their defense systems were not used down we believe that this is the right company it's not their response to an alleged chemical attack just as a response to you success of the syrian rebel forces successfully. syrian territory from international terrorists and this airstrike was launched on the very day when a special mission of the old w. was york spectacle to start its investigation in. in a suburb of damascus where a chemical weapons so were supposedly used to you know i would like to point out that. there are no chemical weapon manufacturing facility used in syria as reflected by the p c w c news release american aggression indicates that the united states is not interested in object to be an investigation is the word and the u.s. is looking to torpedo a peaceful settlement in syria and to destabilize the situation in the middle east

this has nothing to do with the declared goals of fighting international terrorism we are currently of the mask the situation in damascus and other cities of syria is calm but as you can you know when you serve in a real time watching the situation right when you're on the big screen isn't actually been following the situation in syria any more thank you. ok we just been listening in live to the defense ministry briefing that was thirty red square the russian army general and chief of operations a briefing the media on the strike that took place in the early hours of the morning and the current situation in syria where russia has accused america and the u.k. and france of violating the u.n. charter with this strike to moscow moscow has called for an emergency un security

council meeting. president putin the meantime has issued a statement on the attack and to discuss that further i'm joined by our correspondent ecostar not in the studio igor thanks for coming in can you tell us more about what president putin has said what his response has been well president putin has condemned in the strongest words as to what happened the u.s. strikes on syria he has the united states and its allies have targeted both the military and the civilian infrastructure and that was done completely in violation of united nations norms and all international norms and without any sanction in fact from the u.n. security council is also pointed out that as pretext the sort of the cost was barely the pretext for this was used a. chemical attack that's what he called it he said that the russian exposed the russian military. the russian troops which entered the city of doom of the alleged

site of the chemical attack that they could not find any evidence any proof of this chemical attack actually taking place. there's also pointed out that even none of the locals could confirm that any chemical damage that any talk that the region the area was exposed to any sort of texas city interesting how the defense ministry has said it just then that this strike was not a response to the alleged chemical attack but actually a response to the progress of the russian syrian mission in syria. indeed those two those two statements again i guess the into mingle with each other in a certain way one other point that putin made in his statement he said that the united states and the allies have completely neglected have completely ignored the fact that the un backed o.p.c. w mission investigation was set to begin in syria today i mean they saw

the military launched stroy the strikes hours before the u.n. back body was supposed to begin its on the ground investigation is said by this strike the washington and the u.k. and france the aggravating and worsening the humanitarian suffering of the syrian people i guess well if they are targeting the civilian infrastructure as well then that's what they are doing and so this attack could provoke lattimer putin has said a new wave of refugees coming out of syria and of course he couldn't he mentioned that this whole attack this whole series of strikes is worsening the international relations as well the international outlook the relations as well and that russia will be calling for an emergency u.n. security council meeting today. so this is this is toward.

to say as for the recap of the statement by the russian defense defense ministry a few interesting points the russian. air defense systems were not used apparently to deflect to shoot down the missiles because those missiles were fired with such a trajectory that they would avoid the range of and avoid the zone covered by the russian and the systems so one of the outtakes that the russian military is making. out of this whole situation is that the maybe we will reconsider their decision not to supply the syria and other countries with the three hundred missile defense systems these are some of the most advanced missile defense systems in the world not the most but they are in the top league so syria did not have those who used some of the old like thirty years and older. systems to shoot down missiles

and probably if that was not the case then most likely. those missiles fired by washington. basically a few amount of those missiles would have landed in syria. which was quite interesting is that you know in the aftermath of. these strikes and everyone's looking to russia for a response you know wondering whether there is going to be a military response to what has happened in the last few hours but of everything we've heard so far from putin statement from the horror of those two even the defense ministry briefing just now that the concerns are more about the human and the effects on the humanitarian situation effect is going to have on international relations no talk whatsoever about any military retaliation or any any hostility as whole now quite interesting isn't it no indeed because you're exactly right the concern was that russia and the united states would eventually have to you could

out. speak like a one by one and then that would escalate into a nuclear standoff that was the concern and from what we've heard from russia so far it looks that most school is going to be sticking by now to a diplomatic solution to some or somehow will be engaging its diplomatic channels to resolve the situation although the defense ministry has mentioned that the troops on the ground that the russian troops in syria. but now so well would only make sense if any other. is to come then i guess they want that is more of a preemptive measure as to when it comes to diplomacy we've also heard from the russian from the spokesman of the russian foreign ministry maria horrible let's have a listen to what she had to say on the situation. in a state that for many years has been trying to survive terrorist aggression has suffered a series of strikes behind this are the people who claim to be moral leaders of the

world and talk about their exceptionalism well you must be really exceptional to conduct strikes in syria finally got the chance for a peaceful future it was on our thanks to coming in to bring us up to speed on the russian response there but we're not going to go live now to london and british prime minister to resign may speaking on the attack against syria let's listen in. west of homs where the regime is assessed to keep chemical weapons in breach of syria's obligations under the chemical weapons convention while the full assessment of the strike is ongoing we are confident of its success let me set out why we have taken this action last saturday up to seventy five people including young children were killed in a despicable and barbaric attack in duma with as many as five hundred further casualties we have worked with our allies to establish what happened and all the

indications that this was a chemical weapons attack we have seen the how rowing images of men women and children lying dead with in their mouths. these were innocent families who at the time this chemical weapon was unleashed were seeking shelter underground in basements. first hand accounts from n.g.o.s and aid workers have detailed the most horrific suffering including burns to the our eyes suffocation and skin discoloration with a chlorine like odor surrounding the victims and the world health organization has received reports that hundreds of patients arrived at syrian health facilities on saturday night with signs and symptoms consistent with exposure to toxic chemicals we are also clear about who was responsible for this atrocity

a significant body of information including intelligence indicates the syrian regime is responsible for this latest attack i cannot tell you everything but let me give an example of some of the evidence that leads us to this conclusion open source accounts allege that a barrel bomb was used to deliver the chemicals multiple open source reports claim that a regime helicopter was observed above the city of duma on the evening of the seventh of april the opposition does not operate helicopters or use barrel bombs and reliable intelligence indicates that syrian military officials coordinated what appears to be the use of chlorine in duma on the seventh of april no other group could have carried out this attack indeed die as for example does not even have a presence in duma and the fact of this attack should surprise no one

we know that the syrian regime has an utterly a bar and record of using chemical weapons against its own people. on the twenty first of august two thousand and thirteen over eight hundred people were killed and thousands more injured in a chemical attack also in ghouta. there were fourteen further smaller scale chemicals attack prior to that summer a can shake on the fourth of april last year the syrian regime used sarin against its people killing around one hundred with a further five hundred casualties and based on the regime's persistent pattern of behavior and the cumulative analysis of specific incidents we judge it highly likely both that the syrian regime has continued to use chemical weapons since then and will continue to do so this must be stopped we have sought to do so using every possible diplomatic channel but our efforts have been repeatedly thwarted both on

the ground and in the united nations following the sarin attack in eastern damascus back in august two thousand and thirteen the syrian regime committed to dismantle its chemical weapons program and russia promised to ensure that syria did this overseen by the organization for the prosecution of chemical weapons but these commitments have not been met a recent report from the organization for the prosecution of chemical weapons has said that syria's declaration of its former chemical weapons program is incomplete this indicates that it continues to retain undeclared stocks of nerve agent or precursor of chemicals and is likely to be continuing with some chemical weapons production. the o.p.c. w. inspectors have investigated previous attacks and on four occasions decided that the regime was indeed responsible. and on each occasion when we have seen every

sign of chemical weapons being used any attempt to hold the perpetrators to account has been blocked by russia at the un security council with six such vetoes since the start of two thousand and seventeen just this week the russians vetoed a draft resolution that would have established an independent investigation into this latest attack even making the grotesque and absurd claim that it was staged by britain so we have no choice but to conclude that diplomatic action on its own will not be any more effective in the future than it has been in the past over the last week the u.k. government has been working intensively with our international partners to build the evidence picture and to consider what action we need to take to prevent and deter future humanitarian catastrophes caused by chemical weapons attacks when the cabinet met on thursday we considered the advice of the attorney general the

national security adviser and the chief of the defense staff and we were updated on the latest assessment and intelligence picture and based on this advice we agree that it was both right and legal to take military action together with our closest allies to alleviate further humanitarian suffering by degrading the syrian regime's chemical weapons capability and deterring their use. this was not about interfering in a civil war and it was not about regime change as i discussed with president trump and president macron it was a limited targeted and effective strike with clear boundaries that expressly sought to avoid escalation and did everything possible to prevent civilian casualties together we have hit a specif specific and limited set of targets they were a chemical weapons storage and production facility

a key chemical weapons research center and a military bunker involved in chemical weapons attacks hitting these targets with the force that we have to ploy will significantly degrade the syrian regime's ability to research develop and deploy chemical weapons a year ago after the atrocity it can shake when the us conducted a strike on the airfield from which the attack took place but assad and his regime hasn't stopped their use of chemical weapons so last night strikes by the u.s. u.k. and france were significantly larger than the us action a year ago and specifically designed to have a greater impact on the regime's capability and willingness to use chemical weapons and this collective action sends a clear message that the international community will not stand by and tolerate the use of chemical weapons i also want to be clear that this military action to deter

the use of chemical weapons does not stand alone we must remain committed to resolving the conflict flicked at large the best hope for the syrian people remains a political solution we need all partners especially the regime and its backers to enable humanitarian access to those in desperate need and the u.k. will continue to strive for both. but these strikes are about deterring the barbaric use of chemical weapons in syria and beyond and so to achieve this the must also be a wider diplomatic effort including the full range of political and economic leavers to strengthen the global norms prohibiting the use of chemical weapons which have stood for nearly a century although of a much lower order of magnitude the use of a nerve agent on the streets of the u.k. in recent weeks is part of a pattern of disregard for these norms so while this action is specifically about

deterring the syrian regime it will also send a clear signal to anyone else who believes they can use chemical weapons with impunity there is no graver decision for a prime minister than to commit our forces to combat and this is the first time that i have had to do so as always they have served our country with the greatest professionalism and bravery and we owe them a huge debt of gratitude we would have preferred an alternative path but on this occasion there is none we cannot allow the use of chemical weapons to become normalized either within syria on the streets of the u.k. or elsewhere we must reinstate the global consensus that chemical weapons cannot be used this action is absolutely in britain's national interest the lesson of history is where that when the global rules and standards that keep us safe come

under threat we must take a stand and defend them that is what our country has always done and that is what we will continue to do. take a number of questions. we start with laura. thank you primus said laura can spread b.b.c. news and your logic is that chemical attacks must not go unpunished will you do the same again if president assad does the same again as you have suggested he has and do you feel you have the public's consent given that you have not even consulted m.p.'s in parliament. as i said in my statement the purpose of the action that took place last night was to degrade and deter the

capability and willingness of the syrian regime to use chemical weapons as i also said obviously a full assessment has not yet been completed but we believe that the action was successful but the syrian regime should be under no doubt of our resolve in relation to this matter of the use of chemical weapons and i have taken this decision because i believe it is the right thing to do i believe it is in our national interest but i believe it is also important for the international community to be very clear about this issue that we have seen people appearing to think that they can use chemical weapons with impunity and we must restore the position of that as i said has existed for nearly a century the use of chemical weapons is illegal it is banned and we cannot accept it. tim.

thank you prime minister attention from the sunday times you were hinting towards the end of your statement about possible further. action against supporters of the regime can you explain why you haven't yet taken action against russian money in london in the same way that the united states has another link to point we appear to be in a propaganda war with the russians why have no ministers been out explaining what you've been explaining today throughout a week in which the russian ambassador has been accusing britain of culpability for the crimes that you just assume. well on the first point as you well know tim and as i said in response to the use of the nerve agent on the streets of saul's free we are of course looking at every aspect of the action that can be taken we do in general work against illicit finances against criminal finances here in the u.k. and we will continue we will continue to do so you say that no minister has been

out over the past week i've given two television interviews over the past week in which i have set out the need for action and the need for us to restore the international norm of the recognition that chemical weapons should not be used what i said in those interviews was that we were working with our international partners and allies to ascertain make the fullest possible assessment of what happened on the ground and then to ascertain what action was necessary we've done that and the action that we saw last night into the early hours of this morning was the result of that work adam. promise i wonder if you could explain a little more your decision and your thinking on not seeking prior approval or debate from parliament on this decision because as you know jeremy corbin and on the other cyclists clarke have both said that they feel that they should have taken place in there seems to be a feeling a broad that tony blair set

a precedent back in two thousand and three but as i said as i've just said i believe that this action is there so i believe it was the right thing for us to do we have been working with our allies and partners over the past week first to make the fullest possible assessment of what happened on the ground and then to consider what action was necessary and to do that in a timely fashion so that we could act with sufficient understanding of what happened on the ground and proper planning of any action but to do so within a timescale that get a very clear message to the regime and it was also important and i believe it is important as we are sending it is one of the that the greatest thing the decision that a prime minister can take is to send our service personnel into action into combat and when we do that we owe it to them that we as far as possible protect their

safety and their security and for operational security reasons it was right that we've acted in the way that we did it properly planned this assess what happened on the ground properly planet act within a time scale that's right to both protect operational security and give a very clear message to regime robert. ok we've just been listening in live on the british prime minister to reason may they're providing details to the press on why the u.k. decided to go ahead with the u.s. and france to launch strikes in syria in the early hours of this morning citing a open source reports and quote reliable information which led to the decision to conduct the strikes. that data remains to be sorry she said that she would have preferred an alternative route but in this case that would bring you more details and analysis on to reason may's statement but for now let's continue with our breaking news story details the syrian capital damascus has been

hit by missiles fired in a u.s. led operation against the assad government the pentagon said it also targeted two locations near the city of homs president trump announced the military action in a friday evening t.v. address that comes in response to an alleged chemical attack in the syrian town of duma a week ago more can report but we heard an announcement from u.s. president donald trump about the pending strike against the syrian government in coordination with the u.k. and france now he used the phrase strong deterrent to describe his motivation said he wanted to deter the syrian government from carrying out future chemical attacks he called out iran and russia saying what kind of nation would want to be aligned with a mass murderer and from there he used some rather inflammatory language that's kind of almost trademark language of us president donald trump very terrible regime

these are not the actions of a man. they are crimes of a monster instead so today the nations of britain france and the united states of america have martial their righteous power against barbarism and brutality now after that we got a military update we heard from general joseph dunford as well as u.s. secretary of defense james mattis they spoke to the u.s. media and to the world basically giving the lowdown on what happened now at that point the striking had already stopped they said it was fifteen minutes of sustained airstrikes against the syrian government furthermore it's important to note that when james madison was speaking not only after the attacks but also earlier in the week he wasn't willing to go into detail about the attack and was rather vague about the kind of information that he actually had but i am confident

the cherian regime conducted a chemical attack on innocent people. we are very confident that chlorine was used we are not ruling out sharon right now we have the intelligence level of competence that we needed to conduct the attack. i believe there was a chemical attack and we're looking for the actual evidence the o.p.c. w this you're going to station for the chemical weapons convention and we're trying to get those inspectors in if we get them and we will not know who did it they can only say that they found evidence or did not broader in the international community there is simply not consensus about what actually happened in the syrian town of duma we've seen the u.n. security council meetings and we've seen a big disagreement between countries russia's representative has come forward before the u.n. security council and said that they have sent russian experts and russia chemical experts to do imma and in duma they have not found any traces of chemicals they

have not found any. who have come forward and said they witnessed or that they themselves were victims of chemical attacks no one in hospitals being treated and we then heard nikki haley the representative of the united states before the u.n. security council we heard her coming out and saying in the aftermath of this this allegation of an attack without any investigation having been done saying what she believed had taken place did a chemical weapons attack happen yes the u.s. has analyzed he yes it has happened the u.k. has analyzed yes it has happened france has analyzed yes it is that three separate analysis all coming back with the same thing there is proof that this happened so we're still waiting for a broader reaction to this this airstrike people are waiting to see what will happen next i know people were anticipating this strike because of donald trump's tweet saying telling russia to get ready for the missiles you know insulting the

syrian president with certain language or as of now we understood that there were there was fifty minutes of airstrikes against the syrian arab republic by the united states we're waiting to see what the next move is and what will happen next in the international community. has got this live in now with our guest five mohammad marandi politics professor at the university of to run mr marandi thank you for joining us on r.t. international i think of the big question on a lot of people's minds that is that why the lord strength now was the other didn't see had there hasn't been an investigation into alleged chemical weapons attack last weekend and as russia says they come in the very moment then what was the you know an inkling of a chance of peace in syria. it's quite obvious the united states and its allies whenever they see that the syrian government is making progress on the ground they accuse it of carrying chemical

weapons in two thousand and thirteen that was the case last year that was the case and more recently this was obviously a false five operation if you recall russian intelligence the iranian intelligence syrian intelligence have for weeks been predicting that there will be a false flag operation and we know that the area in which it was carried out was held by. the militants that were closest to saudi arabia while hobby militants merican the british they're upset that this their stronghold near damascus has been recaptured by the syrian government with regards to the way in which the attack is also i think something that should be discussed it was carried out early in the morning in order to shock and awe in order to create fear in the hearts of ordinary syrian citizens and also it's a it's a major holiday it's a major religious holiday sort of the equivalent to christmas so it's quite

barbaric the way the americans and the british carried this out so and also when we look at history if president assad who i think has far more legitimacy than bamma or the british regime or the printer regime if if chemical weapons are so evil i myself survive to chemical attacks carried out by the adamas sane regime supported by the british government the people who gave saddam hussein those weapons in the british government in european government and in the american government they are still in government and they are also in major corporations so these are animals people carry out chemical attacks and all these people should be arrested the reality though is it has nothing to do with chemical weapons the british the french the americans the canadians they're all giving tens of billions of dollars to the saudi regime to destroy yemen to create suffering to create mass hunger and american.