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Waves of ballistic missiles aimed at Israel. Iran firing at the north of the country for the first time since the ceasefire began in April. Warning sirens ringing out as Israeli air defenses intercepted the threats. The Iranian terrorist regime made a grave mistake when it once again chose terrorism. Iranians were shown on state TV cheering after the missiles were launched. Crowds of people gathering in Tehran with their national flag and that of the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
I hope that if they truly respond, the strikes will be more crushing because we must stand behind the people of Lebanon. Israel had earlier struck the Lebanese capital targeting a Hezbollah stronghold in southern Beirut. Almost a week after the US president urged the Israeli prime minister against such an attack. This time Donald Trump called Benjamin Netanyahu after Iran had fired on Israel reportedly telling him not to retaliate because the US was close to reaching a peace deal. I call all the shots, the president told the Financial Times. He
doesn't call the shots. But within hours, the IDF announced it had struck central and western Iran. Explosions reported in Tehran, Tabriz, and Isfahan. The escalation's threatening to plunge the region into all-out war. This needs to conclude. This is having a devastating impact on the global economy. Uh not the least is here in Australia. The world left asking how this latest round of fighting will affect the chances of longer-term peace.
You know, those Iranian missile barrages have continued throughout the morning and certainly earlier today we did hear a number of very loud explosions above the ABC bureau here in Jerusalem as those Israeli interceptor missiles were launched firing them at those Iranian missiles picking them out of the sky. We have also seen Israeli attacks continue on Iran throughout the course of the morning. A petrochemical facility among the targets which have been hit. Clearly, Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to show he can and will make decisions about this war independently of Donald Trump, regardless of how reliant Israel is on the backing of the United States. And there are significant domestic
political pressures at play here for the Israeli Prime Minister. The next couple of hours will be crucial to see how this situation escalates. Certainly, there is a lot of anxiety across this region from the Gulf to Israel, Lebanon, and beyond that this situation could deteriorate even further.
