US and Iran trade fire for first time in a month

**Charlotte Gallagher** (0:00)
This is The Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Charlotte Gallagher, and in the early hours of Monday, the 31st of August, these are our main stories. The US launches strikes on an Iranian island in the Strait of Hormuz, the first attacks since July. How Russia is targeting Ukraine's culture and identity, one school book at a time. And the zoo that has managed to reopen in the Gaza Strip.
Also in this podcast.

**Rajendra Diwadi** (0:36)
They came and told me a big flood was coming. I'm here to take my daughter. Parents don't just rush in without good reason, so I realized I shouldn't waste a second and must evacuate the children.

**Charlotte Gallagher** (0:47)
The teacher who saved hundreds of children from the devastating floods in Nepal.
Iran and the US are once again facing off in the Strait of Hormuz after Washington struck two rocket launchers on Iran's Larak Island, saying it was dealing with an imminent threat. Iran's Revolutionary Guards say several fighters and civilians were killed and wounded in the attack and vowed to retaliate, later firing ballistic missiles at two US-operated air bases in Jordan, which were intercepted. Commercial shipping through the Strait remained severely disrupted after six months of conflict. Peter Bose, our correspondent in the US, gave Nick Miles more details, starting with that original strike from the US, which was confirmed by officials.

**Peter Bowes** (1:41)
This would be the first known American strikes on Iran since late July. The official added that Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces were observed preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz. We do have confirmation from both sides that this has happened. Iran's state news agency reported that the US carried out a drone strike, and Iran's Revolutionary Guards have said that the attack killed and wounded several soldiers and citizens and would be met with a response and punishment.

**Nick Miles** (2:16)
And the context for this attack is what Donald Trump was saying just a few days ago about mines in that particular area.

**Peter Bowes** (2:24)
Yes, Donald Trump was saying that all mines had been detonated or removed from the Strait of Hormuz, these crucially vital international waters, and that Iran had been told that any ship or boat placing new mines would be destroyed, which would appear, at least on the surface from what we're hearing, to have been what's happened in the last few hours. It seems as if, as far as the United States has been concerned over the last week or so, that they have moved away, or at least had moved away, from military action, preferring to look at economic sanctions. But this does once again. An attack has been launched and Iran is promising retaliation.

**Nick Miles** (3:06)
It's quite hard to say at this stage, isn't it, Peter, quite how significant an uptick in the violence this may well be?

**Peter Bowes** (3:12)
Yes, and for that reason, perhaps we don't want to overplay this, because during the course of this war, which has gone on now for many months, there were times when it would appear that the negotiations had been making some progress, and then there will be a few skirmishes, but even as they were happening, often times, certainly President Trump would say that it wasn't necessarily spoiling the negotiation process. That appeared to continue behind the scenes. Now, negotiations, as we understand it, are not happening, so I think maybe quite a lot of people on both sides of this will be holding their breath to see whether this potentially escalates.

**Nick Miles** (3:51)
And any escalation of violence will be met with dismay, I imagine, by many Americans, right?

**Peter Bowes** (3:55)
Well, yes, and dismay from many Americans ever since this war started. As it has gone on, people being hit by high fuel prices, high petrol prices, and of course there is a political element to this now, as we get closer to the midterm elections, just over two months away at the beginning of November. And many polls here suggest that certainly Donald Trump and the Republicans across the board are going to pay the price of this very unpopular war.

**Charlotte Gallagher** (4:24)
Peter Bowes, as we record this podcast, it's five days since flash floods ripped through the Nepal-Tibet border.
3,000 people are missing, 300 of them children. Their families say they're losing hope of hearing good news. Hospital walls across the region have been plastered with posters of their faces as rescue efforts continue. Hundreds of those being searched for are believed to be employees trapped inside the tunnels of Nepal's hydroelectric plants. Many residents near the disaster zone don't have power and health workers have warned that supplies are running low, with enough food remaining for a day or two.