eastern rectories so this message that the problem is to control hezbollah or not control is. receivable can you control israel from coming and. aggressing lebanese sovereignty a hundred and fifty times a month so the issue is not a political party or. a faction of the lebanese political system of course israel is has a very different. view on that but we'll have to leave it there minister thank you very much for that interview so a lot of ground to cover no real outcome expected here in munich but certainly all the actors that can at least move in this conflict will be gathered here in munich and of course we should a lot of important conversations will be going on in the next couple of days on important issues that are threatening the world but let me return now to what the defense minister of lebanon said he congratulated germany on the announcement that there is your chill has been released we're not sure what these are actually out of prison but the announcement of his release has been made have you had any reactions there to that news in munich well clearly that news is

secretary of state warns about hezbollah's influence socio arrives in lebanon as part of a tour of the middle east plus. mourning in zimbabwe after the death of the opposition leader morgan tsvangirai. ethiopia's prime minister. submitted his resignation. will stay in his role until the transition of power is complete he says he's tried to solve the crisis in his country and is resigning to be part of the solution he is about. antigovernment protests of left hundreds dead and tens of thousands detained he took office in twenty twelve joins us live here in the studio so he wants to go from being potentially part of the problem to being part of the solutions or soul change we don't know where the change is heading next. no we don't and when he say's that he's resignation what he means is he hopes his it is ignition could be the solution to the under arrest that gripping the country right now the two most populous communities the or more of them ha ha been demonstrating the protesting. in this week in the cup it's one is of a broken world stopping much needed goods coming in from djibouti

and the russia they are actually waiting for the american to do something stupid and i believe when hezbollah got about a hundred and fifty thousand missiles and we don't know how many. thousands or one hundred thousand. and that on arsenal or in the theater i believe that there is huge now we have to wait for ideas to confidence and it will be in this field but i think also that the two the two tripping points the tipping points that i'm worried about is israel attacking lebanon again i mean if you listen to israeli military officials active duty and retired it's full on the airwaves of course is never reported in western media never report it never hear about that mohammad let me go go to you i mean if you look at the israeli criticism and justification for its violation of syrian airspace the most recent spat it's all because iran has bases supplies there they are if it was if syria doesn't even exist ok but of course it doesn't exist in the minds of of israeli foreign policy makers it doesn't at all there are no sovereign countries around israel there's places where you could go metal but

calling on all sides to exercise restraint and respect syria's sovereignty meanwhile the lebanese group hezbollah is warning against any aggression towards the syrian government saying it will be met with force then a holder has more from beirut. it wasn't the first israeli air strike of its kind there have been numerous strikes over the past few years but this is the first time the syrian air defenses have shot down the plane a very serious incident a very serious confrontation between syria israel and iran and after the plane was shot down there were further strikes israeli warplanes targeting syrian army positions what they said were iranian targets and they were targeting an area southwest of damascus an area known as close by where we understand an iranian military base is being built it's not the first time they've targeted this area the base is not operational yet but clearly it is a message to iran we will not allow you to set up permanent bases we will not allow you to entrench yourself militarily and we want you away from the border so serious escalation hezbollah's media unit issuing

., hezbollah is widely seen as controlled by iran. but hashem sieddine, one of the party's highest rankingci ofs, disagrees... (safieddine): >> smith: the connection between hezbollah and iran is hard to deny. hezbollah's name, the party of god, was given by ayatollah kheini. its emblem is modeled on the irgc's. and they hold allegice to the current supreme leader, ayatollah khamenei. (man): >> the ideology comes very muchr iran. not just the military training, but the ry intensive religious lessons that they undergo. even after they've become full-fledged fighters, they're still arning about islam and about the velayat-e faqih and all this kind of thing. >> smith: velayat-e faqih,ua ianship of the jurist"-- liomeini's core doctrine that gave him ultimate ous and political authority. >> velayat-e faqih, this is really the backbone of hezbollah that binds all its constituentsa s together. they have toubscribe to this central ideological pillar. (man): >> smith: with iranian funding, training, armsand exported ideology, iran turned zbol

go and attack the sovereignty of syria for that matter now when we talk about a possible war between hezbollah and the israeli entity i don't think that the front would be this this time. part of lebanon the southern border with occupy palestine i think that the syrian golan heights would be the great place that we should all put our eyes into because first of all that's an occupied territory second of all it has been for the past six years at least where the resistance the armed forces of the resistance whether hezbollah or other allies have been putting their efforts in there to try and start some sort of a new front with the israeli entity because that's the front that israel is most a very tough. so it's continue with syria here i mean when we hear again from the trumpet ministration assad must go here i mean what is that what does that mean is that the justification for the united states to say in syria because it's that we started out the program in why does the united states want to stay in syria and not make peace in leave like everybody wants them to leave everyone including their som

to go attack the sovereignty of syria for that matter now when we talk about a possible war between hezbollah and the israeli entity i don't think that the front would be this time the southern part of lebanon the southern border with occupied palestine i think that the syrian golan heights would be the great place that we should all put our eyes into because first of all that's an occupied territory second of all it has been for the past six years at least where the resistance the armed forces of the resistance whether hezbollah or other allies have been putting their efforts in there to try and start some sort of a new front with the israeli entity because that's the front that israel is most of rate of. its continue with syria here i mean when we hear again from the trumpet ministration assad must go here i mean what does that mean is that the justification for the united states to say that we started out the program in why does the united states want to stay in syria and not make peace in leave like everybody wants to leave everyone including their sometimes on our friends in iraq go ahea

and the russia they are actually waiting for the american to do something stupid and i believe when hezbollah got about a hundred and fifty thousand missiles and we don't know how many. thousands or one hundred thousand. and that on arsenal or in the theater i believe that is huge now and we have to wait for idea to go on for hours and it will be time and this field what i think also that the two the two tripping points the tipping points that i'm worried about is israel attacking lebanon again i mean if you listen to israeli military officials active duty and retired it's full on the airwaves of course it's never reported in western media never report it never hear about that mohammad let me go go to you i mean if you look at the israeli criticism and justification for its violation of syrian airspace the los recent spat it's all because iran has bases supplies there they are if it was if syria doesn't even exist ok but of course it doesn't exist in the minds of really foreign policy makers it doesn't at all there are no sovereign countries around israel there's places where you could go met

israel has struck targets inside syria for years and has had convoys carrying weapons destined for hezbollah arms depots bases clearly with a green light from russia moscow does control the air space the israeli air force was flying unchallenged until saturday when one of them was shot down by syrian anti-aircraft batteries after it struck targets around damascus. the downing of the plane coincided with what some believe is the beginning of a more aggressive strategy to roll back iran rules america are the russians in front of a confrontation with the americans in syria are the americans in front of a possible confrontation with the russians in syria or is there an unannounced deal between the russians and americans to reduce iranian presence in syria. israel considers russia its guarantor for security along its border with syria they have talked about a buffer zone but israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has said the ceasefire agreement in southern syria didn't address what he called iranian military ambitions israel has repeatedly said it will not allow iran and its allies to entrenc

to go attack the sovereignty of syria for that matter now when we talk about a possible war between hezbollah and the israeli entity i don't think that the front would be this time the southern part of lebanon the southern border with occupied palestine i think that the syrian golan heights would be the great place that we should all put our eyes into because first of all that's an occupied territory second of all it has been for the past six years at least where the resistance the armed forces of the resistance whether hezbollah or other allies have been putting their efforts in there to try and start some sort of a new front with the israeli entity because that's the front that israel is most of rate of. its continue with syria here i mean when we hear again from the trumpet ministration assad must go here i mean what does that mean is that the justification for the united states to say because of that we started out the program in why does the united states want to stay in syria and not make peace in leave like everybody wants to leave everyone including their sometimes on our friends in i

but basically they are friends for hezbollah. they move money for hezbollah. this is how they launder money that may be coming from what could be the sale of drugs. has below, which presentsitself as a pious party , a party of god. as basically a shia organization but party, here it is engaging in these activities that obviously run completely and counter to what any religious party should be associated with. >> do notice a difference in approach, these are obviously new sanctions from the trump administration. is there a difference of approach or a continuation of our previous policy? >> it's an interesting question because designations are something the obama administration did through the treasury department as well. i think this is more of a continuity than a change but what you see is it's probably being ratcheted up. it's not new to go after has below and some of their operations within latin america. it is new to be doing more in west africa where they've become more active. >> is that what the trump administration has become known for. taking policies,

near damascus airport syrian rebels say the target was weapons sent from iran for the lebanese group hezbollah also last year the syrian army said is routed rockets were fired at a military base near damascus the syrian government denied an attack eleven years ago on a nuclear reactor under construction the first israeli strike on syria since the one nine hundred seventy s. the middle east war was fifteen years ago the target was a suspect as training camp for policy of fighters the syrian government requested a special meeting of the united nations security council took and down the attacks . let's now bring in our guests joining us from to have on mohammad marandi professor of north american studies at the university of the han from tel aviv is nary a junk fellow at the washington institute for near east policy and from a man is memo retired jordanian force general welcome to your own like to start off by asking. this the downing of the f. sixteen jet is it an isolated incident or do you see it as a new phase in the syrian conflict we're going to be with you we don't quite know if it's going

which you know for many years the shiite axis in the middle east hezbollah as iran proxy agents you know on the borders of israel is very interesting i just want to break it down from viewers a little bit almost sort of give a jogger a few lesson if you will so basically. to its north israel shares a border with syria and iran supports hezbollah which is actually based in lebanon right now but we have also very close by but you know it isn't as if in syria does the northern border the tip northern part is lebanon and the and the eastern northern part of the border israel this is the golan heights what are actually also on there under contention whether it's this is a part that israel occupied in one thousand sixty seven from syria officially syria saying this is theirs of course israelis have no plan in giving that part up and he time soon so israel is basically in this has direct border with syria but also has a direct border with lebanon and its bit and if this is where all this tension is happening this is. exactly and the u.n. ians are used to be active for many years only leban

near damascus airport syrian rebels say the target was weapons sent from iran for the lebanese group hezbollah also last year the syrian army said israel did rockets were fired at a military base near damascus the syrian government denied an attack eleven years ago on a nuclear reactor under construction the first israeli strike on syria says the one nine hundred seventy three middle east war was fifteen years ago the target was a suspect his training camp for policy of fighters the syrian government requested a special meeting of the united nations security council took and down the attacks . let's now bring in our guests joining us from to have on mohammad marandi professor of north american studies at the university of the han from tel aviv is nary a junk fellow at the washington institute for near east policy and from a man is memo retired jordanian force general welcome to your own like to start off by asking. this the downing of the f. sixteen jet is it an isolated incident or do you see it as a new phase in the syrian conflict we're going to be with you we don't quite know if it's going

hezbollah's name, the party of god, was given by ayatollah khomeini. its emblem is modeled on thegc . and they hold allegiance to the current supreme leader, ayatollakhamenei. (man): >> the ideology comes ry much from iran. sit just the military training, but the very int religious lessons that they undergo. even after they've bome full-fledged fighters, they're still learning about islam and about the velayat-e faqih and all this kind of thing. >> smith: velayat-e faqih, "guardianship of the jurist"-- khomeini's core doctrine thatve im ultimate religious and political authority. >> velayat-e faqih, this is really the backbone of hezbollat binds all its constituents parts together. they have to subscribeo this central ideological pillar. (man): >> smith: with iranian funding, training, arms, and exported ideology, iran turned hezbollah into a powerful militia that serves iran's interests. ty for secuhezbollah's leader, hassan nasrallah, lomost always speaks from an undisclosetion. (nasrallah): >> smith: was it as clear at the time that this was to be a

the united states has considered hezbollah a terrorist organization for more than two decades now we neither see nor do we accept any distinction between its political and its military arms. it is unacceptable for a militia like hezbollah to operate outside the authority of the lebanese government the only legitimate defender of the lebanese state is the lebanese armed forces as well as not just a concern for the united states the people of lebanon should also be concerned about how his will his actions and its growing arsenal bring unwanted and unhelpful scrutiny on levanon hezbollah's entanglement in regional conflicts threatens the security of levanon and has destabilizing affects in the region their presence in syria has perpetuated the bloodshed increase the displacement of innocent people and propped up the barbaric assad regime their presence in iraq in yemen has also fueled violence and the consequences of their involvement in these far off conflicts which have nothing to do with levanon or felt back here at home that's why we're doing all lebanese leaders during my visit to

,ou have the israeli, iran hezbollah is that we talked about before. it is getting more and more dangerous. in a world where collective action seems to be impossible, it seems everyone that on the idea that syria was containable and we could let people die and let it stay within the borders of syria and some countries consider that to be in their interest. they felt their enemies were killing each other. as you can see, we have a massive refugee crisis affecting europe, a massive crisis affecting neighbors in jordan and turkey, and now we have the possibility of a warar betweenen major state powers coming out of this. it seems a can get more dangerous before it comes down. to secretaryo turn of state rex tillerson speaking at the hoover institution in , which he called iran a strategic threat to the united states, and used this alleged threat as justification for keeping u.s. troops in syria. secretary tillerson: continued threats to the u.s. not just from isis and al qaeda, but others exist and indispensable he threw iran -- as part of its strategy, i

,ou have the israeli, iran hezbollah is that we talked about before. it is getting more and more dangerous. in a world where collective action seems to be impossible, it seems everyone that on the idea that syria was containable and we could let people die and let it stay within the borders of syria and some countries consider that to be in their interest. they felt their enemies were killing each other. as you can see, we have a massive refugee crisis affecting europe, a massive crisis affecting neighbors in jordan and turkey, and now we have the possibility of a war between major state powers coming out of this. it seems a can get more dangerous before it comes down. to secretaryo turn of state rex tillerson speaking at the hoover institution in , which he called iran a strategic threat to the united states, and used this alleged threat as justification for keeping u.s. troops in syria. secretary tillerson: continued threats to the u.s. not just from isis and al qaeda, but others exist and indispensable he threw iran -- as part of its strategy, iran

near damascus airport syrian rebels say the target was weapons sent from iran for the lebanese group hezbollah also last year the syrian army said israel rockets were fired at a military base near damascus the syrian government denied an attack eleven years ago on a nuclear reactor under construction the first israeli strike on syria says the one nine hundred seventy three middle east war was fifteen years ago the target was a suspect says training camp for policy and fighters the syrian government requested a special meeting of the united nations security council took and down the attacks . let's now bring in our guests joining us from to have on mohammad marandi professor of north american studies at the university of the han from tel aviv is nary a junk fellow at the washington institute for near east policy and from a man is memo retired jordanian force general welcome to your own like to start about asking. this the downing of the f. sixteen jet is it an isolated incident or do you see it as a new phase in the syrian conflict we're going to be with you we don't quite know if it's going to

near damascus airport syrian rebels say the target was weapons sent from iran for the lebanese group hezbollah also last year the syrian army said israel would walk its were fired at a military base near damascus the syrian government denied an attack eleven years ago on a nuclear reactor under construction the first israeli strike on syria says the one nine hundred seventy three middle east war was fifteen years ago the target was a suspect says training camp for policy of fighters the syrian government requested a special meeting of the united nations security council took and down the attacks . let's now bring in our guests joining us from to have on mohammad marandi professor of north american studies at the university of the han from tel aviv is nary a junk fellow at the washington institute for near east policy and from a man is memo a retired jordanian force general welcome to your own like to start off by asking. this the downing of the f. sixteen jet is it an isolated incident or do you see it as a new phase in the syrian conflict we're going to be with you we don't quite know if it's

secretary of state rex tillerson is one that lebanon security is being threatened by hezbollah's influence in regional conflicts tell us and was in beirut on the fourth leg of his tours middle east to hold a reports from the lebanese capital things didn't totally to plan. some interpreted it as a message the u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson was kept waiting at the presidential palace ahead of talks with lebanese president michel aoun the president he was forced to deny it was a diplomatic snob but not everyone is convinced it was the first time an american official was made to wait till or sin is trying to mediate between lebanon and israel long time and of these who are laying claim to an energy block in the mediterranean sea the lebanese government is not happy with the u.s. proposal to end the dispute it involves giving up hundreds of square kilometers of what lebanon says are its territorial waters what is ours is ours and what's the israel's is israel's and i think this is we're trying to find solutions that will be fair to us and fair to everyone and i think we had some very goo

they had no problem setting up terrorist groups like hezbollah and others. they have no problem attacking embassies an assassinating diplomats. they have no problem committing terrorist acts in europe and south america, all over the place. and so from our respect, the iranians have to decide whether they're a state which would be a racial actor that you can deal with that respects the international laws and norms of behavior or if it's revolution that doesn't recognize any of this. and i don't think the iranians know what they are. so what do we do? we sat for 35 years and we tried to reach out to iran. we tried to engage iran to no avail. all we got was death and destruction in return. our diplomats are assassinated, our embassies blown up. terrorist cells plantded in our country, terrorists attacks committed in our country. and so we have to respond. so when you try to weaken hezbollah and lebanon in order to strengthen the lebanese state, that's a positive. iran has been building hezbollah for 30 years, so somebody has to come and roll back their influenc

don't spend $1 trillion on hezbollah hezbollah. concentrate on creating opportunity. i heard one iranian lady in many of the clips that came out, and she said we want to be as fortune as arab women. we are not looking very forward to being fortunate as of the women in more stable places. they see what's going on. i think the third thing also is everybody thought that following the earlier green movement that this would actually how the iranian people here this has occurred in all emphasis it will recur. so from the perspective that we see, this is the time for iran really to analyze again what it is doing, for its own stabilities safety i think it's a form for iran to understand that the sort of disturbances that were countrywide and giving is now admit are all internal, it is really an opportunity for them to understand that have to be a normal country. that's the first thing is to get iran to be a normal country. the second thing is if iran is a normal country, the normal thing to do is to have dialogue. because we can't be neighbors not talk to each other. you can'

and iran support of hezbollah. let's push hard on those and i might add in the obama administration after they are radial additional sanctions were placed on iran for reasons that were not nuclear. the deal takes the nuclear weapons part of the table and it does not relieve us of the need to address all those other issues. the second issue is that now we hear a lot about the sunset of the agreement and i want to make it very, very clear this agreement does not sunset. there are restraints on iran's nuclear activity that do go aw away. some in ten years or 15 years and the like. however, the core of the agreement, the most important thing, are the verification measures put in place in the agreement. after all, let's face it, what are the most c concerned about? in the end it's not about what iran is telling us about what they're doing but corporate activity. c transparency in the ability to go anywhere in the country with a short timeframe to look at anything suspicious that is what is critical. that never sunset. t

there's been a battle one hundred israeli airstrikes inside syria against various targets including hezbollah convoys and the like what we saw in the last for a few a few hours today is attacks against what they call the iranian targets and against syrian defense batteries twelve in total well as am i mentioned it's not the first time israel has hit targets inside syria iran sent military advisers and allegedly thousands of its revolutionary guards to help the syrian government and that build up all the arabian assets has been increasing they worry for israel in a harder explains. this is the golan heights territory israel captured from syria in one nine hundred sixty seven the war in syria has brought iran and its allies like the lebanese armed group hezbollah closer to that border israel says that is something it won't tolerate it has reached out to russia an ally of the syrian and iranian government's. before this was the deal that was signed by netanyahu and put it on the thirtieth of september when netanyahu went to russia in two thousand and fifteen and russia will prevent the iranians

this is certainly no progress there what about the questions the thorny issue of hezbollah which the u.s. administration has been tough on how is that being dealt with on this visit. well yes the trumpet ministration its policy is to contain iran but it doesn't really seem to have any strategy tillerson being more pragmatic that is how it is being described saying that we have to acknowledge that hezbollah is part of the political process in the country yes it is an armed wing but it has members in government it has members in parliament so some are saying tillerson is more pragmatic but is it in line with the trumpet ministrations policy but clearly the u.s. has lost a lot in the middle east it has lost a lot of influence a few years back it had strong allies in lebanon and this is no longer the case now some may argue the prime minister has a good relationship with washington but at the same time he is trying to find some sort of a compromise in this country for all the political factions to work together so how are you going to confront a group like hezbollah which has support in

of the russian ambassador has said on saturday iranian backed hezbollah units and ship militia rebel should be immediately withdrawn from syria's deescalation zone so that's a real message to the russians get rid of iran from our borders the russians haven't responded yet clearly they control the airspace over syrian territory so it's a real message now to the russians look we don't want iran on the sides of the israelis we want iran away from our border we want don't want them to have a role in syria and so they're appealing to the russians but where this will go is going to be very difficult for the russians clearly the iranians will you know have been very successful particular when they backed hezbollah in fighting the syrian rebels so they're a key fighting force within the syrian conflict itself and the russians their priority is to keep. all right let's thank him rama let's continue the discussion is brings in the whole the into the picture now of course hezbollah is one of the main actors there in syria we understand their forces may have been part of the targets for the isra

hezbollah the lebanese armed shiite group an ally of iran and as a race they've been saying that they won't allow iran to set up permanent bases inside syria they won't allow iran to entrench itself militarily in syria or make syria who were operating the base. with the israeli prime minister has made that clear he has been to moscow a number of times discussions with the russians and clearly the russians have given them agreed might use syrian airspace there is close coordination and we also can't forget that in the summer of last year when the united states and russia announced a cease fire in syria with south of syria that ceasefire was to appease israel because part of that field was to keep troops in iranian backed troops away from its border so clearly this is a dramatic escalation already there were tensions already israel worried about the iranian princes in syria as an ally for some better would say no thank you not the leader of north korea kim jong il who now has extended a rare invitation to the south korean president moon julian to visit pyongyang it happened on an histor

iran has russia and i guess hezbollah and others. again, this is what the foreign minister said. as we know, iran has along with russia been the savior of president assad in syria. this is what he said about the relative power in that region. >> despite the fact that the united states and almost every other powerful nation supports saudi arabia actively and tries to undermine us activity, the most influential power in the middle east we are. that should tell you something. that should tell you that we have made the right choices and they made the wrong choices. >> it's pretty stark there. right? they do seem to have -- >> not very modest. >> not very modest. but perhaps clear eyed. >> well, they have had success after success. they have been able to dominate the politics in neighboring iraq. they have been able to continue to support hezbollah, their proxy army or as proxies in lebanon. the saudis have pulled out of syria. they have told me that they consider that a lost cause. they blame the americans for not coming to their aid. they blame obama for that. and they can irritate

time around it was not signed by hezbollah but signed by syria's allies so iran you know hezbollah the iranian revolutionary guard all of them issuing this statement saying that any syrian aggression or an aggression against the syrian government or the syrian or syria will be met with course so clearly a very tough response and as iran was mentioning the iranians as well saying there is a message that as of today you know the downing of the jet is a message that you know they can't fly over syria and hit targets in syria without going unpunished so harsh rhetoric really it was a serious incident a serious confrontation but for now it seems both sides have taken a step back they've given each other messages we know what israel's red lines are it said this for some time now it will not allow to iran and its allies to entrench itself militarily in syria now syrian government and its allies have their message of their own their own red line stop hitting us now russia in the russian position is quite interesting saying that the syrian territorial integrity needs to be respected and we all

the same time i mean it is about as concern has always been that iran and through its proxies like hezbollah will entrenched itself in the area near the israeli golan heights michael and heights near the border area and they want to avoid that so this is the israeli line has been you know this is a red line and they will whatever they see the threat they will attack this now. they also say i mean this is a show of strength now from all sides i think you could say. nobody wants an escalation but of course we have to wait and see whatever follows from this incident but no time in talis just want has been israel's involvement in syria to what extent have they been conducting operations there since the civil war broke out in that country. what israel has always said that they stay out of the conflict but their have their own red lines and they have been conducting many air raids into syria against hezbollah and other targets what they see at this threat so israel has been in a way operating in syria but what has been new this time is the response by the regime and you can see that there is maybe

the same time i mean it is about as concern has always been that iran and through its proxies like hezbollah will entrenched itself in the area near the israeli golan heights occupied golan heights near the border area and they want to avoid that so this is the israeli line has been you know this is a red line and they will whatever they see if it's a threat they will attack this now. they also say i mean this is a show of strength now from all sides i think you could say. nobody wants an escalation but of course you have to wait and see whatever follows from this incident but no time in talis just want has been israel's involvement in syria to what extent have they been conducting operations there since the civil war broke out in that country. well it is a has always said that they stay out of the conflict but their have their own bread lines and they have been conducting many air raids into syria against hezbollah and other targets what they see as the threat so israel has been in a way operating. in syria but what has been new all this time is the response by the us a regime and you can s

the same time i mean it is about as concern has always been that iran and through its proxies like hezbollah will entrenched itself in the area near the israeli golan heights michael and heights near the border area and they want to avoid that so this is the israeli line has been you know this is a red line and they will whatever they see if it's a threat they will attack this now. they also say i mean this is a show of strength now from all sides i think you could say. nobody wants an escalation but of course we have to wait and see whatever follows from this incident but no time in talis just want has been israel's involvement in syria to what extent have they been conducting operations there since the civil war broke out in that country. well it is a has always said that they stay out of the conflict but their have their own bread lines and they have been conducting many air raids into syria against hezbollah and other targets what they see as the threat so israel has been in a way operating. in syria but what has been new all this time is the response by the us of a regime and you can se

secretary of state say we need to acknowledge that hezbollah is part of the. political process it has members in government it has members in parliament yes it is an armed organization so tillerson saying we need to acknowledge this but really times have changed i can tell you that the u.s. secretary of state is arriving in lebanon at the time it has really no allies it was very different a few years ago it had a lot of allies in lebanon and across the region it had proxies on the ground today what proxy that the us have across the region apart from the kurds who really are quite weak at this point in time so he arrives he doesn't have much allies to rely on even the prime minister who is considered to be an ally of the united states taking a more compromising approach with hezbollah and if you reach this idea of a he used he's used the word legitimate before a legitimate part of the lebanese security forces that presumably will not get done very well with israel particularly if one offsets that against what he's also saying about gerrard middle east peace pla

the same time i mean it is about as concern has always been that iran and through its proxies like hezbollah will entrenched itself in the area near the israeli golan heights by golan heights near the border area and they want to avoid that so this is the israeli line has been you know this is a red line and they will whatever they see if it's a threat they will attack this now. they also say i mean this is a show of strength now from all sides i think you could say. nobody wants an escalation but of course we have to wait and see whatever follows from this incident but no time in talis just want has been israel's involvement in syria to what extent have they been conducting operations there since the civil war broke out in that country. what israel has always said that they stay out of the conflict but their have their own bread lines and they have been conducting many air raids into syria against hezbollah and other targets what they see as the threat so israel has been in a way operating. in syria but what has been new all this time is the response by the regime and you can see that there

fighters from the pro iranian hezbollah group gathered on the border between lebanon and israel as israeli soldiers looked on. the iranian president hassan rouhani condemned the israeli action in syria. yet if one country thinks it can get desirable results by posting terrorism obama putting neighboring countries than it is making a mistake we are ready to defend the security of the region and we call on all other countries to cooperate in this nation boss the loss of the jet comes as israel acknowledged for the first time and i tack on iranian targets in syria. earlier i spoke to the abuse middle east correspondent tanya kramer interest and i asked her how serious this confrontation is. indeed it is a one of the most serious situations we have seen in the north for the past years one very significant one and also from the israeli side of a stone winning to prime minister binyamin netanyahu he has been in security meetings whole day with the army saying that israel will defend itself against any attack and any attempt to violate its supper entity now is a has made it clear all along that i

in february 1992 the first assassination when they killed the secretary-general of hezbollah, they thought he was the leader of a terrorist organization, they had an opportunity of to kill him. they killed him only to get, instead of him, getting someone who's more talented, capable, radical who changed the priority of hezbollah and instead of focusing on politics they focused on israel and 40 days afterward they have the bombing of the embassy which rewrites the rules of the game between israel and hezbollah. they said we will take out a jewish target and you cannot defend all jewish targets worldwide all the time. we'll take it out in a remote place of the world and so israel, for many years because of taking the and the city they reframed, refrained from killing hezbollah leaders for many, many years. the general rule about success on the north is very careful planning and collection of intelligence and paying tribute even to forces that you think are very weak. you remember the incident into by in 2010. 27 operatives came into dubai to kill hamas operatives. they killed him twice becau

the same time i mean it is about as concern has always been that iran and through its proxies like hezbollah will entrenched itself in the area near the israeli golan heights michael and heights near the border area and they want to avoid that so this is the israeli line has been you know this is a red line and they will whatever they see if it's a threat they will attack this now. they also say i mean this is a show of strength now from all sides i think you could say. nobody wants an escalation but of course we have to wait and see whatever follows from this incident but no time in talis just want has been israel's involvement in syria to what extent have they been conducting operations there since the civil war broke out in that country. well it is a has always said that they stay out of the conflict but their have their own bread lines and they have been conducting many air raids into syria against hezbollah and other targets what they see as the threat so israel has been in a way operating. in syria but what has been new all this time is the response by the us of the region and you can

sanctions against hezbollah and individuals associated with the party. and really to what extent would this expand then affect the lebanese economy and when it comes to two recent issues that lebanon is facing and those are maritime border disputes with israel the land and water territorial disputes that are currently going on the lebanon get what it wanted from there that it get any reinsurance reassurances from the secretary of state that it was probably looking for. simply no i mean listen said i can't you know i can't resolve this issue personally i don't know if there was some basically under the table in negotiations on that issue but it was clear in the press conference that he doesn't have anything new on this issue and at the same time it seems to be a delayed issue with the eight hundred kilometers and block nine which has been recently signed as you know this part of an agreement with a. consortium of companies so this is delayed for year or two so lebanon has time to negotiate any any deal on these disputed territories but you know much much

fighters from the pro iranian hezbollah group gathered on the border between lebanon and israel as israeli soldiers looked on. the iranian president hassan rouhani condemned the israeli action in syria. yet if one country thinks it can get desirable results by posting terrorism open but in neighboring countries then it is making a mistake we are ready to defend the security of the region and we call on all other countries to cooperate in this fashion boss the loss of the jet comes as israel acknowledged for the first time and i tack on iranian targets in syria. earlier i spoke with did a middle east correspondent tanya kramer in jerusalem and i asked her how serious this confrontation is. indeed it is a one of the most serious situations we have seen in the north of the postie is one very significant one and also from the israeli side of a stone pony into iran that we had prime minister binyamin netanyahu he has been in security meetings old day with the army saying that israel will defend itself against any attack and any attempt to violate its supper entity now is a has made it clear all

secretary of state rex tillerson has warned that lebanon security is being threatened by hezbollah as influence and we channel conflicts tell us it was in beirut on the fall flag of his tour of the middle east but as a whole to reports from the lebanese capital things didn't quite go according to plan some interpreted it as a message the u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson was kept waiting at the presidential palace ahead of talks with lebanese president michel aoun the president he was forced to deny it was a diplomatic snob but not everyone is convinced it was the first time an american official was made to wait till or sin is trying to mediate between lebanon and israel long time and it means who are laying claim to an energy bloc in the mediterranean sea the lebanese government is not happy with a u.s. proposal to end the dispute it involves giving up hundreds of square kilometers of what lebanon says are its territorial waters what is ours is ours and what's the israel's is israel's and i think this is we're trying to find solutions that will be fair to us and fair to everyone

fighters from the pro iranian hezbollah group gathered on the border between lebanon and israel as israeli soldiers looked on. the iranian president hassan rouhani condemned the israeli action in syria. yet it if one country thinks it can get desirable results by posting terrorism obama but in neighboring countries then it is making a mistake we are ready to defend the security of the region and we call on all other countries to cooperate in this shit boss the loss of the jet comes as israel acknowledged for the first time and attack on iranian targets in syria. earlier i spoke to his middle east correspondent tanya kramer in jerusalem i started by asking her how serious this confrontation is. it is a one of the most serious situations we have seen in the north of the past he has one very significant one and also from the israeli side of a stone winning to iran that we had prime minister binyamin netanyahu he has been security meetings old day with the army saying that israel will defend itself against any attack and any attempt to violate its separate entity now is or has made it clear al

but at the same time i mean israel is concern has always been that iran and through its proxies like hezbollah will entrenched itself in the area near the israeli golan heights michael and heights near the border area and they want to avoid that so this is the israeli line has been you know this is a red line and they will whatever they see the threat they will attack this now. they also say i mean this is a show of strength now from all sides i think you could say. nobody wants an escalation but of course we have to wait and see whatever follows from this incident but no time in talis just want has been israel's involvement in syria to what extent have they been conducting operations there since the civil war broke out in that country. well it is a has always said that they stay out of the conflict but their have their own bread lines and they have been conducting many air raids into syria against hezbollah and other targets what they see as the threat so israel has been in a way operating. in syria but what has been new all this time is the response by the us a regime and you can see that th

secretary of state rex tillerson has warned that lebanon security is being threatened by hezbollah's influence in regional conflicts the lebanese based organization is active across the border in syria so as unmet lebanese president michel aoun and the prime minister saad hariri on the fourth leg of the tour of the middle east he says hezbollah is involved in developments in syria iraq and yemen it is unacceptable for a militia like yours below to operate outside the authority of the lebanese government the only legitimate defender of the lebanese state is the leverage of armed forces as well as not just a concern for the united states the people of lebanon should also be concerned about how his will is actually used it is growing or she will bring on lorded and unhelpful scrutiny on on level. well tell us and is now in turkey for the fifth and final leg of his high speed toward the middle east is meeting with the takesh president is expected to be one of the most challenging of his trip with u.s. turkey relations at a low at events in syria jordan explains. there's a saying you danc

their use in 2006 by hezbollah israeli forces. their use by iraqi force against the united states in 2003. and acquisition of more and more capable systems by a sensible american allies, and the saudis, with the purchase of european made storm shadow for air launch systems. so my point is, is that while we in the u.s. rightly because of the history of, you know, shenanigan with a nuclear weapon in iran is pouked on iranian ballistic missile program. it should not be separated from what i think is -- a wrath ere obvious prolific race in the middle east. and so if you want as the trump administration earnestly says it to try in their words improve upon jcpla because they're not satisfied -- with u.n. security counsel resolutions of 2231 as the all encompassing catch for -- to limit further iranian launch of ballistic missiles. then you have to begin to ask yourselves, what insen tifer does iranians have to limit their own ballistic missile capable when everybody us around them is inquiring. and -- is an overarching security framewor

, and iran's support of hezbollah. so, let push hard on those. i might add, in the obama administration, after the iran deal, additional sanctions were placed on iran for reasons that were not nuclear. the deal takes the nuclear weapons threat off the table. it does not relieve us of the need to address all the other issues. the second issue is that now we hear a lot about the sunset of the agreement. i want to make it very, very clear, this agreement does not sunset. there are restrains on iran's nuclear activity that good away, some in ten years, some in 15 years the like. however, the core of the agreement, the most important thing, are their verification measures put in place in the agreement. after all, let's face it, what are we most concerned about? the enit's not about what iran is telling us what they're doing. it's about covert activity. transparency, the ability to go anywhere in the country, with a short time frame, to look at anything suspicious, that is what is critical. that never sunsets. this is a perm

this is what hezbollah has to say. this is the beginning of a new strategic error, which put an end to the violation is area nurse racing territory, talking about them being able to shoot down the f-16. are they right? do they have to change? is there concern about israeli air superiority? >> this is not a new strategic error. their capabilities have increased, but so has israel's and israel have a very serious and significant retaliation to this unprovoked attack, but it sheds light on a deeper problem and iran with the middle east, but as the head of the iranian revolutionary guard said, they are on the path to the rule of islam worldwide and islam worldwide demand is the goal of iran, the total domination by radicals come in the total subversion of democracy and that's why it's so important that americans and people all over the world understand the nature of this regime and i'm the one hand they say they're moderate. as the nuclear deal has been signed, with the market increase in iran death, destruction and suppor

lebanon and israel now that it's not just about the sea it's about a border war it's about hezbollah it's about iran. here in the us hezbollah has produced a video clip threatening israeli gas platforms if according to the group lebanon's oil and gas rights are violated hezbollah is stronger than lebanon's military and has fought wars with israel in the past. the israeli threats have united lebanon's divided political class which ordered the army to confront any assault both on land and in the sea at the same time the government sent a letter to the un but resolving the issue legally may be hard. the problem is that israel has not signed any related conventions so for including and this is the most important the convention of the law of the sea. of the international community. the u.s. has tried to mediate but lebanon has rejected its proposal to split the disputed area that would involve giving up over three hundred square kilometers. lebanon says it will not allow anyone to prevent it from taking advantage of its wealth the government hopes developing the oil and gas industry will

of the lebanese armed group hezbollah said it stands behind the government and the army tensions are high the rhetoric has been tough but many don't expect an all out war as it's still thinks of hezbollah as the main main threat to its security is theoretically speaking but. there's this balance of power about thirty days this lack of will on both sides of both sides to engage in any sort of war a cease fire has largely held since israel and hezbollah fatah war in two thousand and six but the potential for more conflict is always there so now there is either now or a southern lebanon. ukraine's president has dismissed his chief economic adviser after an hour's their investigation showed he received millions of dollars that were raised fortunately. only ukraine's largest media group you have made before selling it in twenty thirteen under serious investigative unit uncovered documents show more than one hundred million dollars in payments for the group was raised as a loan on a company linked to president petro poroshenko eight candidates have been officially named as runners in this