US Army chief ousted mid‑war as Trump ramps up strikes on Iran

[0:00] We have correspondents covering all of these latest developments from Amman, Tehran, here in Doha, [0:05] as well as Washington, D.C., where we'll start with Rosalind Jordan. And Ros, the Army Chief [0:12] of Staff asked to step down in the middle of this war. Can you just run us through what's [0:16] led to this point? Well, there's a lot of speculation in the U.S. press, particularly [0:22] in the military press, about why General Randy George has been asked to resign with immediate [0:29] effect when he still had about a year or so left on his current assignment, which is serving as [0:34] the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army. Mr. George, or General George, I should say, who left West [0:41] Point in 1988 and worked his way up the ranks, at one point had served as a close aide to Lloyd [0:48] Austin, the defense secretary during the Biden administration. And there's speculation that [0:53] that might not have sat well with Pete Hedsteth, the defense secretary, or his [0:58] secretary-in-chief. And so, you know, there's a lot of speculation that that might not have sat [0:59] well with Pete Hedsteth, the defense secretary, or his secretary-in-chief. And so, you know, [0:59] there's a lot of speculation that that might not have sat well with Pete Hedsteth, the defense secretary, [0:59] of war, as he likes to call himself. There's also speculation that perhaps the Hedsteth [1:05] administration at the Pentagon wants to have people in place in the military who are willing [1:11] to carry out the president's agenda. And that is incredibly unusual because the military is known [1:17] for doing its work in a nonpartisan manner, that this idea that only those generals and admirals [1:24] who believe in a particular political agenda should be able to carry out their agenda. [1:29] should have these posts is one of the things that is raising criticism here in Washington. [1:33] At the same time, the president posted video of a civilian bridge being blown up. Is this the [1:39] intensification that Donald Trump had been threatening? And are we going to see more of this? [1:46] Well, this is something that the U.S. President Donald Trump had alluded to earlier on Thursday [1:51] on his personal social media platform, basically saying that if Iran does not capitulate to the U.S.'s [1:58] 15-point proposal for ending the war, which started on February 28th, that the U.S. would [2:04] respond with more military strikes. Now, it's not clear that this was done immediately because of [2:11] the president's posting on social media. Usually, there's a little more advanced time and advanced [2:17] planning before the military carries out strikes. But it's certainly, the timing certainly does [2:22] look suspicious. Critics also are suggesting that even though the U.S. [2:28] alleges that this bridge was being used to transport material to build drones, which the [2:33] Iranian military has been using against targets in the Middle East, both at U.S. targets and [2:40] regional targets, there are criticisms that this was primarily a civilian bridge. And the Trump [2:46] administration could be opening itself up to allegations of having committed a war crime. [2:52] Thank you so much, Ros. Rosalind Jordan for us in Washington, D.C. We're going to bring in [2:56] Mohammad Val in Tehran now. [2:58] Mohammad, Iranian state television is saying the attack on the bridge consisted of a double-tap [3:04] strike. Can you just run us through what they're saying happened to the emergency crews that were [3:09] responding to the first strike? Yeah, they're saying that that double-tap is a cause of the [3:18] high number of people killed and injured because after the first strike, [3:22] rescue workers rushed to the sea to help those who were wounded or killed to [3:28] dig up the wreckage. [3:31] They killed people from under the rubble. And that's when, after a brief interval, a second [3:36] strike happened. And that was the reason why many people were killed. This bridge is a civilian [3:41] facility, they say, and it is still under construction, by the way. And it was nature [3:48] day here in Iran today. That's when people go out for picnic and for gatherings in nature. And [3:54] some families also were there for that reason, were there around the bridge. That's why the [4:00] many people were killed. [4:01] They were killed among civilians. It's a subject of severe, a lot of anger here and condemnation [4:09] among the high officials in the country. The foreign minister said this type of destruction [4:16] of civilian facilities is not going to force Iran to surrender or sign a deal that is not in favor [4:23] of Iran's interest and that Iran is going to rebuild whatever civilian infrastructure is [4:30] destroyed. But what can't be? [4:32] What can't be rebuilt is America's standing because of what he's doing to the people of Iran. [4:36] Again, officials here see this as a sign of desperation, that the Americans are running out of [4:43] military target. They don't know the military facilities. They don't know where they are to [4:48] hit at them. And now they are punishing the people of Iran. Ninety million Iranians are suffering [4:54] because of these things. We also should mention the power outages and all other institutions [4:58] that have been destroyed or targeted. [5:02] During the last few days. And this is a pattern that is increasing in the country. As they [5:08] say, this is because the Americans are now turning into veering towards a new approach [5:16] towards this war. And it is a punishment of the people of Iran. [5:19] I want to bring in Victoria Gatenby, who's standing by for us in Doha. And Victoria, [5:24] the IRGC is talking about targeting I.T. centers as well as bridges in a number of Gulf countries. [5:31] Ezra, tell us about that. [5:32] Can you just run us through exactly what they're saying? [5:34] Yeah, that's right. So Iranian media reporting that the IRGC plan to expand and extend their [5:45] attacks both on infrastructure and American I.T. companies. Now, in terms of infrastructure, [5:52] Iranian media have published a list in the last 24 hours of what it says is 10 strategic [5:59] bridges that are now, it says, prime targets because of that bridge that was blown up in [6:05] Iran. [6:06] These include the Sheikh Jabbar Causeway, one of the world's longest causeways in Kuwait [6:11] City, King Fahd Causeway, which links Bahrain and Saudi Arabia across the Gulf, and also [6:17] Sheikh Zayed Bridge, which links the island of Abu Dhabi to the mainland. So really strategically [6:24] important bridges across this region that the Iranians now say are legitimate targets [6:30] because of what happened on Thursday in Iran. Now, in terms of American I.T. companies that [6:36] the IRGC plan to expand and extend their attacks, the IRGC has said that it is going to extend [6:40] its attacks to those as well. We are getting conflicting reports, though, about how successful [6:45] some of the attacks that the IRGC claim to have made have actually been. It has said [6:50] that it targeted on Thursday an Oracle data center in Dubai. Now, that has been flatly [6:56] denied by Dubai's media office, which says that those claims are fabricated and false. [7:02] But the IRGC have also said that they targeted a Amalek. [7:05] They targeted an Amazon Cloud facility in Bahrain. Now, there was, according to Bahrain's [7:11] interior ministry, a missile attack on an Amazon facility on Wednesday. That caused [7:17] a fire, which the civilian authorities, the firefighters, did manage to contain. So it [7:23] does seem like that attack did happen. The IRGC is saying that they will escalate these [7:28] types of attacks and target other companies. In the past, it has said it will target companies [7:34] like Microsoft. [7:35] And Apple. [7:36] OK, we want to bring Mohammad Val back in, in Tehran. It wasn't just the bridge. There [7:42] were also strikes on vaccine centers. The steel factories were closed. And I believe [7:47] there was also a blackout. Can you just run us through how much damage is actually being [7:51] done to the state's ability to continue to function? [7:54] Yeah, that's right. Power blackout happened for the third time around Tehran because of [8:02] the strikes that targeted facilities there. And also an airport in Kashan, by the way, [8:08] in Isfahan. A lot of people have been killed. A lot of people have been killed. A lot of [8:09] people have been killed alongside that steel factory have been reportedly struck also [8:16] today. But the most outstanding one among these is the Pasteur medical factory that [8:25] produces vaccines for diseases, including COVID vaccine and others. It's been around [8:31] for 100 years, and it has been crucial and beneficial for the public here in Iran, for [8:37] the civilians, for the health of the people. [8:38] OK. [8:39] And that's why the Iranians are very angry, particularly among the leaders. They condemned [8:45] this. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned it as an act of desperation again by the Americans. [8:51] Now they are targeting civilian facilities instead of military because they don't know [8:57] where to strike, and they don't care if the people here suffer because of that. But at [9:03] the same time, they say that this is not going to dent the resolve of the Iranians and their [9:08] capability to defend the country. [9:08] And most of all, above all, it's not going to force them to go and sign a deal that is [9:15] detrimental to the interest of the country here in Iran. They are looking forward to [9:22] more, more self-defense, and they are launching missiles again at Israel, targets in Israel [9:30] and across the Middle East. And that's the approach they are opting for here, no trust [9:35] in the negotiations and no signs, as they say, of war. [9:36] OK. [9:37] Thank you. [9:38] Thank you, Farah. [9:39] Thank you very much. [9:40] Thank you. [9:41] Thank you. [9:42] And that's the message that we've received from Iran, the Iranian government, of goodwill [9:43] on the part of the Americans and the Israelis regarding a fair deal that is going to preserve [9:45] the dignity and the sovereignty of Iran. [9:48] OK, Victoria, Gulf countries obviously want to see an end to Iranian strikes on them. [9:55] What three demands did they actually present to the UN today to try and put a stop to this? [10:00] Well, the first was essentially that they want all these attacks to stop and they want [10:10] the UN Security Council to take all measures possible to ensure that the security of Iran [10:11] is kept from the United States. [10:12] And the second was that they want to keep the UN from being a part of Iran, and they [10:13] want to see an end to the U.S. war with Iran. That's what they're doing. They're trying [10:14] that that happens. Having said that, this region is under attack. Tom, tonight we've heard in the [10:19] last few hours that Saudi has been intercepting drone attacks. Kuwait's army says its air [10:26] defences have been intercepting missiles and drones. And in the last hour, Bahrain's warning [10:33] sirens have been sounding again. But having said that, this is what the GCC countries have been [10:39] demanding since day one of this conflict. They want Iran to stop these attacks on its neighbours [10:45] immediately. The second point they made was that the UN Security Council had to take whatever steps [10:51] it could to protect vital waterways, including the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb Strait, [10:58] which is threatened at the moment by the Houthis, one of Iran's allies. And the third point they [11:04] made was that when there is some kind of negotiated settlement, when this [11:09] conflict ends, GCC interests have to be represented and reflected as part of that [11:16] settlement. They made the point that this region has been badly hit by this conflict. They are [11:22] facing a security crisis, an economic crisis. And whatever happens at the end of this conflict, [11:28] this region's interests have to be reflected in that settlement. [11:33] OK, thank you so much, Victoria Gaydenby and Mohamed Val.