Transcripts For ALJAZ NEWSHOUR 20240714

Will be british warships there that have the capabilities to stand up and defend british ships because british shipping in the gulf at the moment is on its highest possible security low because of what the brits feel is an imminent threat from iran ok average charles thank you still ahead on aljazeera the feud between 2 asian neighbors thats threatening the worlds attack industry. And these ones for britain artworks were saved from soviet bulldozers well find out why their future is a gun uncertain. How the weather stays hot and dry across the middle east and no surprises here we still got those showers around the caucasus between the black sea and the caspian sea these will sink a little further south which is because through the next couple of days as some. Whether theyre the full cost of georgia mania for azerbaijan both east and positive also seeing some of that cloud and 41. 00 celsius the 4 terrible c. Hiver on 31. 00 for beirut and also for jerusalem and its a 44 in baghdad 45 there for city stay strong a across afghanistan and also into karate all the way across into pakistan the shallows in the forecast in a similar picture as we go one through sunday right across the region back towards the levant try to across the reitman instead a little more cloud a possibility still around southern parts of vermont as we go on through the next theyll say temperatures falling back a touch and ha to around 42 degrees on sas they often they may well well see some of the temperatures there across many parts come down into Southern Africa and here it is a lousy dry got a few showers just clipping the fos out of south africa sea temperatures in capetown it around 17 celsius dublin with a high of 23 degrees. Hello again the top stories on aljazeera u. S. Labor secretary stepping down over his role in striking a plea deal years ago with convicted sex offender Geoffrey Epstein president confirmed alex acosta will be leaving his post in a week. Members of the u. S. House of representatives have testified to congress about the mistreatment of migrants at federal Detention Centers theyve described deplorable conditions. Police say 2 more officers from an Iranian Oil Tanker have now been arrested after their ship was seized last week the crew is suspected of breaking you sanctions by transporting oil to syria. Its been described as the offensive but Syrian Government forces leading the campaign against rebels in the northwest are now on the defensive and as then i heard reports from neighboring lebanon on president Bashar Assads forces are finding it hard to make substantial gains. Syrian Government Forces and their allies are struggling to take ground from the opposition their offensive in northwest syria has been costly and difficult instead of advancing they have been defending their territory and the face of a coordinated and fierce counter offensive launched by rebel factions but both sides have suffered heavy casualties in the battle for one town how many at a village in northern hama more than 100 soldiers and rebels are believed to have been killed according to the syrian observatory for human rights it says that in more than 2 months of fighting nearly 900 soldiers have died on the governments side while nearly 1000 were killed on the rebel side and yet the russian backed campaign has yielded little for president Bashar Assads side. But it has brought a lot of destruction rebel controlled towns in and around it live province are being targeted in russian and syrian air strikes more than 500 civilians have been killed more than 100 of them children. Health facilities ambulances Civil Defense headquarters all destroyed. Just in the last few days ago clinics or schools that have received. Civilian targets that is really unacceptable we have a total of more than 300000. 00 people the displaced in the last 2 months and our top concern is really protection of civilians the basic rule of. I words of condemnation have been repeated in recent weeks but little accountability or pressure from the International Community to stop the offensive rush. And turkey will decide what happens next that has become a proxy war between them even though they should be working together on syria through the socalled asked in a process they were sponsors of a cease fire and last year instead they are using it as a bargaining chip and another member of the asked in a team iran is involved as well unlike previous offensives iranian backed troops are not on the front lines its believed to be one of the reasons why the government has made gains it leaves those foot soldiers it seems there is no understanding between iran and russia. In post conflict syria and it seems russia and turkey do not agree on how to split northern syria. Civilians are paying the price. Beirut china has released figures showing its imports from the u. S. Have plunged in the past year and its exports to america are down to as the countrys trade war drags on china says its trade surplus with the u. S. Continues to rise that imbalance is at the heart of Donald Trumps assertions that china is engaged in unfair trade practices when he has more from beijing. Some fairly negative numbers released by the government in beijing but no sign of panic of course from the customs it ministration they are saying that yes the trade dispute with the United States is having an effect but that it is manageable so what we have is that for the month of june exports from china to war countries dropped by 1. 3 percent compared with the same period a year ago concerning in that if we go back to the month of may they grew by 1 point one percent on the Positive Side most experts were forecasting that those numbers for june would be worse than what they are this all happening of course amid a truce in the trade war between china and the United States tariffs are not being placed on each others goods as agreed between the 2 leaders after they met on the sidelines of the g 20 summit in japan last month but some numbers to unpick here for the u. S. President donald trump who has long complained of unfair trade practices by the chinese and the fact that the United States has a large trade deficit with china even though exports from china to the United States are down the trade surplus that the chinese have with the United States grew in the month of june to almost 30000000000. 00 so no doubt that will be discussed if those negotiations face to face negotiations do restart as expected possibly in china within the next couple of weeks one of the most concerning numbers for the overall chinese economy to be released is that imports from all countries a down 7. 3 percent and that is being blamed on weak domestic demand its a dispute that threatens to hurt the global Tech Industry and production of devices many of us depend on japan is restricting exports of materials to south korea which are used to make things like Smartphones Smartphone t. V. s pretty. Explains why. A year ago japan and south korea came together their twin goals stopping north korea from Getting Nuclear Weapons and boosting regional trade a year later the 2 sides meet again this time today for a dispute over north korea japan says south korea cannot be trusted to implement u. N. Sanctions against pyongyang its imposed restrictions on some exports south korea says japans claims are untrue and wants an international investigation. If the investigation finds fault with our government then we will make an apology for that and make corrections immediately however if the investigation draws a conclusion that our government is not at fault and the japanese government should not only apologize to us but also retract the retaliatory export restrictions immediately. There is anger and so calls for a boycott of japanese goods are growing. The japanese restrictions are seen as a retaliation after recent south korean courts rulings relating to japans former rule over the Korean Peninsula and its actions during world war 2 Japanese Companies were ordered to compensate for most south korean forced laborers japan insists its not mixing politics with trade agreements you are going to get from japans perspective this measure is a necessary review of operations to appropriately execute japanese export control for National Security concerns and not a very measure south korea is the worlds biggest supplier of computer chips and small from displays but plants like apple and while weigh on their fears japans restrictions go to Companies Like samsung south koreas ruling party says the government will set aside more than 250000000. 00 to protect its companies from japanese action. This move made by the japanese government could be interpreted as the 1st shot in a trade war if it is a prolonged embargo and if. If the japanese inforce it very strictly and in a tough manner and if south korea cannot get these materials elsewhere then it could it could have a serious impact on. South koreas Technology Production the treat dispute may be sudden but the timing is critical in just over a week japan we elect members to the opera house and election Prime Minister shinzo are being doesnt want to use a south koreas leader seen as an important force in denuclearization talks on the Korean Peninsula is looking to maintain support for his party in parliamentary elections next year with neither side batten down the rift could widen even further pianka cooked up 0 censorship during the soviet era saw many of on guard artists arrested or driven underground but thanks to one man tens of thousands of paintings were saved from destruction some are on display at a museum and it was back to stun but us that fasten reports from new groups the future if its collection is in doubt. Despite being in a town in the car a car packed desert tourists travel to new clothes to see the worlds 2nd largest collection of soviet fogarty art the founder of the museum eagle soffits collected around 100000 paintings many were hidden when the soviet union banned almost all art which didnt conform to socialist principles so he secretly smuggled the paintings to a place so remote that nobody would find them and sometimes gave them a new name like this one by someone who bashed in originally called the bulldozer exhibition the exhibition that was arranged by dissident artists of nonconformists artists at the outskirts of war school and they were smashed off by k. G. B. Who came with bulldozer to ensure the painting safety selfie to be renamed the work feast of spring in the park before he died in 1984 he handed the collection over to baba nasser of who turned the museum into an International Attraction and she was suddenly removed from her position 4 years ago an International Group of art lovers called friends of new clothes has recently stopped Financial Support because of her dismissal and what they call mismanagement of the museum as an art consulted. Is now guiding to worse in a different museum forbid an artery ate it at a time when our own guard was considered treason and its painters animes of the state this enormous collection has been described by critics worldwide as unique and invaluable but there are concerns about its future. The works of alexander volkoff were among the 1st subject to be collected his son who is also well known painter fears for the future of 90 of his fathers paintings owned by the museum more with bulla. Knew that maybe the idea. It was to bring people there who were not that loyal to this museum and were protected once stand in the way of selling paintings. For the ministry of culture in fashion and didnt respond to our request for an interview but the museums management sas the collection is in good hands your mother who won i can confidently say that every item brought here by severe risk is carefully secured none of the paintings can be taken out of the museum just like that youll need to pass the museums former director is not convinced it risks the collection itself of the popularity of the museum the reputation only. But the selection of a new musi and director who will start his work in september is reason for optimism she believes he is handed a huge responsibility to protect the future of one of the worlds extraordinary collections steps fast and aljazeera no clues to speak you stand a professional Sports Company in china is trying to combine traditional martial arts with american style Pro Wrestling oriental wrestling entertainment has trained shaolin monks to perform in the ring but as katrina you reports from shanghai not everyone is convinced by that is that meets west experiment. This is not what the op then expected to do. After almost 2 decades of strict comfort training. But hes not complaining the 30 year old is the budding star of oriental wrestling entertainment. Chinas answer to american Pro Wrestling to chinese audiences this rule is written really is a bulls away from the finale the silence of the Shaolin Temple the 2 years after its introduction here the sport is starting to win over fans ive got you know the young men like this nowadays theyre so it isnt yet so powerful i like their strong physics not everyone however is convinced. I dont think this kind of what i think will be too popular in china we chinese prefer to watch. Well its not the only fighting style used by the restless kung fu is central to the sport. Many of those taking part trained as shallow monks who were from martial arts schools in ancient china is doing is trained in martial law to protect their communities from bandits and other running these days of a hobby but these men say professional wrestling has given them a new way to turn that passion into a career. As an actor as well as a wrestler he says his goal is to become the eastern equivalent of progress and i turned Hollywood Star doing the rock johnson. Was there you should be very big on a full of power we are smaller but i have the vendors of we are also fashion flexible conjunct hard. Critics say oriental wrestling entertainment strays too far from chinas comfy culture but organizers say it puts a contemporary spin on the tradition and brings it to a wider audience says. We need to nurture and train the audience is a complex mission even if we dont succeed we die trying. To hopes guest wrestlers from the United States and japan will boost the groups popularity and International Profile but with other Pro Wrestling leagues popping up around the country it seems to have a fight and i try aljazeera shanghai. Hello again the headlines on aljazeera the u. S. Labor secretary is stepping down over his role in striking a plea deal with convicted sex offender Geoffrey Epstein president trying confirmed alex across i will be leaving his post after growing calls for him to quit how to call him in has the latest from washington. We democrats will continue to hammer just how much turnover there has been within this administration i think whats remarkable about what those 2 men were just saying the president and the current labor secretary is really downplaying this case basically saying it was 12 years ago people were happy with it and they werent happy with it lets go back to the facts of this cost alex acosta was the u. S. Attorney in florida Jeffrey Epstein very connected very rich he was accused in the indictment had dozens and dozens of charges of basically running a child sex ring so really i think there were a lot of places for him to go democrats were going to continue to call for him to step down especially given that the epstein case is going to be winding its way through the courts for months or even years and just after he announced the news about alex across the donald trump went on to say immigrant deportations will begin in 10 u. S. Cities this weekend this week will target people whove received final orders to leave the country including families trump says immigration and Custom Enforcement officers will focus on criminals members of the u. S. House of representatives have been testifying before a Congressional Committee about the mistreatment of migrants at federal Detention Centers they describe deplorable conditions after visiting the facilities in the u. S. President has said mistreatment of Migrant Centers are phony and exaggerated. Turkey has received the 1st shipments of the russian s. 400 Missile Defense system the u. S. Has previously warned turkey it could face sanctions over the purchase Gibraltar Police say 2 more officers from an Iranian Oil Tanker have now been arrested after their ship was seized last week that brings the total number to for those of the headlines inside story coming up next. Iran accuses britain of being a servant of the United States as it demands the return of a seized on oil tanker and the u. K. Is considering boosting its military presence after a Close Encounter in the gulf with tensions rising by the day whats the likelihood of open conflict this is inside story. Hello and welcome to the program im Martin Dennis now the United States the u. K. And iran they all agree on one thing they dont want war but the situation is becoming dangerous as the u. S. Turns the screw further on irans already faltering economy and britain finds itself in an awkward position on the one hand its working with europe to try to save the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal which the u. S. Has abandoned on the other britain needs to maintain close ties with washington as it seeks to leave the European Union its been suggested that the seizure of the Iranian Oil Tanker off gibraltar last week was done at the behest of the United States and thats infuriated iran with the foreign minister demanding britain return the ship or face what he called consequences. European union sanctions are meant to stop europe from buying syrias oil not about another country selling oil to syria so this is a very childish with dickless excuse why the british they should officially say west servants of america and act on behalf of America America has returned the paper by insulting their ambassador and the Prime Minister but gibraltars chief minister says there was no foreign interference. Its all rather decisions in respect of this matter what taken as a direct result of the government of trouble to have a reasonable grounds to believe that the vessel was acting in breach of established sanctions against syria there has been no political requested any time from any government but the travolta government should act on not act on one basis or another so we have to remember also is a british territory and theres been incremental ratcheting up of tension within the past week in the gulf British Royal marines seize that Iranian Oil Tanker off the coast of gibraltar as weve mentioned because of the suspicion of it violating sanctions against syria a former commander of irans revolutionary guard suggested a british vessel should be taken in retaliation on tuesday the u. K. Raised the threat to british shipping in the gulf to its highest level and the following day a u. K. Warship says it stopped Iranian Military boats from impeding a british or tanker in the strait of hormuz iran though denies this incident ever happened its. Time to introduce our guest now on skype in london we have a nice a best siri to breezy who is Research Fellow at russi thats the role United Services institute in tehran we have Mohammad Marandi head of American Studies Department at the university of tehran also in london we have phil dyer cone who is managing director of dryad global thats a Maritime Security Risk Management Company Welcome to you warm phil can i start with you and just ask you to give us a very general. Assessment of what the Maritime Security situation in the gulf currently is with we understand a british the british sending another warship to the region and ratcheting up its security alert level. So the increase in the security level that was announced yesterday for british interest vessels is is as you say the highest level security that can be applied to a vessel what affectively means is that you are stripping the movement of personal on the vessel and on and off the vessel also along with the industry best management practice thats the b. M. P. 5 along with that with which might imply physical security measures what youre doing is your providing the the Biggest Barriers to boarding allowing people to interfere with your vessel but in essence thats as far as it goes so in terms of the security raised in the area and the british ability to influence that we had to go on on tuesday was effectively what the iranians have been doing for quite some time now and we have to put this into context our clients have been reporting this of activity for many years now where the iranian guard operating their vessels will try and steer vessels away from their course and 20 courage and into areas where they have more direct influence i reign in total waters where they can perhaps take steps further and pursue their own agenda what would that be i mean whats your understanding from what youre hearing from your clients your customers in the region what is the objective what are the these arabians seeking to achieve so that her recent activity that we talked with that weve seen here and this the allegedly to place 2 days ago with the british vessel now remember the british vessel the thing to know that is that it might be under a red n sign which comes under the sort of british flags of convenience but actually that vessel has many interested parties in it so it there were e. U. Interests there were chinese interests there were dutch interests of the chinese interests so most vessels that pass through those areas have interests from many nations unlike the grace one which was a single currency or cargo which was a rainy and cargo and it was headed towards syria as interfering is as their end would say with that vessel is doesnt. Have the same impact all right lets go to mohammed now and ill see what he thinks is the scenario in the go fright now is it a case of of this u. S. Campaign of maximum pressure not allowing iran to export one drop of its oil and therefore iran saying well that its going to its going to obstruct the whole industry for the rest of the world as well. No i dont think that this particular incident really happened and while there are cases where the iranian navy. May take action against particular ships or behave in a particular manner its usually in a risk in response to what the saudis or their moralities or the americans do to iranian ships so this is something thats been happening for a long time but in this particular case if the iranians had decided to take an oil tanker they would have taken it and then the british cannot stop the iranians this is after all the persian gulf the iranians so many images on it it doesnt mean they are islands so is it just a matter of nuisance value then the iranian navy wanting to cause a bit of a headache and to create a bit of a problem for people then in the gulf. No i was they said this is something that the different sides do but on this particular occasion i think probably Nothing Happened in what really happened was that the americans immediately after they want to be they called for this stablish ment of a Naval Task Force that would be obviously hostile towards iran and work alongside the iranian coast this socalled incident happened and we had different. War it was reported in different ways by the americans the americans initially said there were 5 boats the british sense that there were 3 boat and americans who said there were 5 points they were there were military officials so even the story itself it wasnt consistent the iranian said Nothing Happened as i said if the iranians wanted to take both there is nothing that the british could have done the iranians have a very strong presence in the persian gulf and so i think that its basically the british appeasing the americans and even the oil tanker not not that the iranians may not take a ship later on but when they do seek a ship they will take it in that will probably be in retaliation to the fact that the british hijacked an iranian ship and the iranian ship was taken at the behest of the americans although the product and government says otherwise but apparently the Spanish Foreign minister didnt receive the memo he said specifically that the americans asked for this should i be taken over right now coming to you any say in london i suppose a starting point needs to be the seizure of this Iranian Oil Tanker in the strait of gibraltar obviously gibraltar being a british territory and the sequence of events starting from that point to where we are now do you think that it was a calculated. Action taken by british authorities to seize this ship even though it was apparently in contravention of sanctions against syria but was it a calculated action taken by the British Government which you think. I think obviously at the moment the stakes are really high for book side to saw what we are seeing it is still was describing some additional for instance is that where already berea taken plays an incident where already taken place but that are placed in a very different context in which the stakes are higher and the 2 sides are taking a much stronger position we are seeing especially in order to foster nuns and translation from a stronger rhetoric or to stronger actions in practice both from the iranian side and european side so i dont know if specific are these instance and whether it was in retaliation for an rainy and for instance reprising or their Nuclear Activities or whether it was a decision from the u. K. To try to basically take a stance which is closer today you asked but we are seeing and growing tendency by both sides to or toughening up their rhetoric but also to take harsher measures which were not taken before and staying with you and he said because the u. K. Is finding itself isnt it as mohamed has pointed out finding itself in a very awkward position its about to leave the European Union we expect of therefore is vulnerable as he put it all in even more greater need if you like of of u. S. Patronage and certainly in the form of a of a big fat trade deal so theyre prepared to do what it takes to keep that relationship going would you agree with that. Just to or some extent i think the expectation was the same would regard to the nuclear deal when for instance that their us president and decided 1st to decertify the us and then to withdraw to us from didnt care if there was the expectation that the u. K. Might break ranks with the rest of the e. U. And the position itself closer to the us but that did not happen we have seen actually a closing out of the rancid between the u. K. And under the tree france and germany in particular so it really depends on the front which we are talking about i think on their Nuclear Issue as correctly or pointed to be guinea the u. K. Has been still 19 in its position. Of defending the new ground by funding up until recently. And so of iran with its nuclear obligation and doing everything it could really to look. For debian to survive right in the region our front however a story coming out in the u. K. Has taken us closer push it was 57 today us of some of these is what we are seeing at the moment right phil coming back to the situation on the ground all i should say on the war so i really so the situation is very tense indeed weve got the highest level of alert when it comes to british Maritime Forces have you ever seen a situation as tense as this before in your experience and obviously many people will be thinking back to the late 1980 is in what was known as the tank a war. I mean historically these these events have occurred or see through time the that we mustnt forget that it seems like ages ago now but you know 2007 the incident with the h. M. S. Cornwall where 15 members of the wrong navy were arrested by the iranian guard with small boats you know that incident occurred and that led to a rise in tensions an increase in security levels but that you know it was only 2007 but yet that seems like a long time ago and i think we do need to think its very interesting timing from the british to take the grace from the iranian tanker to arrest of gibraltar because they would have known that that would have led to consequences that were were starting to see here and also the the american attempt to start creating a coalition to support vessels going through the straits of hormuz weve seen this sort of thing before in fact we see it going on currently but in a different environment in the gulf of aden where weve got for fatalities or other weve got a convoy escorts that go through the gulf of aden which was set up in against piracy threat at the time and thats still going on although the piracy is for as diminished but the biggest difference is a the potential for escalation in that environment is so much less than is in the gulf of a moves right so any coalition that is built has to take into account now mohamed given that given this kind of exceedingly tense environment i would imagine theres very little chance for dialogue but how much hope is there in tehran being invested in the europeans and their and their ability to come up with this alternative system instead this is the way its being it is what its being called to to try to mitigate if you like the effects of these harsh american sanctions. Well we have to keep in mind that the only side that has been abiding by the nuclear deal over the last 14 months is iran and this is something that the western media and the western think tanks really rarely say there are people who point this out but its its not really known by the western public that iran has been faithfully abiding by the deal and even now that its beginning to reduce its commitments its only doing so to force the europeans to take a stand because the europeans have all sorts of commitments they have been violating all of them because of bullying from washington and so the iranians are saying look we cannot continue like this iranian public will not accept it the iranian public is becoming increasingly frustrated and they expect the government to take action and so the government is becoming more forceful in its attitude in its position towards the i dont im not very optimistic about the e. U. But i do think that its in the interests of the you to change its policy into stand up to the United States it has an economy that by some calculations is larger than the United States and it has of the population thats larger than the United States and the russians and the chinese are resisting the United States so theres no reason why the e. U. Especially in coordination with the russians and the chinese cannot do a lot more than what its doing now but ultimately if the u. Doesnt take a stance then we may move towards greater escalation in that thats what the americans are pushing for when trump speaks about obliterating iran he said that a number of times already which is basically a threat of holocaust hes hes threatening iran with nuclear strikes but we dont see any european leader or any major media outlet showing shock or condemning such language on the other hand he trump himself says that hes carrying out Economic Warfare and hes building other countries not to do trade with iran you cannot purchase medicine through the Banking Sector and iran and right now there are examples of people whove gone without their. Medicine. For counselor because its so expensive they dont want their family to live in destitute so they choose to die as a result this guy a policy that the europeans in their ip are pursuing me say so mohamed is suggesting that the europeans could actually do a great deal more in terms of of helping irans economy out of this this tight squeeze thats been placed upon it by the American Campaign do you think the europeans do have that latitude if so if they do have it or theyre not actually exercising it whats holding them back look i think. Mania and have rightfully expectation that the europeans would do more in terms of their way down to describe it compensate for the u. S. Withdraws from the nuclear deal this was very much the expectation since the last year or since may 2018 and it tore across from the iranians where very much clearer seems than meaning the connection to the financial global system and a continuation of its ability to export oil we have to instruct mckinneys them obviously europeans invested very much on to Financial Connections side however and that is very limited its also 1st of all use not really ongoing at the moment despite operationalization and its very limited on the humanitarian goods armley and we have seen the continuation of irans inability to sell its oil to the priest actions level so its clear that the rate of expectation has not met in terms of the european cup abilities obviously what we have seen so far has been very limited compared to the iranian expectations but has also been unprecedented compared to easter a story to. Stand up to the u. S. In terms of fun and institutionalizing i try not to make any of them and introduce yet blocking regulation and so on and support if we were talking back in later. It doesnt 17 there was no expectation whatsoever that this was going to happen obviously much more could be done but i think it requires time and time is really not anyones friend and a moment right mohamed so you took a little bit earlier about the possibility of iran escalating if you like its noncompliance with the terms of the what remains of the j c p o a is a rum prepared to go so far as to render it completely obsolete tear it up and walk away is iran prepared for that yes i think that iran ultimately is willing to do that because if the europeans do not take steps to abide by their commitments then there is no reason for iran to say that but the reason why the iranians are gradually reducing their commitments is to give the europeans an opportunity to do something i mean what the europeans have done so far as is really nothing instax maybe a political statement but it is it is an empty vessel it doesnt do anything there has to be money in it European Companies are afraid to Purchase Iranian Oil well if theyre afraid that europe the european governments can purchase oil are they that afraid of the United States the the the right now the chinese are purchasing iranian oil increasingly as we speak the russians are cooperating with iran so if the iranians simply dont buy it that the europeans cant do anything and if they really cant do anything when the europeans should not be sitting at the negotiating table they should step aside because theyre not of significance but the iranians i think what is even more important is that the iranians are more than prepared to defend themselves and this escalation that the americans are pursuing is very dangerous this is not 1988 where the americans can down an iranian airliner killing 200 in 1000 people and nothing happens this is an iran today which yeah shoots down a 200000000 dollar american drone with a 20000 dollar iranian may draw right here. Has underground insulation from the iraqi border alongside the persian gulf to the strait of hormuz to pakistan with tens of thousands of precision guided missiles and iran has allies across the region indeed in 1980 ryan was isolated and surrounded ok a very different time today phil coming back to you im just wondering a little bit more about the situation in the gulf itself how how easy would it be if you like. Would it be for there to be. An unintentional ratcheting up of of tensions which could lead to direct conflict im particularly referring to britain at the moment because thats where our focus is today how likely is it that it could just unintentionally spiral out of control. I think youve hit the nail on the head there with the unintentional side of it i think everyones aware of the implicit dangers of putting military assets into an area such as this i mean one of the biggest dangers is the unintentional event that leads on to escalation don trump has been pushing for the u. S. To lead a coalition but doesnt want to be doing it on their own so trying to build a coalition because as you rightly point out most of the oil that goes through there and our customers are the ones who are transporting this oil through the straits most of that oil is going out to china and japan india america will be a net exporter of energy by next year so actually its requirements to keep the lanes open its purely for the for the flow of oil for example is much less than other nations hence they need to build a coalition because they dont want to pay for it and that suits trumps agenda you know so hes saying that if i see america 1st and able to. Build the coalition but the things coalitions and this goes right back to your point is that when you build a coalition you all the operators will operate under their own National Rules of engagement and their ways of operating when youve got that situation you could have situations develop where an event occurs that is not necessarily supported or would be followed in the same way by another nation so coalitions in that sense in this tinderbox environment they will be thinking very carefully about committing to this area going back to your point about the british. Now im sorry go no please please finish but be quick if you will because we are are running out of time for please no one of us or no its actually so the brits the british involvement in the area because we have british interests in the area the british will of course do what they can but in terms of the effectiveness of all those vessels going through here it is an enormous challenge to have a full policing effective policing effort to prevent things like this happening if youve got arms in an area like this theres always a scale ation potential right and any say looking at the british the british position right now it seems as though theyre increasingly in this all is a vise like situation how how desirable or otherwise is it for the u. K. To be seen to be viewed by others as a proxy for the United States and i have to ask you to be brief please i think. The u. K. Is really willing to be somewhere between the e. U. And the us and development i dont even want to be perceived as a proxy after us i dont think it wants to fully eyeliner today u. S. Policy on iran because there is so much disagreement internationally to worse the u. S. Policy on iran about the closer detentions gets between the u. S. And iran did more to provoke ation from the iranian side or did measures taken by the iranian side to which the u. K. Needs to respond the more likely it is that the u. K. Was shift towards the u. S. Thank you all very much indeed a nice a best theory to brissie Mohammad Marandi and field cohen thank you all very much indeed really interesting conversation and as ever thank you for watching the program you can see it again anytime like by going to the web site aljazeera dot com if you want to continue with this conversation go to our Facebook Page facebook dot com forward slash a. J. Inside story and you can also join the conversation on twitter our handle is at a. J. Inside story im at Martine Dennis so for me and the whole team here in doha if i found out. Every armed attack in europe creates fear and division amongst its citizens where stories of loss no one told. A sweeping association of islam with the violence easier in muslims facing the stark reality of being ostracized by the very communities in which they live love and moon the tragic loss of life. Twice a victory on aljazeera. We understand the differences. And the similarities of cultures across the world so no matter how you take it aljazeera will bring you the news and Current Affairs that matter to you aljazeera. This is aljazeera. To watch and that is our life from a headquarters in doha im dating obligato coming up in the next 60 minutes the scandal surrounding a u. S. Financier accused of sexually abusing young girls prompts the resignation of Donald Trumps labor secretary. All the friends. I called him that i thought of right. Now so i. Turkey gets its 1st delivery of a russian made Missile System despite concerns from its allies. After being in the work for 3 decades west African Leaders have decided to go ahead with their new single currency. Hello there im going to stick in london with the latest from europe including. Hundreds of undocking. Did michael instill in the pump your name christ to mounting the right to stay in france and support all large old Roger Federer a rough and a dollar going head to head to wimbledon now that joke of it or whites in the final but he proves too good for the battle bucky style. Polo the u. S. President donald trump has lost another member of his cabinet with the resignation of labor secretary alex acosta hes faced fierce criticism over a secret plea deal he negotiated a decade ago with Jeffrey Epstein the billionaire accused of sexually abusing underage girls. I do not think it is right and fair or just administrative Labor Department to have epstein as the focus rather than the credibility on the done today. And all the president s authority i told him that i thought the right thing was that the side cabinet position are temporary for us. It would be selfish for me to stay in this position and to 10 years talking about a case of bloggers all rather than about basing it on i mean we have right now he made a deal that people asked me with and then 12 years later theyre not happy with it youll have to figure all of that out but the fact is he has been a fantastic secretary of labor and alex told me this morning and he wanted to see me and i actually said well we have the press right out here so perhaps you just want to say it to the press about i just want to let you know this was him not me because im with them particle he is joining us from washington d. C. With reaction from their party and tell us whether this was expected at all. Well youve been under fire cost alex acosta had been under fire for weeks. Really months and months ago the newspaper reporter came out with this really indepth investigation into that plea deal with Jeffrey Epstein since then weve now seen the u. S. Attorney in new york file charges arrest him hes currently in custody basically saying that he ran a child sex ring in new york its the same allegation that he faced in florida i think its remarkable to hear both the president and the labor secretary really dismiss this case saying it was 12 years ago some people were like liked it at the time the reality is that this was mostly done in secret even the victims didnt know that this plea deal was be made until after it was signed so they couldnt object to it a federal judge had said that a custom broke the law when he didnt notify the victims as so basically this is the case of Jeffrey Epstein hes rich hes very connected he was facing dozens and dozens of counts of an indictment that basically said he ran a child sex ring out of his palm beach mansion so a cost to make this deal with him again in secret and instead he. Says hes guilty of 2 counts of child pornography basically child prostitution prostitution with an underage woman and he gets 30 months in jail but this is his jail sentence he gets his own private when he has security he gets to leave 12 hours a day so you can go to his office and thats a 30 month sentence and so there was outrage across the board mostly coming from democrats saying he had to step down so now yes yeah and speaking of the democrats they must be pleased with the resignation because thats what they had been calling for how is this playing out politically. Well i think right now a lot of people are focused mostly on whats happening on capitol hill theres a lot of legislation that theyre trying to get passed before they leave town the democrats are going to basically say this is more proof that this administration is chaotic theyre going to raise concern about just the number of acting secretaries there are so far right now theres an acting secretary of Homeland Security at acting secretary of defense and acting secretary of labor in the next week theres an acting white house chief of staff theres no one in the u. S. To. The u. N. And this is just the tip of the iceberg this is there are hundreds of lower level positions theyre acting or havent been filled that raises concerns about accountability is anyone there it will to speak truth to the president he himself has said that he likes when theyre acting he says it gives him more flexibility so democrats i think are going to try to make political hay showing just how many of his cabinet members have left most of them with scandal following close behind that the republicans are going to just try and move on even though this case isnt going away all right thank you lets speak to Steve Clemons hes the editor at large for the political news site the hill hes joining us from washington d. C. How is the hill been covering this resignation and whats your reaction to it. Well weve been covering every dimension of patty holding give you a really nice run down what has happened i tweeted out today somewhat of a joke about your last point and the number of acting officials in the Trump Administration because after every president ial administration we know that the president goes and gets a library bills and so i joke that theyll be a donor when called the acting donor wing because so many of the people who serve in administration end up being core donors but these will be acting donors but i think on the broader side i think patty got it really right that the outrage about the Jeffrey Epstein sweetheart plea deal so many years ago is one just just to challenge President Trumps depiction was was never really sold to the victims it wasnt widely understood others the prosecutors in the state objected you have to remember the indictment was 53 pages long the current indictment that Jeffrey Berman has brought in new york is just 12 pages so youve got to understand that the florida case was exhaustive and there are many dimensions that we still dont know of it today epstein ran with some of the most famous big name people in the world British Royalty president Clinton Donald trump himself but many many others and so i suspect that the president in wanting to shut down what he called this distraction of what alex acosta negotiated years ago is were going to be seeing ongoing ripple effects of this case this does not end the matter at all and end state is that something to be said about the timing of the resignation because just 48 hours ago acosta held a News Conference and he was defending that plea deal that he brokered with epstein a decade ago. Well if the president you know for some reason on these issues that particularly involved sexual infractions of walking over lines of moral deficits that various people have around him he tends to stand with those people who deny that those events ever happened to that who challenge that reality as opposed to succumb to it and we know that acting again another acting chief of staff in the movie cheney advised the president to push across to out the door days ago and the president want to give it wanted to give him a chance to perform and to deny and to stand strong and i think after a cost as comments the other day defending his actions so many years ago. The marketplace did not see it as something that began to move in his direction and at that point the president cut him loose and his party was saying there are 4 ascends right now in the trumpet ministration and youve reinforced that as well and there have been numerous resignations from that administration. Why does this become an election issue at all in the campaign in the upcoming president ial campaign for trump does it work against him of course it does all of these things become Campaign Issues i mean i think part of the problem that those people who will be challenging President Trump have is they actually have so much what what do they challenge him on theres a long list of these kinds of things but it seems to me that from a president ial management perspective of stewarding of a key equities for the nation and creating priorities and executing in a way that reaches. The people of United States and that you have people in place that have been confirmed by the senate of the United States remember the senate is a coequal branch of government and they can deny its usually you get their consent to appoint these people. And thats part of the public having no voice so were getting to a point where trump may be challenging the very legitimacy in the eyes of some people of the solvency of his cabinet and other officials and so i think its a big deal and it could be used against him but as i said theres so much other stuff out there you just sometimes wonder how you know what will they pick to run against him or they may not be is acting cabinet right ok Steve Clemons thank you very much and just after he announced the news about Alex Acosta Donald trump went on to say immigrant deportations will begin in 10 u. S. Cities this weekend and the sweep will target people whove received final orders to leave the country including families trump says immigration and Custom Enforcement officers will focus on criminals previous warnings of the raids have sparked outrage on concern among immigrant advocates and members of the u. S. House of representatives have been testifying before a Congressional Committee about the mistreatment of migrants at federal Detention Centers they describe deplorable conditions after visiting the facilities President Donald Trump has called mistreatment of Migrant Centers described them as phony and exaggerated mike hanna is covering the story for us i suppose not a surprise that trump is pushing back against whats being said about these facilities mike. Well theres only one problem with president contention that these reports of maltreatment are as he puts it fake news and the fact is that the House Committee has heard evidence based on data obtained from President Trumps own Administration Officials and. Among the myriad of details that were provided in a report that was presented by the House Oversight committee is the fact that as many as 18 infants and toddlers under the age of 2 years old were separated from their parents for periods ranging from 20 days to 6 months the report also outlines a written discount decisions at Detention Centers along the u. S. Southern border the area was also beset to by a delegation of representatives and this is what sandra ok so cortez at to say when these women tell me that they were put into a cell and that their sink was not working and we kept at the think ourselves and the sink was not working and they were told to drink out of the toilet bowl i believe them i believe these women