any air defense detection of this incoming attack so what i'd say in terms of what we're doing is we're contributing to saudi arabia's defense we would be looking as the secretary said for other international partners to also contribute to the arabians defense and with regard to dealing with the specific threat like you just spoke about you know no single system is going to be able to defend against a threat like that but a layered system of defensive capabilities would mitigate the risk of swarms of drones or other it or other attacks that may come from iran i want to double down on the chairman's comments 2 ways 1st of all i agree what we would be deploying to the theater would be what would it what would be necessary to help support and contribute to the kingdom's defenses and at the same time we're calling on many other countries who would have also have these capabilities to do 2 things 1st of all stand up and condemn these attacks and secondly look to also contribute defensive capabilities so we could defend those things outlined in my remarks

whether it's the infrastructure in saudi arabia and then the broader issues with regard to freedom of the seas navigation the strait and then the international rules and norms that iran is clearly violating. so should we take this is this is the president's decision about the response to the attack in saudi arabia and there is not a kinetic response that we should expect from the united states this is the 1st step we're taking with regard to responding to these attacks and again for the reasons i outlined to help the bolster the defenses of saudi arabia and provide equipment to both the saudis and u.a.e. a 2nd to. ensure the free flow of commerce of the strait and 3rd to ensure we protect and defend the international space order and try and convince the. iranians to get back on a diplomatic path but that the deployment of these kinds of assets can take can often take days or weeks is there should we expect any other kind of more immediate response from the united states that the united states has a robust presence in the gulf already. we bolster that further in may so we feel

quite capable quite cocked and terms of our own defensive posture and our ability to do anything else as necessary but that's not where we are right now right now we're focused on helping the saudis improve their defenses that infrastructure. mr secretary chairman tempered you mentioned that the international community had hoped to know some allies and question whether it's time to artifact launch in iran i was wondering if you can give us a sense on whether you will declassify and on the evidence that shows that the strikes were launched from iraq and also give us a sense of timeline in terms of when these the planning to start so i'll say a few things 1st of all the united states is on the ground in saudi arabia the saudi arabians are leading the this investigation and we will keep them in leave with regard to forensics so we need to let that play out and let the evidence play out with regard to the partners and allies 1st of all i would commend secretary of pompei oh he's been on the phone and on the road the past few days speaking to numerous allies and partners about about this incident and regardless of where you

think it came from the fact is the saudis were attacked by both drones and cruise missiles and are still vulnerable to attack so asking allies and partners to contribute resources to help them defend themselves and defend those things i spoke about i don't think is too much of an ask given the situation and who worked the details nancy over the weekend and i'll come back to the secretary early next week with some specific recommendations. ok it's stryker's launch from south which i think you think you're going. right so we've just been listening to defense secretary marc asprin chairman of the joint chiefs of staff joseph dunford provide giving a media briefing there at the pentagon saying that u.s. president donald trump has approved the deployment of u.s. forces to the middle east this after the attack on saudi oil infrastructure on oil processing plants that are absolutely crucial to riyadh's oil infrastructure the finger of blame that firmly pointed at iran and so in response to this we hearing

esp and dunford saying that they will apply they will provide in hans to defensive capabilities to saudi arabia and they also mention that the united arab emirates had requested similar support as well they spoke about a moderate deployment so it would not be in the fowls and but saying that really this is not the time to provide precise numbers the specific details are going to be confirmed after consultations with centcom so mike hanna joins us now he's been following this very closely and why it's very interesting that we were hearing. i think just saying towards the end of the briefing that the saudis are very much leading the way in terms of investigating what took place at these oil facilities but at the same time he seemed to say that there were both drones and

cruise missiles involved in this attack. yes it wasn't particularly clear what the secretary of defense was referring to the we know that there is a u.s. forensic team on the ground working together with saudi investigators to determine the exact cause or the exact source of the weaponry that was used in those strikes on the saudi oil facilities what was interesting though was it's very clear that that investigation has not completed it is still ongoing and yet to the secretary of defense they're making absolutely clear that there's no doubt in his mind that is iran is responsible for that attack now another very significant thing is the fact that both the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and the secretary of defense making very clear that the exact nature of the deployment is not yet clear the general dunford saying there that he will report back to the secretary of defense at the end of this weekend with further details as to exactly how many

forces will be sent to what is the nature of the equipment that will be sent now why that is significant is that this is a not necessarily a long laid plan this is something that has come up very very quickly obviously that they still have not done complete planning on this particular situation one would have expected that this type of plan would have been laid out in the weeks leading up to this but very clearly not so the supposition is that this deployment of u.s. forces arises out of that national security meeting that was earlier in the day with president trump at which the secretary of defense and others outlined the various options that the president has in dealing with the rainy and situation so certainly it would appear that that was one of the things reached at that meeting given the fact that the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff still has to consult with centcom leaders as to exactly what the nature of this deployment is going to be is he saying we didn't get

a great deal in the way of detail it just seems to be a broad sweeping statement about. providing in hans defense capabilities it seems as though the drug administration is stuck between a rock and a hard place president trump making it clear that he doesn't want war with iran but at the same time feeling the pressure to take some sort of action as a to terence to any future drone or missile attacks. yes both secretary of defense and the chair of the joint chiefs of staff there making very clear that this is a defensive operation but what is involved here very much is a defense off the saudi area and of course a defense as they pointed out off those sea routes at the same time that indicate that it's sending a strong message to iran that the u.s. and its allies are intent on having iran follow normal international rules of order that is the point or the position of the secretary of defense certainly but it is

clear that this is not a significant force we heard joseph dunford there refer to the fact that the u.s. already has a very robust presence in that particular area and it was he points out forces were reinforced there back in may so certainly this is not something new it is a continuation essentially of a posture that the u.s. has been adopting in the wake of the it's walking away unilaterally from that iranian nuclear deal in may last year so what we are seeing here and we will be clear in the days ahead as to exactly how intense this vamping up of defensive structures is but it would appear at this stage that what is happening is as you said a precedent a court in a way between his desire for some kind of diplomatic resolution arising out of the economic pressure and the desire to be seen to be taking some form of action taking this as a strategy in hong seeing saudi arabia's defensive capacity and also at the same

time and it's significant to note that both the secretary of defense and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff making very clear that they are going to be looking for allies to follow suit in other words to approach other allies in terms of adding to those defensive capacities and also to take some kind of action to protect the waters around saudi arabia which the u.s. content is going. interesting interesting isn't it mike it was almost a pleading their. allies of the united states to condemn what has happened and to condemn iran specifically though of course iran has denied playing any role in these attacks and it's really not clear whether the europeans or other allies are going to want to get involved in this particularly after u.s. relations with their allies have been extremely strained recently in the wake of america's unilateral withdrawal from the iran nuclear deal. indeed yes so that was

just one of the u.s. actions that has led to an increase to unilateralism in terms of how the u.s. conducts its foreign policy certainly relationships with traditional allies have been devastated by the trumpet ministration you mention the nuclear deal but there are other areas as well criticism of nato as an alliance we had a veiled reference from the outgoing secretary of defense james mattis making very clear his belief in his resignation letter that to repudiate allies as a trumpet ministration has done is something very very dangerous and here you have a situation where having been denigrated a number of occasions traditional allies the administration is now reaching out to them now the reason for this is that president trump appears intent on providing a face to the opposition against iran he clearly does not want to be seen acting unilaterally he does want to involve allies in this particular operation clearly

this has been indicated by the fact that he has said he will be discussing the matter with other leaders at the united nations in the coming week so president trump the anti alliance anti ally person now seeking to draw allies into his particular umbrella to deal with the iranian situation it must be mentioned as well that the allies themselves have been critical of the u.s. position sharply critical of the u.s. decision to walk away from that iranian nuclear deal and some of those allies have continued to insist that the united states is now dealing with a situation of its own making mariam that's right and may not be much sympathy particularly in year pain cortez and we have been seeing these french led efforts which may or may not continue in the u.n. general assembly. very shortly present an annual macron trying to. to

somehow bridge the gap between the u.s. and iran and to try and find some sort of negotiated solution to what could become a an escalated crisis now where recent u.s. financial sanctions and now this announcement we've had today from the pentagon leave french led efforts. well once again that's very very difficult to see as you mentioned president across has been intimately involved in attempting to get some sort of solution on one level and that is to grant some form of relief economic relief to iran in the face of these ongoing sanctions by the united states at the same time he's attempting to persuade the united states to ease these sanctions to allow for iran to then become back to the negotiating table so president a crime has been walking a tightrope in a way in the face of america not durance and in the face of

a rein in cisterns that its side the nuclear deal it feels that has been betrayed by the u.s. walking away from the nuclear deal and it expects the other signatories to that nuclear deal to make good the economic depression that has resulted as a cause of the unilateral u.s. sanctions so president bush walking between that particular diplomatic minefield at the same time the arrangements are absolutely insistent that they will not meet with president while the sanctions remain in place president trump is on the record as saying that he is prepared to meet to the iranian leader at any stage with no preconditions not so say iran they are insistent that sanctions must go before dialogue can begin all right thank you very much mike hanna in washington and just to recap we've been hearing from the pentagon today just in the past few minutes even here in france secretary mark as french chairman of the joint chiefs of staff joseph dunford confirming that the u.s. president has approved the deployment of u.s.

forces to the region this after attacks on saudi oil infrastructure the united states blaming iran for those attacks iran denying any roles that it is perhaps worth mentioning that this is could be described as a somewhat limited cautious response to in hans defensive capabilities but they are waiting on more details there. talk to al jazeera we ask what guarantees will you give to the people will be attending the minimal workshop we listen i'm supposed to explain apologize for someone who is also terrorizing we meet with global newsmakers and talk about the stories that matter on the soldier's 0. the budget or the mccoy just hard weaponized throughout history war for the 1st record its head man started fighting developed by nation states there could be enough of that. now

within reach of those seeking caleb's combines the most toxic substance in the world with a manmade invisible threat on al jazeera there was a lot of there in this community and that is what we lived on the women they were going to look for to get all the woman he want up with this is our man she worked with local women to solve the main problem plaguing their community was not always a key problem auction that had been brought us a priority and led the way in transforming a difficulty into a success so imparting a woman for me is standing economy. women make change on al-jazeera.

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thousands of egyptians take to the streets demanding president step down from power . the president has approved the deployment of u.s. forces. the u.s. takes its 1st step to support saudi arabia in response to attacks on its oil facilities. and that's after is yemen to thier apples offered troops to saudi arabia they claim their groans hit the kingdom's oil fields and. we share one planet like this our only why are we letting it get away. protests have broken out across egypt with thousands demanding that president. resign protesters have packed into cities across egypt these are pictures from the city of months sure about where people stamp their feet on a poster of c.c.

demonstrators have also gone into tahrir square in cairo that was the center of mass protests during the 2011 revolution that ousted the longtime leader hosni mubarak police have arrested several demonstrators there now early on friday a prominent egyptian businessman and actor muhammad ali called for those protests he's been posting videos online and accusing sisi of corruption spending millions of dollars in public money on palaces villas and hotels the president though has denied those allegations. well you know here again is our desire as middle east analyst joins us here in the studio thank you very much for having me and great to have your insert here i just 1st want to ask you your take on what is happening right now in egypt and with these protestors does it feel like there's there's a different sense of momentum. differently. what i think. what i think about what's happening now in egypt. is

a long overdue movement to read egypt from tyranny. we have to know and we have to tell everyone that. egypt. in egypt is an absolute children a call we the human rights. have been subject of. i'm president since violations i think egypt has and with just such human rights violations in its modern history like the the ones that we have witnessed during the last 7 years on the cc's reign. what we have been experiencing especially during the last 5 years is a process started by sisi to to establish a plutocracy after the military have managed over the last 65 years of.

establishing what i call personally called militant prosy which is the rule of the military see see things over himself and behaves accordingly as a rule or not as an elected president because practically and in reality he was never expected through a democratic process so egypt. what's happened in egypt now is is a long overdue movement by the masses to rid the country from children right i do want to talk about the military in a moment but 1st the fact that they have come into tahrir square as we pointed out the center of the thread protests that ousted mubarak how significant is this and the fact that managed to bypass security which previously has been vehemently stopping protesters from coming to tahrir. square well the we are seeing now

tonight we have been witnessing a very strange because obviously there is a conflict a struggle of power among some factions within that we. obviously or one of these factions or some of these factions have made it easy for the public and the masses to reach the that are you square which has been a symbol of revolution for the last 7 or 8 years. it seems that the conflict is still very is is he that it's still going on. obviously the other faction in this struggle over power have managed to expel him disperse the be the most traitors from the how do you square of been contact with some friends who have been the areas where for the last few hours and he told me that the was cheap gas to disperse the demonstrators and get them out of the 3

a square but i don't believe this this will be the end of the story i think we're going to have a long day is the next days will be long and we're going to be seeing more of these movements by the public and the masses to rid themselves from the york of tyranny but what's interesting about these protests is they seem to have been in response to a rallying cry from this a former military contractor muhammad ali i mean he's been posting social media posts on alleged corruption and excesses of c.c. cc's excesses why do you think that he's had such an impact and why is it that people are responding to it in such a way. well. i don't know what to say fortunately or unfortunately but it seems that the so-called intelligentsia in egypt have lost touch with the uplift in the masses over the last few years and people needed

someone who would that dress them and address their pains and sufferings in a simple language i mean the man is using a very simple language and he is tackling some of the most pressing issues and problems that you know the the lowest traffic of the society are suffering daily basis on hourly basis and that i believe is one of the reasons main reasons for such phenomena that we have been witnessing over the last 3 weeks. by muhammad ali and the the fact that he managed to to impress and to to push. this this movement forward. i guess that would be

a good listen to the so-called intelligence i believe although he didn't have you know enough education. his watch and he know he knows how to to to address the public i believe the intelligentsia egyptian diligence you have a lot to learn from this touched a nerve there but how do you think going to respond to these protests. well see see . we have to admit that the c.c. is very hungry for power. it's we haven't seen such presidents in modern history as hungry as he is and you would even compare that to mubarak no no no no no i mean there's no way to compare c.c. was mubarak i mean c c has a real issue. psychological emotional the man is

is the ultimate manifestation of an absolute ruler. so i believe that it's not going to be an easy fight i don't believe that sisi is going to throw the towel. in the near future. we have conflicting reports that he had already left for new york to attend the the. yes and that was expected to move from him. personally i didn't expect him to leave the country at such moments in such moments but he did. well some some reports that that might be a one way ticket but i don't believe according to what i've seen what we have seen from sisi it's going to be that easy i think it's still i mean we still have a return ticket to cairo hopefully he would but why is often.

and don't use the right and say so well that basically brings me to my next question ok given given the momentum we're seeing with these protesters the passion we're seeing right now who else is there to take place is there an alternative that they are pushing for this is the dilemma this is the dilemma because you know in my estimation the the. considerable faction within the military council. was behind has been behind this movement. and it's very obvious and i don't believe that the they are trying to hide i mean they don't go and say that play them plea to the public but they have given they have sent so many signals so many messages that ok. take to the streets don't fear we're not going to use. they're not i mean when i was in the public would be quite

wary of the military any faction of the military would given that that was background to me and yes it's very perplexing for the public to force and that's why we we haven't seen. it took several hours to for the public to amass. on the streets but but it's very obvious for me to leave that to the business huge faction within the military council which had been standing in preparing for this move for the last i would say 2 years. and discretely force. that is the dilemma because the egyptians have to take a stand and to make up their mind are they going to provide a cover for another military. or a general to take over from sisi i don't believe that this would be the right solution for egypt because it's only going to be

a repetition of what we have seen in egypt for the last 7 decades believe the best thing for the public to do is to take a stand and just say that we have taken this step now to stop the the tyrants of 2 model from the board today that what should the egyptian public would say and stand for. yeah it's been really good to get your insight thank you very much thank you thank you well maggie is the middle east and north africa researcher for human rights watch and joins us now on skype from berlin good to have you on the program we've just heard a given been given a macro look of what's been happening in egypt as a whole both politically and on the streets can you give us an idea of what to brought people on the streets sure those brought them to the brink of these kinds of protests.