Any way. His counterparts. To natural gas. And markets with russian gas. Very good afternoon to you kiran alongside me neil harvey thanks for joining us here on r. T. International where we start with breaking news coming from iran where Ukrainian InternationalAirlines Passenger jet has crashed just minutes after taking off from the capital tehran ukraine says all 167 passengers and 9 crew members were killed the moment of the crash was apparently caught on video. Boeing be ukranian boeing 737 took off from the capital tehran here. At 6 12 am local time and it was bound for the ukrainian capital kiev and just a few minutes around 10 minutes after taking off it crashed and reports so that we received images and footage showing the plane crashing while in fire and the crash site is reportedly around 30 kilometers west of the one in a district called shot we are but there are people from 7 Different Countries on board the doomed liner ukrainian president vladimir the landscape has cut short a visit to amman to return to kiev on his telegram channel he expressed his sincere condolences to the relatives of all the victims of the plane crash. Grieving relatives have been gathering at Kiev International airport where flight 752 was heading people are mourning the dead and waiting for further information about the disaster here is what the father of one of the crewmembers had to say. Since their support for the idea my oldest son is the steward my daughter called me from the u. S. She told me that the ukrainian aircraft crashed just where eagle flew i said to to run and then i saw the video of the plane crash. Ots correspondent donald quarter brings us the latest on the crash. Now iranian media had been reporting for a long time that that there were technical problems that brought the plane down and we also heard from an airport representative that a fire occurred on board the plane in the engine mid flight a lot of ukrainians to to sions were quick to give their responses ukraines embassy in iran for example said that they have enough information to tell that this crash was not the result of a terrorist attack weve also heard from the countrys National Security and Defense Council which said that they will be organizing an operational headquarters to gather more information and get to the bottom of what caused these this crash in the 1st place as for Ukrainian International airlines they said that they will not be having any more flights to tehran until further notice and even president vladimir selenski said that there is going to be an inspection of the countries of the countrys entire civil fleet this plane is the boeing 737800 the model itself is relatively older than the more recent models but the plane that crashed itself was only built back in 2016 so the plane itself was quite quite new only about 4 years old but this model has actually had its share of crashes over the past couple years in 2016 for example over 60 people were killed in the crash where the plane was coming from dubai on route to russia and in 2010 another similar crash in india that killed over 150 people again same model and this isnt even the the newer boeing 737. 00 max model which was also grounded about a year ago for its own series of crashes now its still you know tough to say its not its not clear whether or not this crash was the result of some sort of design flaw in the boeing 737800 but Airline Officials have said that this crash mostly likely did not happen as a result of some sort of mistake made by the pilots they were very experienced and knew what they were doing as for boeing the company said that its still gathering information in regards to this crash but other than that we havent heard much. Reports of the plane crash come just hours after iran fired dozens of Ballistic Missiles at 2 u. S. Military bases military bases in iraq the Iranian Military is calling the move revenge for the death of its top general custom siller monny who was killed in a u. S. Drone strike last week. Bad or good academic. Was. The missile strikes happened at exactly the same time of night as the fascination of live only 5 days prior to that and the secretary of irans supreme National Security council tweeted this image of irans apparent reference to trump streets of the u. S. Flag just after the drone strike killed so limone e. L. T. Middle east correspondent the latest. Well weve recently just heard from the Iranian Revolutionary guards and i must stress that its im confirmed but theyve issued a statement in which they say that 80 soldiers have been killed and some 200 have been injured at the one american base that was hit in the early hours of this morning but we are receiving conflict in reports weve heard from the pentagon that none of its soldiers were killed and as for the other Foreign Countries that are also taking place in the coalition against Islamic State weve heard from norway denmark australia and the United Kingdom all of whom had soldiers at this base said that was hit in the early hours of this morning with these countries saying that they soldiers off safe we are hearing also from the Iraqi Military that there are no casualties so at this stage of the mains to be seen exactly how many if any soldiers were injured this morning the iranians say that they fired off some 22 Ballistic Missiles the target was 2 bases 2 iraqi bases where these fallen troops are currently employed the one base in the north of the country did not receive any damage the missiles landed in a nearby field but it was this other base just outside of baghdad that has seen some extensive damage the operation has been dubbed mata solem and we have however heard from the countrys foreign minister zarif who has justified the iranian strike saying that they are proportionate they are in line with the u. N. Charter. Was that allows of course for selfdetermination and that he ran does not want to escalate and see a confrontation with the United States but that it will defend itself if it has to. Run to conclude it proportionate measures in selfdefense under article 51. 00 a few and charter targets in base from which called lee attack against our citizens and senior officials were launched we do not seek escalation or war but will defend ourselves against any aggression now were starting to hear reaction from the International Community india and pakistan have both exercised or called for extreme caution urging they citizens there to avoid nonessential travel to and the philippines has now started a mandatory a compulsory evacuation of its citizens and the United Kingdom has condemned iran urging the rand not to repeat what the cause of reckless and dangerous attacks but again the Iranian Revolutionary guard defending its the earlier issued a statement in which it said that it would retaliate even further if the United States or any of its allies in the middle east respond to a strikes early this morning we warned the great satan the arrogant american regime that any further malice or mobilization will result in a more painful response. Hours of the u. S. Government which have given their bases to the terrorist army of that country are warned that any territory used for hostile acts against iran will be targeted the ongoing concern of course is that the situation could escalate and we could see a potential showdown between some of the major powers here in the region the killing of customs the money has shocked iranians with some expressing happiness at this retaliate and here is what people on the streets of tehran have to say. So myself. Im very happy with what the i. R. G. C. Did today was one of my best days and i hope this will continue i think this was the 1st move to show irans power when i heard the news of irans revenge for it is sas nation and. I was very happy we will be able to take revenge for all the martyrs and general so money god willing which happened we supported and we would like to see that this is only the beginning. Countries around the world expressed concern the recent attack could lead to a far more turbulent situation israel though says that it stands firmly behind the us. Current situation but at least their 1st defies. And also has implications for the work of the coalition. Delays to rocket attack yet another example of excavation and increase confrontation it is a no one interest to turn up despite all the violence even further we condemn this attack on a rocky military bases hosting Coalition IncludingBritish Forces we are to run not repeat these reckless and dangerous attacks and instead to pursue urgent deescalation germany rejects this aggression in the sharpest possible terms. For the United States and. The Us Federal Aviation Agency has banned all u. S. Flights over the persian gulf over security concerns previously trump threatened to strike 52 iranian scientists if it were tolerated in any way so far washingtons response has been somewhat muted with donald trump tweeting so far so good. All is well missiles launched from around a 2 military bases located in iraq assessment of casualties and damage is taking place now so far so good we have the most powerful and well equipped military anywhere in the world by far i will be making a statement to morrow morning well we have a tweet from donald trump it begins with the phrase all is well followed by a statement that there is an assessment going on of the casualties and the damage done to us bases as a result of the attack by the Iranian Missiles furthermore we do have the white house saying that trump has been briefed on the situation and it we have this point its expected that down trump will speak to the media regarding the events tomorrow this is what we heard from the white house we are aware of the reports of attacks and u. S. Facilities in the rock the president has been briefed and is monitoring the situation closely and consulting with his National Security team now the response from members of the u. S. Congress has been quite different depending on which party they are in closely monitoring the situation phone bombings targeting u. S. Troops in iraq we must ensure the safety of our Service Members including and needless provocations from the administration and demanding that iran sees its violence American World cannot afford war. Iran is now openly calling for americans to turn on each of the the time will come to debase u. S. Policy tonights american and allied troops have come into direct attack by nation state and americans must come together to support and protect them and respond appropriately may god protect and watch over our troops stationed in iraq my thoughts are with them and with their loft once i condemn irans attacks which targets u. S. Coalition and Iraqi Military personnel in the strongest terms i am monitoring the situation in iraq closely and praying for our men and women in uniform the Iranian Regime has made a great miscalculation by launching his attacks and long term supporters the decision to kill qassam solomonic is being celebrated as a heroic act and act against terrorism however among Many Democrats though they have not much good to say about qassam solomonic they seem to however argue that this was an unnecessary ask elation that put american lives at risk so many democratic voices seem to be speaking up and saying that donald trump could possibly be asking lading to a war with iran and didnt consult the u. S. Congress on that matter so there seems to be some pretty solid divisions about how to assess the recent events between the usa and iran at this time people are waiting to hear what trump will say when he does speak to the media as the new day comes in the United States. On tuesday Irans Parliament you know honestly passed the bill classifying the u. S. Armed forces as a Terror Organization tensions in the middle east soared in just the past week. It. Looks so good to. You. You. Could. It lead. Him all these are pictures from the state funeral of the slain Major General he was buried in his hometown theres been an outpouring of grief across iran with salaam on his killing viewed as the death of a National Hero his funeral attracted false crowds of mourners scores of people were killed after being crushed in the crowd during choose days funeral procession for 2 decades the money served as the commander of irans quds force which is the external wing of the Islamic Revolutionary guard he played a crucial role in the rolands military Decision Making process and helped expand irans role in the middle east. We spoke to middle east experts about recent developments and the dangers that lie ahead. In iranian leaders said last night was a slap in the face. The u. S. Leave the region and i think that. Iran will that this is not enough thats my understanding it was in my opinion very humiliating strike for the americans because the u. S. Military was unable to intercept even a single Iranian Missile even though this was an air base and usually Defense Systems in an air base especially in a war zone are extraordinarily good and the americans obviously must have been waiting for something so it shows the vulnerability of the u. S. In iraq against the iranian strike we definitely are both sides to end this charade theres no further need for any further bloodshed i think both made their points and both parties should exercise selfrestraint as much as possible this area is volatile. We have many targets that could be turned into a major war that engulfs the region in chaos. The route for International Oil crude oil passes through this area there is no need for further escalation in the price of oil that will definitely cause a worldwide recession. We think that enough life has been lost in this matter and we definitely as an iraq invasion and government we would like most eyes to see sayes to cease and stop any type of aggression. On each other it was more of targeting of a diplomatic. Convoy that was traveling towards iraq to deliver a message which was under International Law illegal under iraqi law it was illegal and and every other level of legality in the International Area now were within the un charter as well was illegal it was an act of terrorism this is how its defined by law and we didnt hear anything coming from the western media or the western governments but when the every television against an actual military bases which is found now illegal just after the bill that was drafted within the parliament in iraq that named these Foreign Military presence as illegal and unwelcomed on iraqi soil we hear condemn nation coming from the western world this is typical 1. 00 to 1. 00 western mystery media and western governments reaction towards anything that happens in west asia. Time to turn our attention to turkey now because that is where Vladimir Putin the parts around will shortly be launching the turks stream natural gas pipeline its a project that will supply the turkish and e. U. Markets with russian gas. Correspond to between korea is on the scene in. Broad is this report and you have a guest alongside. And of course why should we listen to an old performance what we can get something live because just joined us this moment on the lawn in istanbul tell us a bit more than i see youve got someone to speak to as well. Guys hi will 1st of all let me talk about whats actually happening here i can tell you that the bilateral talks between the russian president Vladimir Putin and thai varied one have just wrapped up and we know that they have. A long list of things to discuss including whats going on in syria obviously thats what they do all the time but the crisis in libya and whats going on around iraq and iran at this point these issues are also important this time around hopefully we will find out from the russian president what was discussed a bit later but for now we are all waiting for the main event of wednesday that is the grand opening of the heart to stream and i can tell you that just how well things have been going with the turkish stream or the torch stream pipeline project as its called otherwise i guess it is fair to say that it is a sound compensation for the thorny path of the norths train to pipeline in the baltic sea which is a completely different one but. I can tell you that this project have to be paused because of american sanctions against it but when it comes to turkish string the commitment personally from both of lot of our people and thai verdon showed that when Major International leaders team up against u. S. Pressure that may lead to Success Stories and that the construction of this one is complete at least when we talk about the turkish stage the one from. Russia. To the shores of turkey the construction began what was it more than 2 years ago in may 27th now its done and dusted so it has 2 lines one is intended for turkey the other one is intended for European Countries such as full garia serbia then it could be extended further wrong a very important project but whats really impressive here is the capacity because actually it could transfer of both these lives more than 13000000000 cubic meters of russian natural gas directly to turkey and then towards europe so this is what were talking about here and any time we are expecting both president s to launch it i was told that the physically theyre going to do something with evolve and that will start these deliveries but for now i can tell you that we can discuss everything thats going on with turkeys former ambassador to qatar me put it and then sir. Welcome toward t. Thank you for joining us my 1st question is clearly this project is very important for russia because russia is looking for ways to diversify its natural gas supplies to europe gas problem is always looking for new customers here were not talking about becoming customers were talking about new ways of deliveries but when it comes to turkey whats in it for your country why is that Important Group diversification is it is important for take you to so it was initially starting from the late ninetys was to have diverse nation of troops under a sorceress as regards Energy Supplies because its important for turkey as we are not just producers so its important because we will have this to extreme replay. Yes the western pipeline. It will pump more gas than we have received so far from the west and quite by its important that the western pipeline oil was crossing or is crossing 5 countries this church to pump gas directly from as you said from up by in russia to turkey. Receiving station which is about 100 kilometers west of west if you stumble why is it why it is so important and the reason is simple because this 15. 7 to 5 b. C. F. That. We intend to get from gas from around. Will supply. An Energy Intensive consumers which is istanbul the Industrial Zones around this temple in treys and its very important that we secure the. Supplies. Here especially in istanbul there are. Its also important that we have a role to play as regards to date husband of supply security of europe especially seldom europe so one pipeline as you said will go through 2 key to both go to serbia. And hopefully it will also supply enough gas to countries which are in need of. So its important for both reasons so turkey was declared as the 4th artery for european secret your supplies just like initially it was planned about 80 b. C. Of gas will be will it will reach europe through turkey from different sources of course turn up is also a very important. Project which will carry also was it here or we were planning also initially to also got also east cement frame and gas and so on but Church Street is important for. The secret though so as i read it but this pipeline does have an enemy still so is there a threat of anything still possibly coming from washington against the pipeline operators and. We understand that the russian officials were saying that nothings going to stop the north ring 2 that i mentioned but now are put on hold so what can you say about that when the u. S. Authorities made it clear on various occasions that they were they were not happy about the establishment of the church 3 or more north to especially Church Stream to and north to so they were not against the Church Stream which will supply just to turkey. They felt uneasy about it because they were concerned that it would probably also. Made me europe and. European union more dependent on gossip romanovs russian gas so they should not be so dependent secondly of course the americans would like to sell their oil and gas in the form of energy and they have a huge capacity so for that. And they would like to sell that if you drill from our perspective its important to how also u. S. Energy has to have. A source with affordable prices so we would like to see l. N. G. Competing with my fight so it should be a competition gas on gas competition which will be also in the interest of our consumers we believe so this is our view as regards. Protests or cigar statements made by the u. S. Side lets bring up the biological talks between mr pope and mr ed on that have just wrapped up do you think the 2 leaders can do anything to stop i dont know i guess we can call it the domino effect of all the crises that are unraveling just as we speak in the region i mentioned some of them. The things that are happening in libya right now and of course the escalation between iran and the us while this this symbolic ceremony of the Church Stream gave the opportunity for the 2 need there are so keen to get together and have by lots of talks in the margin of this ceremony which is good and its timely because because of just. The unfolding events in the region especially with the killing of generals like biden and others and also with the situation in libya so i think they should get to they should probably they got together already but they they should be able to narrow the differences and they are apparently they get along well they are good friends but of course here National Interest is more important than friendship so they should be able to. Narrow their their differences as regards the situation in libya i would suggest that they made a statement encouraging. A dialogue encouraging stability charging fees and a not to cross it war we should we should refrain from taking sides with what proxy war see. The proxy conflict or proxy war in libya so hopefully hopefully the 2 leaders would make statements to encourage. A good conclusion from the bad News Conference and that they should be they should avoid confrontation its important in the interest of the. Good relationship between. Not only and in the field of economy cooperation but in all the other what about the 2nd situation the one thats really worrisome at this point do you mean this is the situation in syria or are you talking about talks im talking about the escalation between iran and the u. S. Yes well it is its disturbing in fact its its quite quarry. And of course its it adds to the political aisle certainty in division which is not to get an. The one duty to help this was a vote friends of President Trump they should be able to reach out to President Trump and tell him to act. With prudence and i think that this crisis should be they should contribute to the management of the crisis because its very important as the book both sides have attacked each other now apparently the iranians also attacked as an american base in iraq so. Maybe its is it is fortunate. That we dont have human lives lost which always means that theres a threat of retaliation yes well i think i think now probably the time has come for both sides to to just stop and make at the assessment of the situation so i think at this point in time to do theres are in a position they should be a position to reach out to the 2 sides. And ask them to show prudence. And see and see what can be done next because its you see an all out war is not in the interest of the region is not in the interest of the iranians or the americans so i hope that to me this could play their softball