A 2nd term in a followed closely watched by beijing. With the sport sets up an a. T. P. Cup clash with rafael nadal said the plane im. In a dramatic about turn iran has now admitted shooting down a ukrainian airliner describing it as a disastrous mistake 176 people were killed when the plane crashed on wednesday a commander with the revolutionary guard a morale the houses. Of the nation had accepted full responsibility he says the plane was brought down by a short range missile soon enough to take off from tehran it was the same not iran launched missiles that iraqi bases housing u. S. Troops. As a lot of. Those in our Aviation Services who were denying responsibility they were saying this based on their findings and i repeat they are not to blame it is us who are to blame the plane was on its way it did not have any error or mistake everyone worked very well efficiently it was us who made a mistake and we are responsible we should accept responsibility and accountability this was a very small missile and thats why the plane had the time to sort of land and to crash it did not explode straight away so they were not aware i do not know to defend them so our military forces neither the i was aware about it but we are regretful and we also are in pain and we share the pain of those families who lost their loved ones so basically this happened due to the heinous activities of americans that night we were ready to confront in any way there was a prediction that anything could have happened because there were so many airplanes in the air some aircraft and fighter jets there was a possibility for missiles to fire at us so we were ready unfortunately because of a very small decision made by an individual this tragedy happened. Now in a few moments mike hanna will be telling us how that uses likely to go down in washington 1st we go to Dorset Jabari who is live for us in tehran and also theres an admission of responsibility and acceptance of accountability in what more did we hear. Well we heard from the Brigadier General there who is the head of the revolutionary guards aerospace division. He said that he was very very sad that you wished he had died and didnt have to hear this news he said that evening of tuesday evening and wednesday morning when this incident occurred he was in the west of the country launching those missiles into iraq he was with that group of the revolutionary guard commanders who carried out that attack on u. S. Interests in iraq he said when he heard this news he wished he had died he says he was its a very difficult position for him to be in to come in front of the cameras to having to explain how this tragedy took place he said basically the operator of the missiles that were in that area near among. Got in contact with this flight but didnt get a response and within 10 seconds he had to make a very quick decision whether or not to launch a missile at this plane which he believed to be a Cruise Missile coming towards tehran that is when this error occurred and he said its very very regrettable and if the revolutionary guard is taking full responsibility and they will respect whatever decision the authorities come out with in terms of what to do next door so what about the reaction from the iranian public to this to understand theres been some anger that they werent told early enough and some suspicions as to why there were these early denials of one of the happen. Ive been speaking to one of the family victims families and they are just in shock and grief overcome with grief as one can understand they say that their they had a their son and their daughter in law on a 5 year old child were visiting iran from canada they were here on a break and the family was heading back to toronto and the mother i spoke to she said that shes not receiving any visitors she believes her son will be calling her shortly that they have gone back to toronto shes in complete denial about the events have unfolded she is received no visitors who want to pass on their condolences she says that nothing has happened and everything is fine there is a sense here ive spoken to a few of the families of the victims here that they just cant seem to process what has taken place not only they didnt what the actual event itself but also what came 48 hours following the accident the fact that the iranian government was adamant that they did not hit this plane and that there was some kind of malfunction by the boeing plane that they were on so there is a lot of anger there is a lot of frustration at this government in the way theyve handled this and there is a demand now to know why the iranian officials took this long to admit that they had made this mistake to say thank you for joining us live there from montana she joins us now from washington d. C. How will the admission from the revolution. Both responsible and accountable be received in washington. Well there has been in recent days a degree of restraint in terms of reports emanating concerning that shut down airliner within a few hours of the shooting down Defense Department officials were saying that it had been a missile and then subsequently it pentagon officials confirmed in their view that they saw a very clearly the signature of 2 heat seeking missile striking that aircraft but despite all of this the trumpet ministration has kept somewhat muted in terms of its response that reactions likely to continue when the administration formally does respond to irans admission yeah and my general zod a was also making very clear that there was a context to this that essentially iran was on a war footing that the actions of the United States had precipitated this situation how is the u. S. Going to respond to that the implication here that the u. S. Is somehow complicit in the events that led up to the accident. Well i cant speak for the u. S. Administration and im sure there will be a statement coming in future hours however the u. S. Has been particularly hot in terms of the greater cons takes theories that various have given for example russia and china in the United NationsSecurity Council refused to issue a statement condemning the demonstrations outside the u. S. Embassy in baghdad for example arguing very strongly that this says a consequence of u. N. Action striking at targets within iraq but the u. S. Rejected that at the time its likely to continue to reject the iranian contention that its activities had anything to do with the shooting down of the airliner that it could not be blamed to fold the consequences off to rein in action so certainly this is something that the administration is likely to respond fairly strongly to but the tone very much at present is one of deescalation it seems President Trump appears to have found his off ramp continuing to walk down it and is likely to continue doing so despite the iranian acknowledgement mark thank you mark hanna joining us from washington d. C. Lets talk now to our senior political analyst moma shower he joins us now on the set. Just picking up what mike hanna had to say the language coming out of the United States has been about deescalation do you see this admission now from republican god in the context in which they placed this that it was sitting against a war footing is going to have any impact on the well clearly in us foreigners the downing of the plane is concerned if theres. Smart i would say even wise of the iranian leadership to admit. Of the mistake and to apologize for what happened i honestly would expect something similar should come out of washington because after all the trump and mistress did contribute to the very conditions in which this plane was down if it wasnt for the continuous escalation if it wasnt for even walking away from the nuclear did we wouldnt be having this tension that we have in the region now but clearly that from administration is doubling down on its policies prior to last weeks escalation its doubling down on the sanctions its doubling down on the pursuit of iran and its doubling down and pressures on anyone who would trades or deals with iran. How does this impact on the regime itself the government in iran given that events have been moving so quickly over the past week weve seen the people turning out on the streets missing the talk of revenge but then we see this and the anger amongst iranians now that might be the one being told the truth the denials and now the admission of guilt how is all of that going to play out to be honest with you we could we could divide the influences and. The best relation if you will to short term and long term public and strategic the short term the conservatives in iran felt certain things him our ventral. There somehow or suddenly if the flood the streets after the assassination of silly money they felt strengthened by the attack by that attack on an american a airbase usually no other country can get away with an attack on an american base also if there are lies in iraq were strengthened so subtly. And terms at the perception terms will short term your since that the iranians were really breathing a sigh of relief that theyre breaking out especially is laid a people protesting on the straights not that long ago absolute at it now with the admission of response a dhoni guilt acceptance of accountability and the fact that they was these denial for 40 odd hours get a whole weve seen into i would see our i mean i would go further on say strategically speak a dog while they did get imp empowered wild they did have a sigh of relief but in fact just as the throne but ministration doubled down of the sanctions and just as the popular opposition iraq is already back in the street asking all are foreigners to get out of iraq clearly eyes the sanctions by and the iranian economy shrinks by 1015 percent in 2020 and the embarrassment of the flights being down than song so forth the iranians are back on the pressure and thats why i think were back to the same conditions that led to the escalation of the last few days meaning the same could be repeated iran just like it didnt before its not going to again be subjected to hurtful american sanctions primary and secondary sanctions and lay low at the same time arenas have every vested interest to continue to a submitter clee attack the United States it is not just the know now about the United States and iran clearly ukraine has been very strong in saying it wants to see full guilt and accountability canada has a vested interest in this to see innocent people shot down as much is the riverboat Republican Guard explain this away as a horrible accident scenes and people shot down in this way what is expected of iran in terms of that accountability well clearly the admission of guilt is important at least to give the victims families some closure thats was important. But clearly theres going to be need it is going to need for compensations us and so forth but also a judiciary investigation within iran itself and clearly theres a political and method of sponsibility in the in the issued on of powers in iran there are some rumors even about certain iranians one thing to resign because of that we dont know how serious these are but clearly the buck does not stop with the person who triggered the actual downing of the plane clearly theres something goes up and clearly iran now is going to have to somehow clean its house or put it in order because the whole bit between the revolutionary guard and the 3rd visual army between both and the civilian administration and all 3 with a political. You know authority within the country all of that needs to be worked out so. Question when the countrys on the pressure and all of this while it is under intense scrutiny and intense pressure its remarkable confluence of events my own thank you for that moment michel. Well its probably more i hate all the news hour including that sinking feeling the countdown is on the side of indonesias capital for being stupid plus. Im going to be a Law Enforcement agency described as africas 1st narco state joins us next as we follow an Anti Narcotic operation inside the Capital International airports and in sport the Brooklyn Nets catch miami to win their losing streak joe will have more on the life. Well a man has declared 3 days of mourning after the death of its leader. Outside the regions longest ruling monarch died after a long illness at the age of 79. 00 his cousin. Side has been sworn in as the successor. Has more. This is new Sultan Haitham been. Sworn in a few hours after the death of his predecessor. The oldest ruling monarch in the region and the founding father of modern day oman. Sultan haitham made it clear in his 1st speech to the public that he will follow in the footsteps of the late sultan. We remain guided by the late sultans wisdom Going Forward we will preserve and embark on the achievements he made this is what we are adamant to do to follow in his footsteps with respect to International Relations we will follow in the same course set out by the late sultan we will embrace foreign policies based on peaceful coexistence without any interference in Domestic Affairs of other states the succession ceremony was swift and smooth dispelling any concerns about uncertainty and instability in one of the oldest dynasties in the gulf region. The new sultan would have several roles hes the Prime Minister controls the government the armed forces finance and Foreign Affairs his biggest challenge is balancing a budget that relies on revenues from dwindling gas and oil resources. The death of comes at a critical moment tension has grown in the region after the us assassination of Iranian Military command some say money is killing has shattered any hopes of a diplomatic solution. Oh man has in the past played a crucial role in narrowing differences between the 2 rivals it has a longstanding neutral approach to the problems of the region in 2017 when saudi arabia the u. A. E. Egypt and bahrain imposed a blockade on qatar oman refused to take sides calling instead for dialogue. It also plays a central role in the international 1st and the war in yemen. The new sultan has insisted he will maintain his nations neutrality and honor the legacy of salt. The later came to power in 1970 at a time when our man was underdeveloped divided and facing a rebellion in the south but managed to overcome those obstacles and turn it into a modern state. Faced another challenge in 2011 when thousands of people protested demanding better wages and more jobs as the arab spring was spreading Sultan Qaboos fired members of his government gave more powers to the Consultative Council and began reforming the Public Sector in the late one arc will be remembered by his people as a unifying figure and by the world as a shrewd politician for turned a small nation into a regional player. Well lets go to stephanie dechen now who joins us live from moscow and stephanie for monies this is the only leader they have known how is this news being received. Certainly for the vast majority of this country yes youre right the only man who ruled this country as far as they can remember and the man who really ruled entirely theres been a lot of speculation about the health of the sultan for years now he really did retreat from public life if you will the last couple of years been the last couple of weeks speculation increase hed gone to belgium for for checkups and he came back very shortly after supposed to be there for a long period of time and thats when the room is really kicked about the concerns about his condition and how perhaps sick he really was while theres been some a lot of worry here on the people about what happens next well you heard there and how shes packaged the session happened very quickly i think very seamlessly you could say they opened the traditional letter that the sultan had left naming his successor hes been sworn in but there are challenging times ahead as you heard him say there are couples with unique in how he really managed to mediate in what is an incredible fist sile and volatile region for so long he managed to stay neutral between countries who really wanted him on their side i think these are just some of the challenges moving ahead these are different times and there are different players involved also very Different Countries into the country that the soldier in actually took all those years ago he is completely transformed the country but its a bit of an Inflection Point right now economically its having to diversify its looking at opening up to war tourism what are the the economic challenges there in a country thats also dealing with high levels of of unemployment. Yes there are many challenges moving ahead for the new sultan yes helton cup was built this country into what it is today but it is a country that is facing Economic Dept it is a country with a growing young population who want jobs unemployment it is an issue its a country that needs to move away from relying on money from oil it is simply not enough it is a country that is as you mentioned also when you look at Foreign Policy now you have its neighbors wanting to get whoever runs this country on board and also many of monies are wondering is it going to change and how this is country is wrong the sultan was in charge of everything he was the Prime Minister he was the secretary of defense he was in charge of the armed forces he ruled this country as a single man many people are also being is it now going to change into a Constitutional Monarchy perhaps there are major questions moving forward and yes i think people welcoming people have been a piece i think here somewhat the im on is most of the population that someone has been appointed so soon we were talking to people just coming in from the airport a couple of hours ago saying well this is what the sultan wanted hes been at the helm for 50 years we agree with you he has appointed this is a western educated