has made clear in innumerable ways but it does not desire a military confrontation with iran the military the u.s. military has made clear that it feels that a military intervention in iran would be. disastrous for the real intent for you the same time and tell you hey i'm just here but it has to go to our break here and i think we have to recall you know everything is still on table john gentlemen we're going to go to a short break and after that short break we'll continue our discussion on around the state party. in. wealthy british style. markets find out. why not what's really happening to the global economy with mike's concert for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune in to reports on our keep. lists. the east so. lucky. lucky the e.q. suits tsui the first solo album after all talk a little about your mind you were talking about iraq u.s. relations. muck the economy the solo. ok i'm a ham and you wanted to say something before i went to the break but i'd like to point out there's that and i want to talk about the israeli angle here is that israel for a long time has b

u.s. in one reads like a cheap hollywood movie script iran is accused to have been behind a plot to assassinate the saudi ambassador to the u.s. to randomize this to washington promises a strong reaction are american and iranian relations again on a collision course. to cross-talk u.s. iranian relations i'm joined by one hundred marandi in beirut he's a professor at the university of tehran in tel aviv we go to michael omar man he is a writer and journalist and in washington we cross to matthew does he is a policy analyst and director of the middle east program for the center of american progress all right gentlemen crosstalk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want may very much encourage it but first marcia tell us the latest chapter in this troubled relationship that's been our relationship set by deep hostility for three decades now but last week saw yet another downturn and u.s. iran ties after washington came out with accusations that iran had been plotting to assassinate saudi arabia's ambassador to the u.s. it is an outrageous act that where the rays are going to have

and they are all useless and ineffective they say that they want to isolate iran but they have become isolated themselves but u.s. officials say the case stands on its merits pointing to the long term animosity between iran and saudi arabia driven by a power struggle between the shia and the sunni as one of the reasons to iran may have wanted the saudi a diplomat. beer dead this alleged plot has been tied to previous accusations of iran's involvement in the murder of lebanon's prime minister rafik hariri on top of that some see this is a continuation of iran's terrorism is against well the u.s. itself previously conducted acts of terrorism against america they've killed americans but not in the u.s. not in the nation's capital so this is a real escalation and it's just. the biggest off your any fear that we will come back. and so this poses a question why would iran want to risk provoking u.s. military reaction against itself by carrying out the alleged attacks also and i'm going to ask you this peter what can the u.s. hope to do right now especially given the fact that many believe the evidence to be trumped up

looking back on sort of the u.s. iran relations that as i said before this doesn't make a lot of sense because especially coming up on the heels of the release of the hikers it seemed as if there was a bit of a attempt to at least get on get out get ahead of some sort of a public relations push and win sort of hearts and minds if you will from the iranian end and and this would certainly fly in the face of that you live thanks so much for being with us and thank you for having me. coming up.

u.s. says it's committed to holding iran accountable for its actions other than arrested in charging these two men what are their options that the u.s. have at its disposal for holding the iranian government accountable on you know assuming that there's actually enough evidence to to hold somebody. well i think it's very likely will see a push for new sanctions certainly if it's established that these individuals were working on behalf of the iranian government i think it's it's really it's likely will see very targeted sanctions focused as i said earlier on on bank markazi to central bank i know the comments have been made about sort of comparing it to the types of sanctions we might have seen in north korea even really designed to sort of undercut the currency so i think those are the types of things we should be watching for i think thus far though certainly as a mark kirk has has has said that so far the response will at least that he's pushing for will be limited to further sanctions on the central bank and since the plot was not successful that there would not be an examination or pu

u.s. is clearly very bold about iran just how close do you think it is iran though to becoming another u.s. military target. well let the truck of military. action military strike against iran being on the table as an option has always been there and there iranians. ronnie and lee there are used to the idea that that u.s. military threat is always there what i'm really trying to say is that the threat of military strike being can see that military target. by united states has not only any policies and he says in the wrong. we know that the u.s. is considering action against iran we're not too sure what the actual be but certainly sanctions would be mention what about the response from tehran though it's dismissed this as. perhaps we are more assertive response from tehran over this issue yes. foreign ministry in fear on both two hours ago actually called before the. ambassador. which sees ambassador the. embassy is taking care of the u.s. interest in their own. iranian leaders appear to be to be in fact quite angry of these allegations because they think that league asians are are losing c

u.s.-iran relations may hinge on the story that he has to tell. >> the man accused of trying to blow up an airplane on christmas day in 2009 has dramatically changed all his pleas to guilty. umar farouk abdulmutallab from nigeria is facing charges of trying to kill the 300 passengers and crew on board the flight. this report is from our washington correspondent. >> slowly, perhaps nervously, a young nigerian man declares war on christians and jews. umar farouk abdulmutallab then took its fight to america, attempting to blow up a plane as it prepared to land here, using explosives hidden in his underwear. in a detroit courtroom, the defendant changed his plea to guilty. describing the underwear bomb as a blessed weapon to save the lives of innocent muslims. he told the judge, i intended to erect a u.s. aircraft for the u.s. wreckage of muslim lives and property. it played out on christmas day two years ago when he boarded a flight from amsterdam to detroit. an hour before landing, he locked hims

u.s.-iran relations may hinge on the story that he has to tell. >> the man accused of trying to blow up an airplane on christmas day in 2009 has dramatically changed all his pleas to guilty. umar farouk abdulmutallab from nigeria is facing charges of trying to kill the 300 passengers and crew on board the flight. this report is from our washington correspondent. >> slowly, perhaps nervously, a young nigerian man declares war on christians and jews. umar farouk abdulmutallab then took its fight to america, attempting to blow up a plane as it prepared to land here, using explosives hidden in his underwear. in a detroit courtroom, the defendant changed his plea to guilty. describing the underwear bomb as a blessed weapon to save the lives of innocent muslims. he told the judge, i intended to erect a u.s. aircraft for the u.s. wreckage of muslim lives and property. it played out on christmas day two years ago when he boarded a flight from amsterdam to detroit. an hour before landing, he locked hims

u.s.-iran relations may hinge on the story he has to tell. bbc news.orexit i am in singapore. >> and i am in london. eight people have been shot dead and one critically injured in a salon in california. >> the so-called under where farmer suddenly at minster trying to blow up a plane over the american city of detroit on christmas day. -- suddenly admits to trying to blow up a plane over the american city of detroit on christmas day. and the welcoming of the release of about two other political prisoners, although several others remain behind bars. activists say much more needs to be done after five decades of military rule. we are joined by the regional director of this center for humanitarian dialogue. he joins us on the line from bangkok. how significant is this release of these prisoners by the military-backed civilian government? what are they trying to show the world? >> at two things, first, it is significant to show the world that there is, indeed, a move to a calculated, disciplined and opening. but perhaps more internally, this is part of a ca

u.s. is accusing iran of backing that plan. u.s. intelligence what information two men tied to the iranian government wants to take out the saudi ambassador to washington. secretary of state hillary clinton hopes the countrys who hesitated to get tough with iran will change their tunes. >> we can send a strong message that this kind of action which violates international forms must be ended. >> one of the two men is charged in the naturalized u.s. citizen arrested last month and made the first court appearance yesterday. the other is still at large in iran -- and iran says the u.s. is making the whole thing up. >>> elsewhere around the world a deadly zest left one dead and several people hurt when crane collapsed in ontario. check out the video of the scene. rig gave way on a construction project at york university. tuesday, at least two people were rushed to the hospital. officials say workers were excavating and tunneling for a new subway when the crane fell and some were trapped underneath the crane. that's amazing. >>> flooding i

u.s. action against iran could go beyond sanctions but added that we are not going there yet that's a quote we're getting reports that the u.s. might raise the issue at the u.n. security council and generally a lot of tough words in washington these days the u.s. administration strongly believes in the case against this iranian born man also u.s. citizen mounts or are both sierra who's accused of trying to plot the assassination of the saudi ambassador in washington the u.s. attorney general said the men admitted being directed by quote high ranking you raney and officials and on these grounds washington says it will hold the reigning government accountable for the plot to kill the master also the u.s. is accusing iran of conspiring to stage two bombings at these really embassy and the saudi embassy in washington denies all of the about all of the above are saying it's a childish game that you are playing possibly to divert attention from their domestic problems this is what they're saying meaning the ongoing protests across the u.s. but the saudis on the other hand have taken the allegatio

iran. exactly the u.s. aims to unite the world against iran that's what we hear from the officials here they are talking about the need to completely isolate iran in the international community vice president joe biden for example said the u.s. action against iran could go beyond sanctions but added that we are not going there yet that's a quote we're getting reports that the u.s. might raise the issue at the u.n. security council and generally a lot of tough words in washington these days the u.s. administration strongly believes in the case against this iranian born man also a u.s. citizen months or are both who's accused of trying to plot the assassination of the saudi ambassador in washington the u.s. attorney general said the man admitted being directed by quote high ranking you raney and officials and on these grounds washington says it will hold the reigning government accountable for the plot to kill the master also the u.s. is accusing iran of conspiring to stage two bombings at the israeli embassy

u.s. is accusing iran of conspiring to stage two bombings at these really embassy and the saudi embassy in washington denies all of the about all of the above saying it's a childish game that the u.s. is so playing possibly to divert attention from their domestic problems this is what they're saying meaning the ongoing protests across the u.s. but the saudis on the other hand have taken the allegations seriously and have think u.s. authorities for preventing the alleged assassination attempt very rarely anyone here is touching upon the possible motive iran might have had for trying to kill the saudi official to take the accusations brought up but the by the u.s. justice department at face value and the main question you hear in the mainstream media is will the u.s. retaliate or not there's quite a few people in washington who root for retaliation in the meantime officials say all options are on the table not clear how far this will go but up on the news i constantly hear phrases like we need to step up to it is to undermine the government of iran we need to step up cooperation with this wi

iran. we know that the u.s. is considering action against iran we're not too sure what action will be but certainly sanctions have been mentioned what about the response from tehran though it's dismissed this as chemical good cook we perhaps see a more assertive response from tehran over this issue. yes. foreign ministry in there on. true or is it wrong actually called for this. ambassador. ambassador to the. embassy is taking care of u.s. interests here on. iranian leaders appear to be to be in fact quite angry of these allegations because they think the gators are are do the caress we'll leave it there thank you very much for your thoughts on this subject is a columbia professor of political science at the university of tehran thank you for your time you're welcome you're welcome. and we ask you on a website called what you think about the fourteenth iranian plot uncovered by the u.s. so far more than part of you believe it was nothing more than american ploy to smear its enemy little less than a quarter think

u.s. is accusing iran of conspiring to true bombings that the israeli embassy in washington and at the embassy of saudi arabia in washington denies all of the above saying it's a childish game that the u.s. is playing and that they have fabricated the case the saudis on the other hand have taken the allegations seriously and they're think u.s. authorities for preventing alleged assassination attempt the grounds of war are beating up on all mainstream channels they definitely take the accusations brought up by the u.s. justice department at face value when the main question they ask is will the u.s. retaliate or not there is there is quite a few people in washington who ruled for retaliation in the meantime officials say all options are on the table not clear how far this will go but the news but on the news they constantly hear phrases like we need to step up if it is to undermine the government of you ran we need to start our cooperation with saudi arabia and israel and other things along these lines and that's probably what the u.s. will most likely be doing. he's gonna live rather from wash

. >>> iran denies allegations that it was planning to carry out terror attacks in the u.s. two men tried to hire members of a mexican drug cartel to assassinate the saudi ambassador. one of the men appeared in court yesterday and the others still on the loose. he is believed to be a member of and in the iranian military unit. the state department is urging americans around the world to be on alert. >>> the 2012 campaign, eight republicans hoping to take on president obama next year faced off once again. last night's debate in new hampshire focused on the economy. it was the first phase of since herman cain started surging in the polls. his rivals pounced on his proposal for 9% business tax income tax, and sales tax. >> when you take the plan and turn it upside down, i think the devil is in the details. >> i don't need 9, 9, 9. i thought it was the price of a pizza. >> they want to look at what they can pass rather than what we need, which is a bold solution. >> if this was after chris christie threw his support behind mitt romney, the front- runner. >>> president obama says

u.s. already has on iran.an tell you that to date, wolf, what we have done as a nation is apply pressure to iran for bad behavior, for acts of terrorism, for pursuing their nuclear program, but we have not broadly enacted sanctions just for their political posture, the way the u.s. has against, say, syria or libya, and perhaps that is something that the u.s. could look at down the line as one possibility. but again, the u.s. -- officials saying on the record that they are looking at other ways to step up pressure on iran. clearly here they're not looking at military steps now, they're looking at financial and other forms of diplomatic pressure, wolf. >> presumably they have other steps in mind. jessica, when i spoke to mike rogers, the chairman of the house intelligence committee here in washington about an hour or so ago, he made it clear that based on all the information he's getting, and he's been well briefed for several months on what's going on as the chairman of this powerful committee in the house of r

u.s. closer to a confrontation from iran which. experts universally agree will be a pretty disastrous scenario both ways and that will have a at the end it's not something that we need and you know i definitely think there needs to be some careful treading here i want to thank you so much for joining us tonight. thanks very much for having me on it's a pleasure. also the commies an unpopular governor now is going out for students who want liberal arts to convince one are told i'm cycling and had happy our police bust a mobiles first class plus michele bachmann strange take on the nine nine nine plan that i'm just not. wealthy british style. is not on the right. market why not. come to. find out what's really happening to the global economy with mike stronger for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune in to kaiser report on. a very warm welcome to you this is your news today protesters on the. street they have. been canceling the chance to use it to get books for exactly the status of the human experiment it's

u.s. has repeated threatened to attack iran. and then of a you hear accusations from the u.s. government against iran you just have to be very careful now under the guise of nato we've seen western intervention and in places all over the arab world in recent months it might seem to some the iran is next in the crosshairs or could that be part of it as well and also could it be a part of political posturing as obama's looking for reelection in two thousand and twelve and nothing sells better than thwarting a terror attack on america. you know. they can in the u.s. but all the demonstrations all the turmoil internally a tactic that u.s. government has used throughout its history has been to create an enemy outside whenever there is problem inside one of the difficulties with its economy. demonstrations and other difficulties u.s. has been able to create an enemy outside russia was the enemy for many many years and so. not bother we were not in iran considered to be the u.s. enemy but. basically the soviet union us was looking for another enemy and iran has been filling that gap.

iran. and why that is important is because since the u.s. represent the u.s. interests. and the charges defair was called in by the iranians, furious about these allegations i and the u.s. wants the swiss to carry that message back to washington. the sanctions, maybe we can talk more specifically about that coming out of treasury. >> watching live picture there is, jill, about the secretary about to take the podium here to make some comments. we will see if she has anything to talk about this in particular. but do you have a sense of what the united states needs to do to convince are those in the international community, those who she's meeting with, that this plot was real? is there some sense of skepticism among folks? >> they have to give them as much proof as they can without, of course, revealing sources and other thing that they are doing, and this is really important, they are urging the international community to isolate, isolate, isolate iran. just before we went on acre the treasury department had another notice that they are design

u.s. policy to intensify pressure on iran's government through new u.s. lti-overall sanctions adopted by the u.n. security council. iran's leaders confront the same choice today that they have faced for some time. they can agree to end our illegitimate nuclear program and stop supporting terrorists around the world or it can continue on the present course, ignoring the legitimate demands of the international community on their nuclear program and supporting tourists, deepening our isolation and further threatening their economy. today we are fortunate to have before the committee undersecretary of state, wendy sherman. undersecretary for terrorism and financial claims an assistant secretary of commerce for expert impressment, david mills. undersecretary sherman will elaborate on ongoing diplomatic efforts with chances for success and survey policy options. undersecretary cohen will discuss the nature is in against iran and explore with us other pressure points in the global financial system that could be employed again korean. assistant secretary mills wil

u.s. washington says it's committed to holding iran accountable let's get the latest now on this developing story from what is going to teach canberra there you are in washington tell us what exactly did the u.s. official say. well bill the u.s. attorney general explicitly said the u.s. will be holding the uranium government accountable for the plots to kill the ambassador of saudi arabia to the united states also the u.s. is accusing iran of conspiring to stage two bombings of these really embassy in washington and the embassy of saudi saudi arabia and washington and here is how the u.s. department of justice came out with those those accusations the f.b.i. and the u.s. drug enforcement agency had a respite for u.s. citizen in a sting operation he is there a month or are. u.s. investigators say the men tried to plot the assassination of the saudi ambassador to the united states and was ready to pay one and a half million dollars for the murder and for that according to the americans. turned to members of the mexican drug cartel to turn out to be undercover f.b.i. operatives investigators s

u.s. government with extreme skepticism because i do not believe this would be in the interests of iran but i think what the u.s. is planning to do is intensify sanctions and possibly prepare for some kind of military operation against iran of course invading iran i think is out of the question at this time iran is a country of eighty million people with a formidable army u.s. is bogged down in afghanistan can't really leave or doesn't want to leave iraq and carrying out a war against libya so that's a problem but i think that we can see and i think this whole event is designed to ratchet up tension confrontation economic sanctions additional pressure and growing political isolation if they can by the united states against iran abroad is a military option in really a serious one. well i think that the united states has climbed the escalation ladder and whenever the escalation ladder is climbed to ratchet up an attack against the other side the other side then has to reciprocate that letter keeps getting climbed even if people don't want all out military conflict when they start climbing the

u.s. shores. we should expect further steps to try to isolate iran and that the u.s. will work with international partners towards that end. we have multiple sources telling us that we should expect at the very least new sanctions against iran and we should expect something announced later today towards that end. of course, there could be further action at the security council as you have heard others say. what a senior official tells me is that they think this is an acceleration that will hurt iran not just here in the u.s. but overseas where it will not be looked upon fondly where they have attempted to attack or set a plot to attack another member of the middle eastern nation, partner nation in the middle east. and the big picture, again, as the white house and no doubt the rest of the administration would like to see is that this would further isolate iran. i can add to this that this administration has said that they have been in regular contact with the saudi government throughout this investigation and has had contact with al jubeir. >> jessica, thank you. >>> j

u.s.-iran relations may hinge on the story he has to tell. >> this is newsday on the bbc. am in singapore. >> i am in london. eight people have been shot dead and one is critically injured in a salon in california. the so-called underwear bomber suddenly admits trying to blow up an airplane over the american city of detroit on christmas day two years ago. >> celebrations in a tiny himalayan kingdom of bhutan region that king has married the daughter of an airline pilot. we can bring you some pictures of that ceremony and the marriage. it is a beautiful city, the ancient capital of munaka. she is 10 years younger than him at 21. he is 31. he is an extremely popular figure in his country baton. -- his country bhutan. it is a fairly isolated country of 700,000 people. they are decked out in national dress. the occasion is marked with a dancing, singing, and drinking as well. it has been three days a public holiday. the country had actually banned for television until 1991. it is the only nation in the world whose government pursues a growth national happiness policy as oppose

. >>> iran is demanding for a public apology from the u.s. over claims the iranian government was involved in a plot to kill the saudi ambassador in the u.s. iran calls the accusations baseless and says they caused material damage. a government iranian agent was arrested after the plot was uncovered. officials claim he tried to hire a mexican drug cartel to kill the ambassador by setting off a bomb in a d.c. restaurant. >>> and you've heard about spending a semester at sea, but for 240 college students in maryland, they're not exactly getting the at sea part. news 4's darcy spencer explains. >> reporter: the sea voyager is docked near st. mary's college, but it's not going on a cruise any time soon. come monday morning, the ship will become a floating dorm, hope to 240 college students forced out by mold in their campus residence halls. >> i don't know what the campus can do better than this boat. i think this is a good solution. whoever thought of it deserves a pat on the back. >> reporter: black mold was found in two 1970's era dorms, forci

u.s. would like to see a regime change in iran and many other countries and although the u.s. officials have actually today you dismissed military action against iran in response to this latest allegation could you think military action still be alone. when i worry about military action because we tend to be using it way too much but you know the iranians themselves have shown us that there is seems to change so i mean i think there are different different diplomatic opportunities to be used here and supporting you know hurts within the country and also just within the government we know that there's risk within the government we've seen them between . it and. the mullahs so i think there are there are various areas diplomatic opportunities that we can go and move forward to here before we start talking about using force that that. washington has issued a worldwide alert about possible and u.s. actions coming from to run to run is actually. dismissed this is saying it's all comical but kook we actually see a more assertive reaction from to run this because through from their po

british foreign office says talks on additional sanctions are under way between britain and the u.s. iran's leader ayatollah has called the allegation a faicat and absurd ploy. >>> rachel ferguson is up next with weather. >>> hi, there. time for another update on the world's weather conditions. as we head into eastern ia, you'll see a quiet day on the cards as we head on into thursday. high pressure is across much of china as well as mongolia, korean peninsula and japan. all looking fairly dry. we do see a few showers moving up along the pacific edge of japan, probably a little bit overcast as well, but nothing too much to worry about. a few showers here in the southwest of china. and then heavier rain is going to be spread out across the bay of bengal. so bangladesh as well as myanmar seeing some very significant rafall toueadoom flooding issues we're also seeing continued rn acssieam and into cambodia, southern portions o thailand as well ilits t heavy as it has been certainly in recent weeks, it gngbe a littleit hvi i some places. northern portions of thailand certainly looking dryer. so

kissinger pledged to the shah that they would sell nuclear power plants and nuclear fuel to iran, and in 1975 the u.s agreed to sell iran eight nuclear power plants. and also offered to build a uranium enrichment facility inside iran for the iranians. this stuff is just coming out now, and it's very interesting part of the equation because in order to really understand what's going on now we have to kind of put it in a bigger picture, bigger picture, bigger concept. >> in the late '70s and early '80s, the u.s. began establishing military bases, central command in saudi arabia. i was wondering if you could talk more specifically about the relationship between the oil, oil politics earlier in the '70s to the establishment of central command? and also any secondary sources, history works or political theory works that were important to your research. >> okay. i have a bibliography in the back of the book which is quite extensive. everything is listed there. the question is, the shah was meant to be our gladiator in the gulf. he was meant to do that work so we didn't have to have bases. and that's why th

u.s. to iran has rejected the accusations calling it america's latest propaganda attack but he's got a gun has the latest from the u.s. capitol. u.s. attorney general explicitly said that the u.s. will be holding the uranium government accountable for the plots to kill the ambassador of saudi arabia to the united states also the u.s. is accusing iran of conspiring to stage two bombings at the really embassy in washington and at the embassy of saudi saudi arabia and washington and here is how the u.s. department of justice came out with those those accusations the f.b.i. and the u.s. drug enforcement agency have arrested a new rhenium born u.s. citizen in a sting operation his name are. u.s. investigators say the man tried to plot the assassination of the saudi ambassador to the united states and was ready to pay one and a half million dollars for the murder and for that according to the americans this the rainy and men turned to members of the mexican drug cartel who turned out to be undercover f.b.i. operatives investigators say are bobsy are wired one hundred thousand dollars to an f.b.i

u.s. and iran, we turn to joby warrick of the "washington post" and daniel brumberg of the u.s. institute of peace. joby, you wrote today that the u.s. officials originally were skeptical of this iranian link. today we see the president say the facts are there for all to see. what are they pointing to, to make the link? >> they were skeptical at the beginning because these are people who normally like to say we get excited about a case and then the skepticism comes in as time wont they had good evidence pointing to involvement in the iranian government. they saw money being wired from quds-ioled bank accounts and heard conversations over wiretaps and one of the suspects became a cooperating witness and was able to direct the plot very directly to some members of the iranian government, least at a medium level. >> brown: there are people looking into mr. al. >> it might be somebody for a good pulp fiction novel but not a real iranian plot. he was a used car salesman, had a failed business at making kabobs. he had a failed marriage. he was forgetful, he was bumbling. not the perfe