today at 5pm, us troops kill a top iranian general in an air strike — a major escalation in tensions between the united states and iran. qasem soleimani was iran's most powerful military commander, and tehran‘s strategic mastermind. he was killed as his convoy left baghdad airport. iran has promised what it calls harsh vengeance for his death. president trump said qasem soleimani was planning attacks to kill or injure thousands of americans in the middle east. the president trump's decision to remove qasem soleimani from the battlefield saved american lives. there is no doubt about that. he was actively plotting in the region to take action, some big actions he described that would have put dozens if not hundreds of american lives at risk.

we will be analysing what this attack could mean for the future of the middle east. the other stories on bbc news at 5pm... relief for around a thousand people as australian naval ships rescue them from the country's bush fires. a judge rules that ethical veganism is a philosophical belief, and is therefore protected by law. and 20 years after snatch, guy ritchie returns to the realms of the criminal underworld with the gentleman. see whatjames king made of this and the rest of this week's cinema releases in the film review. tensions between the united states

and iran have escalated dramatically after president trump ordered the killing of the most powerful iranian military commander. qasem soleimani died in a us missile strike on his convoy as he was leaving baghdad airport. the general ran an elite unit of iran's revolutionary guard and masterminded iranian strategy in the middle east. his funeral will take place tomorrow. iran has declared three days of mourning and sworn ‘harsh vengeance‘. the united states says it acted to stop an imminent attack that could have killed hundreds of americans. our first report is from our middle east correspondent quentin somerville in beirut. untouchable no more. the aftermath of the us strike at baghdad airport and the middle east's most brutally effective commander, qasem soleimani, is dead. he led iran's quds force but his reach was far greater. few men have shaped the countries

around them like general soleimani. the order for the assassination came directly from us president donald trump, who posted only a cryptic tweet, the us flag. his presence was felt or his name mentioned in almost every battlefield across the middle east. he served iran's interests with vicious efficiency. here in lebanon and in iraq, syria and elsewhere, he leaves behind a brutal legacy. qasem soleimani reshaped the world around him. iran says there will be severe consequences for his killing. republican guard spokesman general ramezan sharif broke down at the news and said that american joy at qasem soleimani's death would be short lived and promised to take revenge for what he described as the death of a proud martyr. in iraq, for those protesting iranian influence, there are celebrations at news

of his death. he was the mastermind behind iranian power there, even, it is rumoured, ensuring the prime minister abdul—mahdi stayed in power. translation: we have not wanted iran's influence in iran from the beginning and we also condemn america's interference in iraq's domestic affairs. we don't want iraq to be pushed into the american—iranian conflict. he was an electrifying presence on the battlefield. once described as a shadowy figure, he soon became the region's most photographed general, as militia men clamoured for a selfie with the iranian commander. the united states appeared caught on the hop when earlier this week pro—iranian protesters launched a short lived attack on its embassy. but the gravity of this assassination seems to have been already understood.

more american boots on the ground. the pentagon said the killing was a defensive act to prevent the deaths of us personnel. hundreds of us troops are flooding the region, while all other americans have been told to leave iraq. the country's disengagement from here may now be on hold. in life, qasem soleimani reshaped the countries around iran. his killing runs the risk of doing the same. president trump has been setting out some of his reasons for the attack. a short while ago he took to twitter to say general qassem soleimani has killed or badly wounded thousands of americans over an extended period of time, and was plotting to kill many more...but got caught! he was directly and indirectly responsible for the death of millions of people, including the recent large number of protesters killed in iran itself.

while iran will never be able to properly admit it, soleimani was both hated and feared within the country. they are not nearly as saddened as the leaders will let the outside world believe. he should have been taken out many years ago! richard haass is the president of the council on foreign relations, and has spent many years working in the us government. he was special assistant to george bush senior when he was in the white house during the first gulf war. we can speak to him now in new york. thank you very much for being with us. thank you very much for being with us. president trump and mike pompeo have been justifying this attack and killing. joe biden says that it is reckless and that trump has thrown a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox. how do you see it? it always two separate conversations. you can argue with the facts on the evidence whether the attack was legally justifiable, where the tent back one

was planning an attack or an attack was planning an attack or an attack was imminent. the more important, the station is whether the attack was strategically smart. i think thatis was strategically smart. i think that is what mr biden is getting at. there are questions as to whether this unbalance will serve or hurt america's interest. what do you think of that? was it strategically smart? the short answer is i am worried about american —— iranian reprisals and the wisdom of what we did. the whole idea, i thought, was to reduce our involvement in the middle east. to focus on north korea and china. this to me seems to push things in exactly the opposite direction. things get —— getting more involved in the middle east. we had other options for dealing with

iran, so fora had other options for dealing with iran, so for a number of reasons i just don't see the logic or wisdom of this policy. if president trump and mike pompeo are right, this man was planning some sort of imminent attack full stop it might have potentially killed many many americans. again, under international law, we have the right to do that. the question is whether we had other measures to do that. the united states has been practising economic warfare against iranfor practising economic warfare against iran for over a year. iran has been pushing back using various military action. attacking saudi refineries, shipping. even if the attack in the narrow sense was justified, you really have to ask yourself questions about the wisdom of the policy. there are some who say that iran has been so weakened by the economic sanctions that it isn't

really in a position to strike back. there is not very much it can actually do in retaliation to this. i wish i agreed with that, but iran has militias in the region. it can do things in lebanon and syria. obviously, we have seen what it can do in saudi arabia and bahrain and usm sees in places like baghdad are vulnerable. us spinners —— us businesses are vulnerable. i wouldn't underestimate what iran can do in the region or even in the world. do you suspect that part of the reason trump may have done this is for electoral gain, he wants to look like a tough man?|j is for electoral gain, he wants to look like a tough man? i have heard that argument from others but it is really inconsistent with everything he has argued for in the last three yea rs before he has argued for in the last three years before he was president. america first. he was all about

domestic priorities. his favourite tools have been sanctions or terrace and not military force. it is hard for me to see how this will resonate with his political base. i don't see this is consistent with what he asked for in terms of foreign policy. but this isn't embroiling america in a new war. it was a clean missile strike from, we are told drones. he can say that, but it ta kes two drones. he can say that, but it takes two to agree to that. just. if the united states it is a clean us drone attack, it is hardly likely that the iranian forces will leave it at that. again, it may take one to escalate, but it takes two to wind things down. very good to talk to you. thank you very much for your time. alistair burt is a former

foreign office minister with responsibility for the middle east and is here with me now. thank you for being with us. how do you see it? some people are saying this was reckless, and some people from the white house are saying this was necessary, that there was an imminent attack being planned and this was a way of stopping it. we will have to see whether there is evidence of that, but as richard hart has just evidence of that, but as richard hart hasjust said, evidence of that, but as richard hart has just said, you evidence of that, but as richard hart hasjust said, you cannot evidence of that, but as richard hart has just said, you cannot see this out of context of the reprisal and counter reprisal that we have seen and counter reprisal that we have seen between iran and the united states for a long time, and which many people have warned on both sides, stop this, because sooner or later something will happen that is of such magnitude that it will set this cut some of the consequences. that was my reaction today that the killing of tent back one is such a killing of tent back one is such a killing that it moves the dial a lot

further. whether it will end it, there would have to be a proportionate descaling, but the evidence suggests that iran will have to find some way to seek a reprisal, because it won't want to seek a writ negotiation from a position of weakness. the white house did not inform the british government in advance of this it has been suggested. i wouldn't be so prized but i don't see any reason why that would happen. it is a purely american accident action. the scale of the attack, this would have been kept incredibly tight i would imagine that but that is a detail. the important thing is the response and the consequences now. as we have seen and the consequences now. as we have seen from error... many have felt this is long overdue to push back in iran. many will be working out how

to do scale this so that we won't get general of the un... the region cannot afford another war, so how do we make sure the action taken today will not contribute to that. there will not contribute to that. there will be consequences for british citizens conceivably. there are troops in iraq that could be threatened by this. there is british shipping in the gulf. british citizens imprisoned in iran and so on. there are people of many nationalities caught up in the region and you can argue that from anywhere. it is all about all of us. this is a major escalation in a region which is full of confrontation. everyone knows that the confrontation has to come to an end because if you are not going to have a war you have to talk. the opportunities for dialogue have been missed along the way, ever since the

nuclear deal was pulled out of by the united states for the reason they explain. the chances have been missed after that. if you missed chances to talk, sooner or later someone chances to talk, sooner or later someone will take the chance to do something confrontational and then you don't know what the consequences will be. every diplomatic effort should be made now and whatever the justifications are, the efforts must now be made to do scale this. what should the british government be saying to washington? jeremy corbyn has called this a us assassination and a serious escalation. clearly very unhappy with it. what do you thinkjohnson and others will be saying? i think what the prime minister should be saying is what dominic raab was saying. there is an understanding that many in the region... there are many in the region... there are many in the region that would recognise that,

but in the region people will be saying how do we find the off ramp for this. how does a country which cannot afford to be seen as weak find a way in which you can accommodate the two different narratives that there is in the region for what is going on, and find a diplomatic way out. i would hope and expect borisjohn singh and dominic raab to be talking to the us in those circumstances. you don't need to justify the circumstances. what is important is what happens next and what the consequences are and how they are being thought through. any access to those involved including the iranians, any opportunity to seek dialogue must come after this. thank you very much. we can show you now the latest pictures

from the site of the attack. these are daylight pictures and the pictures from the report earlier we re pictures from the report earlier were before. this was a convoy taking the iranian generalfrom baghdad to the international airport. some ten people we believe we re airport. some ten people we believe were killed alongside tent back one, iran's most powerful military commander killed in drone missile strike. that is the latest from baghdad international airport. we we re baghdad international airport. we were hearing some of the british political reaction of what has happened. well, as i put it to alastair burt there, it's understood that boris johnson was not warned in advance by donald trump of the strike that killed

general soleimani. our political correspondent, jessica parker is at westminster. we do understand that borisjohnson was not informed in advance of the strike now. some may use that to question the strength of the relationship between the us in the uk. of course, allies, but dismissing that issue where is sideshow, but as you were pointing out, what questions will be raised is what should be told in advance, because of shipping interests in the gulf there are uk troops stationed there. we have heard today in a statement from the foreign secretary who has spoken to his us counterpart, but in that statement he said we have always recognised the threat raised. we urge all parties to de—escalate. so not really a clear endorsement of the reaction that donald trump has

decided to take. there has been pretty strong criticism from the labour leadership team. i am really concerned about what donald trump is doing, and i have been warning for some time that this was coming. i think from the moment that he tore up the iranian nuclear deal, he has been positioning himself for war, and we have to make sure that we are clear about our opposition to this. and frankly, the right—wing theocrats in iran also want to square up for war as well. it is in their interests to be isolationist and to try to be in opposition to the west. we need to stop this. so, emily thornbury there the shadow foreign secretary and we heard from jeremy corbyn earlier calling for restraint on both sides, but saying the uk should stand up to the belligerent actions and rhetoric coming from the united states. we have also been speaking to a conservative mp.

he is unquestionably a legitimate military target. he is the uniformed officer in command of an organisation that has sponsored terrorism, militias and indeed proxy armies across the middle east, leading to the deaths of hundreds of thousands in iraq and syria, and indeed many in lebanon too. so, there is no real doubt that he is a legitimate military target. and now something that he also said today was that it was a matter of concern that the us authorities appeared not to have informed boris johnson who has until recently been on holiday. we are not sure have his movements right now, but the mp saying there is a pack a pattern of not informing uk of these type of operations. mps will be returning to westminster on tuesday. i don't think there is any real suggestion that parliament could be called early before that date, but no doubt this matter will be discussed. thank

you very much indeed. so, who was qasem soleimani? well, he was widely seen as one of the most powerfulfigures in iran — second only in fact to the supreme leader supreme leader ayatollah khamenei. he was hailed by many in the country as a cult hero. our security correspondent frank gardner reports. they called him the shadow commander. for 21 years, general qasem soleimani commanded the quds force, directing iran's covert and overt military operations across the middle east. his death is a major blow to iran's ambitions, one that is likely to be answered. i think that things are going to get much uglier in the next few days and few weeks. for your own viewers, this is really a declaration of war by donald trump against the iranian government. regardless of what you think of iran and general soleimani, and there is much blood

on his hands, this is an attack on the nerve centre, on the top leadership. in syria, he coordinated iran's bolstering of president assad's regime, successfully helping him turn back the tide against the rebels. in iraq, he acted like a puppet master, pulling the strings of numerous shia militias often hostile to the us, and also helped them drive out islamic state from iraqi towns like tikrit. more recently, last summer, his special forces carried out operations in the gulf, seizing a british—flagged tanker. and in the last week, tensions rose again with the united states. on the 27th of december, a us contractor was killed in a rocket attack on an iraqi military base, an attack blamed on an iranian—backed militia. two days later, the us responded with air strikes on hezbollah bases in the middle east, killing 25 fighters.

on december 31st, the us embassy in baghdad was attacked by a furious crowd, encouraged by iranian—backed militia leaders. the pentagon said general soleimani was preparing further attacks on the us in iraq. to deter those attacks, said the pentagon, a us drone strike killed general qasem soleimani. the assassination of this man, general qasem soleimani, is probably the most significant event to happen in the middle east since the iraq invasion in 2003. why? because he was not some fugitive hiding out in mountain caves, he was the iranian state, answering direct to ayatollah khamenei. this takes the us—iran tension to a new and dangerous plateau. already, the crowds were out in tehran today, shouting "death to america." washington has warned iran not to retaliate for soleimani's death, yet iran has vowed to take its revenge in its own time and in its own way.

frank gardner, bbc news. we can speak to bahman kalbasi who is the un correspondent for the bbc‘s persian service. he joins us from new york. thank you for being with us. we were seeing crowds there shouting death to america. how popular was the general in iran? was he genuinely popular amongst the people there?- was certainly very popular with the portion of the population that was sympathetic to the government. that is not the majority of iranians, but even among those who agreed with what he did, he was less involved with the day—to—day running of the country, and less in the face of protesters, he was playing a foreign role. it would have been hard to painta role. it would have been hard to paint a picture of him as someone

protecting the country's interests fighting ices and alongside assad's regime. for a lot of people, he seemed above the fray of politics and partisanship of iran and was generally defending eran's interests, but that doesn't mean that he was seen favourably as the majority of iranians. that it was seen as majority of iranians. that it was seen as somewhat irrelevant, but because for many waking up to this news, it wasn't so important as to whether he was popular or not, it was way more critical, because they we re was way more critical, because they were now obviously, extremely worried about the consequences of this action, the fact that they are now stuck between the rock and hard place. a government that will almost certainly retaliate, which will

fight america's more forceful action. so, it was much more important than whether the majority of the population was sad at his passing for his death. how do you think iran will retaliate. ?. what are its options? one thing that has been prepared for in the last few decor cases a moment like this. they are obviously a no match for a conventional wall with the united states, but the proxy stretching from lebanon to yemen, these are the groups that are sympathetic with the fa ct groups that are sympathetic with the fact that iran has influenced and she communities,. we did see the

measure of what iran can do. that was the result of the us violating the iran nuclear deal. the message was you can't expect to suffocate the economy of around without costs. there will be because that go both ways. that cost has been risen considerably, and we have reached an irreversible point in the escalation. so where and how they will use it, is the million dollar question, but it was certain that this train started moving towards a clash when donald trump ripped the iran nuclear deal. very good to talk to you. thank you very much. more than a thousand people have been safely evacuated by navy ships from the australian town of mallacoota which has been surrounded by wildfires. the prime minister scott morrison says his country is entering a critical few days, with more extreme fire conditions forceast for this weekend.

there are now are now scores of fires burning across new south wales and victoria, fueled by soaring temperatures and high winds. from new south wales, our correspondent phil mercer reports. help has finally arrived in the beleaguered town of mallacoota. about 1,000 people have boarded two navy ships in the seaside community, which has been cut off since fires tore through the area on new year's eve. haven't been able to process it, no. not yet, no. we're all down at the foreshore. it's something i want to forget. others have been flown out by military helicopters. but those who remain have been told that it could be two weeks before the roads reopen. across the border, the mass exodus from southern parts of new south wales is continuing. residents and tourists have been urged to get out while they can,

ahead of extreme fire conditions forecast for saturday. if you can leave, you must leave. that is the only safe thing for you, your family and indeed for others who may be called to your assistance. we cannot guarantee your safety. thousands are on the move, but not everyone is leaving. some homeowners are determined to stay to defend their properties in a region that has already seen widespread devastation. that's what we're worried about, fires starting around the house. so, we're going to stay and defend and put those out as best we can. if it gets too much, the car is packed and ready to go. trying to work out what the best option is and whether we go. we've been reading reports that it takes three hours to travel a few kilometres on the highway in either direction, so, not wanting to get trapped in a fire on the highway, we've decided to stay. more than 125 fires continue to burn in new south wales.

since september, the blazes have killed 19 people. the authorities say that 28 others are unaccounted for in the state of victoria. this is a nationwide crisis. fires are also burning in western australia, south australia and tasmania, and there is no end in sight. the blazes have been so big and have raged with such intensity that the smoke haze has drifted across the tasman sea to new zealand. an employment tribunaljudge has ruled that ethical veganism is a philosophical belief and is therefore protected by law. the case was brought by a man who says he was unfairly sacked by the league against cruel sports after disclosing it invested pension funds in firms involved in animal testing. our legal correspondent clive coleman talked me through this

ruling and its implications. casamitjana, the man who brought this case, worked for the league against cruel sports and he claimed that he'd found that they were investing their pension funds in some companies that tested on animals, or were involved in testing, that he told his employers and they did nothing about it, so he told other workers and was sacked as a result. so, he claims he was discriminated against on the basis of his beliefs an ethical vegan. i stress an "ethical", not just a dietary vegan, because he avoids any form of animal harm or exploitation. for instance, refusing to take the bus in case there's an accidental crash with a bird or an insect. today, for the first time, an employment tribunaljudge has found that ethical veganism is a philosophical belief akin to a religion, and so, protected in law. in order to qualify as that, it has to be a genuinely held, serious belief, not an opinion. it has to cover a substantial aspect of human life. it has to be worthy of respect in a democratic society, and not interfere with the rights of others.

the judge was satisfied of that. implications are huge. employers will have to respect this. could someone in a supermarket at the checkout refuse to put a meat product through the till, for instance? could people with other philosophical beliefs, someone who believes in climate change, say that they refused to travel for work by car, favouring the train? i think the implications are vast, and it's notjust in employment, it's across education, the supply of goods and services. it's real food for thought, if i can use that pun. that was clive coleman. now for a look at the latest weekend weather forecast. thank you, good evening. quite a lot of brightness today. i can't promise the skies will remain that right as we head into the weekend, not all of us. quite a lot of cloud in the west, the cloud rolling in from the north west tonight. showers continuing across

scotland, when trio the high ground. turning cloudy for northern ireland, west wales and england. where we keep clear spells across eastern and south—eastern spells, it could go down to freezing, quite a cold start to tomorrow morning. best of the brightness found in saudi scotland and more especially central and eastern parts of england. further west, more cloud, the odd patch of rain and drizzle. more persistent rain and drizzle. more persistent rain in the far north of scotland. not as windy here as it has been today and top temperatures generally in the range of 8—11. sunday, another largely dry day for many of us. another largely dry day for many of us. the sunniest conditions to be found in the is, cloud in the west, more rain in scotland and feeling just a little bit milder. this is bbc news. the headlines... tensions are escalating between

the united states and iran after us troops killed tehran's most powerful military commander. president trump said qasem soleimani was planning attacks to kill americans in the middle east. relief for around 1000 people, as australian naval ships rescue them from the country's bush fires. a judge rules that ethical veganism is a philosophical belief — and is therefore protected by law. there was a rather headlines. now time for the sports news. thank you, good evening to you and all of our viewers. after another dismal batting display, england's cricketers limped to 262—9 on day one of the 2nd test against south africa in cape town. yet again, england squandered the chance of building a formidable total, with ben stokes among those making decent starts, but failing to kick on. that left them on 185—5. and then came a familiar collapse, with four wickets going forjust 13 runs. only ollie pope put up any real resistance, making an unbeaten half—century,

to ensure his side were at least not bowled out within the day. they're already 1—0 down in the four—match series. sport can seem an irrelevance in the face of the devastating bushfires across australia, but the athletes are doing their best to help out. there was a ceremony and a minute's applause ahead of the third cricket test between australia and new zealand, and with the atp cup tennis taking place in perth, brisbane and sydney, nick kyrgios is donating around £100 for every ace his hits this month. he struck 20 today, so that's over £2000 already. sam stosur is following his lead, giving the same amount for every ace she makes. and jockey tommy berry said he'd donate money for every winner he rides. an emotional kyrgios said it was a tough situation for everyone in the country. i don't really care about the pros too much, we have the ability and

platform to do that. we have the most toxic air in the world, it's pretty sad. so, yeah, it's tough. sorry. great britain have lost their opening group match against bulgaria. cam norrie put them ahead but dan evans lost his singles match — and then jamie murray and joe salisbury were beaten by the narrowest of margins in the doubles. it went to two tie—break sets, and they threw away two match points, before losing on the champions tie—break. they need to beat both belgium and moldova to have any chance of making the quarter—finals. tottenham are likely to be without harry kane for several weeks, after it was confirmed he's suffered a torn hamstring. he limped off during the defeat at southampton on wednesday. the club haven't given a timescale for his return but such injuries. depending on the grade of them, can take anything from four weeks to three months to heal. kane tweeted "head up. "tough times don t last, tough people do". scrum half rhys webb has been given special dispensation to play

for wales in next month's six nations. he's leaving french side toulon to return to ospreys, but the rules state that any player with fewer than 60 caps opting to play outside wales, cannot be considered for selection. webb only has 31 caps, but the welsh rugby union accepted his appeal, so he's available for the first match of their title defence, against italy on the 1st of february. we'll have more for you in sportsday at 6:30. thank you very much indeed. let's return to our main story. the most powerful military commander in iran — general qassem soleimani — has been killed in a us airstrike in baghdad. relations between the us and iran have long been strained, but have been increasingly difficult recently. let's talk you through some of the background. on 27th december, more than 30 rockets were fired at an iraqi military base in the northern city of kirkuk. a us contractor was killed and four american and two

iraqi servicemen wounded. us officials blamed an iranian—backed militia, kataib — although they denied responsibility. in response, the us launched air strikes in iraq and syria, targeting the bases of the iranian—backed militia. 25 fighters were reported killed. on 31st december, a crowd angered by the strikes marched on the us embassy, breaching the reception area and setting the perimeter on fire — leading us troops to fire tear gas to repel them. the pentagon said general soleimani approved the attacks on the embassy, which brings us to today, when a drone strike hit the two cars carrying mr. soleimani and several officials with iranian—backed militias as they were leaving the baghdad international airport. ten people altogether were killed.

the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, has been reacting on american television. he says that despite their actions, americans did not want a war with iran. well, now it's important because of the escalations that's taken place, as well as the imminentcy of attack that qasem soleimani himself was planning. but i think you know this — the risk of doing nothing was enormous. enormous in the short term, in terms of the imminent attack that qasem soleimani was plotting. the president's been pretty clear, we don't seek war with iran but, at the same time, we're not going to stand by and watch the iranians escalate and continue to put american lives at risk without responding in a way that disrupts, defends, deters and creates an opportunity to de—escalate this situation. we've made this clear for months, when i was the cia director, we made very glad that these responses would be swift and decisive, we've now demonstrated that. i hope that the iranian leadership will see that, they'll see american resolve and that their decision will be to de—escalate, to take actions consistent

with what normal nations do and in the event that they do not, in the event they go the other direction, i know that president trump and the entire united states government is prepared to respond appropriately. that was mike pompeo on american television. dina esfandiary is a fellow at the think tank the century foundation — and has written extensively on iran s foreign relations — we can speak to her now from our studio in new york. how much of a blow to iran is this killing of the general, do you think? it is important. this general had a great deal of influence, had very good relationships with various groups on the ground in the region and of course is an incredibly or was an incredibly popular man inside iran. having said that, while he has left big shoes to fill, he is not irreplaceable. the iranian government will make sure that there is continuity in the work of the group in the region. how do you

think the iranian authorities will react? they say vengeance will be harsh, what you think they might do? well, they are going to be under significant pressure to react quite forcefully. this is a big dealfor them. it's the killing of an official, the assassination of an official, the assassination of an official and they will have to react in some way they will have to do it ina in some way they will have to do it in a strong looking manner. having said that, iran is not going to resort to conventional warfare because it knows that in an all—out war with the us, it would lose. so what is likely to do is asymmetric warfare, which means basically drawing on its proxies in the region, attacking infrastructure and just doing a lot more of what it's been doing recently. but all of this against a backdrop of iran being significantly weakened by economic sanctions and facing huge protests from its people. recently a protest against petrol price rises. absolutely. iran has been weakened economically but it doesn't mean it

has been weakened in the region. iranian influence remains strong, even though the lebanese and the iraqis have made it a point of protesting iranian presence in the countries in the last little while. i would argue that was a thing that made the iranians afraid. today, the death of qasem soleimani, popular man in iran, has given them this gift of being able to rally iranians around the flag and really paint the americans as the enemy. so you think retaliation of some kind is inevitable? absolutely. it's going to be very difficult for them not to do anything. but again, it's not going to be an all—out war. retaliation is going to be asymmetric and of course it's going to be focused mainly on the region. the only exception to that is it's likely that iran well ramp up cyber attacks against western organisations and installations and that would be something to be worried about if you are sitting in europe or america. 0k,

worried about if you are sitting in europe oramerica. 0k, good worried about if you are sitting in europe or america. 0k, good speaking to foster thank you for being with us. the husband of british—iranian dual national nazanin zaghari ratcliffe says he's worried for his wife, after the death of general qassem soleimani. mrs zaghari—ratcliffe has been held in iran since 2016 — when she was arrested and accused of spying. our correspondent charlotte gallagher has been speaking to her husband, richard, who gave his reaction to the death of the general. shock is probably the honest reaction. it's not clear what it means. it properly means an escalation and foreboding for everyone in the region and we are all watching in different ways. it's public concern ata different ways. it's public concern at a selfish level of what this means for her case and tension increasing is always bad for a solution soon. there is always the worry that things can get worse. at

times it seemed that you are making progress and nazanin be released soon progress and nazanin be released soon and then you go backwards. lots of near misses and missed opportunities. the longer this goes on, the more worried you are things could escalate in a bad way. we are obviously not hopeful that the moment. just before christmas, nazanin had her parole review so we we re nazanin had her parole review so we were feeling like there has been no good news for a while and i was getting ready to push the prime minister and the government to do more and be more assertive. in some ways, that still feels the right thing to do but absolutely the wrong time. how is nazanin doing in prison at the moment? i spoke to her on christmas day and new year's day. she was, as you might expect, fairly low on both occasions, partly because it's a family occasion when she is stuck in prison. this year it was different for us, we were celebrating in a way that wasn't

true last year and in a way it adds its complexities if you are sitting ina its complexities if you are sitting in a prison cell and that doesn't happen. the other thing this year when she was on hunger strike both days. so it was... tough conversations, she is fairly glum andi conversations, she is fairly glum and i don't know how she's reacting to the latest events. it's hard in prison not to feel despairing at small things. do you think it gives her hope that when things like this happen today, a lot of people were saying how will this affect nazanin? she is still fresh in peoples minds even though it has been a few years and she was put in prison. even though it has been a few years and she was put in prisonlj even though it has been a few years and she was put in prison. i think there is absolutely right, the fact that people hair, that people care and follow her, we wouldn't have got this far without the care and kindness of people out there. richard radcliffe,

speaking to charlotte gallagher, our correspondent. now on bbc news a look ahead to sportsday at 6:30 tonight. coming up on bbc news... england disappoint as they closed a one of the second test against south africa on 262—9. we also look ahead to the fa cup third round. can see filed score an upset against sheffield united? we will also be speaking to an olympic gold medallist who returns to the squad after suffering concussion. but now on bbc news, time for the film review. hello, and welcome to the film review on bbc news. to take us through this week's cinema releases is james king.

a warm welcome and happy