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Connect the World
Israel: Beirut Strike Killed Senior Hezbollah Commander; Middle East Nations Condemn Killing of Haniyeh; Blinken Says "We Simply Don't Know" if Killing will Cause Escalation; White House Aware of Reports of his Death, but Declined to Comment; Hamas: Political Chief Ismail Haniyeh Assassinated in Tehran. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired July 31, 2024 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: Welcome to "Connect the World". I'm Becky Anderson. It is 2:00 p.m. in London. It is 4:30 p.m. in
Tehran, where the overnight assassination of Hamas' Political Leader, Ismail Haniyeh, may just have taken the region closer to the brink of
conflict.
In less than 24 hours, two of Israel's enemies, high profile leaders have been killed after attacks in two separate countries within the region.
Hamas says its political leader, Ismail Haniyeh was killed on Iranian soil on Wednesday, after attending the inauguration of Iran's new president.
Hamas accuses Israel of carrying out that strike, which came just hours after Israel claimed it had killed Hezbollah's most senior commander in a
drone strike in Lebanon's capital, Beirut. Israel says that was in retaliation for Saturday's deadly rocket attack in the Israeli occupied
Golan Heights, an attack which Hezbollah still strongly denies.
Right. We have assembled some of CNN's best minds to break down all of these developments for you. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh with me here in London.
Jeremy Diamond is in Haifa in Israel. Natasha Bertrand is at the Pentagon in Washington, and Ben Wiederman is in Beirut in Lebanon. Nick, let me
start with you. What is Iran saying about what happened, what, some 8, 9, 10 hours ago?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, very little about what actually happened, and that's kind of key because
you know, for a fact on the ground, they'll probably be quite attuned to the events themselves. What we do know is an explosion at about 2 o'clock
in the morning in Northern Tehran, what is referred to as a special residence.
Suggestions, it might be a, a home for veterans of the Iran-Iraq war, not clear what caused the explosion. The phrase being used by Iranian state
media is an airborne guided projectile. That could be anything. I mean, could it be a bullet. Could it be an Israeli airstrike. It does tend to
point perhaps towards something smaller, particularly because the casualties we're hearing about now are the death of Ismail Haniyeh and his
bodyguard.
So not necessarily a blast that took out a block like we saw in Beirut hours before that. And so, this will be part of Iran formulating a
narrative, trying to explain to the outside world how badly its sovereignty has been violated, and then formulating a response to that level of
offense, if that makes any sense.
We've heard very starkly from the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, saying that this is essentially attack on a guest in Iran's house and vowing harsh
punishment against Israel. And sort of somewhat randomly actually the Iranian mission to new, the United Nations in New York has just tweeted
that any response would be through special operations because they're harder to detect and prevent and can hurt the enemy worse.
Now, obviously they don't set policy at all, but this is just a, a sort of sense of exactly how Iran is now going to struggle or slowly formulate its
response. Maybe quietly, maybe publicly, maybe publicly debating as we see in this tweet what they necessarily do next. And of course, it has a whole
region holding their breath. Jeremy, let me bring you in at this point. What's being said in and by Israel?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Israeli officials are neither confirming nor denying that they were behind this assassination of
Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital. That is, of course -- for Israel as it relates to these types of assassinations on foreign soil of which they
have conducted multiple in the past, including in Iran, although perhaps never one of quite so much significance in terms of Iranian soil itself.
As you know, we are still working to understand the exact details of the way in which this assassination attempt was carried out beyond the fact
that Iranian state media is saying that this was an airborne guided projectile. But today we are hearing from a few Israeli officials already.
Some of them who are clearly privately celebrating the fact that Haniyeh was taken out. Israeli officials for months now have been vowing that they
would reach out and take out effectively Hamas' leaders, those they viewed as responsible for the atrocious attacks of October 7th.
This morning we've also heard from the Defense Minister Yoav Gallant talking about the regional implications, not necessarily specifically about
this assassination attempt. He brought it up in the context of the operation last night to take out a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut.
But what he did make clear as he visited an air defense battery in Israel, the Aero Defense System, which is used to intercept intercontinental
ballistic missiles, he said, we are preparing for all possibilities.
[09:05:00]
And he made clear that it is the work of the troops who work on these air defense batteries that gives Israel the freedom and the flexibility
effectively to operate in ways, that could potentially result in dangerous repercussions for the State of Israel itself.
And so, the implication being that as Israel has taken these various actions, there is the very real possibility of retaliation of a response,
whether by Iran or by its proxies, Hezbollah and Hamas in the region. So, this is a region that is bracing for that possibility right now and we will
just wait and see exactly what shape it takes.
ANDERSON: Let me bring you in, Ben. We're talking here about the killings of two Israeli enemies here, one of whom was in Beirut. We saw that
targeted killing of Hezbollah's more senior military commander. Both these killings happening in the past, what, 25 hours or so. What do we know about
where this leaves the region at this point?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly it leaves the region as close as it's been since October seventh to some sort
of larger, broader conflict. Keep in mind that, you know, if you take a broad view of the region, you've got this war in Gaza. It's been going on
for almost 10 months, more than 40,000 people killed.
You have tensions on the Lebanese-Israeli border higher than ever before. You have the Houthis who have managed to interfere with international
navigation in the Red Sea and have also been able to fire a deadly drone all the way to Tel Aviv. In addition to that, you have the Iranian back
militias in Syria and Iraq.
And now of course, Iran is clearly very angry about the fact that Ismail Haniyeh, the Head of the Hamas Political Bureau, was killed in the heart of
Tehran, the capital of the country. And even though it's clear that nobody really wants a regional war, I mean, we are walking into, stumbling into a
minefield of possible miscalculations and sort of overseeing it all is the United States, which since the beginning, has tried diplomatically to
resolve the problem.
The basic problem of course, being the situation in Gaza, the Americans have failed so far. They've talked a lot, but they haven't really used the
kind of pressure we saw, for instance, back in the first Bush Administration with James Baker, who was able to really twist the arms of
the Israelis.
Even Ronald Reagan during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, and the siege of Beirut was able to impose the will of the United States. It appears that
the United States has become a passive observer, even though it participates by providing weapons and diplomatic support to Israel to this
conflict that has gone on for so long and seems not closer to resolution, but closer to an even more dangerous escalation, Becky.
ANDERSON: Natasha, what will Iran and its proxy's response look like, perhaps both directly on Israel and potentially on its friends or allies
and when? One question at this point. The other is how the assassination of the Hamas Leader, who was a key interlocutor in the ceasefire negotiations.
Ismail Haniyeh, of course, was based in Doha. What sort of impact his assassination will have on those ceasefire talks? We've had a very strong
statement from Qatar mediating those talks. The foreign minister saying, and I quote, how can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the
negotiator on the other side?
I wonder how is the U.S. responding across the board and very specifically to that point, where does the U.S. believe this leaves any potential deal
on a ceasefire and hostage release at this point?
NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Well, Becky, to answer your first question, it is very possible that Iran gets its proxy groups in
Iraq and Syria to restart those attacks that we had seen over the last several months beginning really last fall on U.S. military basis and forces
across Iraq and Syria, which had really been relentless up until just a few months ago when that appeared to stop, that could restart again.
[09:10:00]
Now that, of course tensions are rising in the region, and of course Iran sees the U.S. as essentially green lighting and facilitating a lot of these
attacks and assassinations that Israel has been carried out, particularly when Israel and the U.S. and sources tell, you know, us for example, that
the Israelis did give the United States a heads up about some of these events, including that assassination of, or attempted assassination.
At this point, we don't know whether it was successful of that Hezbollah leader in Beirut. But you know, at this point when it comes to the
ceasefire talks, the Secretary of State addressed this a little bit earlier today. He said that he does not believe that this at least should have an
impact on the trajectory of those negotiations. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Nothing takes away from the importance of, as I said a moment ago getting to the ceasefire, which is
manifestly in the interests of the hostages and bringing them home. It's manifestly in the interests of Palestinians who are suffering terribly
every single day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERTRAND: Now, look, of course, that's easy to say, but at this point it does seem, at the very least, like the negotiations are going to be put on
ice. It does not appear at this point particularly because Haniyeh was the really chief negotiator on the Hamas side in you know, in these hostage
negotiations like those are going to be able to continue at this point.
But the big thing, of course, that the U.S. is watching is just how this is going to escalate, particularly because as I said before, you know, U.S.
forces are in the region right now. There is a you know, marine presence in the Eastern Mediterranean, and there is of course, a carrier group in the
Persian Gulf that is prepared to respond to a potential escalation, potentially even engaging in a non-combatant evacuation operation of U.S.
citizens that are in the region if things heat up even further.
And so, the U.S. is prepared for all potential outcomes at this point. They are discussing, of course, every possible way that this could spiral out of
control, but they're still conducting really intensive diplomacy behind the scenes to make sure that, that does not happen, Becky.
ANDERSON: How much did the U.S. know ahead of this assassination in Tehran and indeed the strike on the Hezbollah Senior Leader in Beirut? Not a
question we can answer at this point. What we can do is address what you paraphrased in your first answer. And I want to go back to the supreme
leader today saying this.
And I quote very specifically, you killed our dear guest in our house and now have paved the way for your harsh punishment. We consider it our duty
to ask for the blood of our dear guest. Now, that was very specifically a statement directed at Israel who have not claimed responsibility for the
assassination of the Hamas Political Leader. Where does that leave the region though?
WALSH: I mean, some of this is performative for a domestic audience. This is an 85-year-old man who's just seen the inauguration of a president who
is probably a bit more moderate than he'd like to have seen. And so, I think he's trying to project strength internally, but also internationally
as well.
The real question here is exactly what Iran's capabilities will enable it to do, and whether it feels now is the time to bring Hezbollah into this.
But Becky, ultimately in all of this, from what Natasha was saying, I'm still very surprised at the U.S. role in this.
So, what we publicly think is the U.S. role to say we were not aware of this and we were not involved after a meeting with Netanyahu in Washington
with the Biden Administration and Trump as well at Mar-a-Lago to fly back after what happened on the Golan Heights.
To now see potentially that Israel have gone off unilaterally without warning their key ally and taken a move like this, killing it seems the key
negotiator in talks that the U.S. invested vast amounts of political capital in trying to happen. Remember CIA Director Bill Burns flying back
here and there, that speaks to me of a total fissure in the U.S.-Israeli relationship.
If indeed there isn't some separate narrative where, in fact, they were more aware of this than beforehand. But that's another potentially
troubling thing about the unknown territory we were going into in that previous idea of U.S. traction, slowing down the Israelis potentially, or
having a say in what we see in the weeks ahead, it is eroding if indeed what we're seeing on the surface is what's happened.
ANDERSON: Mm-Hmm. It's good to have you. Good to have you all. Nick, thank you for the time being and to all of you, excellent analysis. Thank you. We
are going to take a very short break at this point back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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ANDERSON: The killing of the Hamas Political Leader, Ismail Haniyeh in Iran is drawing widespread condemnation across the Middle East and beyond. Quite
frankly, today, both Jordan and Qatar, which has served as mediator for Hamas-Israel negotiation called Haniyeh's death a heinous crime.
Turkey described his killing as despicable those countries along with Egypt and others, warning it could escalate the war in Gaza to a regional level.
So, the biggest question now in the Middle East is what happens next? We're going to talk about that with CNN's Jomana Karadsheh here with me in
London.
And I'm delighted to say we've got Gregg Carlstrom Middle East Correspondent for the Economist who joins us from Dubai. The -- and I want
to just address part of what was said by the Turkish Foreign Minister. I read out just some of the conceit of their response. The Turkish Foreign
Minister went on to say, Benjamin Netanyahu is not looking for peace in the region.
And I've heard that from many sources around the region. You hear it behind the scenes a lot. Does what we have seen in the last 24 hours suggest that
this is an Israeli Prime Minister acting with impunity and projecting a sort of, you know, a position of strength at this point?
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And you also have some critics of the Israeli Prime Minister, Becky, who have accused him in the past of trying
to prolong these conflicts, these wars of confrontation that is going on for his own political survival, that this is in his interest to continue on
this path.
So yes, you do have people asking that question. You do have some in the region who see the events of the past 24 hours as provocation after
provocation trying to push for some sort of further escalation in the region. And many are asking why.
ANDERSON: Question is, what happens next at this point?
KARADSHEH: Question that everyone has been asking, it feels like time and time again, we've had so many incidents over the past few months where it
has been described as, you know, unprecedented dangerous moment, volatile moment. But here we are again and it feels that this is certainly a moment
that many have feared for a very long time.
ANDERSON: Gregg, let me bring you in. You tweeted a video of the outgoing Iranian intelligence minister saying that his biggest accomplishment was
breaking up Mossad's infiltration network, you said didn't age well. We are looking here very specifically in Tehran overnight at a big failure of
Iranian intelligence or we not.
GREGG CARLSTROM, MIDDLE EAST CORRESPONDENT FOR THE ECONOMIST: We are. I mean that, that comment from the intelligence minister was just six days
ago. And then we have now the head of Hamas who was there on an official invitation to attend the inauguration of the Iranian president being
assassinated and not the only assassination that the Israelis have carried out in Iran in recent years.
Right. There's been a, a string of attacks on nuclear scientists, including about four years ago. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who was described as the
godfather, the Founder of Iran's Nuclear Program. They have been assassinated by Israel inside of Iran.
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We've also had a string of assassinations outside of Iran on generals from the Revolutionary Guard in Syria over the past six or seven months. And so,
I think all of this for the Iranian government, it's a very powerful signal of just how deeply infiltrated that government is by Israel's security
services.
ANDERSON: And Jomana, you could argue that Hezbollah's security architecture failed to protect one of its very senior leaders Hezbollah, of
course, backed by Iran, given what Gregg just said, about an intelligence failure in Iran, and the Beirut story just 25 hours ago. How do you think
these failures might influence Iran's next move?
After all, it's all about at this point, projecting this sort of position of power deterrence in the region.
KARADSHEH: I mean, it's an incredibly embarrassing incident for the Iranians this taking place on Iranian soil. What does this say about
Iranian intelligence, their security services, the Revolutionary Guard, how did this happen? They are going to have to do something. It cannot afford
to not do anything at this point.
But what and how will Iran respond? We have heard the statements coming from the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei today saying that it
is their duty to avenge the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, the question remains, how are they going to do this? Is it going to be some sort of a
contained sort of response?
Or is it something that is going to draw further escalation? And will this involve Iran's proxies in the region? Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria,
elsewhere? And that is what everyone is going to be?
ANDERSON: What did you make Gregg of the Supreme Leader's statement?
CARLSTROM: It was striking that he ascribed blame to Israel, he didn't try to hedge the issue at all, we'd heard a few hours before that, from the
Iranian Foreign Ministry, for example, it put out a statement about Haniyeh's killing. It didn't blame anyone, it didn't say Israel, it didn't
accuse anyone of carrying it out.
And so, for the supreme leader to come out very, very quickly and lay the blame on Israel, I think it creates a lot of pressure inside of the Iranian
political system for some sort of a response. Now, that doesn't mean, it's going to be a big direct Iranian response on the order of that missile and
drone attack back in April.
It might be as Jomana said, something that involves proxies, something that's done indirectly. But again, it does create a real push within the
Iranian political system to do something when it comes from the supreme leader.
ANDERSON: Another friend of the show, Vali Nasr, Gregg, says this today that the U.S. is quote, sleepwalking into a larger war that it doesn't
want. Where do you believe U.S. leadership is at the moment?
CARLSTROM: I think its absence at the moment. I mean, as you were talking about a few minutes ago, before the break, there has been this big push for
months to try and get Israel and Hamas towards a ceasefire. Now, speaking to Israeli contacts over the past few hours, there are some people who give
you an optimistic spin on this who say, you know, this gives Prime Minister Netanyahu a victory image.
Something that he can sell to his supporters in order to go and make a ceasefire deal, which he has been very ambivalent about for months. But
there's also a more cynical view that I've heard from Israelis and other people across the region, which is that if you want to make ceasefire,
killing your chief interlocutor in those talks is usually not a good way to do that.
This is another way for Netanyahu to try to avoid making a deal and if that's the case, and if the Americans aren't really leaning on Israel and
trying to dissuade them from carrying out these kinds of actions then it tells you that America is basically absent at this point.
It's continuing to support Israel in the sense of giving it military aid, giving it weapons, giving it diplomatic support, but it's not doing
anything to really push for what it says is its desired outcome a ceasefire.
ANDERSON: To both of you, thank you very much indeed for joining us. Right, you're watching "Connect the World". I'm Becky Anderson. Still to come more
of CNN's continued breaking coverage of the assassination of Hamas Political Leader Ismail Haniyeh, the significance and potential
consequences.
We will take a deep dive on how his death may further destabilize the Middle East and what that means. Stay with us.
[09:25:00]
ANDERSON: Well, welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson. You are watching "Connect the World" today out of London normally based in Abu Dhabi in the UAE. Of
course, our top story, the assassination of Hamas Political Leader Ismail Haniyeh on Iranian soil is rocking the Middle East this hour and threatens
to further destabilize the region.
Hamas blames Israel which has so far declined to comment. Hamas says Ismail Haniyeh was killed just hours ago after meeting with Iran's newly elected
president in Tehran which you see here. Iran state media says quote, an airborne guided projectile was used to strike where Haniyeh was staying in
Tehran.
Well, joining me now is CNN's Alex Marquardt in Washington. Alex, two questions at this point. Where does this leave the region? There is a
serious potential for escalation. And where does this leave -- this assassination leaves the hostage and ceasefire negotiations that have been
an absolute priority? Of course, for the United States? Let's start there.
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, the answer to both is it leaves them in extremely precarious position. So, I think the
ceasefire at best is on hold if not scuttled altogether. I mean, Haniyeh was the guy at the table for Hamas. He was the one doing the negotiating of
course, Becky, the ultimate decision maker is Yahya Sinwar, who is believed to be deep in a tunnel in Gaza.
But it was Haniyeh, who was communicating those decisions. Who was speaking with interlocutors from Egypt and from Qatar, and doing the nuts and bolts
negotiating. So, we've already heard an angry response from the Qatari Prime Minister who said, how can mediation succeed when one party
assassinates the negotiator on the other side.
So, I think it remains to be seen where those talks go, there was just another round on Sunday in Rome with the CIA Director, the Mossad director,
the Qatari Prime Minister in the head of Egyptian intelligence, and here we are just a few days later, and one of the main players and all this has
been killed.
Of course, as you say, Israel has not confirmed that, as for what we could see, going forward, severe consequences possibly for the region. It has
just been an extraordinary two days where we have seen Israel admits that they took out the senior military commander for Hezbollah Fuad Shukr in
Southern Beirut just yesterday in a targeted strike that they were willing to claim and they gave the U.S. a heads up ahead of time.
[09:30:00]
In this case, whether they were -- if they were indeed behind it, they did not give the U.S. a heads up I'm told by several sources. And Secretary of
State Antony Blinken says that the U.S. had no role he didn't want to speculate on what happened but we are certainly waiting to hear what their
U.S. reaction is because there could be major consequence.
Remember, Becky, back in April, there was that strike by Iran against Israel, some 300 drones and missiles that the U.S. and other countries
helped defend them against. And now Israel -- or Iran rather vowing this response, whether it's from them their proxies, severe implications for the
region. And of course, you know, when it comes to Washington for American citizens and troops throughout the region as well.
ANDERSON: Alex, stay with me and I want to bring into this conversation Trita Parsi, the Executive Vice President of the Quincy Institute and
American Think Tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy, his analysis on exactly how seismic the events of the last 24 hours are for the U.S. role
in this region.
Giving four specific points in his words, one, it kills the ceasefire talks. Two it may kill renewed U.S.-Iran diplomacy. Three, it may get Prime
Minister Netanyahu, the war that he has been looking for. Four it corners Kamala Harris. I'm going to bring you back in shortly, Alex, because I know
that you'll want to make some comments on these -- of thank you for joining me, Alex, this hour.
MARQUARDT: Thank you.
ANDERSON: And just explain a little further where you believe, and what you mean by this analysis in terms of Netanyahu and his political calculations
at this point.
TRITA PARSI, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE QUINCY INSTITUTE: Thank you for having me. Well, I think first of all, we have to recognize that
Netanyahu in particular has been pushing for a war between the United States and Iran for more than 15 years. He's done. So, using the nuclear
program, on a couple of occasions, he was actually quite close.
That strategy has been to start the war himself and then drag the U.S. into it, this may have been one of his best chances yet to do so. So, it is
completely in line with everything else that he's done for the last 15 or so years. Moreover, we know very well, that Netanyahu has been the main
obstacle for a ceasefire deal.
And the Israeli media is openly discussed how he actually has been leaking intelligence in order to sabotage the talks. He's being accused by the
family members of the hostages by his own officials, by military officials of being the obstacle. And he's done so for a very simple reason, the
minute this war ends, his political career ends and his prison sentence likely will begin given his, the corruption charges against him.
So, prolonging the war has always been a case undermining the ceasefire negotiations has been the case. And what is more effective in killing the
ceasefire talks and actually killing the person on the other side of the negotiating table. And then you have the Kamala Harris aspect of this.
Kamala Harris' body language, her tone, the rhetoric clearly indicated that there will be some form of a shift, how substantive it will be, we don't
know but some form of a shift away from what Biden's approach to Netanyahu, which has been quite differential. But by escalating matters in this way
that he is now done, potentially even getting a regional war.
He will essentially force Kamala Harris into the same bear hug, as Biden voluntarily adopted after October 7, and will take the initiative away from
the Kamala Harris in case she becomes president, rather than -- forcing her to react to events rather than actually being able to take initiatives on
their own.
ANDERSON: Alex, you were in Washington, it seems like ages ago that Netanyahu was there. It's not It's what 70 to 90 hours ago, it was always
going to be a controversial visit. What did he achieve? And what did he leave with? If anything?
MARQUARDT: Well, I think he achieved things mainly on the domestic front, he managed to come over here and show his domestic audience back home that
he has the support of the United States, not just from Republicans, many of whom were on their feet clapping, giving standing ovations alongside number
of Democrats, we should say when he gave his speech to Congress last Wednesday.
He had these meetings at the White House, he showed that he is very much welcomed in Washington. So, it was mainly sort of for domestic benefit was
the sense, but I would say that he left on less good terms because following his meeting with Kamala Harris, she came out and gave arguably
the most forceful speech that we've heard about Gaza from the Biden Administration.
Yes, talking about the U.S.'s ironclad support for Israel, but then talking in very emotive terms about the suffering that we're seeing in Gaza and she
said, I will not be silent. A couple hours later, we heard from an anonymous Israeli official who talked about how those comments were
problematic and could cause problems for the ceasefire deal.
[09:35:00]
So, he left under less positive terms then he arrived in. I will just note one more thing, Becky, we've heard for weeks. You and I have talked
endlessly about the ceasefire deal. And U.S. officials putting the onus on Hamas saying the ball is in Hamas' court. They have stopped saying that.
In fact, it appears that the ball has switched into Israel's court. The U.S. officials did expect Netanyahu to move forward on that ceasefire deal
last week. And I'm just struck by this image that the Mossad Director David Barnea was at the table on Sunday negotiating for this ceasefire, with CIA
Director Bill Burns and others, while also if this is indeed true, potentially planning the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, Becky.
ANDERSON: Know, that's a powerful image to keep in mind. Trita, let's just for the benefit of our viewers here from the U.S. Defense Secretary in the
past few hours, have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: I don't think war is inevitable. I maintain that I think there's always room and opportunities for diplomacy.
And I'd like to see parties pursue those opportunities. If Israel is attacked, we certainly will help defend Israel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, of course there is a war in Gaza. What is clearly referring to there is the -- was answering a question about whether he believes there
will be a regional escalation here off the back of what we've seen over the last, what, 25 hours or so the assassination of two of Israel's key
enemies.
I mean, the U.S. clearly still stands behind is when you heard that from the defense minister, perhaps we are, as Alex suggests, seeing a pivot of
atmosphere here. But whether or not this administration in Washington is changing its position, should they not come out with more specific
parameters with things as tense as they are now?
PARSI: They certainly should, because I think you know, Secretary Austin is absolutely correct. War is not inevitable, if there's still opportunities
to prevent it. But those opportunities can only be actualized, if the United States actually does something about it.
And unfortunately, what we're not seeing is the type of parameters and red lines that are necessary in order to make sure that the Israelis do not
escalate matters in this way. But now they have, and they've done it in the most audacious way, aimed at maximum embarrassment of Iran, which means
that they also maximize the likelihood that unfortunately -- will respond.
And by that trigger, an escalatory spiral, the United States does not want to see a regional war and doesn't want to get dragged into that war. But
what Netanyahu has done here is exactly that. He has triggered what would likely lead to an escalation that very well could drag the United States
into the war.
If the U.S. doesn't want this, then he needs to do something about it, instead of just publicly expressing support for Israel's right to defend
itself, while completely neglecting the United States his own interest to stay out of these types of wars.
ANDERSON: I just want to look at this through the lens of the U.S. and Iran. And it's on-off diplomacy as it where we have today, a new Iranian
President who was deemed to be at least in principle, a better interlocutor be that directly or indirectly with the U.S. at this point, and this point,
it is indirectly.
With regard any sort of future talks, where does this all leave, that you're an expert in this, you will closely watch the U.S.-Iranian
relationship, which is of course, extremely tenuous. Where is it today, July the 31st?
PARSI: Well, it is in a much worse situation than it was yesterday, there was a small opportunity. Pezeshkian ran on a platform of seeking renewed
diplomacy with the United States, regardless of whether there would be Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, or even Donald Trump in the White House.
But this would obviously still be a very tough battle, both internally in the United States and internally in Iran. But that battle, the battle of
actually being able to create the political space and the political will for sustained diplomacy that actually can lead to success has now become
all the more difficult if not impossible, in the short and the medium term because of this assassination.
ANDERSON: Alex, Trita, very much appreciate it. Your time is valuable for us and the viewers. Thank you very much indeed. You're watching "Connect
the World". I'm Becky Anderson. We will be right back.
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[09:40:00]
ANDERSON: In less than 24 hours two of Israel's enemies high profile leaders have been killed after attacks in two separate countries within the
Middle East region. Hamas says its Political Leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed on Iranian soil on Wednesday after attending this inauguration of
Iran's New President.
And that comes after Israel claimed just hours earlier that it had killed Hezbollah's most senior commander in a drone strike in Beirut in Lebanon.
The IDF blamed Fuad Shukr for the attack which killed 12 children and injured more than 40 people last weekend. Hezbollah denies it was
responsible and has yet to actually confirm its commander's death.
But the militant group acknowledged that Shukr was present at the time of the strike in Beirut, of course more on this as we move through the next
hours. So, before that, though, we will pause for "World Sport" which is up next with all the very latest from the Paris Olympics. I'll be back top of
the hour with more "Connect the World". Stay with us.
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