american drones killed qasem soleimani as he arrived in baghdad, the capital of iraq.as a political figure inside iran given how much the iranian state broadcasters had given rise to his portfolio and some thought he might have political ambitions in his future as well. so it was one that obviously started a new round of escalation. iran responding, shooting missiles towards an american military base which didn‘t have any casualties but, nevertheless, was their way to say they will not take this quietly. the unfortunate and very tragic downing of the ukrainian plane leaving tehran right in the middle of that skirmish killed 176 innocent lives, that was also the consequences of those days. it was a very important date and the tensions between tehran and washington. i want to dig down a little bit more into that because it was so significant at the time. what are the feelings there in iran? even many who do not support the government and do not fall for their version of the story that qasem soleimani was simply out there defending iran‘s interest, killing him was the beg

general qasem soleimani along with one of the shia militia strikes, that resulted in iran retaliatingfiring multiple rockets at the al assad air base that ended up causing quite severe damage to the air base itself. now what is happening in iraq at the moment is the very beginning of a memorial that is commemorating qasem soleimani happening on the airport road at the exact location where his vehicle was blown up in that u.s. strike, but over the last few weeks, there have been quite a few very concerning actions as well as statements coming out from both sides. you had around december 21st, after once again, there were rockets that hit the green zone, some which landed inside the u.s. embassy compound, only causing material damage but leading president trump to tweet that if any u.s. casualty takes place, he would be blaming iran. and then you have this issue of u.s. intelligence and what statements are coming out of the u.s. administration, which are very contradictory. on the one hand, you do have some senior officials who, yes, are saying that the threat is at it highest level to

i think the last line of the piece says, the wisdom of tic tactics, including the killing of qasem soleimanibest judged by the streak results they produced. america is stumbling into a tragedy and the iranian regime is poised to reap the rewards turning soleimani's loss into a long-term gain. would it be fair to say that that did not really happen, that the iranians have stayed remarkably quiet? they did not react. and could it be that the trump administration accurately gauged that iran is really very weak and in a box and that you can press them hard, the maximum pressure campaign will work, and you can get a better deal from them? >> well, first, as president-elect biden said shortly after the killing of qasem soleimani, no american would mourn his passing with all the blood of american soldiers that he has on his hands. but the basic question that bill burns and i were posing in that piece was did that action make america safer? did it protect our national interests? i would submit to you one year later the answer to that question is no. iran is closer to a nuclear weapon today than they

guest: qasem soleimani was the head of the arm in iran's revolutionary guard corps that manages all its mobilization units. this was a very bad man, but more importantly he was a military leader responsible in many cases directly for attacks on and the death of american soldiers on the ground in the middle east. i am confused when people say it was great to take out this al qaeda leader by drone strike for barack obama but terrible for the united states to take out this iranian terrorist leader by the south or drone strike. if you want a consistent foreign policy and you do not like killing people like that who are terrorist leaders, then you need to treat all terrorist leaders the same. that is not my approach. my view is the world is a better place without him and that the united states was justified not simply legally, politically, but also morally and saying goodbye to him. host: if you want to read more of danielle pletka's views, or policy work available at the american enterprise institute, aei.org. you might >> you're watching c-span, your unfiltered view of government. everyday

regime in iran marks one year since a us drone strike killed the country's top military commander, qasem soleimani

air strikes that killed iranian general and terrorist qasem soleimani. backfire, so how seriously should these threats be taken? let's ask retired four star general and fox news senior strategic analyst jack keane. general happy new year, thank you so much for being here. i can't believe it was a year ago when we with reporting on this strike in baghdad, qasem soleimani killed, he has so much blood on his hands based on what the revolutionary guard has done in iraq and around the world. on this one-year anniversary, reflect on that, if you would, and the significance of it, but then also, what is the capacity of the iranians to potentially retaliate here? >> yeah, well first of all, qasem soleimani was an actually an iconic figure, and he reported to no one other than the supreme leader, no other general officer, he only took orders from the supreme leader and he ran all of the proxy wars and the terrorism around the world that the iranians were imposing, so, the civil war and syria, he was running it. the civil war in yemen he was running it, underminin

to mark the first anniversary of the assassination by the us of the powerful iranian general qasem soleimanial soleimani was killed in an american drone strike near baghdad airport on this day last year, along with nine other people, including a powerful iraqi militia leader, abu mahdi al—muhandis. at least 10 coal miners have been murdered in an attack by militants in western pakistan — prompting large protests in the hazara communities. jihadist groups and separatist rebels have been active in the area. prime minister imran khan has condemned what he termed an "inhumane act of terrorism" and promised those responsible would be apprehended. the veteran american talk show host, larry king, is being treated for covid—i9, according to multiple media reports. us sources say it's emerged the 87—year—old has been at cedars sinai medical center in los angeles for more than a week. the presenter has had a number of major health issues over the years. the roof of a crematorium has collapsed in the northern indian state of uttar pradesh, killing at least 17 people. it is believed they were sheltering

across the middle east, to mark the anniversary of the assassination of the iranian general, qasem soleimanimani was killed, along with nine others, including iraqi shia militia leader, abu mahdi al—muhandis. washington accused him of masterminding attacks on us forces in the region. at least ten coal miners have been murdered in an attack by militants in western pakistan, prompting large protests in the hazara communities. jihadist groups and separatist rebels have been active in the area. the prime minister imran khan has condemned what he termed an "inhumane act of terrorism" and promised those responsible would be apprehended. a group of us senators say they will refuse to certify joe biden's election victory — unless a commission is set up to investigate alleged voter fraud. the 11 senators and senators—elect, led by ted cruz, want a ten—day delay to audit the unsubstantiated allegations. you're watching bbc news. during last year's lockdowns, many of us developed new passions, or found ourselves revisiting old ones, and for eight—year—old amari from south lanarkshire that meant celebra

baghdad to mark the first anniversary of the assassination by the us of the iranian general, qasem soleimanis of events to mark the anniversary. general soleimani was killed in an american drone strike near baghdad airport on this day last year, along with nine other people, including a powerful iraqi militia leader, abu mahdi al—muhandis. the former leader of the real ira michael mckevitt has died. the 71—year—old, who had previously been diagnosed with cancer, was one of four men found liable for the omagh bombing. the attack, in 1998, killed 29 people and unborn twins. you are watching bbc news. let's return now to the issue of school closures. boris johnson insisted that it is safe for english primary schools to remain open in most areas, despite rising infection rates. let's remind ourselves what's happening with schools in the rest of the uk. in northern ireland, face—to—face teaching is being postponed by at least a week. pupils will be taught remotely until schools start to fully re—open from january 11th. many schools in wales are also opting for online learning untiljanuary11th, al

again at a high point with iran, one year after an american drone strike killed its top general, qasem soleimaniy, holding a mock funeral procession on the highway that leads to baghdad's airport, where soleimani was assassinated last year. this just days after u.s. intelligence warned tehran could be planning an attack against american forces in the region. msnbc correspondent ali arouzi is in tehran for us with the latest. ali? >> good morning, cory. today marks the first anniversary of that drone strike that killed iran's top general, soleimani, and washington has been bracing itself for a possible retaliation by tehran. and for the last year, iran has been talking about retribution, what they call hard revenge. not just for soleimani, but also for the iraqi militia leader killed alongside him, and for iran's top nuclear scientist that was assassinated last month. now, a u.s. official has told nbc news that there are indications of planning for a potential attack by iran, on u.s. interests in the region. and in response, they've beefed up their military hardware in the region. amongst other t

we stood up to the iranian regime and killed the world's top bucher, iranian general qasem soleimani.ized israeli sovereign ty and over the golan heights. we achieved a series of historic peace deals in the middle east. nobody believed it could happen. the abraham accords opened the doors to a future of peace and harmony, knot violence and bloodshed. it is the dawn after new middle east and we're bringing our soldiers home. i'm especially proud to be the first president in decades who has started no new wars. above all we have reasserted the sacred idea that in america the government answers to the people. our guiding light, our north star, our unwavering conviction has been that we are here to serve the noble, everyday citizens of america. our allegiance is not to the special interests, corporations or global entities. it is to our children, our citizens and to our nation it self of the as president my constant concern has always been the best interests of american workers and american families. i did not seek the easiest course. by far it was actually the most difficult. i did not s

guest: qasem soleimani was the head of the arm in iran's revolutionary guard corps that manages all itsization units. this was a very bad man, but more importantly he was a military leader responsible in many cases directly for attacks on and the death of american soldiers on the ground in the middle east. i am confused when people say it was great to take out this al qaeda leader by drone strike for barack obama but terrible for the united states to take out this iranian terrorist leader by the south or drone strike. if you want a consistent foreign policy and you do not like killing people like that who are terrorist leaders, then you need to treat all terrorist leaders the same. that is not my approach. my view is the world is a better place without him and that the united states was justified not simply legally, politically, but also morally and saying goodbye to him. host: if you want to read more of danielle pletka's views, or policy work available at the american enterprise institute, aei.org. you might also to check out her podcast. thanks so much for stopping by this morning. n

sunday marks one year since an air strike killed qasem soleimani.als are closely looking at iran looking for any signs of retaliation. over the past weeks, the pentagon sent resources into the persian gulf in an apparent effort to detect anything from iran. two b-52 bombers wrapped up a mission into the region. and they made a surprising announcement that the u.s.s. nimitz is coming home, wrapping up a potential 10-month deployment, signaling to iran it can be deescalated. iran is making the decision known to the u.n. nuclear watch dog agency as iran's foreign minister issued a fresh warning to president trump on twitter and urged the president to not fall for quote, a trap, and accused of israel for targeting. and you may remember right before christmas he said he would hold iran responsible for any attacks on u.s. personnel in iraq. that was after that attack in baghdad's green zone that u.s. officials believe that iranian-backed militants were responsible for. and next week, acting homeland security secretary chad wolf will go to the middle east.

taking out iran's top general, qasem soleimani in baghdad. this after the u.s.b-52's over the persian gulf not to mess with the united states. and good to see, general. happy new year. >> happy new year to you, dave. david: should president trump take this threat seriously? >> well, first, i think it's important to remember, david, that iran is still the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism and therefore, it's absolutely imperative that they not be allowed to create nuclear weapons. bottom line is, yes, the president should take it seriously, but the threat needs to be put in context remembering that iran is going to act in iran's best interests. we, and the president, simply need to be prepared, as he's already stated, to be able to respond to any sort of aggression that iran commits against either the united states or its partners in the region. david: and we should emphasize that soleimani was a terrorist butcher. he was in another country planning another terrorist attack, we know that from the intel we had. isn't the world a safer place without him? >

>> no one is shedding a tear for the demise of qasem soleimani. and certainly when i was last in office, i saw firsthand the blood he had on his hands. so, no one regrets the fact he is no longer there. i think from where i sat, senator, the question is not whether taking them out was the right thing to do. it was gaming at what might be the consequences and asking ourselves whether, on balance, would we be left safer or not in taking that action? previous administrations, including the bush administration and the obama administration concluded that we wouldn't be. and i think what we saw after his death, including attacks on our position and iraq the left dozens, if not hundreds of americans with brain injuries, the fact that our forward post in iraq that were there to prevent the reemergence of isil had to pull back because of concerns that iranian backed militia after soleimani's death, would attack them. the fact that we're talking about apparently closing our embassy in baghdad taken for fear of the actions of these militia, and the fact we'v

will: what about all the threats from iran over the killing of qasem soleimani.e multifaceted. let's remember they targeted shipping in the gulf and that is of great concern over the past couple of years and they are tying to blackmail us by threatening to kick out the iaea inspectors by february 21st if the united states doesn't reenter the deal. if we eliminate the sanctions, the maximum pressure the trump administration delivered that caused iran's economy to fall into free fall we lose our leverage. we no longer have the ability to induce iran to address the issues of great concern to us. pete: not to mention the "abraham accords" and new relationships in the middle east which cornered iran. seems the biden administration would be hell-bent throwing all that away lunging for a deal which they were obsessed with in the obama administration. speaking of different policies we know that joe biden will have a different view of china and the relationship the united states should have with china. fox news channel is hosting a special called, "the china showdown." it

tahrir square to mark the one-year anniversary of the killing of qasem suleimani, by anamerican drone straie on baghdad'ort road. soleimanih of shia iran's military operations in the region, as head of the elite "quds force". reviled as a terrorist by the u.s. and many in the region, he was celebrated in equal measur by others. riding with him that night was abu mahdi al muhandis the deputy leader of iraq's popular f mobilisatices, a collection of largely-shia paramilitaries, many with strons o iran. the pmf were instrumental in the fight against the sunni extremists of isis, and for pmf supporters like hussein ali,the killings are a point of great >> after this achievement in the iraqi victory over isis, america came to kill these leaders. reporter:he.s. kept troops in country following the 2018 idestruction of ts caliphate inside iraq to press the offensive against remnants of the group. of equal importance though, using iraq aa strategic base against iran. rocket attacks againstta u.s. sffed installations began to increase. very few people want tlitake responsi for the rocket attacks against the american embassy, but a

be ready to respond to violence with force as the trump administration did when they removed qasem soleimani from the battlefield. i have vocally stood up against both parties about withdrawing our limited forces in afghanistan and syria too rapidly or without a smart plan. a supermajority of the senate joined me warning against abruptly leaving battlefields recklessly on bad terms. this work will require we keep our friends close. the u.s. needs to be a partner that neither strains alliances unnecessarily nor hands out free passes. president biden should continue prodding our partners to honor their promises, pay their share and put real capabilities on the table and reemphasize that we have their backs. one early test for the new administration and congressional democrats will be the defense budget. if president biden and his team are serious about contesting china, russia, and these other threats, they'll need to show it without continued robust investment in a modern global forced presence, american leadership would be little more than hollow rhetoric. i vowed to get bryan's top foreign