The way that you tell the story is what can make a difference. What caused the ukrainian plane to crash in tehran iran rejects allegations it mistakenly shot it down but ukraine and western countries are pushing for evidence so will the truth behind this crash be revealed and cold facts spill into wider political conflicts this is inside story. Thanks alex thank you hello and welcome to the program im Martin Dennis now theyve been claims counterclaims and outright denials the head of irans Civil Aviation body insists the ukrainian airliner that crashed near tehran this week wasnt shot down by uranium missiles but canada says it has intelligence and evidence indicating the plane was downed by iran but just 4 hours before the plane came down killing all 176 on board iran had fired a volley of missiles towards bases in iraq that hosts u. S. Troops u. S. President donald trump says theres no question tehran is involved but many of wondering whether america is partly responsible for raising tensions in the region in the 1st place now iran has dismissed allegations that it was involved as psychological warfare and has invited the u. S. Play make a boeing to join the investigation we got a lot to get through with our guests in just a moment 1st so lets have this report from rob matheson. This video posted by the New York Times newspaper appears to show an explosion as Ukraine Airlines flight 75 to is struck the plane flies on for several minutes before turning back towards to han airport where security cameras capture the moment it hits the ground among the dead were 63. 00 canadians we have intelligence from multiple sources including our allies and our own intelligence. The evidence indicates that the plane was shot down by entering in a surface to air missiles at the time of the crash iran had fired missiles at bases in iraq hosting u. S. Troops irans military was prepared for a u. S. Response but iran says the plane was not hit by a missile had. Any statement made before extracting the information contained in the black box is groundless however id like to assure you that the aircraft was not hit sit by a missile the aircraft was on fire for one and a half minutes after taking off so the pilot decided to return to the airport but he had many technical issues at hand. Iran initially refused to hand over to the u. S. The socalled black boxes used to record cockpit voices and flight data but iran has now invited the aircraft manufacturer boeing to be part of the investigation france made the aircrafts engines and says its too wants to be involved and the u. S. National Transportation Safety board says its assigned a representative to the investigation there are reports the debris has been bulldozed into a pile but one expert says the day may provide answers there could be evidence with literally within the bodies of the victims there could point to whether or not for example an explosion took place inside or outside of the air that ukraines president has laid flowers at a makeshift memorial at the airport where the plane was expected to land at least one vigil is being held into. Round 2 and counted how many of those who died had dual nationalities this claim about citizenship you want to see his mother on holidays. And you know i swear im. Greeted by. Some a furious that iran may have been involved in the crash others are waiting to find out when the bodies of their loved ones might return home rob matheson al jazeera. All right lets introduce our guests now in london we have david lee amount hes a consulting editor at Flight Global and a full of Royal Air Force pilot in dorset in the south of england on skype weve got just him bronc hes a Research Fellow at the Royal United Services institute he specializes in air power and technology in washington d. C. We have Jarrett Blanc of all the state Department Official who served as deputy lead coordinator for implementation of the j. C. P. S. A. Also known of course as the Iran Nuclear Deal welcome to you all david kind of start with you at this particular juncture what is the most important what is the most pressing question that needs to be answered. We want to know why this aircraft came down its been clear right from the start before specific allegations about missile rework were brought up it was very very clear still is that their craft. Suffered a very very sudden problem and it was so all embracing that the pilot didnt have time or didnt have the capacity to put out an emergency call so if their craft was only airborne for a total of about 6 minutes something happened that was extremely dramatic and made the aircraft uncontrollable and then the aircraft crashed. It has been in my mind right from the start because of the sudden this of this that there was no on board technical issue that could have caused such and such a dramatic departure from controlled flight and therefore this had to be either an internal explosive or an external explosive those were the 2 possibilities just one further possibility and that was that some unauthorized highly dangerous freight had been loaded into the aircrafts baggage hold or freight told right ok coming to you now just in a youve written that you think that this Ukrainian Airlines plane came down as a result of stress fear and incompetence tell us more so as increasingly looks lightly is this was brought down by us to in fact sort of to a missile was fired by an iranian a 16. A claim by the way which intelligence officials in the u. S. Canada u. K. Now would not make without pretty succinct significant evidence probably in the form of overheard infrared surveillance as well as perhaps radar data from. Standoff aircraft such as an r. C. 135 of an essay 55. 00 control radar launch sequence. If this was the case there were huge numbers of mistakes that had been made before such a thing could happen this was an aircraft which had just taken off from entering you know who was flying. According to create arranged flight plan. Was a regularly shut your flight and it was squawking the correct transponder codes so even if n. S. A. 15 crew were not looking at any other situation awareness than what their own radar provided which anyway would be a reasonably unusual way to operate as. They still should have been able to secure area of civilian transponder codes b. The fact that this was a very large aircraft compared to any military threats theyd be looking at that was climbing out relatively slowly low altitude and was on a regular flight all of this should have been obvious to them so the fact that somehow they convince themselves probably through a combination of bad assumptions probably core training possibly exhaustion maybe normal or some days. That this was somehow a threat but then confirmation bias took over and even though they could see things that should have told them this was an over into the fact that they were sort of worried about this pending potential u. S. Attack coupled with their own kind of misjudgments started to add up and they just didnt see those signs right jarret in the thing and if indeed it does turn out to be the case the that this plane was hit by it raining in launched surface to air missiles do you think that the United States and President Trump specific we should carry some of the blame some of the responsibility at least for creating this federal climate in which this dreadful mistake we assume has taken place. Well i think iran fired the missile if iran fired missile then they are responsible for the consequences if iran failed to shut down civilian air traffic during a military operation that was going to put them on high alert. If as your other guest has described they had exhausted missile operators despite knowing that this was going to be a high tension moment then the responsibility lies 1st and foremost with iran for a terrible set of decisions that said you cant deny that war has consequences in this consequences often come in the form of innocent civilian casualties whats going on right now between the United States and iran is a kind of war its not a full scale conventional combat but it is a sort of a gray or covert war that is the result of a series of crises that have been created by choice by by president trip and. At our winter option of programming now to take you live to oman where 3 days of mourning have been declared after the death of sultan car boosts these live pictures of the funeral procession for Sultan Qaboos the long standing ruler of oman whos died at the age of 79 his cousin. Been taricco side has been named as his successor his already taken the oath of allegiance as oman sultan. Scribal says funeral will sought from by. Royal palace to the grand mosque in muscat and then hell need to be buried in the royal cemetery in bushehr made omans flog will be flown at half mast for a period of 40 days. Couples credited with modernizing the golf country and mediating between rival zinn a very volatile region his matheson now looking back on the life and legacy of salt couples. It was an only son born in 1942 a life of royal privilege and to a father he would overthrow 30 years later sort of go boss was educated in oman and then at a private school in the u. K. Before graduating from Sandhurst Military Academy and serving in the british army for several months on his return to a man in 1966 his determination to modernize his country is said to have been ignored by his father. 4 years later backed by the british Sultan Qaboos seize the throne he was immediately plunged into his 1st crisis an uprising by communists in though far in the south of a man who wanted independence it took a further 6 years before the fighting ended with the man being supported by forces from britain jordan and iran. A mans links with iran as well as its Foreign Policy of maintaining good relations with other neighboring countries have made it one of the main negotiators in the gulf that flexible Foreign Policy has been controversial in october 28th sort on caboose met israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu in the omani capital muscat the meeting dismayed critics who said arab states should not be hosting israeli leaders until peace was established between israel and the palestinians a mans foreign minister said his country was simply facilitating efforts towards negotiations. So it had rarely been seen in public since he went through lengthy medical treatment in germany in 2015 he was unmarried and had neither children nor siblings and he did not publicly name a successor. Well cabooses successor was saw in in just a short time ago high from bin taricco side was chosen to replace the longtime leader you can see me here in the front row of mourners he was sultan cabooses cousin and the countrys heritage and culture minister. Is here with me in the studio has covered this region extensively of course and well be talking to him about the negativity of Sultan Qaboos and the implications of his death for this region lets start with the succession 1st so there was no heir apparent but the succession seems to have happened in a very orderly and quick manner the very orderly way in the various manner to send a message that the. Royal family has already convened its dignity dignity came together right after the death of soul to decide that. Its going to be the new sort of. Pitch weight in a tradition of the Royal Dynasty the has been in power in the region for more than 250 years so about a few weeks ago when all the talk about the failed. Was that he was dying and they were in the room as well as you know how exact time you have been seeing all those reports about different days well apparently the the the house of a decided that haitham is going to be the the the choice for many reasons i think the 2 reasons domestic one. International one reform we talk about the domestic reason is you know when we look at these live pictures of the funeral in muscat everyone waiting to see of course who is attending this year nor at the International Level at the regional level because again Sultan Qaboos was a crucial play a key mediator in. Various conflicts whether in this region or even beyond it between the u. S. And the iranians for instance and all of these countries want to send a representative to amman for this you know i have to say this been a very short notice i mean just a few hours from the announcement of the death to the funeral which is taking place as we speak and which is not going to give enough time for many dignitaries and all voices from many countries particularly the United States of america and europe to send or voice but we should expect them to arrive any time soon to talk to the new sultan of oman see what are his plans what it what is his vision and get to know home know him the personal level you are why this is a very critical moment for for for for the region in particular and. One of his legacies is that he ripples this in himself as a neutral mediator in the region he was crucial for the iranians with the iranians need to build bridges with the americans and he was crucial for the americans when the americans wanted to talk to the iranians there is absolutely no secret that aroma and was very crucial in the 2015. Nuclear agreement some of the back door diplomacy took place in moscow and and was. Praised by the europeans and by the americans in particular for that it seems that the International Community will have to talk to their armories once again but this time not with the way but with haitham been rather because they still in that ideal position to build bridges in our differences between the United States of america and iran but there are of course those who say that this death couldnt have come at a worse time really regionally that its a bigger deal today then they died a year ago because of the current tensions between iran the u. S. The saudis the qataris and so on will his successor have the same legitimacy in the eyes of things various regional players. You know sort of a couple has been in power since 1970 s. Everyone in. Most of the population in oman was born when sort of was was was in power so this is someone who has marked life in a moment but also in the region i think haitham been part of will have to continue the legacy of of for muscle. But i think ultimately. Our home and for our international of you has some assets that help it as a country to bridge the divide you know this is a region of the world where the divide has always been along sunni and shia all money is not is neither she nor sunni its in the above the countries of another another school of just in in islam so they so they are very well suited to bridge the divide between the sunnis and the shias in the region like when you look at the region you have the 2 most important key players are saudi arabia which by itself or being the protector of sunni islam and you have iran which is it presents itself as being the protector of shia islam there obama is are well fitted to step in as far as the own going tension that you see in the region particular the strained relations between the iranians and the americans all to miti the only player in the region which is trusted by both sides is i think that will give time to. The new soul plan of a man to be able to because this is his 1st day in office i dont man has always been associated with some time and force is his success so i mean as well play for anything to maintain the countrys neutrality its role as a neutral and discreet leader has no no other option but to maintain the uterus i mean value trotty was the one that made over the last 30 years extremely crucial in any attempt to just give you an idea about lets talk about him and just briefly. Because of that particular position of that image of about about our men and about sort of not stepping into conflict moving away trying to bridge gaps and build bridges between the feuding factions it was and continues to be crucial for the americans for the United Nations in any peace negotiations in the near future about a settlement in in yemen labor yemen they have a very good relations with the who think they have very good relations with the government or other. And they have good relations with the secessionist in the south i mean for you to be able to maintain that status you have to maintain that you try to do so hate them but when he comes in assault on overall man he would have no other option but to continue into the footsteps of. To be able to play a crucial role in mediating any conflict in the region and the other say thats for Different Reasons his knowledge reason and also because of the last 30 years you know as we continue to watch these pictures if youre just joining us for our viewers who are just coming on now these are live pictures from the capital muscat of the funeral of the name leader of Armand Sultan cavils whos died at the age of 79 you talked about yemen hash and his role in trying to end the conflict there but that conflict has been going on for 5 years now what progress what what what was he able to achieve if anything as far as the conflict in yemen is concerned where they have been extremely. Crucial in bringing all the parties to negotiate political settlements in different parts of the world in kuwait and also in in sweden now the International Community a many many talks by the way between the government of yemen and between the who theories took place in in in must part the International Community if you remember the time when saudi arabia was imposing an embargo not allowing people to travel the hertha delegation would meet in must part with the International Community to convey their messages so it will continue it will definitely continue to play a crucial role i think when you look at the. Pictures now coming from and the way the procession is underway it is it is it is a message it is a clearly to me it is a message by the news. And by the royal. Household that they will be counting you and we are continuing the legacy and we honor the legacy its taken them just about 67 hours because their name is. That in fact that they will air power and some sort of you know succession crisis but the constitution they have 3 days to choose a successor otherwise they would have to and seal the letter wessel has mentioned his successor that the house the royal court decided otherwise this decided would sit together which show the world that we are united and that we have swiftly agreed on haitham been brought up to become the new sultan of kabul and this is someone who would have to deal with massive challenges that manage to to. To deal with with loads of wisdom like i like the 2057 teen gulf crisis the omanis came under massive pressure by the saudis to to join them and to take side they do not take sides now because they said this is what we stand for as a nation as a country we are here to referee spats between nations we are not here to take sides we have our own political orientation we are own interests of this absolutely no way were going to betray that and this explains why the International Community and the world is looking now to see what would happen next. Lets talk about. Legacy internally he was a very forward thinking media what do you think omanis sworn member him most for he will remember him mostly for. The Economic Reforms for opening up the society he came to power in 1970 well according to many accounts resembles a medieval age place and he decided its about time to change everything dont forget that this is someone who dave is. Extremely wealthy saudi arabia and the United Arab Emirates put him many many strains on or also found and on his population and he decided its about time to reform reform reforming the Education System in in the building the infrastructure its been really impressive and diplomatically trying to build very good relations with all the different key players in the region and i think many of the oban is who feel massive loss today is because they have had a leader who managed to navigate through the complex Political Landscape in this region without a drag in the nation into any single animosity rivalry or war thank you very much continuing coverage on aljazeera of the funeral of a sultan. Leader of a man who has died at the age of 79 a 3 day period of mourning has been declared in online the sultans cousin high fan been taric inside who is also a culture minister has been named as his successor has taken the oath of allegiance as a man sultan a mans flag will be flown at half mast for a period of 40 days following the death of sultan couple as we have plenty more coverage on this and other International News stories coming up very shortly here on aljazeera were back after the break. January on aljazeera President Donald Trump is that that president in history to be impeached what does this mean for the future of the u. S. 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When was the last time you out on the streets protesting whether on line you feel the weight of the system you do want to each and every love with or layer further and further into the jail or if you join us on say retention has to start from day one whether again you and attention or your own parser this is a dialogue everyone has a voice for the northeast those that support our coverage will be varying accounts but i want to give people the reason for joining the global conversation on how to 0. 0. Every. An unforgivable forgivable mistake irans president admits his military shot down a ukrainian airliner killing all 176 people on board. This is al jazeera live from our Global Headquarters in doha im fully back people also ahead. Of time couples some long time warner known for promoting peace in an unstable region just hours after the sultans death was announced his cousin is named as a monsoon you need to