Across June 12th and 13th, the Israeli Air Force began the first phase of Operation Rising Lion - striking various targets inside Iran including, most prominently, three of its nuclear facilities at Fordo, Isfahan, and Natanz. The strikes were targeted to neutralise Iran's growing uranium enrichment project, with the International Atomic Energy Agency declaring the state was in breach of the Iran nuclear deal of 2015 by enriching uranium up to 60% - far from its 3.65% imposed limit. With only 3-5% being necessary for commercial reactors and 20% needed for research reactors, concerns over Iran's potential for the construction of a nuclear weapon led to U.S. intervention and the use of 16 of its bunker busters, along with 30 Tomahawk missiles, to aid in the destruction of Iran's facilities.
So what was hit? How important were they? And where do we go from here? We ask all these questions and more in this week's emergency episode as we look over the events between Israel and Iran over the last week, including our own assessments of the situation and what Israel's overall strategy could be with this sudden and precise strike. Are we looking at a regime change war in the Middle East, or could this conflict spill out into the wider world? Tune in and find out what we think!
This episode was hosted by Arron Keegan, Hayley O'Connor, and Conor Daly. The intro and outro music - Strollin' Along - was recorded by David Renda. Join our Discord server and follow us on social media by following the links below!
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