A. Deadline to disarm gunmen blamed for an outbreak of fighting in the capital of the Central African republic the a few hours left to surrender. Or the day sporting kidding. And he. Returns from entering to leave the bucs to win over the Chicago Bulls all the n. B. A. Action coming up later. But we start with breaking news out of iraq where thousands of protesters have entered the secured green zone in baghdad and marched to the u. S. Embassy most of members of the iranian backed Popular Mobilization forces one report suggests some have pushed down the door and broken into the compound they condemning u. S. Air strikes on sunday on bases belonging to an iranian backed shia militia in iraq u. S. Embassy stuff and the ambassador are reported to have been evacuated the u. S. Says the attacks against the hezbollah brigades were a response to the killing of the u. S. Civilian contractor the funerals of at least 27. 00 shia fighters killed in those strikes a taking place in baghdad now the embassy in baghdad is the United States largest diplomatic post in the world and also the most expensive to build it sits within the heavily fortified green zone in the citys center or some other 14 joins us now on the phone from baghdad and some other way hearing all sorts of stories about whats actually happening inside the embassy bring us up to date on this protests. 6 but im currently setting about 100 metres away after a while at the embassy there so a quite a lot of black smoke rising at the scenes that protesters have managed to set part of the outer wall of the embassy actually on the retired theyve also been one of the protesters now a chanting behind me no no to america they have also been telling stones at the embassy and weve seen quite a lot of and of and to pass to quite a few people were injured as a result of the smoke with also heard here guys and found 2 inmates being deployed i cannot tell who was that playing both whether it was what it was the american personnel inside protecting the embassy or whether it was Iraqi Security forces but still its a large expense we can basically see iraqi forces handing by allowing these crowds remaining very close to the embassy and basically not seeing really much to 1st pass out front again we have one of those ambulances pass by carrying one of the people who were wounded as a result of inhaling the smoke and the smoke actually keeps rising and it appears now to be also coming from not just the outer walls but also inside the Embassy Compound but i cannot really exactly tell what is burning what they should actual building on whether its something that was across the world. Richard although the really great album. In the background we could hear some of the protests around you what is. Being supports about evacuations inside the embassy can you tell us more about that. Well i have not been able to confirm this from my point. I have not seen any helicopters for example lead the u. S. Embassy compound but of course this is a very large compound attack several exits gates and it is possible that the staff were evacuated through a gate that is located in another place where i can see them both been trying to reach the spokesperson of the u. S. Embassy but we have not been able to get a response but of course d this kind of crowd being so close to the u. S. Embassy is something that we havent really seen here in fact that i mean up until now the only threat to the u. S. Embassy has basically been as a result of rocket attacks targeted at the embassy but most of the time these rocket attacks so many fall anywhere near the embassy they dont really injure or hurt anybody put to have. Hundreds or thousands of p. M. S. Members strength in uniform some of them carrying guns this close to the embassies certainly perceived as a significant threat to the Embassy Staff though you did touch on this just a little bit earlier but i want to just go back and explain to us about how the protesters have managed to get this close to the embassy and exactly what Security Forces there are doing you were signed before by appeared to be allowing the protesters to just toss. Indeed and lets be very clear these protesters are not the same protesters who have been demonstrating against the government for free months these are crowds are p. M. S. Members or their supporters the majority of people are wearing military uniforms there are some civilians but theyre also appear to be supporters or loyalists of the pm because not a broader presentation of the. Iraqi population or the protests that have been going on but this is basically basically began gathering at around 10 oclock local time on the other side of the river and marched across the Hanging Bridge into the fold to fight them the Security Forces were supposed to protect those gates standing by basically letting them pass without any effort whatsoever to prevent them from reaching the u. S. And because this is video ironic also for me as someone who resides in fact that because i have had many times if you actually enter these gates to try to meet u. S. Officials theres always many permissions that are required and right now im basically standing very close to you embassy was surrounded by hundreds of p. M. S. Members and Security Forces are basically have just down on their usual security procedures letting people go in and out as they. Just for viewers now as well bring us up to date and place this protest in context there with the american strikes the other day against these iranian aligned militia weve seen iran and the. Catawba hezbollah both denounce the United States have been threats of retaliation as well and the funerals for those who were q. Strikes plus this protest now in that broader tone text that what weve seen play out in the past few days. Basically was. A saying that this is just the 1st. Warning. 9 face and they have heard. A again u. S. Soldiers based here in. Iraq so d i dont prefer all the end of it that was chris another ambulance again speeding away from the site where the fire is ongoing so i dont believe it will be the end of it this is just the 1st public show of defiance a fine. One to really send a message to the us that they are going to that they are able. Theyre able to enter the green zone without any forever which implies certain support from the Iraqi Government proposed this comes at the back of an unprecedented escalation with never had the u. S. Tried. In iraq or at least admit to that in public so were likely to see further escalation as the p. M. S. Militarily but it is also a pledge that it takes us in parliament to formally request to withdraw all pulling troops from iraq. Thank you for that some of the full team there of course well come back to some of it was those protests continue and for any other developments now among the protesters that the u. S. Embassy is. Hes an iraqi politician closely linked to tehran next to him. His political leader because ali was recently placed under u. S. Sanctions lets go live now to Dorsey Jabari in the iranian capital tehran and just a. Particular bit. Can you tell us about them with links to iran. Well we know that how the other money who is the head of the brother organization and his party is part of the leading kolisch in iraqs government in parliament that and how the a number he has expressed his allegiance to iranian leadership the Supreme LeaderAyatollah Ali Khamenei as well as the head of the courts force of the revolutionary guard Major General hossam solomon and so his legion says are never questioned he has said in the past that he identifies with the ideologies of the Islamic Republic and even during the 8 year iran iraq war the armory fought on the iranian side against Saddam Hussein and the iraqi forces so his presence now at this event is significant not only because he is now part of the official government in iraq but its sending a signal its a very strong message to the americans in iraq and that is that iran is never far away from its its influence is never rather far away in iraq and also his companion the crisis ali is also another figure who heads a Political Group and theyre also in parliament weve also seen pictures of. The hundreds who is the head of the popular move in front of all these groups that weve been mentioning are part of the Popular Mobilization front which are part of the Iraqi Government so these are all high ranking officials at this event which means that this event was not an impromptu gathering that they had a message there was a deliberate a purpose for these leaders to show up at this rally and that is to say to the American Forces in iraq that their presence is not welcome then this is a warning many believe that they will not be tolerated their presence and their attacks on various installations in iraq will not be tolerated you know and those who are at this point we should probably clarify who these groups are they have links to iran the history of these groups the Popular Mobilization fortunes and for with iraqis against us all have been integrated all suppose the integrated back into rockys iraqs Defense Forces but also mind tying these alliances to take is true that makes playing these groups for. Well these various groups really started popping up in iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein and when the United States began their operations in iraq these groups took up arms and they said that they wanted the occupiers out of their country and they fought against u. S. Forces for many many years and then eventually they laid down their arms there were cease fires. Agreed upon in these groups lay down their arms and in 2018 they became part of the government part of the iraqs army and they call them the Popular Mobilization front now the iranians for their parts have said in the past and specifically Major General hossam solomon he has said that they are supporting these groups with training and arms and that that that is not a secret and this is where the problem lies with the americans they say that they dont want the iranians involved in iraqs business and that is what these attacks have been about back and forth and this is where we are today the americans believe that these attacks will deter iran from reaching out to these groups and supporting them but as weve seen the scenes unfolding in baghdad today there are only strengthening their position that they dont want the americans in their country at any cost to also thank you you started of course well come back to you when we need to run a mansoor is a Research Fellow at Chatham House in the on the middle east and north Africa Program and project director of the Iraq Initiative he joins us from london its good to have you with us i want to pick up on with Dorsett Jabari our reporter in tehran lift off and that is the question of iran irans involvement in iraq how the United States see that and what these protests are telling us about that today because that up 1st and take us through how you analyze the sort of shifting politics in the influences that were seeing on the ground here right now. Well since 2003 when the u. S. And its allies invaded on top of the us and regime there has been this to this question there has been this kind of back and forth between which side is stronger the u. S. Or iran and this has been a question amongst iraq it political circles its been a question of in the region who will have the upper hand and whereas that was once an actual question with and the answer was unclear i think in the last few years its become clear that in the post 2003 iraq iran has turned out to be the more powerful actor iran has strong relations not only with the security groups that we talk about that weve been talking about but also with the Political Groups with the institutions with state and nonstate actors inside iraq and across the political spectrum from senay shia and kurdish groups if you look at the condemnation that the iraqi president the iraqi Prime Minister and the speaker of parliament came out against these american airstrikes its very clear that america is kind of has its back to a corner right now and it doesnt have that type of leverage either with institutions with the iraqi state or with the government that it supposedly helped build after 2003 whereas iran at least with some of the more powerful leaders remains quite influential so iran has kind of come out on top if it will if you will in that sort of question of where does iraq go between america and iran and that really 3 into the instability that were seeing in the rocky politics right now because yes we did see the rocky president all those condemned those u. S. Strikes weve also seen the iraqi president refused to. Allow the nomination or to accept the nomination of the pro iranian nomination for president for promise to the us dani there is so much swirling around inside iraq right now how do you factor in that that political instability to the protests we see here the american strikes and you runs and visions inside iraq. Yes thats right thats exactly right the Political Landscape in iraq is not clear there isnt a clear leader there isnt a clear one side or one party that is the most influential inside iraq these protests against the u. S. Embassy are as much about regional and International Politics as they are about their own domestic politics what weve seen in the last few months are protests erupt in their square and much of the south of iraq protests that are actually going against these armed groups these militias and these paramilitary groups protests that are saying iran out. And so at the back of it i think we cant conflate these are 2 different protests the protesters who are marching on the u. S. Embassy arent the same protesters who arent here square who are marching against iran and irans influence in iraq so its a its a very confusing Political Landscape very clearly what this means is all iraqis just because theyre against iran doesnt mean that theyre with america and so even into heres where those protesters who are saying we are tired of iranian influence dont necessarily say we welcome the u. S. And are also against the u. S. And because of that have also expressed their condemnation of these airstrikes and fundamentally iraqi nationalism basically saying that we dont like any country feeling like they have the ability to strike in our territory and kill our citizens and. The same protesters are also saying that they want the government gone but one of the Prime Minister gone he resigned they want the president gone they dont accept this latest nomination for Prime Minister they want a complete political chimes in the country so this is a a critical juncture recent for iraq we are all of these things a feeding into each other to find a new direction in the country. Yeah thats right i mean its clearly this is probably the most existential moment of post a 1003 iraq this is a bigger moment than i would say 2014 when isis took over much part you know mosul and other parts of iraq because that was a very sort of local program for us for a problem with a clear solution theres no clear solution in sight nobody knows you speak to politicians you speak to different political actors and no one knows where iraq is going you have these protesters in the south and but who are calling themselves revolutionaries and calling for an end to the system not an end to one Political Party not an end to one leader but a complete change turn over of the post 2003 system which they feel has not represented them then you have certain leaders trying to maintain that system and so you have a friction between those looking to maintain the status quo because they benefit from it and when i mean those i dont just mean the shia groups but also kurdish groups and sunni groups and basically the elite and then you have a majority of these protesters who are saying were tired of this system and so off the backs of the whats happening with the u. S. In the u. S. Airstrikes is to some extent linked but also not linked to the bigger question i think 2020 would be an interesting year for iraq because unlike previous protests which weve seen whether that was in 20161511 or 2009 these protests in Tahrir Square but that today are different a much Younger Generation of protesters fewer have jobs fewer are married they have less to lose they have less to live for and theyre just willing to sit there with and wait it out and call for change so we havent reached that mutually hurting still yet to say that we can go into a new go into sort of negotiations so many are beginning more and more beginning to think well maybe we need another election and well have to see but very very sort of certain is the lack of clarity of iraqs Political Landscape moving into 2020 not just the idea of one more question i want to ask you but just as. Were speaking were getting some pictures coming through live and you can see those pictures theres a lot of black smoke coming from the area around the. Latest pictures im being told from the area and have been all sorts of reports about the about the the doors being pushed jean about potential evacuations inside the embassy we do know that these protesters including some people loyal to the m