the u.s. president is set to address the nation off for an attack on an iraqi airbase hosting u.s. forces. iran's president says the real revenge for the assassination of its top general will be to push america out of the region. hello i'm adrian for again this is al jazeera live from doha also coming up a ukrainian airline that crashes but it's off the takeoff in iran all 176 on board are dead. these allegations are untrue and i should have never been arrested in the 1st place this sounds former chief makes his 1st public appearance

since skipping bail in japan ahead of his trial on allegations of financial misconduct. will begin though with the most serious direct confrontation between the united states and iran in decades and in a highly anticipated moment u.s. president donald trump is about to address the nation this is the scene live inside the white house where it's just gone 11 in the morning it will be his 1st televised comments since iran targeted u.s. forces in iraq last night. we'll go live to that. address as and when it begins but 1st let's take a look at how events have unfolded through the day iran fired more than a dozen missiles from its territory into a base hosting u.s. forces in iraq the ion al assad base in anbar province around the same time

according to iraq missiles also hit a base in erbil $22.00 of them or fired in total and there were no iraqi casualties so far u.s. president donald trump has only responded to the attacks on twitter saying that all is well iran strikes are in retaliation for the killing of general salim money in a u.s. strike last friday a moment we'll have reaction from the u.s. on across the middle east but 1st al-jazeera as robertson begins our coverage. this is iran's promised response to the u.s. assassination of top iranian general hossam soleimani ballistic missiles soaring into the night sky there target an iraqi military base housing thousands of u.s. soldiers iranians are taking the credit to hit back directly they wouldn't even leave their proxies to deliver the message that their american. kind of

saving faith order because. it's an insult from the american. iranian establishment to iranian a state all and therefore i think you're ronnie and has to retaliate on twitter this was us president donald trump's response all is well he's added casualties and damage are being assessed and said so far so good he's also said the u.s. has the most powerful and well equipped military anywhere in the world by far the question is whether that military will be used to retaliate against these attacks you. troops are based at the alena sadir base in iraq one of 2 targets hit by missiles ever since president scuttled the. there has been a step. for escalation and that either sunlight can afford to give it its

own look weak the leaders of both sides have committed to this escalation and it's hard to see how it how it gets you know where the off of them are but the u.s. says its killing of cars some sort of money in an air strike was in response to an attack in iraq in which a u.s. contractor died and for which the u.s. blames iran and iran huge crowds have been in mourning. and demanding revenge for so money's death an immediate diplomatic solution to the crisis seems unlikely . both sides have to be really through engage in diplomacy and right now i fear that i do not see that i do not see either side the iranian or the american willing to do the things necessary to engage in diplomacy. iran wants u.s. forces to permanently leave the gulf region and it says there will be a harsh response to any further u.s.

retaliation rob matheson al jazeera. iran's president says revenge for saddam on his assassination will include seeing the u.s. kicked out of the middle east. that says soleimani as these him are all very close of the head of do soleimani juice or his revered hand me his body in videos and pictures the revenge for venice is to force america out of this region the real revenge of the ultimate response by regional nations as we america is expelled from this region and its head of aggression its counsel for eva. let's go live now to the iranian capital was there a store such a body is there for a so as we saw door so iran's leaders have been speaking today the supreme leader said that the missile strikes were a slap in the face for the us what else did he say. yes he was speaking at an event that was scheduled event to commemorate the

anniversary of the uprising prior to the revolution in the holy city of form the supreme leader's position is that this was just a taste of what is to come if the united states doesn't leave this region the supreme leader said that the assassination of possum solo money is something that is unforgivable and crosses to the country's red lines of course the supreme leader was very close to the late general they were very close friends for over 4 decades so the money received the highest military order from the supreme leader just last year and was praise for his work in iran in protecting the iran and its borders and also protecting their regional security and security of the middle east the supreme leader has said that this is just the beginning it's a sample of what could be in store for the united states and its troops should they not listen to the calls that iran is making demanding that the united states

withdraw completely from the middle east we've also heard this from the foreign minister the defense minister as well as the president so this is really the ultimate goal here following the assassination the iranians say they don't want war but. the united states leave this region completely that is really where this confrontation is heading somebody thinks needs to run let's go to washington then a white house correspondent kimberly how could is the kimberly the president about to speak so far will he spoke said about this iranian attack was his tweet last night when he said that all is well. yeah it seems that the president is by himself a little bit of time to perhaps do a bit of a battle damage assessment even though he said initially that if iran were to attack u.s. interests that he would respond without hesitation in fact at times he had a very strong tone sometimes on twitter in all caps saying that he would deploy brand new beautiful red weaponry that he would retaliate against the attacks but

we've not seen some of the immediacy that those tweet suggested just the opposite well you said there would be no hesitation it appears that's exactly what's going on now there has been and are you have from some of the president's supporters that instead he is showing restraint and that he will respond at the time of his choosing while watching very carefully for the president's remarks that were taking place in the grand foyer of the white house we know the president has a prepared speech there too teleprompter set up so we know that this we very different from some of the rallies where the president speaks off the cuff what we're watching very carefully though is secure an explanation from this president what's going on because the strategy at times has been somewhat chaotic now this is an opportunity for the president to show consistency something he's not known for committing many thanks indeed kennedy how kapan live in washington let's go to baghdad now some wonderful teen is simona iraq's prime minister has been

speaking about this attack today what did he say. well he condemned the attack calling it once again a violation of iraqi sovereignty but many feel that his statement was not as strong as it should have been given the infringement that took place of this iranian attack with for example have sunni parliamentarians who came out and said that the government's response so far to this crisis has been extremely weak and that it hasn't done enough to really deescalate the situation here and of course many are also comparing his response to his reactions to the u.s. strike that killed some sort of as well as hundreds that strike of course was also a violation of iraqi sovereignty but many feel that he. did took a much stronger stance he called it a aggression against iraq a state and he subsequently called for a full withdrawal off foreign troops including u.s. troops from iraq so it appears that the prime minister's response is not really

even handed here so many many thanks indeed 0 sum of 14 reporting live from baghdad iraq's foreign ministry has just said that it will summon iran's ambassador to work a jacked to the missile attack with me here in the studio is my one bashar a serious senior political analyst moment iran's foreign minister job serif tweeted after the missile attack saying that iran took and concluded proportional measures in self-defense does that mean that as far as iran is concerned it's taken its revenge that it's over. you know it's possible i think their way they sold this thing to their public is that this is a huge operation it's a slap when the fish to the through the to the united states and that you know scores of americans have died than so on so forth so in us far as public perception there certainly did manage to settle the sort of

a thing on the other hand as we all know of the oddly a told the iraqis and their uk is told the americans and their americans basically went on to the bunker and this was more of a stop on the wrist than a stop on the face do you give any credence this theory that seems to be doing the rounds certainly in the the administration in washington that that iran deliberately missed its to out it's in the do paid was in the very a very accurate strike that's possible again we are also now in the midst of this information warfare between the united states and iran on the on public perception and that's why i would love to address something that our our course on that in washington just said the but in consistencies you know it's probably important to underline that while a president traum might have been in consistent on the details but he has been quite consistent on the overall strategy there isn't much that he did over the last 3 years he didn't promise to do during the campaign including such as woods are all

from syria the war and dire the hostility towards iran hiking up that and as and he's desired to would throw out of iraq so while he might been a might be inconsistent in some statements on the likes but in the over old strategy over this president he's been quite consistent and i would say i add while sumps see him as unpredictable i think this is sort of an the unpredictability with then the all for all of predictability of this person or ed so what more can we expect from this address that he's about to give to to the nation of it is a going to say something big something important about about this of been it must me. especially that he did not say it last night after that meeting his lieutenants you know the defense minister in song or it must be something substantial and i would say the following he probably did not expect the all this hoopla to happen especially the reaction from iraq and the iraqis and so on so for but that's what makes this president and allow me here to be

a bit technical in the term. there are 2 terms for leaders a visionary and a maverick this president is no visionary he does not and he does not show he does not articulate any major vision of sort and then the various steps towards that but he is certainly proven maverick in what sense a visionary looks forward and then of voids the problems that are coming up he knows how to do that in the vision a maverick is always in trouble but always finds good way to get out of trouble if you remember trump during the campaign every other day they would say he's done the campaign is dead and yet he was elected president now it is we say the impeachment is and they preachment that on the war in iran and this president is done with but he always seems with such tenacity to be able to rebound or at so let's speculate for a moment pure speculation is he going to announce something about the withdrawal of

u.s. forces from iraq which surely that it's too soon to do that isn't it i so is to is still active in the area and right now if he makes that sort of announcement it appears that iran has won i think it's not it's doesn't suit the character of this very particular person of the show man to be showing any weakness so i think we're going to probably going to hear i'm sorry to be making such a prediction but i think we probably hear 2 things at the same time one a projection of force projection of ultimatum a projection of you know a clear out warning to iran and others that america is serious about the use of its force and at the same time under this threat of the use of force to say we are tired of this area these are centuries old conflicts on the license on so forth and we want to redeploy as i've always said i want to do redeploy from the hot spots of this region we don't need their oil we don't need this and that 'd we don't have to be dependent on them and we probably going to take our own measures to protect our

own nation and make america great again will. we're still waiting to hear what the president is actually going to say that national address was due to begin what now 15 minutes ago and the world waits soon as the president does begin to speak will be there live at the white house here on al-jazeera for the moment though we'll move on to work the rest of the day's news and the other big story that we're following right now the crash of a ukrainian passenger plane in iran the boeing 737 went down shortly after taking off from turkey all 176 passengers and crew on board were killed among them was 63 canadians canada's prime minister justin trudeau is calling for a foreign and transparent investigation manoli reports. a ukraine international airline 737 bound for kiev reduced to smoke and wreckage. all those on board killed. rescue crew and emergency personnel pick through what's

left branson mom home any airport. video released on social media shows a faint light flickering and then a fireball. the boeing jet set off from town early on wednesday after being delayed put almost an hour. but fortunately it didn't question the reason into area but the wreckage has scarce it around the gardens of villas within a large radius nobody has survived. this mother and father a flight attendant on ukraine international airlines who waiting for his arrival in kiev now they're waiting for any news or tools. my son is a senior flight attendant my daughter called at 615 this morning to say that in the u.s. they were reporting that a plane had crashed a ukrainian international airlines plane that she asked were equal or was flying to

and we said teheran and that he would return on the morning flight and then we found the video of the plane crashing. the plane was scheduled to head to boris bill international airport at the ukrainian capital of kiev minutes after the boeing 737-2800 jet left the wrong way it went down in a suburb southwest of the reigning capital. boeing tweeted it's in contact with ukraine international airlines and is ready to provide assistance the 737-2800 is a common single twin engine jet slyness use for short to medium range flights it's an older model in the boeing 737 max that's been grounded for nearly 10 months following 2 deadly crashes it's a huge setback for a company that has tried to regain trust and bring the 77 max back to the skies and boeing would likely have questions to answer 2 from the families of the victims

of this crash. about a manly out. of the aircraft the crashed as you heard in tehran was a boeing 737800 version was developed in the 1990 s. it was 1st flies in july 997 the last 737802 roll off the production line was delivered in december was 5000 of them are in use around the world model supposed to replace at the 737 max has been grounded since last year following 2 crashes. as an aviation wise of air transport world and says that an independent investigation will find out what caused the crash. we have to know did an aircraft vision burning into actually can fly by not can eliminate the fire we don't know the fire if there was an explosion in the engine which of course great so really a difficult situation for an aircraft that it says something about the center's design it's an air of others ukraine in the national debt and is changed with the

max from that grounding because the media of urgently and so on down many questions remain and it is important to know what investigations we'll find out especially we see this in a very sensitive area around here around and the moment iran and the u.s. situation every aircraft let's say it out to 2 engines it can find ways one aircraft an island and it's can't eliminate a fire we don't know which kind of cultic situation maybe was in that aircraft this creates a lot of question marks i also find it not very well placed that make an announcement very early in the morning already it is was a technical error i think for us we need more informations because we can announce things like death so many questions remain others so i think it will be important and necessary to find a kind of object if neutral investigation team to this situation at least 4 people

have been killed by a car bomb near somalia's presidential palace and exploded at the 1st security checkpoint for the building in the capital mogadishu the armed group al-shabaab has claimed responsibility a week after it carried out another bombing in the city that killed 19 people. before this sound chairman carlos go now has spoken publicly for the 1st time since fleeing trial in japan accusing prosecutors of conspiring with the automaker to force him out of the company got his butt in lebanon since his dramatic escape last week he was out on bail awaiting trial on charges of financial misconduct which he says are baseless. i'm not here to victimize myself i'm here to shed light on a system that violates the most basic principles of humanity i'm here to clear my name and to pronounce clearly. something that was interpreted as the harry z. in the japanese you destroyed system these allegations are untrue and should have

never been arrested in the 1st place al-jazeera zana holder was at that press conference in beirut. he's using this press conference really to prevent to present his defense an international fugitive really but for the lebanese authorities he's not being treated as a criminal he is explaining why he escaped bail why he jumped bail saying that this was the most difficult decision in his life but he's refusing to disclose details on how he managed to escape how he managed to flee japan which really many people were waiting to hear when he arrived in lebanon approximately a week ago his spokesperson released this statement saying that the gone did not escape justice what he was doing was to escape in justice and this is what he has been saying throughout the press conference that in japan the conditions of his the tension were harsh he was not given access to lawyers he was interrogated 8 hours

a day he was not allowed to see his family he repeatedly said that the charges against him are baseless and that the trial he was awaiting trial would not have been fair the justice minister has confirmed that the prosecutor received the interpol red notice and that quote the prosecutor will do its duty as what is its duty is that should someone go in and question him that has still not happen then when the justice minister keeps on repeating that there is no extradition treaty many people see this as a him or an indication that lebanon will not be handing it will not behind them goes on over but more importantly person has friends high up among lebanese officials in power turkey and russia calling for all warring parties in libya to reach a ceasefire by january 12th this coming sunday in a joint statement but i want to draw to me a person called for stability in libya that could lead to quote a normalizing of daily life and crisis deploying troops to support the

internationally recognized government in tripoli in the fight against the war. and that statement on the cease fire was a. after the russian russian president's meant to inaugurate a pipeline in istanbul that's known as turks stream allows russia to sell more gas to europe bypassing ukraine stream pipeline starts in the southern russian town of a runs more than 900 kilometers deep under the black sea to the turkish town of. it can transport over 30000000000 cubic meters of natural gas a year half of that will be delivered southern europe servicing up to 3 percent of the use current needs russia already supplies around 40 percent of europe's gas routes is important because it helps russia bypass supply lines through ukraine which now faces losing billions in gas transit fees the $2.00 countries have been in conflict since 2014 al-jazeera. is in istanbul she says the pipeline is one of

marriott many areas of cooperation between turkey and russia. the spite of by lay troll prices back in 2015 after turkey shut down the russian fighter jet by its southern border and this project was halted and back in 20172 leaders the scientists of a build this project again and this is the 2nd direct pipeline carrying gas from russia to turkey and it is seen as a seal of unbreakable turkey and russia relations and at the 2 the name turks stream actually was given by the russian president vladimir putin both leaders are drawn and put to see this project the spy line as a connection between the 2 countries not only for providing a secure energy natural gas from a rush out to europe but also as a secure line of political relations turkey russia relations are not only based on

energy supplies or economic relations as you know 2 countries have been allied in the region when it comes to syria when it comes to iraq they're actually keeping the different forms in libya and turkey supports the u.n. recognized government jna it russia supports the house thoroughly for hot start in libya but it seems to leaders discussed libya the tension in iraq the humanitarian condition it and truck and russia are also expected to provide mady ation for libya as well. well we've had the year to put it warning president trump should be with us shortly to begin that address to the nation that was due to get underway some 25 minutes ago was one of the reasons it's running so lace is that. britain's prime minister boris johnson spokesperson has said that he and president trump have been talking and discussed the missile strikes on iraqi bases

that they've agreed to keep in touch so president trump due to address the nation after iran fired more than a dozen missiles from its territory into a base hosting u.s. forces in iraq the assad base in anbar province now around the same time just coming up to speed with the developments according to iraq missiles also hit a base in a bill $22.00 of them were fired in total and there were no iraqi casualties however iran says that it only fired missiles at that one base in anbar province and so far we've heard from president trump on this is a tweet yesterday washington time just after the attacks in iraq saying that all is well so we have president

trump entering the room along with some of his. senior. cabinet ministers the vice president and secretary of state filing into the room we await the president trump who is about to appear at any moment. he does like to keep people waiting in the name. it's just remind you that iran's strikes. overnight. middle east time were in retaliation for the killing of iran's top military

commander general sum of money in a u.s. airstrike last friday so the money was buried in his hometown come on just hours off of those strikes by iran wednesday and. a real sense of fear to hear president trump entering the room let's listen in. as long as i'm president of the united states iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon good morning i'm pleased to inform you the american people. should be extremely grateful and happy no americans were harmed in last night's attack by the iranian regime. we suffered no casualties all of our soldiers are safe and only minimal damage was sustained at our military base it's

a great american forces are prepared for anything iran appears to be standing down which is a good thing for all parties concerned and a very good thing for the world. no american or iraqi lives were lost because of the precautions taken the dispersal of forces and an early warning system that worked very well i salute the incredible skill and courage of america's men and women in uniform for far too long all the way back to 1979 to be exact nations have tolerated iran's destructive and stabilizing behavior in the middle east and beyond. those days are over iran has been the leading sponsor of terrorism and their pursuit of nuclear weapons

threatens the civilized world we will never let that happen last week we took decisive action to stop a ruthless terrorist from threatening american lives at my direction the united states military eliminated the world's top curse to. solo many as the head of the cuts force solomon he was personally responsible for some of the absolutely worst atrocities he trained terrorists armies including hezbollah launching terrorist strikes against civilian targets he field bloody civil wars all across the region he viciously wounded and murdered thousands of u.s. troops including the planting of roadside bombs that maim and dismember their

victims sala maney directed the recent attacks on u.s. personnel in iraq that badly wounded 4 service members and killed one american and he orchestrated the violent assault on the u.s. embassy in baghdad in recent days he was planning new attacks on american targets but we stopped him solomon he's hands were drenched in both american and iranian blood he should have been terminated long ago by removing solemn a we have sent a powerful message to terrorists if you value your own life you will not threaten the lives of our people. as we continue to evaluate options in response to rein in aggression the united states will immediately impose additional punishing economic sanctions on the iranian regime these powerful sanctions will remain

until iran changes its behavior in recent months alone iran is see ships in international waters fired an unprovoked strike on saudi arabia and shot down 2 u.s. drones iran's hostility substantially increased after the foolish iran nuclear deal was signed in 2013 and they were given 150000000000 dollars not to mention 1800000000 dollars in cash instead of saying thank you to the united states they chanted death to america in fact they chanted death to america the day the agreement was signed then iran went on a terrorist spree funded by the money from the deal and created hell in yemen syria lebanon afghanistan and iraq the missiles fired

last night at us and our allies were paid for with the funds made available by the last administration the regime also greatly tightened the reins on their own country even recently killing 1500 people at the many protests that are taking place all throughout iran the very defective jay c.p.o. way expires shortly anyway and gives iran a clear and quick path to nuclear breakout iran must abandon his nuclear ambitions and end its support for terrorism the time has come for the united kingdom germany france russia and china to recognize this reality they must now break away from the remnants of the iran deal .