hello and welcome to our viewers in the united states and all around the world. i'm michael holms at the cnn center in atlanta. breaking news, the u.s. military confirming it carried out a strike near baghdad killing the commander of the kurds force, the elite special operations unit. the u.s. strike killed a senior member of the iranian-backed popular moralization forces. the pnf is the same group who supporters tried to tomorrow the u.s. embassy in baghdad this week. now the pentagon releasing a statement that reads in part, at the direction of the president, the u.s. military has taken decisive defensive action to

protect u.s. personnel abroad by killing the head of the iranian revolutionary guard kurds force a u.s. designated foreign terrorist organization. it goes on, the strike was aimed at detouring future iranian attack plans. the united states will continue to take all necessary action to protect our people and our interest wherever they are around the world. no official statement from the white house as of now. we're not expecting one, either. only a tweet of the american flag from the u.s. president donald trump. he's been on vacation, of course, at his mar-a-lago resort in florida in the past two weeks. now cnn is covering this breaking story like no one else can. we have correspondents and analysts around the world. arwa damon is live in baghdad for us and alex marquardt.

let's go to you at baghdad. give us a sense of the moment. this is a major figure in iranian politics and military activity in the region. how big of a deal is it? >> this is monumental, michael. he was the head of the kurds force responsible for iran's external affairs, if you will. it's responsible for iran's non-conventional military activities. he was revered and in iraq quite often during the fight guiding, leading what is known as the pmf, the popular mobilization force you were referring to there early ier he's also

instrumental in syria and of course, iran's proxies throughout the region are incredibly powerful as well. alongside soleimani was the leader of he the happenings ove the last few days. this strike alters a lot of the dynamics that were unfolding here. the iraqi government is now in something of an impossible situation given the fact this happened here and it's a government that's found itself stuck between washington and tehran and then there is the other reality of the situation and that is we are in uncharted territory, michael. this is an extraordinary event that took place and when you have events of this magnitude

happening, especially in a region like the middle east, there are unforeseen consequences, things that the planners, those modelling what is happening and can't necessarily calculate for. you look at what happened in the aftermath of the invasion and takedown of saddam hussein, this is going to have unforeseen consequences. iran most likely does have a plan. this is not something that they wouldn't have planned for but exactly what that is exactly where it's going to unfold, how it's going to unfold, we don't know. but the one thing that we can pretty accurately predict, this war with iran, it is a war. there's no way that iran views it as anything but and there is going to be a war that is unconventional. it does not have borders and most likely does not have any rules. >> and arwa, the u.s. had made

it's feelings towards soleimani clear for a long time. they had him in the cross hairs for a long time and not pulled the trigger and speak to the timing of this. why would the united states strike this man now knowing there would be consequences? is your take on that, arwa? >> you know, that's the question that's being asked by just about everybody because yes, things had been simmering with the united states. we had seen, you know, the activity happening in the persian gulf . the iranians downed a u.s. drone. the american response is relatively speaking, of course, one of restraint but then you had this uptick in attacks by these iranian proxies in iraq against u.s. military, interests u.s. military instillations that attack that happened neon frida

that killed a u.s. contractor and wounded a number of u.s. personnel that then led to the counter strikes by the u.s. that happened on sunday. we had been having an escalation, but this takes it to an entire new level, and this kind of action that takes it to this level is one that one would assume comes with a plan but we don't know what the americans' plan is afterwards because this is not even remotely similar to say the targeting of osama bin laden or al baghdadi or key figures we've seen taken out by the u.s. or others and figures affiliated with isis or affiliated with groups that the u.s. branch is a terrorist organization. this cannot be under estimated, the impact of what it is. again, we keep saying this is uncharted territory.

we don't know exactly where this is going to go next, but along with everything that we've been talking about, what is also of great concern is who is going to pay the price for this? which population is going to end up ultimately paying the price for this? >> you make hava very good poin. it will be up to them when they figure that out. let go to alex marquardt. speak to the pentagon's response and there hasn't been one from the white house. >> yeah, michael at the top you showed the only white house response we've seen was the tweet from the president's personal account of an american flag and the white house saying that would be the only response from the white house for the night so they left it to the pentagon to put out a statement that at the order of the president, the strike was carried out in baghdad to kill

qasem soleimani and he was targeted not just because of what he did not past which we noted included killings of hundreds of american troops, naming of thousands more. the pentagon statement says he was behind the coordination of attacks against u.s. military bases and approved those protests and attacks against the u.s. embassy in baghdad over the past few days but they are trying to make very clear is this was a preemptive attack to thwart future attacks against american personnel. i want to read a little more of that statement from the pentagon in which they say general soleimani had plans to attack diplomats and service members in iraq and throughout the region. there was a bit of foreshadowing that we saw earlier in the day. of course, this is the first day back at work for many in the

federal government and mark, the secretary of defense did speak with reporters and he said if we get word of attacks or some type of indication, we will take preemptive action as well to protect american forces, to protect american lives so the game has changed and we're prepared to do what is necessary to defend our personnel and our interests and our partners in the region. so the secretary of defense there previewing what now seems to be preventative action to thwart arraiiranian attacks. that's the big question you asked arwa. why now? america had opportunities to target and kill soleimani in the past. those attacks in the gulf, those attacks against the saudi oil fields and downing of the u.s. drone and remember, michael, there were american plans to retaliate against iran for the downing of that drone and as those plans started, as they were underway, president trump

changed his mind and cancelled them. the president has had a conflicted -- he's trying to play both sides of it often when it comes to iran the other day while protests in baghdad were taking place. he threaten that iran would pay a big price. that was on twitter. a statement the likes of which we see often on twitter but when he was asked in person, he said i want peace. so there was always going to be the question of what would come next from the u.s. side. arwa laid out the various things that have taken place over the last few days with an american contractor being killed and u.s. air strikes and protest against the embassy. this is a massive escalation that i don't think anyone here in washington saw coming. michael? >> this was our president that wanted to get out of engagement in the middle east and may well have sparked an extended one. the diplomatic editor nic robertson joining me from

london. the iranians, nick, i think you might agree would be fairly considered in their response, not known for knee jerking this situation but they have many proxies in the region that might want to impress the regime. what's your take on what retaliation could look like and where? there are a lot of targets in the region. >> let's begin with president trump's decision to take the strike. the reason he didn't take the retaliation strike against an iranian military facility when they downed, the iranians downed a u.s. drone, he set up the time and changed his mind and said he wouldn't do it because it was no loss of u.s. life. now in iraq with the killing of that contractor by iranian approxima proxers may have tipped the balance lives have been cost and that is -- and this is where he's put his word in the past.

they know this. they don't need a game plan this was as escalations intentions with the u.s. ratcheted up. the proxies were left under in illusion that they should strike against u.s. interests in the region so the problem is perhaps the most unpredictable element here because we don't know what they will take upon themselves to do. they certainly view soleimani whose death they will feel. they likely had a plan and will act in a perhaps slightly more prague m pragmatic way. in september they were striking

two saudi oil facilities taking down half of the country's oil production and putting a spike in the price of oil. what we can see them do and here the best analysis we can get at the moment, what have they been doing to ratchet up tensions over the past six months or so? they are doing is capturing ships in the straights of hormuz. i think it will be very likely that they will escalate that, that in effect the straights of hormuz and that sort of area that geographic peace of sea on the planet that one-fifth of the world's oil needs every day passes through the iranians will probably tighten that and try to shut that down. i think we can expect that. what we've also seen them do in vent months is escalate their nuclear production capacity. they have been increasing the amount of material they have been enriching the uraninum and

will draw on the question quickly again that had been center stage through obama's presidency, president trump's presidency and netanyahu and israel pushed for this, strikes on iran's nuclear protectiducti facility. it very serious and very real because there will be counter measures that will need to be taken against the actions that the iranian regime takes and what we heard from the saudis was that if there was another strike in their oil facilities from iran and they believe the last one was, this would be a threat against their country. so against their national security interests. the region at the moment can only be bracing itself for a

series of unexpected consequences that it going to be very hard to game plan through. the u.s., of course, will be on a high military footing, the fifth fleet in bahrain could find itself much more in the front line of this fight. the united arab emirates and region could find itself on the front line, too and they don't want that and the saudis tried to avoid a full on war with iran. this does open the door to the unexpected as arwa was saying. >> u.s. basis in the gulf region in syria and iraq and elsewhere, too. there are plenty of targets. thanks so much. we're joined by cnn international security manager nick paton walsh in london to talk about this. i think you would agree the death of soleimani isn't going to stop aggression in iraq.

the question is how much things are going to ramp up if you'd like. this is an escalation. how much of an escalation can you see? >> one of the most. let me give you breaking news, context from a u.s. official i've been speaking to calling this a target of opportunity saying while this is obviously authorized from a presidential level for sometime, this may not have been a particular incident in which president trump was specifically gave the order to go tonight. it's unclear but certainly the phrase target of opportunity suggest this is something authorized for sometime. the official also did point out that this was clearly as you heard from the secretary of defense there, something preemptive suggesting maybe that maximum pressure at this stage may have not been getting the desired effects. maximum pressure is what the u.s. is determining a policy

against iran for the last years or so ratcheting up sanctions, applying pressure in every direction they can and putting out of the nuclear deal in the hope the iranian government crumbles in the face of that pressure. this is a stark change. context about the general himself, while it was clear that he was often the directing hand and moves against the united states assets or allies in the region, too, he was a key figure in the fight against isis. a lot of that fighting, paradox given the trump administration's view of the iranian government, a lot of that fighting done by iranian-backed militia in iraq and syria, too, as well. soleimani directing the fight. very uncomfortable alliance but important to remember he did contribute on the battle field in the fight kicking one of the worst terrorist groups out of the region, as well. we're in completely different

territory here and this u.s. official i spoke to wanted to characterize what comes next. i'm paraphrasing. we're into a situation where they gained their response and how they would respond to something like this and implement the plan or thought something like this was unimaginable. maybe the plan for response was in his head himself. they probably have a successor ready to go but we're into a complicated time as well because as you know, michael, this is not a government often epitomized by the foreign minister who is the architect of the peace deal and the trump administration pulled out of. he is coming towards the end of his second term. he won't be in power forever and certainly i think within iran those looking to see who comes after them. hard liners pushing for the response frankly might say violence to show reaction to the u.s. sanctions presence and many analyzing the u.s. presence in

the region and attitudes towards iran saw a moment like this coming. the frank, the utter terror of not quite knowing exactly what the other sides red lines were. donald trump not being entirely clear what it would take to insurance state a reaction like this. what the iranians do, the response is bound to be symmetrical. we're not talking about a conflict here but american interest and allies in the region, incredibly dangerous week ahead, michael? >> indeed. good to have you, nick paton walsh in london and we'll take a short break. we'll have much more, though, on our breaking news story. a significant moment. we'll be live in the iranian capital tehran when we cop back. ♪ back. m back. back. ♪ everything your trip needs, for everyone you love. expedia.

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. welcome back. we're following the breaking news out of iraq where it killed the commander of the quds force soleimani. the u.s. blames him and his forces for hundreds of american and collision service members and wounding of thousands more during the iraq war. now, the u.s. strike just near baghdad's airport killed a senior member of the popular mobilization forces. that's the same group who supporters tried to storm the u.s. embassy in baghdad earlier this week. now iran's foreign minister quickly condemning the u.s. for the strike and speaking in very strong language, blaming the u.s. for quote rogue adventures. quote, the u.s. active

international terrorism targeting and assassinating the host effective force fighting daesh called isis, al nusrah alibi da aanusrah, al qaeda and others is extremely dangerous and foolish escalation. let's bring in our journalist, live from tehran for us in iran. speak more to the iranian reaction as expected. fairly strong words there from the foreign minister. tell us more. >> it depends whom you talk. the media class people are already showing their concern that unless this assassination of soleimani leads to a war with america and that's the least things they wish to happen and that's the main concern for the

media class in the cities but proruling establishment, ruling are calling for retaliation and revenge and from now on, from today on ward, there are three options open to iranian society and iranian ruling establishment. one is starting all out face-to-face war with iran and america at any cost or escalating the proxy war and attacking american bases in b bahrain, qatar, anywhere else in the world or just culvert and secret negotiation to be resumed somewhere in the world between iranian officials and american. out of this, three options, there is nothing else we can expect and i can say that iranian societies very concerned

and they think, i mean, media class think that iran and america are heading to uncharted waters and any day, any minute anything can go over blown and goes out of control because any minor incident can lead to the major incident which is called all out war and bear in mind, soleimani is regarded as a hero and he was, i mean, adored and admired as a source and now they say he just achieve doing what he's long awaited for. >> thank you so much. appreciate that joining us live from teheran with the reaction

there. >> thank you. the u.s. air strike had an immediate impact on world oil prices as you might imagine. crude is always jittery. more so now. the price actually shooting up 3% as news of the air strike came out. brent crude up 3.22% 68.38 and wti crude is up 3.12%. do stay with us here on cnn. we have much more on this breaking, very important news out of baghdad. sit a momentous time. a u.s. strike killing a top military commander. we'll be live in baghdad when we come back. federal judge in guatemala. he was an advocate for the people... a voice for the voiceless. bring your family history to life like never before. get started for free at ancestry.com

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let's update you on breaking news. the u.s. military carried out a strike killing a member of iran's military. the pentagon says it was a defense action and qase

qasem soleimani were responsible for many deaths. let's head to baghdad and arwa damian. who is the likely response there? there were reports of some iraqis celebrating the death of soleimani but he also has support in other areas. >> he really does, michael. this is going g ting to potent polar polarizing with iran and itself and the security apparatus were incredibly polarizing. we've seen some reports of some iraqis celebrating this and you also have to remember that this comes after iraqis, some of them at least for months have been protesting against the government. these aren't the same protesters

by the way, obviously, who were outside the u.s. embassy. these protesters want to revamp iraq's government system and want to end iranian influence and they were being gunned down hundreds of them killed throughout the course of these demonstrations. they have for quite sometime been vocal about how they want to end iranian and also incidentally u.s. influence and you also have the reality that iran does remain very powerful here. it is the main backer, supporter, funder of those popular mobilization forces. remember, they are this umbrella organization that is made up of predominantly ex militia fighters who incidentally cut most of them at least cut their teeth fighting u.s. forces during the u.s. occupation here and they at times did have

soleimani on the ground with them as they captured key cities and towns from isis. you really have right now a country that is going to not only be caught up to an even greater perhaps unimaginable degree in this proxy battle field between the u.s. and iran but also one that is at a very real risk within itself of becoming even more bloody than it has been. >> yeah, absolutely. arwa, appreciate that and good to have you there on the spot to cover this important breaking news. and we will have much more ahead of this breaking news out of baghdad and the killing of that top iranian military commander. retired u.s. army general mark hurtling gives me his assessment when we come back. [farmers bell]

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welcome back. breaking news the pentagon says it carries out a strike at the direction of president trump that killed iran's top military command commander qasem soleimani. atract worker was killed and on sunday u.s. military hit five places in iraq linked to militia and on tuesday

proiranian protesters attacked the u.s. embassy in baghdad, many of them linked to the militia that have been hit by the u.s. and on thursday, the u.s. strikes near baghdad airport killing top iranian commander soleimani and a member of the mobilization forces. >> lieutenant general mark hurtling is a cnn military analyst and commander of u.s. forces and north of iraq during that war joining us now from orlando. you and i were texting earlier, mark, and you said this to me. you said this will take iraq backwards and cause danger for the u.s. troops throughout the region. tell me more. what's your take? >> you're going to have certainly many citizens within iraq shiite that will say this is a good thing because they are tired of interference. having been to iraq for many

years, there are going to be quite a few thousands, hundreds of thousands of young iraqi men who are part of some of these proiranian groups in places like baghdad who are going to go to the mosque in about another hour and a half and they are going to be getting quite a bit of advice. what was going on in the mosque? this happens on a thursday night, on friday morning. you can see some of these things. you seen the iraqi government trying to tamp down some of this proiranian forces. the president in fact when the former prime minister put in his resignation refused two more prime ministers because they were too sectarian in their views towards iran and some of the shiite militia. i don't know if it will be the same when the summer mosque was

bombed over ten years ago but it could cause a lot of tension within iraq itself. that the beyond what's going to happen to u.s. forces in the region. not just iraq but in anyplae an u.s. forces are stationed and next to militia under soleimani. >> ships in the gulf f aand bas in iraq. in a confleict sense, iran is nt iraq. it has tenticles spread. >> we have to go back a little bit and say who was this guy that was killed today? he was a very ka rcharismatic

military leader and a killer. he was a tactical, operational and stra totegic lead bringing s ark of the revolution from to ha r lebanon. when you see a guy like him doing things with proiranian groups in iraq, that's a portion of his portfolio. he was also very involved talking to russian soldiers in syria. he's been involved in hasballah and around the world. he's a favorite son of the leader of iran. so you're talking about a guy whose very charismatic in the country but make no doubt about it, he's a killer and a rabid one. he is one of these kind of guys that the world is a better place that he's now been killed but at the same time, it's going to

cause eruption in this part of the world. >> there will be no tears for him in the west. to introduce explosively foreign projectiles and road side bombs in the iraq war that kill sod many american servicemen. not many tears. i wonder if you see strategic thinking and what is likely to come? >> all indications are the pentagon is now saying they had a great deal of intelligence on what he was about to do and planning that he was involved with the protest over the last couple days at the baghdad embassy, that he has been involved over the last several months in stirring the fullment of action within iraq and other places against american forces and in fact, that is their strategy to do exactly that to america. but here is what i think will happen. we haven't prepared ourselves, i don't think, for the turmoil that will come from this throughout the middle east.

from a strategic perspective, again, i'm going to go quote my former boss general petraeus and say how does this end? is this part of the pressure campaign? in fact, if it is, are we prepared when the pressure is such within that boiling pot it blows all over the middle east? >> yeah, also, you know, again, as you know well iran has deep ties in iraq. that isn't going to change with this guy's death. you have iranian supported politicians in iraq that are pushing for u.s. forces to leave all together. could that be given some verification? would that mean? >> these proiranian iraqi groups are beholding to certain politicians within iraq, some of whom are within the parliament and these are some of the people that may be leading iraq in the

future. you've heard names like case who i'm very familiar with from my second tour in iraq and some of these individuals are closely tied to the iranian groups and they are in fact part of the iraqi parliament. you have the president of iraq ociraq, a kurd who is trying to keep this as the thomas jefferson of iraq under wraps and lead democracy forward and it's been tenuous at best in the past, it probably going to get a lot worse and there is going to be a lot of debate in the iraqi parliament tomorrow or next week, actually. >>escalation. the question is how much worse it will get and what form it will take. good to see you. >> always a pleasure, michael. thank you. >> we'll take a short break and when we come back, the look of the legacy of qasem soleimani and why it important the u.s.

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university. he's also a representative of iraq for the united nations. he joins us from washington. again, great to have your expertise on what is a major event. i mean, qassim soleimani, such a major player in the region. the quds force, a powerful and feared force. speak to the significance of this. >> first, i have to say, that the reporting of arwa damon has been superb. this is huge, as she just said. the first thought that occurs to me, is that this was done on iraqi soil. and the -- i'm reminded that there were reports that the iz rannians were planning to assassinate the saudi ambassador to washington in the united states.

now, qassim soleimani has been in the middle east and in yemen and other places. he's a particularly maligned force. and there will be many in iraq who will not mourn his passing. but the notion of this being done on iraqi territory, almost absolutely, without the permission of the government of iraq, it will weaken the government of iraq significantly. there will be an opportunity for the destabilization of the country. maybe it will work out well. but this is a huge deal throughout the middle east. the fact that it was done over the territory of iraq, means that iraq has become what i feared it would become from the beginning, the battleground between iran and the united

states. iran has always had, and qassim soleimani, in particular, has had an incentive to keep iraq not stable. not in total chaos but not stable, either. this, i feel, will increase the stakes. and my question for the americans is, what is your plan for keeping iraq stable after pulling this off? i fear they don't have one. >> that's a good point. we think of a man who has been a mastermind behind the deaths of many americans and in iraq and syria, this is a strike at the heart of iran's military command. again, we have to ask the question. iran can not not respond or look weak. but how bad would that response be and what it leads to? >> you're right. iran cannot not respond.

that was the logic of the united states responding earlier in the week, to a provocation from an iranian-backed militia in iraq. iran has many places to respond. iraq is one of them. it will have allies at the iraq parliament. they're demanding the withdrawal of american troops. their argument just became stronger by the willingness of the united states to make iraq part of the battlefield. but they have other places to respond. lebanon is a place they can respond. syria, as you have noted, they're a major player there. they have allies in gaza and can respond with respect to israel, as well. they can respond in the persian gulf. they were responsible, either directly or incorrectly for the

attacks on saudi arabian oil facilities already. they have a broad scope of responses or potential responses. the president seems to think they will send out tanks and airplanes and meet the united states on a mutually agreed battlefield. and this, therefore, will not take long. but this will be asasymmetric. they will engage in terrorist acts as they have done in iraq and other places. where this ends, it's very difficult to start. military officers know it's easy to start a war but not easy to end. this is a proxy war. we've been dtalking about what s happening about a proxy war, between the united states and allies of iraq. this is a direction action between the united states against the senior military of

iran. it's not a proxy war. it's a direct confrontation between the united states and iran. and i think iran will have to respond in ways that it hadn't up until now. it's new territory and very dangerous. >> what are the dangers from your perspective, when the u.s. takes action on iraqi soil. in terms of damaging what political support the u.s. has in iraq -- and iran moves by some iranian-supported politicians to get the u.s. out of iraq altogether. what are the risks when they do this? >> the risk is that the -- those that are demanding the removal of u.s. forces from iraq, the hand gets stronger. the demonstrators who have been demonstrating in iraq for three months, one of the things they have said is that they -- this is one of the things they've been demanding.

that foreign interference in iraqi affairs come to an end. specifically, they don't want to be a battleground between the united states and iran. this is one of the things the protesters have been protesting about. this makes the case for people who are allied with the united states, much more difficult to make. it's a complete and total disregard for the sovereignty of the state of iraq. don't take any of this is me cryicry ing tears for soleimani. if they had got him over the gulf, that would be one thing. in iraq, that's a blatant violation of iraqi sovereignty and plays into the hands of america's enemies in iraq, saying the united states should quit iraq. while it's a blow to iran in the short and intermediate term, i suppose, it's potentially in the

long term interest of iran that the united states continues to sort of weaken the case for why iraq should continue to be allied with the united states. from that perspective, that's the real reason i'm troubled by all this or one of the reasons that i'm troubled by all this. >> incredible times. great analysis as always. feisal itshrabodi. thank you so much. thank you. i'm michael holmes. i will be back with more of our breaking news in a couple minutes.

this is cnn breaking news. >> hello to our viewers all around the world. i'm michael holmes. we're on top of breaking news this hour. a serious escalation in the simmering conflict between the u.s. and iran. the pentagon confirming that president trump ordered a strike against top-raining military commander qassim soleimani. we'll hear from nick paton walsh later in the program. let's talk about soleimani. he was the leader of the qud force and