00:00As Israel launched a massive wave of unprecedented attacks across Iran on Friday,
00:06targeting nuclear and missile sites,
00:09the Israeli military said that the intelligence it had gathered
00:12showed Iran was approaching the point of no return,
00:16while developing a secret nuclear program.
00:19The Israeli military later said that Iran launched 100 drones towards Israel in response
00:24and that its air defenses were intercepting them outside Israeli territory.
00:30Earlier, we heard Israeli Army spokesman, Brigadier General Efi Diffen, for more.
00:37In the last few hours, Iran has launched more than 100 drones towards Israel.
00:42Our air defense system is in action against this threat.
00:45It's important to follow civil defense instructions.
00:48They could save your life.
00:49This is a different event from what we have experienced up to now.
00:53Difficult times lie ahead, and we have to be resilient.
00:56And joining us on a set, we have our Internationals Affair editor, Philip Turrell.
01:03Philip, this is an escalation in the tensions between the two countries,
01:07but there was clearly a sense it was coming.
01:11There's no surprise, I think, that these attacks have happened.
01:16And I think the only surprising element is that maybe they happened today.
01:19But it's been a pretty much a foregone conclusion over the past few weeks, even,
01:25that Israel was gearing up to launch attacks against Iran.
01:29The United States was saying, don't do those attacks.
01:33Donald Trump was saying, hold back, because we want to go in there and to try to negotiate
01:37a way out of the nuclear crisis by bringing Iran to the table.
01:42As we were just hearing, those efforts have come to nothing, and now that is off the table.
01:46I don't think those discussions on Sunday in Muscat are going to continue as a result
01:50of these attacks overnight.
01:52But what this does show is that there is a difference in approach between the United
01:58States and Israel, two key allies together, between Donald Trump's approach, which is,
02:03I want to obtain a deal, a peace agreement with Israel to reduce their nuclear capacity and
02:12nuclear, the enrichment of uranium.
02:16And the Israeli approach, which is basically, well, we are closer to Iran.
02:21We view Iran as a potential threat to annihilate Israel.
02:25We don't think it's the right time to wait, because Iran has been weakened through attacks
02:31on Hezbollah, on Hamas, on Houthi rebels.
02:34It is not in a strong position right now.
02:36This is the moment to go in and to hit it while it's in a weak position.
02:42That is where Israel stands.
02:44The U.S. is more on the diplomatic front.
02:47The question also is, well, where will this leave relations between Israel and the United
02:51States?
02:52From what we were just hearing, Donald Trump knew this was going to happen.
02:55We have had a rather cold reaction from Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, over the fact
03:01that these attacks took place, saying the United States was not involved in these attacks
03:05at all.
03:06But it's true that Donald Trump's efforts to negotiate a peace agreement have now really
03:12been kicked into the long grass.
03:14And what has the international reaction been so far, of course, considering that this is
03:19all happening in the middle of the night in many parts of the world, including Europe
03:23and the Middle East?
03:24Well, since we've been on air this morning, since these attacks happened, there have been
03:27reactions trickling through as cities wake up and diplomacy swings back into action.
03:35First of all, the first reaction here in France was from the Israeli ambassador saying the operation
03:40against Iran could continue for a few days, but certainly not for months, saying that it
03:44was part of a process of decapitation for the Iranian regime.
03:50Then the French foreign minister, Jean-Louis Barraud, issued a statement on X, saying France
03:56reaffirms Israel's right to defend itself against all attacks.
03:58But France has expressed numerous times its concerns over Iran's nuclear program, notably
04:03in the International Atomic Energy Agency resolution, saying Iran crossed all the red lines.
04:08France was not warned about these attacks ahead of time, which Germany was, because Germany
04:14is seen by the Israelis as being more of an ally towards Israel than France currently is,
04:20because Emmanuel Macron has been making it pretty clear he's going to call for the international
04:25recognition of Palestine.
04:27There were reactions from Saudi Arabia calling it blatant Israeli aggression from Oman, a dangerous,
04:34reckless escalation and flagrant violation of the UN Charter of principles of international
04:39law.
04:40There's also been a reaction from Egypt saying that they were monitoring the situation closely,
04:46the Chinese saying they were paying close attention to the Israeli attacks and calling
04:50on all parties to act in ways conducive to regional peace, and Greece saying it's going
04:55to convene its National Security Council to discuss the latest attacks, and a reaction from the
05:00United Kingdom, Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying that he is calling for a return
05:06to democracy. But another statement on X coming from the Times newspaper saying Britain will not
05:14protect Israel as Iran retaliates. And one other reaction from Jordan condemning the Israeli attack
05:22and saying that it was shooting down a number of missiles and drones that had entered its airspace
05:26earlier this morning.
