Evening busy news night is tell you about this january the 3rd one is kevin owen live here at r. T. H. Q. With the world news update if you stay with me for the next half hour or so so the big story into the middle east this morning the u. S. Secretary of state has defended americas assassination of irans top military commander same sum of money in a drone strike on Baghdad International airport on friday might claim the attacks saved american lives she said and further said that washington remains committed to deescalating tensions with tehran. That was the time to take this action so that we could disrupt this plot deter further aggression from chaos and salami in the Iranian Regime as well as to attempt to deescalate the situation. The Early Morning raid then also reportedly killed 9 others including influential iraqi and lebanese shia militia leaders there believed to be leaving the airport there in 2 vehicles when the strikes took place some sort of money let the powerful could force which is an elite branch of the Iran Revolutionary guard corps charged with spearheading foreign operations the units been heavily involved in the conflicts in iraq and syria and instrumental in the territorial defeat of now in the u. S. The general was listed though as a terrorist the pentagon says he was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American Service personnel and was actively planning this a further attacks irans leadership has reacted furiously to the assassination which was ordered direct by President Trump and theyve promised they will be retribution. The u. S. Act of International Terrorism targeting and assassinating general saloon money the most effective force fighting dying isis alqaeda and hope is extremely dangerous and foolish escalation the u. S. Busy responsibility for all consequences of its rogue adventurism just as unprecedented in how how tense things are how both countries are in this is this is the abbotts this is the abas to kill assassinate the man who is referred to as the 2nd most powerful man in iran a potential successor to the Supreme Leader he was killed after arriving at the airport in baghdad the u. S. Airstrike he would see was targeted in this operation was preplanned they knew he was coming they knew where to strike the they were targeting him at the direction of the president the u. S. Military has taken decisive defensive action to protect u. S. Personnel abroad by killing customs so in money this strike was aimed at deterring future iranian attack plans the United States will continue to take all necessary action to protect our people and our interests wherever they are around the world and the fallout has been global weve had leaders all over the world officials come out. Against you know urging calm and deescalation and the reunions convening the National Security council they have one message the entire ring in hierarchy that there will be consequences retaliation if there is as of yet no indication how exactly the iranians will respond to it respond to this but they havent launched any missiles yet and you know the they are stupid theyre intelligent people they probably understand a war with the United States is the last thing they need but i doubt that the leave this you know without without an answer and so how is the u. S. Justifying the myth while the United States is saying that. He was the ultimate bad guy this is this is from the state department this is in American Press that we just killed the worlds number one bad guy this is this is simpson in modeling he was at the forefront of the fight against isis in iraq when it seemed like isis the jihad this would go to take the whole country was he who helped organize the p. M. S. The Popular Mobilization forces iraqi civilians banding together to resist ties and successfully while the army was in shambles as they got their things in order to help by the coalition but they defeated isis what the United States has been saying is that he is responsible for the deaths of 517 americans over the years that he was complicit that he had a rule to play in recent in the recent spate of attacks on u. S. Bases. Draw some indications that they may be planning additional attacks if that happens then to act and by the way 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. They disregard sovereignty did this work are the government they disregard the people of iraq their their utter arrogant behavior is has made the whole region outraged and then they wonder why people hate america but wasnt for a general sort of money there probably wouldnt be a syria today and there were. The black flag was over damascus thanks to the United States and its allies and if it wasnt for general stolen money probably there wouldnt be in iraq today and the capital over the capital we would have had the black sides of isis iraqis except for those bathurst who supported Saddam Hussein in isis supporters who are celebrating the overwhelming majority of iraqis supports general salomone and are grateful to them for helping save the country wherever the United States goes and destroys its all for its all to defend democracy and freedom and the American People which is our nonsense so immediate row of occasions at the moment the us is urging american citizens to leave iraq immediately and not to approach the embassy in baghdad to secure green zone with American EmbassyIraqi Government is located is in lockdown but might pompei again believes the strikes of largely he says been welcomed in iraq. Iraqis iraqis dancing in the street for freedom thankful that general salim ani is no more im really here we are on american iran should solve their problems absolutely when we do not want them to solve it here we do not celebrate the killing or so the money or anyone else because this will not serve us at the end of the day of a loved one as mentioned in iran where sort of money was widely revered the assassinations triggered an outpouring of grief and anger 3 days of mourning but announced and thousands of iranians have turned out in cities across the country to one of the general was paul asli and now reports next the u. S. Assault polarized opinion across the world. Weve witnessed reaction from the International Community and particularly here in the region the concern is that the American Actions will destabilize the situation there is a lot of criticism being leveled at the United States turkey has accused the american president of destabilizing the middle east have you that is being echoed by syria it also says that this will own. Fuel the conflict. The leader of the iran backed his group that is based in lebanon has called for the resistance the world over to avenge the killing and at the same time and now the rain back in the gaza strip has expressed its condolences to tehran and as for the Iraqi Government they have accused the americans also to quote a gratian that they say will lead to a devastating war the assassination of an Iraqi Military commander is an aggression on iraq as a State Government and people its a flagrant violation of iraqs sovereignty and dangerous escalation that triggers a destructive war in iraq the region and the world it violates the conditions authorizing the presence of u. S. Troops on iraqi soil. Cowardly u. S. Aggression will only strengthen determination to follow in the path of the resistance is my leaders right now here in tel aviv the top defense vish officials of israel all holding an emergency meeting the israeli army has been put on high alert particularly along the borders in the north and the south and that is out of concern that there could be some kind of reaction from either hamas or hizbullah talking to israelis on the ground many fear that there will be a reaction the question is just when and what form it will take having said all of that the israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu has welcomed the attack and praised the american President Donald Trump president roh deserves all the credit for acting swiftly forcefully decisively israel sternes with the United States in this just struggle with bruce security and so the birds the American Action was a reaction to a series of military provocations for which iran is responsible we also see with great concern to around 60 of it is in the region was done before then dress escalation the reaction from european leaders has been more moderate not despite the concern being expressed that this will destabilize the region no one has been bold enough to really come straight out and criticize the American Press. Event nato has said that it is monitoring the situation closely with a particular i on its Training Mission in iraq so as you can actually determine the region and indeed the International Community very concerned about what has happened here paula slater there a middle east correspondent so the next 2448 hours are going to be crucial will be following the hour weve been bringing the reaction throughout the day as well mark severances here now from the Quincy Institute for responsible stay craft. You know its sort of play for over the next 122448 hours to see what the response is going to be will it be a muted response will Something Big happened we dont know yet but either which way the u. S. Said they did this because it was a defensive thing to do do you agree with. Well you know theres no question in that trunk memory when i was regarded iran as an enemy if youre going to Trumps Campaign rhetoric it was nearly entirely wrong in terms of tearing up the nuclear deal and it is true that there has been a tit for tat going on between the u. S. And iran since feel weve isolated over the past few weeks in iraq however this really is a watershed and so throughout studied hezbollah in the broader hierarchy see far from where we are with the concept of of rules for the game. Theres a basic understanding that violence can be used on either side but within certain parameters however taking out the leader of the quds force in baghdad will be seen as a gross violation of these rules and what that means is. Deterrence between you want to say as well as israel has broken down and were now looking at an arrow not of deterrence but of preemption and theres a real concern that things are going to ask really even further and if you were to ask me you know you i predict to happen the answer is you have iran is going to respond and iran has many different options about how it will respond in a way you wrote is actually in control it will choose how it wants to or talk to you but it really doesnt want a full scale face off with america does it. Well thats really not the way you run tends to we war in iraq. Recognize 2 although it has a population of 8x1w8x1w and that it doesnt want to go toe to toe with the United States or frankly many other country even in the region and so what it has done of it has created this Sprawling Network of military groups throughout the persian gulf throughout the lobato whether were talking about hezbollah in lebanon were talking about the hooty based in yemen and were talking about power standing in groups based in gaza were talking about various groups in syria or canister he wrong prefers to project power in an asymmetric fashion and i suspect iran will continue to do so particularly now with the u. S. Around the world max i want to talk about american reaction just a minute well come on to what nancy pelosi had to say just a minute but what abut a rag this could have been dragged into this iraqi official saying tonight hey they werent warned so therefore they said we couldnt have really done anything to protect this man and these important people that died with it and by the way why do you think he was that well this is a man who i mean of the many people in the world who say that he evil but he was definitely brave i mean he was very often on the frontline in the worlds most dangerous conflict. So he went directly into the heart of syria when the when i was with the high ira whether to facing off i still but not much thanks it seems tonight for the for america but its a complicated picture. It is. A lot of mixed views are are working out he was responsible for the projection of iranian power are really in many different ways from the bar to go to health care if youre even for it to south america or are you over the ground here was very how does it get us are particularly in the United States for helping to combat Islamic State but it was quite instrumental in getting back isis in iraq or as well as in syria donald trump has some support from his own side but fierce criticism from the democrats particularly nancy pelosi shes come out and said hey you should have gone to congress 1st but this you didnt is she is. There ministration has conducted tonight strike in iraq targeting high level Iranian Military officials and killing Iranian Quds Force commander some silly money without another 3rd is ation for use of military force against iran further this action was taken without the consultation of the congress what ok she writes or not is she going to do Something Like this i suppose the military commanders are going to say youve got to do it stealthily you cant go around making big plans telling people advance what youre going to do does she have a point or not should have gone to congress. Well its very good of course you know what has happened in terms of u. S. Foreign policy making i mean based on the constitution only congress should be much more involved in these wars particularly the socalled never ending wars. Parked over what has happened over them over to iraqis is that the power shift through to exactly we were actually the president decides not only to declare were going to get into iraq the Roots Movement your reaction but youve been for you know 13 military operations and the kinds of missions. Should require congressional approval in terms of use of the market are now worth the president is not going to say that he really had no insurance. You know that this leader was on the verge of striking a mirror target so there is going to be a real apis of us to show that the threat with him in and out why a preemptive strike were going to be hearing with our congressional approval whoa wait to see what else the americans cause most we can leave it there for now im sorry were out of time on this one but this story is going to run around for days yet as more details come out but maybe what proof they had and what the ramifications are what iran might do now except thank you for now so well let you get on with your evening and and come back to a soon thank you might say part of it for the queen seems to be responsible stake draft. Ok is coming up to 18 minutes past 6 in the evening moscow time you fight on the button right now so lets go to our next story several countries have condemned the Turkish Parliament decision to send troops to libya israel greece and those cypress have voice their concern over a possible escalation of the conflict in the region of whats happened in the past 24 hours in this permission or potential permission theyre calling turkeys plans reckless. The turkeys decision to deploy troops in libya presents a dangerous threat to regional stability the repercussions of such reckless move will be dire for the stability and peace of the entire region in a phone call with the turkish leader the us president also raised concerns that foreign interference he said could further complicate the situation in libya though the 2 did agree to maintain their Diplomatic Corp multiple forces have been vying for power in libya its such a complicated picture since the ousting of longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi back in 2 in the 11 on one side theres the u. N. Backed government of National Accord that controls the capital tripoli you see on the map along with some coastal areas in the west of the country its rival over into broke the selfstyled Libyan National army headed by general Khalifa Haftar holds large swathes in eastern and central libya and the 3rd region to complicate it even more controlled by local tribes and militias now the u. S. Government formally requested military aid from turkey last month present at one city do that went into business suits journey started and said potentially yes so in the face of an onslaught by half task forces that the post was made of now libyas neighbors are voiced major reservations over the Troop Deployment plans now egypts calling on the International Community to respond urgently weve been here analy