US Strikes Iran Oil Tankers, Israeli Settlements Sanctions, Smithsonian Head Retires

0:00The U.S. has now hit eight Iranian oil tankers since Saturday, targeting a key source of revenue for Tehran. Iran struck back at U.S. troops in Jordan. Our Gulf countries' rethinking where the hosting American forces makes them safer. I'm Leyla Faudel, that's Michelle Martin, and this is up first from NPR News. The UK, Canada, and France are moving to ban imports from Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Britain says settler violence there amounts to ethnic cleansing, how is Israel responding to its allies? At the hint of the Smithsonian is stepping down. Lonnie bunched the third work at the research and museum complex for nearly four decades, leading it for the past seven. His departure comes after the Trump administration, acute the Smithsonian's programming of being anti-white and too negative about American history. Say with us we'll give you news you need to start your day. This message comes from Midi Health, a virtual care platform for women in paramanopause

1:00and menopause. CEO Joanna Strober shares the mission behind working with women in midlife. It's not just about hormones, it's not just about weight loss medications. We are very much a holistic care platform and our job is to figure out whatever medications are appropriate for you and offer you those medications. Midi Health, committed to helping women in midlife with paramanopause and menopause care, accessible via telehealth visits. Add join midi.com. This message comes from the Conservation Fund, protecting at-risk land before it's lost. The forests, farmland, open spaces and places that wildlife call home. They believe conservation shouldn't be a choice between protecting nature and supporting people. It should advance both in harmony. With over 9 million acres protected across all 50 states, the Conservation Fund secures the irreplaceable lands people love. Learn more at conservationfund.org. The U.S. has struck Iranian targets again, this time bombing five Iranian oil tankers overnight.

2:04Iran struck back, lighting up the night sky in Jordan as interceptors tried to stop missiles hurtling at U.S. troops at an air base there. All this as the turmoil pushes Brent crude oil prices over $100 a barrel again today. Joining us to talk about the latest attacks and how this might affect U.S. strategy in the region is in pure international correspondent A. Bertel in Dubai. Good morning, Michelle. Could you start us off with what happened last night? U.S. Central Command says it destroyed five Iranian oil carriers in the Gulf of Elman and off of Iran's Carg Island. Now Senkham says it did give notice to crews aboard those ships to abandon them before they were bombed. It says that these attacks were in response to Iranian missile attacks on a U.S. Navy warship that were successfully evaded. Since Saturday, Michelle, we now have the U.S. striking eight Iranian crude oil tankers. And this is another bloated Iran's economic lifeline that goes beyond the aggressive sanctions that are already in place and the existing U.S. naval blockade on Iran's oil shipments. What was Iran's response?

3:06Well Iran's revolutionary guard says it targeted U.S. vessels and oil tankers as well as ten ships trying to transit through the strait of her moves with U.S. help. Now there's no confirmation on what was hit from those attacks. But Iran also attacked U.S. troops at an airbase in Jordan. Jordan says it intercepted all but two of Iran's twenty missiles last night. It says there were no deaths recorded, but Michelle made no mention of injuries from those attacks. And one more thing, Iran also released visuals yesterday of an underwater U.S. naval drone that it captured. One of Iran's official accounts on X described it as one of America's most mysterious underwater toys now in Iran's possession. And all of this just shows how Iran remains undeterred in the face of sustained U.S. military pressure. And Iran has been targeting American assets and troops in the region since the start of the war. And this brings up the bigger question, what is the U.S. strategy now in the region? Exactly. And that is unclear. And there's also little discussion around the future of the U.S. footprint in the region.

4:07In part, that's because permanently pulling back troops now could signal weakness to Iran and other adversaries like Russia and China. And U.S. bases in Gulf Arab states endured an in-burement to be a deterrence. But they've actually been used to attack Iran. And it's partly why Iran has now attacked these countries throughout the war. So Arab allies are broadening their defense ties with other countries and waiting really for the U.S. to show what its path forward is going to be. Meanwhile, you have the Pentagon under Secretary Pete Hexeth not being forthcoming about damage to U.S. bases from this war and the Trump administration asking satellite companies to censor their images over the Gulf. Still, we do know that in Bahrain, where the Navy's fifth fleet was hit by Iran, there were some 8,000 military personnel there. Now it's less than a hundred. I asked Mackenzie Eaglin, who's with the American Enterprise Institute and his co-chair of the National Commission on the Future of the Navy about this lack of transparency. It's hugely damaging. Just one for precedent-setting, because it's not how we operate in a federal republic. One, two, it's not going to help Congress grapple with, how is our military performing?

5:12How are we ahead? How are we behind? What can we do differently? What can we do better? Michelle, one indication, though, of how things are going actually came from the chief of naval operations, Darryl Coddle. He was asked last week during a live stream. When sailors would be able to go back to Bahrain to pick up their personal belongings. And his answer was, we are not going back in there anytime soon. That is, and Pair International correspondent A. Bertawi in Dubai. Thanks, Aya. Thanks, Michelle. Israel reacted with anger and defiance to yesterday's announcement that the United Kingdom would impose trade sanctions on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Britain's foreign minister called the ban necessary to stop settlement expansion and Israeli settler violence against Palestinians there. He accused what he called settler terrorists of ethnic cleansing. Canada and France joined the effort and imposed their own sanctions, intensifying international pressure on Israel from longtime allies.

6:15For more on Israeli and Palestinian reactions, we go now to Enriott's Karrikhan, who is in Tel Aviv. Karrik, good morning. Good morning, Michelle. So I understand that Israeli officials were rather indignant and retaliated quickly after the UK announcement. What did they say? Foreign minister Gideon Sarr called the UK's statements about Israel's content in the West Bank outrageous lies. He said they were morally distorted and anti-Semitic, here he is. I say to the Labour government and to every government in the world that thinks it can force Israel to act against our national and security interests. You have no chance of succeeding. Retaliation too was quick. They announced the closure of the British conflict in East Jerusalem. That office mainly deals with Palestinian affairs and they had a list ready of British representatives that are now barred and expelled from Israel. And what about the reaction from Palestinians in the Israeli occupied West Bank? The Palestinian authorities president put out a statement yesterday welcoming the sanctions.

7:17In the West Bank, we spoke with Suleiman Duwabshay, the chairman of Duma, Palestinian village. He said he wished the sanctions had been firmer. The decisions he says for us will have an impact and that means a lot for Palestinians in the West Bank. But he said he doubts Israel will make any changes because he says the government does not respect international law. His town has been hit extremely hard by settler violence. Several residents have been killed by settler since October 7th and cars and homes have been burned. The UN says there have been more than 3,000 attacks by settlers in the West Bank since October 7th, 2023. And in this year alone, Michelle, the UN says at least 79 Palestinians have been killed by settlers in Israeli troops. But apart from the political fallout that you're just telling us about, will this trading ban actually affect Israel economically? The short answer, no. Most exports from the West Bank are agricultural and Israel's total agricultural exports to

8:21the UK are very low. And that's according to Aranya Sheve. He's an economist at Tel Aviv University, but he did tell me that sanctions could be damaging if the entire European Union, Israel's overall top trading partner were to join in. If this becomes a big wide sanctions move, which is not the case right now, then it will make a difference, not what's being imposed right now. In sanctions won't take effect for months, he said. Israel is going to the polls in late October and could elect a new government, which could trigger sanctions relief. But I have to tell you that none of the leading candidates are discussing settlement expansion or the rising West Bank violence, and they especially are not discussing a two-state solution with the Palestinians. That is, and Paris Kerry Conn joining us from Tel Aviv. Kerry, thank you. You're welcome. The head of the Smithsonian Institution, Lonnie G. Bunch III, says he will retire at the

9:25end of the year. Bunch has spent nearly four decades with the Smithsonian, first as a curator, then as the head of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. He took over the top position of the Smithsonian in 2019, and said yesterday he's going to step down. It follows more than a year of criticism from President Trump and his administration about the Smithsonian who have called the institution radical and divisive. And, Paris Andrew Limbong is covering this. Good morning, Andrew. Morning, Michelle. So why is Bunch retiring now? I will see here. Him tell it. It's just time. Here's what he told MPR in an interview last night when asked why now. Because I'm old as dirt. The reality is that after 38 years, I've been able to accomplish so much. I've learned so much. I've built such great relationships. And now I want to make sure that I have time to write, to think, but really to bore my grandkids to death. And now's the moment to do it. There's a lot he's not saying there, especially when you take into account all the recent

10:25attacks President Trump and his administration have levied against the Smithsonian. But Bunch has denied any insinuation that his leaving had to do with pressures from the President. Say more about those attacks if you wish for people who haven't been following this. Yeah. And his administration have been trying to paint the Smithsonian as a radical activists. Right. In 2025, Trump issued an executive order criticizing exhibits and programs that quote, degrade shared American values. For example, the EO singled out an art exhibit about the history of sculpture and racism in America. Juppaheads at July of this year, the administration issued a long report criticizing the National Museum of American History for moving towards, quote, extreme political activism. And last month, the Department of the Interior said that the executive departments can't support the Smithsonian under the current leadership. Like I said, Bunch has denied that his retirement has anything to do with these criticisms. But his statement announcing the retirement said that he was leaving with mixed emotions. Now, Bunch started out as a curator at Aaron Space. He went to move on to American History and the National Museum of American History and

11:27Culture. But in his current role, he's in charge of all of the Smithsonian's museums, libraries, research centers, the National Zoo. Can you just say a little bit about what he's accomplished? I mean, to Pandas came to the National Zoo under his standard. That's a big deal. He got the ball rolling on two new history museums, one focused on women's history and another on the history of the American Latino. But he said that one of the big goals of his role as head of the Smithsonian was to help Americans embrace ambiguity and see America as a really complicated place. And say more about him. Yeah, well, Michelle, you've interviewed him tons of times, right? He's got this breadth of knowledge about history, right? Actually, on top of him being the first African-American to lead the Smithsonian, he was the first historian to do so. But you ran through his career for as a curator. But then in05, he became the founding director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African-American History and Culture. And this is before that museum even had a building, right? And so he spent like more than a decade thinking about that museum's collection with the physical manifestation of African-American history would look and feel like the basic nuts and bolts

12:29of constructing a building until it opened to the public in 2016. One of the most visited museums in the world. And Andrew, remember when the museum opened? The demand for tickets were so high, I think the website broke? Oh, yeah. Like for a while, it was the place to go in DC, which actually took a bunch by surprise. Here's what he told MPR a year after the museum opened. I didn't expect it to become a pilgrimage site so soon. You know, we thought we'd get 4,000 people a day. We're getting 6,7,8,000 a day. I didn't expect that. And so, you know, Michelle, I think whatever the future holds for him or for this Smithsonian, that building will be his last thing legacy. That is, and here's Andrew Limheng. Andrew, thank you. Thanks, Michelle. And that's up first for Wednesday, September 9th. I'm Michelle Martin. And I'm Layla Faudel. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Miguel Macias, Tina Criot, Claire Lombardo, Muhammad Advertisi, and Alice Wolfley. It was produced by Ziyad Butch and Nia Dumas.

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