- 6/13/2025
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00:00a sophisticated attack one that had been talked about for years israel employing both
00:18intelligence operatives on the ground and at the same time using fighter jets taking out nuclear
00:28facilities and killing senior members of the republican guard prime minister netanyahu
00:36describing the overnight attack as a preventive measure it came as a time when the u.s was
00:44scheduled for more nuclear talks with tehran
00:58all right we'll try to hear from uh the uh israeli prime minister uh shortly uh in the last hours
01:06there have been more strikes reported on the natans nuclear facility in the north of the country
01:14uh at the same time uh first reactions coming in uh from washington overnight the united states
01:21said it had not taken part in the operation uh now the uh u.s president though uh taking to truth
01:29social and um stating that iran must make a deal before there is nothing left and save what was
01:37once known as uh the uh iranian empire no more death no more destruction just do it before it is too
01:46late donald trump who then spoke to abc news is jonathan carl uh telling him uh that uh that the
01:54operation was quote excellent we gave them a chance and they didn't take it they got hit hard very hard
02:01and there's more to come a lot more our coverage begins in jerusalem with uh correspondent no guitar
02:08napovsky no good uh we've heard that uh the uh uh air raid warnings uh uh have been uh the the security
02:17warnings for uh civilians where you are uh had been eased in the last couple of hours
02:22that's right uh israelis were awakened this morning at around three by what sounded like air raid sirens
02:34all over the country and it turns out it wasn't that but it was the military using that same alert
02:40system to alert israelis in fact to the fact that the nation's security situation had changed
02:47what uh one of the military spokesman said is that it was a way of trying to give people some time
02:53before morning came to plan for not sending the kids to school not going to work changing everybody's
03:00plans um but since then it has been a very strange quiet at one point we were informed that um 100 drones
03:12had been launched towards israel they seem to have been intercepted they were supposed to have arrived
03:17here by a few hours ago uh there were rumors that um ballistic missiles had been sent we haven't heard
03:24since now consistently every hour on the hour the idf is still telling israelis prepare for missiles
03:32the iranians will definitely respond and israelis are responding by uh buying huge amounts of water
03:39stocking up on canned foods uh hunkering down in or near their bomb shelters there is a response
03:46but for now we have just been in a in a kind of a strange waiting pattern a strange waiting pattern
03:54and again those words about from donald trump that uh there is uh more to come compare for us if you
04:01will noga uh the mood today compared to last october the first time ever that there had been
04:08a direct confrontation between israel and iran so the first time ever and a moment of great fear was
04:19actually april of 2024 and at that time israel basically shut down and there was just an enormous
04:28amount of fear of the damage that these iranian missiles could do at that time that was the first
04:36time we saw this sort of improvised international alliance of nations providing israel with a kind
04:43of second layer of an anti-missile defense system diplomatically and in the air planes from saudi arabia
04:51even from the uk americans french it happened again in october and now it hasn't happened yet in the sense
05:00that the missiles appear not yet to have been launched they're not yet coming i think that um
05:06israelis are more nonchalant than they were the first time over when it felt really terrifying and
05:12was brand new but of course um there's a very acute awareness here that the magnitude of this israeli
05:19attack on iran has never before been seen so there is an expectation that the retaliation when it does
05:26come will be very significant yeah it's uh the uh uh retaliation expected or get earlier we heard
05:34from israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu let's take a listen
05:42moments ago israel launched operation rising lion a targeted military operation to roll back the
05:50iranian threat to israel's very survival this operation will continue for as many days as it takes
05:58to remove this threat for decades the tyrants of tehran have brazenly openly called for israel's
06:05destruction they've backed up their genocidal rhetoric with a program to develop nuclear weapons
06:12in recent years iran has produced enough highly enriched uranium for nine atom bombs nine in recent
06:21months iran has taken steps that it has never taken before steps to weaponize this enriched uranium
06:28and if not stopped iran could produce a nuclear weapon in a very short time it could be a year it
06:35could be within a few months less than a year this is a clear and present danger to israel's very survival
06:42and joining us from tel aviv columnist and retired diplomat alan pinkus thank you for speaking with
06:49us here on france 24. thank you francois always good to be with you is israel at war with iran we
06:57just heard the israeli prime minister say it'll take as many days as necessary
07:04yeah he said that 20 months ago about the war in gaza so uh take him at his word that this may take some
07:10time not because he knows but because he doesn't know and and the duration or the uh uh the length
07:17of this conflict uh at this point depends on the scale and scope of iran's uh retaliatory inevitable
07:26retaliatory strike i mean it's gonna come whether or not it's gonna be destructive and devastating i hope
07:32not or they're not it's it's gonna be less uh than that i don't know but but whether or not this takes
07:38a few days or a few weeks is uh at this point is up to iran uh up to iran and they are there is um
07:49one of the main nuclear sites which uh reportedly is yet to be hit
07:55yeah i mean look it's going to take uh a few days probably a few good weeks before we could do
08:02a an intelligent uh damage assessment of iran's nuclear uh facilities uh we do know we is you and
08:11i not we uh israel i don't know what israel knows um we do know that the iranians have um uh dug deep
08:20in the mountains into uranium enrichment sites that make them almost um impregnable uh to uh um to
08:29bombs at least to the type of munitions that israel has now what exactly was hit and the extent of the
08:36damage will take time to uh uh to assess uh you know the uh uh rafael grossi the uh uh the head of
08:44the uh um international atomic agency atomic energy agency the iaea um said that there are no uh radioactive
08:54signs uh being emitted from those sites which means that they were not destroyed on the other hand
09:02israel tends to uh you know that there's a tendency in israel to uh listen to all these
09:08uh um anonymous military sources that say that the uh the reactor in that tons which is the uh the
09:14largest enrichment uh um installation or facility has been destroyed i doubt that but again
09:21um i don't know but let's let's just put one thing in context because i heard mr netanyahu in that uh
09:28passage or that footage that you just showed um iran has been um accelerating its uh enrichment
09:35process because mr netanyahu encouraged trump to withdraw unilaterally from the uh 2000 uh in
09:42in 2018 he encouraged him to withdraw unilaterally from the 2015 um nuclear deal had he not done so
09:52we wouldn't be in this situation now he may be right that this needed to be done i'm not getting into
09:57that that's a different question and a different conversation altogether but the fact that iran
10:03uh um has been progressing has been advancing has been enriching more uranium is is uh um capable of
10:11building uh mr netanyahu said nine bombs i don't know maybe four maybe six that doesn't matter
10:17um is because the u.s withdrew with israel's encouragement from the nuclear deal not for any
10:23other reason so you you mentioned several of the key points there that report by the international
10:29atomic energy agency that came out this week the fact that uh we're about to have we were supposed
10:35to have this coming sunday uh nuclear talks direct talks between the united states and iran in muscat
10:45when netanyahu president prime minister netanyahu talks about this being a preemptive operation is he
10:52justified in carrying it out um in his mind yes but that that that also uh uh reflects a messianic uh
11:04state of mind that he is uh when it comes to iran he thinks of iran as as hitler and himself as a
11:12winston churchill he thinks of iran as a uh um existential threat not only to israel but to western
11:19civilization and he thinks of himself uh and bragged for years about being uh the protector of israel
11:27something that an image that was shattered on october 7 2023 now um you know there are two ways of
11:35looking at it one is that he needed to do this in order to correct his place in history that was uh
11:42almost indelibly tarnished on october 7 2023 and the second is that it is indeed preemptive that that
11:50iran and the u.s were on the on the verge or on the brink of signing an agreement that in his mind was
11:56bad uh that raises another question that i don't know if we have the time or if you intended to ask
12:02france one that is did the u.s know and when did it know about about all this and is it complicit or
12:08not because there are two competing there i want to get to that point alan pincus but but let me let
12:13let me first uh i'll pick up on the point you've just made because it's a really important one uh with
12:18noga tarnapovsky our correspondent there uh this idea that uh uh this somehow personally redresses
12:27uh the uh the the deep uh misgivings of the israeli public when it came to the failings of october 7th
12:35right now noga tarnapovsky we see that uh in israel the initial reactions that i've been seeing from the
12:43outside haven't been so much of whether or not this is a good thing it's more just
12:48been well have i got enough like you said enough water and food stocked up at home
12:54too early to say if how israeli public feels whether this attack was justified
13:02i think uh it is too early to say but i think this is one of those very rare cases in which security
13:11needs um whatever their original sources but genuine security needs and genuine political protection
13:19needs have kind of joined together in a junction um i spoke uh just two days ago in the knesset with a
13:26veteran israeli legislator um ahmad tibi and he told me at that time obviously before we knew this would
13:34happen that in his view netanyahu was certain that the one thing that could win him this election a
13:42next election despite his very deep unpopularity is an attack that he didn't think netanyahu would
13:51undertake it without an okay from the u.s but he was very sure about that and today we're reading ben
13:57caspite a journalist and the biographer of benjamin netanyahu saying that uh behind closed doors today
14:04netanyahu is in a sort of euphoria um that he sees the an end to all the wars all arab nations joining
14:12the abraham accords um something connected to alon's version of this almost messianic view of himself
14:19versus iran of course this um operation today is not ending today and we don't know exactly how it's
14:27still going to advance but for now it does appear that genuine security needs have come together with
14:34very important political needs of the prime minister important political needs alan pinkis uh
14:42when we woke up here in europe after these attacks we were reading the comments from the state
14:48department saying uh we're not a part of this and now we're seeing tweets from donald trump
14:54uh saying it's a great thing that these attacks have happened
15:02to you know to conceal uh the fact that he was effectively humiliated uh uh by by mr netanyahu's
15:09defiance i mean a day ago 24 hours ago here was the president of the united states saying in his own
15:17voice um i urge israel not to attack while negotiations are being held and as you pointed
15:24out to uh um earlier francois and the next round of negotiations is scheduled for sunday this sunday
15:32two days from now and then all of a sudden uh um israel attacks and quickly the secretary of state
15:38marco rubio disassociates and distances himself from it and said well we're not complicit in this
15:44this is not us this is a unilateral israeli action then the u.s says well we were notified we were
15:50prized but we were not consulted and now um you uh um you bring uh you just showed uh mr trump's um uh
16:01post in his uh social net i'm sorry in his uh social network uh calling this excellent now there is a
16:10possibility that in trump's mind um this would actually i think he's going to be proven wrong
16:17but but but give him the benefit of the doubt he thinks that this approach by him that this had to
16:23be done in order to uh push the uh um iranians to be more forthcoming and conciliatory in their
16:30negotiations um is actually a good thing that now iran will come back to the negotiating table
16:36um he either doesn't understand how the iranians think or is just expressing some unfounded wishful
16:44thinking because i just don't see that happening uh um maybe in the next two months but certainly not
16:50in the next few and and and alan pincus on that euphoria that noga tarnapovsky was describing on the
16:55part of uh the israeli prime minister if it was 2018 at a time when uh relations between saudi arabia and
17:03iran were at a low for certain there would have been some uh quiet celebrations in riyadh would
17:10is that still the case today though no um look i don't think that the uh saudis are losing sleep or
17:19being uh you know or feeling bad about what happened but i do think they have every reason to be anxious
17:26because if this deteriorates if this escalates they could be uh in the crossfire the uh uh the the uh
17:33harmuz straits may be shut uh the iranians in some scenarios which seem unlikely now but who knows how
17:40this is going to uh uh develop in some scenario the iranians may attack uh on oil refineries and oil
17:47terminals in saudi arabia you wouldn't think this is possible you would think that the uh um iranians would
17:53be rational and would not uh provoke neither the us nor the saudis nor for that matter the emiratis
18:00and the qataris but but you don't know if the iranians perceive this to be a moment in which the
18:07regime is being existentially threatened meaning that israel may not call it uh that way the us may
18:15not call it that way but both are intent on bringing about regime change in in iran then all bets are off in
18:23terms of making rational decisions so i think the the saudis would be would be happy that this
18:29happened or sort of you know subduedly happy if this happened and ended uh today but it won't all right
18:36and uh we are uh at the same at the same time uh there's uh exhibit b it wasn't just nuclear sites
18:45that were hit uh it's uh also uh top commanders of the iranian uh revolutionary guards uh stay with
18:54the sound pick this because we're going to have a look at uh those top commanders and why they matter
18:59with lisa kamenoff
19:06iran's nuclear program and its top tier of military commanders and nuclear scientists
19:12all targeted by israel in one night of airstrikes general hossein salami is among those killed by
19:19the strikes in tehran with his death confirmed by iranian media leader of the revolutionary guards
19:25corps since 2019 salami was responsible for securing iran's borders and safeguarding it against any foreign
19:32attacks his forces control iran's missile arsenal and he was one of the pillars of the regime known for
19:39his fiery rhetoric against the united states and its allies israel and saudi arabia he played a key role
19:46in suppressing the internal protests of 2019 and 2022. also killed was mohammed bahari chief of the
19:53staff of the armed forces since 2016. he's one of the islamic republic's most senior officers and the
20:00driving force behind iran's ballistic missile program another military loss has been hollam ali
20:06rashid deputy chief of staff and the commander of the khatam alan bia central headquarters tasked with
20:13the military operational decision making salami bahari and rashid were long-term members of the
20:19revolutionary guards and fought in the iran-iraq war iranian media and senior officials have also
20:25reported the death of ali shamhani the senior former navy commander and one of iran's most influential
20:32politicians was a confidant of ayatollah ali khamenei according to several sources at least six
20:38nuclear scientists were killed including fereidun abasi and mohammed medi terranji the death of these
20:45high-profile figures shows the sheer scale of the israeli operation the iranian revolutionary guards have
20:52vowed to take revenge after the death of their leader alan pinkus is israel trying to bring down the iranian
20:59regime i don't know but uh look i gotta tell you something uh these these these people i mean from
21:06a moral point of view these people deserve their fate practically it's almost insignificant because
21:13they're all replaceable um but here's another twist on this how could israel assassinate an iranian
21:21um from two thousand uh kilometers away without causing uh any collateral damage uh yet when they're
21:28looking for hamas leader 25 kilometers away uh you need to raise an entire neighborhood so so the you
21:34know something has to give here in terms of of how this is all being conducted one final question i'll
21:42put it to you no guitar napovsky at this moment uh the right now uh it is a friday uh in uh in israel
21:51just tell us the streets are quiet where you are the streets are quiet the loudest they were today
22:00was at around 7 a.m the local supermarket opened so that they could stock up but the city is not as
22:09dead as i expected it to be given uh the dimensions of the threat uh the jerusalem central market a
22:17traditional place that people go to buy their weekend provisions on a friday was not empty
22:22wasn't as full as usual but not empty and um neighbors of mine for example have been calling
22:29restaurants to see if they're closing as per military orders or if they might be remaining open so
22:35there is a sense that somehow i think among many israelis that we might kind of surf this one along
22:42despite the repeated warnings from the army that that will not happen no guitar napovsky many thanks
22:48for reporting live there from jerusalem i want to thank alan pinkis for being uh with us from tel aviv
22:56you françoa
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