island in the strait of hormuz off of iran southern coast. japan's new emperor and now he has addressed the nation for the first time soon after ascending to the throne and the empress says he will rule in accordance with the constitution and what to world peace in japan and across the world he replaces his father and married. emperor akihito who on tuesday became the first to abdicate from the throne in two hundred years wayne hay has the latest now from tokyo. it was perhaps fitting that the gloomy where that of choose day when the abdication ceremony took place for emperor akihito gave way to sunshine on wednesday for two very brief ceremony is to welcome in the new era of emperor another heater the first ceremony involve the transfer the handing down of imperial regalia ancient treasures that are handed from emperor to emperor in a second brief ceremony as well we heard from the emperor for the first time speaking publicly and then comments from the prime minister shinzo are there welcoming in the new era on behalf of the japanese people

island in the strait of hormuz off of iran southern coast. well still ahead on the news i will tell you why the politician in charge of britain's defense ministry suddenly finds himself out of a job. i did sports planes world cup winning goalkeeper collapses during training peter we'll have those details. how the weather remains a little unsettling across central parts of north america at my last a cloud showing up out of central as a candidate ontario quebec big massive cloud here slides down across the lakes still coming into the deep south of the u.s. so see some wet weather there because that eastern side of texas into our console right up across kentucky tennessee and pushing up through the appalachians some wild weather to just around the panhandle it be a fair bit of rain there into florida as we go through thursday central parts of north america do look lousy settled dry weather there across the plains pushing further west and we'll see that continue to go on through friday but by friday just notice colorado seeing some of that wetter

island in the strait of hormuz off of iran southern coast. well still ahead on news more trouble for you going to his most outspoken opposition politician. and we'll tell you why the politician in charge of britain's defense ministry suddenly finds himself out of a job. and in sports planes world cup winning goalkeeper collapses during training peter will have those details after the break. how i welcome to another look at the international forecast with a few showers into southern parts of china nothing too much to speak up it will be a lively sight from time to time fun in trying to the southeast full thursday a few showers there which was west and posturing do for example having a pretty wet day as we go on into friday it brightens up in chengdu the wetter weather sinks further south which in to the southwestern corner hong kong just about the scaping the right in there as because your friday a brisk wind coming through of the region made the spot of dry across the good parts of southeast asia the liveliest showers will be across the easte

island in the strait of hormuz off of iran southern coast. an interview with al jazeera iran's foreign minister zarif said his country does not want an escalation with the united states. we have been very clear that we have no interest in escalation we have been clear that persian gulf and the strait to hold most is our lifeline we depend on them for our livelihood and we want them safe secure and free for navigation of all countries including iran president trump said that the united states spends seven trillion dollars you're not region and destroyed our region and got a lot of american blood on its hands because because of the fact that the americans died in this region without any reason without any purpose and you watch more of that interview with the iranian foreign minister on talk to al-jazeera this saturday at four thirty g.m.t. . and wiki leaks founder julian assange has been sentenced to nearly twelve months in jail in the u.k. escaping bail there were protests outside the court in london where the forty seven year old appeared a s

iran has recently threatened to block oil flows through the key shipping route of the strait of hormuz in response to u.s. sanctions the strait links all producers in the middle east including saudi arabia and u.a.e. to markets around the world it's been at the heart of tensions for decades now during the iran iraq war in the $1980.00 s. the 2 sides disrupted each other's oil exports and what was known as the tanker war in 2008 the united states said iranian boats approached and threatened its warships in the strait in 2010 a japanese oil tanker was attacked in the strait an armed group linked by the claimed responsibility and in 2015 iranian ships fired shots of the singapore flag tanker iran says it damaged one of its oil platforms. or are now joining me here in the studio let's bring in our i guess we've got majuba way or the director of the gulf studies center at carter university in london manisha taki in an independent oil analyst and in beirut only has 4 hearts retired military general and defense analysts welcome to you all if i could start perhaps with math job so no one's cla

and from the straits of hormuz in basra the reports on iran's plans to block sea lanes but we start with mike hanna in washington on saudi arabia's role in the u.s. foreign policy. it was a surprise to many when president trump chose riyadh to sit destination of his first international trip in office but two years on it's clear this was more of a signal as to the central role saudi arabia would play in his administration's decision making. driven home when it was made clear the imposition of oil sanctions against iran was done in coordination with a leave other stuff about the details of what the site is in the immoralities have agreed to but i've had conversations the president conversations with these countries and there they have committed to making sure that there is a sufficient supply in the markets. confirmation of saudi coordination came just days after president trump signaled a major policy reversal in libya in an obvious not to riyadh expressing u.s. support for the saudi backed warlord fighting the internationally recognized government in tripoli the announcement makes clear

hormuz island in the strait of hormuz off of iran's southern coast and in an exclusive interview with al jazeera iranian foreign ministers other very few says his country does not want an escalation with the united states we have been very clear that we have no interest in escalation we have been clear that persian gulf and the strait to hold most is our lifeline we depend on them for a livelihood and we want them safe secure and free for navigation of all countries including iran president trump said that the united states spent seven trillion dollars in our region and destroyed our region and got a lot of american blood on its hand because because of the fact that the americans died in this region without any reason without any purpose and you can watch more of this exclusive interview with iranian foreign minister javad zarif on talk to well just syria which is going to air this saturday from all four thirty g.m.t. . u.s. special counsel robert motos complained about how his report into russian meddling in the twenty six thousand election has been portrayed the justice department o

as you mentioned, the straits of hormuz is one of the most important choke points.e oil so points. it 30% of all seaborne oil so only oil produced in the middle eastern region has to come through this region. there is very little pipeline capacity to bypass that. it has to go via the sea. and oil markets are tied to start off with so markets are tied to start off with so 0pec, the cartel that controls one third of all world oil supply has been cutting back anyway. earlier, saudi arabia has been swift to say that they are quick to plug the gap and flood the markets with oil. is that what we are thinking? you mentioned that the market is tight. saudi arabia has a capacity to increase supply but at the moment they are digging to their stated policy and cutting back on production. it is coming back even more than it signed up to do under its quota for 0pec. saudi arabia is co mforta ble its quota for 0pec. saudi arabia is comfortable with oil prices in the mid— 70s reaching $80 a barrel. in order to balance its spending from the government it could do $80 a barrel. it i

being blocked so one assumes this incident shows that even if one bypasses the strait of hormuz all supplies can still be very vulnerable in the sea of the gulf of oman around for jay or right is that basically what all this is about. yes so far out of the u. 80 and others they consider and forge a or are as far away from detention and. state of horror most. inspired that it's $150.00 kilometers far and it's not at distance in that area but they feel that when they bypass the state of hormuz and. transform the oil or through the. through the pipelines to the port of which there are pins that can they can avoid. the cut of oil. exporting oil when more is shut this incident. indicates that. who. aware that as the order was as cut or open that means pushchair are as vulnerable and the range of all people that does not mean that iran has done this or any other side or any other proxy or any other site in order to ignite despotic for this in this tension but this exposed the security of the port of a era and all the porthos specially this is very important point in. terms of the united a

island now and the waves washing up against this rocky beach that water is from the strait of hormuz this is the strait just here and it is a very picturesque setting there are tourists that are coming through in buses it is a very nice place but make no mistake for the government this place serves the function of a pressure point backed into a corner iran's leaders say they will respond in the u.s. will be to blame for whatever comes next the point is centuries old places like this as a reminder that they faced foreigners at their shores before and if pushed they can do it again so what will be the impact on the global economy and do sanctions hurt the nation imposing them in this case should iran carry out its threat to blockade the persian gulf for that matter what if oil stops flowing from other hot spots like libya and venezuela well oil prices could shoot up to one hundred dollars a barrel that could shave nor point six percent off world growth and inflation could rise by north point seven percent stretched u.s. consumers have already seen gas prices rise seven percent this mon

warnings to ships in the strait of hormuz that they could be next. and the turkish lira keeps falling against the dollar as faces a rerun of its contested merril vote. had been physical and it's to business china says it will not yield on matters of principle that's not stopping stocks from resuming their slump you want also down on the trade impasse between the world's top 2 economies the united states has doubled juvies on a raft of chinese exports and while president donald trump gloat he's now got beijing right where he once said his own advisers admit the reality is different. fish textiles and footwear if they're made in china are about to get a lot more expensive for u.s. consumers. that's after the u.s. hike duties on those goods to 25 percent and more terrorists might be coming according to u.s. trade representatives president donald trump took to twitter to share his people that china would foot the bill for the new terrorists saying we would be taking in billions of dollars in terrorists from china. and speaking on us t.v. one of trump's c

the pressure on iran we look at the straits of hormuz the most valuable waterway in the world sri lanka's tourism industry takes a hit off to the east the sunday attacks and flying cars as the future just to run . the cost on a duty to. tell me. what it. was. welcome back a quick look at adeline is now in the united nations is warning of a wasn't a humanitarian crisis. in syria is it live province off the hospitals and refugee camps in the escalation zone will bombed by russian backed government forces. and our other headlines a senior iranian politician has called for urgent talks between tehran and washington following weeks of escalating tensions. and protesters in sudan over move many of the roadblocks they'd set up in the capital as demanded by the military in order for transition talks to resume. well the polls have opened in australia's election which could give them the 6th prime minister in 6 years the incumbent scott morrison is expected to now really lose to labor opposition eat up bill shorten climate change and tax reform have been at the top of the labor party's agenda. well

strike group steams to the strait of hormuz we find out how important the world's oil gateway is. plus the economic cost of the terror attacks in sri lanka as violence against the muslim minority spreads. and the future of transport can this 1st 5 c. to electric flying car take on the might of google and. so the strait of hormuz is a critical waterway to the world for middle east oil and gas produces about a 5th of the world screwed pastas through this narrow strait between amman and iran after the united states pulled waivers for nations trading with iran a string of alleged attacks on tankers and drone attacks on pipelines have increased tensions add to the makes washington ordered some embassy staff in baghdad to leave and it sent a u.s. strike group into the region as defense analyst alex go topless as more the flagship of carrier strike group 12 is the nuclear powered u.s.s. abraham lincoln one of the largest aircraft carriers in the world weighing in at over 100000 tons it carries some 90 aircraft including an early warning aircraft and several scorch and suffice it jets eac

lincoln carrier group to the strait of hormuz so it doesn't seem to be unified but much mauled not is that a unified strategy here or is the republican party really just making up as it goes along. i think that's an interesting assessment there at the making it up as you go along because it does seem that this administration tends to do that in many ways and now in foreign policy in which we've been unified for a very long time whether you look at whichever party is in power the united states likes to show a very composed organized deliberate front when when confronting regimes like the one in iran so this is unusual but i have to say as you heard me talk about on your program before here i am i'm not exactly the biggest fan of this president's strategy his approach the way in which he speaks about certain leaders in the world where i don't find to be leaders however i think that we would have been best served by donald trump continuing to go about it in a way which he wanted however when he surat decided to surat in south with war hawks people like john bolton there was no other stra

and for the straits of hormuz zain bus lobby reports on iran's plans to block sea lanes but we start with mike hanna in washington on saudi arabia's role in the u.s. foreign policy. it was a surprise to many when president trump chose riyadh to suggest a nation of his first international trip in office but two years on it's clear this was more of a signal as to the central role saudi arabia would play in his administration's decision making. driven home when it was made clear the imposition of oil sanctions against iran was done in coordination with a leave other stuff about the details of what the site is in the immoralities have agreed to but i've had conversations the president said conversations with these countries and there they have committed to making sure that there is a sufficient supply in the markets. confirmation of saudi coordination came just days after president trump signaled a major policy reversal in libya in an obvious not to riyadh expressing u.s. support for the saudi backed warlord fighting the internationally recognized government in tripoli the announcement m

strike group steams to the strait of hormuz to find out how important the world's oil gateway years. plus the economic cost of the terror attacks in sri lanka as violence against the muslim minority spreads. and the future of transport can this 1st 5 c. to electric flying car take on the might of google and. so the strait of hormuz is a critical waterway to the world for middle east oil and gas produces about a 5th of the world screwed passes through this narrow strait between a man and iran after the united states pulled waivers for nations trading with iran a string of alleged attacks on tankers and drone attacks on pipelines have increased tensions add to the makes washington ordered some embassy staff in baghdad to leave and it sent a u.s. strike group into the region as defense analyst alex go topless as more the flagship of carrier strike group 12 is the nuclear powered u.s.s. abraham lincoln one of the largest aircraft carriers in the world weighing in at over 100000 tons it carries some 90 aircraft including early warning aircraft and several squadrons of fighter jets each wi

ratchets up the pressure on iran we look at the straits of hormuz the most valuable waterway in the world lanka's tourism industry takes the heat off to the east the sunday attacks and flying cars as the future just a rock counting the cost on a doozy of. a. no. no. no. let's take a look at the top stories here it out there austria charles has called for a snap election after his deputy was forced to resign. from the far right freedom party stepped down because of the a measure of a video which showed him promising state contracts in return for campaign financing the 7th and final phase of india's general election is underway hundreds of millions of people have been casting their votes over the past 6 weeks the main contenders are the prime minister narendra modi of the b j p and the congress party is raul gandhi. and the top story today in saudi arabia saying it doesn't want a war in the gulf bought and will respond if iran chooses war the announcement comes following recent attacks on several saudi oil assets last week and the saudi king. has cooled for to meetings involving arab and go

nuclear enrichment program if a new deal isn't reached terrine also threaten to close the strait of hormuz a clear threat to global oil supplies twenty percent of the world's oil passes through the narrow channel the u.s. has deployed an aircraft carrier strike group to the middle east that's a strong message tensions are rising and jangling nerves on the oil market normally fears about the global economy during the rab between the u.s. and china would signal weak demand and drive prices down but u.s. sanctions on iran are tightening oil supplies and in coming weeks this is expected to drive prices higher analysts iran's threat to close off the hormuz strays as a kneejerk reaction and believe it's unlikely to happen but the tensions come in a difficult time for the global economy. and america's punitive measures are taking their toll on iran's economy the currency is at record lows inflation has quadrupled and investors are running scared other trade related pitfalls could also lie ahead china around because the world customer has threatened to ignore u.s. sanctions because terrorism is a

around a 5th of the oil consumed around the globe is transported through the strait of hormuz which has shipping lanes just a few kilometers wide every day tankers loaded with between 17 and 18000000 barrels of crude make their way through the narrow waterway which has long been the focus of regional tensions oil futures rose on the news of the attacks while stock exchanges in the u.a.e. fell by over 1.5 percent in early trading on monday the attacks reportedly took place in the waters off food giant a major port and bunkering hub in the united arab emirates no fatalities have been reported so far and no one has yet claimed responsibility the strait of hormuz has been back in the news lately after the u.s. ring imposed sanctions on iran it hasn't turned threatened to close the key waterway in response. pakistan has reached an agreement for a $6000000000.00 bailout package with the international monetary fund the cash will be paid out over a period of 3 years and will require the country to reform its public finances and slash public debt but will it be enough to tackle the country's eco

coming weeks this is expected to drive prices higher analysts see iran's threat to close off the hormuz straight as a knee jerk reaction and believe it's unlikely to happen but the tensions come a difficult time for the global economy and america's punitive measures are taking their toll on iran's economy the currency is at record lows inflation has quadrupled and investors are running scared other trade related pitfalls could also lie ahead china around because the world customer has threatened to ignore u.s. sanctions because terrine is a key ally in its belt and road infrastructure project. joined by helen my investment research analyst at the share center in london a welcome to the show china actually says iran is a part of our belts road initiative we don't change anything india and turkey have made similar noises how effective are the u.s. sanctions if big asian economies ignore them completely well i think you know it's all well and good but china said that they will try and ignore these sanctions but what we have to look at is what actually happened with the iranian oil exports

sanctions iranian warships are patrolling high traffic strait of hormuz with officials saying that if they can't sell oil through the straits no one will stop the reports from the strait of hormuz and iran's southern coast. show. as the deadline approaches for oil waivers to expire there's been an increase in the frequency of defined statements from iranian leaders attacking u.s. sanctions in a speech on tuesday iranian president hassan rouhani made a promise on. america in the next few months will see that we will continue to exporter of oil they may close one path but there isn't just one tool there are six other doors they're not even aware of we must export our all powerfully in the face of u.s. pressure. so for iran has responded to u.s. economic pressure with rhetoric at home and diplomacy abroad but since the u.s. said it will not extend sanctions waivers to let iran sell oil to its biggest clients iranian leaders have started hinting at slowing traffic in the strait of hormuz an estimated twenty percent of the world's oil passes through these waterways the mere mention of the

shows that even if one bypasses the strait of hormuz all supplies can still be very vulnerable in the sea of the gulf of oman around for right is that basically while all this is about. yes so far out of the you and other they consider out for jay and are as far away from detention in a less state of hormuz. or inspired that it's 150 kilometers far and it's not a distance in that area but they feel that when they bypass the state of hormuz and. transport their island or through the. through the pipeline to the port of fujairah that means that can they can avoid. the cut of oil. exporting oil when it's shot this incident and dictates that. along with that as the almost as cut or open that means for jail as one notable and the range of all people that does not mean that iran has done this or any other side or any other proxy or any other site in order to ignite despotic for this in this tension but this exposed the the security of the port of o.j. and are all the ports especially this is very important point in. terms of the united arab emirates experience experience in administering an

very transparent on their communication with iranian revolutionary guard forces in the strait of hormuz was because they are afraid that any misunderstanding can result in that no one wants a conflict in the region oh ok thank you very much a bus lani journalist and researcher based in tehran good to be with you china's top trade negotiator says he's cautiously optimistic his country can still reach a trade deal with the united states vice premier league who made the comments after the us announced plans to raise tariffs on all remaining chinese imports the new 11 targets $300000000000.00 worth of chinese products including consumer electronics that's on top of $200000000000.00 worth of products hit by a 1st round of u.s. terrified on friday the increase comes after negotiations between the 2 signs ended without agreement. but there is still some time for washington and beijing to resolve their differences we use all of our solid explains. it was a brief meeting in washington d.c. that ended quickly after it begun with no result but that did not come as a big surprise as the talks alrea

the strait of hormuz is one of the world's key maritime passages. this narrow stretch of water connects the indian ocean with the punch in gulf. it says that you three kilometers wide at its narrowest point but the shipping made itself. is just three kililometers one n either direction. despite its narrowness the reaches deep enough for some of the world's. largest oil tank. why is this through to the central mounting tensions between washington and tehran? well f firstly the strait of hormuz separates around from the united arab emirates and oman. to countries that have strong defense connections with the united states and saudi arabia. it seems that the united states in particular i is looking at te stars of hormones as a site -- for increasing pressure on iran by highlighting -- iranian activities and that's area thus far alleged to be a against all. so the targets for example or are you a u. targets it's also one of the world's most crucial transport groups for oil. in fact 30% of the world's crude oil flows through this water away [inaudible] a

berlin we are at a pivotal moment there is a carrier group steaming toward the strait of hormuz as we speak europe has been given notice of sixty days to come to their commitments that they agreed before do you think europe is going to be the peace broker here or do you think europe is going to have to choose a side. well things are getting more complicated for the europeans obviously now with this kind of iranian deadline and. it is hard to see how the europeans would be able to transform the special purpose vehicle instax into something that the iranian side would economically benefit from and be happy with because so the fact remains that we have the dominance of the u.s. sanctions regime globally on the banking and financial sectors and this is not going to change is a strong compliance regime when it comes to u.s. sanctions so it's really hard to see how the europeans could encourage their companies to engage in trade with iran something that they have been reluctant to do so up until now as we see from different reactions in europe europe of course remains committed to the nucle

it happened just outside the strait of hormuz it's a vital oil and natural gas card all the global energy market the casualties have been reported at in respect to. state and it takes to see what's at stake in the region. as the white house is intensifying its so-called the maximum pressure campaign on the islamic republic officials in tehran are also considering what options they have to put pressure on iran as adversaries for a long time people have speculated about as soon ario whereby eve ronnie and his close the strait of hormuz located right next to this incident and this is certainly something that raises the stakes for all players internationally given how much oil transits this artery separating the arabian peninsula from iran according to iraqi officials they are conducting an investigation by cooperating with international authorities as they do so hopefully that investigation will give us some more concrete information about what took place but i think there's no doubt that you're going to see. many voices not only in formal media but also in social media trying to spin this e

states had given to oil importing countries or doing business in iran is explaining the strait of hormuz is going to be a point of contention what is your plan then we believe that the united states cannot take any coercive measure in the persian gulf or in the strait of hormuz if it tries to take course of measures it will be reciprocated by iran but that i don't think is in the cards we will continue to sell our oil. and we will see customers and we will always remember those who worked with us during times of difficult year all production has come down from in two thousand seven hundred to two and a half million barrels to somewhere between one point seed one point nine million barrels now and it is having an impact on the iranian economy so eighty percent of your exports are from hydrocarbons the sanctions you can call them illegal but are having an impact on iran and that is why we call it economic terrorism because as they have said publicly including secretary pompei. and others they want to put pressure on the iranian people in order to change a policy that is very the united sta

strike group steams to the strait of hormuz we find out how important the world's oil gateway years.plus the economic cost of the terror attacks in sri lanka as violence against the muslim minority spreads. and the future of transport can this 1st 5 c. to electric flying car take on the might of google and. so the strait of hormuz is a critical waterway to the world for middle east oil and gas produces about a 5th of the world screwed passes through this narrow strait between armaan and iran after the united states pulled waivers for nations trading with iran a string of alleged attacks on tankers and drone attacks on pipelines have increased tensions add to the makes washington ordered some embassy staff in baghdad to leave and it sent a u.s. strike group into the region as defense analyst alex go topless as more the flagship of carrier strike group 12 is the nuclear powered u.s.s. abraham lincoln one of the largest aircraft carriers in the world weighing in at over 100000 tons it carries some 90 aircraft including an early warning aircraft and several squadrons of fighter jets each

oh no dear residents of hormuz the price of gas is going up. there is none for now . please do not knock. sometimes there's no gas for a whole month if the weather is stormy and the ships can't sail it's especially bad in winter. that is the one where that's what life is like here the mother. didn't go for. bush no gas but at least there's time to chat and grumble about the sorry state of affairs. she. left to run on works day and night to ensure he catches enough to feed his family. his son can't get married he tells us because the family can't afford to pay for the wedding. and he has no idea what will happen when he's too old to work so a lot of their fishing has taken a turn for the worse in recent years the seas are over fish to because three years ago the chinese were awarded industrial fishing licenses fish and shrimp stocks have fallen dramatically as a result. of. the rock mine couldn't live from fishing alone so he began ferrying goats and fabrics to the arabian peninsula and smuggling cigarettes back to iran. eventually he was caught and served a lengthy ja

that's just south of the straits of hormuz which is a key maritime passage. those are your headlines the news continues after witness obvious here at 10 g. with the news out i will see you there instead of what. we understand the differences and the similarities of cultures across the world. so no matter where you call home al-jazeera international bringing the news and current affairs that matter to you. al-jazeera. in north carolina undocumented grandmother final tago is seeking sanctuary and as a church community in greensboro has come together to provide sanctuary protection for a woman who was scheduled for deportation yesterday. your take is checked in with immigration officials actually here and they have allowed her to stay until now last month she was given this ankle monitor and told she needed to leave the u.s. . and i don't miss my guess that and took us.

operation to escalate tensions across the region now on monday for cargo ships south of the strait of hormuz were hit by explosions and i'm an american military team is helping with the investigation let's get more from who joins us live from tehran so saying what do we make of those latest comments from the foreign minister of a port incident. well the foreign minister's comments come after a round of several other people that have been speaking let me just give you a little bit of background before we get to that now the united states has been saying since pulled out of the nuclear deal that iran might target its target maritime vessel traffic in the waters around the country and the report that you mentioned is an it's a report from an unnamed source that is part of an american military team investigating the incidents in for gera and in their initial assessment they said that iran might be involved now in response to that seemingly refuting that one m.p. a senior m.p. speaking from iran's foreign policy and national security commission told all jazeera is that there is not enough informa

long time people have speculated about this in our yo whereby eat ronnie and his close the strait of hormuz located right next to this incident and this is certainly something that raises the stakes for all players internationally given how much oil transits this artery us separating the arabian peninsula from iran but i think there's no doubt that you're going to see. many voices not only in the formal media but also in social media trying to spin this episode to further their own narratives in their own interests during this very sensitive period of time one of us president bill trumps top economic advisors has admitted american businesses will suffer from tariffs on chinese goods larry kudlow his comments contradict the mccrum saying that only china will feel the effects the u.s. raise tariffs on $200000000000.00 worth of chinese products to 25 percent on friday that's coincided with a failure by both sides to reach a deal in the latest round of talks aimed at resolving the trade dispute both sides will pay and these things and of course it was a tariff on goods coming into the country t

abraham lincoln was deployed to the strait of hormuz seventeen million barrels of oil are taken through the sea routes in the gulf every day iran has threatened to close it multiple times. let's bring in our guests in tehran mohammad marandi professor of north american studies at the university of tehran on skype from reston virginia rhenish a republican strategist and consultant and in berlin. this thing follow brookings doha center a welcome to you all like to begin with you mohammad marandi in teheran this has been a very aggressive policy by this administration this u.s. administration to iran we are all is always expecting iran to react in your opinion is this a fair reaction the events of the day. i think it's a rather mild reaction but president rouhani has said that there will be further acts on behalf of iran if the european union does not change its policy the iranians have shown strategic patience for the last year at least actually far more than that in my opinion when the americans exited the dream and the europeans promised that they would abide by their commitments and ir

berlin we are at a pivotal moment there is a carrier group steaming toward the strait of hormuz as we speak europe has been given notice of sixty days to come to their commitments that they agreed before do you think europe is going to be the peace broker here or do you think europe is going to have to choose a side. well things are getting more complicated for the europeans obviously now with this kind of iranian deadline and. it is hard to see how the europeans would be able to transform the special purpose vehicle instax into something that the iranian side would economically benefit from and be happy with because so the fact remains that we have the dominance of the u.s. sanctions regime globally on the banking and financial sectors and this is not going to change is a strong compliance regime when it comes to u.s. sanctions so it's really hard to see how the europeans could encourage their companies to engage in trade with iran something that they have been reluctant to do so up until now as we see from different reactions in europe europe of course remains committed to the nucle

navy commander who oversees the mideast sent an aircraft carrier into the strait of hormuz where moref the world's oil tankers pass through. your take on this, sir. >> yeah. i think it's classic establishment washington thinking. we think that we have to press all the time. we have to show our military resolve all the time. and there's times when you don't need to do that. too much pressure is too much. look, the balance of power is overwhelmingly in our favor already. the iranians are not going to take action that they know, an unprovoked attack which they know would result in an overwhelming response from us because they have nothing to gain from that. what we need to do is just calm ourselves down and recognize we already have enough power in the region, and they are very convinced of our ability to use it if they ever do anything, so let's don't push the situation where we may cause a war that we're trying to stop. elizabeth: that aircraft carrier is not yet in the strait of hormuz, there's talk that it may go through it. iran has reacted in the past by sending a swarm of ships to

that pipeline cannot make up for all of the exports in the street of hormuz if that were to be closedould at least keep a sizable portion of it back on the market. that is the way we had looked at things. attack on the first the pipeline closing some of the capacity. guy: you put those things together, it is not a great cocktail. thank you very much indeed. joining us as part of the great coverage we are getting from bloomberg news. vonnie: checking markets, we have an update. making up some of yesterday's losses. the s&p 500 is up a tens of 1%. several stocks are lower, including retailers targeting gap. ralph lauren trades impacting as well. the dow up three quarters of 1%. the nasdaq up nine tents. this is bloomberg. ♪ guy: from london, i'm guy johnson. vonnie: from new york, and vonnie quinn. nato is facing corrections about its future. relations between the u.s. and europe are tents to say the least. nato secretary general. >> thanks, bonnie. a lot has changed since i last spoke to jens stoltenberg in november on the geopolitical front. thank you for joining me. i want to start w

of the seaborne transsits go through the strait of hormuz.chinese. iranians are cornered. the united states doesn't want war. it is in no way to u.s. interest to make this go into a military conflict. iranians are trying to exert leverage. using nuclear blackmail, threatening to start up the nuclear program. they're in their last dying breath. i this. ashley: abraham lincoln, aircraft carrier in the region. we have big bombers in the middle east. we sent a very strong message s this what is needed dealing with iran? do they respond by backing down, so to speak? >> yes, they do. most regimes do. the united states again has obviously the military upper hand here. and so, what the trump administration is doing, is, sending a clear demonstration that we do not want military conflict if the iranians do something so foolish to use a proxy group like the irgc or some other proxy group that the united states is prepared to retaliate and defend u.s. forces abroad and our allies. this is what deterrence is. you try to demonstrate credibly to our advers

. -- straight of hormuz and a key pipeline. where is the risk for oil? ♪ alix: welcome to bloomberg "commodities edge." 30 minutes focused on the companies, physical assets and trading behind the hottest commodities with the smartest voices in the business. first, we kick it off with spot on, our take on the big stories. joining me from jacksonville, florida is a senior fellow at the atlantic council and author. joining me on set in new york is the head of oil and gas at credit suisse. our spotlight today is geopolitical tensions in the middle east. here what we know. the uss abraham lincoln and b-52 bombers are making their way to the strait of hormouz. two saudi vessels were sabotaged sunday, in waters off the uae. two days later, pumping stations connected with the pipeline in saudi arabia were hit by drones. the saudis blame it on rebels in yemen. president trump responded to comments about sending troops into the region. president trump would i do that? :absolutely. but we have no plans for that. hopefully, we will not plan for that. if we did it, w

reports it is getting to be very dicey and dangerous traveling around the strait of hormuz or anywhere around the middle east right now. yesterday you might have heard about the united arab emirates citing at least four different ships, cargo and otherwise, that were attacked by iranian or iranian-backed insurgents. then there was this report out of saudi arabia today that two of its oil tankers were targeted as well. so things are escalating there. what do make of it with alan knuckman over at the cme. what is escalating non-stop it would seem. what do you think of this? >> well, in years past this would be a big story a big issue. if we looked back five years ago it, might have added five dollars to price of crude. geopolitical issues have been tempered because it is ten period in the crude market. now the big three, united states, russia, saudi arabia are can balance it a little more with disruption in the middle east. we shot up to 63. we're back negative on the day, hitting around the 61 level. neil: i wonder if the trade friction between the china and u.s. is dominant theme there

sabotage near the united arab emirates in the middle of an already tense situation near the straight of hormuz. the u.s. steps up its military presence as a warning to iran. >>> and the story of a 3-year-old child rescued or was he kidnapped? an american couple say their son was forcibly taken away by officials while police say the boy is finally safe. >>> welcome to our viewers here in the united states and all around the world. i'm george howell. >> and i'm rosemary church. from cnn headquarters in atlanta, "cnn newsroom" starts right now. >>> u.s. president donald trump may feel confident about how the trade war with china is going, but investors are nervous. >> that's right. asian markets closed in negative territory over the latest hike in u.s. tariffs and beijing is expected to retaliate. you see here the neikke, the shanghai kpoz et and seoul all showing negative -- in negative territory. u.s. futures market also. a down day on wall street as well. you see the same playing out there. >> but president trump tweeted "the u.s. is right where we want to be with china." he claimed the u.s. w

the region everything in the the persian gulf will be destroyed the the shutting of the strait of hormuz would be a sideshow all the oil facilities the tankers in the gulf of oman and in the persian gulf they'll be will be destroyed that's the real that's what how war will end and it will lead to a global economic catastrophe and trump knows that so whether the military and the and those who are more sane in washington can push back against bolton and pompei oh that's an open question but the europeans besides their commitments they should also be putting pressure on saudi arabia and the emirates otherwise i think people in these two countries should start pulling out their money from the suits regimes minissha it's clear that the europeans are now key players once again in this the goal that has been thrown down the bulls and they can use all the cliches that you want but it's down to the europeans in the sixty day deadline now what is america thinking when it comes the europeans they think that they've got allies there that they will eventually side with america well the republicans th

was already a concern in the red sea those pipelines were going to the red sea not to the strait of hormuz so there was a concern that did not exist before coupled with us possibly pulling out making the saudi's and emma righty is looking at protecting their own western flank so there is that military aspect in that relationship that dissolved over the issue on the tarmac and then they move that base so there is a military base in the horn of africa there is differing reports that they would continue to exist after the yemen war so if you look at the red sea actually had access to a series of military bases or ports. it is a lot. so you say what's going on here but really just the military discussion to pay attention to the security threat and then the economic peace. look at the map of china one road does not go to dubai. f what might be the future of trade that i am her bodies realize to be very good at logistics because of the crisis this is something they know that we are good at and then to open up a number of ports in the red sea as well and those objectives to be a part of the futur

in israel it also has the ability to choke the world's oil supply by closing down the straits of hormuz so if the americans want a war then this is not going to be a one sided war it will be a catastrophic war not just for iran and it will be for iran as well but for the west and for israel and for the persian gulf region itself the b.b.c. very close ally of the british council arguably saying iran jails british council work of the day in inverted commas i presume they don't need the inverted commas but wouldn't move what about the cold war as it were because all we hear about is iran jailing people british citizens wrongly well i mean i want to comment on this particular incident i don't know much about it i'll just plead ignorance all i know is what i've seen on the media which is odd because we have is a story of murder on the iranian people involved well i mean i can tell you what the iranians think the iranians think that. western countries and israel are trying to get spies into the country and they're often doing that through dual nationals we have the famous case of nasa needs a

to the nation from pakistan because you mention the straits of hormuz is there even wider. context to this buggers than against any u.s. attack on iran pakistan of course a new clear fully nuclear armed nation unlike iran well iran is not isolated everyone likes to pretend that it's iran against the rest of the world or the international community iran has very powerful friends unlike iraq in 2003 libya in 2011 it has it is friends with 2 of the biggest superpowers in the world russia and china it has allies in south america africa in the region it has allies in baghdad in damascus in beirut's even in santa ok but do you think the leader bugs that imran khan and leaders like that will always be able to triangulate because saudi arabia has concerns here are the same is watching this is geopolitics action obviously every nation tries to balance its interests its own national interests come 1st trying to balance between different nations i think am wrong card in pakistan is pivoting towards china trying to pivot away from american dependence towards countries like china. he's

announced a couple of days ago that it is deploying an aircraft carrier to the straits of hormuz that in conjunction with tensions that are ratcheting ratcheting up with iran and the secretary of state said at that time that one of the reasons the u.s. was doing that is that it had credible threats that there could be an iranian attack on u.s. forces in the area including in iraq so perhaps this is meant as a kind of demonstration of the significance of that threat but you what have you heard there in washington what are the sources been able to say about pay is change of plans. emelin the just laid it out it was quite mysterious today. media was reporting about where on earth the secretary of state is traveling to and in fact not even as melinda said the press corps traveling with them was informed but in addition to that they were also not allowed to report it until the delegation would have left the next destination now rocky iraqi government forces in fact they have to confront their visit to the united states have five thousand military personnel there on the ground and the rumor