The Take: Why is Israel attacking Iran now?
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This episode was produced by Marcos Bartolomé, Amy Walters, and Tamara Khandaker with Catherine Nouhan, Phillip Lanos, Spencer Cline, Mariana Navarette, Haleema Shah, and our guest host, Manuel Rapalo. It was edited by Noor Wazwaz.
Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Joe Plourde mixed this episode. Our video editor is Hisham Abu Salah. Alexandra Locke is The Take's executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera's head of audio.
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Al Jazeera
an hour ago
- Al Jazeera
Iran ready for war with Israel, will not halt nuclear programme: Pezeshkian
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian has said his country is prepared for any war Israel might wage against it, adding he was not optimistic about the ceasefire between the countries, while confirming Tehran is committed to continuing its nuclear programme for peaceful purposes. Pezeshkian made the comments in an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera aired on Wednesday, which was the Iranian leader's first televised interview since the end of the 12-day conflict with Israel last month, in which the United States intervened on Israel's behalf, launching strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities. The comments come as Western nations say they are seeking a solution to Iran's ongoing nuclear ambitions in the wake of the conflict, amid reports that strikes on its nuclear facilities were less damaging than claimed by Washington. 'We are fully prepared for any new Israeli military move, and our armed forces are ready to strike deep inside Israel again,' Pezeshkian told Al Jazeera. Iran was not relying on the ceasefire that ended the 12-day war to hold, he said. 'We are not very optimistic about it,' said Pezeshkian. 'That is why we have prepared ourselves for any possible scenario and any potential response. Israel has harmed us, and we have also harmed it. It has dealt us powerful blows, and we have struck it hard in its depths, but it is concealing its losses.' He added that Israel's strikes, which assassinated leading military figures and nuclear scientists, and damaged nuclear facilities, had sought to 'eliminate' Iran's hierarchy, 'but it has completely failed to do so'. More than 900 people were killed in Iran, large numbers of them civilians, and at least 28 people were killed in Israel before a ceasefire took hold on June 24. Enrichment programme will continue Pezeshkian said Iran would continue its uranium enrichment programme despite international opposition, saying the development of its nuclear abilities would be carried out 'within the framework of international laws'. '[US President Donald] Trump says that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon and we accept this because we reject nuclear weapons and this is our political, religious, humanitarian and strategic position,' he said. 'We believe in diplomacy, so any future negotiations must be according to a win-win logic, and we will not accept threats and dictates.' He said the claim from Trump 'that our nuclear programme is over is just an illusion'. 'Our nuclear capabilities are in the minds of our scientists and not in the facilities,' he said. Pezeshkian's comments echoed earlier remarks by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who said in an interview with US broadcaster Fox News aired Monday that Tehran would never abandon its uranium enrichment programme, but was open to a negotiated solution to its nuclear ambitions, in which it would guarantee that the programme was for peaceful purposes in response for the lifting of sanctions. Israel sought to 'overthrow' leadership Pezeshkian also addressed an attempt by Israel to assassinate him at a meeting of the Supreme National Security Council in Tehran on June 15, which was reported to have left him with minor injuries. Asked about the assassination attempt, he said it had been part of a plan by Israeli commanders to target Iran's political leadership in the wake of its assassination of senior military figures, in a bid 'to put the country into chaos in order to overthrow it completely'. But the plan had failed, he said. He also stressed that Tehran's strikes on Qatar's Al Udeid base in the wake of US attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities had not been an attack on Qatar and its people. 'We do not even have a thought or imagination that there should be hostility or rivalry between us and the state of Qatar,' he said, adding that he had called Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on the day of the strikes to explain his position. 'I say clearly and honestly that we did not attack the State of Qatar, but we attacked a base for America that bombed our country while all our intentions towards Qatar and its people are good and positive.' Talks with European powers to resume Araghchi said on Monday that Iran's Atomic Energy Organization is still evaluating how the attacks last month had affected Iran's enriched material, saying Tehran would soon inform the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of its findings. He said Iran had not stopped cooperation with the IAEA, adding that any request for the IAEA to send inspectors back to Iran would be 'carefully considered'. IAEA inspectors left Iran earlier this month after Pezeshkian signed a law suspending cooperation with the agency. Meanwhile, talks are set to take place between Iran, France, Germany and the UK in Turkiye on Friday. The three European parties to the former Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which Tehran signed with several world powers in 2015 before the US pulled out in 2018, have said Tehran's failure to resume negotiations would lead to international sanctions being reimposed on it.
Al Jazeera
an hour ago
- Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera calls for global action to protect Gaza's journalists
Al Jazeera Media Network has urgently called upon the journalistic community, press freedom organisations, and relevant legal bodies to take decisive action to halt the forced starvation and crimes against journalists and media professionals in Gaza. For more than 21 months, the Israeli bombardment and the systematic starvation of the nearly two million people of Gaza have pushed an entire population to the brink of survival. The journalists on the ground, who have courageously reported on this ongoing genocide, have risked their lives and the safety of their families to shed light on these atrocities. However, they now find themselves fighting for their own survival. On July 19, Al Jazeera journalists began posting heart-wrenching messages on social media, signalling that their capacity to continue was waning. One powerful post by Anas al-Shariff, Al Jazeera Arabic channel correspondent in Gaza, stated, 'I haven't stopped covering for a moment in 21 months, and today, I say it outright … And with indescribable pain. I am drowning in hunger, trembling in exhaustion, and resisting the fainting that follows me every moment … Gaza is dying. And we die with it.' As these brave journalists continue to document the harrowing realities in Gaza, they are often overlooked, reduced to mere informants rather than being acknowledged as witnesses to their own stories. Mostefa Souag, director general of Al Jazeera Media Network, commenting on the plight of journalists in Gaza, stated, 'We owe it to the courageous journalists in Gaza to amplify their voices and put an end to the unbearable suffering they are enduring due to forced starvation and targeted killings by Israeli occupation forces.' 'The journalistic community and the world bear an immense responsibility; it is our duty to raise our voices and mobilise all available means to support our colleagues in this noble profession. If we fail to act now, we risk a future where there may be no one left to tell our stories. Our inaction will be recorded in history as a monumental failure to protect our fellow journalists and a betrayal of the principles that every journalist strives to uphold,' he added. Since October 2023, Israeli forces have killed five Al Jazeera journalists – Samer Abudaqa, Hamza Dahdouh, Ismail al-Ghoul, Ahmed al-Louh, and Hossam Shabat – and many of the family members of Al Jazeera and other journalists. Yet, these courageous journalists, along with their colleagues, refuse to succumb to the threats and pressure tactics employed by the Israeli authorities to silence them. Submission to such intimidation would have resulted in an almost total blackout of coverage of the ongoing genocide, forced starvation, and crimes against humanity inflicted upon the civilian population of Gaza. Al Jazeera Media Network calls for immediate action by concerned international organisations to bring an end to this forced starvation that does not spare journalists who are the bearers of truth.
Al Jazeera
4 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
AFP calls on Israel to allow evacuation of its journalists from Gaza
French news agency Agence France-Presse has urged Israel to facilitate the immediate evacuation of its freelance journalists from Gaza, warning that they face an 'appalling' and 'untenable' situation in the war-ravaged enclave. AFP, one of the world's largest news services, made the appeal on Tuesday after an association of its journalists warned that their colleagues in Gaza were facing starvation. 'For months, we have watched helplessly as their living conditions deteriorated dramatically,' the Paris-based agency said in a statement. 'Their situation is now untenable, despite their exemplary courage, professional commitment, and resilience.' While Palestinian freelancers have been crucial to informing the world since Israel banned foreign journalists from Gaza, Israeli authorities must allow their evacuation as 'their lives are in danger', the agency said. On Monday, the Society of Journalists, an association of AFP journalists that is independent of management, warned that their colleagues in the enclave were at risk of dying of hunger. 'We fear learning of their deaths at any moment, and it is unbearable for us,' the association said in a statement. 'Along with a few others, they are now the only ones reporting on what is happening in the Gaza Strip. International media has been banned from entering this territory for nearly two years. We refuse to watch them die.' The association highlighted the cases of several journalists, including a 30-year-old photographer, identified as Bashar, who recently posted on social media that his 'body is thin' and he had lost the strength to work. 'Since AFP was founded in August 1944, we have lost journalists in conflicts, we have had injured and imprisoned colleagues among us, but none of us can recall ever seeing a colleague die of hunger,' the association said. UK charity Oxfam on Tuesday also warned that its staff in Gaza were among those facing starvation. 'At Oxfam, we are not just witnessing this crisis, we are living it,' Bushra Khalidi, policy lead in the occupied Palestinian territory and Gaza, told Al Jazeera. 'My colleague, she told me on Saturday that she went to work without even water, with eating a single falafel just to keep going, and she still showed up to work,' Khalidi said. The warnings came as Gaza health officials on Tuesday reported that at least 15 Palestinians, including four children, had starved to death over the previous 24 hours, bringing the total number of malnutrition deaths since the start of Israel's war to 101. Israel blocked the entry of all humanitarian aid into Gaza in March, but has since May allowed a limited amount of supplies through the controversial Israel and United States-backed aid agency GHF. Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians seeking food aid since the launch of the GHF, which has been boycotted by the United Nations and leading aid agencies, most of them near the group's distribution points, according to the UN Human Rights Office.
