PODCAST:
June 9, 2026 ~ Chris Renwick and Lloyd Jackson spoke with Austin Gullett, a former Navy Intel Officer. They discussed an Army helicopter crash, Israeli attacks in Iran, and shifting alliances in the Middle East.
IRAN ~ Explosions rocked multiple countries in the Middle East over the past 24 hours, as the U.S. and Iran began new rounds of military strikes.
The U.S. launched its strikes Tuesday evening, claiming they were “retaliatory” ones in response to Iran reportedly bringing down the Apache helicopter with a drone on Monday. It is not clear if it was brought down intentionally, though Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister told Al Jazeera that no U.S. helicopter was targeted deliberately at the time.
Still, President Donald Trump was adamant that the U.S. must respond, writing on Truth Social that Iran has “taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them, now they will have to pay the price!!!” The U.S. has reportedly targeted military sites in Iran, such as air defense and radar systems. However, reports indicate that the U.S. also struck two water reservoirs, knocking out access to drinking water to over 20,000 Iranians.
Iran has responded by launching retaliatory strikes against U.S. military sites in Bahrain, Jordan, and Kuwait. Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi wrote on X that, “Our Powerful Armed Forces will leave no attack or threat unanswered. Leave our region if you want to be safe.”
Tensions were already high between the U.S. and Iran amid ceasefire negotiations after Iran and Israel traded missile strikes over the weekend. Despite the recent airstrikes, Trump told reporters Monday that the U.S. was in the “final throes” of negotiations with Iran. However, Israel continues to launch military assaults on Lebanon, with Iran consistently stating that any ceasefire agreement with the U.S. and Israel must include Israel halting its bombardment of Lebanon.
Trump urged both sides to restrain themselves from further military actions in a pair of Truth Social posts made on Monday morning, saying that “and Iran must immediately stop ‘shooting,’” and that both sides “are looking to do an immediate CEASEFIRE! Final negotiations on ‘Peace’ are proceeding, subject to ignorance or stupidity getting in its way.” Trump also reportedly communicated with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before, asking him to withhold missile fire amid ongoing negotiations between the U.S. and Iran.
On Sunday, the Iranian military launched missiles towards Northern Israel in retaliation for the Israeli military striking the suburbs of Beirut. Israel later launched its own barrage of missiles to intercept Iranian ballistics and strike multiple areas within the nation’s borders, breaking a tentative truce that stood between the nations since April.
The war has dragged on since Feb. 28, when the U.S. and Israel began joint military strikes on Iran, prompting the latter to strike Israel and U.S. military sites across the region. Iran and Lebanon have seen the heaviest casualties in the war, with the U.S. and Israeli militaries killing over 3,000 people in each country.
