00:04hello and good morning i am machine garland and you're watching first post where we bring you
00:09the expanding coverage on west asia crisis and more let's get started we continue to track the
00:20latest from west asia the iran war is spilling over today marks the third day of escalation
00:27israel has expanded its campaign to hit hezbollah the iran-backed proxy group in lebanon
00:32reports say blasts were reported in beirut and in southern lebanon
00:35civilians fled as explosions hit the country
01:11lebanon's prime minister condemned the israeli aggression and promised to protect civilians
01:15hezbollah fired drones and rockets towards israel saying it was in response to killing of kamenet
01:21this was hezbollah's first claimed attack since the november 2024 ceasefire
01:27so more countries are being dragged in new fronts in the battlefield are opening
02:04you
02:05then came tehran today the israeli military struck the iranian capital the israeli military announced
02:11large-scale strikes on the iranian capital the targets hit were military facilities regime-linked
02:16command centers intelligence and internal security hubs the u.s military also announced a major blow
02:23it said it had destroyed the headquarters of iran's islamic revolutionary guard corps
02:28u.s central command declared that the irgc no longer has a headquarters in washington
02:35president oral trump escalated the rhetoric he vowed to avenge the deaths of three u.s soldiers killed
02:41during operations earlier today centcom shared the news that three u.s military service members
02:47have been killed in action as one nation we grieve for the true american patriots who have made the
02:55ultimate sacrifice for our nation even as we continue the righteous mission for which they gave
03:03their lives we pray for the full recovery of the wounded and send our immense love and eternal gratitude to
03:12the families of the fallen and sadly there will likely be more before it ends that's the way it is
03:21likely be more but we'll do everything possible where that won't be the case but america will avenge
03:28their deaths and deliver the most punishing blow to the terrorists who have waged war against
03:35basically civilization he wants that more casualties were likely he called on iranians to rise up saying
03:42america is with you he also warned iran's revolutionary guards to surrender or face certain death trump said
03:50he envisaged a four-week military on operation top u.s officials are also set to brief the congress
03:57making the case for the campaign against iran several arab allies have condemned iran for
04:03launching strikes on gulf states hosting u.s troops in a joint statement they called the targeting of
04:08civilians and non-combatant countries reckless and destabilizing the gulf cooperation council members
04:15also met via video link they vowed to defend themselves and respond if necessary in jerusalem seven
04:23people were injured after another missile barrage from iran emergency services rushed to the scene
04:29beyond the battlefield global concerns also mounted shipping giant marsec has suspended transit through
04:36the strait of hormuz and the swiss canal for safety reasons the move followed iran's revolutionary guards
04:43declaring the strait closed the european union warned of the heavy cost of prolonged war the eu foreign
04:50policy chief kaya khalas cautioned that a drawn-out conflict could threaten not just west but europe
04:57and beyond the eu is reinforcing its naval mission in the red sea with additional vessels the united
05:04kingdom stepped in as well prime minister case tamer said he allowed the u.s to use the uk basis
05:10for
05:10defensive strikes targeting iranian missiles
05:12so
06:07the united states
06:09the united states has requested permission to use british bases for that specific and limited
06:17defensive purpose
06:21we have taken the decision
06:24to accept this request
06:28to prevent iran firing missiles across the region
06:32killing innocent civilians
06:33putting british lives at risk
06:37and hitting countries
06:38that have not been involved
06:42the basis of our decision
06:45is the collective self-defense
06:48of long-standing friends and allies
06:51and protecting british lives
06:55that is in accordance with international law
06:58war and we are publishing a summary of our legal advice
07:04we are not joining these strikes
07:07but we will continue
07:10with our defensive actions in the region
07:13and we will also bring experts from ukraine
07:16together with our own experts
07:18to help gulf partners shoot down iranian drones
07:22attacking them
07:24but he stressed britain was not involved in the initial offensive and would not join offensive
07:29action a supreme leader killed
07:32missiles over jerusalem
07:34beirut under fire
07:35so what began as targeted strikes has now become a multi-front confrontation
07:42and now to get us more perspective on this we are being joined by ross harrison who is a senior
07:47fellow
07:47at the middle east institute in washington joining us live from dc
07:51ross how is iran's foreign policy evolving amid the spreading regional war with the us and israel
07:57what do you think are the implications of the post-khamini era
08:01well i think the iran's foreign policy can be
08:04defined or characterized as a fight for survival at this point
08:08i mean they were attacked
08:11by israel in the united states their leadership this top tier of their leadership was basically
08:16decimated with the death of ali khamini the supreme leader
08:20and so what they're trying to do is trying to inflict as much
08:24pain on the united states and israel in particular
08:28in order to raise the cost and possibly bring some kind of of end of the conflict
08:32i think it's also to demonstrate that the regime is still intact something that they have
08:37to worry about so in terms of its regional implications as you as you have said i mean
08:41hetzbo is now involved in the mix uh iran has lobbed um missiles at our allies in the region
08:47countries that they had had a reasonably not a warm relationship but but a functional relationship
08:54with over the last number of years saudi arabia the uae qatar and even oman so they're trying to
09:00basically send a message to the region that the cost of this conflict if it continues in a protracted
09:06way is going to be great not just for iran not just for israel the united states but also for
09:10the
09:10entire region speaking alongside the car the cost of the conflict as israel and hezbollah trade fire
09:17made u.s strikes on iran how does president trump plan to avenge u.s troop deaths is there more
09:22to come
09:24well i think right now the the operation is you know the operation is continuing i mean the so it's
09:29hard to distinguish of retaliation or you know getting seeking revenge for for for the the deaths
09:36of the american servicemen uh it's hard to distinguish revenge from just their normal
09:41operations so it's not clear to me i mean i think i think president trump said even before the deaths
09:47were announced that there were going to be some casualties so i think this is this is unfortunately it's a
09:52normal course of any conflict is both sides are going to lose lose innocence innocent men and women
09:58in this case these were soldiers to my knowledge but i think we also have to to acknowledge that
10:03there have been deaths on the iranian side um in even greater numbers so i don't know how we can
10:09distinguish revenge from just the normal operations that are designed to try to bring down this regime
10:14so it's a it's a hard question to answer president trump has also said that he's open to talks with
10:20iran what do you think will be the result of it if talks do happen well it depends on the
10:28problem
10:28that the iranians have aside from the fact that they're being asked to to to negotiate or have
10:33conversations in the middle of war is what the goal of the united states is remember they were talking
10:40the the iranians were talking to the united states both in the lead up to the june 2025 war and
10:46the lead
10:47up to this war so i think the question becomes is is is are the talks essentially um going to
10:54require
10:55the iranians to capitulate and surrender if that's the case i i don't see that necessarily happening if
11:01there is if there is enough momentum for some kind of off-ramp for the united states by the way
11:10the
11:10off-ramp for the united states is probably going to be a different off-ramp than it is for israel
11:15but if
11:15there is a desire for an off-ramp and there is a new leadership emerging under the under the tutelage
11:22or leadership of ali larajani the the the head of the supreme national security council and president
11:28jeshqian if there is a sort of a rethink of what iran's red lines are and they come to the
11:35table with
11:36some kind of an agreement on the nuclear issues that's a possibility but i don't think i think in tehran
11:42i think there is tremendous distrust of this administration in washington and so i i i think
11:49my my general sense is and listen we i could be wrong five minutes from now because events are moving
11:55so rapidly on the ground but my sense is this is not the time um for any kind of negotiation
12:01um i think
12:03the iranians are busy at this point trying to consolidate uh plan for a succession and trying to
12:09put the the most brave face they can on a regime that has been under siege interesting point to
12:17make over there ross harrison thank you for your sharing insights with first post of course power
12:23doesn't end quietly some deaths are not accidents they are messages a gunshot a crowd a country frozen
12:36the killer disappears the questions don't this is not just about who died it's about what followed
12:45governments fell armies moved history rewrote itself five leaders five moments one pattern the assassination
13:15the
13:16our
13:16the
13:16the
13:22the
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