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Hello, I'm Anita McVeigh and this is the Iran War Today,
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Hello, I'm Anita McVeigh and this is the Iran War Today,
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our daily briefing bringing you up to date with all you
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need to know on day 88 of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran.
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Coming up, we'll be live with our correspondents in Washington and Jerusalem them.
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But let's start with some of today's key developments.
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The U.S says its latest strikes in Iran were defensive,
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as America's top diplomat says he believes a deal is still possible.
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Like anything with something like this,
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it's going to take a couple days to settle on,
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even down to the disagreements over a word.
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Iran accuses the U.S of a gross violation of the ceasefire
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as the country's supreme leader says Gulf states will no longer be a shield for U.S bases.
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The internet has been partially restored in Iran after three months of a near total shutdown.
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And Israeli forces are pushing deeper into Lebanon after Israel's prime minister said his country was at war again with Hezbollah.
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First today, the U.S military says its latest strikes on Iranian targets were defensive.
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Iran called them a violation of the current ceasefire and said it had a right to retaliate.
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All this as diplomatic moves continue to try to bring an end to the war.
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American military officials say the strikes were taken in self-defense and were designed to protect troops from threats posed by Iranian forces.
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They reportedly targeted an area near Bandar Abbas,
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a southern port city and home of an Iranian naval base that sits on the Strait of Hormuz.
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In a statement, Iran's foreign ministry condemned the attacks,
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calling them a blatant violation of the ceasefire,
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while the Iranian Revolutionary Guard warned it had the right to retaliate.
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Iranian state television carried comments attributed to the Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei,
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in which he warned that Gulf states will no longer be a safe haven for U.S bases.
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Khamenei has not been seen in public since succeeding his late father earlier this year.
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While following those U.S strikes,
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America's top diplomat, Secretary of State Marco Rubio,
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said a deal was still possible and pointed to talks between Iran's top negotiator and foreign minister and Qatar's prime minister.
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I think there's strong alignment and agreement on what a preliminary draft should look like.
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I think that like anything with something like this,
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it's going to take a couple days to settle on even down to the disagreements over a word sentence.
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So we'll have to work through that.
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If there's going to be a deal,
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we're going to have to work through that.
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But it's either going to be a good deal or there isn't going to be one.
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Iran said their air defense units had shot down a U.S drone and fired at a fighter jet that entered Iranian airspace.
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The U.S hasn't confirmed this.
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The Iranian president, Masoud Pazeshkian,
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praised the military's defensive capabilities.
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They did not imagine that our armed forces,
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our defensive power and our offensive system could perform such feats.
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It was a completely surprising matter for all of them.
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In a moment we'll speak to Siavash Adalan from BBC Persian,
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who's with me in the studio.
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But first live to Washington and a correspondent there, Tom Simons.
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Tom, hello to you.
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What more are the Americans saying about the strikes and indeed the status of the ceasefire?
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Well, you know what?
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They're not saying very much,
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which I think tells its own story.
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The official statement came from CENTCOM.
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It was very brief.
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It said U.S forces conducted self-defense strikes in southern Iran today to protect our troops from the threat posed by Iranian forces.
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Now, Marco Rubio, you heard a comment from him there,
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also added that the target included boats attempting to lay mines and missile launch sites.
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But apart from that, nothing more.
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No, for example, outburst on Truth Social from the president,
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which we might have seen in the past.
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And I think that tells its own story.
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The administration is trying to play down the importance of what has happened here in the Gulf of Formuz.
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They don't want it to look like a breach of a ceasefire there have been previous breaches,
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they don't want it to affect the negotiations.
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The only other thing CENTCOM has said today is to deny a local media report
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that it's planning to restart what's called Operation Freedom,
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which is the U.S government's operation to help vessels leave the Strait of Hormuz,
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an operation that lasted about two days.
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So that's where we are.
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In fact, the president's been more interested today in his medical appointment at the hospital.
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He has a six month medical checkup and he said that that has gone perfectly.
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So we're left with the ongoing negotiations and one other development today,
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which is that President Trump has called his cabinet for a meeting,
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not in Florida, not in the White House, but at Camp David.
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The forest retreat, which is not far from Washington in Maryland and a very rural place.
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And he's planning to go through some of the big issues
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facing his administration in a meeting there in the next few days, we expect
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and Iran is going to be at the top of that list because he has a lot on his plate.
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He's got to deliver the red lines that he's already promised the American people,
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nuclear weapons being taken away,
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any chance of them from Iran,
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the opening of the Strait of Hormuz and oil prices and markets brought under control.
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And he's got to do that very quickly
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because the midterm elections are approaching fast and this is not a very popular war.
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OK, Tom, thank you very much.
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Tom Simons in Washington.
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And with me here is Siavash Adelan from BBC Persian.
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Siavash, we've heard the view there from Washington.
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Give us your analysis of the Iranian response to what's been happening in the last 24, 36 hours.
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Very similar to what Tom was saying,
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the sentiment is the same in Tehran as it is in Washington.
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They don't want the incident that took place last night to affect the talks.
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So that's why we haven't seen any news about possible derailment of the negotiations that are ongoing.
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The narrative or the account of the Revolutionary Guards about what happened yesterday differs a little bit from what CEDCOM said.
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CEDCOM said that it acted in self-defense,
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the IRGC saying that they fired at one American aircraft and a drone.
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They had to retreat and then they shot down another drone.
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Very low on details about the casualties and the extent of the damage done and so on.
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So whatever happened last night,
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regardless, it's not going to derail the talks.
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And obviously the casualties and the damage wasn't that much for either side to want to think twice about where they're going.
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Yeah.
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And are you hearing anything more about those talks involving the Qataris and what is going on there?
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I mean, we got a hint,
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not much of a hint,
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but a hint of hope still from Marco Rubio,
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but not much detail, clearly.
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Not much detail from the Iranian side either.
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The head of Iran's negotiating team,
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Mohammad Bahar Qalibov just returned from Qatar.
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Qatar now is playing a very important part in this.
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It's becoming, like Pakistan, one of the mediators.
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And the reason for that is
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that the way Qatar plays into these talks is one of
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the demands for Iran in order to achieve this ceasefire is the unfreezing of its assets that is held in Qatar.
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Now, we don't know how much.
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We know it's part of the talks,
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but we don't know how much the Americans are planning to allow Iranians to have back from the assets that were frozen.
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Six billion, some say 12 billion, some say 24 billion.
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So we have to wait and see.
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And another message from the supreme leader,
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who we still haven't seen.
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The supreme leader has delivered a message.
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It's a traditional message that the previous supreme leader always delivered on the occasion of Hajj,
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the pilgrimage to Mecca.
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His, like his father, delivering another message and more or less the same rhetoric,
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just saying that Iran's traditional stance hasn't changed.
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They talked about the destruction of Israel,
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which is not new, and also talked about the countries in the region,
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they cannot host U.S bases anymore,
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and they cannot rely on U.S.'s security umbrella in the region.
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And a question, Siavash, on that restoration,
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partial restoration of internet connectivity in Iran.
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I guess a big question over whether that will be sustained.
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It depends on what happens.
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If there's a resumption of hostilities,
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probably they'll have to shut it back down again.
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But that's the most important news for Iranians today.
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It's a very happy occasion.
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As you can imagine, after 88 days of not being connected to the internet,
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suddenly today they have this connection.
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I just posted something on Exeng,
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Iranians, welcome back to the World Wide Web.
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And there was so much joy and happiness of a right that was taken from them for 88 days.
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And according to Netblocks, relative connection is being restored.
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A lot of people are talking with their relatives, friends.
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There are a lot of communication back and forth.
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For the first time, people are managing to see each other through video calls,
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Gmail's again back online.
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So it's a very good day for Iranians.
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It's like, as one Iranian described,
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coming out of a cave after 88 days.
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Yes, I can imagine lots of people will be absolutely making the most of that connectivity.
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Siavash, thank you very much.
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Siavash Adalan from BBC Persian.
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Now, Israel has carried out waves of airstrikes across Lebanon despite a nominal ceasefire.
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It's after the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country was at war again with Hezbollah.
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Lebanon's health ministry says 11 people,
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including two children, have been killed.
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The Israeli military says it struck more than 100 Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon and in the Beqar Valley in the east.
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Israel says it's acting in self-defense as the Iranian-backed group continues
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to launch explosive drones at its soldiers in the south of Lebanon and at Israeli civilians across the border.
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There were traffic jams in one suburb of South Beirut on
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Monday night as residents fled their homes there after Benjamin Netanyahu's warning.
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The Israeli government released pictures of Mr. Netanyahu holding talks in Tel Aviv today with his defense minister,
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Israel Katz, and military chiefs.
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Reports say the military is now expanding its ground defensive deeper into Lebanon.
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And let's go to our correspondent,
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Amir Nader, who is in Jerusalem for us.
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Amir, hello to you.
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What more can you tell us about what you're hearing about the situation inside Lebanon?
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Well, the statement from Prime Minister Netanyahu tonight is significant
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that he has ordered his military to cross across this yellow line
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that had been in place since the beginning of this very loose ceasefire just over a month ago.
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It's an area occupied by Israeli troops in the south of Lebanon,
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about 10 kilometers deep into the country.
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Now, he's ordered the troops to cross.
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And we've already heard reports from Hezbollah claiming that they have been engaging Israeli troops
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in a town near a major city in the south called Nabatea.
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Hezbollah claimed to repelled a unit of the Israeli military who were approaching this city.
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Nabatea today, I mean, this is a city that's been bombed very heavily throughout the war,
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since the war really erupted after October the 7th in Gaza,
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and we saw fighting begin with Hezbollah.
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And Israel, Nabatea, has suffered much damage.
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Now it's becoming a site,
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again, it looks like, of renewed Israeli attacks.
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They've ordered the city to evacuate.
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That residents who remain in the city should leave today ahead of planned attacks.
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And as you mentioned, there have been a wave of other Israeli airstrikes throughout the the country,
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be it in the Bekar Valley in the east on the border with Syria
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or in a number of other towns and cities in the south.
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Scenes really of panic and fear after a number of airstrikes in Mashgara,
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a town in the south.
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Eleven people killed, two women and children and a child,
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according to local health authorities there.
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And in Sarifa, reports by the local health authorities there that a first responder center was struck by an Israeli airstrike,
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killing two paramedics, according to the local authorities there.
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And then we've had this report in Israeli media,
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in this public broadcaster, Cannes,
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saying that the Israeli army has issued orders to mobilize reserve troops.
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So we're really getting the sense that the military is going to ramp up this ground operation,
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pushing into the south of Lebanon,
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as well as these increased airstrikes.
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So, Amir, this ramping up of the Israeli ground operation,
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why is this happening now?
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It's a good question.
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It's widely held that Prime Minister Netanyahu is against the emerging Iran-U.S ceasefire deal.
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He wants to see further strikes on the Iranian regime.
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Of course, He was a...
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It's widely believed he talked President Trump into launching the war on Iran,
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suggesting that the regime could be toppled,
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but still believes more damage should be done to the government in Iran.
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But he's also against the deal because Iran has consistently demanded an end to the war on all fronts,
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whereas Prime Minister Netanyahu has vowed to dismantle and disarm Hezbollah and to remove the threat from Hezbollah.
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So if he is to be forced into a ceasefire deal where Hezbollah hasn't been completely dismantled and disarmed,
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that is obviously not meeting up to the vows he's made,
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despite the Lebanese government repeatedly saying
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that any disarmament of Hezbollah will only come through a ceasefire deal and through a cessation of hostilities.
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Okay, Emir, thank you very much.
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Emir Neidah there in Jerusalem for us.
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Now, to finish today's edition of the Iran war today,
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we wanted to take a look at the bigger picture of where we are right now.
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With her analysis, here's our South Asia correspondent, President Azadeh Moshiri.
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The state of play in negotiations between Iran and the United States is extremely unclear.
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It was only on Sunday that in that building behind me, the U.S.
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the press call that we could expect good news on reopening the strait in hours.
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Now days later, it's clear that that hasn't happened.
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Instead, the United States has conducted what it's calling defensive strikes on southern Iran.
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Now Marco Rubio is saying
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that perhaps there might be a partial agreement in days as Iranian negotiators passed through the language in Doha.
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And then in parallel, the Israeli Prime Minister,
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Benjamin Netanyahu, has said that Israel will intensify strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
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And it's worth remembering that Iranian officials see these two conflicts as deeply intertwined,
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so it's unclear how that will present any sort of delay.
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And as for a final peace deal,
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that has been kicked down the road,
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the priority being opening this vital shipping lane of the Strait of Hormuz that has triggered global energy crisis.
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Asaday Mishiri in Delhi.
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And with his assessment of what's happened over the last few days and where it leaves us,
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here's our international editor, Jeremy Bowen.
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We've been here before on numerous occasions.
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And it's this oscillation between Donald Trump issuing a very optimistic statement,
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more guarded statements from others,
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then something happens to make it look less optimistic.
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And what we're lacking in this current cycle is some terrible threat from him.
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But maybe that'll come too.
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I mean, I think the fact is that there is,
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there appears to have been progress on not an overall deal,
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but on this one page memorandum of understanding where essentially they
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work out what it is they need to discuss over a period of at least two months following the signing of that.
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And they essentially managed to defer,
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therefore, a lot of harder issues.
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And meanwhile, there would be a smaller deal,
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but still very, very significant,
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to try to open the straight of all moves.
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And in return for that,
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Iran's going to want something,
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maybe the release of billions of dollars worth of frozen funds.
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I mean, who knows?
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But the point is, what this comes down to,
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it's quite clear, is that Donald Trump is desperately trying to find ways to somehow reverse out of this very ill-advised war,
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which he entered into without really working out where it was going to go,
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thinking he'd get a very quick victory.
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and a trade-off between that and trying to find a way to claim victory at the end of it.
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And it's proving to be a circle that's impossible to square,
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not least because the Iranians don't believe they've been beaten far from it.
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They think they've got the upper hand in this.
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If you look at the shopping list of things
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that Donald Trump wanted from the war
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when he made his first speech on the subject at his Florida base at Mar-a-Lago back on the 28th of February,
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a long time ago now,
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None of those things have come to pass,
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not least regime change and all the other things that were on his shopping list.
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This is increasingly looking like for America,
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despite all its power, despite many tactical victories,
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despite the levels of destruction that the Americans and the Israelis have inflicted on Iran,
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it looks very much like strategically it's more of a defeat.
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Jeremy Bowen, the BBC's international editor.
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Whether you're joining us on YouTube,
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TikTok, Sounds, radio or TV, thanks for your time.
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We'll be back at the same time tomorrow with the Iran War Today.
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Context & Background
The situation in Iran is crucial for understanding the current dynamics of international relations, particularly in context to the U.S.-Israel interactions. The recent military actions and diplomatic efforts highlight the complexity of geopolitical conflicts in the region. In this video, Anita McVeigh provides an insightful summary of the ongoing conflict, emphasizing both the military actions taken by the U.S. and Iran's retaliatory posture. For English learners, familiarizing themselves with vocabulary and phrases associated with current events can aid in both conversational and formal communication, making it essential to comprehend the terminology related to international conflict.
Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication
- “In self-defense” - A key expression that describes actions taken to protect oneself or one's interests.
- “Violation of the ceasefire” - A phrase commonly used in discussions of conflicts, referring to the breaking of an agreement to stop fighting.
- “Bring an end to the war” - A hopeful expression denoting the desire for peace negotiations and resolution.
- “Gulf states will no longer be a shield” - An impactful phrase suggesting a change in strategy or defense postures among allied nations.
- “Military's defensive capabilities” - A term that can facilitate discussions about a nation's preparedness and ability to protect itself.
Step-by-step Shadowing Guide
Improving your English pronunciation and conversational skills can be effectively enhanced through the shadowing technique. Follow these steps to utilize the video in your practice:
- Listen Actively: Begin by watching the video without any subtitles. Pay close attention to the pronunciation, intonation, and rhythm of the speaker.
- Break it Down: Divide the video into smaller segments. Focus on 30-second clips that contain phrases or expressions you've noted above.
- Repeat and Imitate: Use a shadowing app or just your device to play the segment repeatedly. Mimic the speaker as closely as possible, paying attention to stress and pitch.
- Record Yourself: After practicing the shadowing, record yourself repeating the phrases. This will help you evaluate your progress and identify areas for improvement.
- Integrate and Use: After practicing, try to use these phrases in both writing and speaking contexts throughout your day. This reinforces your memory and builds confidence.
By applying the shadowing technique, you can notably improve your English pronunciation and conversational skills, making you better prepared for discussions on global issues and current affairs.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.
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