king at the findings and coming up with saying no there's pretty much no evidence that was behind those attacks this is all really part of the ongoing blame game between tell of the. the iranians claim that the israelis have been behind a two year campaign of assassinations on their nuclear scientists well on choose day in bangkok what we've seen is a rainy and none taken into custody by thai police after an explosion two explosions in bangkok injured several people there now it's really media very very quick to point the finger of terror towards that iranian man who's being detained there so this is all part of as i say a blame game that's ongoing between tell of eve. and in fifteen minutes we hear about the pitfalls of the western approach to dealing with iran from brian becker a member of the antiwar air circle ocean here's a preview of the interview. the u.s. says they're not carrying out regime change but in fact everyone who is watching

knows that indeed is the u.s. policy to create pressure on iran carry out overt operate covert operations economic sanctions and now these new sanctions are not really even like the old saying they are saying to the rest of the world if you dare do business with iran central bank if you buy iranian oil which constitutes half of iran's g.n.p. if you have any business with iran whatsoever you will not have access to american banks to american corporations to the american market this is in fact a blockade. take a look now at some other stories making headlines across the globe a radical muslim cleric with alleged ties to al qaeda is said to have been bin laden's right hand man has been released from prison on bail in the u.k. extremist preacher has been a locked up for six years but last week the tribunal ruled he should be freed

british officials say he poses a threat to the country's security but attempts to deport him back to jordan to face terror charges have been blocked by the european court of human rights. serbs in northern kosovo are holding a referendum on whether they accept the current the current rule of the self-proclaimed republic they hope results of the two day vote will add legitimacy to their struggle to reunite with serbia belgrade though as condemning the referendum saying this will complicate dialogue with the breakaway state last summer serbs in the north said a barricades to defy the kosovo government which led to clashes with nato peacekeepers. and finally this news block russia's central t.v. channels have come under pressure criticism for an alleged pro putin bias ahead of next month's presidential vote a group of activists standing for a fair election says reports about the current prime minister and presidential hopeful vladimir putin are too positive which undermines other contenders chances are he looks at how the election hopefuls are making good use of their

a lot of their time. right. yet. so far the most eccentric video in russia's presidential campaign urging to vote for the country's top populist legend is enough ski famous well he's showmanship and occasional fist fights with the little. let's see what we see that this little mangy donkey has become a symbol of our country the whole country has come to a standstill like this animal if i become president we'll get moving again. less than a month to go and five candidates have plastered the streets with election posters desley in view as with t.v. promos heated discussions have become part of everyday life. after. i dug holes in the race the billionaire businessman we hope a lot of promises their arrival of a new russia with a new president known for his height riches and playboy past he's the only new face

on russia's political scene formally and a tourist party animal his reputation was once dented by an international sex scandal which has come back to haunt him on the web we are vegeta help here with our body and soul as for the elections will win them anyway you can buy anything so you can buy your victory to the remaining candidates are some of the a crowd unite is a gun of the old time communist party leader has always relied on pension of voters who form about one third of russia's population now his laurels are contest advice a game it on of from a fair russia party is the notion we can't even afford to milk now whether pensions . the competition has made zyuganov reach out to younger generation and offer them a brand new slogan there's always a choice bloody putin running for his that term has refrained from getting involved in the campaign directly he has controversially refused to take part in any t.v.

debates sending his representatives instead and his promos never show his face or when he doesn't go to television when he's part of st politics when he's a part of television coverage or he's job as prime minister he is there is the only one let's say the only can do that with so many resources so much media attention i think that he wants to show that he's the only real candidate precisely by not going there as the campaign picks up steam it's expected so will the number of street protests both for and against putin and it's likely election two thousand and twelve will be remembered as one that got russians on their feet however the latest opinion polls also show the level of putting the support keeps on growing across the country despite the wave of opposition protests i think that brought us tend to mobilize his core electorate because when people like brought her up are

saying that you know the social benefits from big cut that factories that are in official because that stage would not interfere so much i think that the message that people get across russia is like we should keep putting there's even a song a recent online secession praising the prime minister's virtues sung by supposedly a ten migrant worker it claims was put in by his initials was sent to russia by god . by now less power than many. say the song is clearly too much and is just a clever headaches in the meantime the electoral campaign was on with more surprises likely along the way. party moscow. green is up next for the latest business news stay with us here on r.t.

. hello and welcome to business here in. the world's largest diamond mine a buy i'll put myself a fourteen percent stake in the flotation of a state owned company may take place in the second half of this year demand for diamonds has been picking up in asia and the united states losses main competitive bierce reported a twenty seven percent increase in earnings for two thousand and eleven russian company itself is expected to show a similar growth in sales. from know most banks says that the stock will be a unique opportunity to invest directly into the business. from the company is in no hurry to attract money from the market but probably the i.p.o. for old also is a question of. trade in russia overall the size of that is going to be a. one billion dollars it will give floored comparable to other

russian metals and mining stocks are usually after a public offering companies are sort of becoming more transparent more friendly to the public overall and to investors. well in terms of business and business development that. let's have a look at the markets now exchange rates for us the euro is trading lower against both the dollar and the ruble that's after being down an early age and trading due to rating downgrades by moody's the move by the rating agency also weighs on the ruble which is seeing moderate losses against u.s. currency. could prices are mixed. after the austerity plan approved by the greek parliament and tighten sanctions on iran futures climbed over two percent of the companies in control of more than one hundred tankers they will stop loading cargo from iran nonexecutive valentine's day u.s. investors were hoping for wall street. opens lower weighed down by disappointing

news january retail sales in the united states and continuing economic struggles in europe and markets in europe pulled back in a choppy session banks minors and drug makers are weighing on the move investors are cautious ahead of the eurozone finance ministers meeting on wednesday to approve a second bailout for greece. now let's look at russia so when markets close mixed it with lies it's pointing off an r.t.s. ending in the red let's check of the index move or sell them isaac's lukoil finished over one point one point two percent higher the company plans to invest twenty nine billion dollars in field development in the caspian sea by two thousand and twenty five bank reversed early losses and added point four percent and truck make it come august was among the main gainers own rule was in may the deal would die on there seem shushing call for what else he wraps up the days for us. the metal sector is all performing you know some silly phone banks are doing very well

selected the world was like no us saw continues to do nicely and you know the sentiment in the market. you know some see this trend and grade you appreciation and more warnings on low volumes for them so read a subdued will probably continue. fall that's our best for this hour to get back with more about fifteen minutes to talk of.

resistance not politics but a culture. is could get. on its own. cultures of resistance marching.

eight thirty pm in moscow these iraqi headlines brushes foreign minister of voices his fear is that a repeat of the libyan scenario could come to pass in syria sergey lavrov says a number of alleged incidents could be used as a pretext to justify foreign intervention against the regime in damascus. a fresh wave of downgrades sweeps the struggling euro zone six nations get their debt ratings cut by agency moody's all this while greece faces further bailout hurdles from the e.u. despite the latest harsh austerity plan calls and public outrage and mass riots.

russia's military predicts the west might decide on a military strike against iran before the summer anti-riot and rhetoric in the world has intensified after israel accused the islamic state of being behind monday's attacks on diplomatic personnel and today's blast in bangkok. for more on the iranian issue r.t. spoke with brian becker a member of the antiwar answer coalition stay with us. thank you for joining us on r.t. thank you but does the united states want from tightening the sanctions. even beyond tightening the sanctions now indeed it is the united states government has created an artificial crisis that's first and foremost it's a manufactured crisis iran is complying with the. iran does not have

a nuclear weapon iran is now threatening its neighbors iran has not started a war with any of its neighbors israel on the other hand has hundreds of nuclear weapons and unlike iran refuses to sign a nuclear nonproliferation treaty does not allow. inspectors into its country so there's not really a nuclear menace or a nuclear danger from iran and so what is the cause what's the cause of the crisis of the artificial crisis the real goal is the united states government has embarked on a course of extreme economic aggression against iran with the hope that by creating economic suffering economic isolation economic misery that part of the population will rise up or become disenfranchised with the government so that the u.s. can do as it has in history carry out regime change they deny that the us denied that it's trying to carry out there was a change in iran right i mean we have to take it with a very very big grain of salt because we know that since one nine hundred seventy

nine the united states refuses to have relations with the islamic republic of iran why is it because iran is a dictatorship well it's actually a democratic government it has democratic features far beyond some of america's most foremost their allies in the middle east such as saudi arabia for instance since one thousand seventy nine iran became an independent government before that between one nine hundred fifty three in one thousand nine hundred seventy nine when the shah was there. the shah acted basically as a proxy or a puppet or a client of the american power and so the u.s. says they're not carrying out regime change but in fact everyone who's watching knows that indeed is the u.s. policy to create pressure on iran carry out overt operate covert operations economic sanctions and now these new sanctions are not really even like the old saying they are saying to the rest of the world if you dare do business with iran

central bank if you buy iranian oil which constitutes half of iran's g.n.p. if you have any business with iran whatsoever you will not have access to american banks to american corporations to the american market this is in fact a blockade something like an economic blockade of iran and by international law in economic blockade is an act of war and so we should understand it just like that so what do you think iran's response is going to be well iran so far has been very prudent even though they said that they would consider closing the strait of hormuz that six mile stretch of the persian arabian gulf where twenty five percent of the world's oil supply goes through. and even though much was made of that in the western media in fact iran has not done anything to give the u.s. . pretext an excuse

a provocation so to speak that would allow the united states or israel to trigger a set of military actions a run i think is also telling its people that we are not panicked the iranian government are not panicked that they're trying to show that they have a serenity and a calmness and a confidence and that they will weather the storm but in fact economic sanctions are taking a bite on the iranian economy right now there is a lot to see about this israeli possible attack specially israeli. possible attack well street journal says that the u.s. is planning a plan b. should israel attack i think the israelis try to pretend that iran constitutes an existential threat to israel i don't think that that in fact is the case even though iran's military has the capability to do great damage to israel in the event of a war even though israel is a nuclear power i think that the israeli government has in a pattern and

a practice of invasion and bombing of its neighbors in the middle east it carried out the bombing of iraq's nuclear facility in one thousand nine hundred one even though that was permitted by international law and subject to spectrum's in other words a nuclear program for civilian energy purposes israel came and bombed it they did the same to syria in the last few years and they would like to carry out military strikes against the iranian government the americans don't want there right now even though they are happy to be have iran in a state of tension they don't really want israel to become the main protagonist with the iranian government by carrying out an unprovoked military strike i mean i'm talking about the main sectors in the american establishment because that would then present the crisis struggle between the islamic republic of iran on one side and the israelis regime on the other and in that case iran will be able to mobilize

mass support throughout the middle east for it the united states has a different tact they want to keep israel sort of in the background lou mean danger in threatening iran in one way keeping iran in the state of tension perhaps militarily but have the economic sanctions do the bulk of the work by carrying out economic and financial isolation against the iranian government they think in the long term that's the easier way the better way or the more effective way to carry out regime. change the u.s. has puzzled over israel's intentions so what if israel does decide to strike iran and this is a u.s. official says it's hard to know what's a bluster and what's not with israelis well i think a lot of this is baloney and nonsense the israelis are the recipient the benefactor of three billion dollars a year in u.s. military aid if they do something that's completely contrary to what washington

wants they will be on the very short end of the stick the israelis are not dominating and dictating u.s. policy in this geo strategically they're not they are not they have a big influence in washington they have a strong lobby but when it comes to iran or when it comes to iraq the israelis do not tell the united states what to do it's vice versa if israel strikes know if the conflict is presented that way between the islamic republic and israel the people of the middle east will really to the side of iran the assassination of the iranian scientist which rick santorum called half a measure. or john bolton of. the former u.s. ambassador to the united nations the sanctions the tightening of the sanctions the . coalition that the u.s. is trying to building in what is iran going to do to face all of this pressure well iran has certain allies to iran has russia and it has china increasingly it

has venezuela and cuba another words those governments in the world in addition of course to syria which has its own problems right now but the countries in the world don't want the entire world to be dominated by one power the united states of america they recognize that the existence of iran as an independent government is something that is positive meaning that if the united states were were were to be successful in carrying out regime change in iran they would be emboldened to carry out further destabilizing efforts against other powers including russia and china by the way even though there are great powers. so i think that iran has allies and i think iran is trying to show that they can weather the storm and also that they can rally their population in spite of the fact the divisions that were revealed in two thousand and nine after the elections the presidential elections the iranian

people as a whole i don't believe they should be sanctioned the iranian people believe that they have as they do the right to develop nuclear power for peaceful civilian purposes and i think right now the iranian government is trying to weather the storm they're also making it clear that they don't options that they have they have limited options they have limited options and that's the big issue here i think is that. in america right now in the united states nobody feels this issue they don't feel there's a war looming they don't feel the problem of economic sanctions it's the iranians who are feeling it it's the tension the pressure of the economic problems are all one sided this is like a great power the seven hundred pound gorilla who decides to sit wherever it wants to sit and it can create immense tension and pressure and economic suffering somewhere else without having to endure any political price so that that's the big problem and as

a peace activist and as someone who believes in human rights in i think will do will see this more and more in the united states we are starting to concentrate our efforts to expose the fact that the united states government is carrying out through a different set of tactics the same thing that they did in iraq they carried out regime change in iraq not to make iraq more democratic more human rights oriented but to dominate iraq and i think they they want to do that in iran and we need to have people outside of iran stand up and say iran should not be alone on this does the presidential elections have any say in what's going on in real and what's going to happen with iran and tens of washington. i think the presidential elections in the united states definitely play a role in u.s. policy towards iran that by the way has been the case ever since the iranian revolution iran has factored into american politics in this case the republican candidates are sort of baiting obama and suggesting that if obama is reelected we

will have a nuclear armed iran someday soon well i do something just to counter their statements because it's an election year i don't think so i think that it's not out of the question that obama could opportunistically up the ante or even escalate tensions or even allow some sort of limited military attack against iran in order to show how tough he is and how well. he's not a liberal or something like that but i don't think so this is a very big project for the pentagon for the cia for the us establishment i think it goes beyond electoral politics and i think the obama administration and the pentagon are having a carefully calibrated approach that won't again with regime change the republicans and democrats share the same objective one is more demagogic we militant against iran and they both share the same objective which is to bring a run back into an americans fear of influence and i think the republicans can't

move obama that much because obama actually has the backing of the pentagon in terms of this particular approach the pentagon is bogged down in afghanistan they really were pushed out of iraq they have a lot of a lot of military problems a major full scale war right now which could happen even if they don't intend it by people climb the escalation ladder.

it's.

she. writes that if you move from phones to pressure. means for instance on t.v. don't come. russia's foreign minister voices his fears that a repeat of the libyan scenario could come to pass in syria started a lot of rob says a number of alleged incidents could be used as a pretext to justify foreign intervention against the regime in damascus. a fresh wave of downgrade sweeps across the struggling euro zone is six nations get their debt ratings cut by agency moody's all while greece faces further bailout hurdles from the e.u. despite its latest harsh austerity plan that caused public outrage and mass rife. and russia's military predicts the west might decide on a strike against iran before the summer anti-riot enter rhetoric intensified after

israel accuse the islamic state of being behind monday's attacks on diplomatic personnel and today's blasts in bangkok. case up next with the sports update stay with us here on r.t. . hello welcome to the trees are not sports round up country to head on. to find the elements substitute goalkeeper roy carroll saves a penalty and tenille in p.r. being one male in the first leg of the opening here in moscow. while come back by kickoff to visit set to return to manchester city three months exile you know how do tina. allen dogs russia stay to shine on some of the best in the world take the ice in the swiss and city of doubles. but first vocal and for my mom just united

goalkeeper roy carroll came off the bench to save a late second half penalty as ten men at n.p.r. because on one illusion of the stadium in the first leg of the europa league last thirty to tie well due to the harsh weather we've been have to play only artificial pitch in moscow and the game finally came to light that eighteen minutes ago david foster scoring for the great champions but two minutes later as they thought about action again he saw red look out into the nice kind of a nice but thirty four year old power came on to make his debut and save the resulting penalty not true i'm sure the greek side now has a vote in the last sixteen but meanwhile there's one other you're right the game is tuesday night and in a considerably warmer climate the sporting braga in last two following portuguese sun also in last year's finals. from turkey. well meanwhile the champions league also resumes this tuesday with defending champions boss alone in germany to face by late accusing in the first leg of the last sixteen baso suffered a surprise three to.