Latest / THE DAILY BRIEF / President Trump says the US won't attack Iran before crucial midterm elections

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President Trump says the US won't attack Iran before crucial midterm elections · THE DAILY BRIEF

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  Speaker 1: Hello, I'm Anita McVey and this is the Iran War Today,
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  Speaker 1: bringing you up to date with all you need to
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  Speaker 1: know on the U.S.-Israel war with Iran. And let's start
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  Speaker 1: with some of today's key developments. Donald Trump says the U.S.
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  Speaker 1: will not attack Iran at any time before the U.S.
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  Speaker 1: midterm elections and claims Washington is having what he called
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  Speaker 1: productive discussions with Tehran. It comes after U.S. media reports
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  Speaker 1: suggested the Pentagon may be preparing plans to resume military
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  Speaker 1: strikes on Iran, potentially before that key vote in November. Elsewhere,
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  Speaker 1: smoke rises over Riyadh airport as the Iran-backed Houthis in
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  Speaker 1: Yemen say they've struck Saudi Arabia again. Fighting between the
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  Speaker 1: sides has continued to escalate in the last few weeks.
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  Speaker 1: The USS Abraham Lincoln returns to the United States after
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  Speaker 1: a record-breaking deployment to the Middle East. Defense Secretary Pete
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  Speaker 1: Hegseth dismisses concerns about the conditions on board and praises
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  Speaker 1: the crew for what he called an historic mission. More
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  Speaker 1: now on the news that Donald Trump says the United
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  Speaker 1: States will not attack Iran before the midterm elections in November.
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  Speaker 1: The president says America is having what he called productive
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  Speaker 1: discussions with Iran. And in a post on his Truth
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  Speaker 1: Social platform said... I want to make it clear to
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  Speaker 1: everybody that while Iran is in a very bad condition,
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  Speaker 1: we will not be attacking Iran at any time prior
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  Speaker 1: to the midterm elections. His post comes as the cost
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  Speaker 1: of the war and the impact on prices has become
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  Speaker 1: a key issue on the campaign trail in the US.
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  Speaker 1: US media reports had suggested the Pentagon may be preparing
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  Speaker 1: to resume strikes on Iran The Atlantic magazine says the
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  Speaker 1: White House had asked the military to develop plans for
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  Speaker 1: hitting sites in Iran ahead of the midterms at the
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  Speaker 1: start of November. Meanwhile, news site Axios says a directive
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  Speaker 1: was sent to U.S. Central Command to complete preparations for
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  Speaker 1: resuming major combat operations. Those reports added to pressure on
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  Speaker 1: oil prices. Last week saw the biggest number of attacks
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  Speaker 1: on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz since the war began,
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  Speaker 1: again limiting the amount of fuel getting out of the region.
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  Speaker 1: Iran's foreign minister says Tehran is still reviewing Washington's response
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  Speaker 1: to a plan to reopen the Strait within seven days.
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  Speaker 1: Abbas Saragchi says negotiations are continuing and they expect to
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  Speaker 1: respond within a few days. And with me now is
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  Speaker 1: Siavash Adelan from the BBC's Persian Language Service, BBC Persian. Siavash,
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  Speaker 1: good to have you with us. So President Trump says
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  Speaker 1: the attacks, as we've mentioned, won't resume before the November midterms,
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  Speaker 1: the 3rd of November in the U.S. What more do
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  Speaker 1: we know about this?
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  Speaker 2: We know that he's responding to that speculation on some U.S.
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  Speaker 2: media that the Pentagon is preparing to strike Iran. Now,
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  Speaker 2: why he would want to contradict those reports, whether those
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  Speaker 2: reports were something coordinated within the White House for some
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  Speaker 2: anonymous U.S. sources to tell that to the U.S. media
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  Speaker 2: and then for President Trump to contradict it or whether
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  Speaker 2: they said it despite President Trump's wish is anyone's guess.
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  Speaker 2: But what we can guess is that Iranians in any
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  Speaker 2: case will consider this whole set of statements of contradictory
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  Speaker 2: communiques coming out of Washington as a psychological kind of
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  Speaker 2: pressure operation, whether it's a diplomatic game to extract more
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  Speaker 2: concessions from Iran, hold a stick over its head, look,
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  Speaker 2: if you don't concede what we are asking, we might
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  Speaker 2: attack you before the midterms, or whether it's to catch
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  Speaker 2: Iran by surprise if they do intend to carry out
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  Speaker 2: this attack. So either way, I think Iran is preparing
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  Speaker 2: for the wars while at the same time is carrying on.
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  Speaker 2: What we see are these discussions that President Trump has
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  Speaker 2: said they're very productive.
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  Speaker 1: So what is the latest on talks? It's quite hard
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  Speaker 1: sometimes to read exactly what is going on and to
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  Speaker 1: interpret the messages coming from both sides. And I guess
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  Speaker 1: some people will be saying, well, you know, President Trump
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  Speaker 1: would be saying this in the last few weeks before
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  Speaker 1: the U.S. midterms.
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  Speaker 2: Look, what we do know is that, as you remember,
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  Speaker 2: when Iran and the U.S. established a ceasefire, the agreement
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  Speaker 2: was that they first sort the Strait of Hormuz issue
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  Speaker 2: within a 30-day or 60-day period. Then they go on
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  Speaker 2: to discuss the nuclear file, Iran's nuclear file. But now
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  Speaker 2: what the Americans have suggested is, look, we're getting enough
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  Speaker 2: oil out of the Strait of Hormuz, very much similar
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  Speaker 2: to the pre-war levels. So we want to talk about
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  Speaker 2: the nuclear issue now, not later, not in 30 days,
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  Speaker 2: not in 60 days. And we think the Iranians have
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  Speaker 2: accepted this because yesterday, J.D. Vance, the U.S. vice president,
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  Speaker 2: said that Iran has to meaningfully reduce its nuclear enrichment.
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  Speaker 2: So that means they're probably talking about this and they're
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  Speaker 2: talking about percentages and, you know, timetables and so on.
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  Speaker 2: And the... Iranian foreign minister today said that we're having
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  Speaker 2: these discussions.
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  Speaker 3: The U.S.
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  Speaker 2: Has offered a counterproposal to our initial proposal, and we
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  Speaker 2: will respond to them in a few days. So that's
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  Speaker 2: where the state of the negotiations are. When Donald Trump
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  Speaker 2: says they're productive, that opens up a whole level of
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  Speaker 2: new optimism about the possibility of a diplomatic breakthrough.
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  Speaker 4: Okay.
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  Speaker 1: Siavash Adelan from BBC Persian, thank you very much. Loud
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  Speaker 1: booms have been heard over the Saudi Arabian capital as
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  Speaker 1: the conflict with the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen intensifies. The
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  Speaker 1: Houthis say they attacked airports across the country, including multiple
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  Speaker 1: strikes on Riyadh airport. Video shows smoke rising from the site.
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  Speaker 1: Some airlines are suspending flights to King Khaled International and
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  Speaker 1: airport operators say passengers should contact them before travelling. Saudi
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  Speaker 1: officials haven't confirmed any strikes. Separate attacks on two Saudi
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  Speaker 1: airports on Wednesday killed at least three people. Meanwhile, the
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  Speaker 1: Saudi-led coalition in Yemen says it has intercepted two ballistic
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  Speaker 1: missiles fired towards Riyadh by the Houthis, with debris damaging
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  Speaker 1: a kindergarten and a medical clinic in the city. A
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  Speaker 1: coalition spokesperson previously warned that attacks on civilian sites, in
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  Speaker 1: his words, will not go unanswered. BBC Arabic's Gulf Affairs
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  Speaker 1: reporter Nisreen Hatoum sent this update from Beirut.
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  Speaker 3: The latest Houthi attacks on Saudi airports and air bases
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  Speaker 3: in Riyadh, Jazan and Nasran raise concerns about the security
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  Speaker 3: of critical infrastructure, aviation routes and regional trade, even when
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  Speaker 3: attacks are intercepted or cause limited damage. The choice of
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  Speaker 3: airports is particularly significant. Airports are not only transportation hubs,
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  Speaker 3: they are symbols of connectivity, economic activity and state authority.
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  Speaker 3: By targeting them, the Houthis can generate maximum political and
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  Speaker 3: media impact. From the Houthis' perspective, attacks on Saudi airports
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  Speaker 3: also serve a strategic messaging purpose, demonstrating an ability to
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  Speaker 3: reach deep inside Saudi territory. The objective is not necessarily
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  Speaker 3: to disrupt aviation, but to show that key facilities remain
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  Speaker 3: vulnerable and that the Houthis retain leverage in a broader
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  Speaker 3: regional confrontation. Ultimately, these attacks are a reminder that Yemen's
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  Speaker 3: conflict remains closely linked to the region's wider security landscape.
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  Speaker 3: Even when their military impact is limited, they serve as
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  Speaker 3: an indication that regional tensions can still manifest far from
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  Speaker 3: the battlefield, affecting strategic infrastructure and raising concerns about long-term stability.
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  Speaker 1: Nisreen Hatoum reporting. The war in Yemen has worsened in
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  Speaker 1: recent weeks. Coalition forces say they've hit thousands of Houthi
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  Speaker 1: targets in response to attacks. The Houthis, who are backed
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  Speaker 1: by Iran, control most of the country's northwest and have
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  Speaker 1: seized strategically important stretches off the Red Sea coast. More
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  Speaker 1: than 200,000 people have been displaced since the latest advances
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  Speaker 1: and hundreds have reportedly been killed on both sides of
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  Speaker 1: the conflict. The USS Abraham Lincoln is returning to California
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  Speaker 1: after 10 months at sea, most of it in the
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  Speaker 1: Middle East. The American aircraft carrier was first deployed last
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  Speaker 1: November and spent a record 264 continuous days at sea
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  Speaker 1: to support the war in Iran. It was plagued with
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  Speaker 1: reports of low morale and supply shortages during the lengthy deployment.
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  Speaker 1: Eight crew members are known to have attempted suicide, with
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  Speaker 1: reports of sailors trying to jump overboard. and families raising
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  Speaker 1: concerns about mental health among the 5,000 crew.
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  Speaker 4: U.S.
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  Speaker 1: Defense Secretary Pete Hexeth has been on board as the
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  Speaker 1: Abraham Lincoln sails back into its home port of San Diego.
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  Speaker 1: He's accused the media of trying to make the strike
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  Speaker 1: group a symbol of a failed mission and praised the
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  Speaker 1: crew for what he called their historic work.
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  Speaker 4: What the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group did, no
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  Speaker 4: other carrier strike group has ever done. 10,000 sorties, 23,000
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  Speaker 4: combat flight hours, almost 4,000 combat sorties, 1.5 million pounds
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  Speaker 4: of ordnance dropped on the enemy.
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  Speaker 1: The United States has sent a third aircraft carrier to
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  Speaker 1: the Middle East. The USS Theodore Roosevelt is heading to
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  Speaker 1: the region to join the USS George H.W. Bush and
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  Speaker 1: the USS George Washington, which replaced the Lincoln. It will
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  Speaker 1: be the second time since April that three carriers are
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  Speaker 1: deployed at the same time. same time. Whether you're joining
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  Speaker 1: us on YouTube, TikTok, sounds, radio or TV, thank you
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  Speaker 1: for your time. We'll be back soon with another Iran
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  Speaker 1: war today.