iran has launched a ballistic missile attack on air bases housing us forces in iraq. the pentagon says at least two sites were hit in irbil and al—asad, west of baghdad. it says the missiles were launched from iran itself. iranian state tv says the attack was launched in revenge for the us assassination of general soleimani. the burial ceremony has been taking place of the iranian general, qasem soleimani, who was killed in the us drone strike last week. during the ceremony on tuesday more than 50 people were killed and hundreds injured during a crush in his home city of kerman. and another breaking story from iran, state media say a ukrainian airliner carrying 180 people has crashed shortly after taking off from tehran‘s international airport. the reports say the boeing 737 came down due to technical problems. it's unclear whether the incident is linked to the confrontation with the us. details are still coming in. now on bbc news, hardtalk.

welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. america's assassination of one of iran's top generals, qasem soleimani, has bred new fears of war across the middle east. the key protagonists are in washington and tehran, the main stage for the conflict may well be iraqi. he was assassinated in baghdad. iraq is under intense pressure to pick sides. my guest is ayad allawi who was the country's vice president twice. does the current crisis spell disaster?

ayad allawi, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much. thank you for having me on the show. we talk to you in the wake of the dramatic events that include of course, the assassination of qasem soleimani. did you see it coming? i saw things escalating in fact, and i saw very clearly that there was serious threats from the united states, based on what has happened to some of their bases in iraq, and what has happened to the embassy. the siege of the embassy, the american embassy, but we didn't expect of course, this kind of thing to go undiscussed with the iraqi government, whatever government we have.

and this created a big splash really, in the overall, in the scene and theatre in iraq. you call it a big splash, it has prompted fury, of course in tehran but it has prompted mixed reactions in iraq. we have seen anger but from some, we've also seen an element of celebration. so what are your feelings? what is your reaction? my reaction is that soldiers are there, they are supposed to fight. either you are victorious or you get killed. and qasem soleimani was killed because of the american attack against them. are you saying that qasem soleimani had it coming to him? i think so. he was expecting this. but you are saying the strike was legitimate? it was.. somehow the americans had the right. it was a war between americans and iran.

this war was escalating by words, but tensions, and so on. by the various actions that happened here. and really it was coming out to this kind of result. there will be attacks on certain individuals. the prime minister of iraq, said that the strike against qasem soleimani was a brazen violation of iraq's sovereignty, a blatant attack on iraq's dignity. you seem to be saying something a little different. this of course, it should have been taken, this kind of action taken into consideration by the iraqi government. there was no consultation. there was no consultation and it was done and this of course, then the sovereignty of iraq, there is no question about this. the problem as i see it now is what will follow after this incident, what in the coming days and weeks, what are we preparing for, america or iran?

we've seen more threats coming from trump, we've heard the iranian government pledging vengeance. and your president, the president of iraq, said to the new yorker magazine said that he fears iraq will be embroiled in another cycle of conflict. it will have, he said, terrible consequences for iraq. it is already embroiled. iraq is already embroiled. the conflict between iran and america is taking place in iraq. and i'm not a fan of iran, i have always stood against iranian influence in iraq, and i don't want to see this happening again. as iran take control of iraq. the problem is what is going to happen.

what does the conflict policy... as in the wars of 2010 and 2003, they didn't have a post—conflict policy, what to do in iraq. now i'm not sure whether they have policy or not. but i know this administration is different from the previous administrations. smaller, sharp, they do what they think is right as far as the the american interests are concerned. and this is very important because we need to see restoration of the world—class leadership in america as well as in other countries. hang on, i'm a little confused about what you're saying. donald trump you say is a different sort of american president. he's sharp. the administration. yes, but the point is this: donald trump right now is issuing new threats. he's talking about 52 sites that he will hit including cultural sites in iran if the iranians use violence in response to the killing of solemani.

i think this is a precautionary statement. he doesn't want iran to retaliate in a serious way. and i think iran is looking for a way out of this problem because we have been following the visit of the foreigners of qatar into iran. qatar play a significant role in trying to mediate between iran and the united states. thre‘s not much sign of mediation. the iranians have said in the last 2a hours they are going to resume full scale uranium enrichment which, of course, is going to infuriate washington even more. the iranians have pledged vengeance. the replacement for solemani has already said that there will be a response. so people are suggesting possibility of war. a new and terrible war in the middle east. do you believe that this possibility? it's very much a possibility but you know wars end in toys. either defeating of one of the sides

of war or ultimately sitting around to negotiate a new formula for the relationship. this will end up, now we are in this stage. are we going to go to war? or are we going to set america, iran and the rest who have problems and anxieties with iran, like iraq and like other countries in the middle east, sit down and look at the future? do we want a stable middle east or do we want a middle east which has always had turmoil? this is very important, i think now we should look forward, to what should be done. i think this is the issue which statements can emanate from america from iran, but you don't know how much this statement could carry weight. but you said just a moment ago something very interesting. you said that in essence the us and iran are playing out their war inside iraq. does that mean iraq right now, has to pick a side in this fight?

yes. iraq cannot stand on its own. it doesn't have a strong government, it hasn't got a strong army, the army was abolished in the beginning of 2003 after occupation and they don't have an army or militia. and we have popular mobilisation. so if you have to bigger which side would you, ayad allawi. .. i wouldn't side with iran of course. you would side with the united states? you would do whatever it takes to keep a close relationship with donald trump? with united states and the free world, of course, yes absolutely. see, right now you've got a big problem in iraq. the parliament has just voted by 170 votes to zero, admittedly many parties refused to vote, but 170 votes to zero demand that all us

forces leave iraq. as a result of that donald trump has said: "if that happens, i'm going to put punishing stations on iraq." so iraq is being squeezed right now. iraq is squeezed and that's the role of the iraqi government. unfortunately, the iraqi government could not stand for itself to defend the iraqi people. they have been under the pressure of america from one side and iran from the other side. i told the prime minister, i told the government, they should have really a kind of programme, how to get rid of this and to create a balance, to protect iraqi and the unity of the iraqi people. for now it's a matter of whether the government is going to do something. the parliament is neither here nor there. democracy was a mockery in iraq. from 2010, until 2018 which was a mockery, it was a very...

hang on a minute, you served until last year as vice president of iraq, you were part of the system. i am part of the system but i refuse, the reason i served was to do the reconciliation in iraq. this was a task i accepted. but mr allawi, if i may say so, your message today seems to me very confused. you are saying we must say allied to united states, come what may. but the problem is inside your country today there is immense fury at what the americans havejust done. and many, many iraqis of all descriptions now want to see the americans out. all of those 5000 troops, gone from your territory. it's more than 5000. it may be. this is the business of the government. iraq will suffer a lot of the americans will leave iraq.

i think iraq should compose a policy towards americans, they will compose policies towards iran, we have now massive demonstrations taking place in iraq, not acknowledging the government and not really acknowledging the parliament and there are 500 people at least have been killed so far, yesterday one of my people was killed, assassinated in baghdad. i want to talk about the internal protests in iraq in a moment but let's stick with the diplomacy and the politics concerning the united states and iran. we know that qasem soleimani built an incredibly strong intelligence and military network inside your country, inside iraq. that's correct, yes. he used the people's mobilisation forces, he used his connections in the defence ministry and intelligence ministry to in essence control much of what was happening inside iraq. that's why we don't accept this, that's why we don't accept iran domination of iraq.

i don't accept this. do you have any choice? we have choices. we have choices to build a real proper strong political process in iraq without leaving any iraqi out of this political process. to create a good government and to create real democracy in iraq. but surely... democracy entered in 2010, by collision between the american administration and iran. they stood together against us. well of course they kept you out of power. they kept me out of power. i understand why you resent the iranians very much, but the reality is that iran dominates much iraq's security intelligence policy today. you say we must change that. we must. but i don't see how you can change it, particularly if the americans are planning to leave. or at least the iraqi parliament is threatening to kick them out. the demonstrations are geared towards two objectives. getting iran influences out of iraq,

and secondly against the groups who are politicising religion and sectarianism. the iraqis are fed up with interferences of iran and they don't like interference from iran. and you can see the consulate and ambassador, that's why iran has to resort to really acknowledging iraq as a neighbour. surely the impact of the killing of qasem soleimani is to actually strengthen iran's grip on iraq because more than ever now the iranians will see their leverage in iraqi as something they can use against the americans. for example, we have seen some of the shia militia forces pledge to attack american troops, american targets inside iraq if the americans refused to leave.

well, if the americans leave, you know what will happen to iraq? it will be controlled completely by iran. completely. this is number one. numbertwo, iran, if america still possesses a lot of leverage on iraqi politics, especially the tra nsferral funds which are going to the account in new york. this can be also blocked by the americans. so what did you think when you heard donald trump just a few hours ago say this: "if iraq asked us forces to depart on an unfriendly basis, we will charge them sanctions like they have never seen before, ever. it will make iranian sanctions look tame."

this is...i don't think this was a clever statement. i think it should have said that we want to engage iraq in a positive way. we want to engage also iran in a positive way and de—escalate with iran and we want to create the atmosphere right for stability and security in the middle east. this statement should be geared this way. sure, but that's your problem, you want to work with the americans, you regard the partnership with america as central to iraq's future, but you are working with a president, donald trump, who many iraqis deeply distrust. they saw what he did, for example, to his erstwhile allies in the kurdish militias in northern syria. he just abandoned them when he didn't have any interest in them any more. it is not about trusting donald trump or not,

it's a matter ofjudging where the american policy is going. let me tell you something very important. we feel, by and large in iraq, that the americans have contributed to the victory of iran on iraq. from 2010 and before, even from occupation days and until now, there was a kind of corporation, maybe not an organised corporation, with common objectives. —— cooperation. that is why we don't want any iranian influence. we can deal with the american influence, we can deal through the un, through the security council, through the europeans, through the uk. so, what do you do in the short run? because we know that the americans are fortifying their embassy, they've got special forces, troops on standby in the region. they've stopped their cooperative work against islamic state in iraq because at the moment they're

focused on protecting themselves. what to do in the short term, we have to de—escalate. stop these kind of statements which inflame the situation, and find a political way to try and quieten the situation, and work with other moderates in the region and the world also to try and find a way out of this mess and keep iran at bay, not to be influencing and controlling iraq or any other state. but let me quote to you a couple of people whose view is very different from yours, who are iraqis. hadi al—amiri, who, as you know, is one of the most powerful men in iraq right now because he heads up the badr militia organisation, a shia militia closely allied to iran. he says that "we must now fight to expel foreign troops from iraq." qais al—khazali, a member of amiri's coalition. he's, again, a militia leader. he says, "all of our fighters are now on high alert for winning a great victory." the martyred commander,

abu mahdi al—muhandis, that is the iraqi militia leader killed with soleimani, will be avenged. "we will achieve the complete end to america's presence in iraq." these are iraqis, they are shia, just as you are shia, and they are now going to fight a war. but these are emotional statements, i guess, it's not practical statements, and really, when you come to reality, even iran wanted to negotiate with the united states and with other european countries on the nuclear issue. and now, i saw zarif, the foreign minister several months ago in baghdad. iranian foreign minister? yeah, he came to see me, and he said we want to settle down issues in the region. but with respect, things have changed since then. nobody‘s sitting down with each other right now. the talk is all of war.

but they said the day before yesterday, the qatari foreign minister did notjust go for a vacation to iran. he definitely went to explore the possibility of... and i noticed also that there are the — some of the statements are a bit watered down from iran. you perhaps are an optimist, but before we end this interview... i am an optimist, yes. before we end this interview, i do want to talk about the internal situation in iraq. you alluded to it already with the protests that have been running now for many months, have involved 400 or maybe more deaths at the hands of iraq security forces as protesters demand reform, anticorru ption efforts, change inside your country. will these protests continue now that the situation in the region is so tense? they will continue, definitely. they have continued yesterday and there was a clash on the ceremonies of burying some of the people who were killed during the american raid, and there were clashes and shootings between demonstrators, and demonstrators took the control of these popular

mobilisation headquarters. so, yes, this will continue because the iraqi people don't want to see foreign intervention in their country. so, you think the fundamental root cause of the popular uprisings is anger at iranian influence inside iraq? absolutely, it is one of the major objectives is the anger of the iranians controlling iraq. and the slogans that have been chanted by the demonstrators, for example, if you take the shiite holy city of karbala: "iran, get away, get away from us, we are now liberated."

these are the chantings of the demonstrators in karbala. the problem is that iran exceeded the normal... we know they will have some influence, this is acceptable. but to that extent it is not acceptable. isn't the fundamental problem that ever since 2003 and the toppling of saddam hussein, iraq's politics has been dominated by sectarianism. and today, the country is so deeply divided, there is so much mistrust between different groups of iraqis that the country cannot find a cohesive unity. in fact, after 2005, after i left office, the sectarianism prevailed in the country, and the ex—government officials, i did whatever i can do to retrieve everything to normality and put the political process back again. but that's the point, mr allawi, you are a shia politician who has always tried to reach out

to sunnis, to kurds, to create a national identity. but you're not in power. you have, if i may say so, failed. no, i haven't failed. what have failed is really the american policies and the iranian policies. both of them have failed in iraq. they agreed amongst themselves that they should stop me from trying even to form a government in 2010. in 2012, we wanted to cast a vote of no—confidence. again, iran stood against us and america stood against us. but the truth is, whether you were robbed of power or not... the iraqi people, their vote and their credibility was undermined by both the administration of the american decision and by the iranians. but here we sit today, you are not in power,

whatever happened in 2010, you're not in power. the tension in iraq is higher than ever before. there is a possibility of iran and the united states playing out their conflict on your territory, and yet you say to me, "i'm still an optimist." i am an optimist. i tell you, i was in the hospital suffering between death and life here in iraq and london when i was attacked by saddam's people. many years ago. and you know, i never... in the bleakest of the hours, i never gave up hope, that iraq one day will see the end of saddam, and we thought we will build an iraq suitable for all iraqis, and all iraqis should be part and parcel of this. unfortunately, this never happened. when the occupation took place, there was a series of laws that weakened iraq. but you think it still can happen? i think it still can, yes.

ayad allawi, we have to end there. thank you for being on hardtalk. thank you very much. well, the winds have been a real feature of the weather across northern parts of the uk, particularly scotland. still pretty blustery out there but not as windy as it has been. how about wednesday for most of us? well, there is both sunshine and rain in the forecast. so here is the big picture across our neck of the woods. there is a big storm just south of iceland, pushing still some clouds in our direction, and it looks as though it's going to be pretty cloudy

across southern parts of the uk during the course of wednesday, but this is also where we have the milder air, so two areas of weather, really, across the uk on wednesday. the milder, cloudier weather in the south, and the more brisk weather with that fresher atlantic air across northern parts of the uk. and this is what it looks like through the early hours of the morning — even some snow showers there, across the hills of scotland, giving a little covering here and there. clearer spells across this central swathe of the uk, and then to the south we have got the cloudier, milder weather. you can see 12 degrees — that is the starting temperature in london early on wednesday. and wednesday's forecast itself, so kind of three areas of weather. so we've got the cloudy and eventually wet weather reaching south—western parts of the uk. the bit in the middle here, in fact, from belfast, say, to liverpool, to around about yorkshire, some sunshine. and then we've got the stronger winds, some blustery showers there around western and north—western scotland, and that is how pretty much things continue as we go through the course of wednesday evening, but the rain in the south turns heavier,

and it looks as though it will be raining all the way towards east anglia. now, thursday is giving us a bit of a headache in terms of what the weather is going to bring. it certainly looks like there will be some rain around. a real mix of weather. you can see that wet weather earlier in the morning, even some snow falling across the pennines and southern scotland. there could be some strong winds around as well but, at this stage, it looks as though probably the wintriest of the weather will be out in the channel and, actually, some of us may end up having some sunshine around on thursday. still mild in that southern south—eastern part of the country, 13, maybe 1a, but a lot colder there in scotland, only three, five degrees. we are fairly confident that friday is going to bring some sunshine. it should be for most of us a good end of the week, in terms of the weather. a lot of sunshine around, especially around england, but later on friday it does look as though it will start to turn wet and windy again across western scotland and northern ireland. that's a hint of things to come as we head into the weekend. if we look at the weather maps through the weekend, again, another big low pressure there, close to iceland, sending weather fronts in our direction so it does look as though, through the weekend into next week, it is going to be very changeable.

bye— bye.

this is the briefing. i'm sally bundock. our top story: a ukraine passengerjet crashes shortly after take—off near tehran. all 170 people are reported to have been killed. iran launches a ballistic missile attack on a us air base in iraq. it's not clear if there have been any casualties. the devastation of the australian bushfires: hundreds of fires still burn with warnings the intense heat will return. heading for a safe haven, oil and gold spike after ballistic missiles strike two air bases housing us troops in iraq.