the other main news tonight and
President Trump says Iran appears to be
standing down after it launched
overnight more than 20 missiles at Iraqi
bases where US troops are stationed
Donald Trump urged countries including
the UK to send a clear and united
message to Iran that its campaign of
terror will no longer be tolerated the
attack was ordered in response to the
assassination of general Qasem Soleimani
by the US the ballistic missiles were
launched from the Western kermanshah
province Al Asad Air Base in Iraq's
Anbar province was hit 17 times
including by two missiles that failed to
detonate according to the Iraqi
government a further five missiles were
targeted at a base in Erbil both the UK
and American governments have said none
of their citizens were killed or injured
while our Middle East creditor Jeremy
Bowen is in the Iraqi capital Baghdad
Germany yeah thanks very much Sophie
first of all there have been some
explosions in Baghdad in the last hour
or so not very far from here some
Rockets - apparently fired towards the
American Embassy fortress-like structure
no casualties they're far away in
Washington President Trump seems to
believe that he has the Iranians in
retreat that could be wishful thinking
the first phase of their reaction to the
assassination may well now be over but
you know it's not the end of the story
and what's more the fundamentals of the
conflict remain very toxic and very
dangerous
the Iranians kept their promise and may
have bought some time Iran had to
calibrate its missile launchers enough
to satisfy angry Iranians not enough to
provoke a much more destructive American
response they seemed to have guessed
right Iraqi soldiers shouted warnings to
each other they shared the huge I know
Assad base in western Iraq with the
Americans afterwards for the leaders
came a chance to save face claimed
victory and stepped back for the moment
no Americans were harmed in last night's
attack by the Iranian regime we suffered
no casualties all of our soldiers are
safe
Iran appears to be standing down which
is a good thing for all parties
concerned and a very good thing for the
world it looked different in Iran a few
in Tehran even got up early to celebrate
revenge here's a courage a speak the
University students I have a great
feeling she said I hope revenge
continues and I hope to see Trump fail
and later the regime's faithful chanted
death to America as the supreme leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei II told them he
hadn't finished yet only you see
leadership in hazard is road the issue
of revenge is something else what
happened last night was just a slap in
the face
for him the assassination promotes unity
in a divided country and now Iran has
more time for its speciality
unconventional warfare using proxies and
allies here in Baghdad the morning had
nothing for Iraqis who want Iranians and
Americans to leave them alone the
batterer organization a political party
based on a pro Iranian militia gathered
to mourn the assassinations and
condemned the u.s. refusal to pull their
troops out of Iraq
that means they forced everybody in Iraq
everybody in Iraq to go for resistent
for military resistance against them do
you think now that the Iranians have
made this attack that is the end of this
chapter they do more and they increase I
think this is only I think it's a
message not more a message to the
Americans a message that we are serious
this is a long-term conflict
the biggest danger at the moment in the
most unstable part of the world without
a political dialogue and some kind of
deal the slide towards war will continue
Jeremy Bowen BBC News Baghdad in his
address this afternoon Donald Trump said
the US would impose additional sanctions
on Iran mr. Trump has been a fierce
critic of the 2015 deal aimed at
limiting Iran's nuclear ambitions and he
pulled the us out of it today he urged
Europe and the other signatories to the
deal to follow his lead on North America
correspondent NIC Brandt reports from
Washington from the president of the
United States an almost celestial
entrance his military chiefs standing at
his shoulder a core belief of the Trump
doctrine on his teleprompter as long as
I'm President of the United States Iran
will never be allowed to have a nuclear
weapon
good morning though flanked by his
generals he's decided not to respond
militarily to Iran's attacks he's opted
for more economic sanctions against
Tehran 8-d escalation and there was a
call to for America's European allies
including Britain to finally abandon the
Iranian nuclear deal negotiated by the
Obama administration they must now break
away from the remnants of the Iran deal
or jcpoa and we must all work together
toward making a deal with Iran that
makes the world a safer and more
peaceful place
Christmas 2018 and the surprise visit
from Donald Trump to the al Asad Air
Base in western Iraq one of the targets
for last night's Iranian attack the
Pentagon received what one official
called multiple hours warning from
satellites and communication intercepts
plenty of time for troops to take
shelter in bunkers they're playing down
reports of getting a tip-off from the
Iraqi governments and that Iran was
deliberately trying to miss in the Oval
Office 24 hours ago the president was
threatening strong US military
retaliation for any Iranian attack if
Iran does anything that they shouldn't
be doing they're gonna be suffering the
consequences and very strongly but in
the White House Situation Room last
night facing perhaps his biggest test as
commander-in-chief he opted for
circumspection omits public indications
from Iranian officials they wanted to
call it quits for now the Trump White
House can present this as a foreign
policy victory dramatically weakening
the Iranian regime by assassinating its
second most powerful figure without
embroiling US forces in another
protracted Middle East conflict this was
very much
teleprompter Trump today rather than
Twitter Trump his remarks were very
measured he didn't gloat he didn't mock
Iran for what many people here regard as
a fairly tokenistic response to the
killing of general Soleimani question is
will that restraint continue if after
this overt attack by Iran against
America it uses its proxy network and
it's malicious to launch more covert
attacks against America and its allies
in the region and beyond
Nick Brandt thank you the prime minister
spoke to President Trump about the
Iranian crisis this afternoon Boris
Johnson warned Iran not to repeat the
reckless and dangerous missile attacks
on the air bases
he also said general Soleimani had the
blood of British troops on his hands but
called for urgent de-escalation this
report from our political Edison or a
Coon's Berg contains some flashing
images not the first day back at work
but the first glimpse of the prime
minister this year the task to try and
cool temperate wean the Middle East and
the man in the White House thousands of
miles away the solemn situation of
contrast with Boris Johnson's conquest
of the Commons we of course condemn the
attack on Iraqi military bases hosting
coalition forces
Iran should not repeat these reckless
and dangerous attacks but was instead
pursue urgent de-escalation but the
labor leader still at the despatch-box
with a new one months away claims that
America's original act killing the
Iranian general was against
international law
what evidence has the Prime Minister got
to suggest that this attack on him and
his death was not an illegal act by the
United States
the strict issue of legality is not for
the UK to determine since it was not our
operation I think that most reasonable
people would accept that the United
States has a right to protect its bases
the Prime Minister attacked mr. Corbyn
for not explicitly condemning Qasem
Soleimani for his role in terror attacks
the blood of British troops on his hands
mr. speaker if we stand by international
law as I'm sure the government does
surely killing somebody in a foreign
territory is an illegal act ministers
wanted to avoid any further conflict but
also there's a sense the government
wanted to avoid getting tangled in the
politics of all of this the deeply
unpredictable friend in the White House
and some uncertainty about how the Prime
Minister was to shape his relationships
with the rest of the world that depends
in part on you guess it grexit and the
kind of long-term relationship the Prime
Minister agrees for after we leave with
his new visitor today that he used top
official Horace Johnson must define the
UK's links with its neighbors friends
and hostile rivals abroad Laura
keansburg BBC News Westminster a
Ukrainian passenger plane carrying a
hundred and seventy-six people including
three Britons crashed shortly after
takeoff in Iran this morning just hours
after the Iranian missile attacks there
were no survivors
the majority of passengers on the Boeing
airliner were from Iran and Canada
several airlines have now said they will
avoid Iranian airspace here's our
transport correspondent Tom barrage
devestation minutes after takeoff
they were later bodies of those on the
Ukrainian Airlines flight were taken
away there were no survivors most of
those killed were Iranian or Canadian
British national Sansa ke and Mohammad
Reza kodkod Azadi were on board so were
Saeed Thomas Evy and his wife nila Farr
who recently got married in Tehran
tonight one report quoted a Canadian
intelligence officials saying initial
evidence suggested the plane was not
brought down by a missile and may have
suffered a technical malfunction
Ukrainian airline said the airliner was
only three years old and was serviced
two days ago at an emotional press
conference the airline's technical
director said the plane was one of their
best the plane left the Iranian capital
Tehran early this morning it was bound
for the Ukrainian capital Kiev data
published online shows the plane crashed
minutes after takeoff the Boeing 737
steadily climbed some four and a half
thousand feet takeoff initially appeared
normal then the plane suddenly
disappears from radar that suggests
there was a type of catastrophic
incident there was an initial suggestion
from a Ukrainian official of an engine
failure but if an engine fails a Boeing
737 should be able to keep flying pilots
train regularly for that scenario
crucial to establishing the cause of
this crash will be the aircraft's flight
data and cockpit voice recorders the
Iranian authorities have them protocol
dictates that they will lead this
investigation it's claimed this video
shows the plane if genuine it seems to
be on fire there's a flash before the
impact if there's been an engine
failures one of their two engines on
board the airplane it would still be
capable of climbing and therefore it'd
be capable of returning to the airfield
and if necessary abandoning the approach
climbing away again coming right back
around for a second approach so there
should be no reason why the aeroplane
fell out of the sky as it did
airlines have reroute idsurvey from
Iranian and Iraqi airspace following
Iran's missile strikes on US bases
because the plane was made by Boeing the
Americans should have a role in the
investigation but the animosity between
Washington and Tehran will make that
hard
Tom barrage BBC News