BBCPERSIAN — broadcast
20261012 133000 UTC
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[00:00:22] Headlines news
[00:00:24] Cancellation of most incoming and outgoing flights
[00:00:27] to Saudi Arabia continues.
[00:00:31] A number of large oil companies announced
[00:00:34] they would not attend the Riyadh energy
[00:00:36] conference.
[00:00:45] Russia's continued attacks on Ukraine's energy facilities despite
[00:00:48] claims of an agreement, Zelensky says: If
[00:00:51] Washington guarantees Moscow's adherence, an energy
[00:00:55] ceasefire will be a step towards peace.
[00:00:57] will be.
[00:01:02] Artificial intelligence and the energy crisis Financial policymakers at
[00:01:06] their annual meeting in Thailand are reviewing the situation
[00:01:09] and
[00:01:11] using gene editing for the treatment of
[00:01:14] children's hereditary blood diseases in Britain.
[00:01:35] Hello, and welcome to another news segment from BBC Persian.
[00:01:39] I'm Majid Afshar. With the continued attacks
[00:01:42] by the Houthis on Saudi Arabia, flights
[00:01:46] across the country have faced widespread disruptions.
[00:01:49] Riyadh International Airport has almost all its flights
[00:01:53] stopped. Yesterday, the airport was
[00:01:56] targeted for the second consecutive day.
[00:02:00] It was a deadly attack by Iranian-backed Houthis. Saudi Arabia
[00:02:03] has promised a serious response. Inside Yemen,
[00:02:06] fighting between government forces backed by
[00:02:10] Saudi Arabia is concentrated on the southern province
[00:02:13] of Taiz. Baran Abbasi reports.
[00:02:17] New images of the moment a missile hit
[00:02:20] Riyadh International Airport on Saturday.
[00:02:23] The deadliest attack on Saudi territory in over a
[00:02:26] decade. Attacks that the Yemeni Houthis, the
[00:02:30] Iranian-backed militant group, have claimed responsibility
[00:02:33] for. Attacks that have not stopped.
[00:02:36] For the second time in two days, another deadly
[00:02:39] attack on the same airport on Sunday
[00:02:42] afternoon. About 10 kilometers away,
[00:02:46] the Riyadh energy conference, an event from which some
[00:02:49] major company executives were absent. Saudi Arabia, however,
[00:02:53] insisted on holding it despite security threats.
[00:02:56] has been.
[00:03:56] Government forces and control more areas of Yemen.
[00:04:30] They were doing.
[00:04:32] Iran, which financially and militarily supports the Houthis,
[00:04:36] has expressed concern about the escalation of conflict
[00:04:39] between the group and Saudi Arabia.
[00:04:41] We announced our readiness
[00:04:44] to use our good offices to help
[00:04:47] facilitate dialogue between the parties. We believe
[00:04:51] that the continuation and escalation of
[00:04:55] tension will only
[00:04:57] benefit
[00:04:59] the Zionist regime in the region.
[00:05:02] will be.
[00:05:04] From Saudi Arabia's perspective, however, these scenes at Riyadh airport
[00:05:08] are a sign of the realization of the very threat that
[00:05:12] That its response to American military action would be to destabilize
[00:05:16] the entire region and raise the cost of war
[00:05:19] for Washington's allies. would be. Baran Abbasi
[00:05:23] BBC. Nafiseh Kouneh, our senior
[00:05:25] correspondent for Middle East affairs,
[00:05:28] is with us. Nafiseh, over the past few days,
[00:05:32] we have repeatedly heard that Houthi positions have been heavily
[00:05:35] attacked, but they can still attack Saudi
[00:05:39] airports in particular. How did this happen?
[00:05:46] Majid, this issue has indeed sparked a lot of debate
[00:05:50] regarding Saudi Arabia's military capabilities, which has
[00:05:53] one of the most, almost one could say,
[00:05:57] advanced armies, especially in the region,
[00:06:00] given the assistance it has received from the US
[00:06:04] and its own investments in the military. Nevertheless,
[00:06:08] several points arise: the Houthis are using
[00:06:11] a strategy
[00:06:14] that operates on multiple layers in their attacks. That is,
[00:06:18] they use both drones
[00:06:21] and missiles simultaneously. This can
[00:06:25] totally confuse air defense systems
[00:06:28] in a way. When the US Navy
[00:06:32] fleet returned from the Red Sea during the
[00:06:36] Gaza war, and we joined them to prepare a report,
[00:06:40] we asked the American commanders
[00:06:43] why, despite the large number of forces
[00:06:47] in the Red Sea, they still couldn't stop
[00:06:50] Houthi attacks. This was one of the explanations
[00:06:54] the American commanders gave us, that after all,
[00:06:57] defensive radar systems and
[00:07:00] anti-aircraft systems can only operate
[00:07:04] to a certain extent when a large number of
[00:07:07] aircraft are moving towards them, which makes this difficult.
[00:07:11] On the other hand, reports have again been published,
[00:07:15] especially in American media, specifically stating
[00:07:19] that Saudi Arabia is also facing a shortage of
[00:07:23] ammunition for its air defense system, given
[00:07:26] that during the peak of the war between
[00:07:30] the US and Israel with Iran, areas of
[00:07:34] Saudi Arabia were also targeted by drone attacks,
[00:07:37] whether from Iran or from Arab
[00:07:40] Iraq, and also from
[00:07:43] the Houthis, in a way that has apparently exhausted
[00:07:46] this air defense system, and the US
[00:07:50] has apparently not yet been able to fully
[00:07:53] replenish its reserves
[00:07:57] and should think about tomorrow as well,
[00:08:00] because it seems that another war is on the way.
[00:08:04] In addition to this, Saudi Arabia's vastness
[00:08:08] is because these radars have a certain power
[00:08:13] and a coverage area. No matter how
[00:08:16] many layers these radars have
[00:08:20] and how much they can stop missiles or
[00:08:24] drones, there are blind spots that,
[00:08:27] for example, we have also seen here
[00:08:31] that Hezbollah in Lebanon has repeatedly used
[00:08:34] these blind spots of Israel's defense system
[00:08:37] to send drones and missiles. At the height
[00:08:40] of the war, more
[00:08:44] We were seeing the position of flights in the
[00:08:47] skies of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia
[00:08:50] has promised a very tough response. What should
[00:08:54] we expect?
[00:08:55] Certainly, Saudi Arabia will increase
[00:09:00] its attacks. It should be noted that in
[00:09:04] the past few days, it has targeted Houthi
[00:09:07] positions dozens of times,
[00:09:10] which in some parts
[00:09:20] they do and then advance again, and it seems that these attacks will expand. But in addition to this, Saudi Arabia has repeatedly asked allied countries
[00:09:24] to intervene. But what we are
[00:09:28] seeing, Majid, in the region
[00:09:31] indicates that the US and Israel
[00:09:34] are specifically preparing for another war
[00:09:38] with Iran, given that reports have been
[00:09:42] published, which I was able to confirm,
[00:09:45] that Israeli fighter jets have been flying
[00:09:48] near the Iraq-Iran border in the past few days
[00:09:51] for maneuvers with their refuelers.
[00:09:54] On the other hand, the US seems to
[00:09:58] be considering a new strategy, and perhaps
[00:10:02] that's why it doesn't want to intervene in this
[00:10:05] way with the Houthis at this stage.
[00:10:09] In addition to this, we should also mention
[00:10:13] Turkey and Pakistan, as their warnings
[00:10:16] are also becoming more serious, although it doesn't seem
[00:10:20] that they want to directly intervene at this
[00:10:23] stage. However,
[00:10:25] from Saudi Arabia, they will provide support
[00:10:29] to Saudi Arabia, but as I said, because
[00:10:32] in the bigger picture, Saudi
[00:10:34] Arabia's biggest allies, especially the US,
[00:10:38] seem to have their focus elsewhere, and
[00:10:42] in addition, it seems that these attacks
[00:10:45] on Saudi airports by the Houthis
[00:10:49] are also a sign that Iran is also
[00:10:53] preparing for a war and is showing a small
[00:10:56] model to the region that if Iranian
[00:11:00] airports are targeted, the region could face
[00:11:04] such a situation, where large countries like Saudi
[00:11:07] Arabia in the region have been forced to cancel
[00:11:10] their flights. All of this has come together, and
[00:11:14] it seems that for now, everyone will somehow
[00:11:18] come to terms with Saudi Arabia's attacks, and
[00:11:21] Saudi Arabia itself must expand its attacks on the Houthis
[00:11:24] until it becomes clear what the next
[00:11:27] phase will be in the region. As we are hearing,
[00:11:31] everyone seems to be waiting for a phase of
[00:11:35] escalating war in the region. Thank you,
[00:11:38] Nafiseh. Nafiseh Konood, our senior correspondent
[00:11:40] for Middle East affairs.
[00:11:43] Despite Donald Trump's statements about Russia and
[00:11:46] Ukraine stopping reciprocal attacks on each other's energy
[00:11:50] infrastructure, Kyiv says the Kremlin has continued
[00:11:53] its attacks. According to
[00:11:57] the company, gas production in Kharkiv caused
[00:12:01] fires and equipment damage. Ukrainian President Volodymyr
[00:12:05] Zelensky has emphasized that the US should pressure
[00:12:09] Russia, not reduce its sanctions and
[00:12:12] give Moscow concessions. He said an energy
[00:12:16] ceasefire could be a step towards ending the war,
[00:12:20] but only if the US is sure Russia will abide by it.
[00:12:23] Ahmad Bakhshiteh, professor of political science at
[00:12:27] Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, is with us from Moscow.
[00:12:30] Mr. Bakhshiteh, when Mr. Trump announced two
[00:12:34] days ago that both sides had agreed to
[00:12:37] a ceasefire, both sides expressed surprise, and now
[00:12:41] we see that the attacks continue. What do you
[00:12:44] think is happening? With greetings and respect, before we
[00:12:48] address who violated this ceasefire, we should
[00:12:51] consider whether there was even an agreement
[00:12:55] with a clear definition, a specific timeframe,
[00:12:58] or a verification mechanism, so that we
[00:13:01] could talk about its violation or implementation.
[00:13:04] But it seems the situation became very serious
[00:13:07] when Mr. Trump announced the issue of
[00:13:11] allowing the sale of Russian diesel to the US,
[00:13:14] and immediately after this news,
[00:13:17] approximately an hour after this,
[00:13:20] there was an attack
[00:13:23] on the Rostov
[00:13:25] refinery in Russia from Ukraine, and
[00:13:29] after that, we witnessed Mr. Trump
[00:13:32] say that Russia and Ukraine had
[00:13:36] agreed on a reciprocal cessation of attacks
[00:13:39] on energy facilities. Well, after these
[00:13:42] statements, Mr. Zelensky gave an interview to Axios,
[00:13:46] expressed ignorance, said it was unexpected,
[00:13:49] and said that he didn't know when it would be implemented.
[00:13:53] Russia didn't say
[00:13:55] anything at all, didn't make any comments. But
[00:13:59] on the other hand, not only did we not
[00:14:02] see a ceasefire, for example, just yesterday,
[00:14:06] the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that 151
[00:14:09] drones attacked Russian territory,
[00:14:13] which was exactly after Mr. Trump's
[00:14:15] statements. And
[00:14:19] here, the point that in my opinion went even
[00:14:22] beyond yesterday was that it was not just
[00:14:39] to the north of Moscow and two other cities near Moscow, and it seems that the discussion has moved from a drone war
[00:14:43] even beyond refineries, power plants,
[00:14:47] and energy lines, and has
[00:14:50] specifically entered computational infrastructure
[00:14:53] and cloud services regarding artificial intelligence,
[00:14:56] which seems to be the current war,
[00:15:00] although Russia also responded towards Ukraine.
[00:15:03] But in my opinion, the war has entered
[00:15:06] a phase of deterrence through economic
[00:15:10] and digital damage. Each side is trying
[00:15:13] to inflict more damage on the other side
[00:15:17] to create a deterrence from that
[00:15:20] side. But this deterrence itself poses
[00:15:24] a threat to the other side, and it creates
[00:15:27] a bigger threat, and this is, in
[00:15:31] a sense, the security dilemma, isn't it?
[00:15:34] You keep creating threats to create deterrence, but that
[00:16:07] were hopeful that it would be possible to reach a short-term ceasefire
[00:16:11] and then an agreement? Look,
[00:16:14] naturally, Russia has more convergence with
[00:16:17] Mr. Trump. After Mr. Trump's statements,
[00:16:20] Mr. Kirill Dmitriev also showed on his
[00:16:23] social media page that he was pleased with this
[00:16:27] issue. But on the other hand, Mr. Trump explicitly
[00:16:31] announced that Kyiv is to blame for the
[00:16:34] continuation of this conflict and that Ukraine needs
[00:16:38] a new leader to be able to reach an agreement.
[00:16:42] He specifically said that Mr. Zelensky has repeatedly
[00:16:45] prevented the conflict from ending, and then
[00:16:49] Mr. Zelensky came and said, "Okay, we are ready to hold elections,"
[00:16:52] but he set a condition: that a two-month ceasefire
[00:16:56] be established, and then they would hold elections.
[00:17:00] Well, this first shows that the
[00:17:03] views of Russia and the US have almost converged
[00:17:06] that Mr. Zelensky, whose presidential term has almost
[00:17:10] ended for two years, and who has not held elections
[00:17:14] due to the war, must hold elections
[00:17:17] in Ukraine. And this is practically
[00:17:20] an agreement that has been reached between
[00:17:23] Russia and the US. But in the area of that,
[00:17:27] Moscow also responded, saying that they do not accept
[00:17:30] these two months, and they can only achieve a ceasefire
[00:17:34] on the day of the elections so that they can carry out that process.
[00:17:37] Well, Russia's view is that if it gives a two-month
[00:17:41] ceasefire to Ukraine, Ukraine might use it as
[00:17:44] a military tactic, not hold elections, and
[00:17:47] instead regroup and launch more serious attacks
[00:17:51] against Russia. Thank you, Ahmad Bakhshiteh, Professor of Political
[00:17:54] Science at the Peoples' Let's take another
[00:17:58] look at the most important headlines of this
[00:18:01] program. With the continuation of Houthi attacks on
[00:18:04] Saudi airports, representatives of several of the world's
[00:18:08] largest oil companies withdrew from attending
[00:18:11] the Riyadh energy conference. The President of
[00:18:14] Ukraine says that if the United States guarantees
[00:18:18] Russia's commitment, an energy ceasefire could lead
[00:18:21] to peace. In the rest of this program:
[00:18:25] The use of gene editing for the treatment
[00:18:28] of children's blood diseases
[00:18:29] in Britain.
[00:18:34] Finance ministers and central bank governors of countries
[00:18:37] gathered in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand,
[00:18:41] for the annual joint meeting of the World
[00:18:44] Bank and the International Monetary Fund. This gathering
[00:18:48] is taking place while the war in Iran and Ukraine
[00:18:52] has increased energy prices and interest rates, negatively
[00:18:55] affecting global economic growth. However, according
[00:18:59] to the IMF managing director, extensive investments
[00:19:02] in artificial intelligence are helping to maintain
[00:19:06] economic growth, although this technology
[00:19:12] there isn't a week that a new warning about the dangers of this
[00:19:16] technology is not given, but the acceleration
[00:19:19] in the development and advancement of artificial intelligence
[00:19:23] has already had an impact globally. This increase
[00:19:26] in speed is what has kept global economic growth
[00:19:30] at around 3%, despite the energy supply shock
[00:19:34] dragging us down. The International Monetary
[00:19:37] Fund says that very powerful
[00:19:40] forces are putting pressure on the global economy
[00:19:44] and pulling it in two different directions. Artificial intelligence
[00:19:47] is accelerating growth. We see this in US company
[00:19:51] investments, stock prices, and increased consumer demand.
[00:19:54] On the other hand, energy markets are acting
[00:19:58] as a brake. High oil and gas prices
[00:20:02] are causing inflation and putting pressure on household
[00:20:05] budgets. The escalation of conflicts between the Houthis
[00:20:08] of Yemen and Saudi Arabia, and disruptions
[00:20:12] to shipping in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait,
[00:20:15] coupled with the ongoing war in Iran and
[00:20:19] the difficulty of passing through the Strait of Hormuz,
[00:20:22] have caused Brent crude oil, the global market
[00:20:26] benchmark, to remain above $100 a barrel
[00:20:30] for more than a month. With the rise in
[00:20:33] prices of products such as gas oil, the
[00:20:36] US President announced on Friday that he has
[00:20:40] reached an agreement with Russia to inject 300,000
[00:20:44] tons of gas oil into the global market.
[00:20:48] We still have a very tense situation. The crude
[00:20:51] oil market is calmer than the product market
[00:20:55] because we are facing a shortage of efficient
[00:20:58] refineries outside the Strait of Hormuz. Many Asian
[00:21:01] refineries also do not receive enough crude oil.
[00:21:05] But when you look at the price of
[00:21:09] crude oil, for example, Brent, be aware that
[00:21:12] this price does not include transportation
[00:21:16] costs, an expense that has skyrocketed, and you probably need to add
[00:21:50] with middle and low income countries, the opportunity for
[00:21:53] artificial intelligence to create jobs and increase productivity
[00:21:56] is enormous. This technology is advancing
[00:22:00] at such a speed that all predictions
[00:22:03] about its impact in the near future may
[00:22:07] even turn out to be incorrect, let
[00:22:10] alone in the decades to come. Behrang Tajdin, BBC.
[00:22:13] Let's continue the program with a few
[00:22:17] short news items. Iran's judiciary says it has
[00:22:21] executed one person for cooperating with Jaish al-Adl.
[00:22:24] Iranian security and judicial authorities claim
[00:22:27] that Omar Darostaran was procuring ammunition and
[00:22:31] weapons for this Baloch armed movement and was identifying
[00:22:34] military bases. In separate news, Iranian police
[00:22:38] announced that they have arrested members of a team connected
[00:22:42] to recent attacks on law enforcement centers
[00:22:45] in Sistan and Baluchestan province. In southern France, two
[00:22:48] teachers were injured
[00:22:50] in a shooting at a school near Marseille. A 14-year-old
[00:22:54] student has been arrested for targeting them.
[00:22:57] It is said that the teachers' injuries are not serious.
[00:23:00] French media, quoting local officials, reported that
[00:23:04] the shooting was not related
[00:23:06] to the nationwide school
[00:23:08] protests. In a massive cyberattack in France,
[00:23:12] refrigerators in several large supermarket chains
[00:23:16] broke down, leading to the spoilage of fresh
[00:23:20] and frozen food. It is reported that hackers,
[00:23:24] by infiltrating the systems of a company that controls
[00:23:27] refrigerator software, put them in defrost mode.
[00:23:30] Approximately 200 branches of Intermarché supermarkets
[00:23:34] and a number of U stores were affected
[00:23:38] by these attacks. The damages from this action
[00:23:41] are estimated to reach millions of dollars. The
[00:23:45] head of Microsoft says that regulations in the
[00:23:49] field of artificial intelligence are currently even less
[00:23:52] than regulations for producing edible milk or washing
[00:23:56] machines. Brad Smith, in an interview with the
[00:23:59] BBC, called for more action to ensure that
[00:24:03] artificial intelligence remains in the service of humanity.
[00:24:06] He warned that if no action is taken
[00:24:09] now, it will be too
[00:24:13] late when future generations face the consequences of
[00:24:16] this technology. A teenage girl from Kent, in
[00:24:19] southern England, who suffers from the hereditary disease
[00:24:23] thalassemia, says her life has been transformed
[00:24:26] thanks to a pioneering gene-editing treatment. Thalassemia
[00:24:30] patients require regular blood transfusions, often
[00:24:33] lack energy, and are frequently confined to bed
[00:24:37] or even hospitalized. But Vian, who is 16
[00:24:41] years old, was treated with this method last
[00:24:44] year and is now
[00:24:47] well enough to start college. John Whitell
[00:25:20] reports. The treatment is used for people who
[00:25:24] suffer from thalassemia or sickle cell anemia.
[00:25:27] This method is only available in three children's
[00:25:30] hospitals across the country, and Vian from Coventry
[00:25:34] was one of the first to be treated this
[00:25:38] way last year. She is now feeling the
[00:25:41] effects well and has
[00:25:43] started studying health and social care at
[00:25:47] college. She dreams of becoming a nurse.
[00:25:50] Now I have more choices. Before, I couldn't do
[00:25:54] many of the things other children could. I
[00:25:58] would sit on the sidelines during breaks, even though
[00:26:01] I really love sports,
[00:26:32] can have. In patients with sickle cell anemia,
[00:26:36] the level of fetal hemoglobin increases, and
[00:26:40] this neutralizes the effects of sickle hemoglobin
[00:26:43] that cause problems. Joel, 14,
[00:26:46] from Bury, has just started his treatment.
[00:26:50] His stem cells are currently being collected for genetic
[00:26:54] editing. In six months, he will undergo
[00:26:58] chemotherapy, then the edited cells will be returned
[00:27:00] to his body.