one on al jazeera. the u.s. hits iran with more sanctions one of the commanders targeted says brush them off as symbolic. meanwhile canada is pushing for more access to the investigation into what a passenger jet in iraq. well again i am peter w. watching al-jazeera live from doha also coming up the u.n. security council renews a syrian aid operation and scales it back to avoid a russian veto. voting begins for elections that are expected to keep taiwan's pro independence leader in power to the annoyance of china.

the u.s. has imposed additional sanctions on iran in retaliation for the iranian missile attack on u.s. forces in iraq they targeted iran's manufacturing and mining industries as well as 8 senior officials white house correspondent can be healthy it has more already americans are under attack what are we tensions between the united states and iran still escalating on friday the u.s. secretary of state and treasury secretary and oust more sections against iran in retaliation for its attack on iraq the military bases used by u.s. troops the president has been very clear we will continue to apply economic sanctions until iran stops its terrorist activities and commit that it will never have nuclear weapons the sanctions target or raw and steel iron trade construction mining and techs. tile industries are also saying sins against 8 senior iranian

officials the trumpet ministration says are responsible for spreading violence throughout the broader middle east. but how bring over the trump administration are questions about last week's killing of iranian general custom soleimani assassination the white house says was necessary to save american lives without offering proof that the threat was imminent this was going to happen. and american lives were at risk and we would have been culpably negligent as the chairman of joint chiefs of staff said we would have been culpably negligent and we now recommended the president that he take this action a custom so the money. the sanctions come as the u.s. is at odds with iraq over the future of its soldiers in that country or solo mommy was killed the killing has fueled calls for the americans to leave roughly $5000.00 troops are made as part of the global coalition to defeat eisel on friday the iraqi

government said it wants a u.s. delegation to visit iraq to plan for a withdrawal but the u.s. says it's not pulling out as times change and we get to a place where we can deliver upon what i believe the president believes is a right structure with fewer resources dedicated to that mission we will do so. pump ale says any delegation sent to iraq will be for the purpose of discussing strategic partnerships like increasing the role of nato in the region an idea u.s. president donald trump announced this week a nato delegation visited the state department to discuss that prospect of working to develop a plan which will get burden sharing right in the region as well despite once calling nato obsolete president trump says nato now must be expanded to include middle east nations to reduce tensions and to assist in the fight against eisel it's an issue he insists is an international problem can really help get al-jazeera

the white house dosage bar is in tehran she says a commander who's named on the sanctions list isn't too worried. we've been hearing from one of those people who have been sanctioned most and reza a who is part of the expediency council of iran he's a former head of iran's revolutionary guards he's just commented about being under u.s. sanctions he said that it's not going to this is more of a symbolic gesture and it's actually a point of pride for him to be sanctioned by the u.s. government and that's really how many see these sanctions on these individuals here it's really not something that affects them on of their reality of their lives they don't have any property or funds in the united states they don't travel to the united states so the sanctions don't really have practical ramifications for them they're seen more of a symbolic gesture he is one of the 8 individuals who has been sanctioned another important figure to point out is the honey who's the secretary of the supreme

national security council that is an organization that is headed by the president that is in charge of dealing with iran's foreign policy as well as making decisions about the country's nuclear program under the supervision of the supreme leader so these figures are the next the latest batch of sanctions they don't really see it as having any real tangible effects but the one thing to point out is these sanctions are seen as a further acts hostile acts by the u.s. government against iranian officials coming at the heel of the assassination of major general hossam silly money which is seen as an act of war here canadian government officials are poised to travel to iran to deal with the often the cranium crash which killed 67 of its citizens they say there's evidence suggesting that the airplane was brought by an iranian missile a claim tehran denies the kind that was foreign minister speaking a short time ago said they're still waiting for visas for the crash investigation team. we repeat our call for

a full and general and vista geisha we have a team of officials from global affairs canada and the transportation safety board in place in ankara in turkey to date the iranians have issued 2 visas and we expect the other visas will be granted soon so we can begin providing consular services help with the advent of fixation of the victims and obviously participate in the investigation. iran has given ukraine access to the black box flight recorders from that aircraft 176 people were killed in total several governments and sharing information with each other about what may have caused the crash castiel it has for the un as more and thus a gator's are hoping these black boxes will provide answers on what caused the ukrainian plane to crash into iran shortly after takeoff killing all 176 passengers

on board the u.s. has shared its until with ukraine and the country's foreign minister says iran is cooperating send a special command there to the the team has gained access to the black boxes 1st we plan to begin reconstruction of the conversations before the crash we also have access to the records of dispatches of the flight control center at tehran airport and our pilots. the u.s. canada and other western governments say the plane was brought down by in a rainy and misfile probably by mistake iran has denied responsibility but international pressure is mounting and now nato is looking into the investigation the plane may have been downed by iranian air defenses systems that's exactly why we need a photo we know it's the geisha and that's exactly why we need to establish all the facts. iran has that the plane had mechanical problems it has invited international experts from france ukraine canada and the u.s.

to examine the wreckage and what it could reveal about the crash possibly a little pulse of sailed right at the end of the recording that would be indicative of a ball morning explosion looking the other way around the wreckage would be looking for holes in the wreckage that might be caused by something exploding outside or something exploding inside. shortly before the plane crash iran launched missiles targeting the u.s. military in iraq western leaders believe iran's air defense forces likely on high alert made a mistake and mistook the ukrainian commercial plane for a possible counterattack but some ukrainian and russian lawmakers have said that's just one theory if you do so little the people he said would know there are all sorts of a teams to quickly blame this accident to iran i believe it's unacceptable to speak out on the so quickly. a plane crash that's turned into an international investigation that could complicate the regional tensions even further katia llopis

with a yawn al-jazeera. and we're getting some breaking news coming to us from amman we're being told that the sultan of oman has passed away that's it that's all we know at the moment. members of course of the al side dynasty is the ruling family in amman has been the ruling family in a man's. since the middle of the 18th century and since july the 23rd 1970. 8 was is the current salts and that's all we know at the moment we are guessing that information coming to us from various sources telling us that the sultan of the sultanate of amman has died will get more on that for you just as soon as we can the u.n. security council has voted to renew an operation to deliver aid to syria but the number of border crossings involved on the length of the operation has been hard to avoid a veto by russia britain's u.n.

ambassador says it will mean deliveries will be in adequate diplomatic editor james bays has the latest from the u.n. in new york. negotiations here at the u.n. security council came right down to the wa they've been negotiating for weeks they tried to get this through this resolution through the end of last month it failed this is something that's been in place for some 6 years allowing aid to go into syria across the border from neighboring countries there were under the previous security council authorization some 4 different border checkpoints that they could bring the aid in through but russia was opposed to that it said they didn't need to have 4 checkpoints anymore 'd it should go down to 2 that has been the argument in recent hours among those leading the negotiations kelly craft the u.s. ambassador she sat down with every single delegation to put try and persuade them that yes they still needed to have those 4 border checkpoints drafting

a resolution was belgium and germany they came under a lot of pressure from russia and in the end they've had to dilute their resolution and in many aspects bowed to what russia wanted and what we now have is a situation of just 2 border checkpoints and then a review in 6 months time certainly that is a blow because one of those border checkpoints coming in from iraq provided aid for about 1300000 people now some of those may still get aid from from other routes are the from one of the other border checkpoints or coming through from damascus but it's pretty clear according to n.g.o.s and humanitarian organizations that there are some who now will not receive a and diplomatically there's been has been a moment where the nest western nations have i think failed in their efforts to try and keep things as they were have been for the last 6 years russia has taken things

to the brink and it's one. the u.s. state department says it will not discuss troop withdrawal with. iraq's prime minister. the u.s. secretary of state sent a delegation to discuss the. request follows the assassination of the iraqi politician. in the. last week on sunday iraq's parliament to expel all american troops from the country. has killed at least 15 people during friday prayers in pakistan another 22 people were injured the explosion in question. which has claimed responsibility is believed to be senior police officer who was among the victims. he says security forces regularly single that's in question and the surrounding region.

still to come here on al-jazeera the world health organization warns a measles outbreak in the democratic republic of congo is the world's fastest moving epidemic. hello the overall it is a fairly quiet picture throughout much of asia but your calves been streaming in of the last few as but not much with it in the way of rain or indeed even snow again through saturday we will see wanted to shout was trying their best to push into these northern sections of honshu some showers like across into as well but really the bulk of the rain is further to the south quite a line of rain really thinking southwards over the weekend but just saying to the north of hong kong say fine enjoy a few with a high that of 20 celsius and not bad in shanghai 9 celsius is your high temperature now to the south of there some very heavy rain still across much of

indonesia borneo and also out towards sumatra but even here we have got a slightly better couple of days ahead the rains could still be pretty heavy along these western shores we could still pick up about 10150 millimeters of rain but sunday by sunday it is an improving picture but some heavy rains just pushing into the north and the west of borneo and then india fairly quiet picture here a few more showers likely into most southern states quite a bit of cloud as well it's still feeling cold as well up tools and also just 17 celsius in new delhi on saturday and maybe about the same really on sunday meanwhile out tools west is on the way to karachi with a high of 22. 0 to 0 expose prominent figures of the 20th century and how valuable research influenced the course of history beginning with the giants of the struggle. for civil rights the method of nonviolent resistance they've miles over the veil of

those who oppress people revenue martin luther king and continue to keep the negroes to be defense that what they mean by that about malcolm x. and martin luther king face to face on 00. welcome back you're watching al-jazeera live from doha let's just get you right up to speed with all our top stories in the past few minutes is being confirmed from muskat that the sultan of oman has passed away he returned from belgium on december the 22nd last year having enjoyed treatment for cancer there was quite

a complex process going on we understand within the royal household in oman trying to find his successor under the basic article 6 law that applied in this kind of situation in oman the royal family the ruling royal family has 3 days in which to choose a successor will get you more on that developing story just in a moment washington has announced a new wave of sanctions on iran in the latest escalation following a u.s. airstrike that killed a top iranian general they will target the steel and iron industries costing tehran billions of $1.08 senior officials have also been sanctioned. the u.n. security council has voted to renew a 6 year long cross border operation delivering aid to millions of syrians but the number of crossings and the length of the authorization behind it's well they've been hard to avoid a russian veto. let's get more on the breaking news coming to us out of the death of sultan qaboos for inside al sayed he's ruled since 1970 but he had suffered

illness over recent years rob matheson looks back at his life. it was an only son born in 1942 a life of royal privilege and to a father he would overthrow 30 years later what he did basically is modernizing the country opening the country to outsiders and thirdly looking at the domestic politics and try to move on to state formation where building is institutions and related elements sort unco bourse was educated in oman and then at a private school in the u.k. before graduating from sandhurst military academy and serving in the british army for several months on his return to a man in 1966 his determination to modernize his country is said to have been ignored by his father. 4 years later backed by the british sultan qaboos seize the

throne he was immediately plunged into his 1st crisis an uprising by communists in though far in the south of a man who wanted independence it took a further 6 years before the fighting ended with the man being supported by forces from britain jordan and iran. are man's links with iran as well as its foreign policy of maintaining good relations with other neighboring countries have made it one of the main negotiators in the gulf a man basically rely on it is on understanding of geopolitics. being realistic and also maintaining his own legacy of being you know the oldest state. experience in the gulf as a whole that flexible foreign policy has been controversial in october $2800.00 sort on caboose met israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu in the omani capital muscat the meeting dismayed critics who said arab states should not be hosting

israeli leaders until peace was established between israel and the palestinians a man's. modern minister said his country was simply facilitating efforts towards negotiations. so i had rarely been seen in public since he went through lengthy medical treatment in germany in 2015 he was unmarried and had neither children nor siblings and he did not publicly name a successor the foreign policy already was i would say dynamic brad matic and also open to. the idea of engaging with the international community and that's that true dimension make me i think make me believe that we should not expect a major change now the world waits to see who will replace a man who modernized his small gulf nation and maintained a delicate balance of loyalties in an often unstable region. matheson

reporting on the news that the sultan of oman has passed away we'll get more on that for you just as soon as we can the u.s. navy says one of its warships has been aggressively approached by a russian naval vessel in the north arabian sea. destroyer u.s.s. farragut sounded its horn 5 times the international maritime signal warning of the danger of collision but the russian ship continued to move closer russia's defense ministry denied the allegation saying the farragut cut across the path of their ship polls open for taiwan's presidential and legislative elections opinion polls suggest the incumbent president saying one is ahead of her challenger in saturday's elections the taiwanese are being closely watching the crackdown on anti-government protesters in hong kong nearby hong kong scott hietala joins us live from the capital taipei scott good morning what are the big issues here.

good morning the big issues are just that really looking only about 7 o'clock the way what's been happening in hong kong and how china has been dealing with the situation there and overall but the one country 2 systems approach that china has to taiwan and to hong kong a lot of people here are concerned about that so this election that many here view as more than just electing a president and a legislature. early last year taiwan's president saw in whens political future was on shaky ground her popularity had slumped after a party performed poorly in regional elections she resigned as party chair with some advising her not to seek reelection but then came a lifeline from an unexpected source china giving her and her democratic progressive party a new hope. the crackdown on the pro-democracy protesters in hong kong shifted the political rhetoric in taiwan. many grew concerned about china's growing influence

he says beijing ramped up pressure on the island and president sadat. the younger generation born into an autonomy and democratic taiwan see this election as about something much more than selecting leaders education a stand against china's one country 2 systems policy. this time this election is no action to choose which president or legislators but those say alexion is an election to choose whether to and that's going to be a part of china or be independent country some see the election reaching through generations and the island at an existential crossroads it was about taiwan's policy toward china it is about our own body. the 1st political party of modern taiwan woman tang or candy is led by hans will you he said the path to glory for taiwan is not just on cd the d.p.p. but warmer ties with china. the opposition came to says that their approach to

china has been about engagement that's because the economy here is so over law it's business intriguing with the mailing came to the candidates say they offer a more realistic frustrates relationship the less confrontational than the ruling the d.p.p. i think what's at stake today as we speak is more than just the so-called and how china or safeguarding democracy and sovereignty this is also a larger picture of what would taiwan be positioned economically in the years to come. so as the 19000000 eligible voters head to the polls are voting with the economy in mind or the future of the democracy here the result will carve the political path for the next 4 years but also taiwan's position in the region for you. years to come. and they're going to be the next 7 and a half hours of polling across this island now were the last presidential election

4 years ago saw 66 percent turnout rate we're expecting that to be above 70 percent because the importance of this election now we're at the elementary school here in downtown tight and of a 7 and a half hours of polling to go on here there were some lines when we went out just before 8 o'clock local time when the polling started work spec'ing that still go throughout the day now polling closes at 4 pm local time we expect to hear early results and possibly a declarations by the candidates probably about 2 or 3 hours after that scott thanks very much less for saying to that breaking news of the man the death of sultan qaboos been sidel side join us on the phone from london is hooshang haasan yeah he's a professor of international relations and security issues at sultan qaboos university. ok let's just can i just ask you 1st on house on jani to share your thoughts with us at this difficult time for a mom. it's

a shocking news of do. you eat a steak if you come there because it's so different was to see their recent event to belgium or had treatment there and he changed back share his hue days after he noted that that was his sign dat the treatment was not be sexist with all due to or didn't we need. to hear he was ok but that he's going to be a crazy big neurons to put on my knees there and help some people. how do you think he'll be remembered. remember. that. he was somebody. to cure them are to try. stone age you can say to a very very modern society. 50 years ago you know there was

already one or 2 schools. prevision schools and now there are so many universities in terms of people prosperity to same here in the 2nd world war. you could find a very very crude. market but now. there's revenue per capita. as a. good place among the nations and also maybe more importantly he's somebody who brought some peace and security to a modern east but also you see better protection. in his foreign policy this is why oman was almost the only case with that east where believe it's could negotiate talk to. try to resolve problems you could if you didn't have such an example in the entire region. even just in the past year or so he was

still doing that thing that he's known to have been very good at that kind of him ali and to fact we were looking at pictures of him just now in 2019 in the company of the u.s. secretary of state mike pump a.o. and one remembers in 2018 oman was playing a quiet but pivotal role in the u.n. driven desire to get peace in yemen when the u.n. special envoy to yemen was shuttlecock ing around the region oman was was folding itself into that hopefully equation trying to achieve peace in yemen. indeed. most can't be happy to out of all monies to place. who he's used to go it is to be down on that used to going to go shoot. this is wrong if you look at the almost water quality dip a result of months for quality on noninterference in this country to fade

out on so doing on taking this to your. face. out of that point is he was no child activity. or. meeting. or monkey policy open are. inspected was. to place to go in or days to find or to negotiate for peace and security you mentioned those things may be one of the most discoursed things down pretty. good for you plus one we create power negotiations for didn't ok i came in to everything you started you know months long before it became public.

and then laws. so this is basically. who seems to. have getting his time as he is now. and the consequent evil as the country is very small the 10s of economy today sion capability on all of those issues that nevertheless on how to taste among the nations. we say unique case of our nation because of the. majesty's politicians ok we'll leave it on how sunyata thank you very much for joining us here on al-jazeera.

top story this hour here on al-jazeera as we've just been reporting sultan qaboos been sighted all side who's ruled a man since 1970 has died after an illness he was 79 years old he recently traveled to belgium for a medical check up he never officially named a successor in other news washington has announced a new wave of sanctions on iran in the latest escalation following a u.s. airstrike that killed a top iranian general they'll target the steel and iron industries costing tehran billions of $1.08 senior officials have also been sanctioned the u.n. security council has voted to renew a 6 year long cross border operation delivering aid to millions of syrians but the number of crossings and the length of the authorization well they've been halved to avoid a russian veto canadian government officials are poised to travel to iran to deal with the aftermath of the ukrainian air crash which killed $57.00 of its people they say there's evidence suggesting that the plane was brought down by an iranian

missile a claim that the authorities in tehran have tonight. the u.s. state department says it will not discuss troop withdrawal with iraqi governments this comes after the iraqi prime minister. asked the u.s. secretary of state might pompei o to send a delegation to baghdad to discuss the issue marty's request follows the assassination of the iraqi politician. and the iranian commander customs to the money last week on sunday iraq's parliament voted to expel all american troops from the country. those are your headlines the news continues here on al-jazeera after inside story i'll have a summary in often i'll see. what

coulter ukrainian plane to crash in tehran iran brigette found a geisha as it mistakenly shot it down but ukraine and western countries pushing for evidence so will the truth behind this crash be revealed and code that play into a wider political conflict this is inside story. hello and welcome to the program i'm dennis now they have been claims counterclaims and outright denials the head of iran's civil aviation.