when the islamic republic was born from the nine hundred seventy nine overthrow of the monarchy hasan rouhani has comments for last month's anti-government protests which saw thousands of people arrested staying in iran the family of a university professor are disputing police reports he committed suicide in jail sixty three year old environmental activists who say had a mommy was arrested last month his family says his death is impossible to fathom two of the protesters are reported to have killed themselves in prison recently. north korea's ellen pick delegation has met the south korean prime minister not young in seoul the group includes a sister of north korea's leader kim jong un on saturday she extended a rare invitation to south korean president moving jay in to visit pyongyang. south africa's ruling party the a.n.c. is due to hold a special meeting on monday as pressure intensifies on president jacob zuma to resign and many are calling for a swift transition of power after he was replaced by syrian forces as leader of the

a.n.c. but those are the headlines the news continues here on al-jazeera after inside stories section thanks for watching but for now. flashpoint between israel syria and iran the suspected iranian drone is shot down then an israeli warplane crashes it's a major us collation the conflict in syria so what's next in an already volatile region this is inside story.

below i have other welcome to the program the spillover from the civil war in syria to neighboring countries is not new but an israeli warplane being shot down by syrian air defenses is a first the f. sixteen fighter jets crashed after what these rarely army says was massive and to aircraft fire syria said it was responding to israeli aggression the downing of the f. sixteen follow the shooting down of what israel said was an iranian drone and the violation of its sovereignty by flying in the occupied golan heights or so on saturday syrian air defenses are reported to repel and two israeli raids or military bases so where will this escalation lead we'll talk to our guests in a moment israel has repeatedly attacked targets in syria over the years some confirmed by damascus others in night they include a weapons supply heart attack last year 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 going to be an isolated incident it is though the first time i would see in about thirty years that an israeli fighter jet has been taken down due to hostile fire so that in of itself is significant whether the syrian regime and its military has the continued capability to do this so it's an open question but it is very concerning issue in president that took place this morning mr monday so the quality of the israeli accounts these rallies have intercepted an iranian drone then they launched air strikes targeting iranian targets in syria and then the anti cost batteries of the syrian government targets of the sixteen fighter jets. are we

likely to see a new phase of a confrontation between the israelis and the iranians well the israelis don't have a history of honesty the drone the syrians and the iranians say that it has nothing to do with. any airspace outside of syrian airspace the drones were there basically and all the drones are there to monitor what isis and al qaeda are doing we know that i was protected by israel they treat their injured they gave them funding and they attack syrian government positions regularly the israeli regime in support of al qaeda and whenever the al qaeda forces are losing and also on the other in another part of the border near jordan isis exists alongside the israeli border and as the. former

minister of defense once said they once mistakenly lobbed a mortar into israel and they immediately apologized so the relationship between israel isis and al qaeda i think is pretty clear they want to protect these groups because they want to keep a buffer zone between themselves and syria whether this escalates is really up to the israeli regime this round they've definitely lost. while you served general in the jordanian. force you know the nossal bulls of this whole industry and the business procedures involved i mean by the time the syrians pushed the button and decided to bring down the fighter jet what kind of message where they sending to the israeli government right i think the drones first of all. i disagree with the u.s. just the drone is being shut down over the israel or nearby the golan heights. i think the russians know about it doing and know about it all radar in syria are

connected to me me me me me airbase tel aviv israel you have a direct top line with this command of russian command so it seems to be that everybody knows about the movement to the strong which means shut down on the goal line as i said now the i think the red line of it in the whole being checked now. i think the communication or the talks between him and buton. not valley or below or have no value putin is looking for his national interests that's what is concerning him. i think also checked on israel if they want to make sort of a buffer zone the by goal and i doubt they can do that.

so the iranian influence the land bridge is there. iranian officers are nearby the goal line within seven kilometers of the israeli so the israeli can do nothing at this stage let's see what's going to happen at the end of the day sky collation is there but i don't think they will escalate and if it. so you're not israeli diplomats he's working out through that magic and all the russian also up to now we didn't see any i mean you know look concern at this point ok and misses the policy so far in syria has been the following they would only interfere with a solo or with a get intelligence that the iranians are trying to send some game changing what and systems to hizbollah. we're seeing a new pattern which is basically going after what the israelis consider to be

a growing iranian military presence in syria is this an indication of that in the near future what we're going to see is basically a new showdown between the iranians and the israelis well that's correct israel has made its red lines in syria clear for a number of years now initially was game changing weaponry sent by to hiran to its allies in lebanon hizbollah via syria as well as iran in lebanon trying to and has been trying to set up a terrorist base on the golan heights border now israel is seeing something a bit more severe which is iran actually trying to turn syria into a forward operating base for itself for its military forces in syria as well as installing in syria more precision guided missiles that obviously pose a threat to israel so these red lines have been made very clear by netanyahu and

his government for a few months now the act on those red lines which again they've made very clear and the the onus i would say is on iran and the assad regime and its other allies to behave with responsibility and caution given the very real threat of escalation due to their. behavior the morality of the israelis said senior diplomats to washington and moscow over the past few months to express concern about whether because it's to be a growing influence of iran in syria this is basically what they say they say that they have seen a pattern which is the iranian is trying to expand their arc of influence all the way from tehran to link up with hezbollah in lebanon through the golan heights i mean what is the what is the iranian narrative when it comes to this particular accusation levelled against them by the israelis well the israeli narrative is very similar to sister apartheid regime in south africa back in the days when we had

apartheid there. apartheid south africa like the israeli regime abuse the natives and would regularly attack its neighbors just like this really regime on the other hand and see that african national congress and the late now also mandela they were terrorist organizations they were communists according to apartheid south africa and western countries basically remake that position and we know that now president nelson mandela was still a terrorist according to u.s. law when he was the president i'm south africa and he couldn't enter the united states because he was a terrorist and so as they and see israeli regime does the same thing they use iran like the apartheid south africa and western governments and the western media back then to create fear so that they would turn attention away from the reality and that is the subjugation of the people of black africans in south africa and the subjugation of people in neighboring countries that's exactly what israel is doing as well the iranians are in syria with the permission of the syrian government. are

there to help defeat isis and al-qaeda which they are doing we know for example that the head of in israeli defense intelligence said that we prefer isis over the syrian government and he also. he was deeply concerned that the syrian government would survive so when you see. that sort of. that sort of language and on the other hand when you see the language of the former head of mossad who admitted on al-jazeera that israeli regime treats the wounded of al qaeda remember this is al qaeda the group that carried out nine eleven and he said we do this because they do not attack us the do not target us so it's obvious who is siding with the extremists and who isn't and they're in again the syrians and the iranians say that the drones are out there to defend here against the extremists and let imagine that

if let's let's say that somehow this drone went over. by the way in occupied syrian territory and straight into israel the israelis have been firing over lebanon bombing syria not just hezbollah or anyone else they've mostly been bombing ok syrian army targets in defense of the extremists on their border with syria in the cellar there is no comparison with this is not the first time that the israeli government lost strikes against targets inside syria they've done that in the us although they've never met responsibility for the but why this time the syrian government decided to retaliate. well the next two in fact the syrian government to retaliate if you remember nine months ago when the fire service to what he said was two servicemen side two with the israeli raid nearby share out

that maria. it is a message for these very that you can do anything about the rain and for what it is they're the land bridge is there and it's a fact let's face it. is very cannot conduct i think a two front operation at this moment the nature of war is to change hezbollah these fronts got like one hundred fifty thousand besides these greatly. defense system. that he says the arrow means sod i don't think they can handle this massive fiery that would be a saturation of the air defense of the israeli and that's will affect their infrastructure have value targets cetera. and we might see a regional war sort of thing and i don't think both sides want to do that so i think we might see some diplomatic of which going going to contain this was some limited surgical fly strike on these very least ok so really the sit to all the

parties are trying to stay away from any us collation or confrontation than if you show us as we have now for key players as far as the conflict in syria is concerned iran. russia so three key players iran russia and israel do you think that russia could step in and try to broker a deal well i think that that's what the netanyahu government is hoping that russia steps in and restrains its syrian and iranian allies i would just say as far as context goes that after the last real direct israel syria war in one thousand nine hundred three for about forty years the syrian israeli border was israel's quietest border and only in recent years with the onset of the syrian civil war and hezbollah and iran involvement in that war a real bloody involvement targeting innocent men when men women and children in

many cases bombing hospitals and bakeries and so on israel actually stepped in to take care of its own strategic interests and that those interests should be taken into account in any future actions. what is it that mr bundy. russia has intervened in two thousand and fourteen till to the ground in favor of president bashar assad has implemented the four hundred missile defense system which gives it a huge leverage over the conflict in syria are they likely to be best positioned this time to try to prevent any further descent into violence well i think as your guest in jordan rightly pointed out the nature of war has changed israelis have carried out numerous onslaught against the people of gaza and they massacred thousands of people during these attacks but they failed to take the city a city that surrounded that often on the verge of starvation but israel has failed

and lebanon has was defeated as well and now we see that there's really a force is more vulnerable than we thing. and i believe. probably better air defense weapons exist but are currently kept under lock and key so i think israeli regime has to be careful about how it tries to implement its interests the united states and israel both have supported the extremists in syria from almost day one and there are just as i mean the united states is guilty then more guilty than anyone else because of what happened in syria we know from the two thousand and twelve defense and intelligence agency document where the united states knew that the extremists were the major fighting force in syria from early on in the fighting and they knew that neighboring countries were supporting these groups and as general flynn michael frayn on al-jazeera admitted the united states took a willful this edition to support these extremists and they wrongly saw that europe

paid the price there is read the regime is also for its so-called national interest it's supporting isis at least indirectly and al-qaeda directly and this is something that i think the international community should take note of countries like china and russia should take note that israel is a country that alongside the united states who will use extremist sense as tools and that could be dangerous for central asia in the future so i think that ultimately israel is paying a price at the international level and also it's being seen as the aggressor in syria because it downs the drone allegedly flying over here by bombing syria and it's bomb syria repeatedly and by using iran as a scapegoat is just like with apartheid south africa did with regards to the a.n.c. they blame the russians the soviet union the communists in order to subjugate africans in the west supported ok you know if we look if you try to look at the next step forward mr bono work this is the political reality in syria

a weakened president bashar assad but with the backing from iran and syria russia is bad as you know to reverse some of the gains made by the made by the rebels the americans into was in the region is waning so we're left with two key players inside syria iran and russia. is this going to have any kind of impact in the near future about president bashar al assad are we going to see him likely sergei more ground or no i think iran is going to stay in syria. and for once was been established with and mean in lebanon syria up to the sea it actual fact now brush i need you ron. on especially on tactical level there have differences on the strategic. but the going to be as an axis in

the future. i think both russia and iran support us to remain. stand i was try to i stand eyes sushi and they're going to stun eyes also geneve in the future but i could see that. a solution may maybe come up like federal of syria north it's that's what so why the american also we can the is the if that's will not work out for the american. and the center part of the new syria but i think i said will lose power or he should not control these federal state in the future that's the way i see as a solution but i said we'll stay there for a while till we got might be because there is no political framework really now where it's going to have the right solution. i mean this is the government has

managed to take over an area which is about thirteen kilometers from mount hermon and over the past few months the whole narrative was about what is going to happen in places like egypt but what we're seeing now is talks about potential confrontations with the fight goes back to areas like that and is this something which has been closely monitored by these rarely government. do they consider this to be another bad line if he happens absolutely this is been a red line for quite some time an iranian and his bill our presence in southern syria on the border with the golan heights and with israel is a red line for the israeli government and that should be made very clear to everyone not only to the outside regime and to iran but also russia as well as the united states i will just say that yes the nature of war might be changing but israel still has the most powerful military in the area and that if there is really

an escalation which we all hope won't be the case but if there is an escalation then i believe the syrians and the iranian interests inside syria as well as perhaps lebanon if hizbullah deigns to to get involved will suffer a lot more than than israel in the israeli population mr bundy. city has said a few days ago that he would never allow the iranians to maintain a permit is busy presence in iran for quite some time the debate about syria was about the need to find a peaceful way out of his prices where thousands of people were killed but suddenly this whole narrative is shifting towards something else the potential for an explosive situation where the iranians might find themselves fighting against the israelis how is this seen by the iranian decision makers well my understanding is that in iran the view is basically that this is more about netanyahu and

his wife than anything else this recent event and they basically want to turn attention away from the charges that are being leveled against them and this of course the fact that israel these last highly advance of sixteen i think make this make this actually much worse for letting. i hope the iranians will stay in syria as long as the syrian government wants and they will help the syrians regain their full sovereignty the americans like this release don't want this to happen that's why they continue to support extremists and in in the east and in the north they've aligned themselves with p k k ally groups that has outraged turkey so that the policies of the united states we see have isolated both in iraq and in syria and israel these are not going to fare much better and as with regards to the point that the claim made about the power of israel and israel is no match for you ron.

it's power is basically linked to the united states iran is not going to initiate any conflict with israel regime iran believes that israel must cease to exist because it is an apartheid state like its sister apartheid regime in. south africa i see it by the way the israelis gave the apartheid regime in south africa let me clear weapons too but but this really is should recognize that if they initiate any conflict against iran or against friends of iran this release will definitely not ok let me go to mr a bit obama said i want to go what if the israelis decided to retaliate of the iranians decided to fire back what kind of scenario do you see for the future of syria of the reason. i could see that contentment for the this escalation going to be and i don't know i can't speculate in days possibly but we would see continuance of israeli strike. face saving for their it

of and need to be our of that that is very knows very well and that's the general that's the nature of war has been changing. there is two front with one hundred fifty thousand missiles that's on a fact of course israel is a nuclear power but it's not going to be a school a thing that much that they're going to use small tactical and he could clear that so what are we going to see is i think containing the this escalation couple of days or less than that i can speculate and prevented it from spinning out of control so there is a very important bond that israel or american all the russian cannot stop the iranian maneuvering in our thank you thank you there with very skillfully miss a moment i want to know is some of that on the thank you very much indeed for your contribution to the program and thank you too for watching you can see the program

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a secret deal that would influence the shape of the middle east for more than a century to come and so. now we can draw a. psych speak out lines in the sand at this time on al-jazeera. god. i'm not. hello again adrian from going to here in doha the top stories on al-jazeera israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu says that air strikes in syria were a heavy blow to iran and syria the raids followed claims that i did radian drone entered israeli airspace on saturday and the downing of the israeli f. sixteen fighter jet by syrian government forces.

yesterday we delivered some serious blows to the uranian in syrian forces we made it absolutely clear to everyone that our rules of engagements have not changed at all who will continue to attack any attempts to hurt us but it's been our policy and they will continue to be our policy more now from al-jazeera simran card in west jerusalem the key developments that are taking place in west jerusalem all two meetings the cabinet meeting which is a regularly scheduled weekly meeting that's likely to concentrate on the political strategy that israel will come up with now publicly they're blaming iran for all of this they say the iranian role in syria is dangerous to israeli interests and they've been really ratcheting up the tension since the summer say that iran is the problem they've also sent a letter to the united nations security council telling them that it needs to publicly condemn the iranian role within syria then.