An Assassination in Minnesota and a Growing War Between Israel and Iran

Summary

The Daily Podcast Summary

Title: An Assassination in Minnesota and a Growing War Between Israel and Iran
Host/Authors: Michael Barbaro, Rachel Abrams, Natalie Kitroeff
Release Date: June 16, 2025
Duration: Approximately 30 minutes

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1. Tragic Shootings in Minnesota: Political Violence Escalates

Overview:
The episode opens with Rachel Abrams introducing a harrowing account of political violence in Minnesota, where two lawmaker shootings over the weekend have sparked fear and tension within the community. Ernesto Londono provides an in-depth analysis of the events, the suspect’s background, and the broader implications for political discourse in the United States.

Key Events:

• Initial Incident:
  On early Saturday morning, police responded to a shooting in Champlin, a suburb of Minneapolis, where State Senator John Hoffman and his wife were shot around 2:00 AM ([02:05]). The gravity of the situation escalated when authorities proactively checked on another lawmaker’s residence, leading to a second shooting at the home of former Speaker of the House Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark ([02:24]).

• The Gunman’s Profile:
  The suspect, identified as Vance Bolter, a 57-year-old businessman, used a modified SUV resembling a police vehicle and wore a uniform with body armor to impersonate law enforcement ([03:28]). Bolter had a tumultuous personal life, marked by financial and emotional struggles, and had recently been renting a room in Minneapolis from a longtime friend, David Carlson ([04:19]).

• Evidence and Motivation:
  Bolter’s vehicle contained a target list of approximately 70 names, primarily Democrats and abortion providers, suggesting a politically motivated agenda ([07:21]). He was a staunch Trump supporter, vehemently opposed to abortion, describing it as "murder" due to his devout Christian beliefs ([08:31]).

Notable Quotes:

• David Carlson on Bolter’s Mental State:
  "I think he was this mental health." ([05:04])

• Bolter’s Informative Text Message:
  "David and Ron, I love you guys. I made some choices and you guys don't know anything about this, but I'm gonna be gone for a while. Sorry." ([05:21])

Impact on the Community: The shootings have ignited a wave of protests and counter-protests, highlighting the increasing political polarization in the U.S. Governor Tim Walls urged people to refrain from attending rallies due to the active manhunt, yet thousands defied these warnings to honor the fallen lawmakers ([10:10]).

Community Response: Audra Diaz Birch describes the protesters altering their signs to honor the lawmakers, emphasizing the necessity of courage and support for democracy amidst violence ([12:20]).

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2. Intensifying Conflict Between Israel and Iran: A New Phase of Middle Eastern Tensions

Overview:
Post-break, Farnaz Fasihi delves into the dramatic escalation of hostilities between Israel and Iran. The episode outlines the sequence of events, motivations behind the attacks, and the profound implications for regional and global stability.

Key Events:

• Israeli Strikes on Iran:
  On Friday morning, Israel launched extensive military strikes targeting Iranian nuclear facilities, resulting in significant casualties, including top military officials like Hossein Salami, the chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guard ([15:13]).

• Iran’s Retaliation:
  In retaliation, Iran fired ballistic missiles at Tel Aviv and other Israeli targets, marking the beginning of reciprocal attacks that rapidly intensified ([15:38]).

• Damage Assessment:
  The initial Israeli strikes devastated Iran's military command structure and key infrastructures, including the Natanz nuclear site, while also causing extensive civilian casualties and destruction in residential areas ([19:07], [19:49]).

• Iran’s Response Strategy:
  Faced with significant losses, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei vowed fierce retaliation. Despite initial plans for a thousand-ballistic missile strike, Iran launched approximately 100 missiles due to damaged missile bases ([21:34], [22:37]).

Notable Quotes:

• Iranian Official’s Shock:
  "We are in shock." ([19:45])

• Israeli Defense Minister’s Warning:
  "Tehran will burn if Iran continues to fire missiles towards Israel." ([16:06])

• Netanyahu’s Justification for the Strike:
  "If there's a moment to strike at the regime and weaken its defense and eradicate its advanced nuclear program, this is it." ([23:31])

Motivations Behind the Conflict: Israel claims the attacks were necessary to thwart Iran’s advancing nuclear capabilities and to capitalize on what Netanyahu described as Iran's weakened state due to internal dissent and economic sanctions ([23:31], [25:05]). However, the strikes extended beyond nuclear sites, targeting energy infrastructure to cripple Iran’s oil resources and income ([26:31]).

International Implications: The sudden escalation poses significant risks of the conflict spreading, potentially drawing in the United States and destabilizing the broader Middle East region ([27:09]). The lack of preparedness on Iran’s part, highlighted by intelligence failures and security breaches, has exacerbated the situation, leaving both nations in a precarious state of heightened hostility ([16:34], [19:07]).

Casualties and Continued Hostilities: As of Sunday night, at least 10 people in Israel were killed, bringing the total death toll to 14. Iran’s Health Ministry reported over 200 deaths since the attacks commenced ([28:03]).

Public Sentiment and Fear: The relentless attacks have instilled widespread fear among civilians in both nations, with images of destruction, chaos, and desperate attempts to flee affected areas dominating the narrative ([19:36], [20:00]).

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3. Economic Repercussions: Rising Oil Prices

Overview:
The ongoing conflict has started to affect global oil prices, with Americans expected to feel the impact through increased gas prices. Oil prices surged by approximately 1% in Asia, reaching around $75 per barrel after Israel targeted Iranian oil and gas facilities, including one of the world's largest natural gas fields and an oil refinery ([29:12]).

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4. Closing Remarks and Production Notes

The episode concludes with a brief overview of the production team, acknowledging the efforts of producers, editors, and engineers who crafted the comprehensive report. The host, Rachel Abrams, signs off by summarizing the key points and hinting at the ongoing developments in both stories.

Production Credits: Produced by Diana Wynne, Rachelle Banja, Eric Krupke, Mary Wilson. Edited by Brendan Klinkenberg with assistance from Paige Cowett. Original music by Alicia Bitoop and Dan Powell. Theme music by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsberg of Wonderly.

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Conclusion

This episode of The Daily provides a stark look into the rising tide of political violence within the United States and the volatile escalation of conflict between Israel and Iran. Through detailed reporting and poignant interviews, listeners gain a comprehensive understanding of the underlying motivations, immediate impacts, and potential future ramifications of these critical events. The integration of firsthand accounts and expert analysis ensures that the audience is well-informed about the complexities and interconnections of these pressing global and national issues.

Transcript

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[Rachel Abrams]

From the New York Times, I'm Rachel Abrams and this is the Daily During a dark and tumultuous weekend, two shootings in Minnesota left one lawmaker dead and another seriously injured. While overseas, Israel and Iran traded devastating strikes back and forth in what some fear is a new phase of violence in the Middle East. Today, my colleagues, Ernesto Londono on what we know about the violence in Minnesota and Farnaz Fasihi on what now appears to be an all out war between Israel and Iran. It's Monday, June 16th. Ernesto, thank you so much for making time for us. I'm sure it's been a very hectic and probably quite stressful few days for the people of Minnesota where you are. That's where there's been a manhunt for the person who was alleged to have shot two lawmakers and was just taken into custody last night. Authorities still haven't released many details about him or the details surrounding his arrest. I'd like you to take us to the beginning of the story and tell us what actually happened in Minnesota over the weekend.

[Ernesto Londono]

Yeah. In the early hours of Saturday, the police got a call about a shooting at a house in a suburb of Minneapolis, Champlin. And when they got there, they, they soon realized that a state senator, John Hoffman, and his wife had been shot at approximately 2 in the morning.

[Rachel Abrams]

Wow.

[Ernesto Londono]

So police are very alarmed by this and as a proactive measure, they decide to go check on the residence of another lawmaker, the former speaker of the House, Melissa Hortman, who lived not far away. And that is where police say they ran into the shooter, a gunman, as he was about to enter the house. So there was an exchange of gunfire with police. The gunman manages to get into the home and he guns down the lawmaker, Mrs. Hortman and her husband Mark in.

[Rachel Abrams]

Their residence while the police are outside.

[Ernesto Londono]

Yes, and unfortunately, Representative Portman and her husband Mark died, but the senator made it out alive and he and his wife are in a hospital recovering.

[Rachel Abrams]

Wow.

[Ernesto Londono]

But in the chaos that followed the second shooting, the gunman was able to escape.

[Rachel Abrams]

And what do we know about the gunman at this point.

[Ernesto Londono]

So we know that he had an suv, a vehicle that was outfitted to look exactly like a police vehicle. We also know that he apparently was wearing a uniform and body armor that would lead a bystander to think he was actually a law enforcement official.

[Rachel Abrams]

So he was pretending to be a cop basically, is what the thinking was.

[Ernesto Londono]

That is correct. And then hours later, law enforcement officials identified the suspect as vance bolter, a 57 year old man.

[Rachel Abrams]

And what have we been able to find out about this man's background?

[Ernesto Londono]

We know he was a businessman with a career that had a number of acts recently. He had been in the process of establishing a private security company, but he was apparently also working for a funeral home and his job there was to collect bodies from the morgue.

[Rachel Abrams]

Wow.

[Ernesto Londono]

We know he had a primary residence about an hour away from the Minneapolis area where he lived with his wife and his children. But more recently, he had been renting a room in a house in Minneapolis alongside a longtime friend, David Carlson, a man who I interviewed yesterday, who described himself as this guy's best friend dating back to fourth grade.

[David Carlson]

Friend I knew for 50 years.

[Ernesto Londono]

And you knew him for 50 years?

[David Carlson]

Yeah, fourth grade.

[Rachel Abrams]

What did the man say to you?

[Ernesto Londono]

Well, Carlson told me that his friend had been in somewhat of a downward spiral.

[David Carlson]

I can't believe this is all. It all happened. I think he was this mental health.

[Ernesto Londono]

He had been struggling financially and he had been struggling emotionally. When was the last time you saw him?

[David Carlson]

Yeah, yesterday.

[Ernesto Londono]

How did he see him at the time?

[David Carlson]

Well, you know, he paid for four months of rent in advance.

[Ernesto Londono]

He said that, you know, quite out of character. He had given him four months worth of rent on Friday night. And he said that on Friday night he went to bed early and said he just needed to get some rest. However, on Saturday morning around 6am Carlson said he got a text message from this guy that really alarmed him.

[David Carlson]

Yeah, I'm just gonna read it so you guys can kind of understand what he was thinking. David and Ron, I love you guys. I made some choices and you guys don't know anything about this, but I'm gonna be gone for a while. Sorry.

[Ernesto Londono]

Take your time.

[Audra Diaz Birch]

Maybe.

[Ernesto Londono]

Dad. Shortly, the text message said in effect that he may not be alive for long.

[David Carlson]

I don't want to say anything more and implicate you in any way because you can. You guys don't know anything about this.

[Rachel Abrams]

Wow, that must have been very alarming to receive.

[Ernesto Londono]

Yeah, he was terrified. He told me that he called the police instantly. After getting this text message, even though he didn't quite know what it meant. And within hours, the police arrived with a SWAT team, and they knocked the door open. And clearly they were wondering if this is where the gunman had come to hide.

[Rachel Abrams]

After the shootings, did David Carlson say anything about why Bolter was renting a room in this place when he clearly had a house somewhere else with his family?

[Ernesto Londono]

Yeah, he told me it was simply a matter of convenience, because working for the funeral home, he oftentimes had to be available on short notice, oftentimes very late at night. So it's just easier to rent a small room in this house that was shared among a handful of adults.

[Rachel Abrams]

Ernesto, I know that the investigation is still ongoing, but what can you tell us about Bolter's motivation?

[Ernesto Londono]

Law enforcement officials said that in his vehicle, which he left behind at the second shooting, they found several documents. They were described as a target list that included some 70 names. These names were a combination of elected officials as well as individuals affiliated with abortion in some way, shape, or form. This included abortion providers. For instance, one law enforcement official called this a manifesto. But so far, we haven't really been given a glimpse into his ideology. We haven't really been provided with a clear rationale of what he sought to accomplish with these shootings.

[Rachel Abrams]

I hear you that the police have not released the manifesto. They haven't given a detailed report about what they believe Bolter's motivations to be. But his targets do, from what we know so far, seem to be mostly Democrats and abortion providers. So it sounds like there's a decent chance that there was some kind of political motivation here. Right. Do we know anything about Bolter's politics? What do we know?

[Ernesto Londono]

Yeah, well, the roomy told me that he voted for President Trump last year and described him as a very strong Trump supporter on the question of abortion. He said that his friend was adamantly opposed to abortion, that as a devout Christian, he considered abortion murder. One thing we know is he had been appointed by a previous governor to a state board that includes dozens of local business people. And one curious thing about this board is that one of the members was Senator John Hoffman, one of his targets. So they may have crossed paths, but this board was described to me as, you know, a collection of people that advise state officials on different issues affecting the economy and the workforce. And it's not entirely clear to me just how closely he would have overlapped or worked with Senator Hoffman.

[Rachel Abrams]

Right. We don't actually know whether they interacted, whether they got along. We Just know that they were both on this board together. That's right, Ernesto. It's hard to take these shootings in isolation, just given what else has happened in the country over the weekend. We see in Minnesota this possibly politically motivated attack against Democrats, while across the country there are hundreds of thousands of people marching in this anti Trump protest on the day that the president is hosting a military parade in Washington, D.C. and I just wonder whether you feel like there is any connection here between the shootings in Minnesota and what we are seeing around the country.

[Ernesto Londono]

We don't have any hard evidence that the shooter wanted to time this alongside the military parade or the protests, but we do know that the protests were on his mind because the authorities said on Saturday that they found papers in his vehicle that made a reference to no Kings, which was the theme of many of the protests in the country. And that led Governor Tim Walls to urge people not to go out to protest because at the time there was an active manhunt and many elected officials and people who were on this target list were worried about whether they were next.

[Rachel Abrams]

It also feels hard to ignore the fact that these shootings seem to be the latest in a string of political violence in this country.

[Ernesto Londono]

Absolutely. I mean, we all remember that there were two assassination attempts targeting President Trump during the campaign. The governor of Pennsylv was the target of arson in his home while he was sleeping. There was the attack on former Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband in his residence. So, unfortunately, this has become incredibly common in our political era. But this incident stands apart in that the gunman was able to execute an influential member of the state legislature. Now, on Saturday, while Minnesotans were absorbing this disturbing and shocking news and authorities were scrambling to find the whereabouts of the gunman, the governor told people, please don't go to the rallies. Today is too dangerous a day to be out protesting. I went to the Capitol just to see how many people would turn out and ignore that advice. Hi, everybody. And to my astonishment, there were thousands of people there.

[Audra Diaz Birch]

I just wanted to check in real.

[Ernesto Londono]

Quick and let you know that we.

[Farnaz Fasihi]

Are still holding this rally today.

[Ernesto Londono]

Many had changed the signs that they had initially made to turn out at this protest and the news signs were honoring these lawmakers and saying, you know, they had the courage to do the difficult work of being a politician in this era. Tell me why it felt important to come here despite the violence this morning.

[Audra Diaz Birch]

I felt it was more important to come because of the violence this morning.

[Ernesto Londono]

And we need to show courage on a day like today. By standing outside, by standing firm in support of democracy.

[Rachel Abrams]

Ernesto, thank you so much.

[Ernesto Londono]

Thank you, Rachel.

[Rachel Abrams]

After the break, I talked to Farnaz Farsihi about the war between Israel and Iran. We'll be right back.

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[Farnaz Fasihi]

My name is Audra Diaz Birch, and I am a national correspondent covering race and identity for the New York Times. Race coverage is complicated. It can be joyous and affirming. It can be uncomfortable, but I feel like it's still absolutely necessary. Race and identity are not just understanding who you are, but who the person in front of you is and wanting to understand more about them. We're trying to wrestle down these really hard subjects and maybe not answering the question, but asking the right questions and listening, listening, listening a lot. The Times is dedicated to ambitious and deeply reported coverage of race and identity, and they're willing to back it up with resources. If you are curious about the world in which we live, and if you're interested in who you are, where you come from, and how you relate to others, I would encourage you to subscribe to the New York Times.

[Rachel Abrams]

So Farnaz, we are coming to you today because you cover Iran for the Times. And late last week, we saw a massive attack by Israel on Iran. Can you walk us through what specifically has been happening?

[Audra Diaz Birch]

So early hours of Friday morning, Israel launched a massive military strike, an attack on Iranian targets.

[Rachel Abrams]

The magnitude of these attacks are on a completely different scale to what we.

[Audra Diaz Birch]

Saw, killing dozens of top military officials and scientists along with civilians.

[Rachel Abrams]

Among the targets, the chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, Hossein Salami, has been killed. According to Iran, Israel says they targeted Iran's nuclear program, claiming it was their very survival that was at stake.

[Audra Diaz Birch]

In response, within several hours overnight, Iran's.

[Ernesto Londono]

Retaliation missiles raining down on Tel Aviv.

[Audra Diaz Birch]

Iran launched a ballistic missile attack on Israel. All across the country, people are listening to the sound of Israel and Iran at war. And this was the start of what is now Israel and Iran exchanging attacks. And with each wave, those attacks are getting more intense. The casualties are increasing. It's escalated extremely quickly.

[Ernesto Londono]

Israel's Defense minister is warning that Tehran will burn if Iran continues to fire missiles towards Israel.

[Rachel Abrams]

The new waves of attacks between Israel and Iran, the deaths and destruction mounting on both sides. And today, scheduled negotiations over Iran's nuclear program, also a casualty.

[Audra Diaz Birch]

And what was really striking was how unprepared Iran had been during the first wave of these attacks on Friday.

[Rachel Abrams]

What do you mean by the fact that Iran was so unprepared? What have you found in your reporting about why they were so caught off guard?

[Audra Diaz Birch]

Well, you know, Rachel, they had thought and prepared for a potential Israeli attack on their nuclear facilities because this chatter had been going on that if nuclear negotiations with President Trump fail, Israel might attack. But Iran thought that Israel would not attack as long as these negotiations were ongoing with Washington. And Iranian officials. And American officials were scheduled to meet in Oman for a sixth round of nuclear talks on Sunday. And so on Thursday, reports emerged that Israel was planning an imminent strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. And then the United States was pulling out some of its non essential staff from its embassies in the Middle East. And even then, Iranian officials I was speaking to were being very dismissive and saying these are propaganda tactics and pressure diplomacy to get Iran to make concessions when it meets the United States the following Sunday for nuclear talks. And then several hours later, the strikes arrived.

[Rachel Abrams]

And obviously the assumption that the Israelis would not attack turned out to be a very big miscalculation.

[Audra Diaz Birch]

It was a very strategic mistake, Rachel. They ignored some of their own precautionary practices. You know, military commanders were not in bunkers. They were sleeping in their own homes when they were attacked. And there was a directive for senior commanders not to gather in one place, not to congregate in one place. And that was ignored. And one of the strikes that took out, the commander in chief of the Revolutionary Guards Aerospace, he was holding a meeting with some of his senior team members and that meeting was struck. So Iranian officials were really shocked by not just the scope of the attacks, but also the security breach and the intelligence breach, because this attack was multi pro. Their intelligence failed to pick up that Israeli attacks were coming at them. They also missed Israeli operatives entering Iran smuggling missile parts and drone parts, where on the night of the attack, there were airstrikes. But there were also attacks being launched from inside Iran at military bases and at various sites with the operatives inside the country.

[Rachel Abrams]

Wow.

[Audra Diaz Birch]

So in addition to feeling that they were caught off guard, they're also reckoning with, you know, their intelligence and security falling short. I saw some text Messages from government officials that were shared with me asking, where is our air defense? How can Israel just come and attack whatever it wants, kill whoever it wants, and we're not able to defend ourselves?

[Rachel Abrams]

Wow. So they were really, really caught off guard and expressing that to each other.

[Audra Diaz Birch]

Exactly. The word that I heard the day after when I reached out to some of the officials I know was, we are in shock.

[Rachel Abrams]

How badly damaged is Iran by all of this?

[Audra Diaz Birch]

There's the damage on the regime and the military command. It killed Iran's top chain of command, at least six senior military commanders, including the commander in chief of the armed forces and the commander in chief of the Revolutionary Guards. It also struck some of Iran's air defense in not just the capital, Tehran, but in multiple other key cities. And it badly damaged the Natanz nuclear site, at least the part that is above ground, although our reporting suggests that Iran's nuclear abilities remain intact. But there's also extensive damage to civilian areas. Right. Israel says that it's targeting commanders and nuclear scientists, but they're striking their homes and their residential buildings and some of these office buildings that belong to, say, Ministry of Oil. And Iranians are terrified, Rachel. They've never seen a war like this. All night, they're hearing massive sounds of explosions and air defense, and some of the bombs and missiles are landing on apartment buildings in densely populated residential areas. And we're seeing a lot of destruction on streets, cars burning, you know, apartment buildings collapsing. So there's a real sense of fear. There are very long lines at gas stations and people trying to flee the city in chaos. So it's having a real effect on ordinary people's lives.

[Rachel Abrams]

So given how much damage was just dealt to Iran, how is the Iranian government thinking about how it would respond to the attacks?

[Audra Diaz Birch]

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, immediately pledged revenge and fierce retaliation on Israel. He held a meeting with the National Security Council. And in that meeting, sources told me that there was a debate about the risks involved for Iran going to war with Israel. Mr. Khamenei, if he didn't respond to this massive attack on Iran's sovereignty or on his regime and senior command chain, he would be seen as weak, and it would be interpreted as defeat and surrender. And if he did go to war and attacked, it would inevitably invite more attacks from Israel. And Iran was initially planning to strike Israel with a thousand ballistic missiles in the first round of attack, but a lot of its missile bases were damaged. So we ultimately saw that Iran launched about 100 ballistic missiles at Israel.

[Rachel Abrams]

And obviously, Iran's strikes on Israel have only continued through the weekend. What do we know about the damage that those strikes have caused within Israel?

[Audra Diaz Birch]

Iran's attack has caused damages in Israel. Some of those ballistic missiles have landed in the middle of residential neighborhoods. They've struck apartment buildings and a Defense Ministry building. There's been scenes of sort of carnage and chaos and civilians dead and injured in Israel. But the extent of the damages to Israel's military and Israel's command and government is not the same as the extent of damages to Iran's government, because Iran just doesn't have the same air defense capabilities as Israel.

[Rachel Abrams]

They don't have the Iron Dome, for instance.

[Audra Diaz Birch]

They don't have the Iron Dome. Iran is really relying for both offense and defense on ballistic missiles. Missiles, really.

[Rachel Abrams]

I want to go back to Israel for a moment. What was Israel's stated reason for this attack?

[Audra Diaz Birch]

To begin with, Israel said that Iran was advancing its nuclear program, that it didn't believe that it was going to reach a deal with the United States where it would give up enriching uranium or closing down its nuclear program. And more importantly, Mr. Netanyahu had been saying for many months that Iran is weaker than it has ever been. And if there's a moment to strike at the regime and weaken its defense and eradicate its advanced nuclear program, this is it. Because its proxy militant groups in the region have been decimated or really weakened. The regime is struggling financially at home because of the sanctions. There's dissent inside the country with a lot of people angry at the government. So Iran was having a lot of domestic challenges. And Mr. Netanyahu had said that its nuclear program was advancing dangerously. But we know that Iran was very seriously engaging with the United States to reach a diplomatic deal for the nuclear program. And there was a chance that there would have been a breakthrough if they had continued. We know that Iran has advanced its nuclear program. The UN's atomic agency, the IAEA, has said in its reports that Iran has enough enriched uranium fuel for making 10 bombs if it chose to weaponize its program. But at the same time, the IAEA has said that we haven't seen any evidence that Iran has made that decision or it was secretly trying to weaponize. And even if Iran made that decision, it would take about a year for them to actually be able to build nuclear warheads and a bomb.

[Rachel Abrams]

But as you said earlier, there had been nuclear talks planned between the US and Iran for Sunday. What did the US actually know about Israel's plans to attack Iran ahead of those talks.

[Audra Diaz Birch]

So President Trump has said that Mr. Netanyahu informed him that Israel planned to strike Iran, but that the US Was not involved in those strikes and had not taken part in the attacks. The Iranians have made most of their pledges of retaliation against Israel. But Iranian officials have also said that even though the US Claims it wasn't involved in the attack, they are complicit because the United States arms Israel. It is its number one backer in the world. And after the attacks, it has stood by Israel and supported them.

[Rachel Abrams]

Farnaz, clearly we know what Netanyahu has said about the stated reasons for these attacks. But we also know from your description that the attacks so far have gone beyond just hitting nuclear facilities. And so I'm just wondering, based on the way the attack has unfolded, if it could be about issues just beyond Iran's nuclear capabilities.

[Audra Diaz Birch]

Israel has significantly escalated the scope of its targets since Saturday by attacking energy infrastructure. And to ordinary Iranians and the Iranian government, this suggests that part of the motivation maybe for this war is to make Iran a weak state, is to create chaos and to really cripple the government's ability to access oil resources and income. And that could really have an effect on people's lives.

[Rachel Abrams]

What are the concerns right now inside of Iran about how this is likely to progress?

[Audra Diaz Birch]

I think the scariest thing for Iranians is that right now nobody knows where this is going, how long this war is going to last, what the scope is going to be. And I think the bigger question for the region and internationally is the very real risk that this war could spread, that the United States could get involved. So there's a real fear that this war will be quite catastrophic.

[Rachel Abrams]

Farnaz, thank you so much for your time.

[Audra Diaz Birch]

Thank you for having me, Rachel.

[Rachel Abrams]

As of Sunday night, Iranian strikes killed at least 10 people in Israel, according to an Israeli rescue service, bringing the total death toll to 14. And the country's main airport and airspace remained closed in Iran. The Health Ministry reported that more than 200 people have been killed since the attacks began on Friday. We'll be right back.

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[Rachel Abrams]

The New York Times app has all.

[Farnaz Fasihi]

This stuff that you may not have seen.

[Audra Diaz Birch]

The way the tabs are at the top with all of the different sections.

[Ernesto Londono]

I can immediately navigate to something that matches what I'm feeling.

[Farnaz Fasihi]

I go to games always doing the.

[Ernesto Londono]

Mini, doing the wordle.

[Audra Diaz Birch]

I loved how much content it exposed me to things that I never would have thought to turn to a news.

[Ernesto Londono]

App for this app is essential. The New York Times app All of.

[Audra Diaz Birch]

The times all in one place. Download it [e-mail] app.

[Rachel Abrams]

Here'S what else you need to know Today, Americans are likely to start feeling the impact of the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran as more expensive oil causes prices at the gas pump to rise. Global oil prices rose about 1% in Asia on Monday, hovering at about $75 a barrel after Israel struck several Iranian oil and gas facilities over the weekend. Those targets included one of the world's largest natural gas fields and an oil refinery. Today's episode was produced by Diana Wynne, Rachelle Banja, Eric Krupke and Mary Wilson. It was edited by Brendan Klinkenberg with help from Paige Cowett, contains original music by Alicia Bitoop and Dan Powell, and was engineered by Chris Wood. Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsberg of Wonderly. That's it for the Daily I Rachel Abrams. See you tomorrow.