1
00:00:00,520 --> 00:00:05,600
Speaker 1: Already and this is the Daily This is the Daily OS. Oh,

2
00:00:05,800 --> 00:00:06,840
Speaker 1: now it makes sense.

3
00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:17,160
Speaker 2: Good morning, and welcome to the Daily OS. It's Monday,

4
00:00:17,200 --> 00:00:18,160
Speaker 2: the second of March.

5
00:00:18,239 --> 00:00:20,480
Speaker 1: I'm Lucy Tassel, I'm Emma Gillespie.

6
00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:23,599
Speaker 2: Over the weekend to the US and Israel launched a

7
00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:27,360
Speaker 2: joint attack on Iran, killing the regimes supreme leader and

8
00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:31,920
Speaker 2: other key military personnel. The strikes came after indirect nuclear

9
00:00:31,960 --> 00:00:36,000
Speaker 2: negotiations between the US and Iran ended last week without

10
00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:39,200
Speaker 2: a clear deal. In response to the joint attack, Iran

11
00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:42,680
Speaker 2: has launched strikes across the Middle East. In today's podcast,

12
00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:45,199
Speaker 2: will unpack the lead up to this weekend, what we

13
00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:47,760
Speaker 2: know about the initial attack, and what we can expect

14
00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:48,479
Speaker 2: for the region.

15
00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:56,160
Speaker 1: Okay, Lucy, So on Saturday afternoon our time, we began

16
00:00:56,520 --> 00:01:00,240
Speaker 1: seeing these breaking news alerts and hearing reports that's something

17
00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:03,200
Speaker 1: was happening in Iran. Before we get into what actually

18
00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:05,400
Speaker 1: happened over the weekend, can you give us a bit

19
00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:09,400
Speaker 1: of background on what had been happening with Iran in

20
00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:11,279
Speaker 1: the lead up to this week Yeah.

21
00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:14,000
Speaker 2: The interesting thing about the attacks on Saturday was that

22
00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:17,560
Speaker 2: they were actually widely expected. That's because Donald Trump had

23
00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:21,840
Speaker 2: been threatening to attack Iran for weeks amid ongoing negotiations

24
00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:26,120
Speaker 2: between the two countries and internal uprisings. We'll take those

25
00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:29,880
Speaker 2: two topics one by one, starting with the internal unrest

26
00:01:29,959 --> 00:01:34,600
Speaker 2: in Iran. So back in December, the largest civilian protests

27
00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:38,319
Speaker 2: in Iran since the nineteen seventy nine revolution kicked off.

28
00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:42,039
Speaker 2: Demonstrators were calling for the end of the Iranian regime,

29
00:01:42,440 --> 00:01:46,160
Speaker 2: and local health officials told media that an estimated thirty

30
00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:49,360
Speaker 2: thousand protesters have been killed. Though it'll be a long

31
00:01:49,400 --> 00:01:53,880
Speaker 2: time before we have something like accepted death toll yep.

32
00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:58,920
Speaker 1: And that's because there was a media communications internet blackout. Yeah,

33
00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:02,840
Speaker 1: very little information that could be verified coming out of Iran.

34
00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:06,360
Speaker 1: Different humanitarian groups have estimated the death toll to be

35
00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:09,400
Speaker 1: at different figures, so it will take some time for

36
00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:11,320
Speaker 1: a uniform number to come out. But at the moment,

37
00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:13,960
Speaker 1: the estimates are well into the tens of thousands.

38
00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:16,400
Speaker 2: So that's basically what you need to know in terms

39
00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:19,320
Speaker 2: of what's been going on inside Iran now. In terms

40
00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:22,840
Speaker 2: of Iran's relationship with the broader world, the US and

41
00:02:22,880 --> 00:02:27,240
Speaker 2: Iran ended a round of negotiations to limit Iran's nuclear

42
00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:30,760
Speaker 2: capability just last week, okay, So they had been engaging

43
00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:35,080
Speaker 2: in diplomacy. The mediator of those negotiations said, quote significant

44
00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:38,440
Speaker 2: progress had been made, but there was no deal reached.

45
00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:42,040
Speaker 2: And amid those talks, Trump said the US would quote

46
00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:45,560
Speaker 2: have to make a meaningful deal with Iran otherwise quote

47
00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:46,840
Speaker 2: bad things happen.

48
00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:50,200
Speaker 1: Yep. So we heard that language from Trump towards the

49
00:02:50,280 --> 00:02:53,519
Speaker 1: end of last week. This kind of threat. I suppose

50
00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:56,519
Speaker 1: that if Iran wouldn't come to the table and make

51
00:02:56,560 --> 00:02:59,440
Speaker 1: a deal on its nuclear program with the US, that

52
00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:03,160
Speaker 1: this loose ming threat of action from the US was

53
00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:07,480
Speaker 1: promised by Trump. What was the window that he had

54
00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:10,640
Speaker 1: given the regime in terms of an expected response.

55
00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:13,160
Speaker 2: So he suggested a ten day window for the regime

56
00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:16,840
Speaker 2: to respond. And during this time, the US military presence

57
00:03:16,919 --> 00:03:20,240
Speaker 2: in the region continued to grow, and that looked like

58
00:03:20,280 --> 00:03:25,240
Speaker 2: an aircraft carrier and guided missile destroyers moving towards Iran,

59
00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:29,600
Speaker 2: gathering in the Mediterranean. So the threat, taken together with

60
00:03:29,680 --> 00:03:32,160
Speaker 2: the build up of this kind of military presence in

61
00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:35,280
Speaker 2: the Middle East, had led many to believe the US

62
00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:37,560
Speaker 2: was imminently going to attack Iran.

63
00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:39,840
Speaker 1: Lucy, I want to hear more about the events of

64
00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:42,160
Speaker 1: the weekend but before we get to that, we're going

65
00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:48,120
Speaker 1: to hear a quick message from today's sponsor. So, Lucy,

66
00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:52,320
Speaker 1: many were expecting the US would attack Iran. The riding

67
00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:55,760
Speaker 1: was on the wall. Talk me through what actually happened

68
00:03:55,800 --> 00:03:56,400
Speaker 1: on the weekend.

69
00:03:56,920 --> 00:04:00,280
Speaker 2: Yeah, So all of this backdrop then led to the

70
00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:04,840
Speaker 2: US and Israel launching a joint attack on Iran. Now

71
00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:09,360
Speaker 2: following initial reports, Trump said, quote, our objective is to

72
00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:13,680
Speaker 2: defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the

73
00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:16,640
Speaker 2: Iranian regime. And so what he's talking about there is

74
00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:19,760
Speaker 2: about or we can sort of infer that what he's

75
00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:23,080
Speaker 2: talking about there is the possibility of Iran building a

76
00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:27,919
Speaker 2: nuclear weapon. So, as we've said, the US and Iran

77
00:04:27,960 --> 00:04:31,960
Speaker 2: were in these negotiations. They're in these negotiations because the

78
00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:35,520
Speaker 2: US and Iran had previously signed a deal where Iran

79
00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:40,040
Speaker 2: promised to only develop nuclear energy, not weapons, and in exchange,

80
00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:42,560
Speaker 2: the US was going to lift some of its limitations.

81
00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:46,360
Speaker 2: The US pulls out of that deal back during Trump's

82
00:04:46,520 --> 00:04:49,560
Speaker 2: first term, so they've been involved in negotiations to come

83
00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:53,040
Speaker 2: up with a different deal. And it was also the source,

84
00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:56,760
Speaker 2: according to the US and Israel, of the strikes on

85
00:04:57,200 --> 00:05:01,440
Speaker 2: Iran last winter Australian winter. What the US and Israel

86
00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:05,960
Speaker 2: said they were doing targeting nuclear and military facilities in Iran, and.

87
00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:10,400
Speaker 1: From Trump's reports after that strike last year, the US

88
00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:15,000
Speaker 1: framing was that Iran's nuclear capability had been obliterated, yeah,

89
00:05:15,040 --> 00:05:18,400
Speaker 1: by US strikes. But then we heard later from other

90
00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:21,880
Speaker 1: experts who questioned that and estimated that perhaps the strikes

91
00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:26,080
Speaker 1: had set Iran's nuclear capability back somewhat, but had not

92
00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:27,200
Speaker 1: destroyed it entirely.

93
00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:32,640
Speaker 2: Yeah. On Saturday local time, Trump confirmed that the strikes

94
00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:37,720
Speaker 2: had killed the regime's supreme leader, that's Ayatola Ali Hami.

95
00:05:38,279 --> 00:05:41,760
Speaker 2: It can't be overstated how important the supreme leader is

96
00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:45,159
Speaker 2: to the running of the regime. Since the nineteen seventy

97
00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:49,960
Speaker 2: nine revolution, Aali Kamini has held almost all decision making

98
00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:53,599
Speaker 2: powers in Iran. Okay, So on this Trump said the

99
00:05:53,640 --> 00:05:57,520
Speaker 2: Ayatola was quote one of the most evil people in history.

100
00:05:57,640 --> 00:06:00,440
Speaker 2: He said he was dead, which was quote not only

101
00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:02,960
Speaker 2: justice for the people of Iran, but for all great

102
00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:06,320
Speaker 2: Americans and those people from many countries throughout the world

103
00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:09,440
Speaker 2: that have been killed or mutilated by the Ayatola and

104
00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:13,840
Speaker 2: what Trump called quote his gang of bloodthirsty thugs. In

105
00:06:13,839 --> 00:06:17,440
Speaker 2: addition to the Supreme leader, the strikes also killed another

106
00:06:17,839 --> 00:06:22,400
Speaker 2: seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps leaders. Now, I know we've

107
00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:25,520
Speaker 2: talked about this on the podcast before, but just to recap,

108
00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:29,800
Speaker 2: the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or the IRGC, this is

109
00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:35,200
Speaker 2: sort of a paramilitary organization that exists in Iran alongside

110
00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:39,159
Speaker 2: to the country's official military, and it's very very closely

111
00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:43,159
Speaker 2: tied to the Ayatola. Now, a representative for Iran actually

112
00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:46,159
Speaker 2: spoke to the UN Security Council on Sunday. They had

113
00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:50,880
Speaker 2: an emergency meeting, and this representatives said US and Israeli

114
00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:54,920
Speaker 2: strikes on a school had killed more than one hundred children.

115
00:06:55,279 --> 00:06:58,120
Speaker 2: Trump has not commented on these reports, and they have

116
00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:01,760
Speaker 2: not been independently verified by any media organization at the

117
00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:02,640
Speaker 2: time of reporting.

118
00:07:02,839 --> 00:07:05,520
Speaker 1: Okay, so what we do know for sure is the

119
00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:10,080
Speaker 1: US and Israel have launched these significant strikes on Iran.

120
00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:14,560
Speaker 1: As a result, their supreme leader, the Ayatola, has been killed.

121
00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:17,280
Speaker 1: How has Iran responded.

122
00:07:17,720 --> 00:07:21,640
Speaker 2: Yeah, So beyond that appearance at the UN Security Council meeting,

123
00:07:22,160 --> 00:07:27,560
Speaker 2: we have some reporting from the Iranian state media. So

124
00:07:27,560 --> 00:07:30,280
Speaker 2: we've heard from the speaker of the Iranian Parliament. In

125
00:07:30,320 --> 00:07:33,560
Speaker 2: a statement published by state media, he said, quote the

126
00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:36,800
Speaker 2: Americans and Israelis have crossed a red line and will

127
00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:40,640
Speaker 2: be held accountable. He said the retaliation will be quote

128
00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:43,480
Speaker 2: so devastating that they will be forced to beg for mercy.

129
00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:47,200
Speaker 2: And the regime then responded with retaliatory strikes across the

130
00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:51,760
Speaker 2: Middle East, striking Israel, striking the UAE, where the Defense

131
00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:55,360
Speaker 2: Ministry said one civilian had been killed in a residential area.

132
00:07:56,280 --> 00:07:59,360
Speaker 2: The UAA also said it had intercepted quote a number

133
00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:02,760
Speaker 2: of missile and there were reports that Dubai Airport had

134
00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:07,960
Speaker 2: been hit. Over in Iraq, strikes killed two military personnel

135
00:08:08,080 --> 00:08:12,360
Speaker 2: and wounded three others, according to Reuters, and Bahrain has

136
00:08:12,440 --> 00:08:16,160
Speaker 2: confirmed a US Navy base and residential buildings have been struck.

137
00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:19,320
Speaker 1: That US Navy base, I think it's worth noting had

138
00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:22,760
Speaker 1: already been evacuated, so there were not American troops at

139
00:08:22,760 --> 00:08:26,440
Speaker 1: the facility. They'd been evacuated in preparation for these strikes,

140
00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:29,960
Speaker 1: but still an important part of the response to note

141
00:08:30,120 --> 00:08:33,480
Speaker 1: so lucy. It appears then that this isn't just contained

142
00:08:33,720 --> 00:08:38,960
Speaker 1: to Iran. There are multiple nations regions that seemed to

143
00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:41,080
Speaker 1: be affected. Why is that?

144
00:08:41,640 --> 00:08:46,080
Speaker 2: Yeah, so it appears that Iran is attacking not just Israel,

145
00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:49,440
Speaker 2: but also anywhere that there is an American presence and

146
00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:53,080
Speaker 2: Rykan military base. Okay, So Iran is a long way

147
00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:55,280
Speaker 2: from the US. You need a special kind of missile

148
00:08:55,320 --> 00:08:58,320
Speaker 2: in order to be able to launch it across such

149
00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:00,640
Speaker 2: a far distance. So if they want to attack America,

150
00:09:00,679 --> 00:09:04,160
Speaker 2: they go to a target closer to home. And there's

151
00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:07,040
Speaker 2: also the fact that Iran backs and supports a number

152
00:09:07,040 --> 00:09:08,280
Speaker 2: of groups across the region.

153
00:09:08,400 --> 00:09:09,160
Speaker 1: So that looks like.

154
00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:14,120
Speaker 2: Hamas in Gaza, the Whothis in Yemen, and Hesbala in Lebanon.

155
00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:17,400
Speaker 2: So that connection could bring other players into this conflict,

156
00:09:17,400 --> 00:09:18,640
Speaker 2: although we'll have to wait and see.

157
00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:22,360
Speaker 1: Yeah, what about Australia. Obviously the United States is a

158
00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:27,040
Speaker 1: key ally for the Australian government. How have we responded

159
00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:30,200
Speaker 1: to the strikes? Have we heard from Albanzi? Yeah?

160
00:09:30,280 --> 00:09:33,960
Speaker 2: So Prime Minister Albanzi said, quote, we support the United

161
00:09:33,960 --> 00:09:37,760
Speaker 2: States acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon

162
00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:42,120
Speaker 2: and to prevent Iran continuing to threaten international peace and security.

163
00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:45,440
Speaker 2: That was right after the first wave of strikes. He added,

164
00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:48,600
Speaker 2: quote Australia stands with the brave people of Iran in

165
00:09:48,679 --> 00:09:53,000
Speaker 2: their struggle against oppression. On Thursday, the Australian government told

166
00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:57,240
Speaker 2: the families of diplomats to evacuate their postings in Lebanon

167
00:09:57,320 --> 00:10:01,080
Speaker 2: and Israel, and it also told those families of diplomats

168
00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:04,880
Speaker 2: in other countries including Jordan. It's sort of very strongly

169
00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:09,280
Speaker 2: suggested that they should leave the region. Smart Traveler, which

170
00:10:09,320 --> 00:10:11,880
Speaker 2: is the Department of Foreign Fairs and Trades kind of

171
00:10:12,160 --> 00:10:15,920
Speaker 2: public facing arm has put Iran, Israel and Lebanon on

172
00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:18,920
Speaker 2: its do not travel list quote due to the volatile

173
00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:25,040
Speaker 2: security situation, armed conflict, civil unrest and terrorism. And there's

174
00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:28,720
Speaker 2: another kind of aspect that can affect Australians beyond those

175
00:10:28,760 --> 00:10:33,520
Speaker 2: who have family members across the region. Obviously Australia very multicultural.

176
00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:37,200
Speaker 2: There's also the aspect that the airspace has closed above

177
00:10:37,400 --> 00:10:40,040
Speaker 2: multiple Middle Eastern countries, and that's one of the main

178
00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:42,439
Speaker 2: ways that Australians trying to get to other parts of

179
00:10:42,520 --> 00:10:45,160
Speaker 2: the world, you have to go through the Middle East.

180
00:10:45,360 --> 00:10:48,320
Speaker 2: So at the time of recording, the airspace above Katar

181
00:10:48,600 --> 00:10:51,640
Speaker 2: is either closed or very limited. So that is going

182
00:10:51,679 --> 00:10:53,800
Speaker 2: to be affecting a lot of Australians around the world.

183
00:10:53,679 --> 00:10:59,560
Speaker 1: A huge travelport for millions of Australians and travelers everywhere. Really, yeah, Lucy,

184
00:10:59,600 --> 00:11:01,760
Speaker 1: thank you so much for breaking that down for us.

185
00:11:01,760 --> 00:11:04,240
Speaker 1: By no means a simple one to tackle, but we

186
00:11:04,360 --> 00:11:08,000
Speaker 1: really appreciate you explaining it to us so well. This

187
00:11:08,160 --> 00:11:12,320
Speaker 1: is obviously a developing story. There are so many headlines

188
00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:14,760
Speaker 1: continuing to come out, and we will of course keep

189
00:11:14,760 --> 00:11:17,600
Speaker 1: you updated on everything you need to know and making

190
00:11:17,679 --> 00:11:19,360
Speaker 1: sense of it all for you over on the Dally

191
00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:21,920
Speaker 1: Ozzi Instagram, So keep an eye out there. We'll be

192
00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:24,520
Speaker 1: answering your big questions throughout the week. That's it for

193
00:11:24,559 --> 00:11:26,920
Speaker 1: today's episode. We will be back a little bit later

194
00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:29,760
Speaker 1: on today with your evening news headlines. Until then, have

195
00:11:29,800 --> 00:11:31,480
Speaker 1: a good one.

196
00:11:34,600 --> 00:11:36,880
Speaker 2: My name is Lily Maddon and I'm a proud Aarunda

197
00:11:37,120 --> 00:11:41,240
Speaker 2: bunge Lung Kalkotin woman from Gadighl Country. The Daily oz

198
00:11:41,360 --> 00:11:44,120
Speaker 2: acknowledges that this podcast is recorded on the lands of

199
00:11:44,120 --> 00:11:47,440
Speaker 2: the Gadighl people and pays respect to all Aboriginal and

200
00:11:47,480 --> 00:11:50,520
Speaker 2: Torres Strait Island and nations. We pay our respects to

201
00:11:50,600 --> 00:11:53,480
Speaker 2: the first peoples of these countries, both past and present,