Israel has escalated its offensive against Iran, with explosions reported in Tehran as Israel targets Iranian missile launchers. Israel has warned Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei of a 'Saddam-like fate'.
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00:00But the story that's breaking this evening, Israel has now issued a big warning to Iran's
00:26supreme leader Khamenei. Israel has claimed Saddam-like fate awaits the Iranian supreme
00:34leader. Several explosions have been reported in west and central Tehran. Israel says Iran's
00:40surface-to-surface missile launchers are being targeted. Iran is claiming civilian areas have
00:46been targeted. So clearly at the moment, the war is escalating by the day. Those are the images that
00:53we are getting of Iran's missile launchers now being targeted amidst a threat that Israel is
01:00issuing that they could take out Khamenei, Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader. Remember, the chief
01:06of staff, the acting chief of staff of the Iranian army has also been reportedly taken out or so
01:12claimed the Israeli armed forces. So clearly Israel now stepping up its offensive on Tehran.
01:20Those are the images that are coming in from the Iranian capital. For the fifth day in a row,
01:27Iran and Israel continuing to be at war with each other. Israel making no goals of its stated intent
01:32to effect now a regime change in Iran. With the United States reiterating its demand that Iran must
01:39give up its nuclear program completely, time may be running out for Tehran. Will there be a ceasefire
01:45or is an all-out war now inevitable? That's going to be our big question. Take a look at our top story.
01:52Israel and Iran are on the brink of a big escalation.
02:08Two loud explosions were heard in Tehran on Tuesday morning. Israel has warned that it
02:23will attack most significant targets in Tehran today. Latest images released by Israel showed
02:33strikes on F-14 fighter jets in a Tehran airport, apart from strikes on trucks containing weapons and
02:41launchers on the way to Tehran. Israel has also asserted that its decision not to target Iran's
02:49nuclear facility in Fardau so far does not mean it won't in the future. Israel has dealt another deadly
02:57blow to Iran after laying majority of Iranian military top brass to waste just days ago.
03:03The Israeli Defense Forces eliminated Ali Shadmani, Iran's newly appointed wartime chief of staff.
03:10Shadmani was the most senior military commander and the closest figure to Iranian supreme leader Ali
03:17Khamenei. His predecessor Hossein Salami was killed just days ago by Israel in a similar strike.
03:24Tonight, following accurate intelligence received by the intelligence branch, we eliminated Ali
03:33Shadmani, the war chief of staff, the most senior military commander of the Iranian regime. Shadmani
03:39only managed to hold the position for four days and we also eliminated him. We will pursue our enemies
03:46again and again using advanced intelligence capabilities, exploiting opportunities, air superiority
03:52and complex operational planning. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz meanwhile has issued an open
04:00warning to Iran's supreme leader Khamenei claiming he could end up like Saddam Hussein.
04:05I warned the Iranian dictator from continuing to commit war crimes and fire missiles at Israeli citizens.
04:13He should remember what happened to the dictator in the country neighboring Iran who took this path
04:18against the state of Israel. We will continue today as well to operate against regime targets and
04:24military targets in Tehran as we did against the propaganda and incitement broadcasting authority.
04:32Israeli fighter jets also launched a wave of targeted airstrikes deep into Iranian territory,
04:38including a shocking strike on Iran's state broadcaster headquarters in Tehran during a live transmission.
04:50The anchor on air was seen scrambling for cover as fire engulfed the studio.
04:56Flames consumed the building and the aftermath was nothing short of catastrophic.
05:00A senior reporter for Iran's IRIB news agency stood outside the burning headquarters with hands stained with blood.
05:22This appalling attack constitute a blatant war crime and a direct assault on press freedom.
05:29The Israeli regime has once again demonstrated that it is the foremost enemy of truth.
05:36It holds the disgraceful record of being the world's leading perpetrator of violence against journalists
05:44and media professionals. Iran too is hitting back with a wave of ballistic missile strikes on Israel
05:51and Iranian Defense Ministry spokesman has claimed that Israel will be defeated in the coming days.
05:58The Zionist enemy does not have the possibility of resisting and enduring a long war.
06:06And therefore, this regime will be defeated in this imposed war.
06:19Are Israel and Iran now at a point of no return?
06:24Bureau Report, India Today.
06:28And U.S. President Donald Trump left the G7 meeting abruptly from Calgary to return to Washington D.C. where he is now talking tough against Iran.
06:41Listen in to what Donald Trump had to say.
06:43They'd like to talk, but they should have done that before. I had 60 days and they had 60 days. And on the 61st day, I said, we don't have a deal.
06:56They have to make a deal. And it's painful for both parties. But I'd say Iran is not winning this war.
07:03And they should talk. And they should talk immediately before it's too late.
07:08I've spoken to everybody.
07:09What will you say?
07:11Israel is doing very well, as you probably noticed. And I gave Iran 60 days. And they said no. And the 61st, you saw what happened. Day 61.
07:25So I'm in constant touch. And as I've been saying, I think a deal will be signed or something will happen. But a deal will be signed.
07:37And I think Iran is foolish not to sign one. Iran basically is at the negotiating table. They want to make a deal.
07:44And as soon as I leave here, we're going to be doing something. But I have to leave here. I have this commitment.
07:50And I have a lot of commitments. I have a commitment to a lot of countries. I want to see no nuclear weapon in Iran.
07:56And we're well on our way to making sure that happens.
08:01So as Donald Trump also gets into the act, the big question, what is the real end now of this Iran-Israel conflict?
08:09Will the United States now back Israel's bid to eliminate Khamenei if they decide to target the supreme leader of Iran and effect a regime change?
08:18What is Trump's game plan behind his sudden G7 exit? Is a full-scale war imminent in West Asia as many analysts are fearing?
08:28I'm joined by special guests now. Glenn Carl is former CIA officer, joins me from Boston.
08:34Halit Baral is former director, Israel National Security Council, joins me from Tel Aviv.
08:39Samir Abbas Jafri is professor at the Al-Mustafa International University in Qom in Iran.
08:45I appreciate all my guests joining me at this moment. I want to come to you, Samir Abbas, for a moment,
08:49because I know you're in an area where we don't know whether the network will last for a long time.
08:56It appears at the moment Iran is running out of time and options.
09:00Would I be right in saying that Iran is now under pressure to come to the dialogue table sooner rather than later?
09:06Thank you, Rajdeep, for having me on the show. First of all, it's completely Western propaganda,
09:18Western copy-paste media narrative which is being pushed. What had happened last night in Haifa was
09:27unbelievable. The claim that Israel had that it is invincible, it was broken. All the international
09:35media channels were forced to stop reporting live what had happened in Haifa.
09:44So, Iran has completely hit at very important positions inside Israel, whether it's the
09:52headquarter of the military, of the IDF, whether it's the Mossad Center which it hit yesterday,
09:56whether it's the Wiseman Institute which creates the robotic things for the war. So, Iran has
10:04completely attacked Israel and Israel is in no position, 90 percent of its population is in bunkers.
10:10So, you know, you're saying that, you're saying that even as I'm playing the visuals of Tehran,
10:15even as we are told that Tehran is also suffering bomb after bomb, even as there are reports that
10:24people, more commanders have been eliminated by the Israelis and Israel could even target Khamini,
10:31the supreme leader. And you're telling me that Iran is winning this war.
10:37Uh, Rajdeep, uh, when a war starts, okay, when an aggressive, when an aggressive country starts a war,
10:44which is according to all international laws were illegal, when they attack at 3 40 at a.m.
10:51and they kill all the commanders of a country, they kill the nuclear scientists. Let me be very clear,
10:57these nuclear scientists were sleeping with their families and their children and their wife,
11:01and they killed all of them with the entire family. Just one building that was attacked,
11:05called, uh, the name of that building was Chamran Tower. There were 60 people killed out of them,
11:1015 were children. Okay. According to all international law, article 15 of the United
11:15Nation, it is completely illegal for Israel to, to carry out that such a war. I'm, I was also very
11:22surprised, uh, surprised, uh, Rajdeep, for you as such a professional journalist and India today,
11:27being a very professional brand, glorifying, uh, uh, killing of, uh, uh, killing of journalists in Iran.
11:34I'm not, I'm not glorifying anything, but we are at, you know, the fact is, we are at war. I just were,
11:39you know, uh, your two countries are at war. We are in war, as you know.
11:43You're not glorifying killing of journalists inside. I'm only reporting the facts. The way it was
11:47projected. I'm not glorifying it. I'm reporting the facts. No, that was not a fact. The fact was that
11:54the journalists were killed. The question as a journalist, it should be asked was why were the
12:00journalists attacked? Why was the, why was a media center attacked? And the girl who was sitting there,
12:06she was a brave woman. When the bombs were flying all over, she said that this is the voice of truth
12:14and you cannot kill the voice of truth. She went offline till the last moment she was standing.
12:20And when she came back after five minutes, she said, this is an attack on freedom of expression,
12:25freedom of speech. And those people who want us, the Iranians, the brave people, Iranians to stop,
12:30this will not be going to happen. Whether freedom of speech and expression exists in Iran,
12:34I'll come back to you. I want, we'll give you enough time, but I want to also hear the other
12:37side. No, no. Helit Baral, former director of Israel National Security Council joins us.
12:42You're in Tel Aviv. You've heard a guest from Iran saying, look, this war perhaps will have no winners
12:48because both sides are hitting each other with their missiles. Do you go with that theory that it is
12:54wrong? And he suggests, as many do, that Israel is the aggressor this time, not Iran. Israel is the one
13:02one which has pushed Iran into a situation where they have to retaliate.
13:12Can you hear me? Helit Baral? Helit, can you hear me? Okay, we'll try and get, can you hear me ma'am?
13:22Okay, let me try and reconnect with her. In the meantime, I'm going to Glenn Kyle. Glenn,
13:30amidst all of this is the US role. We've seen what Donald Trump has said today. He wants a real
13:35end to the war. What does this real end really mean?
13:38Glenn? Glenn, can you hear me?
13:47Glenn, can you hear me?
13:49I can hear you, yes.
13:50Yeah, you know, the US is becoming an increasingly key player at the moment. What the US will do next? Donald
13:58Trump saying he doesn't just want to ceasefire, he wants a real end. What does this real end mean?
14:03Is the US now itching to get into Iran, maybe target some of their underground nuclear facilities
14:09with bunker bombs? Do you believe that's a real possibility?
14:12Well, it's an important question, but the problem is that Washington, meaning Donald Trump, doesn't
14:19really know what he wants to do. And the advisors that he has, to whom he doesn't really listen,
14:26are seriously divided in what they think should be done. So initially, Trump was pushing for this
14:36new version of the JPCOA, the nuclear agreement between the US, the West and Iran to limit their
14:43nuclear programs. But now Israel has changed the equation and made possibly more conceivable. And
14:53the more would be the complete elimination of Iran's nuclear program. But Trump doesn't know. And he likes
14:59to bluster, but he doesn't want to involve the US in a war. And many of his advisors realize that a
15:05war in Iran would make Afghanistan and Iraq, or America's experiences in both of those countries,
15:12small potatoes, compared to what the Iranian long-term prospects would be. So he doesn't
15:18really know. And he plays it by the day. And he doesn't really care, so long as he thinks that
15:23day to day, it makes him look good.
15:24Given what we've just heard from you there, Halit Barel, former Director of Israel National Security
15:33Council, maybe you can hear us now. Is Israel, is this war now Israel's war? Or is Israel now looking
15:41to the United States to join in the war and target nuclear installations? And is it about nuclear
15:47installations now? Or regime change? There's talk of Israel trying to target the supreme leader of Iran?
15:54So, I don't think Israel is war alone, really. Because of the...
16:03We are having a huge problem with your audio, which we need to try and get fixed. Let me try and fix your
16:08audio. Remember, these are parts of the moment of the world where there are huge network issues. So we're
16:15going to try and get that fixed once again. But Glenn, Carl, meanwhile, you tell us, you said that Donald Trump is
16:22changing his mind day by day. Every morning he wakes up and decides what he's going to do next. But
16:28what's your sense? Is the United States itching to get into a conflict? Is Donald Trump itching to get
16:35into a conflict? Or will the advisors around him, who don't want Donald Trump to spark off another war,
16:42be able to prevail over him?
16:43I'm not sure that he wants to get... He, Trump, wants to get involved in a conflict militarily
16:50either. But as I said, and as I think our colleague in Israel was probably starting to say,
16:57the equation is changing. And whereas Netanyahu has long spoken, and the Americans, about the Iranian
17:03nuclear program, and that's an important issue, certainly an existential one for Israel,
17:08now to have long-term success, strategic success, really implies the change of the Iranian regime.
17:17If one doesn't do that, the one has then probably succeeded in blowing up a lot of buildings and
17:24killed a lot of people. But if you don't change the nature of the regime, which partially defines
17:29itself by its hostility to Israel and its desire to have the capability, at least, of nuclear weapons,
17:37because states view nuclear weapons as inoculation from a regime change or great power invasion,
17:47then if you don't change that, the equation remains fundamentally the same. And Israel will
17:52have bought itself medium-term security, but not change the fundamental equation. So now I think
17:58regime change may have been and perhaps should have been from the beginning the strategic objective
18:04of Israel, if it's that coherent, and possibly the United States. Otherwise, we're going to create
18:10chaos at the benefit of medium-term security for Israel. But you know, Glenn, just to push you
18:15for a moment before I go to Helit, the fact is, whenever United States has pushed for regime change
18:20across the world, it's only caused more chaos. We've seen across the world from Afghanistan to Libya,
18:26to Sudan, to different parts of the world. The United States pushes for regime change. It leads to even more chaos.
18:34Well, that's a fundamental point. It's very important that it's easy to break things,
18:40and it's very, very difficult to build things. You can't change the nature of a society.
18:46Sometimes you can change the nature of a regime, but you can never control the permutations of the future.
18:52And even the American Revolution slipped out of the control of its own American leaders 250 years ago,
19:00and ours was a much more conservative change than most others. So you raise a fundamentally
19:06important point that a regime change would be fraught with all sorts of unpredictable possibilities.
19:16You know, Helit Bareil, we'll try a third time. Is that what Israel now is gunning for? Forget nuclear
19:23installations, it's now about regime change. And that throws up all kinds of dangerous possibilities,
19:28including a clear violation of Iran's sovereignty.
19:32Well, first of all, I disagree with that completely. To say forget nuclear installations is completely
19:39outside the scope of what Israeli interests are. Israel has been saying for years that it will not
19:46accept a nuclear threat from Iran. It will not accept a nuclear military capability from Iran.
19:52That's what this operation is about. That's what it has been about. In addition, of course, to taking
19:58care of the ballistic missile capabilities of Iran, which have been used against us over the last few
20:06days quite massively and must be dealt with and released. I hear this talk about regime change.
20:12I think it is a very strong notion here that it's not our job. It's not our responsibility.
20:19I think many people certainly here in Israel, but many people in the region and certainly a lot of
20:24people in Iran, if not the majority of the people of Iran, would be very happy to see this terrible
20:29regime gone. But that is the responsibility of that nation. And it's also within the capability of that
20:35nation. We saw what happened around the terrible, terrible protests with Massa Aminai and the kind
20:42of prices that the Iranian public was paying to protest and to stand up to the regime. And I have
20:47a lot of faith in those abilities. But that is not an Israeli issue. That's not the Israeli goal.
20:55You're saying, Halit, you're saying that, Halit, you're saying that, but it is your Israeli defense
21:00minister who's saying that Khamenei could meet Saddam Hussein-like in. So it's Israel which is now
21:06seemingly, after saying this was about nuclear installations or ensuring that Israel, Iran doesn't
21:14have the capacity to build a nuclear bomb, making it possibly also about regime change.
21:18Again, I don't believe that is the case at all. I agree with you that that was a very,
21:25very sour statement from the Minister of Defense. It's not his first one. I can't say much to defend
21:31that. I look at actions more than words. And I see that those people who were taken out are people
21:36that have to do directly with Iran's military capabilities, missile industries, nuclear facilities.
21:42We've taken out a lot of people who are responsible for that, not touch the political echelon. So that's
21:48where I stand on this and what I think is the goal. Don't forget, we're on the fifth day of the
21:54operation. As far as Israel is concerned, there's still a wide bank of targets that have to do with
22:00missiles and nuclear capabilities that we still haven't approached, despite the fact that we've
22:06had great success over the first days of this operation. And going back to the United States,
22:11because I missed that part, I just want to say it's basically a choice between two things. I don't
22:16know what Donald Trump will decide. I don't think anybody can say what he will decide. That's part
22:20of what turns him into the president that he is. He makes his own decisions. But he has put two very
22:28clear options on the table more than once. One is Iran comes to the table with a real compromise,
22:36with a real willingness to give up those components that are threatening the region, Israel and the world,
22:42or it will have to adhere and absorb more than just the Israeli strike.
22:48So what you're saying, this is a prolonged conflict, which could take days, if not weeks,
22:54from what you're saying. This is a... Am I correct, broadly?
22:59It could, or it could be settled through political, diplomatic venues, but those require
23:06very strong compromises from Iran. This is the stance not only of Israel of the United States.
23:12If you look at what happened in the IAEA at the Board of Governors meeting and the decision to
23:18start referring Iran to the Security Council, the snapback sanctions that very soon will start
23:25rolling into the process, will have to start rolling soon. The stance of those E3 countries,
23:32we see that there's a very wide consensus that Iran has overstepped on this issue and that this cannot
23:39continue to be the case. It saddens me that Israel, once again, has to shoulder this burden
23:47operationally, but I am heartened by the fact that it is diplomatically and internationally accepted,
23:55that the reality... You seem to suggest it's almost as if Israel is on a moral crusade.
24:01Surely, killing of civilians, targeting TV stations, you know, moving from one war to another,
24:07one day Gaza, one day Iran, one day Lebanon. Is that a moral crusade out here?
24:13Is this some moral crusade where Israel believes it can have the nuclear weapons,
24:19but can have a nuclear monopoly in the Middle East, but no one else can have it?
24:24Let me put it this way. This is not... This... You're talking about morality
24:28and crusades and so on. For us, this is not something to do with any kind of religion,
24:33religious issue. I don't like this word crusade. It has nothing to do with national security interests.
24:39Israel is defending its national security interests. When somebody... We learned many times in history,
24:45and once again on October 7th, when someone promises us that they are coming to annihilate us,
24:51we believe their intentions. And we're not going to allow that someone who orchestrated October 7th,
24:56which is Iran, to also hold nuclear weapons and the capabilities to deliver them against our country.
25:03You can think that it's a crusade or whatnot. I don't think any other country in that position
25:09would stand by and allow it. But what I am saying is, not only this is a very clear Israeli national
25:15interest, which is why you're seeing the support that you're seeing, this is a regional interest,
25:19and this is the interest of the world. Mind you, Iranian missiles can also reach the continent of Europe.
25:25Okay. You know, in a way, Zamir Abbas Jafri, that was the stated Israeli position that we heard
25:33very well articulated by my Israeli guest. Your response, is Iran, is the mood in Iran on the street
25:42in any way? I had an Iranian activist who said people in Iran believe enough is enough, that they would
25:49also, there is a large section that would also perhaps like a regime change, or do you believe they
25:54will now consolidate behind the supreme leader and the clerics? Rajdeep, I'm really surprised
26:04the way the questions are presented. It's completely the Western narrative. Let me put some facts in
26:11front of you. It'll help you to make better decisions. First of all, when the Friday attack
26:16started in the morning, the same day, there was Friday prayers. And after Friday prayers,
26:22there was millions of people all across Iran. I was one of them in Qum. They came out after Friday prayers
26:28in support of the government. And they came out against Israel and against the aggression that
26:33Israel has put Iran on and forced a war on Iran. So the mood in Iran is very clearly of unity and united
26:46with the government. And there are enough videos. I mean, if you want, I'll share my personal videos,
26:50which I've taken from my phone, where there are millions of people are there in the streets of
26:55Qum saying they support the government. So this Western narrative of regime change, what is regime?
27:01Why are you calling us a state which is official government, which has democracy, which is in the
27:09United Nations? Why are you using this word regime? Is United States a regime? Is India a regime?
27:16No, why are you using a regime? Why are we going pasting?
27:19Since 1979, since 1979, the fact is that you have had a particular form of government. You don't want
27:28to use the word regime. That's fine. A particular form of government. It's a government which has been
27:32seen to foster proxies, whether it's the Hezbollah, the Houthis, in different parts of the Middle East,
27:38with the sole aim of targeting Israel. You've also put, you bombed Israel last year. Missile
27:43strikes took place last year from Iran on Israel. The fact is, Iran cannot claim that they come into
27:49this debate with hands clean. Neither can Israel in my view, but neither can Iran.
27:56I think this is very easy. You know, when a war starts, you say both of them have problems.
28:02It's a very easy way to get out of it, right? So when Iran attacked Israel, who attacked first?
28:07What's the first question? Iran retaliated both the time. Iran, look, it's a 2,500-year-old
28:14civilization. Iran is not a country which was built like 50, 60 years ago. And it is not an occupying
28:20country. It's a country which has never attacked anybody like India. Like India, in 1979, Iran brought
28:27about a revolution. And the people of Iran and India have a lot of similarities. Like Mahatma Gandhi
28:33clearly said at that point of time, Palestine belongs to the Palestinians, the same way England
28:38belongs to the English and France belongs to the French. So the revolution in Iran was a clear message
28:44to the Palestine. And let me tell you the issue. You're asking what Donald Trump will do as if they're
28:48the masters of the world and the rest of the world are the colonialists. They're there to, you know,
28:52to submit and be subservient to the Americans. And they're the masters of the world. Let's,
28:58let's get out of this Babu mentality, you know.
29:00Okay, I've heard you. Zain, I'm running out of time. I want quick, I've heard you. You believe that
29:06Iran has the right to self-defense and therefore to suggest that regime change in itself is an assault on
29:15national sovereignty. I'll just get into two quick words. First from you, Halit, very quickly.
29:21It's rare to have voices from Tehra, from Iran and Israel joining us together. But Halit,
29:27the fact is Benjamin Netanyahu is also someone who's accused of having blood on his hands,
29:32whether it's civilians in Gaza or now civilians in Iran. In the name of self-defense,
29:36is Israel responding to one disproportionate response after the other? How would you respond to
29:43those who are saying Israel cannot claim that they come into this conflict with clean hands?
29:51I think anybody who followed the events in the Middle East over the last two years know that the
29:56opening shot of this was the despicable massacre of civilians, children and women in an act planned
30:06by Iran, executed by Hamas. When I hear that Israel attacks first in Iran,
30:12I want to make sure that we understand that we are talking about the annihilation of Ismail Haniyah
30:20in Tehran, a leader of Hamas, in a precise way that took him out as a response to him being one of
30:30the planners and the executors of the October 7th massacre. I, as an Israeli, am not willing to apologize
30:38for any of that. What we saw then were two failed counterattacks by Iran in April and October of
30:46missiles, which, if you consider what happened, had basically failed. We saw the collapse of Hezbollah,
30:53we saw the collapse of Syria, and what we saw is the proxy network thankfully disappearing after decades
31:00of targeting Israel through terrorist attacks, through missile attacks, so on and so forth. So,
31:06again, we can go back and forth like this for a long time. My bottom line remains, Israel will not
31:14accept Iran holding a nuclear weapon. You stand there daily preaching for the annihilation of the
31:20state of Israel. It shall not stand. Okay, I want to get Glen Karl, therefore, to get a final word. When
31:26you hear these voices from these two countries, is United States abandoning the role of playing any kind
31:32of global peacemaker now? Donald Trump simply wants to, in a way, stay out and yet hope to take the credit
31:41if there is a ceasefire tomorrow. Well, he's contradictory. I mean, he is more isolationist
31:48than any president in 80 years. And at the same time, he clearly wants the United States involved
31:55and to shape results internationally. To a large extent, he has aligned U.S. policies or acquiesced
32:03with the right wing, the ascendant dominant wing of the Israeli government. But I do have to say that any
32:10country that defines itself in part by an intention to destroy an entire other nation, and I'm speaking
32:16of Iran, has a lot to account for. And it's hard to blame Israel when it is existentially threatened
32:25from taking a step and then characterizing it as an attack that is unfair. That's simply not true.
32:30And then the last thing, claiming that the Iranian population massively supports the regime,
32:36is just delusional, since what they support is not being killed by the IRGC, which holds all the guns.
32:42I mean, that's just, it's insulting. Okay. I've heard three different viewpoints. As I said,
32:49it's rare to get voices from Iran and Israel amidst the conflict. I know that all of you are particularly
32:56in the Middle East in a very tough situation. So I appreciate you joining us and giving us your
33:00perspective, clearly very, very different perspectives that reflect the nature of this battle,
33:06polarized battle taking place there. I appreciate all of you joining me here on the news today.
33:11Thank you so much. Now, meanwhile, as tensions escalate between Israel and Iran, Indian students
33:16in Tehran have been moved to the city of Qom, approximately 148 kilometers away for their safety.
33:22The Indian embassy in Tehran has begun relocating the students due to the ongoing missile
33:27strikes and the deteriorating security situation. India has evacuated in the last 24 hours around
33:33110 students. Many of them are from Jammu and Kashmir. Joining me now is Raheel Abbas. He's an Indian
33:40who's been stuck in Iran. Also joining me are Mohammed Shoaib and Anaf Ishaq, students stuck in Iran. We've been
33:47trying to get through to all of you. Go ahead. Who wants to speak first? Mohammed Shoaib, Anaf Ishaq,
33:55would you like to tell us where you are at the moment? Are you safe, completely safe? And are you
33:59out of Iran at the moment?
34:03No, I am Mohammed Shoaib and I'll be speaking first. Right now, we're in the city of Qom in Iran.
34:12It's around about 150 kilometers away from Tehran. And we were evacuated yesterday around about
34:201.30 p.m. we left Tehran because the situation there was quite drastic and dangerous for everyone,
34:26including students who are the domestic students and the national students. Not just for someone
34:33person, the situation is dangerous. It's dangerous for all of us. We even saw heaps of traffic jams
34:39in the highway when we were leaving for Qom. And we had to change routes two or three times because
34:45during our travel, the Qom Tehran Highway was also attacked once by the Israeli army.
34:52So Ayol, you've gone to Qom. Is the plan to now get out of Iran? Many of them are,
34:57many of students are coming now through Armenia. Is that the plan to get out of Iran at the moment
35:02or to stay there in Qom? We hope so. But right now, we're in doubt what's the, for the procedure for
35:09this. Since the embassy isn't clearly talking to us and giving us instructions, they have just told
35:16us to remain calm and don't panic. And the accommodations there have been provided by the
35:23embassy also. Yeah, but as I said, you know, the fact is also, of course, 110 students have been
35:28evacuated. What has been the most difficult thing, Anav, for you all to deal with in the last few days?
35:34How difficult have the last few days been? Hi, first of all, thanks for having me. Over the last few
35:40days, life has drastically changed. Our academic schedule, it has stopped. It is completely on,
35:46it has, it is on hold right now. Our classes have been postponed. Our exams have been postponed. Our
35:51whole academic schedule is on hold. So we don't know what happens to our degree next. Like we have seen
35:56the Ukraine war. We have seen how students had to migrate from country to country. They were left in lurch.
36:02the same. It's the same feeling, the uncertainty going on around. Okay, there is an uncertainty.
36:09Rael Abbas, you're an Indian also stuck in Iran. How difficult is it for all of you? Are you in
36:15touch with the embassy authorities? Have they given you full assurances on what next?
36:20Rael, can you hear me? Yes sir, I can hear you. What assurances have the ministry given you? What have
36:36they asked you to do? So we are a hundred of people from India, which is belongs from UP
36:42Allahabad and Priyag Raj, which is known as now. And we are stuck in home city, which is situated in Iran.
36:50And currently, we don't have any information from the embassy. But I have called several times and
36:55they said like you have to wait there and just wait there and follow the instructions of Indian
37:01government embassy. So we are waiting for the instructions. Once we'll get any instruction,
37:05we'll follow that. Okay, so you're still waiting for instructions. All of you are obviously in a very,
37:11very difficult situation. Our thoughts are with you. Our prayers are with you.
37:16And remember, the people of India are firmly with you and we hope that you will be safe.
37:22So I wish each and every one of you the very best. If you have any details, any concerns,
37:28remember, we'll be in touch with you constantly. So please take care. And I hope your families who
37:34are watching you will be assured that their children are safe. So thank you Rahil,
37:39Mohamad, Shoaib and Anav Ashak for joining me on the show at the moment. Remember, they are joining us from
37:45different parts of Iran. Not very easy. Credit to our assignment team that has managed to link them
37:50all up in the last few minutes.