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