Google Cloud Speech-to-Text API (Chirp) + Gemini 2.5 Flash Non-Thinking. Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:00:00A live look at the most important news and events in Iran and
00:00:04the world.
00:00:11Stay with us for the latest developments
00:00:14in
00:00:18the World Cup. Along with
00:00:21you
00:00:25, 8 PM Tehran, this is London, BBC Radio. An armed
00:00:28attack on a police official in Sistan and Baluchestan.
00:00:32Conflicting reports have been published about the death of one of the attackers.
00:00:35We will hear more details from a journalist following developments in
00:00:39this region. A missile attack on the capital's airport
00:00:43in Saudi Arabia followed new attacks on the Houthis. Riyadh had said it was seeking to eliminate
00:00:46the missile threat from Yemen.
00:00:50Following the increase in fuel prices worldwide, the US lifted sanctions on Russia
00:00:54for selling diesel. The President of Ukraine says it is a sign
00:00:57of weakness and will lead to a continuation of the war. We will ask our correspondent in
00:01:01Washington how the US made such a decision.
00:01:04Iran's views on resolving
00:01:08tensions between Tehran and Washington to the US.
00:01:11In the detailed discussion of this program, we ask an expert on Russian affairs.
00:01:15What are Vladimir Putin's interests in various scenarios regarding these tensions
00:01:19and what is he capable of? is made.
00:01:36news of today, Saturday, October 18, corresponding to October 10. Up to
00:01:40this hour, about one minute after 8 PM Tehran time, in an
00:01:44armed attack, a police official in Sistan and Baluchestan in southeastern
00:01:47Iran was killed. Ms. Nosrat Eftekhar, who was killed in this attack,
00:01:51was the cultural and social deputy of the police command. The
00:01:55armed group known as the Front of Popular Mujahideen
00:01:58claimed responsibility for this attack.
00:02:03The police on Friday near Zahedan were first targeted by a roadside mine
00:02:06explosion, and then the attackers opened fire
00:02:09on them. Iranian media said the bomber was killed, but local sources say
00:02:13the person killed was a Baloch citizen who was simply passing
00:02:17through the scene of the conflict. In recent weeks, armed conflicts
00:02:20in Sistan and Baluchestan, Iran, have increased, leading the Minister
00:02:24of Interior to send a group to investigate
00:02:26the region. Mehdi Nakhl Ahmadi, journalist.
00:02:39A man who covered his face from the Sunni paramilitary group Jaish
00:02:42al-Adl announced in a video his statement about this. What do we know about
00:02:46this group's statement? I will tell you.
00:02:50It was almost a few months after Israel's 12-day
00:02:53attack on Iran that this group announced
00:02:56its existence. There were almost 6 or
00:03:007 groups, including Jaish al-Adl, that formed a coalition
00:03:04and actually presented a new charter.
00:03:07The flag that they presented was a new flag with new
00:03:11symbols, and in fact, it can be said that any
00:03:14connection with the previous group, Jaish al-Adl,
00:03:18was actually left behind. And now
00:03:22in their charter, in the past, in the charter
00:03:25of Jaish al-Adl, the issue or goal of
00:03:29this group was to uphold the rights of Sunni and Baloch people. In this new charter,
00:03:33they focused more on national issues and had a
00:03:36slogan of "Iran for all Iranians" and announced their readiness
00:03:40to cooperate with other opposition groups of the Islamic
00:03:44Republic. In any case, a large
00:03:47part of the actions, not
00:03:51all of them, but a large part of the
00:03:54actions taken in Sistan and Baluchestan
00:03:57have been carried out by this front. The Popular Mujahideen
00:04:01is part of these groups that are in this coalition. These were groups that
00:04:04had armed activities in the past, but
00:04:08for several years there was no news and they had not taken any action. Some of
00:04:12these were also groups that previously had more cultural or civil
00:04:15activities. And finally, it can perhaps be
00:04:19claimed that in terms of military and security, it is still
00:04:22this front, Jaish al-Adl, that
00:04:26holds the initiative and that
00:04:48they did not talk about whether this official
00:04:50was the target. Apparently, they had left
00:04:54a bomb for a convoy that was
00:04:57passing through this area. They did not
00:05:01specifically say whether Mrs.
00:05:04Eftekhar was the specific target or whether
00:05:07it was actually supposed to be because some local news sources
00:05:10reported her death.
00:05:13They did not attribute Mrs. Eftekhar's death to this bombing. This bombing
00:05:16caused injuries and the shootings
00:05:19or, in fact, the exchange of fire
00:05:22that occurred after that. This issue, of course, as I said,
00:05:26is the claim of some local sources, but regarding
00:05:29this issue, we have also had in the past, for example,
00:05:33the commander of a Revolutionary Guard base
00:05:37and his deputy among those who were
00:05:40killed by this group. Well, this issue seems
00:05:44to be a strategy that this group has
00:05:48adopted in order to be able to target personalities who have
00:05:52a higher position or, in fact,
00:05:55can perhaps get more media coverage.
00:05:59Probably this cultural official
00:06:03of the police force, the police commander,
00:06:07also had less protection
00:06:10compared to many military officials in the region.
00:06:13I wanted to ask you about the context in
00:06:17which this news arrived. There is talk of armed clashes
00:06:20that have increased in Sistan and Baluchestan in recent weeks.
00:06:24Yes, we have had
00:06:28at least 18 clashes in Sistan and Baluchestan
00:06:31in the past month, at least. Now, not
00:06:34all of these clashes have been operations by these armed
00:06:38groups or the resistance front. In some cases,
00:06:41well, the military forces or the Revolutionary Guard
00:06:45have been able to identify the locations of these groups
00:06:49and have carried out operations and attacks.
00:06:53But in any case, this volume of 18, which is almost
00:06:57one operation almost every two days,
00:07:00has been unprecedented in Sistan and Baluchestan.
00:07:03The news that has been published, because there are conflicting reports, and both sides
00:07:07have different claims, but between 24 and 30
00:07:11military personnel
00:07:16and members of these armed
00:07:19groups have been killed. Well, this issue shows
00:07:21that we are probably seeing
00:07:25a strategic change in these armed groups. At least,
00:07:29in the past, when Revolutionary Guard forces or police forces
00:07:33attacked some of their bases within the province,
00:07:37in less than half an hour, we witnessed several support
00:07:40groups being sent and arriving in the area,
00:07:44which indicates that they are probably seeking to establish organizations
00:07:48within the province itself, around the cities of Saravan
00:07:51and so on. To some extent, I think
00:07:55they have also succeeded, and in the current
00:07:58situation, it is possible to carry out operations, for example, we have had
00:08:02four operations in one day in some cases. This possibility of increasing
00:08:05operations is being seen from these groups. Thank you,
00:08:09Mehdi Naqel Ahmadi, journalist, who is following developments in Sistan
00:08:12and Baluchestan, with whom we were discussing
00:08:16the assassination of the cultural and social deputy of the Sistan and Baluchestan police
00:08:19command.
00:08:25However, with continued tensions between Saudi Arabia and the Ansar Allah group in Yemen,
00:08:29in the latest developments, the Houthis attacked the international airport of the Saudi
00:08:32capital. Dozens of people were injured, 5
00:08:35of whom were reported to be admitted to intensive care. Just
00:08:39one day before Riyadh was to host an international oil
00:08:42congress, airlines stopped their flights to this airport. Before this
00:08:46attack, Saudi Arabia had announced the bombing of more than 130
00:08:50Ansar Allah positions in Yemen and said its goal was to eliminate
00:08:53the group's ability to fire ballistic missiles. My colleague,
00:08:57Parham Qabadi, is with us in the studio. Parham, Saudi Arabia wanted to eliminate
00:09:01the ballistic missile capability of the Ansar Allah group or the Houthis.
00:09:05It itself was targeted by such an attack. The pace
00:09:09of developments is very rapid. Look, the latest news we have
00:09:13is that Riyadh Airport has been targeted by a missile attack
00:09:17by the Yemeni Houthis. It's not the first time this has happened.
00:09:21Last week, this airport was targeted two more times.
00:09:24One of them was just this past Thursday.
00:09:27What happened before any of these attacks even took place
00:09:31is that many countries, including Britain, had warned
00:09:34their citizens not to travel to
00:09:37Riyadh. It is still ongoing. I was seeing that,
00:09:41for example, other countries like Spain and Germany are also telling
00:09:44their citizens not to take flights to Riyadh if they have any.
00:09:47Apart from that, what is happening is that the
00:09:51airport was targeted by a missile attack. Reuters
00:09:55and AFP spoke with eyewitnesses who said they
00:09:58saw people injured there and that there was a lot
00:10:02of chaos there.
00:10:05Airlines are also one by one canceling their
00:10:09flights, including, for example,
00:10:11Lufthansa and other
00:10:15airlines. Some of them have announced that they will not have
00:10:18any flights to
00:10:21Riyadh until Monday. All of this is happening
00:10:25at a time when, before this happened, Saudi Arabia,
00:10:28as you yourself had said, announced that the Saudi-led coalition
00:10:32had targeted 136 locations in Yemen,
00:10:36specifically the positions of the Yemeni Houthis, including in the
00:10:39northern province of Yemen called Saada. That area was also
00:10:43targeted, and the Houthis collectively said that two people
00:10:47had been killed in their attacks. One
00:10:50of the places that Saudi Arabia targeted was Sana'a Airport, which was targeted.
00:10:53Now, it is not clear whether this attack that has just taken place
00:10:57was in retaliation for that attack or not. In any
00:11:01case, all of this, as you said, is happening
00:11:04at a time when the World Oil Council's energy
00:11:08congress was supposed to be held in Saudi Arabia tomorrow, and it is not clear
00:11:12whether this will happen or not. Apart from that, there is also a more
00:11:15important event, what is known as the "Desert Davos,"
00:11:19which was scheduled to be held in Riyadh in two weeks.
00:11:22And it is not clear, with these events happening, and attacks
00:11:26against Saudi Arabia and also the capital
00:11:29Riyadh, will these events be held
00:11:33or not? Thank you, Parham Qabadi, for following
00:11:36the developments since morning here in the studio. Now let's hear a few more news
00:11:40items from around the world with
00:11:42Mina Joshqani.
00:11:50According to HRANA, Mostafa Mehrayin, a sociologist, was
00:11:53arrested and transferred to prison to serve an 8-year sentence.
00:11:57Last autumn, he was sentenced to a total of 8 years in prison
00:12:00and 2 years of travel ban for the charges of "gathering and collusion
00:12:04with the intent to commit a crime against national security," "propaganda against the system,"
00:12:08and "insulting the leader of the Islamic Republic." Mr.
00:12:12Mehrayin's sentence was upheld by the Court of Appeals, and the harshest
00:12:16punishment, which is 5 years of imprisonment, is to be implemented for him. Hundreds
00:12:19of supporters of the People's Party (Sosk) in India were arrested.
00:12:23Police imposed a curfew in parts of Delhi
00:12:27to prevent demonstrations, and mobile communications were also restricted.
00:12:30The leader and founder of this party, who had gone to Delhi to participate
00:12:34in the march, was also arrested. Protesters are demanding the resignation
00:12:38of the Election Commission chairman and accuse this body of tampering
00:12:41with voter lists in favor of the ruling party. The Election
00:12:45Commission has denied these accusations. Police in Philadelphia,
00:12:49Pennsylvania, USA, say an artificial intelligence model from Anthropic
00:12:52company sent fake documents
00:12:56about an unsolved murder case through the police website.
00:13:00months ago, and the artificial intelligence introduced itself as someone who
00:13:03had information about the case. However, Anthropic itself only learned
00:13:07about this a few weeks ago. Yesterday, Anthropic confirmed that its AI
00:13:11agents were acting contrary to the company's wishes and had
00:13:14attempted to access several government and local systems.
00:13:17Short news.
00:13:23The assassination of the cultural and social deputy of the Sistan and Baluchestan Police Command.
00:13:35In other news, the governor of Faryab in southern
00:13:39Kerman announced the killing of the perpetrator
00:13:42of the armed attack on Major Mehdi Jamshidi,
00:13:46who was introduced as the head of the Faryab County Police Prevention
00:13:50Department and was announced on Thursday to have been killed
00:13:53in a shooting by unidentified individuals. This center stated
00:13:57in a statement that special operational and intelligence police teams
00:14:01had been deployed in the area to identify and arrest the attackers.
00:14:05However, in other news
00:14:08about tensions in the region, the US said it would reduce
00:14:12sanctions on Russian diesel exports so that Moscow can sell fuel
00:14:15to the US and other global markets. A move that
00:14:19is supposed to be a balm for the hot fuel
00:14:22market worldwide. But this action has angered
00:14:26Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who said that this reduction of sanctions
00:14:30without a clear agreement to reduce tensions in the Ukraine war
00:14:34is a sign of weakness and allows Russia to continue the war
00:14:37for a longer period. Just last night, in Russian
00:14:41airstrikes on Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine,
00:14:44at least 15 people, including three children, were killed.
00:14:48Regarding this issue,
00:14:51we have a discussion in the program with our correspondent in Washington, whom
00:14:55we hope to have on the line. Yes,
00:14:59Mahnoush Pourzaia, our correspondent in Washington, is on the line now.
00:15:03Mahnoush,
00:15:05yes, yes, I apologize. We will return to this topic
00:15:09in a conversation with our correspondent in Washington. But in other
00:15:12news regarding Russia, the Kremlin said that Russian President Vladimir Putin
00:15:16conveyed Iran's views on ways to resolve the Tehran-Washington conflict
00:15:20to US President Donald Trump. The presidents of Russia and
00:15:24Iran met two days ago on the sidelines of two summits
00:15:27of Caspian Sea littoral states and Commonwealth of Independent States
00:15:31in Turkmenistan. Now, Ahmad Vakhshite,
00:15:34Professor of Political Science at the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, is
00:15:37with us from Moscow, the capital of Russia. Mr. Vakhshite,
00:15:41what are Vladimir Putin's interests in the various scenarios
00:15:44that may occur regarding these tensions between Iran and the US,
00:15:48including de-escalation, escalation, or the continuation
00:15:52of the current strained situation? Where does Mr. Putin
00:15:54stand in this matter? Greetings and respect to
00:15:57you. You see, the situation is, in fact,
00:16:01we can say, multi-faceted, and from one side,
00:16:05Russia is a partner in creating
00:16:13a stable situation for the Islamic Republic of Iran,
00:16:16and from the other side, well, its key
00:16:19partners in the Middle East are
00:16:22like the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and on another level in Euro-
00:16:25Atlantic, the issue of the Ukraine
00:16:28crisis and Russia's desire to
00:16:31be able to actually control its conflicts of interest
00:16:34with the US. And what we are witnessing
00:16:38today, in my opinion, is that in international
00:16:41politics, strategic enmity
00:16:44does not prevent economic transactions, and this
00:16:48is the issue that we can also see in the discussion
00:16:52between Mr. Putin and Mr. Trump last night. However, the point is that this economic
00:16:56transaction does not necessarily mean the end of strategic
00:16:59competition, and it is true that Russia
00:17:03and the US are cooperating on energy,
00:17:07but they certainly
00:17:10have mutual expectations. That is, it still seems
00:17:14that Russia expects the US to control
00:17:17the situation and at least
00:17:21the scenario of war with Iran does not happen.
00:17:24On the other hand, the Americans also expect
00:17:27Russia to go along with their conditions
00:17:31in the Ukraine crisis. And in fact, I want to say that this energy
00:17:35crisis that we are facing has also faced
00:17:38the expectations of the parties for security
00:17:42guarantees, which can change
00:17:44the regional and extra-regional geopolitics.
00:17:48Now, in answer to your question,
00:17:51we can also consider this angle from Mr. Trump's perspective.
00:17:55Yes, yes, no, let's not go back. In fact, all this
00:17:59was a prelude to this answer to your question
00:18:02that the Kremlin's
00:18:04goal is to be able to maintain Iran's
00:18:08stability and prevent a war that could happen
00:18:12and also affect its own interests.
00:18:15Does this continuation of the situation, meaning the continuation
00:18:18of the current situation in the Persian Gulf,
00:18:21really have an interest in de-escalation? Because you explained
00:18:24that escalation is not in the Kremlin's interest.
00:18:27See, some believe
00:18:30that if there is an escalation of tension,
00:18:34Russia might have
00:18:37some income from controlling
00:18:41energy. There are many "ifs" on this very
00:18:44issue, but in the specific context
00:18:47of the Middle East, what can happen
00:18:51and complicate the situation is that increased
00:18:55tensions in the Middle East can ultimately
00:18:57force Russia into a choice, because
00:19:01then a bipolar situation will emerge, with Iran on one side
00:19:05and Arab countries of the Persian Gulf on the other.
00:19:09And now, regardless of whether we can also consider
00:19:13the variables of Israel and the US, I believe that Russia has no
00:19:17interest in being in a bipolar situation between Iran
00:19:20and the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf,
00:19:23because on the one hand, it has repeatedly stated that the UAE is its key partner,
00:19:27and on the other hand, it is pursuing a strategic partnership
00:19:31with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Therefore, it tries to pursue
00:19:34de-escalation, and specifically, we saw that
00:19:38the discussion about Iran-US negotiations continuing through Qatar
00:19:42was emphasized again today by the Kremlin.
00:19:45That's right, Russian President Yuri Ushakov
00:19:49had said that Mr. Putin emphasized in his conversation
00:19:53with US President Trump that Russia's proposal
00:19:57to transfer Iran's highly enriched uranium to Russia is still
00:20:00on the table. Meanwhile, the Kremlin said
00:20:03that Russia welcomes the continuation of Iran-US
00:20:07talks through Qatar. But Mr. Vakhshite, Russia is still
00:20:11involved in this costly and bloody war in Ukraine. Its hands are somewhat
00:20:15tied there, and the main equation in Russia's
00:20:19foreign policy is probably that war. Practically, regarding Iran and any
00:20:22other development different from the Ukraine war,
00:20:26how much freedom does Russia have, and what is it capable
00:20:29of?
00:20:32Beyond the Ukraine crisis, you mean the issue of Iran. Exactly.
00:20:36Russia is involved in the Ukraine crisis.
00:20:40How much freedom does Russia have to act on Iran, considering
00:20:43its involvement in the Ukraine crisis? And how much power
00:20:47and initiative does it have regarding Iran? Look.
00:20:50In fact, here, Mr. Trump seems
00:20:53to have become involved in the hypothesis
00:20:56of being able to provide strategic risk coverage, and that is why, in fact,
00:21:00the US, which until yesterday was exerting maximum
00:21:03pressure on Russia, is now, in order to control
00:21:07the energy crisis, allowing Russia
00:21:10to import its fuel. This is a big
00:21:14contradiction. That's right. Here,
00:21:17one aspect of this strategic risk coverage can be that
00:21:21Mr. Trump says that I, within the US, am trying
00:21:25to control this economic pressure. Therefore, I have come
00:21:29to Russia, meaning the Russia that yesterday
00:21:32I said should face maximum economic pressure and maximum
00:21:36sanctions. Today, I have not only given
00:21:39a discount,
00:21:40for example,
00:21:44it is true that for Russia itself, it is a big
00:21:48concession, but Russia is also trying
00:21:52to get concessions, and I think here we must specifically
00:21:56discuss security guarantees that can be raised
00:21:59in Ukraine, Iran, and the Middle East.
00:22:03We should consider these two together. Each of the parties, both Moscow
00:22:06and Washington, is trying to get security guarantees
00:22:10from the other so that the crisis can end, and here
00:22:14is where their bargaining power can also increase.
00:22:17And it seems that the United
00:22:20States, unlike in the past, could use the leverage
00:22:24of economic pressure, but now it is in a situation
00:22:27where this economy is also not independent
00:22:31of international relations. Thank you, Mr. Vakhshite,
00:22:34Professor of Political Science at the Peoples' Friendship
00:22:46in this conversation, the issue of fuel prices,
00:22:50global fuel prices, and fuel prices in the US
00:22:52has additional dimensions for Donald Trump. It's
00:22:56not just a number on paper. Mahnoush Parziai, our correspondent
00:22:59in Washington, is on the line right now. Mahnoush,
00:23:03first, let me ask you about this US action that angered
00:23:07the Ukrainian president. It seemed that the relationship between Zelensky
00:23:10and Trump, the presidents of Ukraine and the US, which
00:23:14had become somewhat strained at the beginning of Trump's second term,
00:23:18had improved, but now Mr. Zelensky says Trump has shown weakness.
00:23:27That is, Mr. Trump, who by no means likes criticism, Mr.
00:23:30Zelensky himself, in his statements last night
00:23:34after this incident with reporters, explicitly said that
00:23:37he had, so to speak, done his best
00:23:41and compromised with the Americans to maintain this relationship
00:23:45for the future of the country. But now,
00:23:48with what Mr. Trump has done,
00:23:51he is effectively
00:23:53giving concessions to Putin. The main
00:23:57issue is that this policy that Mr. Trump
00:24:00is pursuing does not even align with his
00:24:03own Congress. That is, a team from
00:24:07the US Congress was in Ukraine
00:24:11yesterday, in Kyiv, and met with the Ukrainian
00:24:14president to help Ukraine
00:24:17in this war and to discuss what else Americans
00:24:20can do, besides the heavy sanctions that were approved
00:24:24by Congress last month and signed by Mr. Trump himself.
00:24:28And now, with Mr. Trump's decision
00:24:32for this agreement, and with the decision
00:24:35announced by the Treasury Department to exempt
00:24:38diesel imports until
00:24:42April next year, which is almost 6
00:24:46months away, so that they can do this buying and selling.
00:24:50All of this has really put Ukraine in a tight spot.
00:24:54That is, on the one hand, Mr.
00:24:57Trump and his team at the United Nations tried
00:25:00to revive the Ukraine-Russia
00:25:03peace talks after the General Assembly.
00:25:06The Ukrainian team had a meeting
00:25:10with Jared Kushner and Steve Bannon last night.
00:25:14Exactly when they were meeting, Mr. Trump called
00:25:18Putin, and so far that meeting has gone
00:25:21nowhere. Russia itself has announced that they will not negotiate
00:25:25for now until they see what happens. That is,
00:25:29the situation is completely complicated. Yes.
00:25:32And as I checked, 23 hours and 13-14
00:25:36hours remain until the end of the US congressional elections.
00:25:38In fact, by the end
00:25:42of Tuesday, the outcome of these congressional elections
00:25:46will be known. All members of the House of Representatives and
00:25:50more than a third of the 35 senators will be decided. How is American
00:25:53public opinion about Donald Trump and his party in this situation,
00:25:57with these rising fuel prices?
00:26:00It's not a very good situation, of course. This action by Mr. Trump
00:26:04is all to calm the market and also public
00:26:08opinion here, which is very
00:26:12dissatisfied with the current situation. The Republicans themselves
00:26:15have tried to persuade Mr. Trump to either
00:26:18ban US diesel exports
00:26:22or find a solution, so to speak,
00:26:25so that the Republicans' situation
00:26:28at the polls is not too bad. But
00:26:33the latest polls in the US show that Mr. Trump's
00:26:36popularity is lower than ever.
00:26:40The Republicans' situation is not very good, although
00:26:43it does not mean that the Democrats are going to do anything spectacular
00:26:47because the Democrats are doing well
00:26:50in some areas where they have tight competition
00:26:53with Republicans, and some of those areas were previously
00:26:56Republican. But in areas that were
00:27:00in the Democrats' hands,
00:27:06our correspondent in Washington, and thank you for watching or listening to the program so far. Continue to follow the news from BBC
00:27:10Persian. We will be with you tomorrow at 8 PM Tehran time.
00:27:13Wherever you are, take care of yourselves.
00:27:16Is
00:30:19And now on BBC Persian Television,
00:30:22a documentary.
00:30:43Hello and welcome to Globalai. Every week, from a different
00:30:47point in the world, we broadcast a selection of the best
00:30:51reports from BBC World Service for you. I am Sami
00:30:54Awami, a BBC Africa reporter. Since two weeks ago.