this is d.w. news live from berlin the u.s. and iran stepping back from the brink. the american people. should be extremely grateful and happy no americans were harmed. in last night's attack by the iranian regime u.s. president promising more sanctions against iran but says he wants peace not war and questions remain word the iranian air strikes in iraq last night the only iranian

retaliation also coming out more than 170 people killed when a ukrainian passenger plane crashes near tehran airports all passengers and crew aboard the plane when they went down shortly after takeoff. i'm brant coffee it's good to have you with us tonight a retreat from the u.s. president says that iran appears to be standing down in its confrontation with the united states while he himself has not threatened any further military action against tehran the u.s. president spoke today at the white house just hours after iran launched a missile attack on military bases housing u.s. troops in iraq iran claimed that at least 80 americans had died in that attack

today trump confirmed that no lives no american no iraqi lives were lost. a crucial and highly anticipated moment no americans were harmed. in last night's attack by the iranian regime. we suffered. all of our soldiers are safe and orderly minimal damage was sustained at military bases or donald trump confirming no troops were injured or killed in iran's missile attack meant there was no need to escalate tensions between the 2 countries. it's all about the iranian state television had earlier claimed missiles fired by iran's forces had killed 80 u.s. soldiers at the ein al assad air base in iraq because. the attack was an act of revenge for the killing of top military commander general kasim any the move has

been widely welcomed across iran. crowds chanting death to america as iran's supreme leader ayatollah ali how many tell them their message has been delivered. od. a sledder force delivered last night but what is important is that the seditious presence of america. in the region should be and it. was the country's foreign minister also spoke out. said very clearly that if the united states takes any further action respond accordingly and we will respond in a very harsh way but proportionately united stunnel trump and did promise further

action but in form of economic sanctions military confrontation it appears has been averted for now. and for more on that i'm joined tonight by hussein but now he's an assistant professor of international studies at the university of indiana he's also a middle east analyst it's good to see you again professor so today we saw the u.s. president donald trump in obvious deescalation mode is that the how tehran is perceiving it do you think and if they are seeing that is it too little too late aaron getting it that way i think they are glad that the president is seeing their response or should know it. as well because they themselves were worried that this could very easily get. out of hand i think iran made a calculated response to what they regarded to be a violation of international law and they wanted to be seen as responding in

a way that was commensurate with their obligations under international law and they're happy that it's been received that way by washington as as well it seems though that both iran and the the united states are stepping back from a military confrontation but there may be digging in their heels when it comes to the positions that they have these of the $1.00 and $1.00 another the u.s. president trump saying that new punishing economic sanctions will be slapped on iran how is tehran going to react to that. much as it happened for i think nothing about the fundamentals of the relationship have changed because of the events of the last few days i think iran still very much would like to see the united states' military presence in the region to be decreased if not eliminated altogether and the united states would very much like iran to negotiate a might touch stringent nuclear agreements under the presidency of donald trump

and i think they're both locking horns over those objectives and even though their ship came to the brink of really military catastrophe in the last 48 hours or so i think they're both glad to kind of go back to that default position to sizing their grievances against one another and trying to cajole the other side to come to the table under the terms that is for by the other side of that and the u.s. president today demanding that the g c p a way of the iran nuclear deal finally you know with his words be put away forever to history he thinks is a terrible deal he wants that to happen he said well he may be willing to negotiate a new deal but he also said he wanted more nato in the middle east. do that do any of these seem realistic to you. you know i think the irony in all this

is that what has triggered this. long crisis in relationship between iran and the united states was really shortsighted with your all of the united states from that deal to begin with it is unclear why if this administration had such a problem with iran's nuclear program why they didn't try to work within the confines of that deal to perhaps you know achieve longer sunset clauses on iran's enrichment capacity or any of the number of grievances that they have against iran to really work on those within the confines of that deal by pulling out all together they really triggered an unnecessary crisis that they're finding themselves was very costly indeed and could really destabilize the region and that would have an adverse effect especially on american interests and i think that not to nato in that regard is to really account for the fact that united states has

badly alienated its nato allies by pulling out of that deal and by signaling to them that they should be more involved i think it's proper perhaps an acknowledgment that they could act as interim miry needier is between iran and the united states once again you know and you know it is ironic the u.s. president once said that nato is obsolete and now he's calling on them to do more in the middle east reza hussein but i joining us tonight from indianapolis as a thank you as it's thank you and here's some of the other stories now that are making headlines around the world are russia's president vladimir putin has met his turkish counterpart richard pryor for everyone to inaugurate a new gas pipeline the turks stream pipeline opens up a new export route for russian gas to turkey and europe meeting followed putin's surprise christmas visit to syria. european commission president. was in london

today for talks on she told prime minister boris johnson that it is unrealistic to expect a post by exit trade deal by the end of this year the u.k. is due to leave the european union at the end of this month more than $170.00 people have died after a ukrainian passenger jet crashed in iran it's not yet clear what brought the plane down the ukraine international airlines jet was on its way from iran's capital tehran to kenya ukraine's president. has broken off a foreign visit to return to kiev because of the crash the president says that ukraine will be sending a search and rescue team to iran tonight. a field of burning debris lights up the sky the terror on. the apparent remnants of the ukraine international airlines flight that crashed shortly after takeoff from the iranian capital. iranian t.v.

stations are the 1st to broadcast images of the crash including this mobile phone video which appears to show the plane going down. it's daybreak that reveals the extent of the destruction and the human toll. the plane was carrying 167 passengers and 9 crew members from several different countries mainly iran and canada. about it that much nobody survived all the passengers a day. at the international airport in kiev the arrivals board lists the flight that would never arrive. people here are distraught this man thinks his son was in fact on the plane but it wasn't yes most of. my son is a senior flight attendant. iranian and ukrainian officials have both blamed mechanical problems for the crash but the airline says it's still trying to determine the

cause. a statement by ukraine international airlines said the plane was one of the best in its fleet and that the aircraft had passed a safety check just 2 days earlier. as iranians mourn another tragedy ukraine's president and others have warned against speculating about a potential link to the current flare up in iran u.s. tensions however current events are very much on people's minds. after well you know they didn't i was watching the news of the reunions hitting us pieces with missiles after 10 minutes i heard a massive explosion and all the hoses started to shake there was fire everywhere at 1st i thought the americans have fired missiles and i went into the basement to take shelter said fms is an infant. and a few hours after the crash the ukrainian embassy in iran released a statement saying the crash was not a result of terrorism that statement was later redacted. as investigators search

for answers a number of airlines have suspended flights over iranian airspace and on the ground emergency workers are getting on with the grim task of recovering the dead. bizarre tragedy for more on that we want to talk now to steven wright he's an aviation expert professor professor of aircraft systems at temple university in finland it's good to have you on the program you know we heard there in the story that initially the ukrainian embassy in iran had put alge in its release that the accident was not caused by terrorism and then terrorism was amid from that release what do you make of that i think they were the action of the state. could have been. trying to see the bigger picture. because i don't know if we had the that the military action from iran against the. devices in

iraq which were being. occupied by the american forces and when you then have. a civil aviation croft calmed down you could understand the. the the cautiousness decide not i don't think it's this it's something quite different and i'm sure in hindsight as they've been told about what they've said that perhaps thought well maybe we've been a little bit forward thinking maybe we need to have a few more facts before making these these very powerful statements because it would it would be an incredible coincidence if the plane goes down at the same time you've got these air strikes taking place. but what do we know about the safety of this aircraft i mean this was not an aircraft that we would say yeah maybe you know maybe it did crash because of mechanical error right. that's possible 75.

737 i understood it's a mature aircraft it was launched in the not around the year 2000. member it being launched because i went to see it at farnborough and it brings quite a lot of new technology and in the years that. the manufacturing and i met my quite a lot it's got a really good safety record so again it's a bit quick to say it's this aircraft that it's go i checkered history because it has and it's a good plane and as long as it's my only if the foam is really really well hence its popularity. that was aviation expert stephen wright speaking with me earlier it's all in what sounds like an episode of the popular netflix series the crown tonight a report from london that britain's prince harry and his american born wife plan to step back from their duties as senior members of the british royal family prince harry and meghan have just returned from a 6 week stay in canada in

a statement they said that they would continue to support the queen but wish to become financially independent and balance their time between britain and north america. we want you to view news channels of next with you business news speaking of being financially independent stick around for to. kill that by. that time and in the end it's a me you're not allowed to stay here anymore we will send you that. are you familiar with this. with the smugglers with lions and the what's your story ready. i'm a woman and women especially in victims of violence. take part.