it's not a whole lot of other agreements the powers climate accord the transpacific partnership and basically there were people who were not happy with that be 0 because they thought it would change iran's behavior completely and then arms control agreements not supposed to do that army agreements we had with the soviet union were 50 years you know while there's they were still doing things like invading afghanistan no question we're going to get ends and not in the east in europe and people use that as an excuse to get out and it also empowered people like solomonic who did not want they said you can't trust the united states you shouldn't be making any agreement and they were able to say see we told you and i think that's why he is the ayatollah khamenei allowed our you know solomon the to have more influence and cause the problems. in iraq lawrence korb thank you very much ok at the top of the hour if you're just joining us here on al-jazeera english

let's just get you right up to speed with what we know 2 leading militia commanders one iranian one iraqi have been killed in a u.s. airstrike about 1.51.6 kilometers outside the bag that international airport they were near an area where there was an antiterrorism unit an antiterrorism building was within a secure compound there the key casualty there is custom in the money killed by u.s. forces people have been demonstrating their support of what has happened the joy at what has happened inside baghdad's tahrir square let's just play you that video and give you a sense of the atmosphere right now in the iraqi capital back that. was the the.

the and. it. was. and you have been watching pictures there of people in baghdad stuff or is square celebrating the killing of senior iranian commanded. by u.s. forces on stan grant here in doha of course taking over this breaking coverage live coverage of this strike by american forces inside iraq now we've had information confirmation from the pentagon that u.s. president donald strunk donald trump had ordered this strike inside iraq that has

killed a commander of iran's elite crudes force there he was killed in the strike just next to the city's airport the quds force is responsible for iran's overseas and clandestine military operations now also killed was iraqi militia commander. hondas he was the deputy leader of iraq's haast xabi militia the pentagon a few as i was saying has confirmed now the death of so the money in its statement it says it was done on the orders of the u.s. president the killing has also been confirmed by iranian state t.v. and for that we go to dorset jabari who joins us on the phone from tehran doors or is there no we seem to have lost dorsey will go to the united states where gabrielle elizondo is standing by can you tell us more about what the u.s. has confirmed deal with the pentagon has confirmed here with this strike. yeah it

was a pretty remarkable department of defense statement about this it's good too and a half paragraphs long i won't read the entire thing again but the key points that stand out here is obviously the united states department of defense confirming that the strike that killed solomon he was at the direction of the president united states that should not necessarily be a surprise given the high profile of solo money but also in the statement of by the department of defense they really pointed out how solo money in their view was actively planning more attacks on americans and american diplomats in the region there was a real sense in this statement that solo money in his cause forests were. an immediate threat to american lives in the region all read part of it general so the money was actively developing plans to attack american diplomats and service members in iraq and throughout the region general soleimani and his qods force were

responsible for the deaths of hundreds of american and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands more again that's 2 sentences from the statement just confirmed by the department of defense here it's important to point out that beyond this statement we have not heard anything officially from the white house or the president of the united states he did tweet a picture of the american flag but beyond that no official statement from the president donald trump he's at his mar-a lago resort still in the middle of a vacation there also nothing from the state department either but clearly this is a major major strike by the department of defense clearly it was at the direction of the president who of course is the commander in chief would be giving the direction in these guys. i want you to stay there will be going to dorset to barry in iran in just a moment. for the reaction from there but let's place this into context as well

because we had seen in recent days those protests inside iraq in baghdad protest is linked to the popular mobilization forces the militia linked to iran who marched directly to the american embassy set fire to the area had dual d area with graffiti had been chanting anti-american slogans so place this into a broader context of what we've seen in recent days the american strikes the protests and now this action we've seen carried out today. yeah for sure those protests reached the doors of the u.s. embassy ship washington there's no doubt about that this was. protesters iranian linked to militia that got through a heavily fortified green zone and got through multiple layers of checkpoints and

multiple layers of security to get right up to the door of the most heavily guarded and biggest and you might even say most important u.s. diplomatic mission in the entire world and that's the u.s. embassy in baghdad that shook the pentagon i think it shook the state department and i think it shook the white house as well and i think what you're seeing here is a reaction to that there was a clear understanding i think over the last few days since this is all transpired that the u.s. had the option of striking there were probably multiple options presented to president donald trump and he clearly went with the most severe one this is you can't put this or or overstate this enough it should be pointed out that over the past 10 years or so iraq excuse me israel has reportedly had so little money in their crosshairs and and were going to strike him but in both cases president obama

at the time and president george w. bush convinced the israelis not to because killing him could potentially set off incredible ramifications now he has been killed there was a different choice that was made by president donald trump so. the u.s. just to summarize here the u.s. this week a sense 750 paratroopers to the region to buffer security they have several 1000 more troops on standby for deployment we've reached out to fort bragg and centcom to see if any more troops are being deployed to the region and sofa. no response on that yet but clearly without a doubt this is a major escalation want to hear from the president what he has to say about this presumably when he announces more about this decision and thank you for that and of course we'll come back to you for any further developments from the united states let's cross now to dawson jabari who joins us on the phone from tehran we're just listening to. their door sir who is now confirming of course of the pentagon has

said that this strike was carried out under the orders of president trump but also accusing customs of the money of planning attacks on american diplomats and american service personnel before we get to the details of that for those who are just joining us now take us back and tell us who kasim saw the money was his role in the iranian military and he significance within the iranian regime. certainly the sense of an army is the head of the old force which is the branch within the revolutionary guard that external. missions outside of the wrong for their child are tasked with. for a new mission so they deal with their own foreign policy when it comes to military action out of the country now he was appointed by the supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei as the head of the court force at some point in the early ninety's we're not exactly sure when his appointment took place but he was

a man who fought in the iran iraq war and then he was part of the revolutionary guard in the province for many years and he rose up the ranks very quickly and he's one of the blue dogs one of the closest confidant and allies and friends of the supreme leader he was awarded a the highest medal of honor by the commander in chief i too was the company just last year for his services that he conducted on behalf of iran he is known as a very good clue shivs figure in telling the country there are held about hands of people who met him just coming into the office this morning i was speaking to. the security guards at my gold in the taxi driver he is his name synonymous with rainy and national pride no matter what has been labeled outside the country no man in charge of # the matter which side you lean on politically us until the

money or hodgepodge of him as he's known is a figure who resonates with the iranians a somebody who has had the best interest of iran at heart he has been instrumental in preventing michael from setting foot on a rainy toilet over the past few years when i was speaking to my taxi driver as we were listening to state radio on the way in marriage already songs of mourning they now pntr saying that it is with great. cabinets that we announced a martyrdom of concentrating on in iraq and condolences to all of the iranian people in the nation the taxi driver was so shocked you could barely speak and not to actually pull over and take a minute before to continue his ride. and he said that this is something that they

never people never believed could happen because they're easy or a. mystery and grandiose about 5 off until the money that people spoke about him now with this means of his of his assassination there is a tremendous amount of shock and anger that was involved in the few next few hours that we will see not only in iran but across the middle east he was instrumental in iran policies in lebanon came close relationship with the house on the trailer hezbollah in lebanon is a more well documented to have had numerous occasions where they've been photographed together alongside the supreme leader his relationship with other of souther of other family in. in iraq is also noteworthy he has spent a lot of time in the holy city of najaf. so he is very well known across the region both within the political ground and the military circles of this

region he is somebody who is also known to be very kind very humble he was i should say i have heard stories of people who were on. plane ride said he was on and when he spent the entire time speaking to people about his experience because. he comes from very humble background in time and on province and he is somebody who is not new to the danger of his life within his life and have had many approximation accounts carried out and failed and there was also an attack even within iran that there was an attempt on his life just last year. was a the intelligence ministry and the revolutionary guard released a statement saying that they going to talk of the bombing of the mosque which he

attended in his hometown that there were people there is a network of people that will be time to time to pass a nation they purchased property near the mosque where he goes for service whenever he is in the compound they were trying they found explosives in the basement of the small so he's not somebody who would. seem to think in terms of his life federal job and this you know supreme leader spoke yesterday saying physically responding to donald trump tweeting about iran and the occurrence in the iraq and the latest developments there the supreme leader said that that man who truly 7 cannot do a damn thing now does that mean to direct. the tell you should really to what the supreme leader has tweeted on wednesday it is likely to have far reaching consequences i mean for the money is just beyond

a well known figure. thank you course you've done a lot because retelling back to you periodically to get the latest from there particular if there's anything official coming out of iraq we'll go back to it was all done in washington d.c. your hearing more about response from inside the united states to this strike in the killing of terrorism so the bombing. a little bit more we still haven't heard from the president the united states we still haven't heard from secretary of state mike pompei oh and we still have not heard from the secretary of defense mr esper so we're having to rely on information from the highest ranking government officials that are speaking about this and another one just tweeted that would be senator lindsey graham a republican and a very very close ally of the president donald trump in fact lindsey graham was just in mar-a lago with the president and he actually might still be there with the president he just tweeted i want to read you what he said this is from lindsey

graham the u.s. senator wow the price of killing and injuring americans has just gone up drastically major blow to iranian regime that has american blood on its hands so lamont he was one of the most ruthless and vicious members of the ayatollah his regime he had american blood on his hands i appreciate president donald trump's bold action against iranian aggression to the iranian government i say if you want more you will get more. so this kind of summarizes a little bit of one side of what we're hearing from. some lawmakers that are sort of if you will taking a victory lap applauding donald trump for this for this strike but we're also seeing others in washington on twitter and elsewhere also really worried about how this could escalate and what comes next but clearly you're seeing there from senator lindsey graham sort of

a victory if you will at least the way he sees this thank you deborah of course you'll stay with us as well just to bring you up to that if you're just joining us we are discussing the strike by u.s. forces confirmed now by the pentagon on the orders of president trump inside iraq which has killed a senior figure in the iranian regime customs of the money the man who was the commander of. iran's elite crudes forces also iraqi militia leader. mohan does who is linked to militia inside iraq that of course is linked to iran let's go to baghdad now some other 14 is going to join us live from there and there is always be already been a response on the streets amount of people who've been out there celebrating indeed the death of the money tell us more about that. indeed well the people who are in the but that's to her square of course these are

anti-government protesters who have been camping out there for months now to protest against the government but also against raney and influence in iraq and the people have been basically camping out there so they were already present when this strike took place and what we've been seeing is them celebrating in the square basically well coming the death of cason silly money and the out of mind this both of whom are seen as basically the embodiment of. influence in the country now of course these protesters have nothing to do with the crowds that we have seen march on the u.s. embassy a couple of days ago those were crowds of the popular mobilization forces which is this paramilitary group that is. basically very closely linked to iran and. this was the 2nd in charge of that group we're collecting to see a very different reaction from from the outside it remains to be seen what exactly

it will be but many people here in baghdad are fearing that there will be retaliation that there will be escalation with the members and supporters of the popular mobilisation forces reacting to the deaths of their main leaders basically and this could be perhaps through additional demonstrations this could be another attempt to once again storm the u.s. embassy or perhaps we're likely to see additional rocket attacks on bases and locations where u.s. personnel are based which we have been seeing quite a few of over the past 2 months but what is very important is that there will be very different reactions the majority of iraqis are likely to welcome this because they have basically disapproved of iranian influence in the country but then we're likely to see a very different reaction from the popular mobilizing. and forces. you learning anything more about why the money was indeed inside the country there has been some

speculation that he was there to oversee this political transition this political vacuum that is of pete inside iraq now particularly the recent nomination for prime minister of someone very much linked to iran are you hearing anything more about that. well custom for the money has been a frequent visitor to not just now but of many previous occasions and especially during the past 3 months of anti-government protests he was actually seen as being somebody who was leading in a way the government's response and crackdown on these protests basically creating special security cells to target demonstrators for either nations for snipers for kidnappings so he's somebody seen as basically coming in and out of that as he pleases and as somebody who has had a vast amount of influence over the iraqi government many iraqis feel that the

prime minister has not been the one who has been really in charge of this government and it is figures like kassam so they money who have actually been running the show so his presence in that is by no means surprising it has been something that has been happening for a long time some other thank you so much that of course we'll come back to you as we continue to follow this breaking news what it's like you know to lawrence korb who is a former u.s. assistant secretary of defense and he joins us via skype from washington d.c. nice to have you with us as well we've been discussing the significance so the money clearly someone who tossed an enormous shadow and was linked at the highest level in iran a close personal confidant of the ayatollah so how do you know is says he's did and the implications from this. well i think the implications are very strong for the united states saying given what i have to dawn here you know why killing and killing an american and moving several lagers we are going to make you pay

a price and i think what happened was this was a target of opportunity i don't know how long and solemn nannie's visit was planned but what was the events over the weekend at demonstrations against the american embassy and then knowing that heat was coming i think that the united states aside and this is how we can send a very strong message without showing very many people were killed look to leave the 2 leaders and that will send the send a message and i was i mentioned earlier 3 hours before this secretary of defense asked for said you know we're going to take action preemptive action to make sure nothing like this happens again we don't know if solemn manning was planning more attacks or anything but the fact of the matter is this sends a signal i came to iran you know don't go any further we don't want any more

american troops. and i think they convince president trump to do it because he does not want to see this get out of hand and i think people send if you do this that will send a very strong doubts agend maybe this these killings will stop or is it a strong enough message though that iran will not retaliate particularly retaliate through its proxies its militia proxies inside iraq and that we don't see a food the risk elation is that not the risk here. well there's certainly a risk i mean when you do something you know like we did on track there was a risk once we had the attack where we didn't kill the you know 2425 iraqis who are of the ocular mobilization front and moved it several others there was a risk you know when we're not happened but the fact of her matter is that right now the ball 'd is in a rance court and i don't think that they want an all out fight with the united

states they will probably as we've discussed earlier maybe we do some asymmetric type of attacks where they will cause more problems throughout the region whether it's in syria or or or lebanon. and but basically i think they're the ones are going to have to make their decision because if they want to get into an all out war with the united states on march the current. conflict that's not going to benefit them given you know the economic problems that they have been the reason of course an alternative to all out conflict with the united states and that is continues to try to win america down and make you the united states increasing the unpopular in iraq get america out of iraq and we've even seen with protesters who have been anti iran or anti the iraqi

government and not necessarily pro the united states is that not also a potential consequence of this testing the result of of the united states in america's future inside iraq. yeah there's no doubt about the fact that the iraqi parliament split up both it's going to be interesting to see what this event does in terms of the both the 2nd largest bloc in the iraqi parliament is a horrible rainy and cold rainy and group and if they were volatile and they asked the united states bob previously we would have. and i think the iranian government is not happy because we had 3 other attack without coordinating with going to be interesting to see if secretary powell called the prime minister on madiba or he you know or even a dislike be to the last time we haven't heard anything about that yet but i think that's going to be interesting and you know it's also interesting practice was that

when you know coming up because pompei it can still be you i mean it's the state there so he must have known they must have had intelligence about solomon and he called me again and they decided to take action law school thank you so much and hopefully it will get to speak to again as the story continues to develop law school did joining us from the us via skype of course we are continuing our breaking news coverage of this news out of iraq that the united states has carried out a strike on the orders of president trump that has targeted significant think it's within the iraqi militia and also the iranian military including custom salomone a major general in the islamic revolutionary guard corps and the commander of the elite crudes force we go back to united states now where gabrielle amazon door is standing by in washington d.c. and deborah you've been following the response and there has been tweeted tweets sent out by various members of government paul the titians and so on what's the

latest you can give us from there. yeah i want to give you the latest so we just got a statement here that just came in to us this comes from the chairman of the senate foreign relations committee this is senator jim risch this is important because he kind of summarizes what the feeling is of most republican lawmakers here in washington right now is and that's congratulations to the president donald trump in fact he starts the statement by saying congratulations to president trump on his decisive action and the successful outcome of this operation he goes on to say how . the money was responsible for the deaths of americans and that's why he was targeted he finishes his statement by saying on behalf of every american service member and service woman who have either been killed or injured due to an iranian provided i rocket in iraq over the years to date justice was done solo money was responsible for the weapons program that caused those casualties and injured

injuries with those who use those treacherous and cowardly devices again we're we're talking about this senator here because we have not heard directly from the president united states yet we have not heard from the secretary of state pompei or the. leader of the department of defense secretary of defense either and so we're having to rely on the statements now from the highest ranking lawmakers reacting to this and i think this really summarizes what we've seen from others such as lindsey graham as well really a victory if you will is sort of the is what were the sense we're getting from lawmakers in washington here this evening thank you for that solid bill it's now is going to take a look back at the life of the person we're talking about here the quds force leader so the money. major general custom solomon a was a senior commander of iran's islamic revolutionary guard corps and the hit of its

a late could force he graduated to the role 20 years ago and was regarded as the mastermind of iran's military strategy in the region he really spoken public the gave this interview in october saying iran's i.o.c. had expanded islamic resistance to half a 1000000 square kilometers connecting iran through iraq and syria to lebanon on. the codes for us runs a runs foreign military inclined to stein operations the us attributed it to campaigns in iraq lebanon syria germany kenya bahrain in turkey so money delegated iranian diplomats to meet with u.s. officials after the september 11th attacks and they briefly worked together against the taliban but the relationship soon deteriorated during the iraq war the us sit around through the could see force and shia militias killed more than $600.00 american service members 17 percent of all u.s.

deaths in the war the us and iran's priorities aligned once more in the fight against eisel but didn't devolve past the battlefield in april last year the u.s. designated the islamic revolutionary guard corps as a terrorist organization with this designation we are sending a clear signal a clear message to iran's leaders including his band of thugs that the united states is bringing all pressure to bear to stop the regime's outlaw behavior we ask that our allies and partners around the world do the same. but some amount he had the full support of iran's government he received iran's highest military award last year as tensions high sions between the u.s. and iran so the money continued to support shia militias including the hezbollah brigades who were targeted in 5 u.s. is strikes last week after they fired rockets at a us base he survived many attacks on his life inside iran and uproot but would be

in iraq with his could force killed hundreds of americans that the u.s. indeed his reign age 62 shelob alice. let's go to hillary mann leverett now who is a former white house national security official she started the c.e.o. of strategic a policy of probably tickle risk consultancy and she joins us live from washington d.c. it's nice to have you with us as well i want to get to the broader implications particularly the relationship between the united states and iran right now and where this might take us but i need to also get your thoughts immediately on what we've seen play out today in the death of some sort of money. well i think the united states has effectively declared war on iran and i think that is certainly how it will be interpreted within within iran among iranian officials and the iranian leadership and i think americans throughout the region really need to be on guard last night the u.s. embassy in fact e-mailed out to americans who are thinking of traveling to iraq or

who are in iraq they should prepare a will they should draft a will and they should designate beneficiaries in their life insurance policy i think that's all good advice we are now in an incredibly dangerous situation we the united states has assassinated one of the leading military and political leaders not just in iran but in the entire region it's an incredibly dangerous force that we're on it's a very stark assessment from you to say that this is a dick the russian of war on iran including we are talking about a significant figure in the iranian military and political establishment is this a war indeed as you've described it that both the united states or iran a fully prepared for. i mean you know but i think for americans or others around the world to think about it it's him or into to consider what the united states has done by assassinating us and so on the money would be tantamount to the iranians assassinating perhaps our secretary of defense or our commander of the central

command it's an incredibly significant act the united states has taken if the president has taken this without debate in congress without any congressional authority it's probably an illegal act within the u.s. within the newest u.s. domestic context it is it is a very significant step so it's something i think we all do need to think very seriously about whether or not the 2 countries want it is it is an interesting and important question i think of course nobody wants war nobody wants to see death and destruction but on the other hand i had been hearing recently from iranian from iranian colleagues that even though it would be extremely painful for you rod and they understood the depth of sacrifice that they would have to make in such a war if they were coming to think that there was no other way to deal with the united states the president had taken the united states out of the iran nuclear geo had really.