BBCPERSIAN — broadcast 20261010 220000 UTC 424 transcript segments Google Cloud Speech-to-Text API (Chirp) + Gemini 2.5 Flash Non-Thinking Data courtesy of The GDELT Project (https://www.gdeltproject.org/), from the Internet Archive TV News Archive. Machine transcription. Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a verbatim quotation record. [00:00:00] and the world will be, and now he has gone for [00:00:04] a diesel agreement with Russia. But the reaction [00:00:07] that we see from serious Republican figures [00:00:11] like even the representative Senator of Nebraska, [00:00:15] is that this response, meaning an agreement with [00:00:18] Russia, is the wrong response to the diesel problem in America. [00:00:21] And Mr. Trump, if [00:00:24] he wants to solve the fuel issue with Russia, [00:00:28] he should do it after the end of the war. A representative [00:00:47] of the Ukrainian Parliament and the head of the Committee for Migration and Refugees in the [00:00:51] Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe from Ukraine is with us. [00:00:54] Welcome to the program, Mr. Goncharenko. First, I wanted to ask [00:00:57] you about Mr. Trump's statement [00:01:01] that Volodymyr Zelensky should [00:01:05] step down and a new president should take power in Ukraine. [00:01:09] What do you [00:01:09] think? [00:01:17] I think we will have elections [00:01:20] ahead, and it is very likely that we will [00:01:23] have a new president, but all of this [00:01:27] will be after the end of the war. Because [00:01:30] in a state of war, we cannot do this. Therefore, if President [00:01:34] Trump helps us to achieve peace, then we can have elections. Mr. Trump says [00:01:37] that part of [00:01:41] the problem goes back to Ukraine, it goes back to the President of Ukraine, [00:01:44] and if the President [00:01:47] of Ukraine does not show flexibility, [00:01:50] the war will not end. [00:01:53] We Ukrainians [00:02:00] also want [00:02:03] to achieve [00:02:04] peace [00:02:09] quickly, and [00:02:13] it is our opinion that the Russians [00:02:16] are unwilling to compromise [00:02:19] on peace terms. And if President [00:02:23] Trump has a package [00:02:26] that he thinks will help end [00:02:30] the war, he should definitely present it to us [00:02:34] as well and [00:02:37] unveil it. Recently, Ukrainians have been in contact [00:02:40] with Vitkov and Jared Kushner regarding [00:02:43] the peace process, and if [00:02:46] President Trump sees a problem, he should tell [00:02:50] President Zelensky what their conditions [00:02:53] are and what the conditions for peace are. And [00:02:56] at this point, it seems that Russia [00:03:00] does not want to end the war. Mr. Trump says that Ukrainians [00:03:04] should not have attacked Russia's [00:03:07] oil or diesel facilities [00:03:11] because attacking them also harms [00:03:15] America, as America wants fuel prices [00:03:18] to be low due to the war with Iran. Why [00:03:21] didn't Ukrainians listen to Mr. [00:03:25] Trump's words, meaning they should have considered other targets [00:03:29] to attack? [00:03:31] Ukraine [00:03:39] is currently in a full-scale war with [00:03:42] Russia. The [00:03:45] primary and largest source [00:03:48] of Russia's income is oil. And if Ukraine [00:03:51] wants to harm Russia, [00:03:55] Russian refineries are completely [00:03:58] legitimate targets. [00:04:30] Ukraine should not damage its important infrastructure. [00:04:33] The world needs Ukrainian oil [00:04:36] and Russian oil as much as it needs Ukrainian grain. [00:04:40] If they promise not to attack Ukrainian [00:04:43] ports, then that [00:04:47] would be an agreement that is both probable and reasonable, [00:04:51] and it is possible to carry it out. When Russia attacked Ukraine, [00:04:55] many people thought that Ukraine would fall [00:04:58] in 48 hours or in a week. But now, for several years, [00:05:02] Ukraine has been resisting, and [00:05:05] it is a very [00:05:07] fierce resistance. [00:05:09] But if Ukraine wants to achieve peace... [00:05:16] Is it possible, for example, to give up a part of its territory? We are [00:05:20] ready. [00:05:30] We are ready to end the war at the current [00:05:33] borders, which means that some of [00:05:36] these territories are currently in Russian [00:05:39] hands, but [00:05:43] we will not recognize them as Russian [00:05:47] territory, but they will be occupied territories. [00:05:51] Well, this is one of Ukraine's concessions, [00:05:54] and there are other issues as well, such as Ukraine not joining [00:05:58] the NATO alliance, which seems reasonable. [00:06:01] However, in return, [00:06:04] Russia [00:06:05] must make other promises, [00:06:09] for example, other promises [00:06:13] of financial aid to the Ukrainian army itself. [00:06:17] Therefore, these must be conveyed [00:06:20] through direct lines and direct communications, [00:06:24] not through messages Oleksiy Goncharenko, Ukrainian Member of Parliament [00:06:27] and Head of the Committee on Migration and Refugees in the Parliamentary Assembly [00:06:31] of the Council of Europe. Thank you for your presence on the program. However, the statements of Marco [00:06:35] Rubio, the US Secretary of State, in front of the Parthenon [00:06:39] temple on the Acropolis in Athens, [00:06:42] regarding a segment of the Greco-Persian Wars in ancient times, have caused controversy [00:06:46] inside and outside Iran. [00:06:50] Mr. Rubio made these remarks on Wednesday during his trip to Greece. [00:06:53] First, let's listen to some parts of his speech [00:06:55] together. [00:07:00] 480 years before Christ, Xerxes' forces entered this [00:07:04] city and set its sanctuaries on fire. Most [00:07:08] Athenians had already left by ship and gone to an island. [00:07:12] For [00:07:31] a few days, they stopped the largest empire of that era. But [00:07:35] in the end, they were defeated. The Iranians plundered [00:07:39] the temples, burned the shrines, and... [00:08:37] The Islamic Republic reacted to his statements. Mohammad [00:08:40] Baqer Qalibaf, the Speaker of the Parliament, the government's chief negotiator with the Trump [00:08:44] administration, said that America's confrontation with Iran will ultimately [00:08:48] lead to Washington's defeat and submission [00:08:51] to Tehran. Another senior [00:08:55] official who attacked the US Secretary of State is Mohsen [00:08:58] Rezaee, the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council. He also warned that America [00:09:02] will be the loser of the war [00:09:05] with Iran. Several newspapers have also dedicated their front pages to [00:09:09] this news. For example, a newspaper affiliated [00:09:13] with Azad University claimed that the current rulers of Iran, like [00:09:17] Shapur I Sasanian, who overcame Valerian, [00:09:20] the Roman Emperor, and his army, will force America [00:09:24] to surrender. The newspaper Vatan Emrooz [00:09:28] also described Marco Rubio's remarks as an attempt to persuade [00:09:31] Europeans to join America in the war with Iran. [00:09:35] The US Secretary of State's remarks have also received widespread reactions [00:09:38] on social media. Touraj [00:09:41] Daryaee, Director of the Samuel Jordan Center for Iranian Studies and [00:09:45] Professor of History and holder of the Chair in Iranian and Cultural Studies [00:09:49] at the University of California, Irvine, is with us. Mr. Daryaee, [00:09:52] as a historian and as someone who [00:09:55] has followed these issues very closely, [00:09:59] what was your impression when you heard Mr. [00:10:03] Rubio's remarks? I [00:10:05] would say that my impression is that [00:10:09] this is not the first time that politicians, [00:10:12] by using history, try to establish [00:10:15] a new perspective or their own [00:10:19] words. It is [00:10:21] clear that America and Israel are at war [00:10:25] with Iran. Mr. Rubio goes to the Acropolis, where Xerxes [00:10:28] and the Iranian army went and set it on fire. [00:10:32] In between this story, [00:10:36] they talk about the migration of Islam [00:10:39] and Iranians, and in fact, they tie these issues together [00:10:42] with ancient [00:10:44] history. [00:10:47] Can the Islamic Republic really be linked [00:10:51] to, for example, the empire [00:10:53] of that time in Iran, and then [00:10:57] infer that that same war, [00:11:01] that same good and evil, and [00:11:04] that same conflict [00:11:06] has been revived now? You really can't. These are [00:11:10] different periods of history. But we must [00:11:14] remember that in the eyes of Westerners, this [00:11:17] East-centric or Orientalist view has [00:11:20] always existed, meaning it imagines the East [00:11:25] as a society that never changes, that it is the same as it was. [00:11:29] And when you have this Orientalist view, [00:11:32] you can easily misuse past history [00:11:36] for your own purposes. [00:11:40] Mr. Rubio also said elsewhere that [00:11:43] Western civilization is on the verge of destruction [00:11:47] and we must come to our senses. [00:11:50] What does this mean? Does he mean that, for example, Iran [00:11:53] is part of that Eastern civilization [00:11:57] that has risen again and may, for example, [00:12:01] destroy the foundations of the new civilization? [00:12:04] Yes, I think there are several issues. One is the issue [00:12:07] of non-European migration to [00:12:10] Europe and now to America. This is one [00:12:13] issue, but besides that, it's not without reason that they went to [00:12:17] the Acropolis, where the Iranians took it [00:12:21] and conquered it 480 BC, because the Ionians [00:12:25] in 498 BC [00:12:28] had come and burned the capital of the satrapy of Sardis in Lydia, [00:12:31] Iran. He [00:12:34] is saying, look at what the Iranians did to our civilization at that time. [00:12:38] We are still standing against them, [00:12:41] and we must defend ourselves. The only [00:12:45] difference is that Iran does not have military bases in Europe. It is [00:12:48] the Americans who have military bases in the Middle East. [00:12:51] Mr. Daryaee, some time ago, [00:12:55] the theory of the clash of civilizations was put forward and caused a lot of debate. [00:12:59] Then, the reformist president of Iran [00:13:03] proposed the dialogue of civilizations at that time. Now, do you [00:13:06] see a trend again where some people want [00:13:10] to say that the clash of civilizations has taken on [00:13:13] a real aspect and [00:13:16] that this is truly a conflict and a civilizational [00:13:19] arena? I think we are exactly [00:13:23] witnessing the story or narrative of Mr. Samuel Huntington's [00:13:27] Clash of Civilizations [00:13:29] number two. This is what the US [00:13:33] government wants to show, [00:13:35] and it may largely succeed [00:13:39] due to the existing issues. It should only [00:13:43] be mentioned here as a historian that the Achaemenid [00:13:47] Empire was a global empire, not [00:13:50] only Eastern, but also Western, perhaps. [00:13:53] And these are the Greek city-states that are facing [00:13:57] a global empire. The issue of East and West [00:14:00] did not exist in the past, and [00:14:03] this is because of Mr. Rubio's ignorance [00:14:07] or misunderstanding that he is using a different [00:14:10] narrative. You said Mr. Rubio's ignorance. In fact, this [00:14:14] has deeply affected Iranian nationalists, [00:14:18] those who care deeply about ancient Iran. And [00:14:21] isn't it possible that this will inadvertently [00:14:25] play into the hands of the Islamic Republic, [00:14:28] and the Iranian government will exploit [00:14:31] this kind of talk and this kind of interpretation? [00:14:35] Absolutely. This [00:14:37] mistaken interpretation by Mr. Rubio causes [00:14:41] Iranians to feel offended. The patriotism [00:14:44] and nationalism of the Islamic Republic, due to its own [00:14:48] positions, all of these come together, [00:14:51] meaning the signal is that, look, these Westerners, [00:14:55] at the end of the day, they see us as the same [00:14:59] old enemies. And then, how difficult [00:15:03] it is for those who are aware [00:15:06] of what the Islamic Republic does and the nature of that government, [00:15:09] and also have no problem, [00:15:12] for example, with Mr. Trump's government's [00:15:16] view of history, culture, and even the modern world. [00:15:20] Yes, two wrongs don't make a right, [00:15:23] and we, as those [00:15:27] who are just here, must be able to pay attention [00:15:30] to the danger and mistakes of everyone, and one must express [00:15:34] it. But now the issue is the existence [00:15:37] of Iran and that it has been bombed [00:15:40] for a year. And it makes it much [00:15:44] more difficult to say now in the midst [00:15:48] of this that [00:15:50] the sins of this side are like this and the sins of that side were more [00:15:53] or less. Thank you very much, Mr. Daryaee. Touraj Daryaee, Professor [00:15:57] of History and holder of the Chair of Iranian and Cultural Studies at the University [00:16:01] of California, Irvine, is with [00:16:04] us. The Houthis of Yemen have once again attacked the international airport [00:16:08] of the Saudi capital with missiles. Hospital sources say [00:16:11] that dozens of people were injured in this attack, and five Saudi [00:16:14] citizens were admitted to intensive care. [00:16:17] Etihad and Qatar Airways [00:16:20] cancelled their scheduled flights to Riyadh for Sunday and Monday. [00:16:24] Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia says it has bombed more than 130 Houthi [00:16:28] positions in Yemen. Saudi officials say [00:16:31] the goal is to eliminate the Houthis' ability [00:16:35] to conduct. [00:17:09] In this attack, which is the second attack on this airport in recent [00:17:12] weeks, several airlines, including Air India [00:17:16] and Lufthansa, have suspended their flights here. [00:17:20] In [00:17:23] response, Saudi Arabia launched widespread air strikes against [00:17:26] the Houthis. It says that in order to eliminate the threat [00:17:30] of their ballistic missiles, which were launched from about a thousand [00:17:33] kilometers away in the recent attack on Riyadh. Saudi Arabia [00:17:38] says [00:17:38] in [00:17:44] retaliation, it has bombed Houthi positions more than 130 [00:17:47] times in the past two days. These [00:17:51] images show some of these attacks in Sanaa and its surroundings, [00:17:54] which are controlled by the Houthis. Saudi Arabia says [00:17:58] it has also conducted widespread air strikes [00:18:01] in support of government ground forces, [00:18:04] which are reportedly trying to retake [00:18:08] coastal areas in the Red Sea. [00:18:09] In [00:18:12] Sanaa, the Houthis and their supporters emphasized [00:18:15] their continued path at a rally yesterday. [00:18:19] According to them, the escalation of war in response to [00:18:22] the escalation of war, [00:18:24] siege in response to siege. [00:18:28] This man says it doesn't matter how much Saudi Arabia [00:18:32] and its allies conspire against the Houthis. In the end, [00:18:35] they will fall. [00:18:40] Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council reviewed [00:18:43] developments in Yemen and Saudi Arabia yesterday without issuing [00:18:47] a statement or resolution. The UN Special Envoy for [00:18:50] Yemen said Yemen has now returned to a full-scale war. [00:18:54] The Saudi representative said this country will [00:18:58] not allow the terrorist Houthis, as he called them, to control [00:19:01] the Red Sea or Bab al-Mandab and threaten the region. [00:19:05] And the representative of the Yemeni government asked [00:19:09] the international community to stop arms smuggling to [00:19:12] the Houthis. [00:19:15] In the past hour, there have been reports of another attack on Riyadh [00:19:19] airport. An attack that reportedly left dozens injured [00:19:23] at Terminal 3 of King [00:19:26] Khalid International Airport. Flight tracking shows that [00:19:30] the airport was closed to flights after [00:19:33] this attack. A long night tonight in Riyadh. One [00:19:40] month after the arrest of Majid Saeedi, a photojournalist, [00:19:44] his whereabouts, reasons for arrest, and the arresting authority [00:19:47] have not been announced. Security forces arrested him at his home [00:19:51] a month ago and, before searching his house [00:19:54] and confiscating some of his personal belongings, took him to an [00:19:57] unknown location. Previously, the Iranian Photojournalists Association [00:20:01] had expressed concern about Mr. Saeedi's situation. [00:20:05] Majid Saeedi was arrested in 2021, when he [00:20:08] went to West Azerbaijan province to report [00:20:11] on the situation of Afghan refugees, [00:20:15] in Khoy city. Hossein Fatemi, a photojournalist from Washington, is with us. [00:20:19] Welcome to the program, Mr. Fatemi. Could you please tell [00:20:21] us more about Mr. Majid Saeedi [00:20:25] and his activities? Hello [00:20:28] and greetings. Majid is one of the bravest [00:20:31] Iranian photographers, and he was arrested [00:20:35] for the first time, I think, [00:20:39] in the Green Movement in 2009. After that, [00:20:42] he was banned from working, and I had the honor of traveling [00:20:45] with him for several years [00:20:48] to live and work in Afghanistan. I worked with Majid for three or four years there, [00:20:52] we lived together, and we shared a home. He is one of [00:20:55] Iran's well-known photographers who has worked [00:20:59] in the region and in various countries, including Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, [00:21:03] and Libya. That's why the news [00:21:06] of his arrest is very disturbing and shocking [00:21:10] for the Iranian photojournalism community, [00:21:13] because he has been working in Iran for years. He is a well-known photographer [00:21:17] and he does professional work. That's why I have [00:21:20] also worked with him and I know him personally, and the news about his [00:21:24] arrest these days has worried all of us. [00:21:27] Especially, I asked my dear friends and old colleagues, [00:21:31] and it seems that he had heart surgery [00:21:34] some time ago. That's why, honestly, it's very worrying in this [00:21:38] situation that they took him and there's no news of [00:21:42] him. And the only thing that I think [00:21:45] his family said is that he made a call some time ago [00:21:49] and asked for medicine [00:21:52] so he could use his medication. Is it known what [00:21:56] charges he was arrested [00:21:58] on? To be honest, I don't think [00:22:02] anyone knows yet, but photojournalists always [00:22:05] have this problem with the [00:22:09] government of the Islamic Republic. The truth is, this is not the first time. I [00:22:13] think the photojournalism community in Iran has only [00:22:16] once worked without stress, without fear. That was [00:22:20] I think the 1979 revolution. After the 1979 revolution, in all periods, [00:22:23] in the periods of the student movement, the Green Movement, [00:22:27] November 2019, the Woman, Life, Freedom movement, and the recent [00:22:30] December protests, our photographers have always been [00:22:34] harassed, harmed, and arrested. [00:22:38] That's why I think the Iranian photojournalism community has only once been able to work without stress [00:22:42] and fear in the last 40-50 years, and that was during the 1979 [00:22:45] revolution. What do you think is the reason? Why is photojournalism so sensitive? [00:22:56] In some movements and events, [00:22:58] the role of journalists is more prominent and important. [00:23:02] A journalist can open their window and look [00:23:05] at a movement, an event, a demonstration, and interview a few [00:23:09] people who pass by their door and write the news. But [00:23:13] a photojournalist must be there, one meter [00:23:16] from the event. Besides that, they are forced [00:23:20] to get close, and this is their professional duty, and this is the kind of work [00:23:24] they have to do. One thing that photojournalists are always [00:23:26] afraid of by all governments in the world, not [00:23:30] just Iran, is that photojournalism is the eye of society [00:23:33] and visual history. After all, [00:23:36] we know history through images, [00:23:39] don't we? If you want to talk to a generation that was [00:23:43] in the streets during the Woman, Life, Freedom movement, about the [00:23:47] Green Movement, you can tell them with all [00:23:50] the articles you have written. But it is the image that can show [00:23:53] that crowd, or regarding the Woman, Life, Freedom movement [00:23:57] and all the events. That's why the Islamic Republic is afraid of the photojournalism [00:24:01] community, because if a crime, a massacre [00:24:04] happens, it is this photojournalist who records these things for history [00:24:08] and leaves them in history. Besides this [00:24:11] historical event, they can make it viral in the world right then [00:24:15] and show it to the world. That's why in [00:24:18] countries where there is a dictatorship, the government is [00:24:21] semi-dictatorial, and the government environment is not democratic, [00:24:25] they are always afraid of photojournalism, because it is the eye of society and the eye [00:24:29] of the people that sees and shows. Mr. Fatemi, very briefly, [00:24:32] what charges was Mr. Saeedi facing in previous [00:24:36] arrests? [00:24:38] I [00:24:40] think the charges are always the same when photojournalists are arrested. [00:24:44] The first one is that you [00:24:47] have made a photo viral. I haven't [00:24:50] seen many charges, big charges, [00:24:54] or strange charges against the Iranian photojournalism [00:24:56] community. It has always been about why these photos [00:25:00] from your computer, from your camera, have gone out [00:25:04] and been seen in the world. And well, [00:25:07] this is actually the photojournalist's mission, [00:25:10] to show the photo they have taken to the world, [00:25:14] and then to their own society. That's why I don't think [00:25:17] my colleagues in the last 40 years, 30-40 years, have done [00:25:21] anything wrong beyond their mission. [00:25:24] Their duty is just like all people who [00:25:28] live in society, to show the pictures that are taken [00:25:32] to the world and record [00:25:35] them for history. Thank you, Mr. Fatemi. Hossein Fatemi, photojournalist from [00:25:38] Washington, with [00:25:41] us. We conclude the program with a news item related to the world of technology. [00:25:44] Philadelphia police in the state of [00:25:47] Pennsylvania, USA, say that an artificial intelligence model from [00:25:50] Anthropic company sent forged documents through the police [00:25:54] website regarding an unsolved murder case. [00:25:57] This happened three months ago, and the AI [00:26:00] introduced itself as [00:26:02] someone who had information about the case. [00:26:06] had been informed of the matter [00:26:09] a few weeks before this. Yesterday, [00:26:12] Anthropic company confirmed that its AI [00:26:15] agents were acting against the company's wishes [00:26:18] and had tried to access several [00:26:21] local government systems. Thank [00:26:24] you. [00:30:25] Headlines. [00:30:25] Despite [00:30:30] renewed Saudi air strikes and intensified fighting around [00:30:33] the Bab al-Mandab strait, the Houthis of Yemen once again targeted [00:30:37] Riyadh International Airport. One [00:30:41] day after the assassination of the Deputy Police Chief of Sistan and Baluchestan, a group [00:30:45] called the Popular Front for Struggle claimed [00:30:48] responsibility. Lowering energy prices at the cost [00:30:52] of concessions to the Kremlin. Zelensky says lifting [00:30:55] the ban on Russian gas sales prolongs the war. Trump says [00:30:59] Ukraine needs new leadership for peace.