BBCPERSIAN — broadcast
20260915 193000 UTC
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[00:00:25] Headlines Travel
[00:00:28] by Bin Salman to Cairo In an attempt to confront the Houthis
[00:00:32] of Yemen, the President of Egypt emphasized free shipping in
[00:00:35] Bab al-Mandab.
[00:00:36] did.
[00:00:45] The US Secretary of the Treasury defends sanctions that restrict
[00:00:48] Iranian students' access to international exams
[00:00:52] . Scott Bessent says other countries have joined
[00:00:56] the pressure and economic isolation of Iran . are.
[00:01:00] Security warning from three Western countries about new
[00:01:03] spyware from the Iranian government . The United States, Britain, and the Netherlands
[00:01:07] say the goal is to collect information from activists,
[00:01:10] opponents, and journalists
[00:01:14] . Concerns about the rapid development of artificial intelligence
[00:01:18] . One of the technology giants has proposed creating
[00:01:21] an emergency stop key .
[00:01:24] The main danger is that we are dealing with a system that is 100 times smarter than the smartest
[00:01:28] person on Earth.
[00:01:56] Saudi Arabia says it will respond decisively to the Houthi attacks.
[00:02:00] According to Riyadh, 13 people in Saudi Arabia were injured
[00:02:03] in the latest attacks by the Iran-backed group . The Houthis recently
[00:02:07] renewed their attacks on Saudi Arabia and captured
[00:02:11] strategic points on the western
[00:02:13] coast of Yemen , consolidating
[00:02:16] their control over the Bab al-Mandab strait . The possibility
[00:02:20] of further disruption to Iranian shipping in this important waterway, along with
[00:02:24] the Strait of Hormuz, has increased concerns about
[00:02:27] a deepening energy crisis in the world . Oil prices rose
[00:02:31] 2% today to more than $18 a barrel
[00:02:34] . Mohammed bin Salman , the Saudi Crown Prince, met
[00:02:37] yesterday with the commander of the US Central Command
[00:02:41] to discuss this crisis, and today he spoke with the Egyptian President
[00:02:44] in Cairo. Baran Abbasi and more
[00:02:46] details.
[00:02:49] Taiz, southwest Yemen. The Houthi forces are consolidating
[00:02:53] their positions after capturing several strategic cities
[00:02:56] that were previously under the control of the official Yemeni government.
[00:03:00] This includes the island of Perim at the mouth of the Bab al-Mandab
[00:03:03] Strait, which has solidified this Iran-backed group's control over this important
[00:03:07] waterway. A waterway
[00:03:10] whose potential closure could worsen the energy crisis
[00:03:14] in the world . What Qatar
[00:03:17] has warned about
[00:03:19] its dire consequences. The world is already facing enough problems with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz
[00:03:23] , and we cannot allow the Bab al-Mandab Strait
[00:03:27] to be added to this equation.
[00:03:31] This would be a disaster for the entire world. Therefore,
[00:03:34] Qatar emphasizes diplomacy and dialogue.
[00:03:37] The Houthis have for weeks prohibited Saudi ships from passing
[00:03:41] through this strait .
[00:03:43] At the same time, this group's attacks on Saudi
[00:03:47] territory have intensified . This photo, which the Saudi
[00:03:50] Civil Defense Organization says is the result of one of these
[00:03:53] attacks on a mosque in Jizan . But the Houthis say
[00:03:57] they targeted military objectives. In response to these
[00:04:01] attacks by Saudi Arabia and the official government of Yemen.
[00:04:04] This has raised concerns about further disruptions to energy
[00:04:08] supply. Especially after the attack a few days ago on the East-West
[00:04:12] pipeline in Saudi Arabia . This satellite photo
[00:04:15] is of a section of this pipeline south of Medina
[00:04:19] before the attack, and this is the same location
[00:04:22] after the incident. Saudi Arabia has blamed Iran's proxies in
[00:04:26] Iraq for this attack . An attack that has temporarily
[00:04:29] halted oil transfers through this pipeline
[00:04:32] . Saudi Arabia's tool for transferring oil
[00:04:35] to the Red Sea without the need to pass through the Strait
[00:04:38] of Hormuz. The Islamic Republic says that the Houthis
[00:04:42] and other militias supported by it act independently
[00:04:45] . But the increased tensions in the Bab al-Mandab
[00:04:49] Strait, alongside the Strait of Hormuz, have become
[00:04:52] another leverage in Iran's hands . God willing, in the coming days
[00:04:56] and this is the response of the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council
[00:04:59] of Iran to the possibility of resuming
[00:05:02] negotiations by Donald Trump, with conflicting messages
[00:05:05] from the US President : "There are no negotiations until
[00:05:08] we are ready for talks ." "Don't get distracted, the equation
[00:05:12] regarding oil and straits has changed . Attempts to
[00:05:16] manage damage cannot stop what is coming
[00:05:19] . As long as Iran's conditions are not met,
[00:05:23] there will be no negotiations . That's it
[00:05:26] ." Conditions that, according to the IRGC spokesman,
[00:05:30] also include what has been called the end of the siege of Yemen
[00:05:33] . Along with a complete cessation of war,
[00:05:36] Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon, the release
[00:05:39] of $24 billion in frozen Iranian assets, and
[00:05:43] the end of what has been described as US interference in Iran's nuclear
[00:05:47] and missile capabilities .
[00:05:49] The question is whether relying on the leverage of the Strait of Hormuz and now
[00:05:53] Bab al-Mandab might lead Iran to these demands
[00:05:56] , or whether increasing pressure on vital
[00:05:59] energy transit routes will ultimately lead to a larger
[00:06:03] crisis whose consequences will be difficult for Iran
[00:06:06] to control. Baran Abbasi. BBC
[00:06:10] .
[00:06:13] Farzaneh Nadimi, military analyst from Washington, is with us. Welcome, Mr.
[00:06:17] Nadimi. We know that so far, the Houthis
[00:06:21] have expanded their control over one of the most important shipping routes
[00:06:24] in the world. But can we understand their
[00:06:28] strategy from now on ?
[00:06:32] The Houthis, as you mentioned, have established themselves on the eastern
[00:06:36] coast of Bab al-Mandab
[00:06:39] and have captured several islands
[00:06:43] . It seems that they want to have more control over
[00:06:47] the Bab al-Mandab strait . But they are closer to
[00:06:50] the coast and can
[00:06:53] have a significant impact on ships
[00:06:57] with short-range weapons . Currently, about 20
[00:07:00] ships pass through Bab al-Mandab daily
[00:07:04] , compared to 5 ships before the war
[00:07:07] . But for now, the Houthis
[00:07:11] are exerting control, as they say,
[00:07:14] at their discretion, over specific ships
[00:07:18] , Saudi oil tankers or Israeli ships
[00:07:21] that have connections with Israel
[00:07:25] from the past .
[00:07:28] And in my opinion, one of the ways they will pursue
[00:07:31] in the future, given that they have specifically occupied these islands
[00:07:35] , is to establish a kind of special
[00:07:38] toll system for Iranian ships in the Bab al-Mandab strait
[00:07:41] . Because the Houthis could always exert
[00:07:45] power from further coasts
[00:07:49] in Bab al-Mandab, there was no need for them to physically
[00:07:52] take control of the coast
[00:07:56] . But now, if they decide,
[00:07:59] they can also take action regarding tolls. The conflicts
[00:08:03] that are still ongoing in Taiz province
[00:08:07] , and it can be expected that if the Houthis maintain
[00:08:10] their momentum or energy and increase it, they will move
[00:08:14] towards Taiz and engage there. They will try
[00:08:18] to take control of this very strategic city, and later,
[00:08:22] perhaps even think of Aden, the province of Aden,
[00:08:25] in the future, if Saudi military support
[00:08:28] for government forces is not successful. On the other hand,
[00:08:32] Saudi Arabia is also trying to resolve the issue
[00:08:35] . He went to Egypt today, and it does not seem
[00:08:38] that Egypt will cooperate . As Sisi said
[00:08:42] that he actually supports
[00:08:45] diplomacy more , do you think
[00:08:49] Saudi Arabia in this case
[00:08:52] has no choice but to activate the Mecca Pact , for example,
[00:08:56] or is there even such a potential ? Well,
[00:09:00] the Mecca Pact, although from Saudi Arabia's point of view
[00:09:03] it is a pact that will help the security of this country
[00:09:07] and the energy security of Saudi Arabia , but perhaps
[00:09:11] they will be more cautious
[00:09:19] than Saudi Arabia expects and will behave
[00:09:23] accordingly. Even if we assume
[00:09:26] that Turkey and
[00:09:28] Pakistan decide to help Saudi Arabia
[00:09:32] within the framework of the Mecca Pact in similar
[00:09:36] security conditions , this will take time. This
[00:09:40] newly established pact and coordination among
[00:09:43] the forces of the countries still does not exist. Although Pakistan has
[00:09:47] had a military presence in Saudi Arabia for years , it can be expected that
[00:09:50] Pakistan will play a defensive role
[00:09:53] . I doubt that
[00:09:55] Pakistan will play an important offensive
[00:09:58] role in this war.
[00:10:02] It is not impossible, it may happen on a limited scale in the future
[00:10:06] . The Pakistani Air Force is an efficient
[00:10:09] air force, but I think at this stage, both Saudi Arabia and Turkey can
[00:10:13] deploy air defense systems in Saudi Arabia. Even now,
[00:10:17] Greece is doing this, and Greek Patriot
[00:10:20] missile batteries are deployed in Saudi Arabia . Correct.
[00:10:33] If reports that the US has rejected
[00:10:37] Saudi Arabia's request for military cooperation in this area
[00:10:41] are true, how much do you think this report that was published
[00:10:44] about the strategic shortage of ammunition had an impact on
[00:10:48] America's decision-making ? It's not insignificant . It's not insignificant
[00:10:52] . Operation Raider. The US
[00:10:55] used significant weaponry against the Houthis
[00:10:59] during those 50 days . Of course, it will depend
[00:11:02] on what the Houthis' reaction will be. If the Houthis decide
[00:11:05] to use their relatively limited number of ballistic
[00:11:09] missiles against American targets, then
[00:11:13] naturally, a significant portion of the US air defense
[00:11:15] systems in the region will be focused on defending against
[00:11:19] Houthi missiles and drones , including both fighter jets
[00:11:23] and air defense systems.
[00:11:55] In today's meeting with members of Congress, he defended the implementation of sanctions that
[00:11:59] restrict Iranian students' access to international
[00:12:02] language exams and entrance exams to American universities
[00:12:06] . Mr. Bessent also said that
[00:12:09] other countries in the world have joined the pressure and economic isolation
[00:12:13] of Iran. Mohsen Kalbasi, my colleague from
[00:12:16] New York, is with us to talk more about the issue.
[00:12:20] Bahman, tell us about the details of this meeting, where it seems Mr. Bessent
[00:12:24] defended the Trump administration's policies regarding Iran .
[00:12:28] As expected, at the beginning of this
[00:12:31] Q&A session with members of Parliament
[00:12:35] , the relevant committee in the House of Representatives, Mr.
[00:12:38] Beresent, also emphasized that this
[00:12:42] economic pressure and isolation that the US has taken
[00:12:45] responsibility for against Iran is working very
[00:12:49] effectively and has been very successful,
[00:12:52] and many countries will join it or have
[00:12:56] joined it. And he even said about China that
[00:12:59] he will meet with the Vice President of China in the coming
[00:13:03] days on the eve of the Chinese President's visit
[00:13:06] to Washington, and they will discuss this,
[00:13:09] and it is expected that in the meeting between Mr.
[00:13:13] Trump and Mr. Xi, it will also be raised that the US
[00:13:17] wants China to join in this widespread
[00:13:20] economic isolation against Iran , and some representatives
[00:13:24] also asked him about these so-called
[00:13:28] sanctions that have led to the access of Iranians to exams
[00:13:32] like TOEFL, LSAT, and GRE , which are for
[00:13:35] university entrance language, being cut off. Mr. Bassin
[00:13:39] gave a
[00:13:41] strange answer. He said that
[00:13:44] our goal is to free the Iranian people
[00:13:48] and for them to gain their freedom . When he was asked whether
[00:13:51] Iranian students not having access
[00:13:56] to these exams would make the Iranian people more powerful
[00:14:00] against their government, he said yes .
[00:14:03] And beyond that, in this same meeting, he was interrupted
[00:14:07] several times by those who oppose
[00:14:11] sanctions against Iran .
[00:14:13] They came to the meeting with some placards
[00:14:17] and interrupted him several times, chanting against
[00:14:21] him and saying, "Stop the sanctions, they are taking the lives
[00:14:24] of the Iranian people ." And the police
[00:14:28] removed these individuals from the meeting one by one and arrested them. But
[00:14:31] in any case, Mr. Bessent still emphasizes
[00:14:34] that this economic isolation is working and is very
[00:14:38] effective, and now many countries have joined it. Thank you
[00:14:42] . From Bahman, Bahman Kalbasi, my colleague from
[00:14:44] New York.
[00:14:46] Let's take another look at the main headlines
[00:14:49] of this program.
[00:14:55] Saudi Arabia says it will respond decisively to Houthi attacks.
[00:14:59] At the same time, Iran has emphasized that the equations related
[00:15:02] to oil and straits have changed
[00:15:04] .
[00:15:12] The US Treasury Secretary defended the country's
[00:15:15] sanctions against Iran in a meeting with members
[00:15:19] of Congress. Scott Bessent said other countries have joined the pressure
[00:15:22] and economic isolation of Tehran .
[00:15:30] of artificial intelligence . One of the technology giants
[00:15:33] has proposed that an emergency stop key be created.
[00:15:40] The US, UK, and Netherlands, in a joint cybersecurity
[00:15:44] slaughter, released details of spyware that, according
[00:15:47] to them, agents linked to the Iranian government are using
[00:15:51] to target opponents, activists, and worried journalists
[00:15:55] . The UK National Cyber Security Centre announced
[00:15:59] that cyber agents linked to the Iranian government
[00:16:03] are using a family of spyware called Chozen
[00:16:06] Break to steal emails , messages, and other
[00:16:09] sensitive information through targeted phishing campaigns
[00:16:13] on messaging platforms
[00:16:16] such as WhatsApp and Telegram . Alireza Manafi,
[00:16:20] an internet researcher and digital rights activist from Toronto,
[00:16:23] Canada, is with us. Welcome, Mr. Manafi. Well,
[00:16:27] how different is this happening
[00:16:30] from the activities that the Islamic Republic has had
[00:16:34] in this area before
[00:16:36] ? Greetings to you. Yes, these things that are happening
[00:16:40] are in line with the activities that the Islamic Republic has been doing
[00:16:44] for several years. Even this campaign was written about
[00:16:47] in 2023 that it is active,
[00:16:50] and in March of this year, the FBI had also
[00:16:54] warned about it, and now it has been talked about
[00:16:57] again. The only things that distinguish
[00:17:01] this campaign
[00:17:02] are its technical
[00:17:05] features and the fact that its focus has become more precise. For example, individuals
[00:17:09] are monitored very closely . If necessary,
[00:17:13] they are encouraged to do specific things.
[00:17:17] They try to understand their interests so that they can
[00:17:20] influence them and understand their needs
[00:17:23] . Even in one case, it was reported that one of
[00:17:27] the individuals targeted received a file titled
[00:17:30] "MRI result," meaning they knew that
[00:17:34] this person had undergone an MRI and was now
[00:17:37] waiting for it, and they sent something
[00:17:40] to them with that name, which was actually malware.
[00:17:43] However, what I see that has received less
[00:17:47] attention is how these malware
[00:17:50] are spread through messaging
[00:17:52] apps like WhatsApp, Instagram, and Telegram
[00:17:56] . But when they send these, they encourage
[00:18:00] the user to install or run it
[00:18:03] on their Windows device , because this malware
[00:18:07] that they have designed is currently only executable
[00:18:11] on Windows, at least according to the information we have
[00:18:14] so far. For this reason, it may not be effective
[00:18:18] on all devices . The next
[00:18:21] point is that if someone
[00:18:24] is affected, what they should do is also important
[00:18:28] to inform them. Well,
[00:18:31] if someone is compromised through
[00:18:34] this method, they should pay attention to the next steps.
[00:18:37] For example, they should quickly scan their computer
[00:18:41] with antivirus software, change the passwords
[00:18:44] of all their accounts, check their accounts to see if
[00:18:48] they are connected to other devices, change their banking passwords
[00:18:52] , and in this way, take the next steps
[00:18:55] into consideration. That is, when hacked, the next steps
[00:18:58] are much more important to react accurately
[00:19:02] and correctly to what has happened. You mentioned
[00:19:05] what to do after being hacked, but
[00:19:09] there is a step before that . How can we protect ourselves
[00:19:13] from not being attacked
[00:19:15] by these groups and not being hacked ?
[00:19:19] That's right, because these attacks are mostly focused on activists
[00:19:23] outside the country, and according to what has been seen,
[00:19:26] the reality is that they
[00:19:28] focus on human
[00:19:31] emotions and, for example, they pretend to be a friend from
[00:19:35] elementary school or a distant relative
[00:19:38] whom they haven't seen for years and miss.
[00:19:41] The most important step
[00:19:44] is this social engineering. That is, when
[00:19:47] someone receives such messages, they should
[00:19:51] check and verify their authenticity to see how true
[00:19:55] it is. When a file is sent to them, they should not click
[00:19:59] on that file too quickly. For example, when
[00:20:02] an MRI report is sent, as reported,
[00:20:06] someone who receives
[00:20:37] an MRI result file is not an executable file. It's at most a
[00:20:41] PDF file or an image. When someone clicks
[00:20:44] on such a thing and sees a message displayed
[00:20:48] on their device that this
[00:20:51] is malware, all malware are software
[00:20:55] and executable files, and as a result,
[00:20:58] if such a message is displayed, it means something suspicious
[00:21:02] wants to be installed on your device. In all these cases, the first thing
[00:21:06] is authenticity that needs to be checked.
[00:21:09] A person who has received malware under any title, such as an image,
[00:21:13] or this MRI file, for example, should go and make sure
[00:21:17] that this is indeed what is claimed.
[00:21:21] Is this a family photo that was sent to me? They should check
[00:21:25] its authenticity and make sure. Thank you
[00:21:28] . Alireza Manafi, internet researcher and digital
[00:21:31] rights activist. A few
[00:21:35] short news. Reports from Gaza indicate
[00:21:39] that in Israeli airstrikes on Sheikh Radwan neighborhood,
[00:21:42] two people, including a child, were killed and 7 others
[00:21:45] were injured. Palestinian media say the adult
[00:21:49] killed was a civil defense worker. Witnesses
[00:21:53] said the Israeli army said it targeted an armed person
[00:21:57] in the area but did not provide more
[00:22:00] details. Israeli attacks have continued almost
[00:22:04] daily despite a US-backed ceasefire
[00:22:07] .
[00:22:09] Russia and Ukraine continued their attacks on each other's
[00:22:12] energy facilities last night. This comes as US President
[00:22:16] Donald Trump claimed yesterday that the parties agreed.
[00:22:50] Regarding the space arms race, he has asked the US
[00:22:53] not to seek to create war in space.
[00:22:57] Beijing's reaction came hours after the US confirmed
[00:23:00] it had deployed a space weapon
[00:23:04] in Earth orbit. An action that Washington publicly confirmed
[00:23:08] for the first time. Senior US military officials had previously
[00:23:11] cited Russia and China's plans to disrupt
[00:23:15] US satellites as the reason for this
[00:23:18] action in space.
[00:23:22] The founder of one of the world's largest artificial intelligence companies
[00:23:26] told the BBC that companies in this field may need
[00:23:29] to be required to have an emergency kill
[00:23:33] switch so that if this technology gets out of control, it can be
[00:23:37] stopped. Jack Clark , CEO of Anthropic
[00:23:41] , says artificial intelligence becomes smarter and more capable
[00:23:44] every few months, and this could be a serious threat to humans
[00:23:48] . Donald Trump, however, angrily rejected calls to slow
[00:23:51] down the development of AI and called concerns about
[00:23:55] its threat to humanity a great deception
[00:23:59] . Faisal Islam, the BBC's economics editor, has a report
[00:24:03] on this
[00:24:03] .
[00:24:07] One of the AI giants, Anthropic, has called for
[00:24:10] a slowdown in competition in this field. One whistleblower and a number
[00:24:14] of the company's safety experts say that it is possible
[00:24:17] that this technology could destroy all humans
[00:24:50] , take control of the internet , shut down power plants
[00:24:54] , or destroy financial institutions? I think it's time to clarify
[00:24:57] what this danger actually looks like. The main danger
[00:25:01] is that we are dealing with a system that is 100 times smarter than the smartest
[00:25:05] person on Earth. How much chance do we have of countering it? In my opinion,
[00:25:08] the probability that you can control such a situation and come out of it
[00:25:12] unscathed is very low. From an overall perspective, artificial intelligence
[00:25:16] should be controlled as a technology , because we are building things that may
[00:25:20] be smarter than humans, and things that are smarter than humans
[00:25:24] can be very dangerous . This is the issue
[00:25:26] that brings up the discussion of an emergency kill switch
[00:25:30] . Do you have such a capability ? Can you shut down the system
[00:25:33] ? I think most companies have different ways
[00:25:37] to stop their systems. Yes, we also have some ways to do
[00:25:40] this. But this issue should be part of a broader discussion about
[00:25:44] policymaking. Should companies be required to have a kill
[00:25:48] switch? Can an independent body ensure the true functionality
[00:25:51] of this switch? I think the public wants answers to these questions, and perhaps
[00:25:55] in the end, laws may also need to be enacted in this area. But it may
[00:25:59] already be too late , right?
[00:28:03] With this report, we have reached the end of this news segment. Thank you for being with the BBC.