Summary
Today, we look at the death of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed by US-Israeli attacks on Saturday.
US President Donald Trump released a statement late in the evening saying he was targeted via intelligence and tracking systems.
International editor Jeremy Bowen joins Laura and Paddy to discuss how it happened, what it means for the future of Iran and the region, and how the rest of the world is reacting.
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The presenters were Laura Kuenssberg and Paddy O’Connell. It was made by Chris Flynn. The social producer was Gabriel Purcell-Davies. The technical producer was Dafydd Evans. The weekend series producer is Chris Flynn. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:07.6 | American politics can sometimes feel like a different language. |
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| 0:21.2 | So for newscasters who like the story about what happens in the office, we recorded yesterday's |
| 0:27.4 | newscast and then immediately started messaging each other. |
| 0:30.0 | We did because there were then suggestions and rumour and hint and speculation and things |
| 0:34.7 | that are tricky for journalists that often when there is a very important story that appears to have happened, you then have a period of what you might call howl round before you can actually say this is true. |
| 0:45.1 | And the news in question that we spent some hours not knowing whether or not it was true was the death of the Ayatollah, the supreme leader of Iran, who had been in charge ruling with an iron grip, |
| 0:55.8 | a repressive regime for 36 years. |
| 0:59.6 | And it wasn't actually until quite late in the day |
| 1:02.0 | that Donald Trump was the one really to confirm to the world publicly |
| 1:05.8 | that, yes, indeed, as a result of Israeli and American strikes, |
| 1:10.5 | Ayatollah Komeini, was dead. |
| 1:12.7 | Yes, at 9.40 p.m., he posted one of the most evil people in history is dead. |
| 1:17.9 | This is not only justice for the people of Iran, but for all great Americans, |
| 1:21.7 | and those people from many countries throughout the world that have been killed or mutilated by Hamei |
| 1:26.3 | and his gang of bloodthirsty thugs. |
| 1:29.3 | It's a huge moment and I know we probably overuse that phrase, but this really is a momentous |
| 1:34.2 | time because it puts in future, who will run Iran, not just hugely important, most of all, |
| 1:41.3 | of course, for the people of Iran who have been repressed for decades just weeks ago, thousands of people killed by their own government for protesting in the |
... |
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