Hello and welcome to Background Briefing, available 24-7 at Background Briefing.org, I'm Ian Masters,

and today we'll examine a number of stories and issues in the news.

We begin with Iran's supreme leader Ayatollahamani promising retribution,

declaring that those responsible for the killing of the top Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps officers

at the Iranian diplomatic compound in Damascus, quote,

will be punished by our brave men and that they will regret this crime.

Iran's foreign minister, Hussein Amir Abdelian, also indicated that Iran has sent an important

message to the U.S. government, holding it accountable for supporting Israel's actions.

Joining us to assess these developments, which suggest Iran may be considering a substantial retaliation

is Nada Hashimi, the director of the Aloid Center for Muslim Christian Understanding,

and a professor of Middle Eastern Islamic Politics at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University,

a non-resident fellow democracy for the Arab world now.

He's the author of The People Reloaded, The Green Movement, The Struggle for Around's Future,

and sectarianization mapping the new politics of the Middle East.

Then with Russia's former Deputy Minister for Energy, Vladimir Milof,

warning Putin intends to use oil as a weapon to help elect Trump.

We will look into what Saudi Arabia's crown prince might have in store to hurt Biden's

re-election as we learn that Mohammed bin Salman has had a conversation or conversations

with Trump ostensibly about the live golf tour, which is injecting money into Trump's golf courses.

Joining us to discuss what Russia and Saudi Arabia could do to jack up the price of gas in the fall

ahead of the elections is Jeff Colgan, the Richard Holbrook Professor of Political Science

and Director of the Climate Solutions Lab at the Watson Institute for Public

...