BBCPERSIAN — broadcast
20260806 143000 UTC
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[00:00:23] News headlines:
[00:00:26] Continuation of negotiations between Iran and Oman over the Strait of Hormuz.
[00:00:29] Pakistan hopes that if an
[00:00:32] agreement is reached, negotiations between Tehran and Washington will also resume.
[00:00:36] Pezeshkian criticizes fueling internal disputes in
[00:00:40] Iran. He says the new leader
[00:00:43] has accepted the expert opinion of the Supreme National Security Council.
[00:00:46] Execution of at least 71
[00:00:49] people in Iran in July. According to the Iran
[00:00:53] Human Rights Organization, hundreds of other protest defendants
[00:00:56] are still at risk of death. Increased pressure on
[00:01:02] Infantino to resign. The FIFA president apologized, but
[00:01:05] did not accept requests for resignation. Hello and welcome to this
[00:01:29] section of the news from BBC Persian Television.
[00:01:32] I am Baran Abbasi. Pakistan says it
[00:01:35] hopes that an agreement between Iran and Oman
[00:01:38] regarding the Strait of Hormuz and the resumption of negotiations between Washington
[00:01:42] and Tehran will soon be reached. Reuters news agency has reported
[00:01:46] that the proposed agreement between Iran and Oman will allow Tehran to
[00:01:50] control the entry of ships into the Persian Gulf.
[00:01:53] Iran has reported significant progress in these talks
[00:01:56] and says that the route for ships will pass through Iranian waters.
[00:02:00] Previously, US officials had repeatedly emphasized
[00:02:04] that they would not agree to Iran's control over
[00:02:07] this important energy transit route. Mohammad Amini
[00:02:11] reports. The wait for the final
[00:02:14] outcome of negotiations between Iran and Oman over the transit of
[00:02:18] vessels through the Strait of Hormuz continues.
[00:02:21] Tehran has described these negotiations as positive and forward-moving.
[00:02:25] Some reports have spoken of an imminent
[00:02:28] agreement. Reuters, quoting sources in Iran
[00:02:32] and the region, said that if this agreement is finalized, Iran will maintain
[00:02:36] a degree of control over the entry of ships into the Persian Gulf, which is considered a significant
[00:02:39] concession. US officials have not yet reacted
[00:02:43] to these reports. Donald Trump said that an agreement to
[00:02:47] reopen the Strait of Hormuz is close, but US
[00:02:50] officials had previously repeatedly emphasized that they would
[00:02:53] not agree to Iran's dominance over this important energy transit route.
[00:02:57] For now, the shootings have decreased, even from
[00:03:00] the Houthi rebels in Yemen, who by their entry into the scene in the Strait
[00:03:04] of Bab al-Mandab and the announcement of a naval blockade against
[00:03:07] Saudi Arabia, had increased pressure on the energy market.
[00:03:10] Diplomatic movements have also intensified.
[00:03:13] The Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistani Army are now in
[00:03:17] Saudi Arabia for a two-day
[00:03:20] visit.
[00:03:23] In Jordan, foreign ministers of Arab countries gathered yesterday.
[00:03:27] The Egyptian foreign minister at this meeting said that talks are underway
[00:03:30] to shape the future order of the region and emphasized
[00:03:33] that the war with Iran has inflicted heavy losses on the region.
[00:03:37] He said that the countries of the region do not want to be
[00:03:41] excluded from the negotiation process and the final agreement,
[00:03:45] like the JCPOA negotiations in 2015.
[00:03:48] For now,
[00:03:51] however, the negotiation process between Iran and the US in the Strait of Hormuz
[00:03:55] is stalled. JD Vance, Deputy Donald Trump, in an interview with
[00:03:59] Fox News, criticized and highlighted the difficulties of the path.
[00:04:03] Iranians
[00:04:05] are incredibly difficult people to negotiate with. Their
[00:04:09] government structure is also divided. Some want to end the war,
[00:04:13] and others insist on continuing the war. Our
[00:04:16] job is to overcome these circumstances and get the
[00:04:20] best result for the American people and the President of the United States.
[00:04:24] I believe we will eventually reach such
[00:04:27] a point. But the path to reaching it
[00:04:39] is where the dispute is over the impact of reports that revealed
[00:04:42] a shortage of ammunition and long-range missiles in the US for confronting
[00:04:46] Iran. US President Donald Trump
[00:04:49] said on Thursday that the country has vast stockpiles of ammunition
[00:04:53] and threatened that those who publish information to the contrary
[00:04:57] will face severe punishment.
[00:05:00] The Washington Post reported that Mr. Trump last
[00:05:04] Friday, during a cabinet meeting at the presidential
[00:05:07] residence at Camp David, asked Defense Secretary Pit Hexed
[00:05:10] about the shortage.
[00:05:42] is not divided and said that some officials of
[00:05:46] the Islamic Republic are seeking an agreement, while some crazy
[00:05:49] ones want to continue the war. But overall,
[00:05:53] he believed that this path should move
[00:05:57] towards a final agreement, even if it
[00:06:00] will not happen quickly. Mr. Trump, on the other hand, has said that
[00:06:04] the negotiations and talks are going very well
[00:06:07] and he hopes that they will
[00:06:10] reach a conclusion. From Mr. Trump, we have seen so
[00:06:13] many 180-degree turns that this is neither surprising
[00:06:17] nor, when compared to two days ago when he threatened a large-scale
[00:06:21] attack, it would greatly
[00:06:24] surprise
[00:06:26] the audience. But in this speech, Mr.
[00:06:30] Trump also talked about not wanting more
[00:06:34] bloodshed in this war.
[00:06:37] He preferred an agreement.
[00:06:40] And this narrative that Mr. Trump has repeatedly
[00:06:44] expressed in recent days is a narrative that he really
[00:06:48] wants to establish, and that is that we wanted
[00:06:51] to launch a very large attack, they got scared and called
[00:06:54] us, the Iranian side pleaded with us not to attack and to
[00:06:57] talk, and now we are talking. Therefore,
[00:07:01] validating this strategy that he
[00:07:05] believes has been effective in public opinion
[00:07:08] is important to him. The realities
[00:07:11] of the matter do not specifically
[00:07:14] confirm that such a conversation and such a request
[00:07:17] was even raised by the Iranians. On the other hand,
[00:07:21] various media reports in recent days have reported
[00:07:25] that US missile stockpiles have
[00:07:28] decreased, and the Washington Post also
[00:07:31] reported on this and said that Mr. Trump questioned his
[00:07:35] Secretary of War about this. What makes
[00:07:37] the Washington Post report different and received more attention
[00:07:41] is that unlike other reports
[00:07:44] about the shortage of these ammunition and defense
[00:07:48] systems and high-precision missiles
[00:07:51] we had, it now shows that
[00:07:54] in the White House itself and the President personally, there is
[00:07:58] a kind of anger about this situation, and the Secretary
[00:08:01] of Defense has been questioned about what happened,
[00:08:04] because you told me that this issue has been resolved,
[00:08:07] and then the Secretary of Defense
[00:08:11] tried to blame his deputy, according to the Washington Post report.
[00:08:15] All of this indicates that not
[00:08:18] only officials of the Department of Defense and commanders
[00:08:22] of the US military have expressed concern
[00:08:25] in recent weeks and months about this issue,
[00:08:28] but also at the level of the President and the Secretary
[00:08:32] of Defense, it is not clear whether they have an accurate
[00:08:35] picture of what the US military's arsenals are,
[00:08:39] because it seems that Mr. Trump was surprised by this report
[00:08:43] that this issue has not been resolved, and Mr. Hexed, the Secretary of Defense,
[00:08:46] had promised that it would be resolved, while in practice,
[00:08:50] all reports show that the reproduction and replacement
[00:08:54] of these munitions is much more time-consuming
[00:08:57] than imagined and requires more time,
[00:09:01] and it is not the case that they can quickly replace many
[00:09:04] of these missiles and defense systems. And how much does this show the internal
[00:09:08] differences within
[00:09:11] Mr. Trump's cabinet? Now,
[00:09:14] regardless of how much disagreement there is among ministers, which we
[00:09:18] know there are disagreements regarding Iran between Mr. Vance and others,
[00:09:21] especially with the Secretary of Defense, but what is clear is that within
[00:09:25] the body of the US Department of Defense,
[00:09:28] there are those who are strongly opposed to this war, concerned about its
[00:09:32] continuation and its impact on the US military's readiness, and therefore
[00:09:36] they are leaking this information to the media,
[00:09:39] and Mr. Trump is clearly very angry that
[00:09:43] this information is leaking, and has threatened that those who are giving out this information will go to prison
[00:09:47] and will be dealt with severely. Therefore, when this news
[00:09:51] leaks, it usually indicates internal discontent.
[00:09:54] Thank you, my colleague Bahman Karouas from New York is with
[00:09:57] us.
[00:09:59] And a piece of news that has just reached us: a source in the Kuwaiti
[00:10:03] Ministry of Education told Agence France-Presse
[00:10:06] that Kuwaiti officials have issued an order to close a local Iranian
[00:10:09] school. An Iranian school,
[00:10:13] which is the only Iranian school in Kuwait. This action comes
[00:10:17] after Kuwait, during the Iran-US war, including
[00:10:20] during the new round of
[00:10:23] clashes, was repeatedly targeted by Iranian
[00:10:27] attacks. This report says that Kuwait
[00:10:31] has not provided a specific reason for closing this Iranian
[00:10:34] school, but said that similar measures
[00:10:38] were also taken at the start of the war in the United Arab Emirates against
[00:10:41] schools and a hospital that was
[00:10:45] connected to Iran. Countries on the Persian Gulf
[00:10:48] have been repeatedly targeted during this conflict,
[00:10:52] including Kuwait. They have strongly
[00:10:55] condemned Iranian attacks, describing them as despicable.
[00:10:59] And now we are seeing that a source in the Kuwaiti
[00:11:03] Ministry of Education told Agence France-Presse that an Iranian school in Kuwait
[00:11:06] has been closed. And in other news related to
[00:11:10] Iran, Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian said that communication with Mojtaba Khamenei
[00:11:14] is currently very difficult. In a recorded speech
[00:11:18] on the occasion of his second anniversary as president, he also
[00:11:21] reacted to the message attributed to the new leader of the Islamic
[00:11:25] Republic regarding the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the United States.
[00:11:29] Mr. Pezeshkian said that the current leader of the government had said
[00:11:32] that if three-quarters of the members of the Supreme National Security Council
[00:11:36] agreed with it, he would accept their opinion.
[00:11:39] Before this message, a message attributed to Mojtaba Khamenei
[00:11:43] was published, in which it was stated that he had a different
[00:11:45] opinion in principle, but due to accepting the responsibility of the president
[00:11:49] and the Supreme National Security Council, he agreed with this decision.
[00:11:53] Groups from the hardline and conservative factions considered this a sign
[00:11:57] of the new leader's opposition to negotiations with the United States.
[00:12:00] The possibility of communicating with him is very difficult now,
[00:12:04] but in any case, his presence
[00:12:07] is a very high
[00:12:10] strong point for us to be able to continue the process. In these same events that they had started,
[00:12:14] between the message that he had given,
[00:12:18] that
[00:12:20] in principle, for example, I was not in favor, but now
[00:12:25] I allow this to happen, well,
[00:12:28] some of these people who were seeking discord
[00:12:31] and were trying to revive that rift again
[00:12:35] and then wanted to achieve their intentions
[00:12:38] in their party activities, they kept magnifying
[00:12:42] it, and what
[00:12:45] he had said was completely correct. He had
[00:12:49] a view in the summary that was done in that council,
[00:12:53] these were presented to him.
[00:12:56] And he said if it gets three-quarters of the votes, I will
[00:13:00] accept it. Three-quarters, instead of three-quarters,
[00:13:04] it got twelve-thirteenths of the votes, and he accepted it.
[00:13:08] Hossein Razzaq, a political activist from
[00:13:11] Germany, is with us. Mr. Razzaq, what kind of picture
[00:13:14] do Mr. Pezeshkian's statements give you about
[00:13:18] the relationship with the leader of the Islamic Republic and the differences
[00:13:22] within the structure of the Islamic Republic?
[00:13:25] You see, we are in a state of turmoil
[00:13:29] in the Islamic Republic, which on the one hand
[00:13:33] is an internal turmoil,
[00:13:36] the results of which are also visible externally. We see that their
[00:13:40] disagreements are such that
[00:13:43] a person like Massoud Pezeshkian, who is the president, comes and
[00:13:47] says all the unspoken words on television.
[00:13:50] On the other hand, this turmoil is also working in favor
[00:13:53] of the Islamic Republic. And since it is in an asymmetric
[00:13:56] war with the United States, it also tries to use
[00:14:00] this turmoil to confuse its enemy. But the issue is that after
[00:14:03] Mr. Trump came to power in the new era, the Islamic Republic entered
[00:14:07] a period of suspension and indecision. Mr. Khamenei himself once
[00:14:11] said, "Neither war nor negotiation." A few months later, he said that
[00:14:14] the era of "neither war nor peace" must end, and he went for negotiations,
[00:14:18] and then, of course, there was a war. This suspension and indecision
[00:14:22] continued in the presence of a leader who was the ultimate
[00:14:26] authority for that country, that government, until we reached
[00:14:29] the period of power transfer, and his son came, a son who
[00:14:33] is in hiding, no one has seen him. There is only one account from Pezeshkian
[00:14:37] that I went and saw him, and then contradictory accounts emerged.
[00:14:41] But that ultimate authority who had ruled for 37 years and had a charisma that
[00:14:45] could have authority and dominance over the supporters
[00:14:48] and loyalists of the government no longer
[00:14:51] exists. It is here that Mojtaba Khamenei's "in principle"
[00:14:55] statements attributed to Mojtaba Khamenei create a dichotomy
[00:14:58] in negotiation and war, where some hardliners who are
[00:15:02] against the government, against the Security Council, or
[00:15:06] who have not entered the government and have not gained a share of power,
[00:15:10] can come forward and take the lead.
[00:15:14] But again, this dichotomy, this polarization,
[00:15:17] may have caused that side to benefit the Islamic Republic and also confuse
[00:15:21] the United States so that it doesn't know who to deal with in the Islamic Republic,
[00:15:25] who it should really negotiate with, and who will declare a ceasefire
[00:15:28] and accept the agreement. Will Shoaam accept it,
[00:15:32] who says twelve-thirteenths voted, or will Mojtaba Khamenei again
[00:15:36] say that in principle,
[00:15:45] it continues, and
[00:15:49] it's not clear where it will lead. It is said that
[00:15:52] these hardliners who are against dialogue with
[00:15:55] the United States are in the minority. But even
[00:15:58] if that is the case, how much influence do they have on dollar
[00:16:02] decisions and how much influence do they have on Mojtaba
[00:16:06] Khamenei? You see, there is a narrative
[00:16:09] from the 60s when Mr. Hashemi,
[00:16:12] when he went to Friday prayers and was the speaker of the parliament,
[00:16:16] he would incite the Hezbollah faction to go and, for example,
[00:16:20] as Ansar Hezbollah or as the loyalist
[00:16:23] factions of the government, they would punish
[00:16:27] some of their opponents. When they complained to Mr. Hashemi,
[00:16:31] Mr. Hashemi would say, "I am also against it, but if I say anything
[00:16:35] to them, the moment I need supporters,
[00:16:49] he may not agree with their opinion, but he knows that the moment he gets into trouble,
[00:16:53] these are the thugs who come and help him, suppress the people,
[00:16:56] remove opponents, and are loyal to the Islamic
[00:17:00] Republic until the end. That's why he doesn't know
[00:17:03] what to do. If Ali Khamenei
[00:17:06] were the ultimate authority,
[00:17:47] the Islamic Republic cannot completely sideline them. Mr.
[00:17:51] Ghalibaf, for example, was considered a person
[00:17:54] close to Mojtaba Khamenei and desired
[00:17:57] his leadership, according to reports. Has this relationship changed
[00:18:01] now, in your opinion, with Mojtaba Khamenei?
[00:18:04] No, absolutely.
[00:18:13] And the affairs of the country are still in his hands. He is the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, the Speaker of Parliament,
[00:18:17] and of course, he is the head of the negotiating team.
[00:18:20] That connection definitely exists. Now, whether it's really Mojtaba or
[00:18:24] not, the reality is that these doubts are constantly increasing.
[00:18:27] But in any case, he is currently,
[00:18:31] ostensibly, the closest person to Mojtaba, a trusted
[00:18:35] confidant of Mojtaba. But the reality
[00:18:38] is that if both Mojtaba and his team and President Pezeshkian and his team
[00:18:42] had counted on Ghalibaf to come forward and manage
[00:18:46] the situation, or if on this side, the West,
[00:18:49] Trump himself and his administration, had also counted on Ghalibaf,
[00:18:53] Ghalibaf showed that he doesn't have the ability to
[00:18:57] sign something and then be pelted with stones in the Imam Reza shrine,
[00:19:00] with slogans against him. And when he sees these slogans,
[00:19:04] he backs down and steps aside, because he doesn't have the ability
[00:19:14] transition seeker from Germany.
[00:19:17] The Iran Human Rights Organization, in a report, announced the execution
[00:19:20] of at least 71 people in Iran last
[00:19:23] month. The report states that 36 people were executed
[00:19:27] for murder, 26 people for drug-related crimes,
[00:19:31] 8 people for security offenses, and one person for rape.
[00:19:35] Six of those executed this month were protest
[00:19:38] defendants. This organization has recorded the execution of
[00:19:42] at least 44 people in the first seven
[00:19:45] months of this year. At the same time,
[00:19:48] UN experts today called on the authorities of the Islamic
[00:19:52] Republic to end the increasing arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, torture,
[00:19:56] and other forms of ill-treatment, as well as arbitrary executions
[00:20:00] against ethnic minorities, especially Kurdish and Baloch
[00:20:04] minorities. Mahmoud Amiri Moghadam, Director of the Iran
[00:20:11] Human Rights Organization, is with us from Oslo. Mr. Amiri Moghadam, what picture does this report on executions
[00:20:14] last month give you of the trend of executions
[00:20:17] compared to previous months?
[00:20:20] Yes, greetings to you.
[00:20:24] You see, in the first three weeks
[00:20:27] of the war,
[00:20:31] a relatively small number of executions were reported,
[00:20:34] and then immediately after that, the execution of
[00:20:37] protesters and political prisoners began. It seems
[00:20:41] that the system is returning to its normal routine,
[00:20:44] meaning that we have the execution
[00:20:48] of drug defendants,
[00:20:50] those whose charges are murder, more than one person
[00:20:54] per day is executed on these charges.
[00:20:57] And at the same time, the execution of protesters
[00:21:01] continues, and we think this is because
[00:21:05] of the low cost of these executions,
[00:21:07] because all the attention of the international
[00:21:10] community, especially countries that have
[00:21:13] diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic,
[00:21:16] is on the war. And the Islamic Republic is taking
[00:21:20] advantage of this. Now we see that UN experts
[00:21:23] have also called for arbitrary arrests and executions
[00:21:27] to be stopped. What tools do they have other than asking
[00:21:31] the Islamic Republic?
[00:21:31] Look,
[00:21:35] the United Nations generally can issue
[00:21:38] statements, condemn, and request, but what
[00:21:42] is important is that member
[00:21:45] states of the United Nations, especially European countries,
[00:21:48] react. The Islamic Republic currently, I
[00:21:51] think,
[00:21:53] wants
[00:21:56] to improve its relations with European countries,
[00:22:00] and in these circumstances, Western European
[00:22:03] governments, in particular, can exert more pressure
[00:22:06] on the Islamic Republic to stop executions.
[00:22:09] And as I said, unfortunately,
[00:22:13] in the past few months, this has not been the case.
[00:22:16] We remember that after the Woman, Life, Freedom protests,
[00:22:20] for every protester who was executed,
[00:22:23] the European Union would condemn it and
[00:22:27] react strongly. But now,
[00:22:30] in the past few months, 28 protesters have been executed,
[00:22:34] 13 political prisoners, 10
[00:22:38] people on charges of espionage, but we have not seen such
[00:22:41] reactions. Do you know
[00:22:45] the reason for this change in behavior? Please explain.
[00:22:49] Because, you see, the issue of human rights and the issue of executions are not
[00:22:52] the top priority for European countries, but rather
[00:22:56] their national interests, such as the Strait of Hormuz being open
[00:22:58] and oil prices coming down.
[00:23:02] But, through public opinion
[00:23:05] in these countries, it is possible to influence their governments.
[00:23:09] I think that is why in the 1980s, when
[00:23:12] Khomeini said that war is a blessing, it was
[00:23:15] because in the shadow of war, they could suppress
[00:23:19] with very low political cost. And currently,
[00:23:23] it is the same way. But we, Iranian human rights organizations
[00:23:27] abroad, can, through influencing public opinion
[00:23:30] in Western
[00:23:34] European countries in particular, compel
[00:23:37] their governments to give the issue of human rights and the issue
[00:23:41] of executions a higher priority. Thank you, Mahmoud Amiri
[00:23:45] Moghadam, Director of the Iran Human Rights Organization, from Oslo
[00:23:48] with us.
[00:23:50] Gianni Infantino, who has been under pressure in recent days to step down
[00:23:54] as president of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA),
[00:23:57] seems to have decided, after the support of senior
[00:24:00] officials of the organization, to run for re-election
[00:24:04] next spring against other potential candidates.
[00:24:08] Mr. Infantino held a meeting with FIFA Board
[00:24:11] members in Marrakech on Wednesday. This meeting came after
[00:24:15] increased criticism of his failed proposal to sell part
[00:24:19] of the shares of FIFA competitions to private investors.
[00:24:21] The criticism of the FIFA president came mainly from UEFA,
[00:24:25] the governing body of European football,
[00:24:29] which said it had lost confidence in him.
[00:24:32] More details from Kaveh
[00:24:34] Meshkat.
[00:24:39] Now, after several days of heavy pressure, he can smile,
[00:24:42] even after an unsuccessful attempt
[00:24:46] to sell part of the shares of FIFA competitions.
[00:24:55] The FIFA office in Rabat, Morocco, held an
[00:24:58] emergency meeting with the presence of FIFA senior officials
[00:25:01] with the head of the organization after increasing pressure
[00:25:05] on Gianni Infantino to resign. After this
[00:25:08] meeting, FIFA officials, in a statement, announced their
[00:25:12] support for their president. In this statement,
[00:25:15] it was said that FIFA admits its mistake in presenting
[00:25:18] the FIFA Forward company plan. The goal was
[00:25:22] not for the FIFA Council and member federations to feel
[00:25:26] that they were excluded from the decision-making process. However,
[00:25:29] it was accepted that this process should have been managed differently.
[00:25:32] It was also said that after this proposal was leaked to the media,
[00:25:36] mistakes were made. The controversy began when
[00:25:40] FIFA intended to establish a company and sell part
[00:25:43] of its shares to a private company.
[00:25:46] A company that would control the commercial and executive
[00:25:50] activities of major FIFA competitions, including the World Cup.
[00:25:53] But the reaction of the football world
[00:25:57] to this plan jeopardized Gianni Infantino's position as FIFA president
[00:26:01] more than ever.
[00:27:02] FIFA Global, and Mathias Grafström, FIFA Secretary General,
[00:27:06] also joined the critics and described
[00:27:09] the events of the past two weeks as upsetting
[00:27:12] and blameworthy. In Europe,
[00:27:16] some federations and also UEFA said that he
[00:27:20] should go. A picture of Gianni Infantino
[00:27:24] with the FIFA Secretary General, who had criticized
[00:27:27] him. Despite the storm in FIFA, it seems
[00:27:31] that the number one man of this organization does not intend to leave
[00:27:35] and wants to fight for his position. Kaveh
[00:27:38] Meshkat, BBC. We have reached
[00:27:42] the end of this news section. Thank you for choosing BBC Persian.