this is bbc news, i'm rachel schofield. the headlines at 10pm. tensions escalate between washington and tehran after us troops kill iran's most powerful military commander. president trump says he is prepared to take whatever action is needed to protect americans. soleimani has been perpetrating acts of terror to destabilise the middle east for the last 20 years. what the united states did yesterday should have been done long ago. here, lisa nandy and jess phillips becomes the latest labour mps to enter the race to become the party's next leader. relief for around a thousand people as australian naval ships rescue them from the country's bush fires.

one of the most powerful men in the middle east — iran's military commander general qassem soleimani — has been killed by a us airstrike in iraq. the attack was ordered by president trump who said the general had been plotting to kill americans in the region. he also blamed him for being directly and indirectly responsible for the deaths of millions of people. iran has threatened severe revenge and tens of thousands of people are holding rallies across iran denouncing what they call us crimes. meanwhile, america has said it will now send 3000 troops to the middle east as a precaution. here's our middle east editorjeremy bowen. this was the moment that the us assassinated qassem soleimani and pushed the middle east

into a new year and new decade of uncertainty and more danger. the pictures came from a tv station controlled by iran. the attack — from a missile fired from a drone — hit his motorcade as he was being driven out of baghdad airport. the us and iran were already fighting a war in the shadows. neither side wants uncontrolled escalation, but the chances of miscalculation and a lurch into a bigger war have increased. qassem soleimani was no ordinary foe. for a generation, he was probably america's most capable enemy. his death delivers a blow to the heart of the iranian regime. for many years, soleimani built up iran's power outside its borders and made it — and himself — a major player in iraq, syria and lebanon. he was a talisman for iranian hardliners, who've been

rocked to their core. they'll want to get even, perhaps more than that. last sunday, american air strikes killed 25 members of an iraqi militia armed and trained by soleimani's quds organisation — after an american contractor was killed in a militia attack. the militiamen — undoubtedly on it soleimani's orders — marched on the us embassy in baghdad and attacked its perimeter. the militias he created were a vital part of the fight against thejihadists of islamic state, but they're also one way that iran projects power abroad. the huge american compound is a fortress and it wasn't breached, but the attacks goaded and threatened the trump administration. the americans rushed in reinforcements to the embassy. it is not clear when the decision to assassinate soleimani was taken but once it happened,

president trump tweeted in triumph. the americans argue their motives are defensive. we don't seek war with iran, but at the same time, we're not going to stand by and watch the iranians continue to escalate and put american lives at risk without responding in a way that disrupts, defends, deters and creates an opportunity to de—escalate the situation. in baghdad, some iraqis celebrated the killing. for weeks, anti—government demonstrators had been demanding an end to iranian influence in iraq. in tehran, ayatollah ali khamenei, the iranian supreme leader, visited qassem soleimani's widow, who said "severe revenge "awaits the criminals."

iranian hardliners are devasted. the spokesman for soleimani's republican guard corpus was highly ——the spokesman for soleimani's republican guard corps was highly emotional in a tv interview. so were regime supporters on the streets. qassem soleimani was their hero. at a time when they see themselves surrounded by enemies. iran was already under severe pressure from us sanctions. preesident trump might be gambling that he has so weakened iran that it will rage but not hurt the us badly. that assumption could be dangerous and wrong. jeremy bowen, bbc news. president trump has said that the us killed iran's top military commander qassem soleimani to stop a war, not to start one. he made a live televised statement earlier. last night, at my direction, the united states successfully at prep as president, my highest most solemn duty is to defend its ——

protected citizens. last night, at my direction, the united states successfully executed a flawless precision strike that killed the number one terrorist anywhere in the world, qassem soleimani. soleimani was plotting imminent and sinister attacks on american diplomats and military personnel. but we caught him in the act and terminated him. under my leadership, america's policy is unambiguous to terrorists who harm or intend to harm any american. we will find you, we will eliminate you, we will always protect our diplomats, service members, all americans, and our allies. for years, the islamic revolutionary guard corps and its ruthless qud's force, under soleimani's leadership, has targeted, injured and murdered hundreds of american civilians and servicemen. the recent attacks on us targets

in iraq, including rocket strikes that killed an american and injured four american servicemen very badly, as well as a violent assault on our embassy in baghdad, were carried out at the direction of soleimani. soleimani made the death of innocent people his sick passion, contributing to terrorist plots as far away as new delhi and london. today, we remember and honour the victims of soleimani's many atrocities and we take comfort in knowing that his reign of terror is over. soleimani has been perpetrating acts of terror to destabilise the middle east for the last 20 years. what the united states did yesterday been done long ago. a lot of lives would've been saved. just recently, soleimani led the brutal repression of protesters in iran,

where more than 1000 innocent civilians were tortured and killed by their own government. we took action last night to stop a war. we did not take action to start a war. i have deep respect for the iranian people, they are a remarkable people, with an incredible heritage and unlimited potential. we do not seek regime change, however, the iranian regimes aggression in the region, including the use of proxy fighters to destabilise its neighbours must end, and it must end now. the future belongs to the people of iran, those who seek peaceful coexistence and cooperation, not the terrorists, warlords, who plunder their nation to finance bloodshed abroad. the united states has the best military, by far. anywhere in the world.

we have the best intelligence in the world. if americans anywhere are threatened, we have all of those targets already fully identified, and i am ready and prepared to take whatever action is necessary, and that in particular refers to iran. under my leadership, we have destroyed the isys we have destroyed the isis territorial caliphate, and recently, american special operations forces killed the terrorist leader known as al baghdadi, the world is a safer place without these monsters. good people, great souls. america will always pursue the interests of good people, great souls, while seeking peace and harmony with all the nations of the world, thank you, god bless you, god bless our great military, and god bless the united states.

thank you very much. thank you. let's speak to our north america correspondent aleem maqbool — who is outside the white house. some insight there into president trump's thinking, but a lot of questions remain. yes, you heard there that he called qassem soleimani the number one terrorist anywhere in the world, and also claimed that he had been a part of terror plots as far as delhi and london, although, he didn't elaborate on those claims. certainly, the state department husband saying all day that qassem soleimani met all the criteria for someone soleimani met all the criteria for someone who needed to be eliminated, that they have been saying that he was planning these attacks around the region, that endangered the lives of hundreds of americans, though, again, they haven't given more details on that intelligence, certainly senior republicans here

have really welcome to this news, a lot of them where disappointed in recent months, feeling that the us had been weak in its response to perceived iranian threats, but, democrats on the other hand have been hugely critical. they call this incredibly reckless, the presidential candidate, joe biden coven took neck, has had the world has been set on edge the actions of an incompetent commander—in—chief. and the suggestion seems to be how does this fit in to the presidents wider strategy in the middle east? that's right. i mean, he's talked a lot about disengaging militarily, at least, from the middle east, now we are hearing about three and a half thousand troops being sent there, there have been some criticism that he hasn't consulted more with congress and with his allies in the region, we know that borisjohnson, for example, didn't know this attack was going to take place. it's also

worth noting that qassem soleimani is just worth noting that qassem soleimani isjust a hugely worth noting that qassem soleimani is just a hugely powerful man right across the region for such a long time for more than 20 years. he was in the sight of previous american administrations, george w. bush administrations, george w. bush administration and 0bama administrations both had him in their sites. but they both felt in their sites. but they both felt in their calculations that in killing him, the repercussions would simply be too huge. clearly, donald trump feels differently. he feels that it is worth the risk of whatever huge consequences could now america's way. but neck thank you very much indeed. thank you very much indeed. lisa nandy, the mp for wigan, and jess phillips, the mp for birmingham yardley, have both announced this evening that they will join the race to replacejeremy corbyn as labour leader. theyjoins shadow foreign secretary emily thornberry and shadow treasury minister clive lewes in confirming their candidacy. 0ur political correspondent nick eardley is in westminster and we can speak to him now.

lisa nandy, the latest to throw her hat into the ring. yes, that wiccan mp was another one of those people who had said over —— wigan, that she was considering whether or not to stand, and tonight she has confirmed ina stand, and tonight she has confirmed in a letter to her local paper, the wigan post, that she is indeed throwing her hat in the ring to be the next labour leader. her argument is that labour needs to focus on winning back its heart lands, areas that had voted labour for decades, and stopped doing so back in december. let me just read you one paragraph from what she says. she says, i'm standing because i know too many people in places like wigan no longer feel they have a voice in our national story. basically, she is saying that there are many parts of the country that feel disaffected with westminster politics and the best solution to that is to get

someone best solution to that is to get someone like her who is representing one of those areas in to sort out that issue. i must say, just phillips who announced she was standing a couple of hours ago it has quite a similar argument as well. she says that people have lost trust in the labour party, that's why it did so catastrophic catastrophically back in the election back in december, but she believes that she has that reputation for being a straight talking politician that she can fix that. she can persuade people of labour cosmic merits and win back some of those voters who have deserted the party. although, she does admit that won't be easy. it means we've got four candidates now, rachel, lisa nandy, just phillips, we also have already had emily thornberry and clive lewes. now that westminster is starting to creep back into action after the christmas break, i think we will see some more to, rebecca long bailey and tears, are likely to launch in the next few days as well. we are all starting to

creep back into action, we are now going to creek off to bed. to other news now, around a 1,000 people trapped by bushfires on the south eastern coast of australia have been rescued by the australian navy. tens of thousands of others are being urged to move to safety amid fears the fires could worsen in parts of victoria, new south wales and south australia. the death toll for this week has risen to eight and a50 homes have been lost on the south coast. this map shows the spread of the fires since the begining of the week — as you can see, they are concentrated in the eastern coastal areas.our correspondent shamai khalil reports now from sussex inlet, just over a hundred miles south of sydney. for the first time in days, nearly 1,000 tourists and residents can breathe a little more easily as they are finally moved to safety. the navy has stepped in to rescue those who were stranded on the beach in mallacoota when they were encircled by an uncontrollable fire on monday.