Influence across the region killed as he left the airport in back that along with others including the 2nd in command of the Popular Mobilization forces ever met the hundreds weve been hearing in the last few minutes from the iraqi president urging for calm and restraint and unity and in the in the hours leading up to this weve been hearing from various political leaders including the Prime Minister saying that a is this was a violation be this cannot be condoned in any way shape or form weve also heard from various political factions in iraq only how the and im ready and also the leader of the sudras bloc a book that al assads are saying that this is going to be to putting their forces on alert to some commanders calling them their their their forces on the ground their fighters on the ground valuing them telling them to be ready saying that this is the beginning of a great victory that was promised to them alluding to the ideological fight that they have been having with the United States not just in iraq but but across the region as well but iraq it internally is a crisis point right now it is being led by a caretaker government a government which has faced months of protest a government which will have to answer not just the iranian side about how was this Security Breach how were the americans able to target customs and the money was womans are very very guarded as well as to words to the militias whove just 48 hours ago were protesting outside the u. S. Embassy and were told to leave only on the promise that they say have been made by the government that they will legislate a law which will force all foreign troops out of iraq 3. In the last hour or so weve also heard from the Iraqi Oil Ministry saying that Oil Operations of opec 2nd largest producer are as normal despite the pullout of some u. S. Personnel as has been advised by their government some i wonder if we can reflect just for a sec on whats he might be like to be one of the protesters at a rear square waking up this morning and wondering if it pushes the reform of politics in iraq further down the agenda now that theyre having to deal with this in as you point out are already a caretaker government. Absolutely so it is a very tense calm in baghdad now in the streets the end although shops are open but everybody is waiting for a reaction and in the early hours you saw those celebrations happening in Tahrir Square which was then very quickly move muted down and they did say that although they call this a sovereign violation of sovereignty of iraq but they dont did not condemn the killing of possibly the man who many protesters here in iraq have been holding responsible for the killing of hundreds of people as they continue to court as there was a there was a massive crackdown on these protesters some estimates suggest hundreds up to 500 people need to be killed in these months long protests as protesters tried to cross the bridge to try and get their voice through the corridors they were gunned down and yet again when we saw that the Popular Mobilization forces and and the powerful militias were marching the Iraqi Government and the Security Forces give them free passage so like he said it is a very divisive moment in iraq the times once again where you see that there have been some celebrations but theres also the call for revenge theres a very high and to us sentiment amongst the farmers of the Popular Mobilisation forces they have moved their camp from the u. S. Embassy but we were with them yesterday and we saw that a lot of them say that they will take the fight to the americans if the call is made so that is something that many analysts here are fearing that this could take the turn for the worse and could maybe may well become violent some of the interview there with the very latest from baghdad ossama thank you well lets cross straight now to tell us achieve our hes been following this story from the early hours from tehran hi there door so so tell us more about the man whos going to be taking over for Major General custom sort of mani. Well the Supreme Leader has issued an order or a decree he is the commander in chief of the armed forces of the entire Islamic Republic and just a short while ago he appointed the Deputy Commander of the ports force to take over for us and selling money that is the Brigadier General a smile on me will now be the head of the bullets force of the revolutionary guards this commander was very close to us and so in money since he was appointed as a deputy as his deputy in 1907 and we were told by the Supreme Leader him self that the policies the methods and the ideologies that were under the direction of us and so the money will continue under the new leadership of the police force that nothing will change when it comes to that weve also been hearing that a number of high ranking officials have been commenting saying that this is an act of war essentially and revenge will be sought the former head of the forces in iran that is the volunteer units of the revolutionary guard has said that the United States better start sending coffins for all the u. S. Soldiers that they have stationed in the middle east because that is how they will all go back home very strong words there move also heard from has the president of iran saying that iranians will not stand by there will be revenge sought were waiting to get a clear idea of how iran will respond there is an emergency meeting that has been chair for the 1st time by the Supreme Leader himself of the Supreme NationalSecurity Council that is a body that is in charge of irans Foreign Policy the president and the head of the judiciary as well as the speaker of parliament will be attending that meeting and were waiting for the spokesperson to come out with a statement that will give us a clear idea of how iran will respond in the next 24 hours dosage of our there with the very latest live from toronto thank you. Well israel has bolstered its military presence along its border with lebanon and syria and were hearing that Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu has cut short his trip to greece live there standing by as imran khan joining us from west jerusalem in run so what decisions have been made as a result of these targeted killings. Well israels security cabinet met in the early hours of this morning is worth noting here that we are hearing that term is the Benjamin Netanyahu was informed of the attack either as it was happening or just immediately afterwards according to local media reports by the u. S. So thats why they had this security Cabinet Meeting a couple of key decisions taken that firstly see up the. Against attacks against any Diplomatic Missions abroad so the seas abroad are on high alert also that Troop Movement toward the borders with syria and lebanon also were hearing that these really air forces flying sorties over southern lebanon certainly now this is the border thats of real concern to the israelis clearly with lebanon its as below is below of already reacted with a statement saying that they will respond to this killing of qassam so the money this is the real concern for the israelis is what happens on the border in syria you also have iranian linked militias may be able to give some problems particularly the occupied Golan Heights to Israeli Forces that so theres political reaction as well now what Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu has told his security cabinet is not to speak to the media but theres been a lot of opposition political reaction actually some are accusing the Prime Minister of using this as a Political Tool because he has an election coming up is worth noting that the Prime Minister himself as actually said anything but his silence is being seen as a way all the electioneering others have said that whats going on right now will be used as an election airing tool by the Prime Minister emraan if there is any amount of fear from thinking for the you know average israeli waking up this morning and seeing this news about what the next steps might be and what it might mean for their security at a fragile political moment. Well israels neighborhood the place that it actually lives in is surrounded by people that many israelis consider their enemies the you know you talk about syria for lebanon except and so having a strong leader which is what netanyahu is saying as has always been this and you know his key strength and israelis have tweeting and social media reacting to this saying that this is not the time to change leadership with the support is a really going out and supporting netanyahu others however arent convinced they wondering whether this will be used by the Prime Minister but for ordinary israelis life you know it goes on its when you get to the border areas the people be very concerned about any potential escalation but he is very much a political story rather than a security one right now of course that could change and might come there live from west jewish the thank you for lebanons hezbollah has issued a statement about going to pursue the punishment of those who are behind sort of killing. Is the responsibility of quote all trying to surround the world he went on to say they will work day and night to achieve those goals will mohammed judge and joins us live from they would ahmed i know that there was plenty of other content in that statement take us through it. Now julie 1st let me just mention a couple of other developments weve heard just in the past hour when it comes to hezbollah representatives of hezbollah have confirmed that no hizbullah officials were killed in that attack that killed some so they money of the reason they did so is because earlier in the day there were reports that perhaps there were some hezbollah representatives on the ground as well because some for the money who may have been killed in the airstrike as below officials here are saying that is not the case also it has been announced that the leader of hezbollah has in the thread is not going to be making a Statement Today it was expected that he was going to be making a televised statement to his supporters but that is not going to happen no reason for that given although clearly that suggests the protocol that is in place when it comes to something major like this is quite obvious here in lebanon that hezbollah would want to wait until they got more direction from iran as to what iran was planning next now as far as the statement from house and the let me read you a bit more of what he said 1st of all he offered his condolences to as he said our dear brothers the officials of the Islamic Republic of iran especially the leadership of the Islamic Revolutionary guard and the great and resisting iranian people mr nasrallah went on to say that this is how we see the scene and the situation we will complete qassam so they moneys past and work night in day to achieve his goals and we will carry his flag in all arenas fields and fronts and really this is causing some concern this hour here in lebanon for several reasons one is people are concerned that perhaps retaliation could happen from within lebanon what exactly what exact form would retaliation take where would it happen could violence be revisited upon lebanon these are things that are very concerning for the lebanese public at a very fraught time such as this another reason is causing concern not just because of the military implications but also. Because lebanon is effectively without a government right now there have been massive antigovernment demonstrations since mid october so almost 2 and a half months now soon after the demonstrations started you had the current caretaker Prime Minister saad how did he resign that means lebanon effectively is without a government there is a caretaker government there is a Prime Minister designate right now he is a a sunni has been backed candidate his name is has son but his he is now trying to form a government at a time when the country is on the verge of bankruptcy when this economic crisis that is and spoiling here keeps getting worse and worse and worse and the longer it takes him to form a government the worse it is going to get what happened in the dead the killing of course of the money many people here many analysts here believe that is sure to make the forming of a government even more difficult at such a difficult time why is that because you have the candidate who is the Prime Minister designate was tried for a government he is backed by hezbollah he is opposed by many other so many politicians here there has been a lot of political horse trading going on but everything comes to a standstill right now because many of the candidates here many of the political blocs who oppose his boat they have wanted has a bill of for some time to renounce iran to get further away from iran certainly that is something that was not achievable for hezbollah even before all this now its impossible so this really just worsens a crisis here that already seems to be getting worse at a time when people here are desperate for things to improve Julie Mohammed on that no and weve talked about this many times havent we over the past few weeks looking at protests in that vein and there were also feeling wasnt just just for a short amount of time that there was some progress on the horizon politically so i wonder if we can reflect on what the lebanese people waking up and seeing this news today is it do they feel yet more frustration that you know reforming their politics getting a government in place is just simply falling off the agenda. Look many of the people julie that ive spoken with they have said this initially means the government is not going to be formed anytime soon and they also believe that this but this has the potential to end the uprising here that this really complicates the situation in a way that they could not have guessed would have happened there has been a lot of shock expressed here whats interesting is that you know we have not yet really heard from from representatives of other Political Parties here we have not heard statements of condemnation or support in any way from other political leaders in lebanon and you know its now starting to get rather late in the day for such a deafening silence its clear that right now you know lebanon a lot of people in lebanon are really quite shocked quite taken aback at what happened and worried about what exactly this means Going Forward look youre right there was a sense of hope for some time that perhaps there was going to be a government that was created here in lebanon that would listen to the demands of the people the demonstrators that have been out in the streets want to see lebanon more independent want to see a lebanon that is not so boxed in by regional proxies that includes iran but they have also wanted to make sure that they have a government that represents them that represents lebanon the functions and they can appoint people in key ministerial positions can really try to create opportunities to fight corruption and really start trying to fix the economy and right now a lot of these people that im speaking with today believe that perhaps their hopes have been dashed truly homage ever to their latest from beirut mohamed thank you well a little earlier we spoke to floyd is adi hes a professor of world studies at the university of tehran he says even if they are waiting government doesnt retaliate all the support its of sort of money will acts. I think iran is spineless to this illegal isis a nation is going to be quite serious. If by cooler heads you mean iran will not respond i dont think that will happen even if you dont end leaders decided which is very unlikely but if they decided not to respond general so money had a lot of friends throughout the middle east and internationally and not all of them take direct. Advice from iran and so you will see response and thats why you see a lot of politicians in the United States issuing a statement condemning this act by President Trump because they realize that at the end of the day. The consequences for this act is going to damage the United States the u. S. Has lost its legitimacy they have not only attacked any iranian general they have also killed an iraqi general and someone who has been part of iraq he military force for many years someone who was a war hero against isis when isis was trying to take over baghdad just a few years ago. So there are medications are going to be quite severe and this is going to be the beginning of the end of u. S. Presence in the middle east january 3rd we can mark it on your calendar. Omar wimbush our senior political analyst joins us here in the studio to continue our discussion marwan just broadening the lens a little bit i wonder if you can reflect for me up upon how much what weve seen in these targeted killings and this news that the u. S. Has made in the middle east is much about domestic politics not just in the u. S. Potentially in israel as well as it is about geopolitics on a much larger scale yes absolutely earth because i think in the end of the day. This killing the killing of. Of course and sort of money also involves a number of other casualties and none of them really involve politics involved geopolitics so we have for one we have of course some sort of money and then we have mine this is our ally in iraq that was head of the hezbollah that was responsible for the attack on American Assets on the embassy. Of course for our viewers around the world is probably a good friendly reminder to say that Iran Nuclear Deal is definitely dead now and any attempt by the europeans or the russians on no one else to resort act their own nuclear deal they should need to forget about it thats dead. The understanding between here one of the United States about the limits and the definitions of their confrontations in the region i think thats over now iran basically probably feels as you heard from your guest in the iran that has a free hand to do whatever is going to be divisive does that mean to some degree the strategy of both countries is in relatively uncharted inflammable in trucks salute and i think there is a bet here i think whenever anyone takes such a radical decision or a radical act like the assassination of a cousin someone in the know that this is the quotation of war that the collision of war has implications and ramifications and clearly. Thats what is going to be my last or 2 last points is what about the future of u. S. Influence in iraq is that over it is that a casualty of the killing and to security and peace in the middle east or security and peace in the gulf. What about the next few years in terms of gulf security well immediately as you say that to me if its the end of u. S. Influence in the region who takes that role who takes that place and then where do we end up you know which is the other power that takes along that policing role is that the americans like to watch you know what ive been arguing for a while now is that we are now in the midst of this great confrontation between 2 concepts the security iranian concept of geography through ethnicity Trans National relations religion shares in months old so forth and then theres the american concept of jew politics strategy deployment of forces looking at the big purchasing where the russians are where the indians the chinese the israelis also and so forth and acting in a more geo political terms and i think for many now in iraq even in the gulf probably the thinking now what do we bet on do a book on american geopolitics strategy deployment alliances or do we bet on the iranians the fixture geography in the region iran with all the borders with all the gulf and iraq and syria and sold so forth with incredible possibilities to deploy within its neighborhood and so in a sense a lot of people probably in iraq would be asking the question is do we but on the americans when im going to an american president has just withdrew from syria and is negotiating with the dollar for my vanstone oh do we bet on iran that is still attempting to infiltrate to influence its immediate neighborhood in iraq syria and lebanon whats interesting to me about what youre saying whats fascinating about it is that from the u. S. Perspective this is about controlling the situation within and outside of iran isnt it but it may in fact have the opposite effect im also interested to hear from what john bolton said i mean he left the administration because partly his policies were seen as too extreme and yet we have been congratulating seems to be you know. Using a card straight out was the populist play but. You know a very i cant seem to think on this kind of level but ive just read someone saying well this is definitely going to make john bolton happy and hence he will not testify against in the breach i can think that it that far yes but in a so far as the us National Security and its strategy in the middle east i think theres a very important thing to look for now look. America would not be carrying this this declaration of war if it wasnt ready for the consequences and the consequences will be radical for us policy in the middle east one it has to be sending the right signals that message to the arrangements that if iran acts in any which way to harm us influence that american response would be so severe that it will make the one regret any direct action against the u. S. And its allies so deterrence in the conventional sense is probably the main message now washington is sending to iran you act and you will die you act and you will be harmed you act and we will act double or triple way so thats a very important thing the u. S. Deterrence to iran is if and its x. The other possible radical scenario he has and ive been saying that this morning its really out of the box but i think if you look at trumps instinct at the american president s instincts it might be that hes just musing this as a pretext in order to start saying lets leave iraq iraq has only brought us trouble iraq has been through means of dollars and blood and treasure as it were costing the United States for the last 16 years i believe 6 times in an american is what its cost to be in iraq and i wonder what the end game in sight if there is one what is that investment look like just quickly very quickly but this the thing about about thrown from is a businessman from statesman he still thinks like a business man the 2nd rule of business after the 1st rule of making profit is dont look at your losses in the past try to cut your losses in the future and i think for the american president whats more important than spending the turnings of dollars in the last 16 years is not to spend more treasure and blood in the next 16 years or at least in the next 6 months so you senshi electioneering it is it is partly a nixonian possibly thats how he thinks he thinks and hes been thinking that for a long time that america doesnt have much to profit from the hotspots of the middle east it know no longer needs oil because america produces or oil more than any country in the middle east. Marwan the always fascinating to talk tomorrow and thank you so much for your the use. A quick recap of our rolling coverage and of course what can be seen as a major escalation in the middle east as marwan and i have just been discussing the United States has killed irans will senior military commander custom solomonic was assassinated by an airstrike in the iraq capital shot a bellus takes a look back at his life and his imprint Major General custom solomon he was a Senior Commander of irans Islamic Revolutionary guard corps and the hit of its elite could force he graduated to the role 20 years ago and was regarded as the mastermind of irans military strategy in the region he really spoken public but gave this interview in october saying irans i. O. C. Had expanded Islamic Resistance to half a 1000000 square kilometers connecting iran through iraq and syria to lebanon on. Them all. The codes force runs a runs Foreign Military and claimed to stein operations the us attributed it to campaigns in iraq lebanon and syria germany kenya bahrain and turkey soleimani delegated iranian diplomats to meet with u. S. Officials after the september 11th attacks and they briefly worked together against the taliban but the relationship soon deteriorated during the iraq war the us sit around through the could schools and shia militias killed more than 600. 00 American Service members 17 percent of all u. S. Deaths in the war the us and irans priorities aligned once more in the fight against eisel but didnt devolve possible actual field in april last year the u. S. Does ignatius the Islamic Revolutionary guard corps as a terrorist organization with this designation we are sending a clear signal a clear message to irans leaders. Including some sort of money in his band of thugs that the United States is bringing all pressure to bear to stop the regimes outlaw behavior we ask that our allies and partners around the world do the same but salomone had the full support of irans government we received irans highest military award last year as tensions between the us and iran solomonic continue to support shia militias including the hezbollah brigades who were targeted in 5 u. S. Is strikes last week after they fired rockets at a us space he survived many attacks on his life inside iran and abroad but it would be in iraq where shia militias trained by his could force killed hundreds of americans that the u. S. Indeed has writing age 62 charlotte ballasts aljazeera. It is the 12 g. M. T. And 3 pm in baghdad i met clark across the middle east on this friday it is a tense morning after the u. S. Killed irans top military commander Major General tsunami the attacks happened at Baghdad Airport iran is calling it an assassination the pentagon says President Donald Trump bored of the attack to quote protect the u. S. Personnel abroad meanwhile u. S. Embassy the u. S. Embassy in baghdad has issued an alert urging all americans to leave iraq immediately iran Supreme LeaderAyatollah Ali Khamenei has called for 3 days of National Mourning and many warned of harsh revenge and said the attack would double tehrans resolve to resist United States iraqs Prime Minister says the strike will spark a devastating war well speak to our correspondents in the region shortly but 1st this report from saying bugger off