00:00Israel this Wednesday has continued to strike targets in Iran.
00:04That is, Iran maintains its attacks on Israel,
00:07with air raid sirens sounding across the country this Wednesday.
00:11From what we can cross now to Israel to speak with our correspondent in Jerusalem,
00:15Nogha Tanopolsky.
00:16Nogha, I know that you've been in your bomb shelter at least three times in the past 24 hours.
00:23What's going on in Israel today, Nogha?
00:27Nogha Tanopolsky. That's right. I've been in several different bomb shelters, actually,
00:30because even just, you know, an experiment like trying to go out for a drink in general
00:36these days ends up in a bomb shelter.
00:39What's going on in Israel is a lot of confusion.
00:43I have to tell you, my impression is that the Israeli authorities know as much about these talks
00:50as you and I do, which is saying quite something, given how close the military alliance continues
00:58to be between the United States and Israel.
01:01But, you know, while you were speaking just now with Reza, we received a statement from
01:06the Iranian foreign minister, Aragchi, who said there are no negotiations.
01:12He said messages are being transferred back and forth, but there are no negotiations.
01:16And that he reiterated a very hard line for Iran.
01:20He said that Iran demands a complete end to the war and reparations for damages done.
01:26That's it.
01:28In Israel, they are, the government is, appears to be just listening and waiting for these messages,
01:35and in particular for Donald Trump, so that today we have heard at the same time
01:40that the U.S. is significantly upping its military presence in the region,
01:45not in a formation to defend Israel that has been quite roughly hit,
01:50but in a formation that could indicate even the deployment of ground troops in Iran.
01:56And at the same time, we're hearing genuine concerns from the Israeli government
02:01that Donald Trump could unilaterally decide an end to this war as soon as Saturday.
02:07So it's a bit of a chaotic sense here.
02:12And remember that the Iranians are also demanding that Israel halt its operations in Lebanon.
02:18So all of Prime Minister Netanyahu's statements saying that Israel is about to go deeper into
02:25Lebanon, that even if the war in Iran ends, the one in Lebanon will continue.
02:30All of his statements at this point are cast in doubt while awaiting whatever Donald Trump
02:36determines.
02:38Nogatana Polsky reporting from Jerusalem.
02:40Thank you very much.
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