US strikes Iran’s Revolutionary Guard over an attack that killed troops in Jordan

My name is Josh Breslow and on the right hand side of your screen that is a live look over the Strait of Hormuz provided by marine traffic where once again not a lot of movement. I want to pop this up on your screen as we see intensifying strikes that are happening over in Iran. The U.S. conducting that eighth day of straight strikes there on Iran and the strikes intensifying after an attack on a base in Jordan killed two American service members injured four others and left another missing. Popping this up on your screen this is a post coming in from CENTCOM a short time ago as they say U.S. Central Command completed another round of strikes against Iran on July 18th that was of course Saturday at 11 30 p.m. Eastern time at the commander-in-chief's direction during the eighth consecutive night of U.S. strike CENTCOM forces successfully hit Iranian military coastal surveillance and air defense facilities maritime capabilities and missile and drone storage sites to continue degrading Iranian military capabilities. American military assets also targeted Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces that launched attacks against U.S. service members in Jordan on Saturday. Now in a statement read out on Iranian state TV and attributed to Iran's supreme leader Mashtaba Khamenei he warned of quote unforgettable lessons if these U.S. strikes on Iran continue calling President Trump's signature on their memorandum of understanding quote worthless and invalid. Now it's also important to note though that it is Iran that is firing on those ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Now U.S. Central Command initially putting this out saying that Saturday two U.S. service members in Jordan were killed in action as CENTCOM and partner forces defended against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks. Now of course we are waiting to learn a little bit more about those service members who lost their lives as they were fighting for this country. Now the statement was said to be from Mashtaba Khamenei the one I read a short time ago but it's important to note that he has not been seen or heard from since the U.S. strike that killed his father at the start of Operation Epic Fury. He also posted this on his social media page his ex page there saying the great Satan the criminal U.S. has now realized that the continuation of its trouble-free domineering presence in the region is nothing but a naive fantasy. Again you can see a lot of different developments coming in out of the Middle East as always. I want to bring in Daron Spielman the incoming international spokesman for Prime Minister Netanyahu's office to talk a little bit more here about all of this those developments and more. Daron thank you so much for taking the time to be here with us. Thanks for having me Josh. And of course I want to start by talking about the situation that played out on Saturday really into Friday there as we know that two U.S. service members were killed as a result of that strike that took place on a base in Jordan. Of course you are in Israel when you hear something like this happening you find out that U.S. service members have died what's kind of going through your mind as you're watching all of this play out? I can tell you personally and I think I speak on behalf of the people of Israel we look at the U.S. as our number one ally brothers and sisters in arms. I was very saddened to hear about the loss of U.S. servicemen's life. The U.S. like Israel at the end of the day are trying to defeat a massive terror regime that is trying to arm itself with nuclear weapons the regime of Iran and when we Iran firing rockets all over the Middle East at Bahrain at Kuwait at Jordan it's it's like a mad man that with with a machine gun that's just shooting in every single direction and my heart goes out to those families we've lost just in Lebanon alone with the Hezbollah which is a terror proxy of Iran we've lost 38 of our own servicemen and women and not to mention our civilians and you know if U.S. if Iran had the capability to target U.S. civilians there's no doubt it would be doing so but these these two gentlemen whose names we don't yet know fell on the line of duty in the historic really mission to try to prevent Iran from destroying the Middle East and much of the world. On that same note here we have this post and I want to keep mentioning here that we have not seen much Tabah Hamani we have not heard his voice we've just had statements that are being read there on Iranian state tv that are attributed to him not even clear if he's running his x-page but he called the U.S. the great satan he's referred to Israel by a lot of names as well to read something like this what does that say to you about maybe where things stand right now? Well you know the apple doesn't fall far from the tree his father Ali Khamenei has been calling for decades the United States the great satan and Israel the little satan they've been burning American and Israeli flags the entire time they've been threatening Israel they've been calling for the destruction of Israel and it's it's not without much Tabah Khamenei's approval that there was that massive poster in the middle of Tehran that called for the targeting of President Trump I mean look at these people these are the people that President Trump reached out to with an olive branch offering them even despite all the evil that they've done to the their economy offering them to have infrastructure projects have a new Middle East a peace with Israel but you know what this regime this IRGC much Tabah Khamenei they are dedicated to one thing which is really suicidal death and taking down the rest of the world with them they're a radical a radical religious regime and it just shows that they they not only rebuff the United States they threaten the president and we have to understand that behind these words are actions that they want to complete had the U.S. and Israel not struck them Josh both in June of last year and in March of this year they would have today an atomic bomb and guess what they say they would use it and they would use it and we have to understand the threat here and that this is an opportunity to seriously degrade this regime so that they don't pose a threat to the United States Israel and to really the world at large and what you're looking at is some of the video there that was provided by CENTCOM of that eighth straight day of strikes of course much more intense here they have been intensifying in general but after you have the death of U.S. service members in Jordan I mean of course they're going to intensify even further and I wanted to ask you you touched on this but as we talk about the fact that Iran isn't just firing on U.S. troops you're seeing these missiles drones that are fired into places like Bahrain Kuwait Jordan as we mentioned Iraq what does that say about the fact that Iran is firing at these other Arab Gulf nations there which are their their neighbors yeah they really have no allegiance including to their Arab and Muslim brothers certainly not to Israel what they really are about is a tyrannical regime and they know what their pressure points are the pressure points are striking civilians you know every single death that happened inside the state of Israel from Iranian bombs every single one of them were civilians entire families were eliminated you know we all took cover when you'd hear these sirens you don't know if you and your family that's going to be the last minute because they're they're aiming for civilians they struck hotels in the UAE they struck hotels of their best friends and this really is to show us that Iran it's not an Arab problem it's a Jewish problem suddenly U.S. problem it is a serious problem that wants to arm itself with an atomic weapon which is why Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump have agreed from the beginning you know if it can be done diplomatically great but deal or no deal under no circumstances there will not be a nuclear Iran as we kind of look to see what happens next do we know if Prime Minister Netanyahu is going to be visiting here in the U.S. to meet with President Trump he's had several meetings with Trump since Trump began his second term they've met in the U.S. is there a meeting that's planned for the near future here first of all I don't think in the history of the two countries have there ever been more meetings and more phone calls the the two heads of state speak at least once a week if not more at times during the war the Prime Minister had mentioned that they were speaking on a daily basis and they've met you know numerous times and yes the President did extend an invitation and I believe that they're working out the details but what it really shows you is that there is there's no daylight whatsoever between the U.S. and Israel you know a lot of times are these allegations that one is pulling the other it's ridiculous the two are coordinated are you know the United States knows that its greatest ally in the entire world the most loyal ally that's tried and tested as Israel and Israel knows that the United States is our greatest ally and I think that we can look at this and the world should be looking at this as two countries vastly different sizes but united in terms of really morals and values are standing up to evil and it's just shocking that more countries including in Europe haven't done so they're kind of missing the boat this is the opportunity for you to fight evil and I hope more will join the world will really join this and we can look back and say you know what the world stood up for good the world prevented it prevented evil from a test the sizing and right now we are running a poll there on the bottom of your screen all you have to do is scan that QR code on the bottom right or go to live now fox.com slash connect and hit the vote now tab the question pretty simple here should the US continue strikes on Iran your options yes or no and of course we're asking this in the wake of those service members being killed in that attack over in Jordan these are all going to come in in real time and also need to get your take here where does Israel kind of stand overall when it comes to whether or not these strikes should continue Israel's main concern Josh you know Israel has shown that it can use immense force when needed to prevent Iranian threats Iran posed before both the June campaign in this campaign an existential threat to the state of Israel all those massive you know 2,000 pound ballistic missiles that slammed into homes and and killed people Iran wants to you know arm them with nuclear devices and atomic bombs and Israel has said in the prime minister prime minister Netanyahu said from the very beginning and the Israeli people are united we're not gonna wait to that god forbid bomb nuclear weapon is in the air before we act the president the and the prime minister both agree Iran will not have nuclear weapons and Israel's would not only willing it will take whatever steps necessary to make sure that doesn't happen what are you watching for here as we continue to follow all the developments out of the Middle East as I mentioned so much happening pretty much on an hourly basis things have definitely picked up here over the past week or even longer than a week at this point what are you specifically watching for look Israel's very under very tight security right now you know we are aware it's been in the news that Iran at any moment does have the capability and the the willingness to try to strike Israeli citizens but you know what I'm looking for is I guess maybe it's a little bit of hope a little light at the end of the tunnel that at some point someone in Iran someone in charge will decide that they really want to act for the future of those people re-engage the United States in diplomatic negotiations again the prime minister of Israel said president prime minister Netanyahu said we prefer that this be done in a diplomatic way certainly President Trump has tried but you know what it doesn't look like it's going to work because Iran they lie they cheat they manipulate and their track record really shows unfortunately that a piece of paper means nothing to them and so what we see is the United States willing to use force and with some dangerous terror entities force is the only thing that they understand and it looks that that is the path that Iran has chosen that brings up a good point here because even if Iran were to sign a memorandum of understanding even a peace deal that puts an end to all of this it does that really mean anything does that signature from Mashtaba Khamenei from the IRGC whoever signs it does that actually mean anything well I mean they signed an MOU just a few months ago and today they targeted and killed two U.S. servicemen they've shot thousands of weapons and and rockets throughout the Middle East they've been funding their proxies they've been giving orders to the Houthis the target ships and you know what on the most basic level they've been attacking this entire time civilian shipping through the Strait of Hormuz you know an international waterway that could be used to profit the Iranian people opening that waterway and you know offering like any normal country would do offloading and unloading ways to enable their petrochemicals to reach the world but instead of doing that they see it as an opportunity to choke the world and to blackmail the world and you know it's something that should not be tolerated and President Trump is just shows you know he he gave them a chance he's given them a chance I'm sure he's you know he really hoped that this could be done in a diplomatic way but we say that when he sees that's not happening he's going to protect American interests using force and I think it sounds a very important lesson evil for the most part doesn't listen to reason and we don't listen to reason you use force you hope that at least they're going to listen to that and again we are running that poll there on the bottom of our screen should the U.S. continue strikes on Iran all you have to do is scan that QR code bottom right hand side or go to live now fox.com slash connect and right now not really surprising but it is an overwhelming majority 91 percent say yes nine percent say no right now we have a few hundred votes that have come in but I mean we just popped this up on your screen so you're going to be able to see all of this changing here in real time now I do want to pop up this live look over Beirut in Lebanon to talk a little bit more about what's happening there as it relates to Israel and the Hezbollah terror group because information coming out here that Secretary of State Marco Rubio is going to be meeting with Lebanon's president here in just a matter of hours so how significant is a meeting like that as we look at what's taking place between Israel and Hezbollah this is a historic time for Israel Lebanon we're all very thankful to President Trump for working with the Prime Minister and also with the President of Lebanon in order to sign what's called the tripartite agreement this is the first time that Lebanon has recognized Israeli sovereignty in over 45 years they've recognized Israel Israel is not interested has no territorial ambitions in Lebanon what we really want is just safety and quiet for the people in the northern board of Israel and the same thing the President of Lebanon just wants really I think peace for his own his own country but we agree that the problem here is Hezbollah and again Hezbollah is just another code name for Iran it's just Iran operating in this area and right now what this agreement says is that the Lebanese armed forces the LAF are going to act definitively to disarm Hezbollah and remove them from the area and as they do that and the IDF stands with them side by side is offering them all the support we can and in fact we have two pilot zones underway as soon as they do that then not only will Israel be safer Lebanon will be safer and we can work towards a much longer lasting peace in the region and I'm sure that that is what Secretary Rubio is working towards and anything he can do and we can do to move this forward is simply a blessing and my last question here as we talk about one terror group that starts with an H want to talk about the other one as we've you know we're several years removed from the October 7th attack but of course people in Israel will always remember that Hamas I want to ask where things kind of stand between Israel and Hamas because there were reports that started to circulate that there could be about 20,000 to 25,000 Hamas fighters that now exist that are now there and I know that's fairly similar to the number that existed prior to October 7th can you kind of break down where things stand right now between Israel and Hamas there in Gaza since the ceasefire that was brokered by the president Israel moved to a specific security zone called the yellow line and the hope was is that Hamas would fill fulfill their obligation to the agreement that the that President Trump had put in front of them which simply calls for them to disarm turn in all their weapons and then the people of Gaza could begin living a better life unfortunately Hamas similar to Hezbollah also in terms of the radical ideology also in terms of Iranian funding took the opposite approach they've taken their money into buying weapons rearming we're trying to re-establish themselves as the terror heads of the Gaza Strip and from Israel's perspective and as you mentioned we can't allow that to happen again we we cannot allow if there's any lesson from October 7th to have a a suicidal murderous terror regime on our border that not only says that they want to kill innocent people they came into our borders they they raped and killed people you know they burnt babies alive just just the other day I was in a restaurant and there was a hostage that had been released that walked by and everyone outside and clapped for them I mean it's it's so raw we all know someone who was either killed or taken hostage and Israel's not allowed that to happen again and so our first priority is to protect the Israeli people and if diplomacy doesn't work with then Israel again is leaving all the options on the table we've continued targeting key leaders that were posing an imminent threat and we're hoping that the U.S. and the international community are going to pressure Hamas pressure Iran to lay down their arms and so that we can open up a new a new chapter for the history of Israel Gaza Lebanon in the Middle East all right Daron Spielman their international spokesperson for the Prime Minister's office there in Israel thank you so much for taking the time to join us and helping to break down a variety of developments there anything we missed or or anything that you want to add here before I let you go you know I just want to reach back and I know it was a couple weeks ago Josh to July 4th and July 4th was celebrated in Israel the Knesset was painted red white and blue and I as I walked by I said you know if you look in the United Nations building if you look at the Liberty Bell what you see there are biblical passages quoting liberty and really the bond between our two countries is so deep I think that you know it's not just that we've fought a war together is that we share the quest for freedom and peace together and this is an opportunity sometimes you can do that by passing laws sometimes you can do that with negotiations and sometimes you can do that by standing up for freedom but this is a time that I think we can be proud Americans and proud Israelis and join together on the quest for really creating a better region and a better future for the entire world all right Jerome Spielman thank you again for taking the time to join us here I'm sure we'll have you on again very soon to help break down all these developments as I'm sure there will be more in the coming days thank you again for being here with us it's my pleasure thank you Josh and I want to pop this up on your screen right here as we are getting reaction coming in from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle in relation to the killing of those two U.S. service members over in Jordan during an Iranian strike on that location representative Mike Lawler a Republican from New York saying my prayers are with the brave American heroes who were killed and with the service member who remains missing following today's Iranian attack on U.S. service members in Jordan Iran must be held accountable for this escalation these courageous Americans may be ultimate sacrifice in service to our nation their selfless dedication and unwavering commitment to defending the United States will never be forgotten he and his wife extend our deepest condolences to their families loved ones and fellow service members during this difficult time now again as I mentioned both sides of the aisle here we have Senator Mark Kelly a Democrat from Arizona saying these brave Americans gave their lives in service to our country and will never forget their sacrifice I'm praying for the other service members who are missing or injured and for the safety of our troops representative Mark Alford Republican from Missouri we mourn the loss of two American heroes killed while defending our forces against Iranian backed attacks and we are praying for the safe return of the service member still missing this is a stark reminder of the threats our troops face every day America must stand strong support our military without hesitation and hold our enemies accountable Leslie and I pray with the families the injured and every single service member standing watch today representative Don Davis Democrat from North Carolina we mourn two brave U.S. service members who gave their lives while defending against an Iranian missile and drone attack on a U.S. base in Jordan our hearts are with the families loved ones and fellow service members of the fallen and missing and with every member of our armed forces serving around the world may God comfort those who grieve watch over those who stand in harm's way grant strength to all who serve and continue to bless the United States of America again this reaction coming in from all sides of the aisle here as we continue to follow the latest and work to learn more about those brave two U.S. service members who died and the one at this point who still remains missing there on the bottom of your screen we do have that poll question for you just got to scan that QR code on the bottom right hand side of your screen and it'll take you to live now fox.com slash connect and a page called vote now essentially should the U.S. continue strikes on Iran an overwhelming 92% of you out there say yes and just 8% say no and I'm looking right now to see exactly how many people have voted there's about 400 or so votes so make sure to have your voice heard here as there are about 50,000 people watching us right now want to make sure you have a chance to scan that QR code or go to live now fox.com slash connect we are going to head to a quick break here at 5 27 on the east coast and 227 on the west coast you're watching live now from fox we'll be right back