weapons to iran. the u.n. city councsecurity cou to renew the arms embargo before it expires. we've made this a priority. the secretary has visited the u.n. security council two or three times to highlight the expiration of the arms embargo. today, by every measure, iran and its proxies are weaker than when our pressure began. shia military groups in syria have stated to "the new york times," this was in march, that iran no longer has enough money to pay them as much as they have in the past. there was one shia fighter who said the golden days are gone and they're never coming back. iran just doesn't have the money it used to. hezbollah and hamas have enacted austerity plans due to a lack of funding from iran. in march, hezbollah's leader went on tv and said hezbollah needed public support to sustain its operation. and in various parts of lebanon, you can see piggy banks in grocery stores soliciting spare change from lebanese citizens to support hezbollah's operation. we're also making it harder for i

why because iran has been. opposing the persons of foreign powers for sure do us some progress in the persian . this is one issue the other issue is that the iranian officials especially the military ones have made it very clear that it's curious of any kind of you know provocative move from the united states or the others there could be a war in the region and iran has shown that it has the ability to do something by downing to us strong so i'm not saying that's go to war and stay safe i'm not saying this but i'm saying that's. the other part is no that's there's a cost and there's a huge cost for entering all confrontation be drawn so i think that's the main nature actually diverting nature of the recent u.s. initiative for the persian gulf is mostly political now for decades the fret to blow the strait of hormuz has been iran. if a response to any american pressure i'm not trying to take any sides here but don't you think that the iranians themselves are responsible for giving the trump administration this i

in northern iran keeping russia and iran out? that is a positive? mr. hook: our forces in northeast syria have never had any wrong mission set. >> but now that we are not there and we now have the ability of russia to take the greater capacity of syria, allowing iran to come into that -- to be more emboldened in syria, you are saying that does not affect us? mr. hook: no, because our strategy from the beginning in syria is always been around using diplomatic leverage, withholding reconstruction assistance, so that we can get forces under iranian control out , and then our maximum pressure campaign -- while they were in the deal, they were able to give assad many billions of dollars. >> i understand the money. i'm trying -- you don't think there is now a greater chance of a miscalculation with israel looking at the iranians having greater access to syria that could use drones in a similar type of attack that we saw against the saudi's? you don't think that is a greater risk today because of what is happening in syria? mr. hook: we

european governments are frustrated iran has lost some of the benefits under the iran nuclear deal with our departure, but that is a secondary consequence. as it pertains to european countries -- european companies, there is no daylight. there is more daylight between european companies and european governments then with the u.s.. anator murphy: you sent us list of action that european companies have been taking. it's a stretch to say you have had success convincing nations in europe to join the pressure campaign. the pressure campaign is unilateral, not as effective as it could be if you were successful. mr. hook: our unilateral sanctions have been much more effective than multilateral sanctions that were in effect before the deal. indisputable. andwhen you say it is true, maybe this is a matter of just making distinctions, there is our pressure campaign and then there is europe working to confront and address iranian threats to peace and security. and sometimes those overlap, and sometimes they separate, but when i look at this list of european actions, it is dozens of actions, everyt

iran can enrich. once you do that, you are not going to be able to sign up anybody for the 1, 2, 3 agreement, because you have breached the standard of no enrichment, and we were able to get the 1, 2, 3 agreement, because we had a standard of no enrichment and so the iran nuclear deal has caused all of the countries around the middle east to see iran enriching and saying why can't i enrich, and much better to restore, and if you are looking at the secretary pompeo's group of 12, the top is to restore the standard of no enrichment, and that standard was voted unanimously by china, russia, p-3 and all 10 elected members of the council repeatedly. it was the negotiation of the -- >> mr. chairman, i have been patiently waiting and could you please put this in writing. >> i will say, mr. chairman, a bad deal with iran should not be the justification for bad deal with the saudi arabians, and so to walk back a bad deal is not a precedent for another bad deal. >> and mr. hook, is assad a friend of the united

aligned with is he iran? >> iran has been supporting --ad >> without iran helping assad he would not be around because to his aid when no one else would. would you agree with that? yes. >> russia and iran keep functioning. you're a good man, a good choice for this, so my questions are really not about you and your policies, it's about this president's policies. could not agree more with markey. when the president said today of turkey, nvasion turkey's invasion of syria is us.lly of no consequence to do you know we sanctioned turkey hook?at's true, mr. >> the president did threaten sanctions on friday and imposed some of them on monday. and i cheered them on. don't know how in the world pompeo and pence bring an end to the bloodshed -- if syria wants that's up r the land to turkey and syria. i view the situation on the border with syrian to be or the united states strategically brilliant. i don't see anything brilliant about this. are u believe the kurds safer today than they were before turkey's invasion? > t

sanctions on iran through turkey. that is not a consular issue. >> the meeting did concern a notular proposal, it was acted upon. i think anyone who knows me knows that i rigorously enforce all sanctions against iran. >> when we have the highest office in the land empowering people to seek to make a deal when you have the biggest violator of u.s. sanctions on iran, it is hard to believe that we have a universal message on iran that our sanctions will be vigorously enforced and preserved. in thereaks credibility end. >> i do not see how it does. we have had in place -- there is no administration in history a consequence of those two meetings. >> mr. zarrab was the biggest violator of u.s.-iran sanctions, of any single individual. is that not true? >> in the prior ministries and, yes, and he is in jail. -- the bottomine line is -- it wasn't the prior ministry should who was letting free agents go to make a deal to let him lose. come on. come on, stop with that prior administration stuff. >> no, this is a question -- >>

the president of iran. i am so you hear more about that and i will be sad as my family had had there at this stand your jazz than stand in as the chemist that is not someone in the us them are there more compact had been all that in and that elaine's have had a more in has come on in the time. i just bring you up to speed with what we're witnessing here in iran minister of pakistan only come when i was there in the iranian capital he's come in something of a mediation mission that trying to broker a new understanding is the expectation egypt when we ran and saudi arabia or iran and saudi arabia have had their. lot over a number of issues going back a number of years from the situation and syria the conflict there the conflicts in yemen have to get on as well as the balance of power in iraq all of those areas where iran backs one side of a conflict and saudi arabia the other enough for now iran when it can pakistan's prime minister we understand is trying to mediate a new understanding to at least lock thing

strong sanctions against iran. onlyte that, iran not continued its policy in syria, not only continued support for assad, but poured more resources than before into syria. it is not clear what was the assumption from the u.s. policy that maximum pressure would change that behavior, given that the situation did not seem to be the case, even in the recent past. talking about a few years ago. availability of resources does not seem to affect the iranian policy in the region. but also, the government. the presidencies in power do not seem to change the iranian policy in the region. you can argue a presidency of rouhani can be considered different compared to a presidency of ahmadinejad. that is mainly in terms of tone and tactics. when we are talking about principle and redlines, they are the same. we can say even on the nuclear dossier, i know this is not the topic, but i'm happy to explain that as one of the examples. it applies with every single dossier. we can see some of the administration pushing for more and bet

provides for iran. so china, you know, goes along with the jcpoa and doesn't help iranians get a better deal. okay. china decides the relationship with the united states is more important than the gas deal. okay. you can protest. won't do you any good. again, to me this highlights the wisdom of the chinese approach to iran is iran for china is a gift that keeps on giving, and iran has to find ways to continue to make itself attractive to china which benefits china. i'm sorry nobody is answering your question about erdogan. let me say this and it's way out of my lane. i think u.s.-turkish relations have been going in a really bad direction for a long time. and the turks keep doing things which are perceived to be defiance of american ambitions, and i would hope that the president will be able to bring the turks closer in line with u.s. strategy in the region. and this is not a problem that is limited to the trump administration, and didn't start in the obama administration, it started before, but as a na

european governments are frustrated that iran has lost some of the benefits under the iran nuclear deal with our departure. that is a secondary consequence. there's more daylight between european companies and european governments than there is between the u.s. -- >> you were sending us a list of actions that european companies are taken. i think it's a strange -- you have had success in convincing other nations, especially those in europe to rejoin the pressure campaign. the pressure campaign is unilateral. it's not as effective as it could be if you were successful. >> our unilateral sanctions have been much more effective than the multilateral sanctions that were in place prior to the deal. indisputable on that. there is our pressure campaign and then there is europe working to confront and address iranian threats to peace and security. sometimes those overlap and sometimes they separate. when i look at this list of european actions, it is dozens of actions -- everything from these statements -- austria, belgium, france and germany exposed an iranian plot and they arrested several ir

and then that would then end the iran nuclear deal. i think the question you raised s who has standing to initiate that sequence of events that leads to the end of the iranian nuclear deal and the full snap all the u.n. sanctions? asked and nce you've i've talked to other staff on the senate foreign relations know this is a question, a live question that you would like to have answered and i'll take it back and work interagency to come up with an answer. >> one last point is, in july of year, i raised a problem of chinese individuals and entities iranian regimeng explore oil. in violation of the secondary sanctions. see later pleased to that month that the secretary of state announced the imposition of sanctions against the chinese and its c.e.o. for knowingly purchasing or acquiring oil from iran contrary to u.s. sanctions. without getting ahead of toselves and alerting people the fact they are in the crosshairs, are there other such that are ll out there available for us to go after? is there more to do in this space in regards to en

iran the state of iran they see it is much stronger than previous years. yes and everyone was praising the position of iran. was that we have we have been through a lot harsh 18 months there were sanctions there was a lot of pressure on the people. as. well i mean. despite all this. we we could feel this pressure upon the people of iran but please accept that this is that. has been the major focus of the state in the last 18 years. that it will. to return all of these challenges despite the fact that we have been under. immense pressure from the sanctions but which is not an easy task to do i think all of those involved the central bank those who have held. all the banks will of assisted us all the directors from the country i express my deepest gratitude. they didn't fare. in this major psychological and economic war they stood fast and with resilience and. broke the crisis courageously. today we can. i can confirm that we are not defeated economically in. that we see a better future for us than before. a. state as a trying it's that and the. next 2 years

has iran withdrawn support of the assad regime? b if not what kind of support do they send damascus? >> thank you, congressman. iran has absolutely not withdrawn report for the ast saturdays regime. we see the iranians sending not only their own forces, you you have revolutionary guard core officers in syria. but we see them cultivating and sometimes sending over proxies. hezbollah, afghanistan forces have been there. it's entrenching itself in the social fabric in syria. which tells you they are there to stay. iran would be turning syria into forward operating base for missiles and other power projex tools if it weren't for a airstrikes. they haven't deterred iran to continue to focus on power projection base. >> i yield back. >> thank you. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, guys, i want to completely associate myself with the remarks. i wish you were here under circumstances that were different, but here we are. i don't think there's an administration anymore. we have a president who is acting on husband impulses. and the pol

has iran as a member of the national teams in iran a safe and i'm just looking at the rules and regulations one says nondiscrimination equality. and the actual like elations about not discriminating so that would include sons having access to the game and be allowed to go watch matches why is this continuing to happen in iran because it's clearly against the cecil rules well it's against most every governing body statute in this let's just remember that this doesn't only apply to feed. so what they owe to you the blue girl actually fell in love with football so i mean this is this particular sport that she wanted to access but this is all across the board for a volleyball ball for soccer so it's something that all governing bodies should be aware of and it is absolutely against their statutes against their charters not discriminating against a person because of their gender this is exactly that case and what we're seeing now is with more media attention about very tragically the death. like that people should not keep talking about i mean future has been making statements that i consider va

and iran is ignoring some of the rights of their own people trying to denuclearize iran and iran is ignoring some of the rights of their own people human rights watch says both sides need to meet the needs of those civilians caught in the middle human rights watch says both sides need to meet the needs of those civilians caught in the middle the end is sent and both sides should ensure that humanitarian rights are met the end is sent and both sides should ensure that humanitarian rights are met for watching the hawks i'm fair in front sac. for watching the hawks i'm fair in front sack. explaining that. explaining that. ever after every thing he turns to netanyahu and nod like that ever after every thing he turns to netanyahu and nod like that right they get it right i got it right it's only the people that suffer in sections and i don't write i write it's only the people that suffer in sanctions and i'm sorry what's the idea that the us is over there because it cares so much about the reign of people the us doesn't care about the i'm sorry what's the idea that the us is over there b

iran uses its proxy to organizations, hezbollah, the houthis in yemen, the shiites in syria and iran against israel. we recently saw a serious escalation in which iranian missiles were launched from iran against saudi oil facilities in order to destabilize world oil supplies. this terror attack against saudi arabia was done on the direct orders of the iranian leader. iran is the biggest terror state and the biggest sponsor of terror in the world. i call on the international community to unite in order to stop iran. the world cannot allow iran to develop nuclear weapons. the world cannot allow iran to develop ballistic missiles. and the world must stop iran from supporting terror organizations in the region. the u.n. must declare hezbollah and the iranian revolutionary guards as terror organizations. they promote terror in the middle east, europe, latin america, and all over the world, and the world must stop them. i call on the international community to support president trump's maximum pressure policy against iran. this is the way to stop them. we must stop iran today in order to p

iran denying 100 israel and iran israel saying iran wants to destroy them and iran denying a high. percent of those claims last year you'll remember the united states withdrew itself from the 25 percent of those claims last year you'll remember the united states withdrew itself from the 2050 nuclear deal with iran and it was this past june that president donald trump signed say 50 nuclear deal with iran and it was this past june that president donald trump signed sanctions against iran even after israel conducted a number of attacks on a rainy and target actions against iran even after israel conducted a number of attacks on a rainy and targets in syria and today it's believed to have expanded its strikes into lebanon and iraq and syria and today it's believed to have expanded its strikes into lebanon and iraq in recent months well in jerusalem this week u.s. treasury secretary steven in recent months well in jerusalem this week u.s. treasury secretary steven and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu so the current sanctions that were slapped on iran's news really prime ministe

as you know, iran is storing ballistic missiles in iraq. iraq is not able to exert its sovereignty and -- it is a problem and will remain a problem for some time until iraq can exert sovereignty. >> thank you very much. i'm sure my next question has probably been mentioned and discussed prior to my being here. obviously, the -- taking out the al baghdadi was a huge victory. just a horrific, horrible, individual. the head of probably the most despicable organization that we've seen in a long, long time. so our -- i want to commend the president and all those that worked with him in accomplishing this and, obviously, principally, our men and women in uniform who, you know, took the action to end this horrible person's time on this earth. wou could you discussion the administration's plans moving forward to ensure that isis does not re-establish itself under a new caliphate under, especially in syria, under a new leader? wheth what are the administration's plans at this point in ensuring that that doesn't happen? >> thank you, congressman. tha

way or the iran nuclear deal which specify certain limits and commitments for rome and iran has accepted that as be frank otherwise the conversation will be too dull the countries of the region do have some contradictions and you have just mentioned that there is disagreement between iran and israel iran and the us i believe that attempts must be made to settle those disagreements and seek a way out of the complicated situations that we observe today however if we agree that there are contradictions between regional powers and iran then who can take up the role of an arbitrator and decide whether iran complies with the j.c. way or not it is a confessed and foremost an arbitrator should be impartial right 2nd an arbitrator should be professional should be someone respected by the international community we have such an arbitrator with the i.a.e.a. the international atomic energy agency and the i.a.e.a. has publicly without any hesitation said that iran fully complies with all its obligations what we're saying is not quite productive not to mention that it is just unfair to blame iran for

let's start with iran.iran represents a dominant challenge facing the region and we see this in its nuclear escalation, ballistic missile programs and in regional behavior. iran is stoking conflict in iraq, syria and beyond and bankrolling terrorists like hezbollah and earlier this month iran staged a brazen attack on a saudi oil facility . the attack showed around aggressiveness and lack of respect the sovereign security of its neighbors and threatened international energy markets , temporarily taking five percent of the oil supply off the market . the sizable percentage of this oil is destined for china. china is saudi arabia's number one customer . and saudi arabia is china's leading oil supplier yet where was china with primary energy source was threatened ? china was playing both sides facilitating a destabilizing activities like topping up the regime to continued oil purchases . these violations give the iranian regime crucial passion needs to further its regional efforts to sow discord and terrorists

let's start with iran. iran represents the dominant challenge facing the region today.e see this in its nuclear escalations, ballistic missile programs and its malign regional behavior. iran is stoking a conflict in yemen, iraq, syria, beyond, and bankrolling terrorist groups like hezbollah. earlier this month iran staged a brazen attack on saudi oil facilities. this attack showed iran's aggressiveness and fundamental lack of respect for sovereignty and security of its neighbors. it also threatened international energy markets temporarily taking 5% of the global oil supply off the market. a sizable percentage of this oil is destined for china. china is saudi arabia's number-one customer. saudi arabia is china's leading oil supplier. yet, where was china when its primary energy source was threatened? china was playing both sides. facilitating iran's destabilizing activities by propping up the iranian regime through continued oil purchases. these violations or sanctions give iranian regime crucial cash it needs to further its regional efforts to sow discord and terrorism.

has iran as a member of the national teams in iran a safe and i'm just looking at the rules and regulations one hayes says nondiscrimination equality. and the actual regulations about not discriminating so that would include sons having access to the game and be allowed to go watch matches why is this continuing to happen in iran because it's clearly against the cecil rules well it's against most every governing body statute in this let's just remember that this doesn't only apply to feed. so what they owe to you the blue girl actually fell in love with football so i mean this is this particular sport that she wanted to access but this is all across the board for volleyball. so it's something that all governing bodies should be aware of and it is absolutely against their statutes against their charters not discriminating against a person because of their gender this is exactly that case and what we're seeing now is with more media attention about very tragically the death. like that people should not keep talking about i mean future has been making statements that i consider vacuous for ove

and saudi arabia iran khan made the comments following a meeting with iran's president hassan rouhani into what on sunday khan is set to travel to riyadh on tuesday he says he's hopeful of a breakthrough soon. die is with iran go a long way back. so the arabia. has been one of our closest friends saudi arabia has helped us when we have needed one when we have been in need and so the reason for this trip that we do not want a conflict between saudi arabia and iran we recognize that it's a complex issue we recognize that. but we feel. that this can be resolved through dialogue. we discussed recent developments related to the middle east region particularly to the persian gulf and the theory of amman as we believe they are very critical regions for the gulf and the whole region we also emphasized on the strengthening of stability and more peace in the region. i said bag has the latest from now. well imran khan has been trying to mediate put together a meeting since the united nations general assembly in new york last month where he met on the sidelines president rouhani now this is the 2

is talking about iran there is also the news that well iran says 2 missiles have struck one of its oil tankers off the coast of saudi arabia in what it is described as a dangerous adventure my rounds foreign ministry says the somebody was attacked and then set on fire in the red sea the crew is reported to be safe but some oil has been spilled and it's not known how much the u.s. navy says it is closely monitoring developments more from. iran's foreign ministry confirmed on friday that in the early morning hours one of the oil tankers was targeted in the eastern part or of the red sea approximately 100 kilometers off the coast of saudi arabia the sub at the experience 2 explosions 20 minutes apart causing its oil tanks to leak into the sea foreign ministry spokesman abbas mousavi said this isn't the 1st time in recent months that iranian vessels in the red sea have experienced what he described as destructive actions he blamed the fallout and resulting pollution on perpetrators of the attack who have yet to be identified he said they were taking part in quote dangerous adventurism the

iran as winner? sen.ham: do you believe that they seize the oil fields they will be stronger and have more resources, not less? >> i don't know the odds of them taking it. -- we have had -- tried to sen. graham: if they seize the oil fields in iran, would it their regime in terms that are capability? >> if they are able to get more revenue. it's not hard question. the answer is yes. my view is the biggest winner by this decision by the president to abandon syria would be iran, isis, and the biggest loser will be the kurdish allies. see turkey's actions going into syria and undercutting policies toward iran? >> our troops are there to ensure the defeat of isis. --. graham: isis mission. sen. graham: we are not there in large enough numbers. it is kurdish and arab fighters that we rely upon. you agree with that? >> that is a question for the person -- sen. graham: i asked you a very simple question. does president erdogan's invasion of syria putting kurdish allies at risk, driving president trump out of syr

saudi arabia and iran have been at odds for decades iran is largely a shia nation while saudi arabia sees itself as the leading sunni voice in the region iran's rising influence in iraq after the fall of saddam hussein in 2003 is seen as a threat by riyadh of tehran support for syria's president bashar al assad has worsened tensions and in yemen hooty rebels fighting the saudi u.a.e. coalition of claimed several attacks inside saudi arabia they're seen as being supported by iran which iran denies abdullah booed is a visiting professor with the middle east institute at the national university of singapore he says there are high hopes for this diplomatic effort from pakistan. all of us in the region and also the global level. could ill afford to have another conflict. and in the gulf we know how costly this could be we know how wrong it could be and also what effect it could have on the global energy security and the global economy so i think the 2 sides seem to already fought it you know has only signaled that it is ready to talk and we have seen also a change in tone from some of you

can praise iran's talked about the strong ties that iran has with pakistan thanked iran for its support of the kashmir is. but also said that look we do not want a conflict in this region that any conflict will have global impacts and he said that pakistan isn't a mediator they want to be a facilitator and this is a pakistani initiative that no one has asked pakistan to do this so iran can is doing this off his own back but president rouhani also spoke and he said that any country that thinks it can cause instability in the region without having a response is greatly mistaken he said that things can be. can be agreed through dialogue. is a starting point that there should be an immediate cease fire there and some humanitarian assistance but i also spoke about the missile attack iran says the ring in the rain or tank of was targeted on friday and he said that they have some evidence and they will let that be known shortly but president ronald also mentioned the sanctions and said that the united states should return to the j. c.p.o. 2015 nuclear agreement and the sanctions should be lift

iran's activities in syria through these airstrikes and yet iran has not had an effective response against israel and they managed to do this in coordination with russia in this alliance with iran. the israeli campaign deserves commendation and we should support it however we can whether there is intelligence sharing, diplomatic cover if they need it and we should use our own tools to counter what iran is doing, sanctions tools and whatever other tools are available to us. >> i associate myself with those comments. >> you are making it easy. one more question. how do we ensure the situation on the border between minorities, syria and turkey is not abused by iran to expand its presence in the country to solidify what i see as a land bridge between tehran and beirut? >> this is where michael singh talked about us forces which remain at the top in the area of northeast syria that turkey is focused on. in the view of the study group maintaining us forces at that garrison is critical for preventing iran from consolidating those lines of communication through syria and given the redeployment of

has always left the door open for iran to reverse those decisions now iran is an ally of russia and russia was important in organizing this 2015 nuclear deal and they would be very much concerned about the increase of tensions and iran stepped back from that nuclear deal and would want. iran to state in the 2015 j c p o 8 but iran is looking to other countries to build economic ties to shore up its economy in the face of unilateral united states sanctions still ahead on al-jazeera a currency crisis for lebannon why many businesses are only accepting u.s. dollars. and indonesia swears in a new government despite a night of violent protests. hello maybe surprisingly for october as a hint once again of cloud in southern iran in pakistan list surprisingly is the wintery stuff trying to get into the caucasus the far north of iran but we're not talking about when to get a proper very high ground on the edges of the himalayas was because we just warm sunshine once more but maybe a shower too still possible run the straits of hormuz more especially southern pakistan in the next day or 2 for

the war between iran and israel it is now increased today. russia has exploited the conflict. though its intervention in syria must establish itself as a major player in the middle east for the first time in decades the u.s. partners across the region have expanded the thais have moved to moscow not washington for mediation. refugees have strained with the neighbors and politics in europe, yet the conditions are not suitable for the safe and voluntary dignified return in the enormous conflict by targeting hospitals and schools, deploying chemical weapons and using starvation as offensive or. to date there have been no meaningful consequences for these actions. we should expect future authoritarians when faced with peaceful protests may look to the case and assume that nasa civilian homicide will not be challenged in any credible way setting precedents for calm in the war. i only have a few seconds left. it's a conflict where the great concerns international terrorism and great power rivals come together. it is not a conflict that can be conta

iran hasn't blamed anybody but tensions the region continue to be high now iran can use it to visit sag arabia on tuesday where is expected to meet the saudi crown prince mohammed bin some of mine and he's hoping that he can start some talks between the 2 regional rivals. major protests in guinea on monday against president called his plan to change the constitution and run for a 3rd term it comes as 6 opposition politicians remain in custody at an unknown location after they were arrested for planning the protest nicholas haq is in the capital conakry. this is downtown connector in the area called tell you a market area where over the weekend people have come to do their shopping to get basic necessities like rice water or oil because they fear that the shelf really close down because of these demonstration already people have been arrested leaders of these protests have been arrested by men wearing ski mask and arms and this has created a sense of anxiety and then to supply. so we're just outside. the main opposition figure you know one lives in a popular but he sought refuge in t

not accusing iran of killing. i guess but have they tried their best to do the same you just speak to the heinous act so where do you think the british foreign office is getting his information obviously the saudi spokesperson conal maliki stopped short of directly blaming iran but showed the iranian missile parts when it came to the attack on saudi arabia which you're saying was actually by a yemeni who the community forces are officials of being very clear that iran had nothing to do with. but you see they have to recognize that people under such a very difficult circumstances in yemen after 5 years of bombardment and relentless attack by the very few are supplied by u.s. and u.k. they simply reacted and these has been their weapons of. britain of course continues as you say to sell arms to saudi arabia for use in yemen that's just by a year ago this washington post journalist shoji being killed by saudi arabia that's admitted by mom had been 7 do you think there is an information war about iran today that has b

countries also stop providing help to a country they believe is controlled by their rival iran people are starting to take to the streets there is panic over the currency losing value which has hurt their spending power last month the government declared a state of economic emergency for these protesters however this crisis is not new and they want those in power to be held responsible for years of mismanagement and corruption well let's talk more about what's happening in lebanon we have sami executive director of the lebanese policy studies thanks very much for being with us. so i want to ask you 1st help me out with this the central bank has enough currency reserves including dollars for the next 30 months but there isn't enough dollars for importers and traders have ads that work well the fact is that yes the central bank does have a high reserves but the situation is actually quite precarious just because we've been actually living with a large budget deficit and very increasing a trade deficit now the inability of the lebanese government to actually attract capital from abroad i

has all is left the door open for iran to reverse those decisions now iran is an ally of russia and russia was important in organizing this 2015 nuclear deal and they would be very much concerned about the increase of tensions and iran stepped back from that nuclear deal and would want iran to stay in the 2015. but iran is looking to other countries to build economic ties to shore up its economy in the face of unilateral united states sanctions. still ahead on al-jazeera a currency crisis from lebanon why many businesses are only accepting u.s. dollars and a dream run for african athlete at the world championships ignites their passionate fans details coming up. hello typhon my tiger is running up the east coast of china it's just brush through taiwan and sit on the edge of your screen the tucker and rain gave less you might expect from a typhoon $97.00 movies recorded so far the winds fade he's talking of not seen reports of damage is entirely possible but the things disappearing northwards now to say goodbye to shanghai later on wednesday leaving behind well the existing quiet wea

cousins in iran which -- presence in iran which has also come under pressure in recent months both politically and perhaps here in washington. i think it's important to keep pressure on iran by supporting israeli airstrikes and by maintaining that which i anticipate itself may now come under some pressure as russians, iranians, others try to complete the withdrawal of american forces from syria. and, i think we will need to see a diplomatic push, to hold our anti-isis and anti-asaad coalition together. maintaining this policy of emboldening sanctions, and diplomatically isolating the assad regime. many of our allies may now be inclined to peel off of that coalition. just in closing, our report warned that this was not a conflict that was over, that it remains dynamic, remained dangerous. i think that unfortunately, recent events have shown that out. it's important that we stop relinquishing our leverage and we start using that leverage. my fear is that we are not going to cnn's to the endless war -- to see an end to the endless war, we are going to find that american forces were sort of helpin

we are talking about exchanging people who have been kidnapped, whoicans were in iran -- are in iran versus iranian prisoners, people who have done illegal things here, like try and kill the saudi ambassador in georgetown. through irene in blocked -- through an iranian plot. it is a priority to get our people back. >> can you tell us whether there are any talks on the way? i'm not going to get into those details here. what i would say is that it is a priority for us to get our people back. in theas been a history when youoffers pay for this type of behavior, when you pay for kidnapping. you generally get more. >> to both of you, me ask about the administration's freedom of assistant in august of 2018. if congress asked to remove the constraints proposed by the clarification act much in the u.s. consider resuming aid to palestinians? and if so, under which conditions? >> let me start by saying that the administration supports the victims of terrorism. this is an important piece of legislation. >> does the administration -- ?rt so-called >> we rely on congress to fix that. >> can you a