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00:00:30Hormuz, at the same time as new attacks on ships,
00:00:33Tehran says that the prerequisite for reopening this waterway
00:00:37is America's acceptance
00:00:38of its conditions.
00:00:41Reports of the US Army Chief of Staff's warning to
00:00:45Trump's advisors. Milley said that a way
00:00:48must be found to exit the war with Iran.
00:00:51The pressure of war, sanctions, and
00:00:53naval blockade on Iran's
00:00:57dilapidated economy. Pezeshkian says the ways of importing
00:01:00goods have been closed. High prices are a real thing.
00:01:03They closed our way. We used to bring it
00:01:06cheaply. We used to bring it through an easy route. Now
00:01:10we have to turn around and bring it into the country
00:01:13through different ways.
00:01:16Environmental concerns about the Strait of Hormuz
00:01:19remaining closed. Accumulation of invasive aquatic species
00:01:23threatens shipping and marine ecosystems. Hello and welcome
00:01:25to this news program.
00:01:44I am Farnoud Amerishahi. While American officials say
00:01:48that an agreement between Iran and Oman for
00:01:51reopening the Strait of Hormuz is near, Tehran
00:01:55insists that the reopening of this waterway is conditional
00:01:58on America accepting its terms.
00:02:01The Iranian Foreign Minister said that Tehran and Muscat
00:02:04have reached an agreement on a new shipping
00:02:08route, but the reopening of this waterway requires
00:02:11other conditions, including compensation for violations
00:02:15of the Islamabad agreement by America. Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian
00:02:19has defended negotiations with the US to reach
00:02:22a favorable agreement. Kasra Naji reports.
00:02:25Images
00:02:28of American forces disembarking
00:02:30on an Iranian oil tanker in the Sea of Oman.
00:02:34The US says that if an agreement is reached between Iran and Oman,
00:02:37the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz will end
00:02:41Iran's naval blockade. But the Iranian side apparently
00:02:45is not in a hurry. The reopening of the Strait
00:02:47of Hormuz has its own specific mechanism
00:02:51and has no relation to the negotiations between Iran
00:02:54and Oman. The Strait of Hormuz, as the opening
00:02:58of the Strait of Hormuz, is in fact subject to conditions
00:03:02that the Islamic Republic will open based
00:03:05on those conditions, and that also
00:03:08depends on the extent of America's
00:03:11acceptance of the conditions that the Islamic Republic
00:03:15of Iran sets. Today an Emirati ship
00:03:19was targeted here in the Strait of Hormuz, something that fuels
00:03:23the war. An action that hardliners welcome.
00:03:26Something that ties the government's hands for negotiation and
00:03:57his decision to sign a memorandum of understanding
00:04:00to end the war with the US. They criticize
00:04:04with harsh words: "We have a president who has no understanding,
00:04:08may God know what to do with the Guardian Council, who approved such
00:04:11a disaster. And may God curse that wicked, accursed Marandi
00:04:15who crammed this into the throats of our nation.
00:04:19What did we give to America? We had many achievements.
00:04:22Why do you give the people false information?" The skill
00:04:26is that the President of Iran, who apparently has given up hope
00:04:30on using state television to convey his message to the people,
00:04:34today, on Journalists' Day, asked journalists for help
00:04:37on how to convey a message, how to give a message,
00:04:41how to create an atmosphere where unity and cohesion
00:04:44can be formed within the country. That is
00:04:47your skill. The lack of national cohesion
00:04:50is now a source of concern for many in Iran, including here
00:04:54in Chabahar, in southeastern Iran, which in recent
00:04:58months has been on the front line of the war with the US.
00:05:02Concerns about differences that could
00:05:05lead the country to more wars.
00:05:09Kasra Naji, BBC. Alireza Namvar Haghighi,
00:05:15political analyst on Iranian affairs from Toronto, Canada,
00:05:19is with us. Welcome, Mr. Namvar Haghighi. Mr. Pezeshkian,
00:05:23when asked today about the resignation of the Secretary
00:05:26of the Supreme National Security Council, said that there are differences
00:05:29and he is trying to resolve them. What are
00:05:33these differences that have now manifested externally?
00:05:36Yes, my dear Ms. Amirshahi, and dear viewers
00:05:39and listeners of BBC Persian Television,
00:05:42these differences are related to the type
00:05:45of management and the challenges within the power bloc.
00:05:49Apparently, Mr. Zolgadr
00:05:51still, despite being the Secretary of the Supreme National Security
00:05:55Council and having been appointed to this position
00:05:59by Mr. Pezeshkian, has not yet received
00:06:02the Supreme Leader's representation. This is one point.
00:06:05The second point is about the management
00:06:09of state media and the effects
00:06:12of negative propaganda and sometimes
00:06:16malicious attacks against
00:06:20decisions, especially regarding
00:06:22the memorandum of understanding. Well, Mr. Zolgadr is opposed
00:06:26and the Supreme National Security Council
00:06:29is the superior decision-making body
00:06:32in the field of foreign policy and the surrounding
00:06:35environment. And well, television is deviating
00:06:38from this path and is actually sabotaging.
00:06:41Therefore, there is disagreement on this
00:06:45issue, but proposals have been made for Mr. Ali
00:06:48Bagheri or Mr. Mohsen Rezaei to replace him. He resigned,
00:06:52but Mr. Pezeshkian has not accepted
00:06:56it. The reason is that Mr. Pezeshkian's disposition generally does not align
00:07:00with Mr. Rezaei's, and of course, none of
00:07:03these reports have been officially confirmed and are still
00:07:07rumors. But Mr. Namvar Haghighi,
00:07:10anyway, we are seeing that while it is being said that negotiations
00:07:14are progressing, there was even talk that an initial
00:07:18framework has been reached. But today,
00:07:21for example, we hear from the IRGC spokesman that other conditions are also
00:07:25being discussed and we will not reopen the Strait
00:07:29unless America accepts our conditions. Why are these obstacles
00:07:33being created by the hardline conservative
00:07:36and powerful faction? Well,
00:07:40first and foremost, the most important issue was
00:07:44this very memorandum that was signed.
00:07:47It was the best thing Iran could get. Mr. Pezeshkian also
00:07:50confirmed it, and unfortunately, based
00:07:54on some calculations for which no one took responsibility,
00:07:58when Mr. Pezeshkian was on a trip, those Saudi
00:08:01ships were shelled, and again,
00:08:04the Arabian Gulf,
00:08:07which has caused 4-5 billion dollars in damages to the country,
00:08:11and now it is not clear if these negotiations
00:08:14can return us to that
00:08:17memorandum. That memorandum and due to that shelling,
00:08:21Iran's oil and petrochemical sales exemption was also revoked,
00:08:24so both ships are stuck in Kharg
00:08:27and Iran's naval blockade has started again.
00:08:30The reason is that some of these factions
00:08:34are opposed. One is that strategically
00:08:38and in their view, Iran and
00:08:42the US cannot really enter into an understanding
00:08:45and even move towards normalization, because
00:08:48the understanding is about development,
00:08:52peace and the path to development. Because Iran has
00:08:56no other way if it wants to develop, and when you want
00:09:00the first sanctions to be lifted, 300 billion dollars
00:09:03to be invested, Iran must respect the US
00:09:07and the US must respect Iran, and also
00:09:11whatever you wanted to tie with me.
00:09:16Well, opposing political groups in Iran are not willing.
00:09:19They believe that in this atmosphere, the government
00:09:23will face crisis and decline, and they believe
00:09:26that if this path continues, it will benefit them more. The second
00:09:29point is about the Strait of Hormuz. They have a wrong calculation
00:09:33about the Strait of Hormuz and think that this is a bottleneck
00:09:37through which they can pressure and get whatever they want, while
00:09:40in practice, it seems this will not happen and
00:09:44it can lead to a comprehensive war and create
00:09:48a global consensus against Iran. In addition, the third
00:09:51point that these opposing and military factions
00:09:55do not consider is that they underestimate
00:09:58Iran's economic resilience, meaning that with
00:10:02a comprehensive blockade
00:10:04and the inability to sell
00:10:07oil, Iran's economy
00:10:11Thank you for everything Mr. Pezeshkian also mentioned
00:10:15Alireza Namvar Haghighi, political analyst on Iranian affairs. Thank you
00:10:18very much. US Vice President
00:10:22J.D. Vance says that Tehran has assured Washington
00:10:26that it will allow the maximum possible amount
00:10:29of oil to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. But the US will verify
00:10:33this promise of the Iranian government. This is while Iran says
00:10:37that negotiations with Oman have nothing to do with the reopening
00:10:40of the Strait of Hormuz, and for the reopening of this waterway, Washington
00:10:43must accept Tehran's conditions. Meanwhile, CNN has reported
00:10:47that the US Army Chief of Staff privately told
00:10:51senior advisors to Donald Trump that the US must find
00:10:55a way to exit the war with Iran, because existing military options
00:10:59for escalating the conflict could be counterproductive.
00:11:02Our correspondent Shideh Hooshmandi is with us live from Washington.
00:11:06Shideh, let's start with J.D. Vance, who on the one hand
00:11:10expresses hope that negotiations are progressing, but on the other
00:11:14hand says we don't trust the Iranian side's words.
00:11:16Yes,
00:11:18this ambiguity adds to the ambiguity for those
00:11:22who look very pessimistically at the ongoing negotiations.
00:11:26But Mr. Vance says that the Iranians
00:11:29told him that they are going to
00:11:33reach a mechanism that Iran will not shoot
00:11:37at commercial ships, and the amount of
00:11:41oil and gas traffic will return to the level
00:11:45that it was before the war.
00:11:47He says they are in the process of determining this mechanism,
00:11:51but at the same time, he says that the Iranians have laid a large number of mines.
00:11:55This mine clearance also needs to be done to ensure
00:11:58safe passage for ships,
00:12:02and this situation actually
00:12:05shows the dual nature
00:12:07of the negotiations with Oman.
00:12:10At the same time, he says that
00:12:14Iran has also announced that it will not
00:12:17collect any tolls from ships, but this is while we
00:12:20have heard from Iranian officials that there is talk
00:12:24of 5 to 7 percent in tolls. Therefore, this again
00:12:28creates a question mark. Mr. Vance says that we must
00:12:32see in practice what the Iranian side will
00:12:35actually do. All the countries of the Persian Gulf
00:12:39want security to return to this vital waterway,
00:12:41but the reality is that it needs
00:12:45to be verified, and we need to see what
00:12:48Iran will do this time in practice. But we know
00:12:51that the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
00:13:29the IRGC are emphasizing it and are counting on it to advance US goals to a certain extent, and it doesn't necessarily achieve Washington's strategic and political goals. CNN reports this
00:13:32from informed sources, but Mr. King had previously
00:13:35mentioned these issues in his speech to Congress.
00:13:39He said that if the US wants to maintain its power
00:13:43and superiority, it must use other tools, such as economic
00:13:46tools and diplomacy. He also
00:13:50warned about military strategic
00:13:53reserves,
00:13:55which could be challenging
00:13:59for the United States in the long run
00:14:02if a conflict arises elsewhere
00:14:05in the world. Thank you, Shida.
00:14:09Shida Hooshmandi from Washington.
00:14:12Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says that he is more concerned
00:14:16about people's livelihoods than war. In a meeting
00:14:20with journalists, he said that the way for goods
00:14:23to enter Iran has been closed,
00:14:25and the government does not even have enough resources for gasoline.
00:14:29In these circumstances, the economic and naval blockade of Iran persists.
00:14:33The fate of negotiations with the US regarding
00:14:36the mechanism for reopening the Strait of Hormuz is still
00:14:40unclear, and Tehran adds
00:14:42new conditions to the table every day.
00:14:45Where does the Iranian government get its foreign exchange?
00:14:48This has been the main concern of the government
00:14:51in Iran for years, and now the naval blockade
00:14:55by the US has dealt another severe blow to
00:14:59Iran's crisis-ridden economy. A matter that has
00:15:02led to a sharp decrease in foreign exchange
00:15:05revenue for Iran. It was expected that
00:15:09Iran's recent agreement with the US would address
00:15:13part of this budget deficit. But the resumption of war
00:15:17after the attack on several oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz
00:15:19squandered this opportunity. During the temporary lifting
00:15:23of the blockade, Tehran exported a large portion of its floating
00:15:27oil reserves from the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman,
00:15:31worth 6 billion dollars. Now, Iranian President
00:15:34Masoud Pezeshkian, on the second anniversary of his inauguration,
00:15:37defended the Islamabad agreement with the US
00:15:41at a press conference, because under it, Iran could
00:15:45export oil products and bring back part of its blocked
00:15:48funds to the country. Sanctions are a reality.
00:15:52When we can't sell our oil,
00:15:55we won't have foreign exchange. Now, the pressure on our
00:15:58government is at its maximum. Mr. Pezeshkian, defending the removal
00:16:02of preferential foreign exchange, says that if this had not
00:16:05been done earlier, famine would have been certain in wartime.
00:16:09God helped us. If this had not happened and
00:16:12war had started, there would have been
00:16:16a definite scarcity in the market. We wouldn't have had
00:16:19the 28-rial dollar to give, and they wouldn't
00:16:23have sold goods with the free market dollar. Sanctions,
00:16:26which in past years have meant more expensive
00:16:29goods and poverty for the people, have poured billions of dollars
00:16:33into the pockets of middlemen who are trusted by the government
00:16:36and sell Iranian oil on the black market
00:16:40during sanctions, and return the money indirectly
00:16:43to the country – of course, not always
00:16:47and not all of it. Government officials have repeatedly
00:16:50reported the disappearance of billions of dollars
00:16:54by these trusted individuals. If I could
00:16:56get a privilege, get a dollar that
00:17:00was different from the market, eventually, billions of dollars
00:17:04would automatically come in. We had to eliminate these.
00:17:09Apparently, Mr. Pezeshkian has not forgotten where
00:17:12the December protests began – the Tehran market. Protests
00:17:16that were sparked by rising prices and the livelihood crisis,
00:17:20and quickly turned into the biggest domestic crisis
00:17:23in the history of the Islamic Republic.
00:17:27With these pressures they are imposing, they want to make people dissatisfied
00:17:30and, so to speak, force them
00:17:33into protest. The president here speaks of privatization.
00:17:37Another source for compensating the budget
00:17:40deficit of Saipa and other parts,
00:17:44even various other companies, is currently on the agenda
00:17:48to be handed over as much as possible.
00:17:51In November 2019, when the government raised
00:17:54fuel prices to compensate for the budget deficit, it led to
00:17:58widespread protests in the country, which ended with the killing of hundreds.
00:18:02Amidst the government's efforts to find new
00:18:05financial resources, oil exports from Kharg
00:18:09Island have practically stopped, meaning the US has
00:18:12placed its foot on the throat of Iran's economy.
00:18:15Under the shadow of sanctions and war, many Iranians
00:18:19have been putting a brave face on it. Apparently,
00:18:22the government is also struggling with a severe shortage of foreign currency.
00:18:26This raises many questions, including what if Iran
00:18:30does not reach an agreement with the US and sanctions
00:18:34are not lifted? Where will the government get money?
00:18:52It's worse than before. In this situation where he says he has no
00:18:56money at all and can't even import goods,
00:18:59and is barely able to provide for the people's
00:19:02daily needs, how can the government cover
00:19:06its expenses? Well,
00:19:09the government has tried to do this by printing
00:19:12money, meaning the most liquid resource it has.
00:19:16Why? Because if we consider
00:19:20other resources, for example,
00:19:23the sale of bonds, it has not been welcomed
00:19:27according to the statistics we have. The government's
00:19:30plans have not progressed as predicted in the budget.
00:19:34On the other hand, oil revenues are limited
00:19:38and becoming more limited. But at the same time,
00:19:41the resources that are acquired
00:19:45must be allocated to war, to commanders, to the Islamic
00:19:48Revolutionary Guard Corps, to the government's proxies, and of course,
00:19:52to war expenditures. Therefore, the only remaining
00:19:55way is to actually create money
00:19:58without backing. Statistics also confirm this.
00:20:02This action causes
00:20:05inflation, which is described as
00:20:09reaching into people's pockets. Can
00:20:13these solutions truly solve
00:20:16Iran's economic problem or at least
00:20:20compensate for the government's expenses?
00:20:24Absolutely not. As other ways,
00:20:28such as selling government assets or this
00:20:31so-called privatization that ultimately leads
00:20:35to privatization, it's naturally
00:20:37impossible for these measures to work.
00:20:41And if we look at the inflation figures,
00:20:44the increase in liquidity, the monetary base, and
00:20:47other variables such as, for example,
00:20:51gross domestic product, we see that while
00:20:55we are witnessing a contraction in the real sector
00:20:58of the economy, meaning what is called
00:21:01gross domestic product, on the other hand, liquidity
00:21:05is increasing, and this actually leads to inflation.
00:21:09But this inflation that exists,
00:21:13how can it continue? And the government,
00:21:16no one else can give you a convincing
00:21:20answer. Excuse me, a question arises here. Some
00:21:24economists say that one of the government's
00:21:27solutions has been to increase the cost
00:21:31of its services, for example, electricity prices have increased
00:21:34or services that the government provides. Can
00:21:38these increases compensate for the
00:21:41government's shortages? Absolutely not. This is because
00:21:45the increase in electricity or water tariffs
00:21:48or other services that the government provides,
00:21:52or simultaneously the reduction in the supply
00:21:55of government services and making them more expensive,
00:21:58like, for example, the deteriorating quality
00:22:02of education or healthcare, or the increasing cost
00:22:05of healthcare, has practically failed to create
00:22:08this balance in the budget. Therefore, the only remaining
00:22:12way is to print money without backing, and of course,
00:22:16it should be noted that a significant portion
00:22:20of this existing budget deficit, which has made the government
00:22:23more powerless, is related to the costs associated with
00:22:27corruption and rent-seeking given to government media
00:22:30or institutions of soft and hard repression.
00:22:34If the government wants to take a positive
00:22:37step to curb inflation, it must first eliminate
00:22:41rent-seeking expenditures, which the government,
00:22:44because it needs these institutions of repression,
00:22:48both soft and hard, cannot do. Therefore,
00:22:52the only remaining way is what I told
00:22:55you, namely an increase in liquidity,
00:22:58the monetary base, and consequently continued inflation, which
00:23:02is expected to increase even further in the coming months.
00:23:06Thank you very much, Ahmad Alavi, economic researcher. Two brief
00:23:10news items.
00:23:12Iranian media reported the abduction and murder
00:23:15of Hamidreza Rajabzadeh, a religious eulogist. According
00:23:19to these reports, an image of the moment Mr. Rajabzadeh
00:23:22was abducted was sent to his family more than two weeks
00:23:26after his disappearance. A video has also been circulated on social
00:23:30media showing a person resembling Mr. Rajabzadeh on the ground,
00:23:34appearing to be bloody. Some pro-government sources
00:23:38attributed this murder to Israeli agents. Tasnim News Agency
00:23:42reported that four people involved in his murder were arrested.
00:23:45Riding electric scooters
00:23:48in Paris
00:23:50without adhering to new safety regulations will result
00:23:54in fines. Currently, the fine for not wearing a helmet
00:23:57while riding is equivalent to more than $150.
00:24:01Not wearing a reflective vest also carries a $40
00:24:05fine. According to the police, as the use of electric
00:24:09scooters increases daily, accidents have also increased.
00:24:12Last year, nearly 80 people died in these accidents
00:24:16and more than a thousand were seriously injured. Scientists and researchers
00:24:22are reporting a major environmental threat
00:24:26that, with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz,
00:24:29threatens the ecosystem of the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman,
00:24:33and other parts of the world. According to them, invasive
00:24:36species of aquatic animals attach themselves to the hull of any
00:24:40ship that remains motionless in the water. Not only are they difficult
00:24:44to remove, but they also destroy other marine species and cause
00:24:48severe damage to the ship itself and the shipping industry. Siavash
00:24:51now has more details.
00:24:53Amidst the war between Iran and the US over
00:24:57control of the Strait of Hormuz, a common and silent
00:25:00enemy is being created beneath these waters.
00:25:04The closure of the Strait of Hormuz means
00:25:07hundreds of ships remaining motionless in the region's
00:25:11waters, and this is a breeding ground
00:25:14for invasive species that attach to ship hulls.
00:25:17In the shipping industry, these organisms are known
00:25:21as biofouling or bioaccumulators.
00:25:24A costly nuisance for shipping,
00:25:27both commercial, recreational, and military.
00:25:31The journal Biological Invasions, in its research,
00:25:35described this issue as a huge threat to
00:25:39global biosecurity. Where is the problem?
00:25:42Bioaccumulators are not just harmless and innocent
00:25:46species that are easily cleaned from a ship's hull.
00:25:50When they settle on a ship's surface,
00:25:53they multiply rapidly and turn every ship
00:25:57into a carrier of various types of microbes
00:26:00and bacteria that can destroy the native species
00:26:04of any region. When these invasive
00:26:07species themselves, such as black mussels,
00:26:11microscopic algae, and sea squirts, detach
00:26:15from the ship's hull, they quickly tighten their grip
00:26:17on other species in the ecosystem. With the prolonged
00:26:21stagnation of ships in the Persian Gulf
00:26:24and the Sea of Oman, the primary threat is
00:26:27to the ecosystem of these waters. And when these ships
00:26:30sail from other parts of the world, they bring the same
00:26:34problems to other ecosystems. But this is not
00:26:37just an environmental issue. The shipping industry
00:26:41spends $30 to $50 billion annually
00:26:44to combat marine bioaccumulators. These
00:26:47invasive species not only damage ship engines,
00:26:51but they also cause ships to consume up to
00:26:5440% more fuel to move,
00:26:57and greater fuel consumption means more pollution
00:27:01of the waters and the atmosphere.
00:27:20In Persian Gulf ports, like many other ports
00:27:24in the world, these wastes are not collected.
00:27:27Perhaps with new agreements between the countries involved
00:27:30in the war, ships will soon
00:27:37start moving. A portion of the tolls that Iran and Oman are trying
00:27:41to collect from ships will be used to address
00:27:44the environmental issues of the region's waters.
00:27:48Siavash Ardalan, BBC.
00:27:49We have reached
00:27:54the end of this news segment. Thank you for
00:27:56joining us.