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00:00:26The news was stolen, I want to say let's fight. That's it.
00:00:40Pezeshkian's defense of negotiations to achieve a desired agreement.
00:00:43Iran says the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz
00:00:46requires acceptance of its conditions
00:00:48by America.
00:00:51Reports of the US Army Chief of Staff's warning to Trump's advisors, Dunken,
00:00:54who said that a way out of the war with Iran must be
00:00:58found. The latest Houthi attacks in
00:01:02Yemen killed at least two civilians and eight soldiers of the government
00:01:06supported by Saudi Arabia. Environmental concerns
00:01:09due to the closure of the
00:01:12Strait of Hormuz. Accumulation of invasive
00:01:16aquatic species threatens shipping and
00:01:19marine ecosystems.
00:01:21Hello and welcome to this news section on
00:01:39Saturday, August 8, 2026, from BBC
00:01:42Persian with me, Faran Aasemi. While American officials say
00:01:46the agreement between Iran and Oman to reopen the Strait of Hormuz
00:01:49is close, Tehran emphasizes that the reopening of this waterway
00:01:53is conditional on the acceptance of its
00:01:56conditions by America. Iran's Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi,
00:02:00said that Tehran and Muscat have reached an agreement on a new
00:02:04shipping route, but the reopening of this
00:02:07waterway requires other conditions, including compensation
00:02:11for violations of the Islamabad memorandum
00:02:14by America. Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has defended
00:02:18negotiations with America to achieve a desired
00:02:21agreement. Kasra Naji reports.
00:02:24Images of American forces disembarking
00:02:28on an Iranian oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman.
00:02:31America says that if an agreement is reached between Iran and
00:02:35Oman, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz will end
00:02:38Iran's naval blockade. However, the Iranian
00:02:41side apparently is not in a hurry. The reopening
00:02:45of the Strait of Hormuz has its own specific mechanism
00:02:49and has no connection to the negotiations between Iran
00:02:52and Oman. The Strait of Hormuz, as
00:02:56the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, is actually subject to
00:03:00conditions that the Islamic Republic
00:03:04will open based on those conditions, and that
00:03:07also depends on the extent of America's
00:03:10acceptance of the conditions that the Islamic Republic of Iran
00:03:14sets. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz is something that
00:03:18hardliners in Iran welcome, despite the increased risk of
00:03:21renewed war, something that has largely tied the government's
00:03:25hands for negotiation and ending it.
00:03:28In order for us to be able to stay, we need to know
00:03:32what we are doing. When do we want to fight? When do we
00:03:35want to make peace? When do we want him
00:03:39to do his work and I do mine? No war,
00:03:42China and America are friends.
00:03:45America's biggest enemy is China.
00:03:47Why aren't they fighting? Look, these days, hardliners are openly
00:03:50criticizing the President and his decision
00:03:53to sign a memorandum to end the war with
00:03:57America. In the Strait,
00:04:11so to speak, we started a military confrontation with ships that had passed illegally.
00:04:14They come and announce that these are all traitors. They
00:04:18have not acted at all. We have a president who is an idiot
00:04:21and understands nothing. May God punish the Guardian Council
00:04:25for preparing such a mess for me, and may God curse the person
00:04:28who is in charge.
00:04:35The art is that the Iranian President, who has apparently lost hope
00:04:39in state television to deliver his message to the people,
00:04:42today, on Journalists' Day, asked journalists for help.
00:04:45Now your help in creating unity and cohesion
00:04:49internally is very important.
00:04:52The lack of national cohesion is now a source of concern
00:04:56for many in Iran, including here in
00:05:00Bahar in southeastern Iran, which in recent
00:05:03months has been on the front lines of the war with America.
00:05:07Concerns about divisions that could
00:05:10lead the country to more wars.
00:05:14Hamid Nikoo, an Iranian foreign policy
00:05:19analyst from Cologne, Germany, is with us. Mr. Nikoo,
00:05:23the IRGC spokesperson said that the opening of the Strait of Hormuz
00:05:26has nothing to do with these negotiations and it is the conditions of the Islamic Republic itself
00:05:29that are supposed to be decisive. Given this, how close is the agreement?
00:05:33We constantly hear from various officials that the agreement
00:05:37is close. Greetings to you and dear viewers.
00:05:39Look, simultaneously with the statements
00:05:43of political officials, including Mr. Pezeshkian,
00:05:47who emphasizes the achievements of negotiations,
00:05:50we are witnessing that military and security officials,
00:05:54for example, the spokesperson for the system, Sardar
00:05:58Mohebi, and also Zulfiqar, the head of the Supreme National
00:06:02Security Council, we see a division of labor between them, and even
00:06:06Mr. Araghchi, for example, Mr.
00:06:09Mohebi emphasizes that Iran's political
00:06:13will determines whether the Strait of Hormuz
00:06:15remains open or closed. Mr. Araghchi also
00:06:19covers this in a diplomatic way and says that
00:06:22the issue of negotiations between Iran and Oman
00:06:26for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz
00:06:30is separate from the issue of
00:06:33America's adherence to the terms of the memorandum
00:06:36and not violating its provisions, in which case America
00:06:40itself can be decisive by adhering
00:06:44to the provisions of the memorandum and not violating
00:06:47its provisions so that
00:06:50Iran also receives
00:06:53a positive
00:06:56signal to finally reach an agreement
00:06:59and begin negotiations with
00:07:03America in a confidence-building process. Mr. Pezeshkian
00:07:06spoke about the need to obtain our rights through
00:07:10dialogue rather than war. How much can a rapprochement
00:07:14towards an agreement reassure the faction within Iran
00:07:17that opposes the agreement and satisfy them?
00:07:21Look, from the perspective of Mr.
00:07:24Pezeshkian's
00:07:28government, this negotiation
00:07:30is a form of assistance to the battlefield,
00:07:34meaning that diplomacy and the battlefield
00:07:37can achieve success together.
00:07:41However, in a way, the so-called radical
00:07:44movement emphasizes that the American
00:07:48side is not trustworthy and tries to gain
00:07:52concessions from the Iranian side through negotiations.
00:07:56These so-called radical currents emphasize
00:07:59that if we exclusively proceed through
00:08:02negotiations and do not show
00:08:05our pressure leverage and military power,
00:08:09and do not maintain our threat tools, including
00:08:13the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, this will lead to erosion.
00:08:16At the same time, what can be reassuring for the radical side
00:08:20is that America gives at least
00:08:23a positive response on the issue of the Strait of Hormuz
00:08:26and a final agreement with Iran is reached,
00:08:30and Iran can at least
00:08:33spend a period of a year, for example,
00:08:37without tension and war.
00:08:40What is clear
00:08:51from Mr. Pezeshkian's statements and what
00:08:54Donald Trump has repeatedly talked about is that there are several
00:08:58factions within the Islamic Republic, and these
00:09:01factions disagree with each other and there is
00:09:05no unified voice. How much can these
00:09:08internal differences affect the course of
00:09:12the agreement and possibly further negotiations? Look,
00:09:16right now, we are witnessing internal conflicts, meaning
00:09:19that Iran's foreign policy has been greatly affected
00:09:23by pressure on the Foreign Ministry and pressure
00:09:26on Iran's diplomatic approach. Why?
00:09:29Because the hardline faction says that
00:09:32you pursued the negotiation
00:09:35strategy, but the result was a 12-day
00:09:38war, a 40-day war, and a nearly
00:09:42two-week war that was imposed on Iran. And they say
00:09:45that as long as we send
00:09:48positive signals and show that the situation in the Strait
00:09:51of Hormuz is calm, Americans will try
00:09:55to control the price of oil and
00:09:57energy during this period of
00:10:01calm. They will replenish
00:10:04their strategic ammunition reserves
00:10:08and their military arsenal,
00:10:11and then attack us again. Therefore, the Islamic Republic
00:10:15is indeed in a difficult situation regarding its
00:10:18military-diplomatic approach towards
00:10:21America. However,
00:10:25at the same time, there is a
00:10:28grand strategy governing the Islamic Republic,
00:10:32which we saw today, that there is this overlap
00:10:35between the diplomatic apparatus, the political apparatus,
00:10:39and the military-security apparatus, which are
00:10:43the IRGC and the Supreme National Security Council. Thank
00:10:47you very much, Hamid Nikoo, Iranian foreign policy analyst
00:10:50from Germany. At least two civilians were killed
00:10:54in Houthi attacks on the city of Ma'rib in Yemen. The Houthis
00:10:58announced that they targeted military installations and
00:11:01forces supported by Saudi Arabia. According to a
00:11:05Yemeni military official, eight Yemeni government soldiers
00:11:09were also killed in this attack. Yesterday, the Houthis
00:11:12killed Yemeni government soldiers in the provinces of Ma'rib
00:11:15and Hadramout. The Houthis also control Sana'a, the capital
00:11:19of Yemen, to the west of Ma'rib. An hour ago, I asked
00:11:23Ali Sadrazadeh, a political analyst of Middle Eastern affairs,
00:11:27about the course of the Houthi conflict with Saudi Arabia
00:11:30and its allies in Yemen. Some sources say that
00:11:34basically Saudi Arabia feels a particular
00:11:38sense of insecurity from the Houthis
00:11:41in Yemen and from
00:11:44the Houthis and the Popular Mobilization Forces jointly
00:11:47from Iraq, because the Houthis have a center in Iraq,
00:11:51their office is a very large office
00:11:55in the Green Zone of Iraq,
00:11:57and
00:12:00from there their relationship with both the Popular Mobilization
00:12:04Forces and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps takes
00:12:07place, and even
00:12:11the last attack that took
00:12:14place was apparently from Iraqi soil, meaning
00:12:17in fact from the Houthis
00:12:21who are in Iraq and the Popular Mobilization Forces who are in Iraq, and from Saudi Arabia.
00:12:38Saudi Arabia, between Pakistan, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia, is actually
00:12:42a response or a shield for
00:12:45this insecurity that Saudi
00:12:48Arabia feels. That was Ali
00:12:51Sadrazadeh, a Middle East affairs analyst. However, CNN
00:12:54reported that Dunford, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs
00:12:58of Staff, privately told senior advisors to Donald Trump
00:13:02that the US must find a way to exit the war with Iran
00:13:05because the military options available to escalate the conflict
00:13:09could backfire. According to him, it is unlikely
00:13:13that relying solely on air power will achieve Mr. Trump's
00:13:16stated goals. General Dunford also
00:13:20shared his concerns with other key cabinet officials,
00:13:23including the CIA
00:13:26Director, the Secretary of State, and the Vice President. Our reporter
00:13:30Shida Hooshmandi joined us from Washington. Shida, what
00:13:34exactly are the concerns that General Kin raises?
00:13:36Specifically, the most important one is the limitation
00:13:40that exists in air strikes.
00:13:43Mr. Kin points out that these air strikes
00:13:47are effective up to a certain point. They don't necessarily
00:13:50lead Washington to the strategic
00:13:53and political goals it has. Mr. Trump's
00:13:56goal is that through these air strikes, he can
00:14:00put the Iranian government in a situation where it agrees to
00:14:04an agreement that Washington is also satisfied with. So far,
00:14:08he has not been successful, and General Kin believes
00:14:11that continuing such a trend could also have
00:14:15a counterproductive result. Similarly, as CNN reports,
00:14:18there is a search for a way out,
00:14:22an option that perhaps
00:14:26could be considered a symbolic victory for Mr. Trump,
00:14:29and at the same time, the path of diplomacy remains open,
00:14:33and that the Strait of Hormuz
00:14:36traffic is resumed. This
00:14:39could be a breakthrough in this direction.
00:14:43But the concern that is raised is
00:14:46that if these air strikes continue,
00:14:50they probably won't achieve those strategic goals.
00:14:53Some people, including Mr. Kin, believe
00:14:57that if America truly wants to achieve those political
00:15:01and strategic goals, it must launch a full-scale
00:15:05ground attack, which, of course, has its own high costs.
00:15:09At the same time, he raises concerns about
00:15:12the reduction of America's
00:15:15strategic ammunition reserves, which is also
00:15:18an issue that could become challenging for America in the long run.
00:15:22Perhaps this issue of the shortage of
00:15:26US military reserves can affect the war with
00:15:29Iran?
00:15:32In the short term, it is unlikely that,
00:15:35as estimated, it will have any particular impact. But if the war
00:15:39continues and, as it were,
00:15:42becomes protracted, it could create problems
00:15:45for America, in that the shortage of these strategic
00:15:49reserves could create a challenge
00:15:52if America becomes involved in another
00:15:56war elsewhere. In the past five years, after all, not only in the war
00:16:00with Iran, but in various parts of the world, even
00:16:03during the Biden administration in the war with the Houthis,
00:16:06these reserves were used. And replacing
00:16:09them, from the point of ordering, signing a contract,
00:16:13until delivery, takes two to four years.
00:16:16Therefore, this time
00:16:20is not in America's favor in the meantime, and this is where a challenge
00:16:24will be created for America if, for example, a more
00:16:27severe conflict with Russia arises, or if a military
00:16:31confrontation with China occurs. Then America will face
00:16:35a major challenge. And for this reason,
00:16:38General Kin and many other American military
00:16:42officials are concerned about
00:16:45this reduction in strategic reserves. Not necessarily
00:16:49in the war with Iran at this moment that we are speaking, but
00:16:53in the long term, this concern is raised. On the other hand,
00:16:56the more this issue is discussed and the more it becomes clear
00:17:00how important these strategic reserves are, the more limited
00:17:03Mr. Trump's political power to maneuver in the Iran
00:17:07war becomes. Thank you very much to Shida Hooshmandi, our reporter
00:17:11in Washington. Let's take a look at a few
00:17:14brief news items. Iranian media reported
00:17:18the abduction and murder of Hamidreza Rajabzadeh, a religious
00:17:22eulogist. According to these reports, a picture of the moment of Mr. Rajabzadeh's
00:17:26murder was sent to his family more than two weeks after he went missing.
00:17:29A video has also been published on social media
00:17:33showing a person resembling Mr. Rajabzadeh on the ground
00:17:37and appearing to be bleeding. Some sources close to the government
00:17:41attributed this murder to Israeli agents.
00:17:44Tasnim News Agency reported that four people were arrested
00:17:48for their involvement in his murder. Reza Valizadeh,
00:17:50a former Radio Farda
00:17:52correspondent, reported from inside Evin Prison
00:17:56about the poor health and sanitary conditions
00:18:00in that prison. In the audio file that CBS
00:18:03published from this Iranian-American citizen, he says
00:18:07that in the past five months, he has not been allowed
00:18:10to meet with his family. Mr. Valizadeh, who has been imprisoned
00:18:14for about two years, expressed concern about
00:18:17the possibility of contracting tuberculosis due to
00:18:21a lack of medical care. This journalist returned to
00:18:24Iran in the winter of 2023 after 13 years of residence
00:18:28in France and the Czech Republic. He was sentenced to 10 years
00:18:32in prison for collaborating with the US government.
00:18:36In a late-night session of the US Senate, senators
00:18:39narrowly confirmed the appointment of Tat Blanche, a former
00:18:43lawyer for the President, as Attorney General. Mr. Blanche,
00:18:47who has been serving as interim Attorney General for four months,
00:18:50received 50 affirmative votes against
00:18:5449 negative votes. This vote followed weeks of
00:18:58uncertainty and the withdrawal of several Republican senators
00:19:01from opposing him. Republicans constitute the majority
00:19:05in the Senate. Democrats say they are concerned
00:19:09about further weakening the independence of the Justice
00:19:12Department at the hands of Donald Trump.
00:19:16FIFA says its president strongly denies the claim
00:19:19that he paid money to a woman who was allegedly his mistress
00:19:23during his time as UEFA president. A FIFA spokesman denied
00:19:26the claim about Gianni Infantino, which was published by the Daily
00:19:30Telegraph. UEFA confirmed that the woman was paid
00:19:33a sum for ending her collaboration with the body
00:19:37and for a master's degree in business management.
00:19:41FIFA said that this action was in accordance with the
00:19:45regulations at that time. FIFA and UEFA are at odds
00:19:48over Gianni Infantino's scrapped plan to sell shares
00:19:52in World Cup tournaments and other competitions.
00:19:55Scientists and researchers
00:19:58are reporting a major environmental threat
00:20:02that, with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz,
00:20:06threatens the ecosystem of the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman,
00:20:10and other parts of the world. According to them,
00:20:13invasive aquatic species cling to the hull of
00:20:16every ship that remains motionless in the water,
00:20:20which are not only difficult to clean but also destroy
00:20:24other marine species and cause immense damage to
00:20:27the ship itself and the shipping industry. Siavash Ardalan reports.
00:20:30In the midst of the Iran-US war over control of the Strait
00:20:34of Hormuz, a common and silent enemy
00:20:37is being created beneath these waters. The closure
00:20:41of the Strait of Hormuz means the stoppage and immobilization
00:20:44of hundreds of ships in the region's waters,
00:20:48and this is a hotbed for the growth and spread of
00:20:52invasive species that cling to ship hulls.
00:20:55In the shipping industry, these organisms are known
00:20:57as biofouling or bioaccumulators.
00:21:01A costly nuisance for shipping,
00:21:03both commercial, recreational, and military. The journal
00:21:07Biological Invasions, in its research, has described
00:21:10this issue as a huge threat to global
00:21:14biological security. Where is the problem?
00:21:18Bioaccumulators are not just harmless
00:21:22invertebrate species that are easily removed from a ship's hull.
00:21:25When these organisms settle on a ship's surface,
00:21:29they will multiply rapidly and turn every
00:21:32ship into a carrier of various microbes
00:21:36and bacteria that can destroy
00:21:39indigenous species in any region. When these
00:21:42invasive species, such as black mussels,
00:21:46microscopic algae, and marine barnacles,
00:21:50detach from the ship's body, they quickly dominate
00:21:54the ecosystem, crowding out other species. With the
00:21:58long-term stagnation of ships in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman,
00:22:01the primary danger is to the ecosystem of these
00:22:05waters, and when these ships come from other regions
00:22:08of the world, they bring the same disaster to
00:22:11other ecosystems. However, this is not just an
00:22:15environmental issue. The shipping industry spends
00:22:1830 to 50 billion dollars annually to combat
00:22:21marine bioaccumulators. These invasive
00:22:24species not only damage ship engines,
00:22:28but also cause ships to consume up to 40%
00:22:31more fuel for propulsion, and greater fuel
00:22:35consumption means more water and atmospheric pollution
00:22:39and greater accumulation of greenhouse gases. Other
00:22:42costs are related to cleaning the ship hull surface.
00:22:45This cleaning requires toxic biocides.
00:22:49Efforts are made to prevent these toxins, along
00:22:52with ship paint, from entering the water during cleaning.
00:22:56In the ports of the Persian Gulf, like many
00:22:59other ports around the world, these wastes are not
00:23:02collected. Perhaps with new agreements
00:23:06between the countries involved in the war, ships will soon
00:23:09start moving. But the consequences of their
00:23:12immobility have not been without cost. A portion
00:23:15of the fees that Iran and Oman seek to collect from shipping
00:23:18traffic will be spent on addressing environmental
00:23:22issues in the region's waters. Siavash
00:23:26Ardalan, BBC. Siavash is here in the studio with me.
00:23:28Siavash, how serious is this issue? How serious
00:23:32is the danger? Well, anyone who works in the shipping industry
00:23:35or has expertise in this field will say that this issue has
00:23:39always existed. When modern shipping
00:23:42became prevalent in the world,
00:23:46we have the issue of the accumulation of these invasive species on ship hulls.
00:23:50We had this problem, and it's an issue that currently costs
00:23:53between 30 and 50 billion dollars annually worldwide
00:23:57to combat, meaning it's not a low-cost
00:24:01issue. But now, the closure of the Strait
00:24:04of Hormuz and the gathering of so many ships
00:24:07has exacerbated this issue, and it has greatly expanded
00:24:11the dimensions of a problem that is always associated
00:24:14with the Iranian shipping industry. Researchers and scientists
00:24:18have now published an article in a journal called
00:24:22Biological Invasions. Several countries around the world
00:24:25also said that, yes, all ships have these problems,
00:24:29but when you gather close to 1500 ships
00:24:32in one area in hot weather, these invasive marine
00:24:36species immediately cling to the ship hulls because
00:24:40the seabed is usually sandy, and they can't cling there.
00:24:43So they quickly look for a hard surface,
00:24:47and as soon as they cling to these ships, they multiply,
00:24:50reproduce, and grow very quickly. They themselves turn into separate
00:24:54organisms filled with microbes and bacteria
00:24:57that, when they enter the sea, destroy other local species.
00:25:01Therefore, the first danger is to the ecosystem
00:25:04of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman,
00:25:07which are affected by these hundreds of ships
00:25:11that are now covered in algae, mussels, and
00:25:14very invasive and dangerous species that have entered
00:25:18the ecosystem. And then, as researchers have stated,
00:25:22when these ships move to other parts of the world,
00:25:25to other ports and oceans of the world, they are carriers
00:25:29of these microbes and bacteria, and then they transmit them
00:25:32and destroy the ecosystems there. This is only the environmental
00:25:35aspect, separate from the fact that these things damage
00:25:39the ship's engine, causing huge costs for engine repairs.
00:25:43When you want to clean the ship's hull, you use a lot of water.
00:25:46If this paint accumulates, the paint itself is a problem.
00:25:50If these enter the water, they are considered waste.
00:25:54And if you want to prevent them from clinging, you have
00:25:57to apply certain substances that are also toxic, but
00:26:01if a ship remains stopped for a long time, it won't help much.
00:26:05Siavash, with all that you said, have any measures been taken?
00:26:08If you could tell us briefly. Researchers themselves have
00:26:12given some suggestions about what can be done. First
00:26:16of all, they said the best thing is for these ships to clean
00:26:19their hulls at their origin, here in the Persian Gulf,
00:26:23and then move towards their destination. But most
00:26:26of them are in a hurry to move and leave the strait,
00:26:30so it's not possible. They should report
00:26:34how much of these wastes, how much of this ecosystem,
00:26:37and these algae have clung to them so that when they
00:26:41reach their destination, they can immediately clean them
00:26:45and budget how much money they need. This is in
00:26:48relation to this specific issue. But generally,
00:26:52regarding what can be done about this issue, scientists
00:26:56have done some things. For example, one of the latest solutions
00:27:00is to use shark skin,
00:27:12because sharks, you know, nothing can cling to them.
00:27:16They want to attach a material similar to shark skin to
00:27:19ships so that these liquids will just slide off.
00:27:23here with me in the studio, these days, marketing managers
00:27:26are trying every new way to attract attention,
00:27:29like such advertisements. A man in Los Angeles
00:27:33lives in a living room built inside an advertising
00:27:36billboard. This is part of a promotional campaign
00:27:40for a new science fiction film on Netflix
00:27:43called "The Last House." This structure is about
00:30:32he supported them. When we go back to his views on Israel
00:30:36and Palestine, we see that he turns into a German
00:30:40for whom the Holocaust is a red line. Only. A red line.
00:30:43And now on BBC Persian TV, given?
00:30:47Let's look at Ukraine and see
00:30:50if what they say was a mistake, was indeed a mistake. If
00:30:54we look at the multi-layered conflict between Iran and Ukraine after defense systems change
00:30:57the targeting of an Iranian ship in the Caspian Sea, two
00:31:01powerful