Tackle the blazes in australia from the. U. S. Defense secretary says there has been no decision whatsoever to pull american troops out of iraq it comes after a letter appeared in iraq he needed stating that forces would be repositioning in deference to iraqi sovereignty pentagon Officials Say it was badly worded and came to light as an era that follows the assassination of the Iranian Military commander money and a u. S. Airstrike in iraqs call for foreign troops to leave that country well john hendren joins us live from washingtons appears to be a lot of confusion there pop song clarity from the pentagon it does raises some serious questions about how Something Like this can happen. It does absolutely we seem to have one message on the ground and another message here in the u. S. At the pentagon and theres a good reason for that if you talk to people at the pentagon as we did if you look at the bottom of this letter youll notice that it is not signed at the pentagon we are told that this was a draft this was an incomplete draft and officials at the pentagon call it a poorly worded draft that comes straight from the defense secretary mark esper there and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff u. S. Army general mark milley who also spoke to reporters there they say that letter was never meant to go out that the u. S. Does not intend to leave iraq that that is not the position of the u. S. Government right now i understand from speaking to sources connected to the military that what is happening is that troops are being repositioned within that region not leaving iraq but being repositioned theyre very sensitive about where those troops are because they know they have been targets of rocket attacks so theyre being careful about what they say about where u. S. Troops are going but this appears to be a letter that was never intended to get out there somehow made it out into the hands of iraqi officials and the iraqi media and thats why were talking about it the pentagon says they did not even know that this letter was out there. Because we forget that the security situation in iraq has improved it is still somewhat fragile and even just the perception about the americans. And the presence either being depleted all diminished in some way even if its not a full withdrawal could could hurt american interests in the country. Absolutely and it would be it would be a tremendous embarrassment for President Trump who just one day earlier said that the u. S. Was not leaving iraq that if it did leave iraq it was going to require a iraq to pay billions of dollars for its major airbase at balad and that the u. S. Would levy heavy sanctions against iraq heavier sanctions against iraq than it is currently living against iran so it would be an embarrassment for President Trump to have said that and then have one day later u. S. Troops withdrawing from the region that seems to be part of the calculus here when the pentagon is now talking to reporters off camera so we cant show that to you but saying with the defense secretary mark esper saying this letter was not supposed to go out it is not the official policy of the u. S. Government it would be an embarrassment for the u. S. To have to be chased out President Trump has said that he wants to take u. S. Troops out of the region and that number has dwindled from some 130000 back in 2003 to 5000 now but this is certainly not the way president drum wants the United States to leave iraq. All right thank you very much with the latest on this story from washington john hendren meanwhile inside iran huge crowds of back the streets of the capital for the funeral of a some sort of money president by the Supreme Leader ayatollah ali hominine who has promised for vengeance in ited states for the strike that killed saddam money as as i beg reports from to iran its provided a show of national unity. A nation in mourning and tears from the Supreme Leader for irans top military general assassinated in the u. S. Drone strike in iraq many a friend of course in for the money lead the Funeral Service at the university outside the streets of the capital were packed with the iranians who considered for the money a hero a man who defended his country crowds like this have not been seen since the death of the founder of the republic Ayatollah Khomeini 30 years ago so the on his daughter addressed the crowds you know its hard but hardly high i would see anwar for 2 ha ha today the philosophy and struggle of my father has made the resistance front into a principled and victorious philosophy. So the money and iran have long supported palestinian groups a senior hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh paid his respects us were here to express our heartfelt condolences to the leader of the Islamic RevolutionAyatollah Khomeini general solomonic family and the flag bearers of the resistance against the zionist regime and the us the crowds chanted sang and cried the feeling here that this is a moment of change not just for a run but for the entire region but here President Donald Trump hope that the fascination of boston for the money would result in people coming by and celebration but coming out against the political establishment in iran well the number of mourners here i think is the one so that he was greatly mistaken there were a chance of death to america and an expectation that iran must respond with we should take revenge the feeling that i had to was the digital its unique i dont have this feeling towards anyone else in government and thats not my heart theres no one is valuable as the general but we will on some blood with blood residual that whatever since i heard the news ive been crying and its a weird feeling but at the bottom of our hearts we want revenge revenge revenge but not everyone agrees on what action to take and they are intended political struggles in parliament if roger and before your eyes the best response is to expel us forces from the middle east and make efforts to liberate palestine but the specific response of iran should not be hasty and should be well considered an important body called the assembly of experts condemned the killing of said the money and said silence in the face of assassination would make iran weaker they called upon young people to mobilize and prepared to oust American Forces from iraq as the world awaits irans response the government here will find it hard to ignore the calls for revenge and when its revenge for a man of course im so the money standing it would appear this Popular Support for whatever action may follow assad based aljazeera to run. Oh sam avenger of a joins us now live from baghdad and of course this after some while weve been waiting for clarification on a letter that was sent from the u. S. Army representative there in iraq speaking of u. S. Troop movements and now this word from the pentagon denying that there are any plans for a troop withdrawal from iraq i imagine there is a fair bit of embarrassment perhaps in washington and confusion there in baghdad. Absolutely at around 1000. 00 g. M. T. Just outside of the green zone we started to hear helicopter traffic heavy helicopter traffic which we havent heard since the death of course until in money on friday night and that indicated something was happening and after that a letter was released by various Media Outlets and we confirmed with multiple iraqi sources in the government as well as in the military who said this letter was authentic now it to be is that this was a draft of a letter for coordination purposes and the Troop Movement which was which was signaled in that letter is only for coordination purposes the u. S. According to the department of defense is not pulling out of iraq it does show the kind of confusion that has existed here in iraq after the assassination of course insulin money every night has been eventful whether it was bin grocott or rocket attacks or some sort of statement from from armed groups it was monday a very busy day for the Iraqi Government the iraqi Prime Minister and i spoke to a number of World Leaders the qatari of mir leaders from the u. K. Britain china and the United States ambassador and the essence of that was that he wanted the world to see that he wants iraqs sovereignty to be respected he wanted the world to see that he wants iraq what is standing behind what he called a quick withdrawal of foreign troops and that is something we heard from the Prime Ministers office in the conversation with the u. S. Ambassador as well and those are those are the kind of things that have been discussed but it is going to be a very difficult position that he finds himself in as he is the interim leader of iraq he does not command a majority government hes on his way out and for this to take place this withdrawal rather to take place he needs to make sure that it is this decision by the Parliament Needs to be enacted into law a decision which will need the majority of the parliament which as weve already seen the divisions of the sunnis and the kurds have not been present in that session so it is going to be a tough few weeks and days ahead for the Iraqi Government and all that confusion that is being created by such letters is only going to add to the mayhem all right thank you very much from baghdad sonnabend john 8 well now back in the United States the Senate Majority leader republican Mitch Mcconnell has an american or make has to wait for the facts before criticizing President Trumps decision to order at least as a nation of course and so money this is what he had to say now it is completely appropriate this decision will generate interest and questions from his body we can and we should learn more about the intelligence and thinking that led to this operation and the plan to defend american personnel and troops in the wake of that unfortunately. Talk of political environment some of our colleagues rushed to blame our own government before even knowing of dark rush to split hairs about intelligence before being briefed or and rush down blows from a man is evil while presenting our own program as developing and the United Nations has called for maximum restraint from World Leaders without naming any countries the sector general and tell you the terrorist said tensions were at their highest level in this century. Ive been following the recent rise in global tensions with great concern i mean Constant Contact with living officials around the world and my message is simple and clear stop escalation exist size mexico restraint restart dialogue re new International Corporation let us not forget the terrible human suffering caused by war. Well what can or as the United Nations and joins us now now have been calls from iraq for u. N. Security council condemnation of the strikes in g. D. S. Weve obtained a copy of the letter that was sent to the president of the Security Council and the secretary general from iraq it says that the any military operation on iraqi soil without the consent of the Iraqi Government and without prior coordination is considered as a provocative hostile act that violates the charter of the United Nations the letter asked the Security Council to condemn the conducted air strikes and assassination which contravene the with the human rights obligations of the United States so iraq seeking some kind of action by the u. N. Security council but this is very unlikely clearly the Security Council is like on so many other issues deeply divided on this particular fact weve heard from the Russian Ambassador stating bluntly that there is no likelihood of any statement out of the u. N. Security council on this ongoing crisis that has been his general concern in the International Community about there being a larger conflict playing out possibly between iran and the United States how is that being reflected there at the u. N. Well its strange because its not on the agenda formally but it is something thats being discussed all the time and obviously there are deep concerns in the corridors of the United Nations about this we heard from the Chinese Ambassador for example who stated very clearly his belief that the u. S. Says violated basic norms of International Relations the sentiment very much the same is echoed by the Russian Ambassador so theres deep concern here and awareness that this will have a massive impact on the global order we heard earlier from the secretary general there of who is speaking in very broad sweeping terms but the basic issue that it confronts all the diplomats here is the inability of the u. N. Security council to get some kind of unity in place to be able to discuss the matter in formal session at the moment it is something being talked about in between meetings on other issues its something being talked about by diplomats in their offices but it is not something being formally discussed in the United NationsSecurity Council and this is obviously something that concerns many diplomats but also one would argue reflects very badly on a u. N. Security council that once again is found wanting in a moment of Global Crisis all right thanks very much mike hanna at the u. N. The head of nato has warned iran against further violence in provocations after an urgent meeting held in brussels the alliance has put on hold an anti eisel Training Mission in iraq since solomon is death. Nato is prepared to continue our training and Capacity Building when the situation permits we remain strongly committed to the fight against international terrorism. After the meeting today at the United States also briefed on the regional situation following recent attacks on Coalition Forces in iraq on the strike against generals for the money. For years all our allies have expressed concern about 2 wrongs do you stabilizing activities in the middle east region. We agreed iran must never acquire a Nuclear Weapon we shared concern about irans missile tests. With al jazeera live from london much more still to bring you. The covering the protests across india after a loss for attacks. On women. And thousands are rallying in liberias capital monrovia with lawns of the town and george will. Hell i would still go some place and places the shabby rain into the southeast of australia nowhere near as much as we may but every little helps id like to think and you can see the area clad head just between the melbourne and sydney fast south of New South Wales in with a chance of catching want to see shad there is the victoria more so i thought the more this generate dry for the time maybe some of the shows i will just not so well little further north woods up the Great Dividing Range pushing up towards queensland for queensland itself weve got the showers just looking there just around the coast of france is up towards the Cape York Peninsula that behind me just around the pilbara just pushing down towards port hedland this is where Tropical Cyclone blake hes showing its had and this is where we do have some flooding right ill make its way into central parts of the way as we go on into the middle to the latter part of the week with of course some flooding but made weight theyll be some showers once again few and far between but they are there over towards the southeast and side of the country further north and north of the crisis to asia here weve got some very wet weather just piling outs of china easing over towards yellow sea into the Korean Peninsula it will mean some wet weather pushing its way towards japan over the next day and turning warmer. But. It is murder when you throw a fire bomb into someones home and mishit you know massive you know. Thats not insignificant in numbers that insignificant ideologically that is significant even as a crime against down very significant by dictating the government and the fucked up policy down shall not can possibly radicalize the theories on aljazeera. Oh. Oh. Welcome back at our top stories now the u. S. Defense secretary mark asked for says the u. S. Has no plans to pull out of iraq now this comes after a letter was leaked to iran he needed a saying u. S. Forces will be repositioning over the course of the coming days and weeks that has now been rebuked by the pentagon. Meanwhile huge crowds packed the streets in tehran for the funeral procession of the iranian general money. And the president has done rouhani held prayers at the proceedings in the iranian capital and then our ot