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i'm thriving by helping others everyday. people who know, know bdo. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news". anchor: this is bbc america. we have some breaking news tonight on president biden's orders that the u.s. conduct airstrikes in iraq and syria. facilities that were struck in the region include command and control operations, intelligence centers, rockets, missiles and more according to the u.s. central command this comes in response to the sunday attack in

jordan killing three u.s. service members. ♪ anchor: welcome to world news america and we start with the breaking news. the u.s. has started airstrikes against iranian backed groups in syria and iraq. u.s. central command released a statement saying uscentcom forces conducted airstrikes in syria and iraq against iran's revolutionary guard force. they struck more than 85 targets and employed more than 125 position munitions. this comes after three u.s. soldiers were killed on an attack in northeastern jordan by a backed militant groups. iran has denied involvement. president biden took part in the dignified transfer ceremony for the three in delaware. he also met with their families.

three soldiers died in the strike near the border with syria on sunday and 40 more were wounded. we will bring in our state department corresponded here in studio and he has been looking at the latest for us. what more at this point do we know about the strikes? reporter: over the last hour there were a lot of local reports. this was a desert area around this corridor of towns that run parallel with the euphrates river. this appears to be around the area of activity. people are hearing loud explosions being reported and a lot of drone activity and the last hour or so. central command, the u.s. military forces in that part of the world, have said in the last few minutes is that they have confirmed that airstrikes had taken place in iraq and syria.

they say against iran's revolutionary guard force, the elite fighting force of the islamic revolutionary guard. that matters. it is consistent with some of the threats we are hearing made by u.s. officials earlier this week. but iranian personnel would be targeted and iranian facilities. they are talking about more than 85 targets being hit. the u.s. has numerous aircraft including long-range bombers flown from the united states and they listed these sites hit including command-and-control center operations, drone storage. we talked specifically about this as it was according to u.s. officials an iran backed drone that hit the u.s. base in jordan over the weekend. that has a specific mention. they also talked about supply chain facilities for these

groups. that statement is meant to sound pretty big and it does in terms of what they have done so far. we know earlier this week the iranians were saying they would respond decisively if they were hit in the region. anchor: and what about the timing of the strikes today? reporter: there is clearly some kind of delay. we heard briefings in the background yesterday. i believe there was meant to be an explanation for the delay, cloud cover and the inability to target and the weather was bad. this happened a few hours after the repatriation of the three soldiers' remains. obviously, it would not happen in the immediate run-up or during that event so here we are a few hours after that n.l. the strikes have taken place. -- after that and now the

strikes have taken place. now we will speak to the former ambassador to malta. always good to have you on bbc news. i want to get your thoughts on the significance of the simultaneous strikes on sites in syria and iraq >> we all knew they were coming. when you have lives lost as we did with the three soldiers killed near jordan, in jordan, the president had no choice but to respond. all that was was waiting on was a calculation of how much and how far and when. certainly, the communication from our side and the iranian side is that we do not want this to escalate further. although this was a large strike , i suspect it was punishing in its breadth and width it would also stay within the

confines of not escalating. part of the commentary from the iranians is that they would respond but a significant part of the commentary is that they do not want to escalate this conflict. anchor: we saw the statements from u.s. officials citing eight targets, just the first of many courses so far. what can we take away from that, that this is a prolonged operation? >> there is significant pressure on the president to send a decisive signal and make clear that the united states will not take these hits without responding. there is no point in having the firepower and strength that we have if we do not use it and protect our own. he is under significant pressure from republicans and the american people. the strikes, i expect they may continue for a bit longer. we will see. but that they will be punishing.

anchor: you mentioned some commentary from iran. are you concerned given the breadth of these strikes that we could see some sort of response from iran? >> well, i would not necessarily expect a direct response from iran although they also will be under the same sort of pressure that the president is under. each state has a responsibility to protect their citizens. but more importantly, what everyone who has been reserving -- observing the region, commenting and analyzing this conflict since october 7, we have all been very aware in flagging the possibility for miscalculation. the possibility for errant missiles and errant activity not under the control of iran or

the united states for that matter. it could cause an escalation. how much control iran has over its proxies in the region whether it is houthi, -- how much day to day control do they have is a question. iran provides the weapons, the money -- so there is the possibility of it getting out of hand and spite efforts being made by the united states leadership and in spite of efforts that may be made by iranian leadership. anchor: really good points. we will come back to you for a bit more analysis. i want to go to our senior international correspondent joining us from irbil in northern iraq. tell us the latest you are hearing from the ground. reporter: we don't have any

confirmed information yet about the damage that has been done by these strikes or the casualty toll that may have been inflicted. we know 85 targets have been struck and that u.s. bombers were involved in long-distance missions from the united states. undoubtedly president biden wanted to send a loud and clear message with these strikes. they had to be different from american action before. previously when america has been retaliating against iranian backed militia, the target list has been quite familiar. safehouses, weapon storage, places of that order. america has tried to go up a gear but in a controlled way. president biden has been trying to a square the circle and deliver a response that is strong enough to satisfy public opinion in united states in an election year after the killing

of three u.s. servicemen, strong enough to keep the american public pressure at bay but not so strong that it triggers a further escalation either by iran itself or by its proxy militias. we did have a statement from lloyd austin a few days ago saying the situation can be managed as he put it in such a way that things do not escalate. now we will see if that is in fact the case. certainly the intention is there on the part of the white house and appears to be there on the part of the iranian leadership that a bad situation should not get much worse. the iranian leader said today that iran would not start a war but if anyone tried to bully it, there would be a strong response. the mood music if you like from tehran and the white house is similar but that does not mean there is no possibility of an uncontrolled escalation. these things can have a way of

attaining their own momentum. anchor: that is what we just heard from the ambassador. i have a statement from the white house saying this afternoon at my direction u.s. military forces struck targets at facilities in iraq and syria that the irgc and affiliated militia used to target u.s. forces. our response will continue at times and at pleases of our choosing. that echoes what we have heard from the defense secretary earlier this week. we were speaking of the fact that this could be the start of a longer operation from the u.s. can you tell us more about the significance of the sites we have seen struck so far and why these were important to the u.s.? reporter: what u.s. officials have been saying this week is that it would be a multitiered response and it could be in several locations over several

days and the first thing we see would not be the last. there would be continuous action over a period of time. in a certain sense president biden has no choice but to try to go after these targets. the ammunitions dumps, the safehouses, the training bases associated with these pro-iranian militia. one thing worth mentioning is we arrived this afternoon in northern iraq and there is already a lot of tension in the region. people have been counting down since last sunday. we are not dealing with the element of surprise. it was clear that u.s. would have to retaliate and retaliate in a remarkably different way after three u.s. service people were killed. we heard reports today on social media that well-known figures, well-known pro-iranian militia leaders in baghdad have disappeared from view in the last few days. they were not sitting in their

regular locations waiting for american strikes comp. certainly there will be some questions whether or not what the americans might call high valued targets would have been hit with these strikes. at this stage we don't have that level of detail. undoubtedly the americans would've wanted to target senior figures in these militia groups and equally they would've known for the past few days that these strikes in this kind of retaliation was coming. anchor: we will be coming back to you over the course of the evening. tell us how this is tied to the current israel-gaza word. we know the secretary of state is heading to the region again to pressure for a cease-fire. reporter: all of this is interconnected and part of the reason why the u.s. secretary of state and biden administration

has been making these desperate efforts to secure a cease-fire in gaza. if it can be achieved the hope is that it would take off the pressure and reduce the volume of the violence elsewhere in the region. currently we have the iranian backed houthi in yemen paralyzing world shipping going through the red sea and we have iranian backed hezbollah in lebanon trading fire with israelis across the board have israel's massive assault on gaza with a devastating death toll palestinian civilians. it is all increasing tension and anger in the region and the middle east is a tinderbox. white house is hoping to be able to produce a period of calm with the cease-fire which would allow the flames to go down and the flames are not burning simply in gaza. it is across the region at this point. there was a statement from the u.s. secretary of state antony

blinken a few days ago saying this is the most dangerous time in the middle east since the 1973 arab-israeli wars. many people who have been studying the region would agree saying it is an extremely unpredictable and dangerous time. the main effort the white house is engaged in now apart from carrying out these strikes is simultaneously trying to get some kind of cease-fire on the table in gaza that would reduce the level of tension in the region. anchor: thank you so much. we will be speaking to later. i want to bring back the ambassador. i saw you nodding a bit as we were listening to our correspondent on the ground. i would like to get your thoughts on what she shared. >> i think she is exactly right. president biden is in an extremely difficult position and perhaps the iranians as well. keeping in mind as these strikes are carried out, iran pulling

out its senior folks from syria clearly understood that the united needs would retaliate. with statements that it does not want an escalation but again we go back to who controls home. -- whom. and even after the united states carried out strikes against the houthis they continue to carry out attacks against ships and the red sea. we have had statements from iranian backed troops in iraq that they intend to continue carrying out strikes against the united states. so where is the tipping point where it is enough without expanding this conflict? and that is the threat -- the needle rather that the president is trying to thread. and with people on the others that do not have this in calculations or responsibilities

, there is no election coming up among iranian backed groups, they have different calculations and it is hard to get into those heads to see what will change which brings all the tension back to the conflict in the gaza strip. it is all combined and interwoven. and we will see whether all of these things are truly interconnected if there is indeed a cease-fire -- do the attacks stop? that will remain to be seen and that puts additional pressure on the secretary of state, antony blinken, to bring the cease-fire and get it in place. anchor: a good point and i should mention in that statement from the president that he repeated that the u.s. does not seek a wider conflict in the middle east. one more question, the question has been asked in washington, how much control does iran have over these proxy groups.

iran says it was not involved in these attacks and did not have the green light while washington says it arms these groups. >> that is exactly right and that is what makes the situation so terribly dangerous right now. i do question how much control at this point -- at this point it comes whether you are continuing to arm and train or provide financing. the iranians stopped because they don't control them but they still have weapons, they are still trained and still have resources that would allow them to carry on attacks. i don't know for how long depending on what the strikes achieved being carried out by the united states but i don't think anyone thinks that the strikes carried out hitting 85 different places is going to completely wipe out their ability to do something. the question about the control is a real one. i'm sure it has iran extremely nervous right now and i expect

that we will continue to see statements saying they are not in control of these forces and are not trying to escalate the conflict. anchor: thank you, ambassador. stand by. i want to bring in the editor and chief of the national. she is joining us from abu dhabi. good to have you on bbc news. i want to start by getting your thoughts on these announced strikes we have seen confirmed from the president and central command. what do you make of that? >> we have been expecting the strikes since the news of the three american soldiers were killed in jordan. the u.s. administration has put everybody on notice that there would be action. it is interesting that these are 85 targets that have been struck and long-range bombers have been used. the centcom announcement from the u.s. made a point of saying

that these bombers had come from the u.s. so they are not just using planes and equipment here in the region but actually coming in from the u.s. which means this is a wider military strike than what has been seen with certain limited attacks since seven october. anchor: we saw in the response from the president that our response started today and we will continue at times and places of our choosing. how will that be received? >> the concern is the iranian backed proxies in iraq and syria struck today do not operate in isolation. these are civilian populations around the areas and they are the first victims of any of these strikes. these strikes -- we see them very sanitized from the air but there are people on the ground reliving trauma of war after war especially when you think about iraq.

and areas around the border with iran have been struck repeatedly so those on the ground have no choice. iran wants to distance itself from these proxies but the reality is they cannot operate in the way that they do if it were not for the training and support they get from iran. however, we are entering a difficult political moment because for the iraqi government there is tension where the u.s. has struck inside iraq and iran struck inside iraq only a few weeks ago. the situation on the ground is very tenuous and before the strikes were announced by a couple of hours we heard that secretary of state antony blinken will be visiting the region again to try to bring a cease-fire or at least an end to the situation in gaza which is fueling a lot of what we are seeing at the moment. anchor: what can you tell us

about these proxy groups, in particular the group in iraq that claimed responsibility for the strike. reporter: the numbers are very hard to get a full hold of. again, these are very difficult groups to really understand, on purpose. they want to remain vague and opaque. they have some foot soldiers based on monthly payment. you are talking about thousands. what matters is some proxies say they will continue to strike at the united states while hezbollah, which is incredibly powerful has said they will hold attacks because they feel the united states will be targeting them directly after the killing of the three american soldiers in jordan. again, this is going to become a political moment when these proxy groups have to decide if

they continue with their mode is oberon the wedges to target the u.s. where possible than the strikes will get stronger. what is clear is that the leadership of these groups go underground because they are scared will be a repeat of 2020 when the head of the force of iran was killed on january 3 target in baghdad. as long as the heads of these groups are not taken out, they will continue to operate. anchor: to follow up on that i saw a tweet from a republican congressman here who criticized president biden for waiting five days since the u.s. soldiers were killed. what do we know about that? reporter: there was some surprise i have to say in the region. the timing of the strikes was really unannounced by the administration. their concern is that if you

really do want to take out the leadership, you don't give them a heads-up of when to expect the strikes to happen. having said that, i think they were underground very soon after the attack. they are trying to avoid killing american servicemen and women because they know that is when the president has to react. does it really have to take american soldiers to get killed in order to respond to these proxy groups that are wreaking havoc? anchor: we have about 30 seconds. how do you think iran will be looking at these strikes? reporter: it did warn against these strikes but so long as these strikes are not happening within their own boundaries, it can take the hit. anchor: really good to get your perspective on the story. interesting insights. thank you so much for joining us from abu dhabi tonight. and a reminder -- u.s. started airstrikes against iranian

backed groups in syria and iraq. central command forces sang the strikes happened against aransas revolutionary guard corps and affiliated groups. they struck 85 targets including command-and-control operations and weaponry and that comes after three u.s. soldiers were killed in an attack on a u.s. base northeast of jordan on sunday. for all of our narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... man: bdo. accountants and advisors. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: "usa today" calls it, "arguably the best bargain in streaming." that's because the free pbs app lets you watch the best of pbs anytime, anywhere.

amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. on the newshour tonight, the u.s. strikes iranian-backed militia in iraq and syria in retaliation for the deadly attack on american troops. amna: a stronger than expected jobs report shows the resiliency of the u.s. economy but raises concern that the fed might not lower interest rates soon. geoff: south carolina