the governor it's a difficult sit down shalt not kill concert the radicalized youth series on al-jazeera. the old. iran vows severe revenge is a more top military commander kasim so the money who was killed by a u.s. airstrike in baghdad the u.s. secretary of state says the money was planning an imminent attack and his desk has made the world a much safer place with. hello i'm barbara starr you're watching al-jazeera live from london also coming up on the program navy ships rescues thousands stranded on beaches by australia's bushfires

ahead of weather conditions the scribed is catastrophic. hello thank you for joining us iran has vowed to retaliate after the u.s. assassinated its top military commander leaving the middle east on a knife edge custom so the money who was regarded as the 2nd most powerful figure in iran died in an airstrike near baghdad airport a top iraqi paramilitary commander on the on the hunt this was also killed iraq's prime minister says the act will light the fuse of a destructive war well in iraq and angry crowds protested after friday prayers condemning the assassination and chanting death to america and supreme leader ali khamenei who had a close relationship with so many vowed severe revenge for his killing as leaders around the world expressed concern and condemnation the u.s.

ordered all its citizens to immediately leave iraq its forces and israel's are now on high alert some of the fulton reports now from like that. heart break in the upper ranks of the iranian military at the official announcement of the death of major general custom so in mani the commander of iran's quds force the revolutionary guard unit responsible for foreign operations so the money was killed in a u.s. drone strike in baghdad. and a spontaneous outbreak of joy in iraqi cities over the passing of a man many see as the embodiment of iran's meddling here i sure wish i didn't have to listen to me i feel happy about killing solo money the reason is because of his foreign interference in iraq would you accept that our intervening in all the families issues everything has been trees. in the early hours of friday morning shortly after arriving at baghdad international airport a u.s. strike targeted

a convoy of silly money and his close ally hondas the deputy head of the iraqi popular mobilization forces an iranian backed part military group other members of the group were also killed for iran's supreme leader ayatollah ali common a soul in money was a trusted confidant a member of his inner circle and he warned there will be revenge the cruelest people on earth assassinated the honorable commander who courageously fought for years against the evils and bandis of the world sulaimani is martyrdom well make iran more decisive to resist america's expansionism and to defend our values with no doubt iran and other freedom seeking countries in the region will take his revenge. already. while there is talk of revenge many iranians don't want to see war their own fear with our support and it will definitely increase violence but i fundamentally disagree with violence and

conflict i believe people moving toward peace in negotiation to reach the goals is much better soleimani enjoyed some support when he led the charge to displace islip from iraq a strong. holds but many iraqis now blame iran for instability and interference in their country and soleimani directly for a violent crackdown on anti-government protests which began in october the us assassinations are the most extreme escalation in tensions between to head on in washington in recent years and many in baghdad fear it will continue to play out on iraqi soil and if an indistinct has she you may say and we condemn this it's unacceptable for something like this to be happening in our country it's a tween america and iran and in the end we will be hurt our situation is already not stable many iraqis oppose iranian and american interventions alike. earlier this week mohandas himself let a crowd of popular mobilization forces supporters as they attacked and besieged the

u.s. embassy in baghdad he walked alongside of another senior military leader of the pro iran group who has now called on his followers to take up arms against the american presence iraq's caretaker prime minister abdullah abdullah mahdi condemn the u.s. strike as a violation of iraq's sovereignty and the rules of engagement of the american presence here he called the death of mohandas an aggression against the iraqi state . parliament is due to hold an emergency session on sunday but analysts say the government beleaguered and divided after 3 months of anti-government protests will struggle to mount a decisive response iraqi government is very weak for the time being there will be no more the statements coming out of the. caretaker prime minister or from the ministry of foreign affairs other than that i don't expect anything from the iraqi government but probably the iraqi parliament will. call for an immediate session

and do will discuss the current. americans in iraq agreement and probably they will ask for the department of the american forces from iraq. whether their response to u.s. presence in iraq will be political or military the assassinations have put an end to a precarious balance of power that had us far accommodated both u.s. and iranian interests in iraq the iraqi capital already a battleground for tensions between the u.s. and iran is bracing itself for the aftermath of the biggest escalation yet with both u.s. and iranian backed troops on the ground the country risks being caught in the middle of a military fallout between washington and tehran simona 14 al-jazeera but that well meanwhile iran's national security council has vowed to retaliate in the quote right place and time after holding an extraordinary meeting on friday dorsetshire in tehran has more now on the mind his life and the reaction to his this.

shock and disbelief at the events that have led to this as a nation of the head of the bulls force hossam so the money have now turned into anger and frustration and their vows of revenge the supreme leader has been at the home of awesome soleimani and where he's been speaking to his surviving family members and passing on his condolences we've also heard a statement that's issued by the supreme national security council of iran headed by president sandra honey where they said that they will respond appropriately to the actions of the united states now all this happening while the iranians have said that after the attack took place there was a message that was sent to tehran via the swiss embassy from the americans about the decision they took and the iranians have now since responded now we don't know the contents of these messages that have gone back and forth but it is something interesting to watch in the coming days but let's take

a closer look at the events that unfolded earlier today. in his hometown of care man in central iran thousands gathered to say goodbye to a man many saw as more than just the head of iran's elite force major general hossam soleimani came into the role more than 20 years ago and had been one of the masterminds of iran's military strategy in the region whatever anyone else thought about so they money he was revered and admired by many in the islamic republic because. i heard it on the radio in the taxi this morning i was waiting for the names of those killed when i heard general salim on each name i said oh god he was martyred the former unfortunately it's clear that wherever the u.s. enters it is after domination for its own interests general saloon monny was one who stood up bravely especially fighting i saw. he was a key figure 100 percent they were targeting him they knew where he was surely

a role won't leave it on on sort of will do something silly money rarely. spoke in public but gave this interview in october saying iran's revolutionary guard had expanded what he called islamic resistance to half a 1000000 square kilometers connecting iran through iraq and syria to lebanon the cuts force runs iran's foreign military and clandestine operations so they money delegated iranian diplomats to meet u.s. officials after the $911.00 attacks and they brutally worked together against the taliban. but that relationship didn't last long. the u.s. and iran spirals aligned once again in the fight against eisel but then evolved beyond the battlefield in april last year the u.s. designated iran's islamic revolutionary guards corps as a terrorist organization but so in money had the full support of his government the supreme leader ayatollah khamenei awarded him iran's highest military honor last year same so a money had survived many attempts on his life both here in iran and abroad and now

his death will likely embolden the groups who support it as a rainy and mark 3 days of national mourning many here are looking to see what will happen next. al-jazeera tehran. u.s. secretary of state my pump aoe says the airstrike has made the world a much safer place as washington had intelligence so the money was actively plotting an imminent attack lou our best to release everything that we know that's appropriate that we can that doesn't put anyone at risk what will do our best we want the world to understand that there was in fact an imminent attack taking place the american people should know that this was an intelligent teligent space investment the drove this well and fisher joins us live now from the pentagon so alan do we have any idea what this intelligence was that michael said the u.s. had to and also do we have an indication of how much planning and how many people were involved in the situation to launch this attack. well certainly when it comes

to planning we got a taste of what was about to come from mark esper who is the defense secretary on thursday when he said that the game in the middle east had changed that was foreshadowing what was going to happen just a few hours later and certainly while many people were concerned that the gang of 8 as the new and senior figures in both the house and the senate of both republican and democratic parties were not informed in advance of what was about to happen some key figures where lindsey graham who is an ally of donald trump he's a republican senator he was in florida playing golf with the president on monday and tuesday and said that when he was there he got some idea that the plan was under way then kevin mccarthy who is the leading republican in the house he was actually at last night put a picture on instagram saying he was with the president and he made a very brave decision so he obviously knew what was going on the interesting thing is might prompt says this decision was based on evidence and that americans will no

be safer but his own state department has put out an advisory warning americans to leave iraq as soon as possible and so there is that contradiction there there are many on both sides of the house who will want to see this intelligence what exactly was being planned why where there are so many people at risk that donald trump unlike other administrations have apparently considered this very same attack by the way the other criticism of donald trump has been that he isn't a great strategic thinker we know that he acts impulsively he follows his goal got a great deal he says he doesn't want a war with iran he said it just a couple of days ago don't and mara lago and his instincts are to pull americans away from conflict zones he wants to pull more americans out of afghanistan he pulled them out of syria as you remember did that in a tweet he campaigned on ending american involved. form wars and will obviously do

so again so he was obviously given intelligence that said this is your best chance to do it and went ahead and did it it cryptically tweeted a american flag but he's followed that up by saying that general. solomon had what was responsible for the death of thousands of americans and was about to be responsible for the deaths of more but got caught that is why they launched this attack no normally you would expect that podium behind me on a day like this to have some sort of briefing but the pentagon isn't sending anyone here not least mark esper who is the defense secretary but they have been sending some staff people here from the pentagon on to capitol hill to talk to senior figures to. excuse me to explain the thinking of behind the attack but there will be questions about what made donald trump take this action this isn't the same

as when he attacked abdul. baghdadi this is slightly different because this figure was a senior member of the administration in taren so there's a great deal of questions still to be answered we hope we get the chance to our ask esper or someone from the defense department at some point on friday that obviously isn't going to happen but that gives us some idea of the tar moyle that is happening here because no one's entirely sure that the pentagon the state department and donald trump has a plan it's been said to me before there are no chess players in this administration they know how to make the 1st move but they don't know what happens 51015 moves down the line and so have they made they made arrangements to make sure that people will be safe we do know the pentacle are sending $3000.00 extra troops they will be leaving north carolina in the coming hours we are told they are

joining the 750 who were sent just earlier this week because of the unrest there own the embassy in baghdad but 3000 more troops because obviously they're concerned about the threat and backlash from around. with the latest from the pentagon thank you now iraq's parliament is due to hold an extraordinary session on sunday to discuss the u.s. airstrike osama bin divide joins us live now from baghdad what are they likely to discuss there osama and generally what reaction has there been coming out of iraq. well the reaction has been near unanimous condemnation saying that this is a flagrant violation of iraq's national sovereignty prime minister the president leaders of various political factions here in iraq have all come out with saying more or less the same thing but we have heard statements through the day from these factions saying that this is an act of war this is going to create. a problem not

just in iraq but beyond iraq into the whole region as well and you must realize of course i'm still in money was no ordinary military commander he is one of the very few people who respect in military circles who are aligned with iran not just in iran and iraq but also in syria and lebanon in yemen and far beyond even reaching to words of than assad so he is one of those figures who was a larger than life which was built according to the profile that was built around him and at a time when iran was fighting multiple fronts expanding its influence in the region and then he has been killed in baghdad in iraq which has been trying to place itself away from the conflict that had been brewing for months between the ring and the americans we've heard repeated calls from the iraqi government asking that they do not want to be part of this conflict but yet again they find themselves in this conflict and it is worth noting that right now the government that is in charge of

iraq is a caretaker government a government which can't even pass its own budget so yes it is going to be holding an emergency session yes there's allusions will be passed but what practically practical steps that can it can take on let's say that very very limited unless a new government is formed and that could take weeks and months so there is a lot of frustration and internally at home this government faces a very divisive divided iraq where there is no iran groups which have been celebrating the death of course until the money and then there are the militias the house the xabi and other groups which have been demanding action against foreign troops presence visibly the united states which indeed is sending more troops to the region. for the latest from back that thank you. well the israeli military was put on high alert as the country braced for fallout from the killing the prime minister also cut short a visit to greece benjamin netanyahu reaffirmed his support for the united states

same president trump deserves credit for acting swiftly and decisively just as israel has the right of self-defense united states has exactly the same right cousin silliman is responsible for the deaths of american citizens and many other innocent people he was planning more such attacks president wrote deserves all the credit for acting swiftly forcefully decisively israel stands with the united states in its just goggle for peace security and self defense. and the oil prices jumped nearly $3.00 a barrel following the killing of soleimani with the international benchmark for crude jumping more than 3 percent in early trading markets fear that tehran may retaliate by disrupting global energy supplies from the middle east if prices continue to rise and fuel electricity and heating could become more expensive stifling the global economy. well and the custom so the money's leadership iran's

quds force has been instrumental in building a network of proxy on the groups across the middle east this string of non-state alliances began with hezbollah in lebanon and after the overthrow of saddam hussein iran was able to become a dominant force in iraq were it armed and trained the paramilitary groups who made up of the popular mobilisation units iran has provided significant support for syria during its civil war that includes training and intelligence services iran's influence extends to the southern tip of the arabian peninsula where it's been backing the who these in the war in yemen for more of this i'm joined by an admin sward middle east analyst at london's chatham house sir thank you so much for joining us here on al-jazeera lots to talk about let's start because we're coming off the oil prices who obviously have been reacting to a possible iranian reaction what do you think the possible reactions open to iran are well there are a few possibilities and different types of reactions that iran would probably do of

course sort of vocally they've already come out with big threats they've said there will be hard retaliation and vengeance but comes in different ways i think one of the priorities in the coming days would be to finally get that agreement by the iraqi government to have u.s. troops leave iraq and this if the parliament passes this blah it will be the 1st time that the iraqi government is telling the americans to leave the troops to leave since 2003 beyond virus at a time when 3000 are on their way to the region at a time the 3000 are on their way and in. the past there have been this was known as the status of forces agreements between the americans and the iraqi government has been an ally of the americans and that is risk to be changing now when you look at the condemnations that all iraqi political leaders across the spectrum have come out and sort of set against the us iranians will also like to kind of provoke a bit more anti americanism in iraq that type of anti-americanism that existed for much of the u.s.

led invasion occupation and the sort of the kangaroo courts of the same period in all of those times the trying to get back to that because recently iran has actually been on the sort of back foot in iraq there's been a you're aware of these protests that have been calling iran out that have said we don't want iran in iraq anymore and it's a they'll try to use off the back of this sort of what they perceive a disaster to come back against i guess the situation in iraq just goes to show how the conflict the tension let's call it that between iran and the u.s. really had proxy facets in most places in the middle east but sticking specifically with iran and the u.s. what can the iran do when it comes to its bilateral relations with the u.s. i mean i'm thinking you know military escalation i suppose cyber attacks anything to do with the nuclear deal what do you think its options are when it comes directly to dealing with the u.s. so i mean the customs their money model which has been so successful report iran has been this type of asymmetrical proxy or warfare so that means to not necessarily directly attack the u.s.

but to use the vast network that iran has in lebanon and syria and iraq and yemen to attack american interests to attack american companies to do that iraq iran of course has the cyber capabilities to not just attack americans but attack allies of americans that could be israel that could be the gulf so iran does have sort of in terms of hard power at its disposal but i think it just needs to regroup right now because it has lost a major sort of commander or not been so you're with us for the next few hours i'm sure we'll be chatting about this again soon for the moment from chatham house thank you. now how do you feel castro is live from capitol hill where kong rests has just reconvened so heidi what have they been saying. well barbara congress is sharply divided on the simple question of whether the world is safer for americans now that solon mani has been killed or if it's more dangerous and the responses to that are falling sharply down partisan lines with republicans lining up to offer

their congratulations to president trump and what they say was eliminating a terrorist mastermind democrats on the other hand saying that this military strike happened without consultation of congress and thus it may be illegal just to get an idea of this contrast in responses take a listen for yourselves. iran's master terrorist. the architect and chief engineer of the world's most active state sponsor of terrorism has been removed from the battle at the hands of the united states military. no matter what. was more directly responsible for the deaths of more american service members and cost them so i'm on the question moving forward is whether the administration has given any thought as to

how to manage the fallout that comes from such a drastic action this is the equivalent of the iranians assassinating the u.s. secretary of defense if the iranians were to assess and the u.s. secretary of defense we would consider that an act of war and we would respond disproportionately. i think we need to expect that the iranians will also act disproportionately i do not believe the administration has gamed out how very badly this could go for the u.s. and our interests. ok heidi so we see there i guess the political division when it comes to the reaction now but this is of course an election year in november the president will face the polls he has a slight issue of impeachment to deal with as well so what reaction are we expecting domestically to this attack and the potential escalation in the middle

east. well i can tell you that prior to this morning when americans may have turned on their television screens they've probably never heard the name soleimani in their lives and this level of detail in foreign policy in iraq and iran is simply something that american public doesn't pay day to day attention to and that's why you're hearing members of both parties using those trigger words in a sense or that you quaint what's happened to sell a mani according to democrats to the assassination of a u.s. secretary of defense or calling solo money on the republican side calling him a for middle mastermind a terrorist mastermind or in evil man all trying to sell this message to the american public because of course both sides are falling on on the elections that are coming up in november and whether or not those 2 parties support trump's unilateral decision to issue this military strike that killed the iranian commander

and of course there is this election happening and the impeachment you know i woke up this morning thinking that the headline is a lot of people thought would be on how the u.s. senate would proceed with trump's pending impeachment trial that was dominating u.s. headlines up until the moment that these airstrikes happened and while no one is directly accusing the president of doing this strike now for political motives but it certainly does overshadow all these other negative political headlines that would have been confronting him in this new year in the u.s. senate has already said rather than using the month of january which had originally planned to figure out the terms of the impeachment trial instead their 1st order of business now is preparing for classified briefings into the decision making that went into this military strike and preparing for whatever fallout or response that

that strike me bring barbara. with the latest from washington d.c. thank you. in other news one of the largest evacuations in australia's history is underway amid warnings that strong winds and hot weather will worsen the raging bushfires weather conditions for saturday are being described as catastrophic and firefighters say holes will be lost it's prompted tens of thousands of people to flee to safer ground as felicity davey now reports from sydney. australia and prime minister scott morrison seen for himself the latest areas devastated by bushfires in new south wales the day after he was confronted by angry residents in the town of go this woman refusing to shake his hand but maybe it was the empire the prime minister said he wanted to offer comfort to those affected by fires on using and

he's not surprised at their reaction people are angry it is something that i was there before i was with it is something that i understand it's not something for me to talk personally it's peak holiday season but with the state of emergency declared in the states of new south wales and victoria tens of thousands of people have been leaving tourist areas traffic is being backed up the many kilometers on major highways as people try to get home or at least to safer areas it's. about a quarter of the 4000 people stranded on a beach in the town of maluku in victoria have been taken on board naval vessels to escape the fires and have a better process certain are not yet. oh dad for sure it's something that i want to forget evacuations will continue is fire conditions on saturday a forecast to be catastrophic when making every preparation possible for what will be a very difficult day shamar weather conditions are very unpredictable we know the temperatures

will still be in the mid forty's in many parts of our state thousands. 55 who's a in the field with additional helicopters on standby we are unfortunately very likely we will lose homes tomorrow but will be very happy and will call excess says there's no lives lost that is that single focus tomorrow a focus on saving lives in the face of an unprecedented bushfire season felicity davey and the 20 sydney an investigation has found a shortage of medical equipment at a public hospital in the indian state of ratchet stan was partly to blame for the deaths of nearly a 1000 infants last year the deaths of $100.00 babies last months led to the inquiry investigation also revealed hygiene conditions at the hospital were so poor that pigs were living in the compound. 7 people have faced court in beirut to accused of helping former nisson boss carlos scape from house arrest in tokyo there

has been an arrest too in turkey where a private jet for him says a rogue employee falsified records and arranged flights for him the company says the employee acted alone ashleigh is accused in japan of deferring part of a salary until after his retirement and concealing this for shareholders and siphoning off innocent cash for his own purposes. quick reminder of the top stories here on al-jazeera iran's supreme leader has vowed harsh revenge after its top military commander kasim so they money was killed in a u.s. airstrike near baghdad airport iraq's prime minister warns the act will light the fuse of of the struct of war so let money was regarded as the 2nd most powerful figure in iran a top iraqi paramilitary commander was also killed in the attack u.s. secretary of state like pompei o says the airstrike has made the world

a much safer place as washington had intelligence that so money was actively plotting an imminent attack. do our best to release everything that we know that's appropriate that we can that doesn't put anyone at risk what will do our best we want the world to understand that there was in fact an imminent attack taking place the american people should know that this was an intelligent telegin space investment that drove this the u.s. has ordered its citizens to leave iraq and close the embassy in baghdad american and israeli forces have also been put on high alert israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu has reaffirmed his support for the united states saying president trump deserves credit for acting swiftly and decisively just as israel has the right of self-defense the united states is exactly the same right doesn't feel the money is responsible for the deaths of american citizens and many other innocent people he was planning more such attacks president wrote deserves all the credit for acting swiftly forcefully decisively israel stands with the united

states in its just struggling for peace security and self-defense but low prices jumped nearly 3 dollars dollars a barrel following so the money's killing with the international benchmark for crude jumping more than 3 percent in early trading markets fear the tehran may retaliate by the struct in global energy supplies from the middle east in other news a one of the largest evacuations in australia's history is underway amid we're awnings that strong winds and hot weather will worsen the raging bush fires weather conditions for saturday are being described this catastrophic and firefighters say homes will be lost it's prompted tens of thousands of people to flee the safer ground top stories risking it all is coming up next.