BBCPERSIAN — broadcast
20261012 153000 UTC
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[00:00:00] nurses, the medications,
[00:00:21] Headline News:
[00:00:24] Most inbound and outbound flights to Saudi Arabia
[00:00:28] cancelled due to continued Houthi attacks. A number of major oil companies
[00:00:31] are not attending the Riyadh
[00:00:33] energy conference.
[00:00:40] Russia's attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure continue
[00:00:44] despite claims of an agreement. Zelenskyy says an energy ceasefire
[00:00:47] would be a step towards peace if Washington guarantees
[00:00:51] Moscow's commitment. The global economy
[00:00:54] struggles with the growth of artificial intelligence and
[00:00:58] the energy crisis. Financial policymakers
[00:01:00] are reviewing the situation at their annual meeting
[00:01:03] in Thailand. And the use of gene editing
[00:01:07] to treat hereditary blood diseases in children in Britain.
[00:01:29] Hello to you. Welcome to another news segment from BBC
[00:01:32] Persian Television. I am Majid Afshar. With the continuation of Houthi
[00:01:36] attacks on Saudi Arabia, flights across the country have faced
[00:01:40] widespread disruption. Riyadh International Airport
[00:01:43] has almost suspended all its flights.
[00:01:47] The airport was targeted by deadly Houthi attacks
[00:01:51] yesterday for the second consecutive day. Saudi Arabia has promised a
[00:01:54] serious response to these attacks. Inside Yemen, clashes between
[00:01:58] government forces, supported by Saudi Arabia, have focused on
[00:02:02] the southern province of Taiz. Baran Abbasi with more
[00:02:05] details. New images of the moment
[00:02:08] a missile hit Riyadh International Airport
[00:02:11] (Saturday). The deadliest attack on Saudi
[00:02:14] soil in over a decade. Attacks that Yemen's Houthis,
[00:02:18] an Iranian-backed militia group, have claimed
[00:02:21] responsibility for. Attacks that have not
[00:02:24] stopped. For the second time in two days,
[00:02:28] another deadly attack on the same airport. Sunday
[00:02:32] afternoon. About 10 kilometers away, at
[00:02:35] the Riyadh energy conference, an event that executives of some
[00:02:39] major companies were absent from. However, Saudi Arabia
[00:02:42] insisted on holding it despite security
[00:02:46] threats.
[00:02:50] I thank everyone who traveled to Riyadh because you know
[00:02:53] this country is safe and fully guarantees your security. Your
[00:02:57] presence is important. The more difficult
[00:03:00] the situation, the more important dialogue becomes.
[00:03:04] At the same time, a promise to respond to Houthi attacks
[00:03:07] and the continuation of the path Saudi Arabia has taken
[00:03:10] for economic progress.
[00:03:12] The events of recent weeks are serious, and our response
[00:03:16] must be equally serious. In the meantime, we must focus
[00:03:20] on the future. The implementation of Vision 2030 must continue.
[00:03:23] Investment must also
[00:03:25] continue.
[00:03:30] The official Yemeni government, supported by Saudi Arabia,
[00:03:34] has released these images. It says they show the bombing
[00:03:38] of Houthi positions in Taiz, a city that has been besieged
[00:03:42] by this militia group. In a continuing effort by the
[00:03:45] Houthis to push back government forces and control
[00:03:49] more areas of Yemen. The governor of Taiz says
[00:03:52] fuel and medicine are running out and has warned of
[00:03:56] a potential humanitarian catastrophe.
[00:04:01] The Yemeni government is also trying to expel the Houthis
[00:04:05] from the coastal cities of the Bab al-Mandab Strait,
[00:04:08] which fell to the group
[00:04:10] in recent weeks.
[00:04:13] On the other hand, the Houthis say the release of these
[00:04:17] images forced government forces to retreat.
[00:04:20] Iran, which provides financial and
[00:04:24] military support to the Houthis, has expressed concern over
[00:04:27] the escalation of conflict between this group and Saudi Arabia.
[00:04:30] We have declared our readiness to use our good
[00:04:34] offices to help
[00:04:38] facilitate dialogue between the parties.
[00:04:40] We believe that the continuation
[00:04:43] and escalation of tension will only
[00:04:47] benefit
[00:04:50] the Zionist regime in the
[00:04:51] region.
[00:04:54] From Saudi Arabia's perspective, however, these scenes at Riyadh
[00:04:58] airport are a sign of the fulfillment of the same threat
[00:05:01] that Iran had previously raised. That its response
[00:05:05] to a US military action would be to destabilize the
[00:05:09] entire region and raise the cost of war for Washington's allies.
[00:05:19] Baran Abbasi. Give us a new picture
[00:05:23] of what is currently happening in Saudi Arabia
[00:05:27] regarding the conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis.
[00:05:30] What new news do we have?
[00:05:34] As you mentioned, Majid, Riyadh International Airport,
[00:05:37] the main airport of Saudi Arabia, has announced
[00:05:40] that it will be closed for the next few days,
[00:05:44] at least until October 17th.
[00:05:48] And it's not just this airport that's been affected.
[00:05:51] Other airports have also been affected, but this airport
[00:05:55] specifically has announced that it has suspended
[00:05:58] all flights. Western countries, especially
[00:06:02] the US and UK, have warned their citizens
[00:06:05] to either avoid using Saudi Arabian
[00:06:08] airports or to do so with extreme caution and only for
[00:06:13] absolutely essential
[00:06:15] travel. These attacks by the Houthis
[00:06:19] on Saudi Arabia were almost unexpected,
[00:06:23] especially the simultaneous targeting of multiple
[00:06:26] airports, some of which were very busy.
[00:06:30] However, there's a growing perception
[00:06:33] that beyond the conflict between Saudi Arabia
[00:06:37] and the Houthis, Iran is essentially
[00:06:41] showcasing a small model of what could await
[00:06:44] the region's countries if another stage of
[00:06:47] a US-Israeli war against Iran
[00:06:51] begins, and its infrastructure,
[00:06:54] especially civilian airports, are targeted.
[00:06:58] This is the situation we are currently
[00:07:01] seeing in Saudi Arabia, which is truly
[00:07:05] unprecedented. These unprecedented
[00:07:08] images from the airports
[00:07:13] seem to facilitate the formation of a consensus
[00:07:16] غیر نظامی ایران هدف قرار بگیرند که این
[00:07:20] شرایتی هست که ما الان در عربستان می بینیم که واقعاً
[00:07:23] صحنه هاییست بی سابقه دقیقاً این
[00:07:26] which Saudi Arabia
[00:07:30] is also pursuing, especially
[00:07:33] to further involve countries like Pakistan
[00:07:37] and Turkey in this situation.
[00:07:41] Exactly. But each of these countries,
[00:07:45] Majid, has its own
[00:07:46] calculations.
[00:07:51] Up to this point, Turkey and Pakistan,
[00:07:54] who signed the Mecca agreement,
[00:07:58] the Mecca security agreement with Saudi Arabia,
[00:08:02] have implicitly indicated that they will support
[00:08:05] Saudi Arabia behind the scenes.
[00:08:08] They have also issued very strong statements
[00:08:12] in support of Saudi Arabia and condemning
[00:08:16] these attacks. However, there is currently
[00:08:19] no sign that they will explicitly
[00:08:23] enter the war, although there were reports
[00:08:26] that Pakistan carried out a few
[00:08:29] airstrikes. But these were
[00:08:33] limited attacks. Against the Houthis.
[00:08:36] It seems that if the situation progresses
[00:08:40] beyond this stage, it will be more difficult
[00:08:42] for these countries to remain neutral.
[00:08:46] After all, they have signed
[00:08:49] an agreement. But alongside that,
[00:08:53] we are now witnessing a larger picture,
[00:08:56] which is that it seems that another stage
[00:09:00] of a larger crisis is unfolding in
[00:09:03] the region, and the focus is on
[00:09:07] Iran, and whether Israel and the US
[00:09:10] will launch more extensive attacks against
[00:09:14] Iran, considering the reports that
[00:09:17] Israeli fighter jets were maneuvering over
[00:09:21] Iraq with their refuelers in the
[00:09:25] past two days. And this self-restraint,
[00:09:28] let's call it self-restraint,
[00:09:31] by the US, does not seem unrelated
[00:09:35] to these circumstances, because their focus
[00:09:38] is on a larger picture. In this situation,
[00:09:41] if they do not make that decision,
[00:09:45] they will probably join Saudi Arabia
[00:09:48] in expanding attacks against the Houthis,
[00:09:51] which, of course, there are many
[00:09:54] questions about. Attacks against
[00:09:58] the Houthis have continued for years,
[00:10:01] but ultimately, the Houthis have been
[00:10:05] able to continue their military activities
[00:10:08] against Saudi Arabia and the Saudi-backed
[00:10:11] government. Thank you, Nafiseh. Nafiseh Kouhi,
[00:10:15] our senior Middle East correspondent.
[00:10:18] Let's continue the program with two short news
[00:10:21] items. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham says it is
[00:10:25] highly likely that the recent security incident near Fairford
[00:10:29] Airbase was directed by Iran. Speaking in the British Parliament,
[00:10:33] he said he was almost certain that the Revolutionary
[00:10:36] Guard was involved. Mr. Burnham emphasized that
[00:10:40] to limit Tehran's capabilities, Britain will impose more sanctions
[00:10:44] against Iran. In the Fairford base incident, seven people,
[00:10:47] including an Iranian-British citizen, were arrested
[00:10:51] and released on bail. Following the incident,
[00:10:54] the US moved all its bombers from the base.
[00:10:57] Iran's judiciary
[00:11:01] says it has executed one person for cooperating
[00:11:04] with Jaish al-Adl. Iran's security and judicial
[00:11:08] bodies claim that Omar Darastaran was providing
[00:11:11] ammunition and weapons to this Baloch armed
[00:11:14] movement and identifying military bases. In separate
[00:11:18] news, Iranian police announced that they have arrested
[00:11:21] members of a team linked to recent attacks on
[00:11:25] police stations in Sistan and Baluchestan
[00:11:27] province.
[00:11:32] Despite Donald Trump's statements about stopping
[00:11:35] mutual attacks by Russia and Ukraine on each other's
[00:11:39] energy infrastructure, Kyiv says the Kremlin has continued
[00:11:42] its attacks. According to Ukraine's oil and gas
[00:11:46] company, Russia's nightly attacks on gas production
[00:11:50] facilities in Kharkiv have caused fires and damage to equipment.
[00:11:53] Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized that
[00:11:57] the US should pressure Russia, not reduce
[00:12:00] its sanctions and give concessions to Moscow. He said
[00:12:04] an energy ceasefire could be a step towards ending the
[00:12:07] war, but only if the US ensures Russia will abide
[00:12:10] by it. Amir Chahaki, international relations
[00:12:14] analyst, is with us. Mr. Chahaki, the current
[00:12:17] situation does not seem to be what Mr. Trump
[00:12:20] was aiming for. Despite the announced
[00:12:23] ceasefire, both sides
[00:12:34] issue is that both Trump and Putin, in my opinion,
[00:12:38] are deliberately offering a strange interpretation
[00:12:41] of this energy ceasefire. Look, Ukraine has managed
[00:12:44] to gain the upper hand with its own drones
[00:12:47] and attack Russian fuel refineries, but Russia
[00:12:51] has been attacking drinking water infrastructure
[00:12:55] and power plants for years. It's as if they're playing
[00:12:58] with words. Russia says it won't attack Ukrainian
[00:13:01] refineries, but the issue is not equivalent.
[00:13:05] Ukraine's main concern is its power plants
[00:13:08] before winter. That's why Zelenskyy suggests
[00:13:11] it should be explicitly stated: "no attacks
[00:13:15] on energy infrastructure," but Trump deliberately
[00:13:18] emphasizes refineries. In my opinion, the honest
[00:13:22] one in this scene is Zelenskyy, and he can avoid attacking
[00:13:25] refineries if Russia doesn't attack Ukraine's
[00:13:28] power plants and energy infrastructure. But we see
[00:13:32] that Ukraine is also carrying out attacks against
[00:13:35] Russia. Mr. Trump seemed to be trying
[00:13:39] to address his own domestic problems, namely the rising
[00:13:43] price of diesel and so on, by preventing its
[00:13:46] further increase through this.
[00:13:48] But if both sides, if you think
[00:13:52] the Russian side, as you yourself say, in coordination
[00:13:56] with Mr. Trump, accepts, does the Ukrainian
[00:13:59] side have any choice but to accept?
[00:14:02] Ukraine is ready to accept, Mr. Afshar, because
[00:14:06] for a long time, Russia has not been able
[00:14:09] to advance on the fronts. 20% of Donbas
[00:14:13] is completely under Ukrainian control, for over two and a half
[00:14:17] years. So Ukraine's big problem isn't that it doesn't want
[00:14:20] to comply, its big problem is that Russia is attacking
[00:14:24] the infrastructure that supplies electricity and energy,
[00:14:27] and it pretends it's not a refinery, but an energy facility.
[00:14:31] If the winter temperatures reach minus 10 degrees
[00:14:34] in Ukraine, and if Ukraine's power plants
[00:14:38] go offline at that temperature, there will be no water in homes,
[00:14:42] and Putin is doing this deliberately. But in my
[00:14:45] opinion, regarding the non-attack on Ukraine's
[00:14:49] refineries, Ukraine is ready if Russia complies.
[00:14:53] Also, for the election
[00:14:56] of a new president, which should be at least 60 days.
[00:14:59] In these two cases, Kyiv is honestly ready to comply.
[00:15:03] Apparently, the Russian side does not accept the election.
[00:15:07] They only said they are willing not to attack on election
[00:15:10] day. Right. Yes, look, let me say this:
[00:15:13] when Zelenskyy says it should be 60
[00:15:16] days, why is he saying this? Because
[00:15:19] the law of military governance,
[00:15:23] the martial law in Ukraine, helps with operations
[00:15:26] on the front. If Zelenskyy wants to lift martial
[00:15:30] law, the fronts will practically be damaged.
[00:15:33] That's why he says to Putin's Kremlin, "I won't attack
[00:15:41] on election day." Well, local elections
[00:15:44] are not possible. What Zelenskyy is proposing is realistic;
[00:15:48] there should be a ceasefire for at least 60 days.
[00:15:51] Look, every three months, for example, October 31st of this
[00:15:55] year, in three more months, martial law
[00:15:58] ends. If Zelenskyy extends it, then
[00:16:02] naturally, there cannot be elections for another
[00:16:06] 90 days. There have been
[00:16:08] no elections since March 31st. And if Putin insists
[00:16:12] on his position, in my opinion,
[00:16:15] Kyiv's drone attacks - let me say this -
[00:16:18] Ukraine's drones are Ukrainian-made, and
[00:16:22] the US cannot influence them in any way.
[00:16:25] Ukraine has the upper hand in the air
[00:16:28] behind Russia's front lines, thanks to its drones.
[00:16:32] Thank you, Amir Chahaki, international relations analyst.
[00:16:35] We are midway through the program.
[00:16:38] Let's take another look at the most important headlines.
[00:16:41] With the continuation of Houthi attacks on Saudi airports,
[00:16:45] representatives of some of the world's largest oil companies
[00:16:48] have withdrawn from the Riyadh energy conference.
[00:16:51] The Ukrainian President says that if the United States
[00:16:55] guarantees Russia's commitment, an energy ceasefire could
[00:16:58] lead to peace. In the continuation of this program:
[00:17:02] The use of gene editing
[00:17:03] to treat children's
[00:17:07] blood diseases in Britain. The International Monetary
[00:17:11] Fund says the rapid development of artificial
[00:17:15] intelligence is like a slow tsunami that integrates,
[00:17:18] degrades, or completely eliminates half of the jobs
[00:17:22] worldwide. It made these remarks at the annual
[00:17:26] joint meeting of this institution and the World
[00:17:30] Bank in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand. A meeting
[00:17:33] attended by many finance ministers and central
[00:17:36] bank governors from various countries. Kristalina
[00:17:40] Georgieva said that extensive investment
[00:17:44] in artificial intelligence has led to continued global
[00:17:47] economic growth despite
[00:17:51] the energy crisis resulting from the war in Ukraine
[00:17:55] and also in Iran. Behrang Tajdin reports.
[00:17:59] There isn't a week that goes by without a new warning
[00:18:02] about the dangers of this technology. But
[00:18:05] the rapid pace of development
[00:18:16] and advancement of artificial intelligence has already
[00:18:19] had an impact globally. The IMF's point is that
[00:18:23] very powerful forces are putting pressure on the
[00:18:26] global economy and pulling it in two different directions.
[00:18:29] Artificial intelligence is accelerating growth. We see
[00:18:32] this in US company investments, stock prices,
[00:18:35] and increased consumer demand. On the other hand,
[00:18:39] energy markets are acting as a brake. High oil
[00:18:41] and gas prices are causing
[00:18:44] inflation and putting pressure on household
[00:18:47] budgets. The escalation of conflicts between Yemen's
[00:18:51] Houthis and Saudi Arabia and disruption to shipping
[00:18:55] in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, along with the ongoing war in
[00:18:58] Iran and the difficulty of passing through the Strait of
[00:19:01] Hormuz, have caused Brent crude oil prices, a global
[00:19:05] market indicator, to remain above $100 per barrel for
[00:19:09] more than a month. With rising prices of products
[00:19:12] like diesel, the US President announced on Friday that an
[00:19:15] agreement had been reached with Russia to inject 300,000
[00:19:19] tons of diesel into the global market. We still
[00:19:23] have a very tense situation. The crude oil market is
[00:19:27] calmer than the products market because we are facing
[00:19:30] a shortage of efficient refineries outside the
[00:19:34] Strait of Hormuz. Many Asian refineries are also
[00:19:38] not receiving enough crude oil. But when you look
[00:19:42] at crude oil prices, for example Brent, remember
[00:19:45] that this price does not include transportation
[00:19:48] costs, which have skyrocketed, and you probably need to
[00:19:52] add about $40 per barrel for shipping,
[00:19:55] insurance, and so on. Beyond the energy crisis,
[00:19:58] the concern of global economic leaders at the
[00:20:02] annual joint meeting of the World Bank
[00:20:04] and the International
[00:20:08] Monetary Fund is the impact of artificial intelligence
[00:20:12] on the labor market. It's a slow tsunami,
[00:20:16] but a tsunami nonetheless. Our prediction is that
[00:20:18] gradually 40% of jobs worldwide will be integrated,
[00:20:22] degraded, or eliminated. But the World Bank hopes
[00:20:25] that artificial intelligence will also benefit
[00:20:28] developing countries. When we get to middle-
[00:20:32] and low-income countries, the opportunity for AI
[00:20:35] to create jobs and increase
[00:20:40] productivity is huge. This technology is advancing
[00:20:43] so rapidly that all predictions about its
[00:20:47] impact in the near future may turn out to be
[00:20:50] incorrect, let alone in the decades
[00:20:53] to come.
[00:20:56] Behrang Tajdin, BBC
[00:20:57] News.
[00:21:01] Data centers are technology infrastructures on which
[00:21:05] the rapid growth of artificial intelligence depends. That's
[00:21:08] why Donald Trump in the US supports their expansion
[00:21:12] in his competition with China in the field of AI.
[00:21:16] But not everyone in the US agrees with him, including
[00:21:20] the Arizona Attorney General, who has called
[00:21:23] for a halt to new permits for the development of
[00:21:26] these centers. Such disagreements have made data centers
[00:21:30] a focal point of contention in the congressional
[00:21:32] midterm elections. Let's
[00:21:37] watch Shima Khalil's report. A wave of opposition
[00:21:40] to the expansion of data centers is forming across
[00:21:43] the United States. Here in Arizona, protesters
[00:21:47] are trying to stop center development plans.
[00:21:50] Technology's goal is to make things better, not to fill
[00:21:53] the ground with chips that quickly lose their value
[00:21:57] and heat up neighborhoods. We can't have another data
[00:22:00] center. We don't have enough water. US President Donald
[00:22:04] Trump says slowing down the development of this
[00:22:07] technology means ceding the competitive field to China.
[00:22:11] When you look at this neighborhood from a distance,
[00:22:15] it looks like an ordinary suburban neighborhood, but
[00:22:18] the situation changes when you realize the massive
[00:22:22] data centers that are expanding around it.
[00:22:25] Here in Arizona, where people are already grappling
[00:22:29] with extreme heat and drought,
[00:22:33] concerns about the impact of the center have grown:
[00:22:37] increased pressure on the power grid and
[00:22:41] increased consumption of water resources that
[00:22:44] are already insufficient.
[00:22:46] We love our home,
[00:24:20] but if we had known they were going to build
[00:24:23] this center here, we would never have
[00:24:27] bought this house. This could be the difference
[00:24:30] between a comfortable,
[00:24:33] pleasant life and a life with the worry
[00:24:36] of what kind of noise will be made and
[00:24:40] what will happen next. are facing, which
[00:24:43] affects their decisions. One of these issues
[00:24:47] is the expansion of artificial intelligence, which changes
[00:25:20] their lives and the outlook of their surroundings.
[00:25:22] Shaheem Khalil, BBC News, Arizona. A teenage
[00:25:26] girl from Coventry in the south of England,
[00:25:30] who suffers from thalassemia, says her life has been
[00:25:33] transformed thanks to a pioneering gene-editing
[00:25:37] procedure. Thalassemia patients require regular
[00:25:41] blood transfusions, often have low energy,
[00:25:44] and are frequently homebound, and even
[00:25:47] the Children's Hospital Birmingham transformed
[00:25:51] her life. Now everything is much
[00:25:55] easier for me. I always have energy
[00:25:57] to do different things. I tell my mom, "Let's go
[00:26:01] out." Before, I would
[00:26:13] just sleep. I was always tired. This treatment method is used
[00:26:16] for people who suffer from thalassemia or
[00:26:20] sickle cell anemia. This method is only
[00:26:24] offered in three children's hospitals across the
[00:26:26] country, and Vivian from Ontario was one of
[00:26:30] the first to receive
[00:26:35] this treatment last year. Now she is well aware
[00:26:38] of its effects and has started studying health
[00:26:42] and social care at college. She dreams of becoming
[00:26:46] a nurse. Now I have more choices.
[00:26:50] Before, I couldn't do many of the things that
[00:26:53] other kids did. The cells undergo genetic editing
[00:26:57] and are returned to her body a few months
[00:27:00] later. This eliminates the symptoms of the disease.
[00:27:29] The disease is not completely cured, but the factors that
[00:27:35] cause problems are eliminated. We find the stem cells
[00:27:38] and send them to a manufacturing laboratory for editing.
[00:27:42] In this process, the DNA is changed. As a result,
[00:27:45] these cells produce more fetal hemoglobin, or neonatal
[00:27:48] hemoglobin. In a patient with thalassemia, this
[00:27:52] means they no longer need blood transfusions. In a patient with
[00:27:56] sickle cell anemia, the level of fetal hemoglobin
[00:28:00] increases, which counteracts