US military launches wave of attacks against Iran
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This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service.
Hello, I'm Oliver Conway. We're recording this at 15 hours GMT on Wednesday the 15th of July. The US says it's launched another wave of strikes against Iran as they battle for control of the Strait of Hormuz. Australia announces wide-ranging plans to regulate AI, including restrictions on data centres. And Bolivia investigates the alleged recruitment of Bolivian men to fight for Russia.
Also in the podcast... By some kind of miracle, the diameter of that plastic tip fit perfectly in that hole and armed the engine and saved their lives.
The pen that helped rescue the Apollo moon mission... Are the US and Iran getting closer to a resumption of all-out war in their battle for control of the Strait of Hormuz? The American military says it's launched another wave of daytime strikes today after a fourth night of attacks. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had targeted American military sites in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan. Media tallies suggest 35 people have been killed in Iran in the past week. The US says Iran has attacked seven ships, leaving nearly a dozen crew dead, injured or missing. At the same time, the two nations are stepping up their rhetoric. President Trump renewed his threats to destroy Iran's bridges and power plants, while Iran says it could cut off other transit routes beyond the Strait of Hormuz.
So what happens now? Hossam Zaki is a veteran Arab diplomat.
We often condemn the Iranians, rightly so, but we also need to understand where the U.S. is going with all of this. It is understood that the U.S. does not want to have the Iranians dictate any terms not related to the Strait of Hormuz, but also not related to the region in general.
But Kirsten Fontenrose, a Gulf expert in the first Trump administration, says the memorandum of understanding between the two countries is not yet dead.
You've seen rhetoric about this is over or the deputy foreign minister of Iran said yesterday that we hold ourselves to no commitments on the MOU. But they have not formally exited and neither has the US. And you also see the mediating countries really active. They've been meeting in Muscat. They've been talking to both sides. So the mediation is still alive.
I spoke to our chief international correspondent Lise Doucette and asked her first what Iran is referring to when it says it could cut off other export corridors.
It would mean the other choke point close by in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb, and the world has seen that before when... one of Iran's allies in the region, the Houthis of Yemen, also disrupted commercial traffic through that vital waterway. That went on for many, many months. And that threat has been hanging over this war, where the focus is the other choke point, the Strait of Hormuz, for many months. But the Houthis have been reluctant to get drawn into this war. They suffered significant military damage during the last one. And in some ways, Iran seemed to want to keep them for the moment when they would have to escalate. And I should emphasize that Iran's relationship with the Houthis is not the same as it is with
with Hezbollah in Lebanon, the relationship between Iran in particular, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and Hezbollah goes right back to its creation in 1982. The ties between the Houthis and Iran are very close. Iran has provided them with absolutely critical training and equipment, but the Houthis also have their own agency.
President Trump has also threatened to destroy Iran's bridges and power plants before in comments that were widely condemned at the time.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–6:10
2
How did the US describe its latest wave of strikes against Iran and why target the Strait of Hormuz?
6:10–10:18
3
What evidence and casualty figures have been reported in the US–Iran exchanges this week?
10:18–15:59
4
Is there a diplomatic off‑ramp or memorandum still in play between the US and Iran?
15:59–19:58
5
Could Iran cut off other shipping corridors like Bab al-Mandeb and what would that mean?
19:58–29:04
Speakers
10 identifiedMore from Global News Podcast
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