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00:07A short time ago, the United States military began major combat operations in Iran.
00:17Operation Epic Fury, unleashing the firepower of the US and Israel.
00:22This is not only an act of aggression, it is a war crime and a crime against humanity.
00:30American and Israeli jets have dropped thousands of bombs on Iran.
00:38It's catastrophic.
00:42The barrage of attacks and the level of devastation is unbearable.
00:51In response, Iran has fired ballistic missiles and drones at Israel.
01:00We're on this boat.
01:01Go, go, go.
01:02Get in, get inside.
01:05Countries across the Gulf dragged in with thousands of Britons caught up in the conflict.
01:11Then we saw them overhead.
01:12We saw rockets, missiles over our heads being shot down.
01:17With the US and Israel intensifying attacks, how will it end?
01:22Once you kick off a war like this, you don't have full control over where it's going to end up.
01:28So what does this war mean for the Middle East and for all of us?
01:51Saturday morning in Iran's capital city, Tehran, the start of the Iranian working week.
01:58Then Israel struck.
02:01The office of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, was targeted by around 30 Israeli long-range missiles.
02:12Israeli intelligence had tracked his exact movements down to the minute.
02:17Intelligence surfaced that supreme leader Khamenei was meeting with a large number of his aides at his palace during the
02:26daylight hours.
02:27I think the Americans and the Israelis were able to piece together data from all manner of sources inside Iran,
02:36of course mobile phones,
02:37and they tapped into the traffic cameras in the streets of Tehran to monitor the movements of regime leaders.
02:44The Israelis had also created a trail of misinformation to lull the Iranians into a false sense of security.
02:51It appears that the Iranian leadership was fooled by the Israeli leadership and Israeli generals who made it look like
02:59they had gone home for the weekend.
03:01Yeah, we seized the opportunity.
03:03What we're basically saying is that there's no safe haven for you.
03:06We will find you all over the world and we will hit you.
03:14The supreme leader was killed, along with other top officials.
03:18The attacks didn't stop there.
03:24The United States military has undertaken a massive and ongoing operation
03:29to prevent this very wicked, radical dictatorship from threatening America and our core national security interests.
03:41On the first day of the war, a missile hit a girls' school in southern Iran.
03:55Iranian authorities reported 168 deaths.
04:10Iran blames the U.S. and Israel.
04:13Israel says it wasn't carrying out operations in the area.
04:20Footage verified by the BBC shows a U.S. missile hitting a military base, 600 metres from the school.
04:29President Trump had previously denied hitting the school, saying from what he'd seen, Iran was responsible.
04:37His administration said it had been investigating.
04:42We, of course, never target civilian targets, but we're taking a look at investigating them.
04:52Iran retaliated with a volley of drones and missiles aimed at Israel,
04:56Israel, which was also hit by rockets from Iran's ally, Hezbollah, in Lebanon.
05:05Israel struck back hard.
05:07As the conflict escalated, Iran also launched attacks on U.S. allies across the Gulf,
05:14including Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain.
05:29In Dubai, thousands of Britons who were on holiday or live there have also been caught up in the war.
05:52This footage was filmed by Trevor and Lisa Davies from Tamworth.
05:57They were in Dubai for Lisa's 60th birthday.
06:03We were round by the hall, just chilling out.
06:08And then we heard these loud explosions.
06:12And then we heard another one and then another one.
06:16The next thing we know is that we saw them overhead.
06:18We saw rockets, missiles over our heads being shot down.
06:22Oh, my God.
06:24Debris was coming down and some of it landed in the hotel fountain.
06:30But at that point, we were all running for cover, for shelter.
06:35I'm straight to the airport.
06:38Dubai airport was then hit and the airspace was closed.
06:43So like countless others, they were now stuck.
06:48I'd managed to get hold of Trevor and Lisa, but our call didn't last long.
06:53But that was nothing to what...
06:58They're frozen.
07:00Wait a minute.
07:01I don't know if you can hear us, guys, but the line's frozen.
07:04Just a sec.
07:04Do we know why that is?
07:07Oh, what's happening, Trevor?
07:09What's happening?
07:11Hello?
07:11We've just had an emergency alarm.
07:13What are you saying?
07:14Through the phone from the government.
07:16Get somewhere safe and call us back.
07:18Good luck.
07:25This is the second time in less than a year, the U.S. and Israel have joined forces to bomb
07:31Iran.
07:37They suspected the regime was getting close to making nuclear weapons.
07:43Last June, Israel led an assault on three key nuclear sites, backed by the U.S.
07:51Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.
07:56If President Trump was right, why the need for more strikes now?
08:02The nuclear problem was hurt very much, but it was not obliterated, as President Trump has said.
08:09And since the end of the war, in June, the Iranians started, as they proclaimed openly,
08:16to work 24-7 in order to enlarge the number of launchers and missiles that they have.
08:25In February this year, Iran agreed to talks with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff about its nuclear program,
08:33the aim to get it to reduce its stocks of enriched uranium.
08:39We just heard from the envoy of the president, Steve Witkoff,
08:45that said that during the meetings with the Iranians,
08:48they have mentioned to him that they still have enriched uranium to 60%,
08:53which can allow 10 to 11 nuclear devices.
09:00While the talks were taking place, the president was deploying more warships to the Gulf.
09:08Fouad Izzadi is an associate professor at Tehran University,
09:12who has expressed support for Hamas and the October the 7th attacks.
09:18Two weeks ago, Iran was negotiating in good faith.
09:22Iran was willing to give huge concessions, maybe because Iran was trying to avoid war.
09:28Trump was interested in having war. He was not interested in an agreement.
09:32It looked pretty clear to me that the Witkoff had expected the Iranians to just capitulate.
09:40When they failed to do so, that led the Americans to conclude,
09:43well, this is the end of the negotiating process.
09:48Two days later, the bombs were launched.
09:51Then President Trump gave his justification for war.
09:54Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime.
10:04The US administration didn't seek permission from Congress or the United Nations before the first strikes.
10:12It argued its actions were legal because Iran posed a direct threat.
10:18There really was an imminent threat, and that was an enormous surge in its missile program
10:25that would have made it so formidable that it wouldn't have been possible
10:29to conduct a pre-emptive attack like we're doing right now.
10:33Was there an imminent threat that justified the start of this war?
10:37I have not seen any sense of an imminent threat.
10:40I don't think the intelligence shows that the Iranian regime had restarted
10:47the most dangerous bits of their nuclear program.
10:50This is an unnecessary war.
10:52It was not required for American or even Israeli defense interests.
10:59Israel has long called for a change to the leadership of Iran,
11:03which has said the state of Israel shouldn't exist.
11:15We have a window of opportunity right now to boost and hit the bad guys
11:21and hopefully change their leadership.
11:23So it was about regime change, simple as that.
11:26Well, we hope so.
11:29From our perspective, that regime has to be replaced by peace-seeking leadership.
11:38In Israel, families are counting the cost, too.
11:43Beit Shemesh is a city southwest of Jerusalem.
11:47An Iranian missile destroyed a synagogue and nearby houses
11:51in this Orthodox community the day after the war began.
12:02At the time, Avi Johanna and his wife were taking shelter underground.
12:23Nine people were killed in the missile strike.
12:26Avi's brother-in-law was one of them.
12:30Rabbi Yitzhak Biton's three children were also killed.
12:56Israel has also suffered civilian casualties.
12:59The missiles that Iran has fired at Israel have caused deaths also.
13:03So they can stop the war today.
13:04They started it.
13:06All deaths, whether Israelis or Americans or others, Iranians,
13:11are the responsibilities of Netanyahu and Trump.
13:14They can stop it today.
13:21Access to film inside Iran is extremely restricted by the regime.
13:27Colleagues from the BBC Persian service have helped us contact an Iranian man willing to tell us what life is
13:34like.
13:36We're not showing his face.
13:37It's catastrophic, the barrage of attacks and the level of devastation that it brings about is unbearable.
14:12More than 1,300 civilians have been killed in Iran so far.
14:18Iranian civilians are dying in these attacks by Israel.
14:21This is your responsibility.
14:24Well, you know, the big difference between the terrorist regime and Israel and the United States on that behalf
14:32is that we have no intention of killing any, God forbid, civilians.
14:36God forbid.
14:37We go out of our way to make sure that we just target the bad guys.
14:46At the turn of the year, just two months before this war began,
14:50Iranians were taking to the streets to protest over rising prices.
14:55It resulted in a brutal crackdown.
14:59President Trump waded into these protests, promising Iranians that help was on its way.
15:06And I think those were very fateful words.
15:10We're watching it very closely.
15:12If they start killing people like they have in the past, I think they're going to get hit very hard
15:17by the United States.
15:21I think it certainly did raise significant hopes, bring people on the streets.
15:28The fundamental problem at the time was that the U.S. didn't actually have sufficient military assets,
15:34even if it wanted to provide help in the form of bombing the regime, of going after regime targets.
15:42The figures are disputed, but regime forces are estimated to have killed at least 6,500 protesters.
15:58Nelu has family in Iran.
16:00Her boyfriend lives there and took part in the protests.
16:04This is my boyfriend's leg after being shot twice in the protest.
16:11So this is a video, one of the many videos that surfaced from the protests.
16:15And from descriptions from my family and my boyfriend, I think that that might be my boyfriend standing right in
16:22the middle with the flag.
16:24Her boyfriend's recovered from his injuries.
16:28Since the war started, the regime has restricted the Internet, and she's only been able to reach him once.
16:34I spoke to him yesterday evening.
16:37He managed to call me for about 45 seconds, really.
16:40So I haven't been able to know much, really.
16:43It's just kind of a, I'm OK, I miss you, and I love you kind of situation.
16:48We just want freedom, and we want hope, and we want Iranians' voices inside Iran,
16:53our families, our friends, and even strangers, their voices to be heard and to be spread.
16:59Oh, my God, oh, my God, oh, my God!
17:02Iran's response to the U.S. and Israeli attacks has been to lash out at some of its neighbours.
17:10Particularly those hosting American military bases in the Gulf.
17:26Iran has targeted an oil refinery in Saudi Arabia and Qatar's industrial area.
17:35Liquefied natural gas production was halted, something Qatar said could bring down the world's economies.
17:43Because Iran does not have anywhere close to equal military capabilities as the United States or Israel,
17:53it wants to regionalise this war, to spread the pressure, even all the way to Europe and the United States,
18:01at the petrol pump, so that everyone feels the pain of what they see as an unjust war.
18:12For a country like the U.K., that's going to show up in higher costs for businesses and households.
18:18You might see hits to confidence, so you might see a slower growth,
18:21or maybe falling household living standards.
18:24If this conflict ends quickly, there will be disruption, but it won't be catastrophic.
18:30If this drags on, and we do see a step change in the price of oil and gas and energy
18:35and food,
18:36that will clearly have consequences.
18:43Ships can no longer pass safely through the Middle East's most important waterway,
18:49the Strait of Hormuz.
18:52Iran says it's already hit several tankers and has threatened to set alight any vessel passing through.
19:01Iranian military has said that they have not closed straits.
19:05They have encouraged ships not to go through because this is a war zone.
19:10You know, missiles fly everywhere.
19:13And they have claimed hitting, I think, two or three American ships.
19:20Well, then it has a huge economic effect, does it not?
19:23And isn't this what Iran is trying to do, to put pressure on?
19:26It has economic effects. Who to blame?
19:29Trump and Netanyahu, they started this war.
19:35We decided we're going to go to the airport and take our chances.
19:40It's been six days since Trevor and Lisa Davies found themselves in a war zone.
19:47Hallelujah. They've got on board in this plane.
19:53In the small hours of last Friday morning, they finally arrived back home from Dubai.
20:00I'm willing to thank them to be back.
20:02To get on that flight and it took off.
20:04We checked on the website to see whether the flight was still going.
20:09And we had to make a decision that if it was still going to go,
20:12do we jump on it and risk being blown up out of the sky?
20:15We thought we'd got to get out of here.
20:17And quick.
20:18And we took that gamble.
20:19But that's everybody else who's in the hotel wanting exactly the same.
20:30As the war widened, so did a rift between Western allies.
20:35At the start of the conflict, the Prime Minister, Sakhir Starmer,
20:39refused to allow the US to use UK bases for the first attacks.
20:43We all remember the mistakes of Iraq.
20:47And we have learned those lessons.
20:51Any UK actions must always have a lawful basis
20:58and a viable thought-through plan.
21:02Why is it that under this Prime Minister,
21:05international law always seems to be at odds with our national interests?
21:10President Trump wasn't happy either.
21:13This is not Winston Churchill that we're dealing with.
21:19President Trump has said we're not dealing with a Winston Churchill.
21:22He's been pretty outspoken in his criticism.
21:24Well, we're not dealing with a Franklin Roosevelt.
21:26So it's, you know, it takes two to tango.
21:32After RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus was hit by an Iranian drone,
21:36the Prime Minister ordered more military hardware to the region.
21:40He's been accused of being too slow.
21:45President Trump says he doesn't need people to join wars
21:48after he's already won.
21:51Once the war started, very quickly,
21:54Prime Minister Starmer did come out and say,
21:57look, we will allow for defensive support
22:00to especially our Gulf allies.
22:02The basing that is needed,
22:04it's had a huge impact on the war, frankly,
22:06because it's meant that the US can take much shorter flights,
22:09not having to cross the ocean to get to the region.
22:12I think ultimately the UK and the US will be able to overcome this.
22:16But clearly this has thrown a wrench in the works.
22:24In America, messaging about the consequences for Iran
22:28of defying President Trump couldn't be clearer.
22:31And I'm once again calling on all members
22:33of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard,
22:35the military and the police to lay down their arms.
22:39They're only going to be killed.
22:40And now is the time to stand up for the Iranian people
22:43and help take back your country.
22:45You're going to have a chance after all these years
22:48to take back your country.
22:51Accept immunity, we'll give you immunity.
22:54The US says it's been systematically destroying Iran's military.
22:59Only the United States of America could lead this.
23:02Only us.
23:04But when you add the Israeli defence forces,
23:07a devastatingly capable force,
23:09the combination is sheer destruction
23:11for our radical Islamist Iranian adversaries.
23:15They are toast and they know it.
23:21Wake up, Daddy Sam.
23:23Last week, the White House gave this war the Hollywood treatment.
23:28It posted this video called Justice the American Way.
23:34Now, in this flawless victory.
23:39Disgusting?
23:40These are not mature people.
23:42They shouldn't be having the world's biggest military under their command.
23:49These people, if they're successful with what they're doing to Iran,
23:54you're not going to have the world's peace for many, many years to come.
23:58Among President Trump's most greatest skills are that he is a phenomenal marketer.
24:03And I think his view is fundamentally that in order to have success,
24:08you have to convince the people, and this is part of that.
24:15For Iranians, the war is brutally real.
24:20At the border with Turkey, some are already getting out.
24:27Soheilo fled Tehran.
24:31With no internet back home, it's the first time she's seen footage of the strikes.
24:36When I came back to the house, I got a picture of the house that I had to go to
24:47the house and see the house again.
24:55I hope to see the house again.
25:11President Trump has demanded unconditional surrender from Iran
25:15and wanted a say in who should become its next leader.
25:19Do you think that's legal under international law?
25:23Why would the president of a country
25:26should be able to choose the leader of another country?
25:30If you allow Trump to do that,
25:32then he would want to determine who's the UK's next prime minister.
25:37He needs to be stopped, he's on a rampage.
25:40This is not reasonable.
25:45The president is also still urging the Iranian people
25:49to rise up and take control of their country.
25:53But we've seen messages from the regime
25:56warning some who've already protested,
25:58individuals will be dealt with decisively as Israeli soldiers.
26:03You talk about people rising up, but realistically they're afraid to.
26:08We'll have to see how it plays out.
26:10My hope is that there will be massive and sustained demonstrations
26:14that the regime cannot put down.
26:16I think it's too early to tell how this is going to go.
26:19Ill-conceived, poorly planned, no day after.
26:22That seems to be the direction of travel.
26:26And for Iranians that have been agitating and protesting
26:29and wanting something different after five decades of the Islamic Republic,
26:34this does not bode well for them.
26:37Iran has now appointed its new supreme leader,
26:41Ayatollah Khamenei's son, Mushtaba.
26:45If you don't approve of whoever is chosen as successor,
26:48will Israel kill that person too?
26:50As long as we see threat, current or future threat,
26:54from that leadership, we will take them on.
26:56We will never allow anybody else in Iran
26:59to try to destroy the state of Israel.
27:02So when you say take them on, you mean kill them?
27:04If they want to kill us, we'll kill them first.
27:07The Iranian president has apologized for Iran hitting its neighbors,
27:11but the attacks continue.
27:14Across the region, outside Iran, nearly 500 have been killed,
27:19including 400 in Lebanon from Israeli strikes.
27:24Seven US military personnel have also been killed.
27:27The UN has warned the conflict could spiral out of control.
27:33I think that's one of the things that we should have learnt
27:35from the last 25 years, is that once you kick off a war like this,
27:39you don't have full control over where it's going to end up.
27:44But ultimately, most predict it will be President Trump
27:47who decides when this latest crisis in the Middle East ends.
27:52President Trump, of course, would like to see the emergence of a submissive Iran,
27:57an Iranian leadership that will concede to whatever he demands.
28:02I think the reality is that they will want to keep going for a little while yet,
28:08but at some point, we will wake up in the morning and discover that Trump has called an end to
28:12this,
28:12as suddenly as he called Assad to it.
28:1547 years ago, the Islamic Revolution put the Ayatollahs in charge.
28:21Since then, Iran has funded armed groups, fought proxy wars with its neighbours,
28:26and brutally repressed its own people.
28:29Now, under a hail of bombs and missiles, Iran is being told to change course.
28:35But can even the world's most powerful military make that happen?
28:42We will be.
28:44We will be.
29:08We will be.
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