BBCPERSIAN — broadcast
20260915 153000 UTC
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[00:00:22] Headline
[00:00:22] news.
[00:00:28] The world economy is concerned about the increasing crisis in the Strait of
[00:00:32] Hormuz and Bab-el-Mandeb. Saudi Arabia promised a decisive
[00:00:35] response to Houthi attacks. Iran says the equations
[00:00:39] related to oil and straits have changed.
[00:00:42] Confirmation of a shortage of strategic
[00:00:46] weapons due to the war with Iran
[00:00:49] in the report of the Inspector General of the US Department of Defense.
[00:00:53] Trump has repeatedly denied concerns about
[00:00:57] dwindling weapon stockpiles.
[00:01:00] The impact of the continued naval blockade on Iran's
[00:01:03] imports. The head of the Tehran City Council says subway
[00:01:07] wagons and buses purchased from China
[00:01:11] are stuck in China and Pakistan.
[00:01:13] And a charity's program to help
[00:01:17] patients who lose their hair due to cancer.
[00:01:20] give up.
[00:01:39] Hello and good evening. Saudi Arabia says it will decisively
[00:01:42] respond to Houthi attacks in Yemen.
[00:01:45] According to Riyadh, in the latest attacks by the
[00:01:49] Iran-backed group, 13 people were
[00:01:52] injured in Saudi Arabia. The Houthis have recently, in addition
[00:01:56] to renewed attacks on Saudi Arabia,
[00:02:00] in western Yemen, consolidating their control
[00:02:03] over the Bab al-Mandeb strait. The possibility of
[00:02:07] further disruption to shipping in this
[00:02:10] important waterway, alongside the Strait of Hormuz,
[00:02:13] has raised concerns about an escalating
[00:02:17] energy crisis in the world. Brent crude oil prices
[00:02:21] rose by 2% today to over
[00:02:24] $18 per barrel. Mohammed
[00:02:27] bin Salman, the Saudi Crown Prince, met with the commander
[00:02:31] of the US Army Central Command yesterday to discuss
[00:02:35] this crisis and today spoke with the Egyptian
[00:02:38] president in Cairo. Baran
[00:02:40] Abbasi reports. Ta'izz,
[00:02:44] southwest of Yemen. Houthi forces are consolidating
[00:02:47] their gains after capturing several strategic
[00:02:50] cities that were previously under the control of the official
[00:02:54] Yemeni government, including Perim Island at the mouth
[00:02:58] which is controlled by this Iran-backed group.
[00:03:40] This group to Saudi territory. This image, which the Saudi
[00:03:44] Civil Defense says is the aftermath of one of these
[00:03:47] attacks on a mosque in Jizan. The Houthis, however, say
[00:03:51] they targeted military objectives. In response to
[00:03:54] these attacks by Saudi Arabia and the official Yemeni
[00:03:58] government, what has raised concerns about
[00:04:02] further disruption to energy supply, especially after
[00:04:05] the attack a few days ago on the East-West pipeline
[00:04:09] of Saudi Arabia. This satellite image shows a part of this
[00:04:12] pipeline south of Medina before the attack, and
[00:04:15] this is the same point after the incident. Saudi Arabia
[00:04:19] has blamed Iranian proxies in Iraq for this attack,
[00:04:22] an attack that has temporarily halted oil transfers
[00:04:25] through this pipeline. Saudi Arabia's tool for
[00:04:28] transferring oil to the Red Sea without needing to pass
[00:04:31] through the Strait of Hormuz. The Islamic Republic says
[00:04:35] the Houthis and other militias it supports
[00:04:39] operate independently. However, escalating tensions
[00:04:42] in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, alongside the Strait of Hormuz,
[00:04:45] have become another leverage for Iran. Over the past few
[00:04:49] days, and this is the response of the Secretary of Iran's
[00:04:52] Supreme National Security Council to the possibility
[00:04:56] of resuming negotiations With conflicting
[00:05:00] From "no negotiations" to "we are ready to talk."
[00:05:03] Don't get distracted. The equations regarding
[00:05:07] oil and the straits have changed. Efforts to manage the
[00:05:11] damage cannot stop what is to come. As long as Iran's
[00:05:14] conditions are not met, there will be no negotiations.
[00:05:18] That's all. Conditions that,
[00:05:21] according to the IRGC spokesman, also include
[00:05:25] what has been called the end of the Yemen blockade.
[00:05:28] In addition to a complete cessation of war,
[00:05:31] Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon, the release of
[00:05:34] $24 billion of Iran's frozen assets, and the end
[00:05:38] of what has been described as US interference in Iran's
[00:05:42] The question is whether relying on the Strait of Hormuz
[00:05:46] and now Bab al-Mandeb can bring Iran to these
[00:05:49] demands? Or will increasing pressure on vital energy
[00:05:53] transit routes eventually lead to a larger crisis
[00:05:56] whose consequences will also be difficult for Iran
[00:06:00] to control? Baran Abbasi.
[00:06:03] BBC. Mehdi Chamran,
[00:06:06] head of the Tehran City Council, said that due
[00:06:10] to the US naval blockade,
[00:06:12] buses and subway trains purchased from China
[00:06:16] cannot enter the country. He said that some of the
[00:06:19] buses have been transferred to Pakistan, but there
[00:06:23] are also problems with their transportation. This is while
[00:06:27] Pakistan had previously said that it would allow Tehran
[00:06:30] to use its ports. The second round of the US
[00:06:34] naval blockade against Iran began about a month
[00:06:37] ago and is still ongoing.
[00:06:40] Ahmad Alavi, an economics researcher.
[00:06:43] From Stockholm, Sweden, he is with us. Mr. Alavi,
[00:06:46] thank you very much for being with us and giving us your
[00:06:50] time. Mr. Alavi, it seems that this naval blockade
[00:06:53] is accumulating problems in Iran. How much has it
[00:06:57] affected Iran's economy? Well,
[00:07:00] if we express our opinion based on the statements
[00:07:03] of government officials, because we do not yet have
[00:07:07] precise, comprehensive information, it is that
[00:07:10] many of the goods that were supposed to enter
[00:07:14] Iran through the Persian
[00:07:17] Gulf must now enter through land borders, and this,
[00:07:20] in the absence of
[00:07:21] logistics
[00:07:24] and administrative and communication infrastructures
[00:07:28] between countries, does not have the capacity to handle
[00:07:31] this volume of imports. Of course, we should note
[00:07:35] that in addition to this naval blockade,
[00:07:37] we are witnessing a comprehensive blockade.
[00:07:41] That is, the entire so-called logistics
[00:07:44] chain is now locked. Therefore, circumventing
[00:07:48] sanctions requires that the cost of transportation
[00:07:51] and banking insurance, making this transportation
[00:07:54] or, for example, communication between countries,
[00:07:58] has become more difficult. This greatly increases
[00:08:01] costs, as it has been said that, for
[00:08:05] example, the prices of some goods for their
[00:08:08] imports have increased transportation costs. It
[00:08:12] is natural that this will lead to inflation in
[00:08:15] Iran and will have unpleasant consequences,
[00:08:19] such as lack of access in Iran, or their
[00:08:23] exorbitant prices, which, given the current
[00:08:26] reduction in household purchasing power, households
[00:08:30] cannot afford. Many essential goods that
[00:08:33] are very sensitive to the people
[00:08:36] are reported
[00:08:39] to have increased in price
[00:08:42] tenfold. Yes, that's right.
[00:08:46] Now, at the borders of Turkey or, for example, Pakistan,
[00:08:49] due to the lack of adequate logistics and roads,
[00:08:53] and of course the administrative mechanism there, trucks
[00:08:56] are queuing up, and this means that
[00:08:59] they sometimes have to wait for weeks there,
[00:09:02] and this waste of time means
[00:09:06] higher prices for goods, and that's if the goods
[00:09:09] even reach their destination correctly. We are witnessing
[00:09:13] obstruction by some Pakistani officials,
[00:09:16] and given the administrative corruption there, and
[00:09:20] even in Turkey or Iraq, we can expect
[00:09:23] that the administrative cost for these goods
[00:09:26] to leave those countries and enter Iran
[00:09:30] will be very high and this administrative
[00:09:33] process will be lengthy, and also when it
[00:09:36] reaches Iran, it will face disorganization.
[00:09:40] In the past few months, perhaps this
[00:09:46] railway line from China to Iran had
[00:09:50] become active. To what extent
[00:09:53] can that solve the problem in these
[00:09:56] circumstances? But we should also
[00:09:59] keep in mind that new US sanctions have also
[00:10:03] been added to the organization.
[00:10:06] Well, we should note that no land
[00:10:09] or rail route can replace
[00:10:13] the Persian Gulf route, neither in terms of speed
[00:10:17] nor in terms of the simplicity
[00:10:20] of transportation, or, for
[00:10:24] example,
[00:10:28] UAE had become a regional
[00:10:31] hub, a place that could quickly attract
[00:10:35] goods, even dual-use and sanctioned goods,
[00:10:39] and export them to Iran. This has also been lost.
[00:10:42] The trade that constituted nearly one-third
[00:10:46] of Iran's foreign trade. Apart from this issue,
[00:10:50] this naval blockade has caused insurance
[00:10:54] companies to be cautious. And even if they are
[00:10:58] going to cooperate, they drastically
[00:11:00] increase their prices. And
[00:11:04] rail lines or, for example,
[00:11:07] highways, cannot replace
[00:11:10] ordinary roads that are used for land
[00:11:14] transport. They cannot replace sea transport,
[00:11:17] as government officials themselves have expressed
[00:11:21] in various ways. Mr. Alavi, thank you very much, Ahmad.
[00:11:25] From Stockholm, with us. Thank you.
[00:11:29] The Office of the Inspector General of the US Department
[00:11:32] of Defense confirmed a shortage of strategic weapons
[00:11:35] as a result of the war with Iran. An issue that
[00:11:39] US President Donald Trump has repeatedly denied.
[00:11:43] The report states that ammunition consumption
[00:11:47] in the war with Iran, with Operation
[00:11:49] Epic Fury, has led to strategic shortages
[00:11:53] in stockpiles and has exposed gaps in the industrial
[00:11:56] base for ammunition supply.
[00:12:00] Earlier, we asked Shahin Modares,
[00:12:04] a political analyst, about the reduction in US
[00:12:07] armaments and Saudi Arabia's options in confronting
[00:12:11] the Houthi rebels in Yemen. Good evening.
[00:12:14] This issue you are raising has two dimensions, quantitative
[00:12:18] and qualitative. The quantitative dimension of the issue is first
[00:12:21] the numbers that show $33-44
[00:12:25] billion, and according to a relatively
[00:12:28] credible estimate from Harvard, it reaches
[00:12:32] $2 billion per day, meaning $80
[00:12:35] billion in total. When we place this
[00:12:38] estimate in the context of the US defense budget
[00:12:41] of $1.5 trillion in 2026,
[00:12:45] it amounts to about 3.2%,
[00:12:49] and when we divide it by the per capita
[00:12:52] income of the country, it will be
[00:12:55] about less than $70. Now, in such a situation,
[00:12:59] we need to consider something. Why did the
[00:13:02] United States not respond to the message from
[00:13:06] Bin Salman to Mr. Trump? What could be the main
[00:13:10] reason? One main reason could be that the United
[00:13:13] States is trying to increase its defense
[00:13:16] budget to $1.5 trillion by 2027,
[00:13:20] and at the same time, it is in a
[00:13:23] way trying to reduce the angle that prevented
[00:13:27] the Saudi monarchy and Israel from entering
[00:13:30] into a form of the Abraham Accords. This is because
[00:13:34] what awaits Saudi Arabia is that
[00:13:37] they will eventually reach a point that the
[00:13:41] United Arab Emirates reached after the Arab Spring,
[00:13:45] meaning they will reach the point where, other
[00:13:48] than Israel, they cannot have an ally in the Middle
[00:13:52] East to confront the animosity of the Islamic
[00:13:56] That was Shahin Modarres from Italy.
[00:14:00] These days mark the fourth anniversary of the
[00:14:03] killing of Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the
[00:14:07] Guidance Patrol, and the Woman, Life, Freedom movement
[00:14:11] that followed. A movement that signaled a profound
[00:14:14] transformation in Iranian society and forced the
[00:14:17] government to make effective changes regarding
[00:14:20] women's attire. To further examine what
[00:14:23] happened in these four years, Asal Abbasian, a feminist
[00:14:27] activist, is on the line with us from Paris. Thank
[00:14:31] you very much for being with us. Let's start
[00:14:34] here. In your opinion, beyond the issue of
[00:14:37] hijab, what achievements did the Woman, Life,
[00:14:41] Freedom movement have in your opinion?
[00:14:44] If we want to look back at Woman, Life, Freedom
[00:14:48] four years later, I think its most important
[00:14:51] achievement should not be sought
[00:14:55] in changes in laws or in the government's retreat
[00:14:58] from enforcing official laws and policies,
[00:15:02] or even in a specific feminist achievement.
[00:15:05] The main achievement, in my opinion, was a profound
[00:15:09] change in the political language and in society's
[00:15:12] perception of the ruling power. The killing of
[00:15:15] Mahsa Jina Amini was a moment when an issue that seemed
[00:15:19] to be related to compulsory hijab, the Guidance Patrol,
[00:15:23] quickly turned into a much larger question and triggered
[00:15:26] international solidarity among women around the world:
[00:15:30] who has the right to dominate our bodies, our lives,
[00:15:34] our choices, and ultimately our future? For this
[00:15:38] reason, I see Woman, Life, Freedom not just as a feminist
[00:15:41] achievement in the sense that it was
[00:15:44] only against the repression of women's bodies,
[00:15:47] but rather I see it
[00:15:51] as an achievement that women and the issue
[00:15:54] of their choice over their destiny
[00:15:56] and their bodies transformed into a tangible
[00:16:00] achievement from the beginning of the Islamic government
[00:16:03] of the Islamic Republic against and patriarchy, against
[00:16:07] a system that in reality still
[00:16:10] enforces the laws of Sharia from
[00:16:13] 1400 years ago, and not just in the family
[00:16:17] and private matters. That is, hijab was
[00:16:20] no longer considered a private matter and personal choice,
[00:16:24] but rather as a movement against repression,
[00:16:28] and it challenged the political power of the Islamic
[00:16:31] Republic in a very tangible way, including its political
[00:16:35] power, its mafia-like economy, its international relations,
[00:16:39] and its repression of
[00:16:40] ethnic and gender
[00:16:43] minorities. It challenged all of these, and it created
[00:16:47] the perception that collective power
[00:16:50] is actually much more effective
[00:16:53] and much more powerful than one imagines
[00:16:57] when an revolutionary moment occurs,
[00:17:00] and I think this was one of the most important
[00:17:04] moments when women transitioned from being the subject
[00:17:13] of a very bad situation, like their cars being
[00:17:16] confiscated. For a long
[00:17:19] time, excuse me, I'm interrupting
[00:17:22] you, but I wanted to ask you this. Okay, how
[00:17:26] do you see the consequences today? The manifestation
[00:17:28] of this movement today, especially
[00:17:32] after the December killings, after the start
[00:17:35] of this war we are witnessing?
[00:17:39] In my opinion, a very clear
[00:17:41] achievement that remains as a legacy from the
[00:17:45] era of the Woman, Life, Freedom revolution for the Iranian
[00:17:49] people and, in my opinion, has a clear message for the
[00:17:53] international community is that the right of self-determination
[00:17:56] of the Iranian people, overthrowing the regime, and
[00:18:00] all this is in the hands of the people themselves
[00:18:03] and Iran's civil society. Just today, in Arab Weekly,
[00:18:07] one of my senior researchers at Civics and I published
[00:18:10] an article arguing that war is never justified
[00:18:14] as a package of humanitarian intervention, and that
[00:18:18] the people are still bearing the main cost of
[00:18:20] the militarization that the Islamic Republic
[00:18:24] has imposed, and at the same time, it seems that
[00:18:27] war is the international actors' response to it,
[00:18:30] but at the same time, it is the Iranian people's
[00:18:34] civil resistance that determines their destiny, not
[00:18:37] any humanitarian intervention. Asal Abbasian, thank
[00:18:41] you very much for your
[00:18:42] time. Thank you.
[00:18:45] A few short news items:
[00:18:48] The United Nations has called for access by inspectors
[00:18:52] to all areas of Gaza.
[00:18:55] This request comes as hundreds more bodies
[00:18:59] have been pulled from the rubble of destroyed
[00:19:02] buildings in recent days, and Volker Türk,
[00:19:06] the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said
[00:19:10] the discovery of remains, most of them belonging
[00:19:13] to women and children, years after their homes
[00:19:16] were bombed in Israeli attacks, indicates that
[00:19:20] war crimes may have occurred. He called
[00:19:23] for greater efforts to identify victims,
[00:19:26] preserve information and forensic evidence,
[00:19:30] record burial locations of bodies, and notify
[00:19:33] the families of the victims.
[00:19:35] China, warning about the formation
[00:19:39] of an arms race in space, has asked the United
[00:19:42] States not to seek war in space.
[00:19:46] Beijing's reaction came hours after the United
[00:19:50] States confirmed that it had deployed a space
[00:19:53] weapon in Earth's orbit.
[00:19:55] The deployment of a space weapon in Earth's orbit,
[00:19:59] an action that Washington has publicly confirmed
[00:20:03] for the first time. Senior US military officials
[00:20:07] had previously cited Russia's and China's
[00:20:11] plans to disrupt American satellites
[00:20:15] as the reason for
[00:20:16] this action in space.
[00:20:22] Hair loss due to cancer treatment
[00:20:26] can be very difficult and upsetting for
[00:20:29] women and can reduce their
[00:20:33] self-confidence. But choosing when and
[00:20:36] how to cut their hair can help
[00:20:40] them have more control
[00:20:43] over the situation. Now, a charity
[00:20:46] with registration. and a program to help
[00:21:20] make it as positive an experience as possible
[00:21:23] for her two daughters. Sam Graner-Walters also
[00:21:27] had a similar experience from South Wales. Her
[00:21:31] young son had a special request for her: a Ronaldo
[00:21:34] hairstyle. He always asked me, "Mom, when you shave
[00:21:37] your hair, can you do it like this?" I always
[00:21:41] did it. When I took my son to school, I always
[00:21:43] asked him, "Is it okay if I don't wear a hat?"
[00:21:47] I asked the same question to my two daughters. I was
[00:21:50] worried. I just wanted to make sure. But he said, "Why should
[00:21:54] it matter?" Rihanna is 36 years old. Last November,
[00:21:58] after feeling a lump in her breast while showering,
[00:22:02] she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Since then, one
[00:22:05] of her breasts has been surgically removed. She has undergone
[00:22:07] chemotherapy and is now receiving radiation therapy.
[00:22:11] I remember when my parents saw me, I knew from
[00:22:13] their faces that it was
[00:22:18] difficult for them.
[00:22:20] It hasn't been easy for her to come to terms
[00:22:23] with her new appearance. But Sam's cancer is incurable.
[00:22:27] Five years ago, she was first diagnosed with breast
[00:22:30] cancer. Two years ago, doctors said the cancer
[00:22:34] had spread to her lungs. Subsequent tests also showed
[00:22:36] the cancer had reached her liver and lymph nodes.
[00:22:40] It was very hard to tell my children. You have to
[00:22:44] fight. You have to keep going. You have to do
[00:22:47] everything you can because I want to see my children
[00:22:50] grow up. Sam and Rihanna met through the Bulls
[00:22:54] campaign, part of the Pink Ribbon breast cancer
[00:22:57] charity. This campaign showcases the courage and
[00:23:01] confidence of women who have lost their hair due to
[00:23:05] breast cancer. They, along with nine other women
[00:23:09] from Wales, spent a day in Cardiff in front of
[00:23:13] Dutch photographer Carolien Scholtes' camera. These photos
[00:23:16] will be exhibited in London next month. I couldn't
[00:23:20] believe some of the photos I saw. I was thrilled.
[00:23:23] I was really proud of them. I told myself how
[00:23:27] beautiful and confident I look. I look at the
[00:23:31] photos and say, "You are really strong." Participating
[00:23:35] in this project has helped Sam accept herself and
[00:23:38] her new appearance more. My hair doesn't define
[00:23:41] who I am. It's that
[00:23:48] simple, I'm getting through this stage and I'm strong.
[00:23:51] The founder of one of the world's largest artificial
[00:23:55] intelligence companies told the BBC that companies
[00:23:58] in this field might need to be required
[00:24:02] to have an emergency kill switch so that if this
[00:24:05] technology gets out of control, it can be stopped.
[00:24:09] Jack Clark, the CEO of Anthropic, says that
[00:24:12] AI is getting smarter and more capable every
[00:24:16] few months, and this could pose a serious threat
[00:24:19] to humanity. Donald Trump has angrily rejected
[00:24:22] calls to slow down the development of AI
[00:24:26] and has called concerns about its threat to
[00:24:30] humanity a "hoax." Faisal Islam, the BBC's
[00:24:33] economics editor, has a
[00:24:35] report that you can see translated.
[00:24:39] One of the giants of artificial intelligence,
[00:24:42] Anthropic, has called for slowing down the
[00:24:46] competition in this field. One whistleblower and a number
[00:24:50] of the company's safety experts say there is
[00:24:53] a 10% or even greater chance that this technology
[00:24:57] could lead to the destruction of all humanity. Jack Clark,
[00:25:00] a British manager and co-founder of Anthropic,
[00:25:03] spoke exclusively to the BBC from Silicon Valley.
[00:25:06] How did you and your colleagues in this industry let
[00:25:09] it get to this point? What has happened is
[00:25:13] that this technology has become very powerful. Risks that
[00:25:16] were once only theoretical or discussed in academic circles are now showing
[00:25:33] their first signs. What do you think is the main
[00:25:37] danger? The main danger is that we have
[00:25:40] very little chance of controlling a system that
[00:25:44] is 100 times smarter than the smartest human
[00:25:47] on Earth, and coming out of it unscathed. In
[00:25:51] be controlled as a technology,
[00:25:55] because we are building things that might be
[00:25:58] smarter than humans, and things that are
[00:26:02] smarter than humans can be very dangerous. This
[00:26:05] brings up the issue of having an emergency
[00:26:09] kill switch. Do you have such a capability?
[00:26:12] Can you shut down the system? I think most companies
[00:26:15] have various ways to stop their systems.
[00:26:19] Yes, we also have some ways to do this,
[00:26:23] but this issue should be part of a broader
[00:26:27] discussion about policymaking. Should companies be required
[00:26:30] to have a kill switch?
[00:27:02] Can an independent body ensure the actual functioning
[00:27:05] of this switch? I think society wants to know
[00:27:09] the answers to these questions, and perhaps
[00:27:12] eventually, laws will need to be enacted
[00:27:16] in this regard. But it might already be
[00:27:19] too late. And he said the only place that
[00:27:23] needs control is himself. Calls for
[00:27:27] cooperation between countries and the establishment
[00:27:31] of a set of basic principles in this
[00:27:35] area are increasing. This has also happened
[00:27:38] before with technologies that have dual uses,
[00:27:42] meaning they have both beneficial and harmful
[00:27:46] applications. Let's not forget that AI
[00:27:49] has incredible benefits for us, but we must
[00:27:53] also be fully aware of its potential
[00:27:57] harms. Currently, investment in AI
[00:28:01] seems to be helping
[00:28:32] the growth of the British economy, as well
[00:28:35] as talks of using this technology for cancer