00:00:04
Speaker 1: From the Australian. Here's what's on the front. I'm Claire Harvey. It's Tuesday, April seven, twenty twenty six. Negotiations for a forty five day ceasefire in Iran are reportedly underway after Donald Trump issued an extraordinary foul mouthed social media rant giving Iran just hours to allow the world access to Middle East oil. Trump told Iran's quote crazy bastards to reopen the effing Straight of hor Moors, threatening to destroy bridges, power plants and send the whole country to hell. Right now at the Australian dot com dot U and always, we've got the analysis and reporting to help you get to grips with the latest in this remarkable moment in history. Vast underground tunnel systems, packed with fuel, drones and missiles. This is how Iran has managed to hold out against the combined might of the US and Israeli assault for well over a month. Today, our reporter shukof As are on the photos that change how we understand around strategy. Shukafa is here in just a moment. Shukafa Azaria is a journalist with The Australian. She's been covering the around war and Shuka. Fore, you've done some amazing reporting in recent days about a network of Iranian underground missile facilities. We've seen incredible pictures. What are we seeing in those images?
00:01:37
Speaker 2: Yes, last week one of the largest facilities on their ground, facilities in the city of yazz where hits boy bomb and it's made people aware of this kind of underground military cities. We knew about them. We knew that the Regym is building some of these underground facilities, but we didn't know about their scale and the expenses and the size of these facilities. So since last week many videos and photos and information were published and so far we know that these facilities are included of many tunnels and fueler storage, mizzele and drone storage and rail system. They have metro, they are multi level structures. We were not aware of these at all.
00:02:28
Speaker 1: They're amazingly sophisticated. There are lights, they're big enough for large vehicles, you know, goods vehicles to drive through. Where are these facilities and what do we think is actually going on on the ground.
00:02:40
Speaker 2: So our information are really limited because always all of these facilities were built in secrecy in lasts at least twenty years. The governments revealed the first underground missile city in twenty fifteen, and after that they introduced four or five of them, and they didn't mention the details or they didn't mention what city they are built. What now we know? Since last week many people have started publishing information, photos and images and videos also, so we now know that some of these cities are built in Cherman, buchher Terran, carriage Esfahan, Cistan and Balucheston, and especially in the Persian Gulf. Course, we know there are some in northern Iran, and we also know that there are many of them in Zoglos Mountains in the western of Iran. Before we told that there are only four or five of them. Now we are talking about sixty or seventies of advance underground military sites.
00:03:42
Speaker 1: What would ordinary Iranians have known about them? And is it ordinary Iranians who are publishing those photographs that we're now seeing all these facilities?
00:03:51
Speaker 2: Yes, since last week, actually it's brought lots of shocks when last week the years sites were hit by the bomb. So many information published and now people are more aware of what's going on on the ground eron actually and people saying in social media, people are saying the regime pushed us to poverty on ground of the country, but on their ground they built, you know, super expensive military facilities. So now people know that there are many of them. But many informations that we have comes from you know, people, not from the resources or valid resources. We just know. People send us photos and they say in our areas, we see the size, we see this activity, but no one can prove.
00:04:50
Speaker 1: Do you think the fact that people are now talking about these facilities tells us how they were built like that they weren't necessarily just built by the military, but they had to use civilian Iranian people to build these facilities, and that's how people know about them.
00:05:04
Speaker 2: You know, always around of these kind of activities are covered, so people know the army's facilities or cars and vehicles coming and going, but no one knows what's going on. That's the main point. And we know that our country is rich, we are one of the most important resources of gas and oil in the world, but the people and the country gets in puller and puller in lasts at least two decades, and that's made people so shocked and angry, and they sent any information that they have. We are talking about it, and we are talking about a systematic sense censorship. The system is built to censor information. And we have so many journalists in the prison, We have so many environmental activists in prison just because they reveal parts of these activities.
00:05:52
Speaker 1: Yeah, tell me about those environmental activists. How have their activities kind of been associated with these under ground facilities.
00:06:01
Speaker 2: Yeah, Now we understand, actually we understand why the regime arrest and torture and crack down the environmental activists. Since twenty sixteen, the government released the information about the first underground facility in twenty fifteen and early twenty sixteen, we've been evidence of arresting and the torturing and imprisonment and also killing off many environmental activities. It was a huge question for all of us. For more than twenty years, we didn't know what's going on. But now we understand that many of them find information unwantedly, perhaps because all of these activities happen out of the cities in the desert, in the natural resources and sights, and they unwantedly record perhaps some of these activities, and that's why the regime immediately sage reaction we know that in twenty sixteen more than fifty environmentalvi's been prisoned and more than twenty of them being chilled.
00:07:04
Speaker 1: Well, we already knew. I think that Iran's proxies in the region, like Hamas in Gaza and perhaps Hezbela and Lebanon, we're using underground facilities. That's certainly been one of Israel's war aims in Gaza was to get rid of Hamasa's network of tunnels. How did the revelations about Iran's tunnels in the Iranian mainland kind of match up with what we already knew about what those proxies were doing in other territories.
00:07:34
Speaker 2: Expert believes that many of these underground military sites in Lebanon, Syria and as there are built or were supported financially by regime, Islamic regime in Iran, and we don't know, maybe there are more in Yemen or Nigeria. In you know, they are also active in some parts of Africa. And what we know is that all of these military groups middles and Africa were created or supported by this regime and with the costs of Iranian people, and we have been pushed to poverty. So the regime can build this kind of huge underground military systems, and what we know is that perhaps there should be more of these facilities on the ground in you know, Lebanon, Cereal, and as I mentioned, maybe other countries like Yemen, and all of these came with our price.
00:08:37
Speaker 1: Obviously, Iran has developed a kind of warfare that involves storing large amounts of stuff underground, using underground systems to communicate and so on. What does it tell us about Iran's kind of readiness for war, you know, over the past few years.
00:08:53
Speaker 2: Yes, actually, it obviously tell us that the regime was getting ready for these activities for at least for twenty years. In nineteen seventeen nine, when the regime funded immediately they involved with this eight years war with Iraq and absolutely unnecessary war. There was not any conflict between Iran and Iraq until they created that. So for almost ten years they were involved with the war. And after that, when they saw that they are weak in many ways in military facilities and systems, they start building this kind The idea of building this on the ground cities came after Iran Iraq war, so it means they were getting ready for twenty thirty years and they spent all of the wilds of this country on these stupid military facilities.
00:09:44
Speaker 3: Unfortunately, after a long and old, duous journey from Australia, around women's football team is back home. The squad spouse scene here passed through gob Lot Boarder crossing on Wednesday afternoon. With Iranian airs space closed. The delegation flew via Malaysia and Oman then London. In Istanbul Suokar for.
00:10:07
Speaker 1: The last time we had you on the front we were talking about the Lionesses, the Iranian female soccer team, who have now largely returned to Iran. What is the latest? Is there still one Lioness here in Australia And do we know anything about what's happened to the women who went home?
00:10:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, I know from Iranian news in Farsi that as soon as they went to Iran, they've been used as a part of regime propaganda as usual. So after a lot of attention and noises that Australia created around these liyonesses, the regime claimed that the gears were held in Australia against their real that's very funny, and some of them became secre refrugie against their will. So we all know that it is a lie, and we know that it actually it's very funny to even claim that. And now what we hear is that a huge silence. And this silence always should be very deeply consented or consent, because when it's silence come, it means the regime arrested them and put them in pressures, question them and introgate them, even if they are not in prison officially. Two of them sayed in Australia and other two of them that they first said they want to say in Australia, they're back to it on because I believe and many believe because of the pressure of the regime on their family, so they made decisions to back to actually save their families.
00:11:39
Speaker 1: Thank you very much for joining us, no problem, Thank you so much. Shukta Aza is a reporter with The Australian. You can read all the latest from the Middle East and around the world right now at the Australian dot com.
00:11:54
Speaker 3: Dou
Speaker 1: From the Australian. Here's what's on the front. I'm Claire Harvey. It's Tuesday, April seven, twenty twenty six. Negotiations for a forty five day ceasefire in Iran are reportedly underway after Donald Trump issued an extraordinary foul mouthed social media rant giving Iran just hours to allow the world access to Middle East oil. Trump told Iran's quote crazy bastards to reopen the effing Straight of hor Moors, threatening to destroy bridges, power plants and send the whole country to hell. Right now at the Australian dot com dot U and always, we've got the analysis and reporting to help you get to grips with the latest in this remarkable moment in history. Vast underground tunnel systems, packed with fuel, drones and missiles. This is how Iran has managed to hold out against the combined might of the US and Israeli assault for well over a month. Today, our reporter shukof As are on the photos that change how we understand around strategy. Shukafa is here in just a moment. Shukafa Azaria is a journalist with The Australian. She's been covering the around war and Shuka. Fore, you've done some amazing reporting in recent days about a network of Iranian underground missile facilities. We've seen incredible pictures. What are we seeing in those images?
00:01:37
Speaker 2: Yes, last week one of the largest facilities on their ground, facilities in the city of yazz where hits boy bomb and it's made people aware of this kind of underground military cities. We knew about them. We knew that the Regym is building some of these underground facilities, but we didn't know about their scale and the expenses and the size of these facilities. So since last week many videos and photos and information were published and so far we know that these facilities are included of many tunnels and fueler storage, mizzele and drone storage and rail system. They have metro, they are multi level structures. We were not aware of these at all.
00:02:28
Speaker 1: They're amazingly sophisticated. There are lights, they're big enough for large vehicles, you know, goods vehicles to drive through. Where are these facilities and what do we think is actually going on on the ground.
00:02:40
Speaker 2: So our information are really limited because always all of these facilities were built in secrecy in lasts at least twenty years. The governments revealed the first underground missile city in twenty fifteen, and after that they introduced four or five of them, and they didn't mention the details or they didn't mention what city they are built. What now we know? Since last week many people have started publishing information, photos and images and videos also, so we now know that some of these cities are built in Cherman, buchher Terran, carriage Esfahan, Cistan and Balucheston, and especially in the Persian Gulf. Course, we know there are some in northern Iran, and we also know that there are many of them in Zoglos Mountains in the western of Iran. Before we told that there are only four or five of them. Now we are talking about sixty or seventies of advance underground military sites.
00:03:42
Speaker 1: What would ordinary Iranians have known about them? And is it ordinary Iranians who are publishing those photographs that we're now seeing all these facilities?
00:03:51
Speaker 2: Yes, since last week, actually it's brought lots of shocks when last week the years sites were hit by the bomb. So many information published and now people are more aware of what's going on on the ground eron actually and people saying in social media, people are saying the regime pushed us to poverty on ground of the country, but on their ground they built, you know, super expensive military facilities. So now people know that there are many of them. But many informations that we have comes from you know, people, not from the resources or valid resources. We just know. People send us photos and they say in our areas, we see the size, we see this activity, but no one can prove.
00:04:50
Speaker 1: Do you think the fact that people are now talking about these facilities tells us how they were built like that they weren't necessarily just built by the military, but they had to use civilian Iranian people to build these facilities, and that's how people know about them.
00:05:04
Speaker 2: You know, always around of these kind of activities are covered, so people know the army's facilities or cars and vehicles coming and going, but no one knows what's going on. That's the main point. And we know that our country is rich, we are one of the most important resources of gas and oil in the world, but the people and the country gets in puller and puller in lasts at least two decades, and that's made people so shocked and angry, and they sent any information that they have. We are talking about it, and we are talking about a systematic sense censorship. The system is built to censor information. And we have so many journalists in the prison, We have so many environmental activists in prison just because they reveal parts of these activities.
00:05:52
Speaker 1: Yeah, tell me about those environmental activists. How have their activities kind of been associated with these under ground facilities.
00:06:01
Speaker 2: Yeah, Now we understand, actually we understand why the regime arrest and torture and crack down the environmental activists. Since twenty sixteen, the government released the information about the first underground facility in twenty fifteen and early twenty sixteen, we've been evidence of arresting and the torturing and imprisonment and also killing off many environmental activities. It was a huge question for all of us. For more than twenty years, we didn't know what's going on. But now we understand that many of them find information unwantedly, perhaps because all of these activities happen out of the cities in the desert, in the natural resources and sights, and they unwantedly record perhaps some of these activities, and that's why the regime immediately sage reaction we know that in twenty sixteen more than fifty environmentalvi's been prisoned and more than twenty of them being chilled.
00:07:04
Speaker 1: Well, we already knew. I think that Iran's proxies in the region, like Hamas in Gaza and perhaps Hezbela and Lebanon, we're using underground facilities. That's certainly been one of Israel's war aims in Gaza was to get rid of Hamasa's network of tunnels. How did the revelations about Iran's tunnels in the Iranian mainland kind of match up with what we already knew about what those proxies were doing in other territories.
00:07:34
Speaker 2: Expert believes that many of these underground military sites in Lebanon, Syria and as there are built or were supported financially by regime, Islamic regime in Iran, and we don't know, maybe there are more in Yemen or Nigeria. In you know, they are also active in some parts of Africa. And what we know is that all of these military groups middles and Africa were created or supported by this regime and with the costs of Iranian people, and we have been pushed to poverty. So the regime can build this kind of huge underground military systems, and what we know is that perhaps there should be more of these facilities on the ground in you know, Lebanon, Cereal, and as I mentioned, maybe other countries like Yemen, and all of these came with our price.
00:08:37
Speaker 1: Obviously, Iran has developed a kind of warfare that involves storing large amounts of stuff underground, using underground systems to communicate and so on. What does it tell us about Iran's kind of readiness for war, you know, over the past few years.
00:08:53
Speaker 2: Yes, actually, it obviously tell us that the regime was getting ready for these activities for at least for twenty years. In nineteen seventeen nine, when the regime funded immediately they involved with this eight years war with Iraq and absolutely unnecessary war. There was not any conflict between Iran and Iraq until they created that. So for almost ten years they were involved with the war. And after that, when they saw that they are weak in many ways in military facilities and systems, they start building this kind The idea of building this on the ground cities came after Iran Iraq war, so it means they were getting ready for twenty thirty years and they spent all of the wilds of this country on these stupid military facilities.
00:09:44
Speaker 3: Unfortunately, after a long and old, duous journey from Australia, around women's football team is back home. The squad spouse scene here passed through gob Lot Boarder crossing on Wednesday afternoon. With Iranian airs space closed. The delegation flew via Malaysia and Oman then London. In Istanbul Suokar for.
00:10:07
Speaker 1: The last time we had you on the front we were talking about the Lionesses, the Iranian female soccer team, who have now largely returned to Iran. What is the latest? Is there still one Lioness here in Australia And do we know anything about what's happened to the women who went home?
00:10:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, I know from Iranian news in Farsi that as soon as they went to Iran, they've been used as a part of regime propaganda as usual. So after a lot of attention and noises that Australia created around these liyonesses, the regime claimed that the gears were held in Australia against their real that's very funny, and some of them became secre refrugie against their will. So we all know that it is a lie, and we know that it actually it's very funny to even claim that. And now what we hear is that a huge silence. And this silence always should be very deeply consented or consent, because when it's silence come, it means the regime arrested them and put them in pressures, question them and introgate them, even if they are not in prison officially. Two of them sayed in Australia and other two of them that they first said they want to say in Australia, they're back to it on because I believe and many believe because of the pressure of the regime on their family, so they made decisions to back to actually save their families.
00:11:39
Speaker 1: Thank you very much for joining us, no problem, Thank you so much. Shukta Aza is a reporter with The Australian. You can read all the latest from the Middle East and around the world right now at the Australian dot com.
00:11:54
Speaker 3: Dou
