Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hi, I'm Tara Oakes in Liverpool. It's Saturday, February 28th. Today, the United States and Israel launch strikes on Iran. We look at the situation on the ground and at President Trump's aims and the risks he faces from a drawn-out campaign. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the frontlines in 10 minutes, seven days a week.
Chapter 2: What triggered the US and Israel's attacks on Iran?
Thank you.
The United States and Israel have launched what President Trump is describing as a major combat operation in Iran, plunging the Middle East into a new conflict that Trump says will end a security threat to the US and offer Iranians a chance to topple their rulers.
Smoke plumes rise over Tehran's skyline after explosions were heard in the capital as part of what the US has dubbed Operation Epic Fury. And in Tel Aviv, people rush to shelters as Iran launches retaliatory attacks against Israel.
In a video shared on Truth Social, President Trump cites decades of grievances with Iran, from a 1979 embassy hostage crisis, when 52 Americans were held for 444 days, to attacks blamed on Tehran ever since. Trump says the strikes are aimed at destroying Iranian missiles and annihilating its navy, coming after a failure to get a breakthrough in talks this week.
I'll say it again. They can never have a nuclear weapon. And we sought repeatedly to make a deal. We tried. They wanted to do it. They didn't want to do it. Again, they wanted to do it. They didn't want to do it. They didn't know what was happening. They just wanted to practice evil.
Trump has warned that American lives may be lost in this military action and urged Iranians to stay sheltered.
Stay sheltered. Don't leave your home. It's very dangerous outside. Bombs will be dropping everywhere.
The Pentagon says the operation will last multiple days. Iran is vowing crushing retaliation, with Iran's Revolutionary Guard saying all US bases, resources, and interests in the region are considered legitimate targets for the Iranian army. It says it struck Israeli and US bases with Iranian missiles, and its operation would continue until its enemy was, quote, decisively defeated.
The strikes came as Iranians were starting their working week. Our Middle East editor Edmund Blair describes the panic.
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Chapter 3: How is Iran responding to the attacks from the US and Israel?
But just hours before this operation began, Oman's foreign minister had flown to Washington, D.C., and actually given an interview in which he had said that peace was within reach. And so, obviously, the White House did not, you know, feel that was the case or decided to go ahead, regardless of that opinion by Oman.
You know, these talks obviously did not succeed and now we're in a situation of real conflict.
Phil says there are risks to President Trump from this operation.
President Trump has an enormous amount of vulnerability right now. And he kind of recognized that when he spoke in his video address about the risks of U.S. casualties. Any major Iranian counterattack against the United States or against Israel could drag the United States much, much deeper into a conflict against Iran.
Right now, again, we're seeing air and naval strikes against targets in Iran, but should dozens, hundreds of American or even Israeli casualties take place as a result of retaliation by Iran, it's not unreasonable to think the U.S. could actually have to feel the need to escalate.
And it's that escalation ladder that a lot of military analysts have always warned about when engaging with Iran, because they have a far greater ability to counterattack than adversaries that the U.S. has attacked before, say the Taliban or Al-Qaeda or Islamic State. This is nothing like any of those.
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