Now on bbc news, hardtalk. Welcome to hardtalk, im stephen sackur. Americas assassination of one of irans 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 countrys 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 didnt expect of course, this kind
The us defence secretary has denied that us troops are pulling out of iraq, despite a letter from an American General there suggesting a withdrawal. And the highest ranking us soldier, the chairman of thejoint chiefs of staff, has called the letter a mistake. At the centre of tensions, the killing in an american drone strike of the top iranian commander, in baghdad. His funeral has attracted huge crowds in tehran. Gareth barlow reports. Helicopters fly over baghdad as the United States insist it forces will remain ina United States insist it forces will remain in a rock. Washington has been forced to deny that this draft letter written by a Senior Us Army general suggest american troops are withdrawing from the country. In it, the general rights abscess writes. Iraqi mps have called on american trips to leave and the risk covered officials acknowledge the letter is genuine. But it says it explains the us is moving troops out of the capital to provide protection elsewhere and isnt withd
Trump upsets liberal hollywood by taking out a terrorist, and i hit the streets to discover thef seniors are playing more video games. Joining the right hearing studio, you dont want to miss this. But first, iran is vowing revenge for the killing with revolutionary guard leader in an air strike yesterday. Its not clear how they will retaliate, but u. S. Troops and Security Officials are on high alert, and now, there are reports of another deadly air strike on iranian backed militias in iraq. For the latest details, we go to foxs benjamin hall, who is life in amman, jordan. Benjamin . Raymond, good evening from jordan. All day, we will been waiting for some possible retaliation from the irradiance, but out of nowhere came a surprise announcement that there may have been another u. S. Strike just north of baghdad. It is not yet confirmed, but early reports suggest that it may have targeted two cars, one of them carrying a key finance facilitator close. But of course, the man everyone is
Hello. The us defence secretary has denied that us troops are pulling out of iraq, despite a letter from an American General there suggesting a withdrawal. And the highest ranking us soldier, the chairman of thejoint chiefs of staff, has called the letter a mistake. At the centre of tensions the killing in an american drone strike of the top iranian commander, Qasem Souleimani in baghdad. His funeral has attracted huge crowds in tehran. Gareth barlow reports. Helicopters fly over baghdad as the United States insists its forces will remain in iraq. Washington has been forced to deny that this draft letter written by a Senior Us Army general suggests american troops are withdrawing from the country. In it, the brigadeer general writes iraqi mps have called on american troops to leave and Us Government officials acknowledge the letter is genuine, but it says it explains the us is moving troops out of the capital to provide protection elsewhere and isnt withdrawing. The defence secretary m
You up to date on the headlines. You up to date. Now on bbc news click. Are you well . That was great. Trying to give spencer direction. 0k, well set back up the top, please. We just did a stagger through which is about three hours behind schedule. Hopefully its all going to work out in the end when we go live at 5 oclock. No pressure. Fingers crossed its all going to happen. Im just changing bits, i hope he doesnt mind. Like that . Yeah. Are you pleased with that rehearsal . Kind of, yeah, ijust want these to be in. It was quite nerve racking at this point but im excited. Theres a bit of a buzz, isnt there . Been looking forward to it for weeks. Why are you guys here tonight . Ijust want to learn, really, and see all the new stuff going on. Are you sure we shouldnt be there already . Trust me, were going to get there on time. But dundees 500 miles away. The trains going to take hours, even a flights going to take too long. There is no way. Seriously, i had a word with a guy, he knows