Iran Deadline, Middle East War Escalation, Artemis II Trip Home
Up First from NPR
NPR
4.6 • 59K Ratings
🗓️ 7 April 2026
⏱️ 13 minutes
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Summary
Israel is already battering Iran's economy and warned Iranians this morning not to take the trains, with heavy bombing of the railway system expected today.
And the Artemis Two crew is heading home after a record-breaking trip around the moon.
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Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Rebekah Metzler, Gerry Holmes, Amina Khan, Mohamad ElBardicy, and Alice Woelfle.
It was produced by Ziad Buchh and Ava Pukatch.
Our director is Kaity Kline.
We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis. Our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
And our Supervising Senior Producer is Vince Pearson.
(0:00) Introduction
(01:00) Iran Deadline
(04:30) Middle East War Escalation
(09:16) Artemis II Trip Home
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | President Trump is threatening to bomb Iran's bridges and power plants if it doesn't open |
| 0:06.9 | the Strait of Hormuz by tonight. |
| 0:08.5 | The entire country can be taken out in one night. |
| 0:11.3 | As Trump threatens possible war crimes, he's also asking for a ceasefire. |
| 0:15.3 | I'm Miam Martinez, that's Laila Fadl, and this is up first from NPR News. |
| 0:22.2 | Israel is also warning Iranians not to take the trains today. |
| 0:26.1 | NPR's Daniel Estrin expects heavy bombing on railroads that many civilians take. |
| 0:30.7 | Is there any end in sight to this war? |
| 0:33.2 | And the Artemis 2 crew is on its way home after a record-breaking trip around the moon. |
| 0:38.0 | We will explore, we will build, we will build ships, we will visit again. |
| 0:43.2 | But ultimately, we will always choose Earth. |
| 0:46.6 | We will always choose each other. |
| 0:48.8 | Stay with us. We've got the news you need to start your day. |
| 1:05.4 | President Trump says Iran has until 8 p.m. Eastern tonight to accept a deal that includes opening the Strait of Hormuz before the U.S. starts blowing up bridges and power plants. |
| 1:10.2 | The entire country can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night. |
| 1:15.8 | That was Trump in a lengthy press conference Monday. |
| 1:19.6 | He says Iran's next moves will determine whether the war is winding down or escalating. |
| 1:26.2 | NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordonez was at that press conference. |
| 1:30.3 | So Franco, it started off with all of them talking about the missing airman, who was plane |
| 1:34.5 | was shot down by Iranian forces. |
| 1:35.9 | Where did it go from there? |
| 1:37.2 | Yeah, Trump, along with Defense Secretary and the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the CIA director, |
... |
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