00:00Our top story this hour, Iranian state media is reporting that an explosion has occurred at an
00:05eight-story building in the city of Bandar Abbas on the Gulf Coast. Those reports saying the cause
00:11is unknown, but the blast is being investigated. However, rumors on social media say the Revolutionary
00:18Guard's Navy commander may have been the target, a claim that the country's semi-official news
00:23agency says is completely false. For more on this, I'm joined by our International Affairs
00:29Editor, Kerevin Gorjastani. Great to see you. So what do we know at this point about these explosions?
00:35Well, we know very little and most of what we know is coming from Iran's state media. What we know
00:41right now, according to Iran's state media, is that there were two separate explosions in two
00:47different cities in Iran. The first one is the one that you mentioned in Bandar Abbas, which is a port
00:54city. And it is a strategic location because it's located on the Strait of Hormuz. So it makes it a
01:02very important town. You said it, an eight-story building. Apparently, two floors of that eight-story
01:10building were completely destroyed in that explosion. One killed, according to Iran's state media, at least
01:18a dozen more injured, but no cause for that explosion, at least for now. And that important
01:25fact of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps having to come out and deny the swirling rumors that their
01:34naval commander had been killed and targeted in that explosion in Bandar Abbas. That is the extent of what
01:42we know so far about this explosion. Then there is a second explosion, this time in Abbas, which is
01:48a city that is inland but close to the border with Iraq at the top of the Persian Gulf. In this case,
01:56state media is saying that four people were killed in the explosion that was also at a residential
02:02building. But this time, state media does reference the fact that they call it a gas explosion,
02:09which they don't say about the explosion in Bandar Abbas. So far, as I said, that's the only
02:16information that we have. And it is mostly coming from Iran's state media. The only information
02:22that we have gotten as to who or what could be involved in these explosions is from the Reuters news
02:33agency that says that two Israeli officials have told them that Israel has not been involved in any
02:42of what is going on in Iran right now. Now, Kedavan, the explosions here are coming in a rather tense
02:48context, aren't they? Because Donald Trump is building up forces in the region and he's, you know,
02:54repeated his threats to strike Iran. Yes. And that is why you're seeing, of course,
03:00the Israelis coming out and saying this was not us. Because, of course, the reason why we're so
03:06focused on these reports of explosions in Iran is that for the past two, three weeks, you have the
03:13United States saying we could strike Iran at any point. And Donald Trump repeated it as late as
03:21yesterday that this was still a possibility. And so that is why everyone is sort of on the edge
03:28right now trying to see whether this is just an explosion or something bigger. Donald Trump
03:34insisted that this armada of U.S. forces has arrived in the region. There is an aircraft carrier strike
03:43group that is in the region that is present there. Donald Trump, according to all reports and himself,
03:52actually, is still weighing his options. But one of the options still on the table is to strike
03:57Iran to strike possibly Iran's security forces in one way or another because the United States
04:05wants to push Iran to the negotiating table, especially about its nuclear program, but also
04:12about its ballistic missile program. And Donald Trump yesterday said that the Iranians want to
04:19make a deal. But he said if we don't make a deal, we'll see what happens. Very vague there from the U.S.
04:26president. But the fact is that everyone says he hasn't made the decision and the strikes are still
04:32very much an option. The reason why you're seeing this pause and this questioning about what to do
04:40next when it comes to Iran is that Donald Trump has been building up those threats against the
04:45Iranian. But at the same time, you're seeing allies in the region say, look, this could make things worse in
04:52the region if you strike. But others are saying, well, you've been threatening for three weeks.
04:56You need to do something. Otherwise, you're going to look weak.
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