Is a peace loving nation a bat that they were going to hunt down terrorists so going back then to our top story of course the assassination of kassam so money in iran and it really has left the middle east on a knife edge so the money died in an airstrike near Baghdad Airport along with a top Iraqi Paramilitary commander mohan these iraqs Prime Minister says their deaths will light the fuse of a destructive war in iran angry crowds protested after friday prayers condemning the assassination and chanting death to america Supreme Leader ali khamenei who had a close relationship with some the money vowed severe revenge for his killing as leaders around the world expressed concern and condemnation the u. S. Ordered all its citizens to immediately leave iraq its forces and israels are now on high alert Simona Fulton reports now from baghdad. A long hard break in the upper ranks of the Iranian Military at the official announcement of the death of Major General custom so in money the commander of irans quds force the revolutionary guard unit responsible for foreign operations so the money was killed in a u. S. Drone strike in baghdad. And a spontaneous outbreak of joy in iraqi cities over the passing of a man many see as the embodiment of irans meddling here i sure wish i didnt have to listen to me i feel happy about killing somani the reason is because of his foreign interference in iraq would you accept that our intervening in all the families issues everything has been trees. In the early hours of friday morning shortly after arriving at Baghdad International airport a u. S. Strike targeted a convoy of silly money and his close ally hondas the deputy head of the Iraqi PopularMobilization Forces an iranian backed part military group other members of the group were also killed for irans Supreme Leader ayatollah ali common a soul in money was a trusted confidant a member of his inner circle and he warned there will be revenge the cruelest people on earth assassinated the honorable commander who courageously fought for years against the evils and bandis of the world sulaimani is martyrdom well make iran more decisive to resist americas expansionism and to defend our values with no doubt iran and other freedom seeking countries in the region will take his revenge. Already. While there is talk of revenge many iranians dont want to see war their own fear with our support and it will definitely increase violence but i fundamentally disagree with violence and conflict i believe people moving toward peace and negotiation to reach the goals is much better soleimani enjoyed some support when he led the charge to displace islip from iraq a strong. Holds but many iraqis now blame iran for instability and interference in their country and soleimani directly for a violent crackdown on antigovernment protests which began in october the us assassinations are the most extreme escalation in tensions between to head on in washington in recent years and many in baghdad fear it will continue to play out on iraqi soil and if an indistinct has she you may say are we condemned this its unacceptable for Something Like this to be happening in our country its a tween america and iran and in the end we will be hurt our situation is already not stable many iraqis oppose iranian and american interventions alike. Earlier this week mohandas himself let a crowd of Popular Mobilization forces supporters as they attacked and besieged the u. S. Embassy in baghdad he walked alongside of another senior military leader of the pro iran group who has now called on his followers to take up arms against the american president s iraqs caretaker Prime MinisterAbdullah Abdullah the to condemn the u. S. Strike as a violation of iraqs sovereignty and the rules of engagement of the american presence here he called the death of mohandas an aggression against the iraqi state. Parliament is due to hold an emergency session on sunday but analysts say the government beleaguered and divided after 3 months of antigovernment protests will struggle to mount a decisive response Iraqi Government is very weak for the time being there will be no more the statements coming out of the. Caretaker Prime Minister or from the ministry of Foreign Affairs other than that i dont expect anything from the Iraqi Government but probably the Iraqi Parliament will. Call for an immediate session and do will discuss the current. Americans in iraq agreement and probably they will ask for the department of the American Forces from iraq. Whether their response to u. S. Presence in iraq will be political or military assassinations have put an end to a precarious balance of power that had us far accommodated both u. S. And iranian interests in iraq the iraqi capital already a battleground for tensions between the u. S. And iran is bracing itself for the aftermath of the biggest escalation yet with both u. S. And iranian backed troops on the ground the country risks being caught in the middle of a military fallout between washington and tehran similar 14 aljazeera but that full Irans National Security council has vowed to retaliate and the quote right place and time after holding an extraordinary meeting on friday. In tehran has more now on some slim line is life and the reaction to his death. Shock and disbelief at the events that have led to the assassination of the head of the police force hossam so the money have now turned into anger and frustration and vows of revenge the Supreme Leader has been at the home of custom soleimani and where hes been speaking to his surviving family members and passing on his condolences and weve also heard a statement as issued by the supreme National Security council of iran headed by president some rouhani where they said that they will respond appropriately to the actions of the United States now all this happening while the iranians have said that after the attack took place there was a message that was sent to tehran via the Swiss Embassy from the americans about the decision they took and the iranians have now since responded now we dont know the contents of these messages that have gone back and forth but it is Something Interesting to watch in the coming days but lets take a closer look at the events that unfolded earlier today. In his hometown of care mon in central iran thousands gathered to say goodbye to a man many saw as more than just the head of irans elite force Major General essential imani came into the role more than 20 years ago and had been one of the masterminds of irans military strategy in the region whatever anyone else thought about so they money he was revered and admired by many in the Islamic Republic because. I heard it on the radio in the taxi this morning i was waiting for the names of those killed when i heard general salim on each name i said oh god he was martyred on with us the former unfortunately its clear that wherever the u. S. Enters it is after domination for its own interests general shalit money was one who stood up bravely especially fighting i saw. He was a key figure 100 percent they were targeting him they knew where he was surely a role wont leave it on on sort of will do something silly money rarely. Spoke in public but gave this interview in october saying irans revolutionary guard had expanded what he called Islamic Resistance to half a 1000000 square kilometers connecting iran through iraq and syria to lebanon the cuts force runs irans Foreign Military and Clandestine Operations so they money delegated iranian diplomats to meet u. S. Officials after the 911. 00 attacks and they brutally worked together against the taliban. But that relationship didnt last long. The u. S. And irans pirate is aligned once again in the fight against eisel but then evolved beyond the battlefield in april last year the u. S. Designated irans Islamic Revolutionary guards corps as a terrorist organization but so in money had the full support of his government the Supreme LeaderAyatollah Khamenei awarded him irans highest military honor last year cause im still a money has survived many attempts on his life both here in iran and abroad and now his death will likely embolden the groups he supported as a rainy and mark 3 days of National Mourning many here are looking to see what will happen next door. To iran well and the gallagher is live from west kendall in florida where President Trump dresses evangelicals even jealous calls for trying event at the horse when the President Campaign back in 2016 campaign then one of his main issues was he was going to pull out of the middle east he was going to. Get america out of all these wars in the region and these actions have at the very least cost 3000 soldiers to have head back to the to the middle east so in light of that wormy action of you met there when it comes to the base how are they viewing this killing. Well overwhelming support remember if President Trump does have a clearly defined base then evangelicals on it 80 percent of evangelicals voted for president come back in 2016 and we spoke to several people here in fact one man completely unprompted came over put his hand on my shoulder and said donald trump is the president that we need in fact this is the launch of Donald Trumps evangelical coalition for his next election with a particular focus on both black and hispanic evangelicals of course florida resident stream the important state and the upcoming president ial election now apart from the 1st few minutes he really hasnt mentioned drone strike really hasnt mentioned the death of the could command he just thanked the u. S. Forces he said that we got him and then hes now moving on to talking about religious freedom about how people can now say Merry Christmas so hes back into full Campaign Mode despite the fact that some people thought he might go back to washington d. C. With such an important you operation under way hes now very much focused on the people that will help getting reelected in 2020 this church behind me holds about 7000 people incidentally we think its almost full to capacity but just to give you an example the president is in full Campaign Mode he said there were thousands of people waiting outside this stadium but as you can see behind me there are just a few 100. But i guess the few 100 that are there are as you mentioned his base loyal supporters so they may approve of the killing of this in their minds but is there any talk of the include trying trial which of course the president is facing as well because i guess some cynics might think that the this take the light off the impeachment trial. I mean i dont think for the most part evangelicals are concerned about President Trump being impeached remember there was a controversy about a month ago when there was an editorial in a christian newspaper that said President Trumps behavior is immoral it was a big outcry when that was published some of the journalists quit from the newspaper they left the newspaper because of that editorial but i think on the whole certainly for the people weve met here tonight impeachment isnt even in there on the horizon that this is their president this is a man thats putting the right people into the Supremes Court protecting the lives of the on board and neighboring people to say Merry Christmas again the support amongst the evangelicals in this country is what helped President Trump what in 2016 and thats why he is here tonight and one of the largest evangelical churches in miami amongst one of the most important demographics he really wants those hispanic evangelicals those africanamerican evangelicals he wants to expand that base and solidify his support going into the election so. The impeachment process is not on peoples minds the overwhelming support for this military operation is here this in many ways is President Trumps best and most opportunistic echo chamber gallagher with the latest there from a scandal in florida and they think you are well under the same silliman his leadership irans could force has been instrumental in building a network of proxy armed groups across the middle east this string of nonstate alliances began with hezbollah in lebanon after the overthrow Saddam Hussein iran was able to become a dominant force in iraq where it all and then trained the paramilitary groups who made up the Popular Mobilization units who helped in the feisal now iran has provided significant support for syria during its civil war and that includes training and Intelligence Services irans influence extends to the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula where its been backing the who these in the war in yemen well for in their. So doing by holy the middle east analyst and nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council thank you so much for being with us again id like to ask you about the domestic u. S. Policy afterwards but 1st of all it means is that what you think is the u. S. Is primarily a mean this is us nation but generally its policy towards iran to curb irans expansion across the region this is certainly what the Trump Administration has been aiming from the get go when they withdrew from the iran nuclear reman in may 2018 part of it was not just to make a better deal with her on but to curb its aspirations in the region so yes ok we were just speaking as before to any gallagher who is of florida that meeting of the even jelly calls for trump obviously it is campaign a year how do you think just with his base but in the u. S. In general how do you think its playing over there well i think this is definitely seen as a very big win for trump this is the 2nd high profile middle east arguably terrorists according to the u. S. Government the chump of misfortune has taken out with them once 1st being. The leader of isis so in their eyes this is something very big something i think trump has been boasting something obama never did and something that should have been done a long time ago having up and said ive also seen people rescreening on twitter one of trumps many tweets over the years that have been evergreen which is that in order to get reelected obama would start a war with iran and i think its a reflection that some people are very suspicious of the trumpet ministrations hense with iran that this is actually a long term goal of regime change and possibly a war just like in iraq and afghanistan there seems to be an old the trump tweet for pretty much every occasion but when it comes to reaction from iran because they still havent announced what kind of retaliation theyre going to take could this backfire on trouble could it backfire on a president thats campaigned in the past about pulling true. Loops out of the middle east about not getting the u. S. In tangled in foreign wars i think it certainly has the possibility of backfire i think theres a sumption that when you take out a leader whether its of a daddy or awesome salomone that you basically gotten rid of the whole problem but thats not the reality. Continues to live in its own way g. C. Will continue to live. Lived after Osama Bin Laden so i think its really naive and very simplistic to think that things are done but when youre trying supporter and we hear the death of hossam so money you think well this is a big deal and trump has done something very big and its great for the United States but in reality when youre sending several 1000 troops into the middle east after something so big like this its almost sending people into the lions den in thats a very dangerous precedent in this time of tensions we havent seen in a very long time in the region because as you mentioned of course killing of baghdad it doesnt mean that youve killed off i saw what impact do you think the killing of the customs of the money will actually have on iran itself so not so much ina deescalation the potential this collision between iran and the u. S. But all the it rainin military forces i think theres definitely if there was always a sense of being on the defense the u. S. Which are from the Iran Nuclear Agreement but i think that defense sense of defense against the west pacifically the United States has grown 10 fold this is a country thats been. Dealing with the threats of war regime change and sanctions for for decades now so theyve been ready for this but its this time that we havent seen this kind of precedence for the tensions between the u. S. And iran that they are i would say be very calculating and as you probably covered earlier their best bet is a signature warfare and wha