he said that their real power is less than their outward shows of grander essentially that america's bark is worse than its bite but at the same time he also reiterated iran's position that even though iran won't back down from u.s. pressure the country does not want a war with american forces in the region john q and the news there is not going to be any war neither we nor them seek war they know it will not be in their interest negotiating is poisonous as long as the u.s. continues with the same course of action and to go shooting with the present american government is twice as poisonous. the supreme leader's latest statement comes of course as the 2050 nuclear deal continues to unravel the atomic energy organization of iran that oversees the country's nuclear activities and nuclear sites confirmed that as of wednesday iran is no longer abiding by the limits on the stockpiling of enrich uranium and heavy water things considered potential bomb making materials iran's nuclear agency said that its announcement on wednesday is

keeping in line with the announcement that president abbas and rouhani made last week saying that iran would start rolling back its cooperation with the nuclear agreement still ahead here in al-jazeera venezuela's opposition leaders meet at the national assembly a day off today was stopped from entering its we will have an update from caracas. how i welcome to another look at the international full costs look it's about across the middle east at the moment got some shops i was a little further west even across afghanistan more the pasta pakistan been a little cloudy lately there are still be a few showers here as you go on through the next. easing up towards us but. when i stand seeing some showers long spells of right in the coast looking the snow over the high ground there's a fair amount of cloud just spilling out of the southern areas of iran down towards

the straits of moose pushing across into central and southern parts of pakistan but the much of iraq is dry it's hot 42 celsius in fact that 27 therefore baratz maybe a touch will of beirut as because through friday plenty of sunshine then across the levant easing across into rot prodicus they want to see showers just coming into iran those showers continue through the east was a possibility of a shower or 2 into central parts saudi arabia where you see the clouds you could just catch your spots of right heat is on temperatures at 30 i celsius in fort. back to around 36 on friday little more cloud in the mix chiles of the old spots of rain largely dry and clear across southern parts of africa at the moment there is a weather system just clearing away from the southern cape but for most is fine and dry.

remind of our top stories this hour one person has been killed in sudan by gunfire and at the military headquarters in the capital khartoum protesters have been

camped there for nearly 6 weeks to mounting civilian government and an end to military rule. 7 protesters have been injured in the violence medics are expecting more injuries on monday died 6 people were killed. the u.s. state department has ordered all non-emergency government employees to leave iraq immediately the order follows a warning by the u.s. military of a threat from iranian linked groups. the united nations security council is discussing the war in yemen and these sanctions placed on the country comes amid heavy fighting near the southern yemeni city of ties on saturday the u.s. . the rebels began with drawing from 3 major ports parties agreed under a cease fire signed last year un top it's also taking place between warring sides in jordan government forces backed by the saudi u.a.e. coalition have been battling heathy rebels in a 4 year civil war well the u.n. humanitarian chief says that despite recent progress the humanitarian situation in the country is. the specter of famine still looms 10000000

yemenis are still reliant on emergency food assistance to survive. a resurgent cholera outbreak has already affected 300000 people this year and just as a point of reference that compares with 370000 in the whole of 2018 in the 1st quarter of the year more than $900.00 civilian casualties were reported and it's a sobering fact of the war in yemen mr president. that civilians are more likely to die in their own homes than anywhere else. diplomatic editor james bays reports now from the united nations well we've been hearing from a briefing a monthly briefing from the un special envoy martin griffiths now the timing of the meeting i think is important because it's no coincidence that it follows the un announcing this weekend that there would be the beginning of

a withdrawal from who 3 forces around to date are the key port the lifeline of yemen to get humanitarian aid in the certainly said that they've been moving their positions and carrying out much of what was in the stockholm agreement at the end of last year this was the assessment from mr griffiths this moment is significant and it's worth cherishing such moments which are not as frequent as we would hope that this of course is only the beginning these redeployments must be followed and i'm sure will be followed by concrete actions of the parties to deliver on their obligations under the stockroom agreement and i know we will hear more of this later. we would like the parties to ensure that the momentum that we now begin to see is maintained by implementing subsequent steps of the mutual redeployment. verified of monitored by the parties and ensuring the support that we need in the

un to increase our role in the ports the situation in yemen is still very very grim the humanitarian situation maybe is the bit by what's happened but it's still dire across the country color of cases have been increasing this year compared to last year we're no closer of course to a bigger political settlement in yemen it took the best part of 6 months to pull out of a day to remember they control large swathes of the north of the country including the capital sanaa and there are also many other parties involved in yemen eisel fighting there. a growing southern separatist movement and then pull out of yemen to the bigger regional picture and that's going to me make peace in yemen even harder of course with the current tension between the u.s. and iran even in the meeting specific to yemen we heard the acting u.s. ambassador jonathan cohen attacking the who theories and blaming iran for its

support of the who sees he says they supplied all the drones and the missiles that the. where is pay now to neighborhood corey who's a former united states diplomat and deputy chief of mission in yemen joins us by skype from washington d.c. mr curry welcome to the program martin griffin is saying that yemen is very much at a crossroads between war and peace is how you see it. what it's always at the crossroads isn't it there are all is peace choices to be made. martin group has so what segments trace on the progress that has been made and the data and he and his team have certainly been working tirelessly and heroically. but surely is quite aware that this progress can we very quickly are older and the situation more overall in yemen is still very grim. one saying it even

if streets were totally quiet and what they did and it is not it is thin fighting knowing along there today the war borders on and the rest of the country never are some fierce but close in the north and the south of the data so these battles on farther complicate why regional tensions you reported earlier mention that the u.s. announced that withdrawal of non-essential staff from its embassy in baghdad this is it is out of fear is whether their e.l.o. or imagine that their war or some kind of clashes. and that the flashpoint could start in iraq this complicates the fighting in yemen . any movie in yemen has now seen as far as the broader regional

sunda take for example the hotel rockets which. caused some damage in all of pipelines in saudi arabia this was seen in some places as something that you know on wishes to send as a message to solid in a bid that if you're on cannot be explored lawyer and then saudi arabia won't be able to either monza given all of it given all of us it would seem next to impossible to try to seek any kind of settlement. well i mean the settlement goes back to the minutiae important as they all are and so they there but to the overall decision of war and peace we've taken by the regional and international powers and i'm going to starting near to us the united kingdom and of course the saudi arabia and you know. these counties

which lead to all the the war and believe there's always going to be some kind of the yemeni enmity that maybe meant in the end. of the east make lowers the sights and the war i'm afraid that. now according we do appreciate that thanks very much and if your perspective. 17 is u.s. soldiers have been killed and 11 of those missing often on bush near the border with mahdi it took place near the village of tongo tongo and tuesday groups are active in the region no group has yet claimed responsibility. to venezuela where the opposition led assembly is going ahead despite the national guard surrounding the building for a 2nd day one guy to defy the blockade saying that he will still attend despite a military takeover choose days meeting was canceled off the police barricaded the building over an alleged suspicious package opposition politicians have called the

move an act of intimidation. machine human has more now from outside the national assembly. oh i am 60 meters away from the entrance to the national assembly where after threatening to hold the meeting to day either in a park under a bridge or anywhere in public finally opposition deputies were allowed into the legislative palace but not the media in fact the media was physically pushed away from the entrance by the national guards riot police that you see behind me and who have cordoned off this entire area in fact we are being kept away the press gallery is empty but the meeting is going ahead nonetheless they are discussing among other things the fact that a 7 more opposition deputies who are also notoriously are all very evidently not taking part in this in this session were stripped of their parliamentary immunity on tuesday and one of them has actually been given refuge at the mexican embassy in

it which is very significant because mexico until now has been considered one of the soft allies of president me collapse my boodle it has refused to recognize that as the interim president as have most other latin american countries but now by giving this opposition deputy refuge at the embassy here in come back as that that this mission that sort of support is being held or at least that i'm conditional support nic is being called into question 31 people appeared in court in connection with attacks against muslims in sri lanka being held in police custody while awaiting charges and to the north of columbia and sri lanka has extended the curfew in 2 provinces all through a series of attacks against muslims who so warning they will respond with much move forward to any further violence at least one person was killed in iraq in recent days with reports from the new north a couple. an appeal for calm from one of the 9

mosques attacked in a wave of violence across northwestern sri lanka this week. and from these conflict priests a show. of solidarity with they told us their 1st visit to a mosque 3 weeks ago on easter sunday suicide bombers targeted churches and hotels in sri lanka killing 253 people. it's so sad that things like this had happened in . the church had been digging. last have seen or 2 or 3 swigging in these days it's become that people don't you can never know. there are certainly groups who know the more days you know and but the gunman months put a stop to this sri lanka's minority muslim population is now living in fear they break the ramadan fast behind drawn curtains. there's no visiting friends and neighbors a curfew empties the streets the mosques usually busy in this muslim holy month

a closed. we're not sure what will happen we're hearing reports of attacks in different places and we don't know what to do we don't really trust any government witnesses described what they called mobs of sinhalese young men smashing up shops in and around 30 towns and villages the businesses in this town are owned by sinhalese people who are mainly buddhist as well as muslims. jessamy watched helpless as bricks rained down on this mosque there and these people who are blaming the government that might but it turned out in the military when really we knew this was coming and the government warned there would be atrocities but they wanted this to happen to us the government thought we'd leave these areas so those goons could unleash mayhem and. try lanka's prime minister says the country will be destabilized if sectarianism escalates more than 70 people have been arrested and are in custody facing charges related to this week's violence nightly curfews have

been keeping a lid on the violence here and there'll be another want tonight it's wednesday but they're only a short term measure the much greater challenge is repairing the entire community relationships which have been so badly fractured by the easter sunday bombing burnitz many hours era northwestern sri lanka china has reported slower than expected economic growth in april there was a period before higher u.s. trade terms took effect industrial growth slowed to 5.4 percent last month that's a drop from 8.5 percent growth rate in march. the u.s. treasury secretary is facing more questions of a president donald trump's tax returns stephen engine is testifying to sentences on the ways and means committee in washington these previously belong to requests from congress to hand over trump's tax history. there is a difference in interpretation between congress and us and the department of justice around this law that not only impacts this president in this congress but

has a very big impact on every single taxpayer and weaponize in the i.r.s. in this is why there are 3 branches of government so if there is a difference of opinion this will go to the 3rd of branch of government to be recharged. palestinians have held rallies and marches to maga 71 years since they were forcibly evicted from their land to make way for the creation of israel one of the largest was in ramallah that's where the palestinian authority is based rallies were largely peaceful but there was violence in gaza but more on that in just moments the 1st israeli forces have fired at thousands of protesters at the gaza border gaza's health ministry is reporting that 47 people were injured it says it to gas rubber bullets and live rounds were fired more than $250.00 people have been killed at the demonstration since march last year. the u.s.

state of alabama has passed a bill loring almost all abortions including cases of rape the measure which is the nation's most restrictive was approved by the state senate the bill contains an exception for when the pregnancy creates a serious health risk for the woman it will now go to the government to be signed into law this is part of a broader effort to have the supreme court reconsider the constitutional right to abortion. a painting by the friend shot as claude monet has sold more than $110000000.00 when is it is one of $25.00 celebrated paintings depicted depicting his neighbors haystack seem to vary in northern france painting was completed in $1900.00 and is one of the firsts by the group of artist known as impressionist sell for more than $100000000.00 it's.

this is out there these are the top stories and one person has been killed in sudan at least 7 injured by gunfire and at the military headquarters in the capital khartoum protests have been can definitely 6 weeks demanding that civilian government and to military rule comes off to sudan's military council agreed with opposition groups to a 3 year transitional period if morgan has more now from car too. at the moment in front of the army headquarters there's a lot of anger and a lot of tension and protest this day that what they are seeing at the moment is a replay and a rewind of what happened on monday night when the rapid support force as a faction of the military tried to move their barricades and when they refused to allow that to happen they were shot at by the rapid support forces so there is think that what happened on monday evening on monday night has happened again today and that there have been dozens of injuries and at least one person killed of course this comes less than $24.00 hours after the opposition coalition and the military council announced that they had made progress in their talks to try to form a transitional government the u.s.

state department has ordered all non-essential government employees to leave iraq immediately the order follows a warning by the u.s. military of a threat from iranian linked groups last week the u.s. deployed warships to the gulf region with a warning from the u.s. central command appears to contradict general with the military coalition. no there's been no increased threat from iranian backed forces in iraq and syria we are aware of their presence clearly. and we monitor along with a whole range of others because that's the environment we're in the united nations is holding a meeting to discuss progress being made in yemen a special envoy martin griffis is praising hoofy rebels for beginning to withdraw from 3 major ports and is calling for more measures of the stockholm agreement to be adopted. states with the headlines here on and 0 we'll have

more news coming up in news are in fact right after inside story by phone. 1st 2 of its oil tankers were attacked then saudi arabia saw some of its vital all pumping stations targeted by who feed rooms as tensions running high in the gulf what's really behind this series of attacks and could it escalate into a bigger confrontation this is inside story. hello welcome to the program i'm adrian finighan it's the 2nd attack in less than

48 hours to saudi oil pumping stations were targeted on tuesday west of the capital riyadh who the rebels say they carried out the strikes to warn the kingdom against what they describe as its aggression in yemen saudi arabia state owned energy company around co has stopped for the moment pumping oil through a major pipeline the incidents come off to 2 saudi oil tankers were damaged in an attack off the coast of the emirates of fujairah the government has also said that 4 ships were targeted off its coast loot the say the drone attack was the biggest since the war in yemen began in 2015. this 100. 7 drones belonging to the air force of yemen attacked pumping stations relating to the strategic pipeline that carries oil from east to west in saudi arabia it was a successful operation we found assistance from people living in saudi arabia and

we had excellent intelligence the attack is seriously damaged the economy of the enemy saudi arabia's minister of energy khaled al finally has condemned the quote cowardly attack in a statement he said this act of terrorism and sabotage in addition to recent acts in the arabian gulf to not only target the kingdom but also the security of world oil supplies in the global economy these attacks prove again that it's important for us to face terrorist entities including the who thing militias in yemen that have backed by iran and this is what the u.s. ambassador to saudi arabia john abizaid had to say we need to do a thorough investigation to understand what happened why it happened and then come up with a reasonable responses short of war it's not in iran's interest it's not in our interest it's not in saudi arabia's interest to have a conflict with the attacks come as tensions running high between the u.s. and iran washington has announced that it aims to cut iran's oil exports to 0 and

has boosted its military presence in the gulf in response to what it calls iranian threats but both sides have played down the possibility of an armed conflict iran's supreme leader ali harmony so that no war is going to happen but is also ruled out to go see asians with the u.s. over turf iran's nuclear program as for the u.s. secretary of state mike pompei o said we fundamentally do not seek a war with iran that steering a visit to russia on tuesday. well let's bring in our guests for today's program we're joined from sana in yemen by out of the yemeni journalist and filmmaker via skype from reston virginia trita parsi professor of middle east politics at georgetown university and author of losing an enemy obama iran and the triumph of diplomacy and from oxford in the u.k. some your romani university of oxford ph d. candidate regular contributor for the diplomats and washington post gentlemen good

to have you with us on inside story samuel but start with you we'll talk geopolitics for most of the program but 1st i want to clear up a few things about these these incidents how were such relatively slow and still fee aircraft able to fly so far into saudi arabia undetected at a time of war what does this say about saudi air defenses i think it shows a bit about saudi air defenses but also it shows the degree to which this had he said underestimated the improvements in the ballistic missile technologies and drone technology that they have these have made over the past $6.00 to $8.00 months so now they would have the ability to launch just sites that radius of niagra kilometers with a remarkable degree of precision so in july of 2018 they tried to attack in the bab amanda and they were unable to organize a major oil spill or anything of that level but the a shell of their intent and their ability to strike then in january they launched. an attack on the yemeni intelligence minister i was after the sas nation which is

a lot more targeted a lot more improved by i don't think the saudi air defenses have improved at the at the same level i think they've actually been quite complacent about the degree to which is applying the hoodie to the degree to which the hoody capabilities are improving so i think with almost a wake up call and a shock for this that is partially a complacency as much as you do you see improvements in the who didn't knowledge it possible you concur with that what does this drone attack tell us about the who these level of technical sophistication is it technology that they could have built and flown on their own or would they have needed outside help. it seems unlikely that they would have been able to do this entirely on their own although i think we also have to take into account that or against yemen by the saudi authorities have been done with tremendous incompetence from the very very outset so for the saudis to suffer. and loss like this is not in and of itself uncharacteristic in this war

but it is quite clear and it's not usual as well that as what was on both sides will try to master technologies and improve on them and clearly this does appear to have been so nice out to be in the. sunnah what are we to make of the fact that the it was economic interests that the who thiis targeted and not civilian areas in saudi arabia obit targets that were a similar distance to riyadh from the yemen border. well. first of all yemen is aggression and blockade for more than 4 years which means that we have now the worst humanitarian crisis in the world so this was. a response to that that aggression and the blockade because you know when we say when we talk

about the worst humanitarian crisis in the world we mean we talk about 250000 people who are killed most of them are women and children at home the schools hospitals whippings the funerals the funds and if we where and we talk also about 3w3w yemen 3000000 yemenis homeless yemenis we also talk about about 11000000 who are now facing a main famine when i mean when i say off i mean i don't mean where there is a drought in yemen no it's saudi made from in saudi made the starvation that that is used as a weapon of war so we are talking about all these things we are also talking about about there about 100000 people who already died now all because of this starvation we also talked about the borders that are closed and.

i get where you are what you're saying here but i want to focus for the meantime on the hooty response to all of this on the at the attacks or the attack on the oil installations in saudi arabia the fact that they were economic targets not civilian targets. yes this is very this is the not only the this is the body see of the judgment of truth you hear from the very beginning they never tell you to civilians in any place. or did you launch many ballastic myside. short and long range and they never targeted civilians now they die getting the economy interest because they already they already declared that that we are not going to do is stand. by and watch our people being starved and being and being killed and we don't do anything of course they know that the oil the saudi

oil is that is behind all these things behind the problems behind what a crime is behind the starvation and because behind this worst humanitarian crisis which is described by the united nations as the worst in the world so they tell you that the economic interest in deliberately yes ramadi you talked about the shock in saudi arabia after these these drone strikes the latest drone strikes you think saudi arabia's reconsidering its position regarding the war in yemen after 4 years it's pretty clear that they they don't have the ability to defeat the hooty east neither can they prevent who thier tax on their own soil i think this is a moment to reassess and for saudi arabia but it should not be viewed as the moment of a transplant because if you look at the saudi response today they're continuing with even more intensified had a very strikes on al dalai i think that this will just reduce the saudis trust the hoodies and she's already extremely low so the yemeni government choose may well

not withdraw from the day that her data could ultimately end up being a renewed scene of warfare saudi arabia will likely appeal thena to states a point to the fact that the hoody threats about targeting dubai abu dabi and riyadh are actually serious now and who these could disable international oil markets so they could try to lobby members of congress to soften their opposition. to the movement of arms to that area they at so i think that this will in general lead to a more aggressive saudi position in terms of airstrikes and add not only the push back that some people might be intending here even though there are strikes that clearly enabling and causing hoody lashon and the fact that they haven't really achieved anything substantial in this war since they recaptured aden from the hoodies in late 2015 are let's broaden the discussion out hit percy and the attacks on the other stations in saudi arabia and the subatomic of the tank is near that the strait of hormuz connected and what are we to make of the rainy and denials of involvement in either of those incidents well certainly on the surface mindful of

the timing i can understand why there would be speculation that this has something to do with the fact that the u.s. is not aggressively pushing to push out all of iraq's oil from its national market and replace it with saudi and american oil that's understandable but we also have other factors that we have to take into account you have a government in saudi arabia that asks for more than 10 years push the united states to go to war with iraq you have a former secretary of defense bill gates saying that the saudis want to fight the iranians to the last american you have a secure national security adviser in the white house who has a history of fabricating evidence in order to get the united states into or and was a key architect that you're off for given all of that i think we have to look at these things that on a surface level looks like potentially being connected but also realizing that there are very powerful elements that want to go into war with you brought in who

are more than happy and have a track record to fabricate false flag operations in order to get the war so we have to keep that in mind as well because in some ways the timing is perhaps a little bit too coincidental. to be iran's ambassador to the u.k. says that the islamic republic isn't involved in any attempt to destabilize the region the who thinks of claimed responsibility for the drone attack the u.a.e. as yet hasn't said who it believes was behind the sabotage incident while iran says it's x. suspects that it was israel and if it wasn't iran who was it what was their motive i think talking about iran here is here in particular in in this issue of drones. talking about iran is sort of sidestepping from the problem of yemen because now. given that the aggression the you have in that

war that is that last that the last for a law student of for now for about a more than 4 years is enough for the yemenis does it do it to do it to retaliate then to to do something because. talking about iran is this something that this is not fair at all for a 4th volume and name in that same time they say they said that today it's it's them who did this and they would do it the more and more until this aggression and relocate to stop. sorry ramoni up at the same question to you that i put to a few moments ago. on the attack the attacks on the on the oil stations in saudi arabia on the sabotaging of the tankers in the strait of hormuz connected but who do you think was responsible for that attack on the oil tankers. i think that you know realistically all the thinkers point to iran and we should be careful about

the fact that the u.a.e. and the saudis have not officially blamed or add because this is a direct reaction to gel as a recess separation of time from the gulf countries have a look back what he said recently he said that it's a poor b.s. including bins i had been some men who are enabling trump to go to this war so the saudis probably holding back and waiting for the us to call it 1st because they want to make it look like it's actually the us leading at and they're kind of coming from behind happy thought i really don't see any other country that would have an interest in launching these attacks i think they're both largely related to each other because iran has viewed economic warfare against saudi arabia as a 2 front war so on the bottom and have in the red sea and on the state of hormuz cell and the gulf of oman i could even be a 3rd at area so these are probably part of a broader faggy to show that if you continue to watch the war in yemen he just trying to lower oil exports will retaliate in the oil markets less than something that would cause a war like the shape of our moods but enough to destabilize and shock major oil

exports exporters like riyadh would have to prosperity would you agree with that by framing iran as a provocative act a saudi arabia and the u.a.e. hoping that the us does the heavy lifting and that it's this this b. team that is trying to steer the us into into conflict signal security advisor john bolton israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu saudi arabia's crown prince the u.s. the u.a.e. the abu dhabi's crown prince and i haven't been ziad i mean this is oh no documents . you know you have to be nuts and you know giving press conferences and saying that we are now coming together with the our countries because we have a common interest in war you hot weak elites revealing what the king of saudi arabia said to the americans what m b z consistently was telling the americans in the 2010 period in which they want to war with iran and they don't want to work. that would mean with by himself they wanted the americans to buy it so that's why i would disagree with the notion that iran is the only potential suspect your idea

that they're only country that would benefit from this no actually u.a.e. saudi arabia and to a certain extent some folks here in washington as well would very much like this war and as a result also have an interest in fabricating these things and mindful of the fact that the key person in the white house right now on this helped fabricate evidence that got the united states into war with iraq we have to keep that in mind and realize it to them what they want what do you mean explain explain that for me. john bolton was very much involved in the fake stories about yellowcake in the lumia 9 pipes all of these different things that helped make the case for war with iraq back in 2002 and you still on the record saying that the iraq war was a success so there is it good reason to treat all of this with a tremendous amount of skepticism precisely because some of these very same individuals helped trick the united states into war about 15 years ago and that's

out to be were what are we to make so far of iran's reaction to this ratcheting up of tension. well. iran has its own problems with the united states and. clearly iran said it clearly that it is it was not involved in any of these the 2 things but. i think. again and again that talking about iran when we talk about yemen and about the. the aggression and the blockade and the starvation and the famine and all these things is not fair to me is at all because because yemenis are now want to or to endure this this is this a crisis this brought this tragedy. saudi arabia and the united arab emirates are the ones who are killing and destroying yemen for 4 or 4 years now so it's you know it's unfair to say iran iran iran iran is iran is not the killing yemenis if iran

is gaining if you run is benefiting from what's happening in yemen this is something. this is something you know another not up to it but yemen now is under bombing for 4 years for 4 years the starvation and famine and all these kind of things so we should the world should listen to yemen to what's happening in yemen saudi arabia and the united arab emirates if they have a problem with iran they should go to iran not yemen they are killing yemen they are destroying yemen this is the problem this is the problem that we want the world to listen and this is why yemenis are now the army of the of yemenis led by a truthy yesterday that the economy interest in reality yesterday just to tell the world that we are being killed we are being starved we are here for 4 years and why you are now talking about only about this these things that. about the bombing is done about the bombing stations of oil yesterday so humans are more and more

important than any things so the only thing that can be done now is to stop the aggression and the blockade and then everything will be ok. yemenis would not that that they have been is don't want to attack saudi arabia they don't want that thought that the united arab emirates they don't want to at that anyone but they are defending themselves they must defend themselves this is a lot of the world should know this is what the world should listen to the yemeni. romani you too about this displays in the white house this difference of opinion between the national security adviser and the president one of whom seems quite keen to go to war the other one a little more reticent the u.s. ambassador to riyadh said that it's not iran the u.s. or saudi arabia's interests to have a conflict u.s. secretary of state might pompei or says the u.s. doesn't seek a war with iran so what is really going on here what's this all about. i think that you know there should be a bit of caution when you're talking about the degree of differences in there and i think certainly between bolton and bombay are they have a very similar world deal in ideology with regards to the potential benefits of

military action towards iran i think that both in is a lot more of a long term proponent of the unilateral use of military force everywhere from cuba to venezuela to to act before that with a garcia trump i think that trump is probably the person there who is least likely to want a war because during the 2016 campaign he repeatedly plaids he would not want to get the u.s. into another nation building mission or into another kind of war without end that would not benefit america's interests and it's also interesting to note that during the campaign and even praise around at one point as a fighting isis and was critical of the saudis so his positions are all over the place and very hard to tell whether or not he will actually be the person to go to war i think that the voices of restraint from the ambassadors from the diplomats in the state department and maybe even ultimately could prevent a major escalation from occurring because i think this is a lot about that we have seen between containment and actual preparation for war but some of the not honest people are doing to the process with the u.s.

military buildup in the gulf region this this tension building up right now will the voices of restraint with out here what are the dangers of how close are we to a full scale full scale military conflict. i think actually that's the iranian calculation and i have a piece about that in n.b.c. today in which i write that the iranian council ation is that the voices of restraint in particular trumps only boys of restraints his instinct for not getting into these wars will really not kick in until there has been this type of the mobilization because that's the point in which the tensions between pump him between bolton and trump will come to its maximum so essentially it's cost free for trump to escalate right now and talk about moving troops etc but once it comes to the point of him actually making a decision to open war i think the iranian calculation is that trump will back off precisely for the reasons that was mentioned earlier on here so i think we're

moving towards this point but there is a high likelihood that he will back off he did back off a north korean adopted a completely different posture and that can't happen but the big risk is that some sort of fabricated accident happens in the persian gulf or in it's a round me areas and that that is then used by bolton to really press trump to do some form of a military attack and then sell it to him as a defensive measure that's where i think what the europeans and others are warning about right now ramadi what does iraq come into this sort of caught in the middle even even cata stuck in the middle as well the does iraq have a role to play as perhaps a mediator between the u.s. and iran here. iraq is in trying to carve out an important mediation role for some time and even in 2016 that will start after the on the emirates that's a nation as occasion they called for mediation between the saudis and the iranians then so they're they're stepping up their role without regards to diplomacy in

eastern syria they're sabotaging good relations with both iran and iraq they could be a financial mediator qatar is obviously concerned about this too but ultimately i think the regional mediators that the u.s. may go to by default and iran has shown no inclination to accept or be kuwait nominate that they would probably be more significant in the long term in dealing with this than perhaps iraq when you look at regional mediator simply because they have more experience and they have more credibility i think from the saudis at a truth i want one final question to you how do you see the situation playing out in the next few weeks or months just how dangerous is the situation right now. it is extremely dangerous and i think we should not take it lightly at all at the end of it they have as much as i do agree that trump's instincts are towards restraint and he doesn't want to go into war and what he's shows so far in other areas is that he's walked away from the brink at the last minute but we also

do know that trumps impulses oftentimes all right it's it's and with his domestic challenges and other things happening right now i think the risk for some miscalculation as well as the risk of some form of false is very very significant and i find it quite noteworthy that the british commander that is in charge of the . campaign against isis spoke out yesterday and said that they have not noticed any increased threat from shia militias in iraq or in syria or from the iranians completely contradicting what the trumpet mr a should say is saying and i think it's again a sign that some of the allies of the united states are worried that john bolton is trying to fabricate an accident in order to actually a trigger a much larger war a war that would be to the detriment of everyone including the saudis gentlemen there was we must leave it many thanks indeed for being with us that's out to be

true to percy and sonny ramani thank you for watching the get you can see the program anytime just by going to our website at al-jazeera dot com for further discussion please join us on our facebook page you'll find that at facebook dot com forward slash a.j. inside story and you can join the conversation on twitter handle at a.j. inside story from me adrian from going to the whole team here in doha thanks for watching we'll see you get by for that. anything you say tight brows can be held against. food lines investigates how

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will not succeed perceptions from the outside looking. more to the picture from the inside. i think russia's foreign policy is too soft cookie a most russian goals have you achieved not pieces of useful russia or knowledge as you. this is al jazeera. around the clock this is a new line from coming up in the next 60 minutes. several injured by gunfire in the sudanese capital khartoum protesters accuse the military of targeting their city. american troops on high and in iraq because washington

orders all non-emergency staff to leave immediately. to moment is significant and it's worth cherishing an air of optimism on yemen as the u.n. security council discusses efforts to end the conflict. in london but the top stories from europe including well leaders and tech giants gather in paris to. call a global pledge to crackdown on online extremism. so we begin in sudan where there are reports of gunfire the number of people injured near the military headquarters in the capital khartoum protesters have been coming for an 86 weeks demanding civilian government and an end to military rule this comes after sudan's military council agreed with opposition groups to a 3 year transitional period let's go live now to human morgan who's

a study by force and culture here to tell us what the latest is he. well nick it all started just after 5 o'clock local time process to say what happened was that the rapid support force as a faction of the military try to move their barricades and when they refused the rapid support forces opened fire and now for them they say it's a replay of what happened on monday night when again the same unit tried to do the same thing and opened fire when they rejected the move to try to move their barricades this happened less than 500 kilometers away from the army headquarters from the ministry of defense where people have been staging a sit in for the past 6 weeks now the protesters are saying that the attempts from them from the rapid support force is not just to remove the barricades but to disperse their sit in talks have been ongoing between the military council and the opposition coalition to form a transitional government yesterday they announce that within $24.00 with interest within the coming to a 4 hours a new transitional government dean will be announced or a few hours left for that announcement to happen so people are saying that they are

concerned the military council will not agree to have a civilian transitional government leading the transitional period and that they want the military to be the ones heading the transitional government so they're worried that what the militarist trying to do is disperse them before that announcement is made right so because it was perceived to be substantial progress was in the. well yes it started with progress the 2 sides agreed on a legislative assembly and that structure as well as the executive body that will be governing the transitional period headed by a prime minister but the think the last thing that they have to agree on which they said they will be talking about today will be the supreme sovereign council which will be effectively the presidential council the military has been insisting that it wants to have either an equal representation or more representation than civilians and it wants to be the one chairing that sovereign council the opposition has been rejecting that strongly they're saying that they wanted to be headed by a civilian and a civilian majority of representation with

a bit of military to be represented in that sovereign council there's also the issue of what the role of that suffering council will be is it going to be ceremonial like the opposition coalition suggested or is it going to be the main body leading the transitional period like the military council suggested so a lot of things to be talked about but right now the opposition coalition is focusing on what happened this afternoon they're accusing the rapid support forces which again is a faction of the military under the military council of trying to not just disperse the protesters and rule barricades but of targeting protesters trying to kill them and trying to frighten the others who are at the sit in front of the army headquarters so that they are dispersed so a lot of tension between the 2 sides lots of tension in front of the army headquarters protesters saying that they are going to be waiting to see what happens but they are worried that more attacks will be coming from the forces or it really would have to i mean thanks very much indeed who moved up to us from khartoum. the u.s. state department has ordered all non-emergency government employees to leave iraq immediately the order follows a warning by the u.s.

military of a threat from iranian linked groups that appears to contradict the view of a senior general in iraq traffic has this report now from baghdad. in 2014 iraq's a senior shia religious leader ali al sistani issued a fatwa urging iraqis to take up arms against eisel this came up to the iraqi army fled to isolate french people in mosul without a fight but led to the establishment of the shia groups noticed a popular mobilization forces backed by iran who were highly effective in iraq in syria fighting in coordination with u.s. led coalition forces but the u.s. is putting increasing pressure and sanctions on neighboring iran and some in washington say what they call iran's proxy militias in iraq are a potential stretch to u.s. interests here including 5200 american soldiers but major general christopher geek the deputy commander of the anti eisel coalition has contradicted that.

no there's been no increased threat from iranian backed forces in iraq and syria where aware of their presence clearly. and we monitor them along with a whole range of us because that's the environment we're in after that statement the u.s. central command issued a strong rebuke comments from the operation inherent resolve deputy commander run counter to the identified credible threats available to intelligence from the u.s. and allies regarding irradiance backed forces in the region the statement said. earlier this month u.s. secretary of state mike pump aoe came to iraq on unscheduled visits because of what he said was intelligence on specific increased threats to u.s. interests in iraq the us has since sent 2 warships and b. $52.00 bombers to the gulf. mobilization forces under the command of prime minister

idol of the little mahdi in his weekly press briefing he said iraq wants to play the role of a mediator between its 2 allies and it didn't see any threats. of war off iraq is currently stable up until this moment we have not seen any military escalation in iraq iraq has expressed this to the u.s. secretary of state iran is iraq's most important ally in the region sharing strong political economic and military and religious ties iraqi politicians and religious leaders have said they will not accept any interference in iraq's sovereignty by any country including iran. the conflicting statements about possible threats from iran has raised concerns that some parties in washington are exaggerating intelligence in order to build a case for some sort of military action against the country now the u.s. state department has ordered the immediate departure from iraq of all non emergency

government employees and many iraqis are increasingly anxious that after suffering years of conflict and political instability there may be more to come china stop at al-jazeera baghdad well let's hear the view from tehran now his. in the past few weeks whenever the united states has raised the stakes with regards to iran or ratcheted up the pressure leaders in teheran have said that this is simply psychological warfare and have dismissed u.s. moves as fear tactics targeting iranian people and they have continued to maintain that a military conflict is unlikely or even impossible supreme leader ayatollah ali come in a reinforced that idea in a speech on tuesday evening to senior civilian and military leaders in his government he said that iran and america are locked in a battle but that it is a battle of wills and that the upper are coming from the united states need not be feared he said that there are real power is less than their outward shows of

grandeur essentially that america's bark is worse than its bite but at the same time he also reiterated iran's position that even though iran won't back down from u.s. pressure the country does not want a war with american forces in the region junky. there is not going to be any war not that we know them seek war they know it will not be in their interest negotiating is poisonous as long as the us continues with the same course of action and to go shooting with the present american government is twice as poisonous. the supreme leader's latest statement comes of course as the 2015 nuclear deal continues to unravel the atomic energy organization of iran that oversees the country's nuclear activities and nuclear sites confirmed that as of wednesday iran is no longer abiding by the limits on the stockpiling of enriching uranium and heavy water things considered potential bomb making materials iran's nuclear agency said that its announcement on wednesday is keeping in line with the announcement

that president hassan rouhani made last week saying that iran would start rolling back its cooperation with the nuclear agreement well let's take this on let's speak to douglas ollivant is a senior fellow at the new america think tank he was also in the united states national security council director for iraq and joins us now from washington d.c. mr levin welcome to the program why. do you think to get non-essential personnel out. well there certainly is a rush and this comes in a context it comes in the context of the united states having evacuated its consulate in basra just within the past year or so this is not the 1st diplomatic facility that is leaving iraq under what some consider to be dubious promises. ok well tell us a bit more about the nature of this and what do you make of the conflicting statements from central command and the military view actually on the ground.

well we certainly do have conflicting statements i think it's safe to say that only the united states government seems to see a threat here that the british deputy commander does not the iraqi prime minister does not the iranians do not and then we saw in a washington post piece this week by david ignatius that the pm used themselves these so-called shia militias have reached out to assure america that they have no intentions of starting a war of course they would certainly respond to what. america does seem to be isolated in this assessment that's not to say they're wrong they're simply isolated do the u.s. government should we see a threat do you think oh they exaggerating the position as some are suggesting well i'm no longer in government so i don't have access to the raw intelligence but usually when you have something you have someone else who can confirm it and the the assessment that the british deputy commander of the coalition doesn't have this

that the iraqi prime minister is telling everyone to calm down certainly indicates that that's a possibility so you can see a scenario whereby the government would exaggerate position than well intelligence can always be read more conservatively or more liberally you can take a threat more seriously or give more weight to something if you think that that's important so the line between politicization of intelligence and just being extremely conservative about how you use the intelligence can be a fine one because it is all it is needed to get these non-essential personnel out and they've been advised to leave on civilian and crosses not exactly does it now i mean if you're going down to baghdad.