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Americanswers! Why does Trump want to take Iran’s Kharg Island?

3/30/202632 min

Donald Trump has said the US will “conclude” its war in Iran by “blowing up and completely obliterating” key assets in the country, including Kharg Island - Iran’s key oil export terminal - if a deal is not reached. He also suggested in a social media post that “great progress” had been made with Iran’s “new” regime. The president’s rhetoric has raised fears that the war could still escalate and the U.S might actually be prepared to seize Iranian territory.

Justin and Sumi join up for this week’s Americanswers to answer your questions on the war in Iran. They discuss the domestic response to possible U.S involvement in a deadly strike on an Iranian primary school, and accusations that some traders are illegally profiteering from volatility in oil prices.

And, as Donald Trump publicly talks up the role of Pete Hegseth in initiating the war in Iran, is the president looking to shift responsibility for the war onto his defence secretary?

HOSTS: • Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter • Sumi Somaskanda, BBC chief presenter

GET IN TOUCH: • Join our online community: https://discord.gg/qSrxqNcmRB • Send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 9480 • Email Americast@bbc.co.uk • Or use #Americast

This episode was made by George Dabby with Alix Pickles. The technical producer was Dafydd Evans. The series producer is George Dabby. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

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Americast is part of the BBC News Podcasts family of podcasts. The team that makes Americast also makes lots of other podcasts, including Newscast. If you enjoy Americast (and if you're reading this then you hopefully do), then we think that you will enjoy some of our other pods too. See links below.

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Clips

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First 90 seconds
  1. Speaker 00:00

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  2. Tejas Desai1:05

    [upbeat music] What happens when you design healthcare around people, not systems? I'm Tejas Desai, special host of Resilient Edge, a business vitality podcast paid and presented by Deloitte. Learn how Deloitte, AWS, and Elevance Health are turning fragmented systems into effortless intelligent care. Available now wherever you listen to podcasts.

  3. Justin Webb· Host1:25

    [bell dings] There is a lot to catch up on with

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