Bashir - even from his prison cell - and hold weight even in events unfolding today.

In the current power struggle enveloping the country, al-Turabi's influence is still felt - not least among some of the protesters vying with the army for civilian rule in the post al-Bashir era.

In this two-part series, we trace the rise and fall of Hassan al-Turabi, and explore the vast influence he had over five decades of Sudanese politics.

-

More from Al Jazeera World on:

YouTube - http://aje.io/aljazeeraworldYT

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AlJazeeraWorld

Twitter - https://twitter.com/AlJazeera_World

Visit our website - http://www.aljazeera.com/aljazeeraworld

Subscribe to AJE on YouTube - http://aje.io/YTsubscribe

- Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe

- Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish

- Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera

- Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

As the United States maintains its "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran, tension is on the rise in the Gulf, raising concerns over a full-blown military escalation.

While the US has beefed up its military presence in the region, the administration of President Donald Trump has been seeking allies for an international naval coalition to "combat Iranian aggression" in the Strait of Hormuz - one of the world's busiest and most important shipping routes.

Iran's government meanwhile says the naval build-up could destabilise the entire region and has called for US vessels to leave the area.

"We believe that the best the US can do for the protection of maritime navigation is to just leave people alone; don't interfere," Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tells Al Jazeera.

"This is basically a hostile act against Iran and I do not believe it will have any impact other than insecurity."

He also warns against US weapons sales in the Middle East, saying, "if you are talking about threats coming from the region, the threats are coming from the US and its allies who are pouring weapons in the region, making it a tinderbox ready to blow up".

The crisis between the two powers escalated last year when Trump pulled out of a landmark nuclear agreement signed between world powers and Iran in 2015, saying it was a bad deal. He has since reinstated sanctions targeting Tehran and countries trading with it - a move Zarif calls "economic warfare".

"The Americans are not in a position to draw red lines for what we do for our defence," he says.

"I think the United States is the source of instability in this region. I think US allies, unfortunately, have been the source of instability," he says, referring to countries including Israel and Saudi Arabia.

"What is very clear - extremely clear - is that we are not seeking war, we do not want confrontation, we want development for our people, we want development for our region," he says.

"We need stability here, but stability should be for everybody. We cannot have stability for some and instability for others. We need to have stability for all countries in the region and we are prepared to protect stability for all countries in the region, and for those who depend on our region."

On Iran's continued commitment to the nuclear pact and its viability, Zarif says he believes "it is the best deal that was possible", even though he admits that it encountered opposition.

"It wasn't the best deal for everybody because you cannot have the perfect deal. There is no perfect deal," he says. "And if President Trump is given correct advice, he will be able to basically accept the reality that this is the best deal possible and we can move forward."

However, Zarif feels the deal can proceed even without US involvement, as long as the remaining participants agree to fulfil their own commitments. "What we want them to do and what we expect them to do is stay committed. And we will stay committed as long as they are," he says.

So far the European Union is still sticking to the deal, offering a mechanism to bypass US sanctions.

"I think it's an important signal that the United States is getting more and more isolated - not because of anything we have done but because of what they are doing," Zarif says.

"They are violating the law, they are breaking the law, they are breaking every international treaty they have been a member of. They have broken not only the nuclear deal with Iran, but the Paris convention, the Trans Pacific Partnership - basically everything they could break they are breaking. So they are the source of instability globally and this type of behaviour will lead to further global disorder. And I think that is dangerous for everybody and everybody is realising that."

On Iran's ties with its neighbours in the Gulf, Zarif says the country hopes to achieve normalisation of relations.

"What we have called for, and repeat, is that our neighbours - all of us - belong to this region, we cannot leave this region. Others will leave this region; others will not secure us; others will not provide us with the security umbrella that we need. We can provide each other with that security umbrella. We extend our hand, and our hand remains extended, to all our neighbours."

Zarif admits he is "certainly concerned" about the the potential for a war in the region. "But as a diplomat, I always need to look for a peaceful way out. And that's what we are trying," he says.

--

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- Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish

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- Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

As the United States maintains its "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran, tension is on the rise in the Gulf, raising concerns over a full-blown military escalation.

While the US has beefed up its military presence in the region, the administration of President Donald Trump has been seeking allies for an international naval coalition to "combat Iranian aggression" in the Strait of Hormuz - one of the world's busiest and most important shipping routes.

Iran's government meanwhile says the naval build-up could destabilise the entire region and has called for US vessels to leave the area.

"We believe that the best the US can do for the protection of maritime navigation is to just leave people alone; don't interfere," Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tells Al Jazeera.

"This is basically a hostile act against Iran and I do not believe it will have any impact other than insecurity."

He also warns against US weapons sales in the Middle East, saying, "if you are talking about threats coming from the region, the threats are coming from the US and its allies who are pouring weapons in the region, making it a tinderbox ready to blow up".

The crisis between the two powers escalated last year when Trump pulled out of a landmark nuclear agreement signed between world powers and Iran in 2015, saying it was a bad deal. He has since reinstated sanctions targeting Tehran and countries trading with it - a move Zarif calls "economic warfare".

"The Americans are not in a position to draw red lines for what we do for our defence," he says.

"I think the United States is the source of instability in this region. I think US allies, unfortunately, have been the source of instability," he says, referring to countries including Israel and Saudi Arabia.

"What is very clear - extremely clear - is that we are not seeking war, we do not want confrontation, we want development for our people, we want development for our region," he says.

"We need stability here, but stability should be for everybody. We cannot have stability for some and instability for others. We need to have stability for all countries in the region and we are prepared to protect stability for all countries in the region, and for those who depend on our region."

On Iran's continued commitment to the nuclear pact and its viability, Zarif says he believes "it is the best deal that was possible", even though he admits that it encountered opposition.

"It wasn't the best deal for everybody because you cannot have the perfect deal. There is no perfect deal," he says. "And if President Trump is given correct advice, he will be able to basically accept the reality that this is the best deal possible and we can move forward."

However, Zarif feels the deal can proceed even without US involvement, as long as the remaining participants agree to fulfil their own commitments. "What we want them to do and what we expect them to do is stay committed. And we will stay committed as long as they are," he says.

So far the European Union is still sticking to the deal, offering a mechanism to bypass US sanctions.

"I think it's an important signal that the United States is getting more and more isolated - not because of anything we have done but because of what they are doing," Zarif says.

"They are violating the law, they are breaking the law, they are breaking every international treaty they have been a member of. They have broken not only the nuclear deal with Iran, but the Paris convention, the Trans Pacific Partnership - basically everything they could break they are breaking. So they are the source of instability globally and this type of behaviour will lead to further global disorder. And I think that is dangerous for everybody and everybody is realising that."

On Iran's ties with its neighbours in the Gulf, Zarif says the country hopes to achieve normalisation of relations.

"What we have called for, and repeat, is that our neighbours - all of us - belong to this region, we cannot leave this region. Others will leave this region; others will not secure us; others will not provide us with the security umbrella that we need. We can provide each other with that security umbrella. We extend our hand, and our hand remains extended, to all our neighbours."

Zarif admits he is "certainly concerned" about the the potential for a war in the region. "But as a diplomat, I always need to look for a peaceful way out. And that's what we are trying," he says.

--

- Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe

- Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish

- Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera

- Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

As the United States maintains its "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran, tension is on the rise in the Gulf, raising concerns over a full-blown military escalation.

While the US has beefed up its military presence in the region, the administration of President Donald Trump has been seeking allies for an international naval coalition to "combat Iranian aggression" in the Strait of Hormuz - one of the world's busiest and most important shipping routes.

Iran's government meanwhile says the naval build-up could destabilise the entire region and has called for US vessels to leave the area.

"We believe that the best the US can do for the protection of maritime navigation is to just leave people alone; don't interfere," Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tells Al Jazeera.

"This is basically a hostile act against Iran and I do not believe it will have any impact other than insecurity."

He also warns against US weapons sales in the Middle East, saying, "if you are talking about threats coming from the region, the threats are coming from the US and its allies who are pouring weapons in the region, making it a tinderbox ready to blow up".

The crisis between the two powers escalated last year when Trump pulled out of a landmark nuclear agreement signed between world powers and Iran in 2015, saying it was a bad deal. He has since reinstated sanctions targeting Tehran and countries trading with it - a move Zarif calls "economic warfare".

"The Americans are not in a position to draw red lines for what we do for our defence," he says.

"I think the United States is the source of instability in this region. I think US allies, unfortunately, have been the source of instability," he says, referring to countries including Israel and Saudi Arabia.

"What is very clear - extremely clear - is that we are not seeking war, we do not want confrontation, we want development for our people, we want development for our region," he says.

"We need stability here, but stability should be for everybody. We cannot have stability for some and instability for others. We need to have stability for all countries in the region and we are prepared to protect stability for all countries in the region, and for those who depend on our region."

On Iran's continued commitment to the nuclear pact and its viability, Zarif says he believes "it is the best deal that was possible", even though he admits that it encountered opposition.

"It wasn't the best deal for everybody because you cannot have the perfect deal. There is no perfect deal," he says. "And if President Trump is given correct advice, he will be able to basically accept the reality that this is the best deal possible and we can move forward."

However, Zarif feels the deal can proceed even without US involvement, as long as the remaining participants agree to fulfil their own commitments. "What we want them to do and what we expect them to do is stay committed. And we will stay committed as long as they are," he says.

So far the European Union is still sticking to the deal, offering a mechanism to bypass US sanctions.

"I think it's an important signal that the United States is getting more and more isolated - not because of anything we have done but because of what they are doing," Zarif says.

"They are violating the law, they are breaking the law, they are breaking every international treaty they have been a member of. They have broken not only the nuclear deal with Iran, but the Paris convention, the Trans Pacific Partnership - basically everything they could break they are breaking. So they are the source of instability globally and this type of behaviour will lead to further global disorder. And I think that is dangerous for everybody and everybody is realising that."

On Iran's ties with its neighbours in the Gulf, Zarif says the country hopes to achieve normalisation of relations.

"What we have called for, and repeat, is that our neighbours - all of us - belong to this region, we cannot leave this region. Others will leave this region; others will not secure us; others will not provide us with the security umbrella that we need. We can provide each other with that security umbrella. We extend our hand, and our hand remains extended, to all our neighbours."

Zarif admits he is "certainly concerned" about the the potential for a war in the region. "But as a diplomat, I always need to look for a peaceful way out. And that's what we are trying," he says.

--

- Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe

- Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish

- Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera

- Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/

Note: This is part one of a two-part documentary.

Sudan has a troubled history and has been in almost constant turmoil since the 1950s.

Regime change, coups, street protests, famine, war, political division - and in April 2019, the toppling of President Omar al-Bashir.

The history of modern Sudan is punctuated by several coups, including in 1989, the seizing of power by al-Bashir, whose regime would last for three decades.

In the background was Hassan al-Turabi, the power behind the leadership, and the man many call the architect of modern Sudan.

"Al-Turabi was a successful politician, not in the sense of political achievements on the ground but in his capacity for mass mobilisation, creating an organisational structure and ensuring continuity," says Dr Al Nour Ahmed, a researcher, academic and Sudanese opposition member.

"No politician had ever created a cohesive organisational body in Sudan as al-Turabi did."

Al-Turabi was enigmatic, a learned Islamic scholar, the founder of Sudan's religious political party and an arch-politician. His followers revered him as a scholar, diplomat, spiritual leader and strategic thinker, with an uncanny knack of backing winners.

"Thanks to his quite diverse experience, he combined traditional Islamic culture with modern European thinking," says political analyst Dr Mohamed Mokhtar al-Shanqity.

But to his many enemies, he was Machiavellian, ruthlessly ambitious and sought power on his own terms.

"Al-Turabi was known for his intellectual and political flexibility. Political shrewdness is one of his greatest strengths and at the same time one of his major weaknesses," al-Shanqity says.

As al-Bashir's attorney-general, al-Turabi was at the heart of power and also at the centre of Sudan's religious ideologues who controlled the executive, the military and the judiciary.

When al-Turabi set up a General Assembly to discuss a worldwide Islamic revolution, he attracted people like Osama bin Laden who, as a then-Saudi entrepreneur, set up businesses in Sudan. However, relations with the West deteriorated and Sudan's exiled community, antagonistic to al-Bashir's authoritarian rule, grew.

In the 1990s, al-Turabi came under increasing pressure. Soon a rift developed with al-Bashir who dismissed al-Turabi in 1999. He spent the rest of his career in opposition, and spent many years in prison. His loyal following gave him continued support until his death in 2016.

Throughout al-Bashir's regime, al-Turabi was a key background figure. His political sway and his avowed mission to establish a religious state in Sudan, both formed and later challenged al-Bashir - even from his prison cell - and hold weight even in events unfolding today.

In the current power struggle enveloping the country, al-Turabi's influence is still felt - not least among some of the protesters vying with the army for civilian rule in the post al-Bashir era.

In this two-part series, we trace the rise and fall of Hassan al-Turabi, and explore the vast influence he had over five decades of Sudanese politics.

-

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Note: This is part one of a two-part documentary.

Sudan has a troubled history and has been in almost constant turmoil since the 1950s.

Regime change, coups, street protests, famine, war, political division - and in April 2019, the toppling of President Omar al-Bashir.

The history of modern Sudan is punctuated by several coups, including in 1989, the seizing of power by al-Bashir, whose regime would last for three decades.

In the background was Hassan al-Turabi, the power behind the leadership, and the man many call the architect of modern Sudan.

"Al-Turabi was a successful politician, not in the sense of political achievements on the ground but in his capacity for mass mobilisation, creating an organisational structure and ensuring continuity," says Dr Al Nour Ahmed, a researcher, academic and Sudanese opposition member.

"No politician had ever created a cohesive organisational body in Sudan as al-Turabi did."

Al-Turabi was enigmatic, a learned Islamic scholar, the founder of Sudan's religious political party and an arch-politician. His followers revered him as a scholar, diplomat, spiritual leader and strategic thinker, with an uncanny knack of backing winners.

"Thanks to his quite diverse experience, he combined traditional Islamic culture with modern European thinking," says political analyst Dr Mohamed Mokhtar al-Shanqity.

But to his many enemies, he was Machiavellian, ruthlessly ambitious and sought power on his own terms.

"Al-Turabi was known for his intellectual and political flexibility. Political shrewdness is one of his greatest strengths and at the same time one of his major weaknesses," al-Shanqity says.

As al-Bashir's attorney-general, al-Turabi was at the heart of power and also at the centre of Sudan's religious ideologues who controlled the executive, the military and the judiciary.

When al-Turabi set up a General Assembly to discuss a worldwide Islamic revolution, he attracted people like Osama bin Laden who, as a then-Saudi entrepreneur, set up businesses in Sudan. However, relations with the West deteriorated and Sudan's exiled community, antagonistic to al-Bashir's authoritarian rule, grew.

In the 1990s, al-Turabi came under increasing pressure. Soon a rift developed with al-Bashir who dismissed al-Turabi in 1999. He spent the rest of his career in opposition, and spent many years in prison. His loyal following gave him continued support until his death in 2016.

Throughout al-Bashir's regime, al-Turabi was a key background figure. His political sway and his avowed mission to establish a religious state in Sudan, both formed and later challenged al-Bashir - even from his prison cell - and hold weight even in events unfolding today.

In the current power struggle enveloping the country, al-Turabi's influence is still felt - not least among some of the protesters vying with the army for civilian rule in the post al-Bashir era.

In this two-part series, we trace the rise and fall of Hassan al-Turabi, and explore the vast influence he had over five decades of Sudanese politics.

-

More from Al Jazeera World on:

YouTube - http://aje.io/aljazeeraworldYT

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AlJazeeraWorld

Twitter - https://twitter.com/AlJazeera_World

Visit our website - http://www.aljazeera.com/aljazeeraworld

Subscribe to AJE on YouTube - http://aje.io/YTsubscribe

-

- Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe

- Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish

- Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera

- Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/