Forces including the socalled Popular Mobilization forces and the sunni tribal fighters and thats why theres a delay in the upcoming offensive. Iraq prepares for a major assault on i. S. I. L. But internal divisions could paralyze the effort. Growing violence. Individuals on both sides of this divide have profned incapablprovenproven capableof. Secretary of state john kerry preparing to into the region. And a bear in a Shopping Mall in russia. Good evening, im antonio mora. This is Al Jazeera America. We begin in syria where iran has reportedly made a major move to support syrian president bashar alassad. Over the past few days, reports say hundreds of Iranian Forces have entered syria under the cover of russias air campaign. The white house said its keeping an eye on the reports. A team of iranian legislators arrived in damascus around the photos sai showed the head of te elite kuds force. Fearfierce battle with i. S. I. L,t now theyre preparing for another offensive the syrian army. Meanwhile, u. S. And russian commanders head another round of talks but rejected talks held in washington, chaired by Prime Minister dimitri me medvedev. Jamie mcintire is there. Good evening jamie. Perhaps more than a thousand have moved into central and Northern Syria over the past two weeks and they appear to be linking up with hezbollah fighters in what has all the earmarks of an offensive to take back some areas of syria that are currently head by syrian antigovernment rebels. The center of the issue seems to be aleppo and the province around it, various areas, some held by the Syrian Government forces some busy the antigovernment opposition, some held by i. S. I. L. In that area. The pentagon has down played the overall numbers saying its not as high as 1500 in some places but doesnt deny the iranians are there or which side theyre on. As you mentioned the pictures have surfaced on social media of kasam sulimani the kuds commander, seeking to a proregime forces, a force of bashar alassad, more evidence that these russian air strikes along with the iranian troop presence in the ground is aimed at the u. S. Backed opposition much more than i. S. I. L. Something sharply criticized by the white house today. Here is spokesman josh earnest. We are obviously watching that situation quite closely and its consistent with what theyve done in the pass but its an indication of how isolated russia is. The only people coordinated with them now is the fledgling Assad Government such as it is and the iranians who had been engaged in the kind of destabilizing activity inside of syria that has made them the target for u. S. And international sanctions. Reporter antonio you might think with the russian air force, the iranian fighters, the syrian army, that the u. S. Backed troops would be on the ropes, but fierce fighting, u. S. Supplied tow antitank weapons are having effect and only giving ground grudgingly. This will be ongoing for a while now antonio mora antonio. Any progress . Pentagon issued a statement but it also underscored the statement that these are narrowly focused discussions. Just about making sure that the u. S. And russian planes stay out of each others way. This is not anything advancing the cause of peace in syria nor coordinating the battle against i. S. I. L. Its just to make sure those u. S. And russian airplanes dont have any incidents or accidents as they are attacking very different targets on the ground. Antonio. Jamie mcintire in washington, thanks. Irans test of a long range missile violated Security Council resolutions, according to samantha power, u. S. Ambassador to the u. N. Will bring up the matter at the u. N. Security council. The white house thoated in contrast iran has so far fulfilled its commitments regarding its nuclear program. Irans Guardian Council has approved the agreement reached with the u. S. And five other international powers. The deal requires iran to reduce its Nuclear Capabilities and allow their facilities open for inspectors, the countrys parliament prove approved the dn thursday. Diplomats should vote or the ukraine to have a seat on the Security Council. Al jazeeras diplomatic editor james bays reports. 250,000 dead, its also a major failure of global diplomacy. Now the u. S. And its allies firmly oppose the president assad and it his allies carrying out the air strikes in syria. This is not u. S. And russian relations the worst since the cold war. U. S. Has accused russia of backing separatists in eastern ukraine. Now the situation tharnd table supposed to have the final say on International Peace and security is about to get even more complicated. After an election by the u. N. Glig General Assembly of forlity, ukraine will next year join the council. One person who understands the dynamics of the Security Council is ambassador rosemary de carlo, she was president of the council in july 2013. I dont think it is a new cold war. I think it is a bumpy relationship we have with russia now, between the u. S. And russia. It is a bit chilly. Some of the issues that we have not been able to resolve with the russians, ukraine, syria we certainly had disagreements over u. S. And nato intervention this libya as you know. I think that unfortunately these disagreements are spilling over to other issues and that is most unfortunate. Reporter not only is ukraine due to join the council, meaning that two players ukraine and russia will bothing sitting around this top table of international democracy, another interesting situation, jordan will finish its term, its due to be replaced by egypt, yes a u. S. Ally but recently president sisi is make overtures to moscow, too. Things are likely to get more complicated. James bays, al jazeera, United Nations. Streets of bethlehem earlier today. Israeli Police Stepped up security. They fired tear gas, they sealed off certain palestinian neighborhoods. Secretary of state john kerry said he will head to the region to try defuse tensions. Karl penhall is there. Karl. The Israeli Government security cabinet approved a number of measures aimed at beefing up security amid this round of violence. One of the areas that those were most evident today was the fracture line that separates west jerusalem from East Jerusalem. Security forces were trying to stay up positions to cordon off some of the palestinian neighborhoods in east jurming jm particularly where alleged attackers have come from over the past few days. You might of course say what effect these security measures are having so far. As you say wednesday was certainly another violent day, street clashes on the one hand, more stabbings on the other. Lets take olook at ther a looks report. Occupied west bank. Clashes with the israeli army after the funeral of a 27yearold shot and killed by Israeli Forces while protesting a day earlier. In contrast west jerusalem was unusually quiet. Deployed here and in several other cities as part of a Government Security crack down following a series of stabbings and shootings. You can see, its almost empty here. So the people little bit afraid. Especially the mothers or the kids going to the garden or to the school. Reporter latest incident came wednesday afternoon when an israeli woman was stabbed at the citys central bus station, according to authorities. Her attacker a 23yearold from East Jerusalem shot dead by police. He became the 32nd palestinian killed in the monthlong wave of clashes. The live address wednesday Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas said israeli action was meant to nigh insighd provoke. Well not give up policies which are against our people and sacred sites. We will not stand for the killing of our children in cold blood. September 13th a faceoff between arab youth and Israeli Police at Jerusalems Alaqsa mosque exown compound. One of the holiest sites for both muslims and jews who wall it the temple mount. Recent israeli measures to limit palestinian access. Residents in occupied East Jerusalem are now bracing themselves for possible punitive israeli action. Like the demolition of homes of those september of taking part in attacks. Suspected of taking part in attacks. Goals of the Israeli Government, the only way to achieve the goals if peaceful way of living between the israelis and palestinians are establishing a two state solution. Check points and roadblocks is already been set up to access of certain East Jerusalem neighborhoods, stie stifling ats at normal life. They wont return bodies for burial, instead the Authorities Say they may take those corpses and dump them in unmarked graves in remote military bases. Antonio. Karl penhall reporting from jerusalem, thanks. Fighting between Afghan Security forces and taliban, tens of thousands have been stuck on highway 1 which runs from kabul to kandahar. Thousands of trucks and buses have been trapped since the beginning of the week. Rethinking the withdrawal of troops from afghanistan, the president seems increasingly willing to keep a large force there, large enough to reluctant for al qaeda and i. S. I. L. There continues to be a threat that emanates from afghanistan and our abilities to carry out those Counterterrorism Operations continues to be important. The plan has been to reduce the number of u. S. Troops there to about a thousand by the end of next year. Douglas olivant is an Al Jazeera America security contributor, served in afghanistan and joins us. Good evening doug. Good evening, antonio. We have a big bipartisan report, saying president obamas plan to almost totally withdraw from afghanistan by the end of next year would promote dissolution, do you agree . I think theres a good chance that that could happen. The question that critics could make is does that change if we punt this ten years down the road to 2025 or 2035 . Are we really on a path to get to a place where United States troops can ever offramp from there . Weve seen he most notably pushes back in kunduz and the north but we also have i. S. I. L. In the east around jalalabad and pushes against canada rar i kane south also. Is this a tar baby we can ever disentangle youre from . Can you hope that the afghans will be able to control their country without substantial Foreign Military aid . I have hope, but hope is not a plan. We all hope that the afghans will be able to pull it together but rational analysis gives us no real basis to think that thats going to happen in the next five or ten years. And is the United States willing to spend the money and keep the troops there, for the foreseeable future . Wouldnt it cost even more if a withdrawal would lead to afghanistan becoming a failed state . A u. N. Report says taliban controls more of the state than ever before. I. S. I. L. Seems to have an increasing presence. The. Look, theres clearly very real problems there. The question is, if we left and then came back, it would be more expensive. Theres no doubt about that. The question is is this something that we could mitigate from the air, or where we could have proxies or partners in the country, although weve seen how unsatisfactory that could be in places like syria. Is there another way that we could do this without keeping u. S. Troops in this isolated hostile and landlocked country which makes them very, very expensive to maintains there. So what should the plan be . What are the options being discussed . Currently there are about 10,000 u. S. Troops there. I dont hear any plan to increase the number of troops. I think options are, do we keep what we have or how close to we get to the 1,000 number that you referred to earlier . Do we slow down that wrawl with, do we not get to 1,000, punts that back to one or two years, accept having five to 6,000 over the next few years . Those are the ranges were talking about. Issue in afghanistan doesnt seem to be debting better. Douglas olivant, thank you. Stepping up the u. S. Presence this africa. The fight against boko haram. And why iraq might want to proceed with caution before allowing russia to take part in its battles against i. S. I. L. I just had a horrible nightmare. My companys entire network went down, and i was home in bed, unaware. But that would never happen. Comcast business monitors my Companys Network 24 hours a day and calls and emails me if something, like this scary storm, takes it offline. So i can rest easy. What. You dont have a desk bed . Dont be left in the dark. Get proactive alerts 24 7. Comcast business. Built for business. The Iraqi Military is getting ready to make a push into anbar province, the main goal to capture ramadi from i. S. I. L. Imtiaz tyab explains why the offensive hasnt started yet. These sunni tribal fighters chant we are not afraid. They belong to tribes from the predominantly sunni anbar province. Just completed a Training Program with the Iraqi Military. Their graduation was attended and a deliberate show of unity as the government prepares for what its describing as a major offensive in anbar to retake the capital, ramadi from i. S. I. L. Our message to the Central Government is that these are your sons and we want them to be integrated into the military establishment and recognized officially. The recruits are trained to be part of whats been called the National Guard. A proposed armed force for each of iraqs provinces made up solely of local fighters. Its made to address concerns in predominantly sunni areas that predominantly sunni militias are trying the gain control. A bill seeking approval for the controversial plan has stalled in parliament. With iraqs deep sectarian divisions largely to blame for the political deadlock. As a result, Prime MinisterHaider Alabadi hasnt been able to launch a influence offensive in anbar, despite promising to do so for weeks. Translator there is no trust between the Government Forces including the socalled Popular Mobilization forces and the sunni tribal fighters and thats why theres a delay in the upcoming offensive. Reporter this isnt the first time iraqi forces have tried to liberate ramadi from i. S. I. L. Back in july the offensive was halted after sunni tribes complained shia militias were becoming too involved in the fighting. Haider alabadis strategy has been described by some political analysts as a complete mess. Still hes determined to retake the capital ramadi from the armed group but until he breaks the political deadlock and addresses sectarian concerns hell have a heart time doing so. Imtiaz tyab, al jazeera, baghdad. Russias intervention in syria is the latest complication in iraq. Sergey lavrov acknowledged his country was working with iraq against i. S. I. L. Earlier on wednesday lavrov had said that only syria had asked the kremlin for direct intervention. Ththe author of invasion to controversy, said that you treas it was titled iraq should fear russias help. I want to get to russia in a minute but in that op ed, you also address an issue we just heard about in imen imtiaz tyabs report. Do you agree they cant even form a National Guard to fight i. S. I. L . Thats the heart of the problem in iraq today. The fact is that although we can have short term military successes against i. S. I. S, there is no long term political solution to the problem in iraq without getting the sunnis on board. And without making the sunnis a coor parcore part of not only ti government but also a core part and leading part of the military forces that seek to dispem i. S. I. Sdispeli. S. I. S. From sunn. Youre not going to be able to hold the territory that you make clear of i. S. I. S. Elements and youre not going to be able to prevent i. S. I. S. From making a rear appearance in the long term. Reappearance in the long term. And russias continued involvements, soon soons despise russian actions especially against assad in syria. Absolutely. The problem in iraq today is that shiite militias and great deal of the shiite population is really clamoring for greater assistance from the outside against i. S. I. S. And theyre supporting these overtures by russia for a more extensive military role in iraq because theyre tired and theyre frustrated by what they see as a halfhearted u. S. Interaction with this battle in iraq. Is it they feel that the u. S. Is not serious. Right. Is it fair to say youre concerned that russia has greater ambitions in the middle east and that its taking advantage of the vacuum left buy lack of American Leadership, taking advantage of that to increase its influence in iraq . That is absolutely the case. If we had had more robust American Leadership in the middle east, from the start of this administration, we would absolutely not be seeing russia playing the role that it is playing in the middle east today. It simply would not have taken the risk of engaging militarily in a region in which the u. S. Was already pursuing its own strategic goals. The problem is that the Obama Administration has demonstrated time and time again that