June 23, 2025 • 17 mins
Over the weekend, the U.S. struck Iran. It’s the largest attack America has ever carried out on Iran, and comes amid a war between Iran and Israel, which counts the U.S. as its closest ally. In today’s episode, we’ll catch you up on this rapidly evolving story and explain the historic strike, discuss Iran’s reaction, and take a look at how Australia has responded to the attack.
Hosts: Lucy Tassell and Sam Koslowski
Producer: Emma Gillespie
Want to support The Daily Aus? That's so kind! The best way to do that is to click ‘follow’ on Spotify or Apple and to leave us a five-star review. We would be so grateful. The Daily Aus is a media company focused on delivering accessible and digestible news to young people. We are completely independent.
Want more from TDA?
Subscribe to The Daily Aus newsletter
Subscribe to The Daily Aus’ YouTube Channel
Have feedback for us?
We’re always looking for new ways to improve what we do. If you’ve got feedback, we’re all ears. Tell us here. (edited)
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Good morning, and welcome to the Daily Odds. It's Tuesday,
the twenty fourth of June.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
I'm Lucy Tassel, I'm Sam Kulski.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Over the weekend, the US struck Iran.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
The operation President Trump planned was bold and it was brilliant,
showing the world that American deterrence is back.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Iran cannot be allowed to get a nuclear weapon, and
we support action to prevent that.
Speaker 4 (00:29):
That is what this is.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
It's the largest attack America has ever carried out on
Iran and comes amid a war between Iran and Israel,
which counts the US as its closest ally. In today's episode,
we'll explain the historic strike, discuss Iran's reaction, and catch
you up with this rapidly evolving story.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Okay, So, Lucy, when you and I chatted in the
office on Friday afternoon, yeah, the position was that we
knew that President Trump was considering the possibility of the
US striking Iran. Here said this very ominous, indecisive quote
of I may do it, I may not do it.
Late last week, then on Sunday morning, our time, about
ten am, he did do it, and he launched strikes
(01:10):
on three nuclear sites in Iran. There's so much one pack,
But give me a sense of how we got here.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Yeah, I mean it's hard to know where to even start.
I know that we have been discussing how we can
explain the US Iran relationship. If that's something you would
be interested in, please reach out to us.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
I'll let us know.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
I'm just going to kind of talk about the last
few days, just to catch people up to speed. I
think it starts with a statement from the UN Nuclear
Watchdog earlier this month. So the watchdog said Iran had
failed to comply with its international legal obligations to allow
independent monitors from the UN to fully investigate its nuclear sites.
(01:51):
It said it hadn't answered questions about activities at certain sites,
and it said Iran hadn't explained why it was accruing quote,
highly enriched urani, which is the kind that you need
for nuclear weapons rather than nuclear energy. The Watchdog did
not find that Iran had a nuclear weapon or had
made one, but it said it was the only nation
(02:11):
without nuclear weapons that is producing such material, which the
watchdog couldn't ignore given the potential proliferation implications and.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
All of those international regulations that govern the nuclear energy
and nuclear warfare sphere or comes in this framework of
the international community trying to figure out how to prevent
a nuclear war essentially, But what do you mean by
the word proliferation?
Speaker 1 (02:37):
In this context, the word proliferation means increasing the number
of nuclear weapons in the world. The UN's main treaty
on nuclear weapons is called the Treaty on the Non
Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which binds countries to never acquire
nuclear weapons other than a handful which had developed and
detonated one before nineteen sixty seven. Iran had signed this treaty,
(03:01):
as has the US. Israel has not. Nuclear weapons are
obviously catastrophic. We know from the only time in history
they have been used in conflict, during World War II,
when the US dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese
cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, how wide ranging and long
lasting the effects can be. There are strict regulations under
(03:23):
international law around which countries are allowed to have them.
As I said earlier, we have heard, though from governments
around the world, including our own, that Iran can never
be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon, can never become
a nuclear nation.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
And what is it about Iran that puts it in
that category of country.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
For some context origious statement from the G seven summit
earlier this month, where world leaders said Iran can never
have a nuclear weapon because it is the principal source
of regional instability and terror. We know so that Iran
financially and militarily supports a number of groups in the region,
Hamas in Gaza, Hesbla and Lebanon, and the Huthis in Yemen,
(04:09):
among others. All three groups are designated as terrorist organizations
by Australia. We also know that the Iranian regime has
said its goal is to destroy Israel, and again on
that note of concern about what it would do to
the region. Saudi Arabia, for example, has said it will
acquire nuclear weapons if Iran develops one. Israel is believed
(04:33):
to have nuclear weapons, but it has never publicly confirmed
or denied either way. Finally, in twenty fifteen, Iran signed
a treaty that it would not develop nuclear weapons, that
its nuclear program would only be for energy in exchange
for other countries, slowly lifting financial restrictions on Iran.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Okay, so let me kind of bring that all together.
You've got a country that is known to be supporting
and financially facilitating known terrorist groups in the region. And
it's a region where other countries have said, well, if
they keep developing their nuclear program, then we'll have to
as well. So you've got a backdrop of all of
these concerns. Then you have their promise of not developing
(05:16):
a weapon, and then last week we got this release
from the UN Nuclear watchdog saying there are concerns that
they are in fact making progress. Yeah. Then what after that?
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Israel carried out a series of strikes on Iran. Israel
said it was targeting military and nuclear infrastructure, including the
residences of military generals in apartment buildings in Tehran. Here's
what Israeli PM Benjamin Netnya, who said was Israel's justification.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
In recent months, Iran has taken steps that it has
never taken before, steps to weaponize this enriched uranium. If
not stopped, Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in a
very short time. It could be a year, it could
be within a few months, less than a you this
is a clear and present danger to Israel's very survival.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
Iran, for its part, has repeatedly said its nuclear program
is entirely peaceful, Iran's supreme leader is called the Ayatollah,
and he said a few times in the past that
the use of nuclear weapons is haram or forbidden under Islam,
and Iran, as we know, is an Islamic republic ever
since its revolution in nineteen seventy nine. Iran responded by
(06:29):
striking back. It hit Israeli cities Telabev and Haifa. In
the ensuing days, the nations have struck each other with missiles.
Both sides say they're aiming for military infrastructure. Both sides
have killed and injured civilians. The latest death toll that
we have from Iranian authorities is four hundred and thirty deaths,
(06:52):
mainly civilians. Israeli authorities report twenty five civilian deaths. During
this time, there was a lot of discuss about whether
the US would strike Iran, as we mentioned at the
top of today's episode, given its close relationship with Israel
and its capabilities as the world's most powerful military.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
It's crazy to think that from when that nuclear report
came out to last Friday was only about a week. Yeah,
it was about eight or nine days, So so much
happened in that period, and this idea of US involvement
started to become more and more present in the new cycle,
in the language with which all parties were speaking and
(07:32):
analyzing the situation. And then on Sunday morning, there was
this strike from the US and we found out via
a post to President Trump's social media platform Truth Social.
Tell me about the strike.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
We know the US struck three nuclear sites in Iran.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Sunday night
our time that the US flew B two Spirit planes,
which are really big and really quiet aircraft. He said
these were flown into Iranian airspace without being detected and
dropped what he called massive ordinance penetrators. We would know
(08:10):
these better as bunker busters. It's a kind of bomb
that drops deeply into the earth before exploding. These were
dropped because at least one of Iran's nuclear sites is
deep underground.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
About ninety meters I think underground, so a substantial amount
of earth to get through with the bomb. Yeah, to
actually do some damage to the facility, yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
Hegsath said it was the first time these had ever
been used. He added that the goal of the operation
was to quote neutralize the threats to our national interests
posed by the Iranian nuclear program and the collective self
defense of our troops and our ally Israel.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
So to translate some of that kind of corporate political
speak to what Hags Earth is actually saying there, He's saying,
essentially that the US needed to bomb these Iranian nuclear
facilities because there was a threat to America and a
threat to Israel and a threat to American troops in
the region. Yeah, and what is his boss, President Trump
said about this?
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Shortly after Trump made that truth social post, he spoke
at the White House. He is a bit of what
he said.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
This cannot continue. There will be either peace or there
will be tragedy. For I ran far greater than we
have witnessed over the last eight days. Remember, there are
many targets left. The nights was the most difficult of
them all by far, and perhaps the most lethal. But
(09:35):
if peace does not come quickly, we will go after
those other targets with precision, speed and skill. Most of
them can be taken out in a matter of minutes.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
And that last part of the statement, Lucy, was probably
of the most concerns of you and I when we
were watching that address live on Sunday. It really brought
to the fronts this idea that the US could continue
striving which the international community might consider more of a
full blown war with Iran, rather than this language around
(10:07):
a targeted strike, a limited strike, allumited operation. What has
the reaction been from Iran to these strikes, especially with
that framing by President Trump.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
So Iran called for the UN Security Council to have
an emergency meeting, which happened on Monday morning our time.
The Security Council, for those who might not know, is
one of the UN's main bodies. It's responsible for the
maintenance of international peace and security. It's the only body
in the UN that actually has the power to make
decisions that member states are obligated to implement. It has
(10:42):
fifteen members. Some of these are permanent, some of them
are temporary. The US is one of the permanent members.
Australia has been a temporary member in the past. We
are not currently on the makeup of the Security Council.
So at that Security Council meeting, Iran's delegate used Netnyahu again,
he's the Israeli Prime Minister of quote hijacking US foreign policy,
(11:06):
dragging the United States into yet another costly, baseless war.
He called the US attack quote aggression and unlawful action,
and said the allegations of nuclear development were baseless. He
said Iran had a right to defend itself and that
its response would be quote proportionate in terms of what
that attack could involve. We should remember Iran is a
(11:29):
long way from even the US East Coast, and not
many countries have missiles that have a long enough range
to travel that far. I would think it would be
more likely for Iran to attack a US military base
in the region, which, as we said, was something that
Trump was thinking about.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
The other potential, therefore, Iran is a response directly against
Israel they see as part of this duo with the US.
That indeed happened in the twenty four hours after the
strikes on the three nuclear facilities. What has the position
been from the US and Israel in the days since
the strike?
Speaker 4 (12:06):
Yeah. So.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
At that Security Council meeting, the US said its move
was justified because of the UN Watchdog report and that
it needed to act now to quote eliminate a longstanding
but rapidly escalating source of global insecurity and to aid
our ally Israel in our inherent right of collective self defense.
Israel's representative called the attack a quote last line of defense,
(12:29):
saying the cost of inaction would have been catastrophic. A
nuclear Iran would have been a death sentence, just as
much for you as it would have been for us.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
We'll be back with more of today's date dive right
after this. I want to talk a little bit more
about this idea about self defense and the way that
that's used in coordination with an idea of a preemptive
strike as well. There's been a number of times in
the international arena in the last couple of years that
we've seen self defense and preemptive strike language US. We
(13:00):
can talk about Hamas attacking Israel on the seventh of
October twenty twenty three. We can also talk about Russia
invading Ukraine.
Speaker 4 (13:07):
The year before.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Where does this idea of self defense come from? Because
I know there's a body of international law. It's a
notoriously hard area to actually police, But give me a
sense of kind of the rule book that sits behind
all of this.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Yeah, the idea of the right to self defense comes
from the United Nations Charter. It's kind of its founding document.
It was signed when the organization was being formed in
the dying days of World War II. Under that charter,
which member states agree to, countries have a right to
quote individual or collective self defense if an armed attack
(13:43):
occurs against a member of the United Nations until the
Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace
and security. So that's what the US is talking about
in relation to collective self defense acting on behalf of
their ally is. It remains to be seen if the
UN its other members will accept the possibility of progress
(14:07):
towards a nuclear bomb as enough to justify an attack
of individual self defense by Israel on Iran. Iran would
argue and has argued, because Israel attacked it, it now
has a right to self defense.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
So we've talked through the United Nations response to this
and the Security Council. Let's hone in though, on Australia's reaction. Yeah,
what has the reaction been from the Australian government.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
We've heard that the government supports the US strikes, with
Foreign Minister Pennywong saying it supports quote action to prevent
Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon, and that is what this is.
She said, these sites are specific to Iran's nuclear program,
and we know that the UN Nuclear watchdog has said
that Iran is enriching to almost military levels. However, both
(14:56):
Penny Wong and Prime Minister Anthony Albanizi have been to
emphasize that these strikes were unilaterally from the US, that
this was carried out by the US without any other
country involved. The Prime Minister said Australia supported action to
prevent Iran from making a nuclear weapon, but said the
(15:17):
government wanted to quote diplomacy, dialogue and de escalation in
the region.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
And the other part of this story is that there
are Australians in the conflict zone, both in Iran and
in Israel. What's the update on planned evacuations of these
citizens and their families in both of those countries.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
So Penny one confirmed yesterday morning twenty nine hundred Australians
and their families have requested help to leave Iran. In Israel,
thirteen hundred Australians have applied to leave. The government is
working on various ways of getting people out of the region.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
So ultimately where we're at is still a number of
unknowns and a lot of this story to still play
out over the week ahead. Lucy, I don't think this
is the last time we're going to be chatting about
this story on the podcast this week, let alone into
the future. Thank you for breaking down what happened over
the last couple of days, and we look forward to
(16:11):
chatting again as this story does progress. And thank you
for joining us on the Daily Os. We'd love to know,
as Lucy mentioned in the podcast, what questions you've got
about this topic so we can be as helpful as
possible amid the uncertainty. We'll be back again with some
headlines in the afternoon. Until then, have a beautiful day.
(16:38):
My name is Lily Maddon and I'm a proud Arunda
Bungelung Kalkuttin woman from Gadigol Country. The Daily os acknowledges
that this podcast is recorded on the lands of the
Gadighl people and pays respect to all Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Island and nations. We pay our respects to the
first peoples of these countries, both past and present.
Good morning, and welcome to the Daily Odds. It's Tuesday,
the twenty fourth of June.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
I'm Lucy Tassel, I'm Sam Kulski.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Over the weekend, the US struck Iran.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
The operation President Trump planned was bold and it was brilliant,
showing the world that American deterrence is back.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Iran cannot be allowed to get a nuclear weapon, and
we support action to prevent that.
Speaker 4 (00:29):
That is what this is.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
It's the largest attack America has ever carried out on
Iran and comes amid a war between Iran and Israel,
which counts the US as its closest ally. In today's episode,
we'll explain the historic strike, discuss Iran's reaction, and catch
you up with this rapidly evolving story.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Okay, So, Lucy, when you and I chatted in the
office on Friday afternoon, yeah, the position was that we
knew that President Trump was considering the possibility of the
US striking Iran. Here said this very ominous, indecisive quote
of I may do it, I may not do it.
Late last week, then on Sunday morning, our time, about
ten am, he did do it, and he launched strikes
(01:10):
on three nuclear sites in Iran. There's so much one pack,
But give me a sense of how we got here.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Yeah, I mean it's hard to know where to even start.
I know that we have been discussing how we can
explain the US Iran relationship. If that's something you would
be interested in, please reach out to us.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
I'll let us know.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
I'm just going to kind of talk about the last
few days, just to catch people up to speed. I
think it starts with a statement from the UN Nuclear
Watchdog earlier this month. So the watchdog said Iran had
failed to comply with its international legal obligations to allow
independent monitors from the UN to fully investigate its nuclear sites.
(01:51):
It said it hadn't answered questions about activities at certain sites,
and it said Iran hadn't explained why it was accruing quote,
highly enriched urani, which is the kind that you need
for nuclear weapons rather than nuclear energy. The Watchdog did
not find that Iran had a nuclear weapon or had
made one, but it said it was the only nation
(02:11):
without nuclear weapons that is producing such material, which the
watchdog couldn't ignore given the potential proliferation implications and.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
All of those international regulations that govern the nuclear energy
and nuclear warfare sphere or comes in this framework of
the international community trying to figure out how to prevent
a nuclear war essentially, But what do you mean by
the word proliferation?
Speaker 1 (02:37):
In this context, the word proliferation means increasing the number
of nuclear weapons in the world. The UN's main treaty
on nuclear weapons is called the Treaty on the Non
Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which binds countries to never acquire
nuclear weapons other than a handful which had developed and
detonated one before nineteen sixty seven. Iran had signed this treaty,
(03:01):
as has the US. Israel has not. Nuclear weapons are
obviously catastrophic. We know from the only time in history
they have been used in conflict, during World War II,
when the US dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese
cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, how wide ranging and long
lasting the effects can be. There are strict regulations under
(03:23):
international law around which countries are allowed to have them.
As I said earlier, we have heard, though from governments
around the world, including our own, that Iran can never
be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon, can never become
a nuclear nation.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
And what is it about Iran that puts it in
that category of country.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
For some context origious statement from the G seven summit
earlier this month, where world leaders said Iran can never
have a nuclear weapon because it is the principal source
of regional instability and terror. We know so that Iran
financially and militarily supports a number of groups in the region,
Hamas in Gaza, Hesbla and Lebanon, and the Huthis in Yemen,
(04:09):
among others. All three groups are designated as terrorist organizations
by Australia. We also know that the Iranian regime has
said its goal is to destroy Israel, and again on
that note of concern about what it would do to
the region. Saudi Arabia, for example, has said it will
acquire nuclear weapons if Iran develops one. Israel is believed
(04:33):
to have nuclear weapons, but it has never publicly confirmed
or denied either way. Finally, in twenty fifteen, Iran signed
a treaty that it would not develop nuclear weapons, that
its nuclear program would only be for energy in exchange
for other countries, slowly lifting financial restrictions on Iran.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Okay, so let me kind of bring that all together.
You've got a country that is known to be supporting
and financially facilitating known terrorist groups in the region. And
it's a region where other countries have said, well, if
they keep developing their nuclear program, then we'll have to
as well. So you've got a backdrop of all of
these concerns. Then you have their promise of not developing
(05:16):
a weapon, and then last week we got this release
from the UN Nuclear watchdog saying there are concerns that
they are in fact making progress. Yeah. Then what after that?
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Israel carried out a series of strikes on Iran. Israel
said it was targeting military and nuclear infrastructure, including the
residences of military generals in apartment buildings in Tehran. Here's
what Israeli PM Benjamin Netnya, who said was Israel's justification.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
In recent months, Iran has taken steps that it has
never taken before, steps to weaponize this enriched uranium. If
not stopped, Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in a
very short time. It could be a year, it could
be within a few months, less than a you this
is a clear and present danger to Israel's very survival.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
Iran, for its part, has repeatedly said its nuclear program
is entirely peaceful, Iran's supreme leader is called the Ayatollah,
and he said a few times in the past that
the use of nuclear weapons is haram or forbidden under Islam,
and Iran, as we know, is an Islamic republic ever
since its revolution in nineteen seventy nine. Iran responded by
(06:29):
striking back. It hit Israeli cities Telabev and Haifa. In
the ensuing days, the nations have struck each other with missiles.
Both sides say they're aiming for military infrastructure. Both sides
have killed and injured civilians. The latest death toll that
we have from Iranian authorities is four hundred and thirty deaths,
(06:52):
mainly civilians. Israeli authorities report twenty five civilian deaths. During
this time, there was a lot of discuss about whether
the US would strike Iran, as we mentioned at the
top of today's episode, given its close relationship with Israel
and its capabilities as the world's most powerful military.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
It's crazy to think that from when that nuclear report
came out to last Friday was only about a week. Yeah,
it was about eight or nine days, So so much
happened in that period, and this idea of US involvement
started to become more and more present in the new cycle,
in the language with which all parties were speaking and
(07:32):
analyzing the situation. And then on Sunday morning, there was
this strike from the US and we found out via
a post to President Trump's social media platform Truth Social.
Tell me about the strike.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
We know the US struck three nuclear sites in Iran.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Sunday night
our time that the US flew B two Spirit planes,
which are really big and really quiet aircraft. He said
these were flown into Iranian airspace without being detected and
dropped what he called massive ordinance penetrators. We would know
(08:10):
these better as bunker busters. It's a kind of bomb
that drops deeply into the earth before exploding. These were
dropped because at least one of Iran's nuclear sites is
deep underground.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
About ninety meters I think underground, so a substantial amount
of earth to get through with the bomb. Yeah, to
actually do some damage to the facility, yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
Hegsath said it was the first time these had ever
been used. He added that the goal of the operation
was to quote neutralize the threats to our national interests
posed by the Iranian nuclear program and the collective self
defense of our troops and our ally Israel.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
So to translate some of that kind of corporate political
speak to what Hags Earth is actually saying there, He's saying,
essentially that the US needed to bomb these Iranian nuclear
facilities because there was a threat to America and a
threat to Israel and a threat to American troops in
the region. Yeah, and what is his boss, President Trump
said about this?
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Shortly after Trump made that truth social post, he spoke
at the White House. He is a bit of what
he said.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
This cannot continue. There will be either peace or there
will be tragedy. For I ran far greater than we
have witnessed over the last eight days. Remember, there are
many targets left. The nights was the most difficult of
them all by far, and perhaps the most lethal. But
(09:35):
if peace does not come quickly, we will go after
those other targets with precision, speed and skill. Most of
them can be taken out in a matter of minutes.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
And that last part of the statement, Lucy, was probably
of the most concerns of you and I when we
were watching that address live on Sunday. It really brought
to the fronts this idea that the US could continue
striving which the international community might consider more of a
full blown war with Iran, rather than this language around
(10:07):
a targeted strike, a limited strike, allumited operation. What has
the reaction been from Iran to these strikes, especially with
that framing by President Trump.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
So Iran called for the UN Security Council to have
an emergency meeting, which happened on Monday morning our time.
The Security Council, for those who might not know, is
one of the UN's main bodies. It's responsible for the
maintenance of international peace and security. It's the only body
in the UN that actually has the power to make
decisions that member states are obligated to implement. It has
(10:42):
fifteen members. Some of these are permanent, some of them
are temporary. The US is one of the permanent members.
Australia has been a temporary member in the past. We
are not currently on the makeup of the Security Council.
So at that Security Council meeting, Iran's delegate used Netnyahu again,
he's the Israeli Prime Minister of quote hijacking US foreign policy,
(11:06):
dragging the United States into yet another costly, baseless war.
He called the US attack quote aggression and unlawful action,
and said the allegations of nuclear development were baseless. He
said Iran had a right to defend itself and that
its response would be quote proportionate in terms of what
that attack could involve. We should remember Iran is a
(11:29):
long way from even the US East Coast, and not
many countries have missiles that have a long enough range
to travel that far. I would think it would be
more likely for Iran to attack a US military base
in the region, which, as we said, was something that
Trump was thinking about.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
The other potential, therefore, Iran is a response directly against
Israel they see as part of this duo with the US.
That indeed happened in the twenty four hours after the
strikes on the three nuclear facilities. What has the position
been from the US and Israel in the days since
the strike?
Speaker 4 (12:06):
Yeah. So.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
At that Security Council meeting, the US said its move
was justified because of the UN Watchdog report and that
it needed to act now to quote eliminate a longstanding
but rapidly escalating source of global insecurity and to aid
our ally Israel in our inherent right of collective self defense.
Israel's representative called the attack a quote last line of defense,
(12:29):
saying the cost of inaction would have been catastrophic. A
nuclear Iran would have been a death sentence, just as
much for you as it would have been for us.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
We'll be back with more of today's date dive right
after this. I want to talk a little bit more
about this idea about self defense and the way that
that's used in coordination with an idea of a preemptive
strike as well. There's been a number of times in
the international arena in the last couple of years that
we've seen self defense and preemptive strike language US. We
(13:00):
can talk about Hamas attacking Israel on the seventh of
October twenty twenty three. We can also talk about Russia
invading Ukraine.
Speaker 4 (13:07):
The year before.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Where does this idea of self defense come from? Because
I know there's a body of international law. It's a
notoriously hard area to actually police, But give me a
sense of kind of the rule book that sits behind
all of this.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Yeah, the idea of the right to self defense comes
from the United Nations Charter. It's kind of its founding document.
It was signed when the organization was being formed in
the dying days of World War II. Under that charter,
which member states agree to, countries have a right to
quote individual or collective self defense if an armed attack
(13:43):
occurs against a member of the United Nations until the
Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace
and security. So that's what the US is talking about
in relation to collective self defense acting on behalf of
their ally is. It remains to be seen if the
UN its other members will accept the possibility of progress
(14:07):
towards a nuclear bomb as enough to justify an attack
of individual self defense by Israel on Iran. Iran would
argue and has argued, because Israel attacked it, it now
has a right to self defense.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
So we've talked through the United Nations response to this
and the Security Council. Let's hone in though, on Australia's reaction. Yeah,
what has the reaction been from the Australian government.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
We've heard that the government supports the US strikes, with
Foreign Minister Pennywong saying it supports quote action to prevent
Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon, and that is what this is.
She said, these sites are specific to Iran's nuclear program,
and we know that the UN Nuclear watchdog has said
that Iran is enriching to almost military levels. However, both
(14:56):
Penny Wong and Prime Minister Anthony Albanizi have been to
emphasize that these strikes were unilaterally from the US, that
this was carried out by the US without any other
country involved. The Prime Minister said Australia supported action to
prevent Iran from making a nuclear weapon, but said the
(15:17):
government wanted to quote diplomacy, dialogue and de escalation in
the region.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
And the other part of this story is that there
are Australians in the conflict zone, both in Iran and
in Israel. What's the update on planned evacuations of these
citizens and their families in both of those countries.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
So Penny one confirmed yesterday morning twenty nine hundred Australians
and their families have requested help to leave Iran. In Israel,
thirteen hundred Australians have applied to leave. The government is
working on various ways of getting people out of the region.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
So ultimately where we're at is still a number of
unknowns and a lot of this story to still play
out over the week ahead. Lucy, I don't think this
is the last time we're going to be chatting about
this story on the podcast this week, let alone into
the future. Thank you for breaking down what happened over
the last couple of days, and we look forward to
(16:11):
chatting again as this story does progress. And thank you
for joining us on the Daily Os. We'd love to know,
as Lucy mentioned in the podcast, what questions you've got
about this topic so we can be as helpful as
possible amid the uncertainty. We'll be back again with some
headlines in the afternoon. Until then, have a beautiful day.
(16:38):
My name is Lily Maddon and I'm a proud Arunda
Bungelung Kalkuttin woman from Gadigol Country. The Daily os acknowledges
that this podcast is recorded on the lands of the
Gadighl people and pays respect to all Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Island and nations. We pay our respects to the
first peoples of these countries, both past and present.
Popular Podcasts
Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club
Welcome to Bookmarked by Reese’s Book Club — the podcast where great stories, bold women, and irresistible conversations collide! Hosted by award-winning journalist Danielle Robay, each week new episodes balance thoughtful literary insight with the fervor of buzzy book trends, pop culture and more. Bookmarked brings together celebrities, tastemakers, influencers and authors from Reese's Book Club and beyond to share stories that transcend the page. Pull up a chair. You’re not just listening — you’re part of the conversation.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!