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00:00:24Headline news:
00:00:26Continued reactions in Iran to the defeat of Trump's allies
00:00:30in the congressional elections, from burning posters of the US
00:00:33president to advising his deputies to prevent another
00:00:37attack. Consultations by the Israeli
00:00:41president to appoint a new prime minister.
00:00:45According to predictions, Eisenkot has a higher chance than
00:00:49Netanyahu. US Federal Court
00:00:53agrees to continue hearing the case of Parviz Sabeti,
00:00:56a former SAVAK official, for involvement in torture
00:01:00during the Pahlavi regime. Accused.
00:01:02And
00:01:05the disclosure of the secrets of the espionage network against Hungarian
00:01:08citizens during communism. Secret
00:01:11police files were released
00:01:15after about four decades.
00:01:34Hello and welcome to this news section of BBC Persian Television. I am Baran
00:01:38Abbasi. Following the victory of Democrats in the US
00:01:42midterm congressional elections, leaders of this party
00:01:45say that ending the war with Iran will be one of the priorities
00:01:48of the House of Representatives and the Senate. However, in Iran, there is still talk
00:01:52of preparation for the possibility of another
00:01:56attack by America. Iranian officials consider themselves effective
00:02:00in the victory of Democrats, but they say that there is no difference
00:02:03in the hostility of the two parties towards the Iranian government. Siavoush Ardalan
00:02:07reports.
00:02:11Democrats in America, who are mostly against war with
00:02:14Iran, are now elated by their victory
00:02:17in the midterm congressional
00:02:19elections.
00:02:21But for now, on the other side of the world, in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz, nothing
00:02:25has changed. Last night, in two separate
00:02:29incidents, the Revolutionary Guard still reports attacks and incidents
00:02:33that occur in the waters of the Persian Gulf and the coasts of Arab countries
00:02:36in the region for oil tankers. Today,
00:02:40the commander of the IRGC Ground Force visited the Iranian islands
00:02:43of the Persian Gulf. His goal
00:02:46is to maintain readiness against a possible US
00:02:49attack.
00:02:51The question everyone is asking now is whether Donald Trump still
00:02:55intends to attack Iran or not. While he was
00:02:59in doubt
00:03:00diplomatic news is that the Iranian Foreign
00:03:11about military recommendations for attacking Iran, nothing
00:03:15is clear now. The latest
00:03:19Minister has spoken with his Omani counterpart. But that's it. Iranian officials feel
00:03:22victorious about the defeat of the Republicans. Because they believe
00:03:26that by resisting the pressures of the Trump administration,
00:03:30they have turned most Americans away from him.
00:03:33Although the victory of the Democrats also, as stated in a message attributed
00:03:37to the Iranian leader, makes no difference to the Islamic Republic
00:03:40and he views the two ruling parties of that country
00:03:44with the same eye in terms of hostility.
00:03:46On the other hand, Trump's deputy, who officially confessed that the reason
00:03:50for the Republican defeat was the war with Iran, became the target of
00:03:54sarcasm and blame from Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, who told
00:03:58him to go tell these things to...
00:04:12who decides the fate of the war with Iran.
00:04:15Meanwhile, the US Treasury Secretary continues
00:04:19the economic pressure campaign against Iran. He announced
00:04:23sanctions against foreign individuals and companies that help
00:04:26Iran circumvent sanctions.
00:04:30But the Democrats are preparing for what they have called
00:04:33one of their priorities: ending the war with
00:04:37Iran. Siavoush Ardalan, BBC.
00:04:40My colleague Mahnoush Pourzayyahi
00:04:42from Washington is with us. Mahnoush,
00:04:46the Democrats said that one of their main priorities is ending the war in Iran.
00:04:50What practical tools do they have
00:04:53to fulfill this promise?
00:04:56In the short term, before the new Congress enters
00:05:00Washington, that is, until January, there are 2
00:05:04months left, and in these two months, Democrats will practically
00:05:07be in Congress with the same
00:05:10previous structure and composition. However, the difference is that the Republicans
00:05:14who are there for these two months can
00:05:17use this opportunity and many
00:05:20of them are now expressing their opposition,
00:05:24at least unofficially, without
00:05:27names in interviews or even
00:05:30by name in the media. They are
00:05:34pointing out and making their criticisms
00:05:38public. During this two-month period,
00:05:41Mr. Trump still has a lot of leeway
00:05:44to direct operations in any direction he wants.
00:05:47But if Democrats
00:05:50can continue to resist
00:05:54the approval of new funding, which the
00:05:57Pentagon is seeking, and not vote for
00:06:00it, they can, in a way,
00:06:03make US military operations,
00:06:06at least their expansion, conditional and limited.
00:06:10After the new Congress takes office,
00:06:13it will naturally be different,
00:06:16and they will have more leeway for
00:06:20impeachment, for example, of officials
00:06:22involved in the war from those who
00:06:26were in the White House. The main issue might be
00:06:29how far Democrats want to confront Mr.
00:06:32Trump, engage themselves in a political
00:06:36war, or as you and Siavoush said
00:06:40in the report, focus more on
00:06:43the goals that were identified in the polls,
00:06:47which are ending the war and ending inflation.
00:06:51How they want to end the war is a serious issue, because
00:06:54in any case, Mr. Trump will be in power for two
00:06:58years. Historically, it has usually been said
00:07:01that presidents, after possibly even
00:07:05losing their majority in Congress, their party
00:07:09focuses more on foreign policy in the last years of their
00:07:12presidency. How true can this be and how much can it be related
00:07:16to Iran? Mr.
00:07:18Trump has never adhered to political traditions
00:07:22in Washington in any matter, and it is really
00:07:26difficult to predict what he will do in the next two years.
00:07:29Will he continue
00:07:32on the path of prioritizing his personal interests,
00:07:35or will Republicans somehow surround
00:07:39him and convince him
00:07:42to save the party from its current situation, or will
00:07:46Republicans completely give up hope
00:07:49in him and seek
00:07:52to save the party? These are all very important
00:07:56questions that depend a lot on Mr.
00:07:59Trump's unpredictable behavior. What we
00:08:03saw in 2006, which can perhaps be compared
00:08:07to the current situation,
00:08:09although it was not completely identical,
00:08:12is the defeat of Republicans
00:08:16in the 2006 midterm elections coincided with
00:08:20Mr. Bush's presidency and the war in Iraq,
00:08:23which in its first 3 or 4 years
00:08:27had created a lot of
00:08:31opposition, both gradually in Congress and
00:08:35among the American people and the international community.
00:08:38In practice, after that election, Mr. Bush removed Defense
00:08:42Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, but he strengthened
00:08:46his military operations, so to speak,
00:08:50and increased his military forces
00:08:53in Iraq. That Mr.
00:08:56Trump can change
00:08:59the war situation at this juncture
00:09:03is naturally different. The war with Iran
00:09:07is incomparable to that situation,
00:09:09and Iran has shown that it is not very willing
00:09:13to dance to the tune of the White House.
00:09:17Thank you, Mahnoush Pourzayeh from
00:09:19Washington.
00:09:26With the victory of the Democrats in the US midterm congressional
00:09:29elections, all eyes are on this party. Clive Myrie reports
00:09:33on the priorities and policies of the Democrats
00:09:36in the new phase of confrontation with the Republicans over the next
00:09:40two years.
00:10:12We have gathered experienced observers of US politics to discuss
00:10:16the path forward for the Democrats. Ophira from the Democratic
00:10:20Governors Association. Michael, former spokesman for
00:10:23Hakeem Jeffries, the new leader.
00:12:01once again accused Israeli Arab parties of supporting
00:12:05terrorism and questioned the integrity and legitimacy
00:12:09of last week's elections. Nafiseh Ko90, BBC's senior
00:12:12Middle East correspondent, is with us from Beirut. Nafiseh, tell
00:12:16us a little about this process of government formation and the challenges
00:12:19facing both sides.
00:12:22Baran, since yesterday, the Israeli
00:12:25president has started consulting with parties
00:12:28that were in the elections. Whoever
00:12:32has the most nominations, meaning
00:12:35whose name is proposed as the most
00:12:39likely prime minister or
00:12:43responsible for forming the cabinet by these parties,
00:12:46will be tasked by the president to form
00:12:50the government. But to form the government, they must also have a coalition
00:12:54that
00:13:12However, considering that one of the main Arab
00:13:16parties, Ra'am, which was one of the main Arab
00:13:19coalitions, has announced that they are willing to support
00:13:23Mr. Eisenkot.
00:13:55Netanyahu will probably
00:13:57not support him. From the opposite side, they will also not support him.
00:14:01The main reason they abandoned Mr. Netanyahu, despite
00:14:04the past, is that, in their opinion,
00:14:07Mr. Netanyahu failed to cancel
00:14:11compulsory military service for all Israelis.
00:14:15Well, this religious
00:14:18group is not willing to join the army
00:14:21because of their views. As a result,
00:14:25both sides' work seems difficult, but Mr. Eisenkot's
00:14:28chances are higher given that the Arabs
00:14:31will probably announce their support
00:14:35for him. However, Mr. Eisenkot
00:14:38had emphasized before being elected
00:14:41that he was not willing to form a coalition
00:14:45with Arab parties, which makes his job difficult,
00:14:49although he has not commented much on this
00:14:52since the elections. Another possibility is
00:14:56that a coalition between Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Eisenkot will
00:14:59be formed, something Mr. Netanyahu is pushing for a lot,
00:15:03but that also seems very difficult because the coalition
00:15:07led by Mr. Eisenkot in fact
00:15:10appeared in these elections with one of their
00:15:14main arguments being that Mr. Netanyahu's era is over,
00:15:17and their opposition to Mr. Netanyahu was practically
00:15:19the main reason that brought them votes.
00:15:23As a result, it is a very complex situation, and if
00:15:27someone is elected on the 28th, they will have 28
00:15:31days to form a cabinet, but they must first form
00:15:34that coalition, and if they don't succeed, the president
00:15:37must choose someone else. That person also has another
00:15:41opportunity to form a government, but if they can't,
00:15:44elections must be held again next year,
00:15:48something the Israeli president says he wants to prevent.
00:15:52How much might Mr. Netanyahu questioning the integrity of the elections
00:15:56affect this decision that elections might be held
00:16:00again? Look,
00:16:03so far, Mr. Netanyahu and his supporters, despite
00:16:07constantly accusing Arab parties of receiving money from Qatar
00:16:11or Turkey and
00:16:15questioning the integrity of these elections
00:16:18due to the remarkable or surprising success
00:16:22of Arab parties, have apparently not
00:16:25been able to provide any evidence to the election
00:16:28commission. The election commission officially announced
00:16:31yesterday that despite all the investigations they
00:16:35conducted, they found nothing contrary to election principles
00:16:38that would question the integrity of the elections. However,
00:16:42in addition, Shin Bet, which is Israel's domestic
00:16:45security organization and whose head is
00:16:48a supporter of Mr. Netanyahu, has announced that they are still
00:16:52investigating. Despite this, since
00:16:55no specific evidence has been presented so far, it seems
00:16:59very difficult, and the fact that the Israeli president
00:17:03has practically started consultations to choose the person
00:17:06responsible for forming the cabinet is another seal of approval
00:17:10on the election results. As a result, it seems
00:17:13very difficult, unless Mr. Netanyahu's front
00:17:17can present very strong
00:17:20evidence and show that,
00:17:23for example, a foreign country was involved in
00:17:27the Arab parties getting more votes. But
00:17:31currently, Mr. Netanyahu's task seems difficult.
00:17:35Thank you, Nafiseh.
00:17:37My colleague Nafiseh Kounerd from Beirut is with us. We are currently watching live
00:17:41images of the meeting that the Israeli
00:17:45president has convened to appoint the prime
00:17:48minister. The live images are from Jerusalem.
00:17:52The Israeli president has until the middle
00:17:55of next week to task one of the leaders of the two
00:17:59main blocs, Benjamin Netanyahu or Gadi Eisenkot,
00:18:02with forming the government. Arab parties
00:18:06have also won seats that could be decisive,
00:18:09but both parties have said that they will not form
00:18:13a coalition with Arab parties, and
00:18:16we will have to see what the outcome will be. The images you are seeing
00:18:20are live images from the meeting that the Israeli president has convened
00:18:23to decide which party will be
00:18:27given the first opportunity to form
00:18:30a government.
00:18:31Let's
00:18:35take a look at the most important news of
00:18:38this program. In response to Trump's deputy
00:18:41who attributed the war as the reason for the Republican
00:18:45defeat in the elections, Ghalibaf warned him against another
00:18:48attack on Iran. The Israeli president is consulting
00:18:52with representatives of various parties to appoint a new
00:18:56prime minister. Later in
00:18:58this program: Disclosure of the secrets of the
00:19:01espionage network against Hungarian citizens during
00:19:04communism.
00:19:08In the latest development in the case of three torture victims'
00:19:12lawsuit against Parviz Sabeti, a senior official of the
00:19:16SAVAK organization, the Florida state court, in a new
00:19:19ruling, agreed to continue judicial proceedings and stated
00:19:23that the plaintiffs' fear of retaliation and Sabeti's
00:19:26secret life were the reason for years of delay in filing
00:19:30the lawsuit. The Florida court also referred to the history
00:19:33of torture in SAVAK and that in both the Pahlavi
00:19:37regime and the Islamic Republic, democratic conditions did not
00:19:40prevail in Iran for victims to be able to take action
00:19:44to assert their rights. Raha Bahreini, human rights lawyer
00:19:47and researcher for Amnesty International, is with us from London.
00:19:50Ms. Bahreini, how important is this ruling by the Florida
00:19:54court? Can it be said that a major obstacle has been
00:19:58removed from the path of the plaintiffs?
00:20:01Greetings to you and dear viewers. In these days when
00:20:04news of crime, execution, and torture...
00:20:11not only for addressing tortures that have remained
00:20:15without judicial review and accountability for decades,
00:20:18but also an encouraging message to torture
00:20:21victims who, during the Islamic Republic and afterwards,
00:20:25want to file a complaint, if individuals accused
00:20:28of torture are identified in the
00:20:32US, even years or decades after the incident
00:20:35occurred. In this ruling, the court explicitly stated
00:20:39that the issue of statute of limitations cannot be raised
00:20:43because oppressive and anti-human
00:20:46rights regimes have always existed
00:20:50in Iran, and there have been no courts that could even address
00:20:53the plaintiffs' complaints, and there has been a continuous
00:20:57chain of repression. That is, it not only addresses
00:21:01torture during the Pahlavi regime, but also takes a firm
00:21:04stance on torture and crimes that become even
00:21:08more severe during the Islamic Republic. It states
00:21:11that given this situation, as long as such oppressive
00:21:15regimes govern inside Iran,
00:21:19courts outside the country can hear plaintiffs' complaints
00:21:23without any debate. This point is important because
00:21:26according to the Torture Victims Protection Act in the
00:21:29US, such a complaint generally must be filed
00:21:33within a 10-year period after the incident
00:21:36occurs. But in extraordinary circumstances, this
00:21:39time limit can be delayed, and the court has practically
00:21:43stated here that this delay was justified
00:21:46due to the situation of repression, as well as the secrecy
00:21:51of Mr. Sabeti, according to the court.
00:21:54This ruling does not mean that Mr. Sabeti's responsibility
00:21:58has been proven. He himself denies these accusations. But what
00:22:01evidence must the plaintiffs present to prove his personal
00:22:05responsibility? What obstacles are in their way? Now, this case
00:22:09enters the substantive review phase. That is, until
00:22:13now, the focus has been on whether this complaint
00:22:16can even be reviewed or not, because
00:22:23since it was filed late, the complaint should
00:22:27be dismissed altogether. Then the discovery
00:22:30process begins, meaning the parties must
00:22:34present their claims, documents, and evidence, and prove
00:22:37their claims. On the plaintiffs' side, they must prove
00:22:41that they were subjected to torture, and
00:22:45prove the responsibility of the official, Mr. Sabeti.
00:22:48And both sides will have the opportunity
00:22:52to interrogate each other.
00:22:56The testimony of victims and probably the testimony
00:22:59of experts will be presented, and a timetable
00:23:03for presenting documents and trial sessions
00:23:06will be announced by the court. I might emphasize here
00:23:10that this ruling is important because it is once
00:23:14again a wake-up call for human
00:23:17rights defenders that torture and the capability of society
00:23:21that torture is a severe crime
00:23:24and must always be held accountable, regardless
00:23:28of the passage of time and the political beliefs of the accused
00:23:31or the plaintiffs, and political debates should not
00:23:35prevent the understanding of torture as
00:23:38a crime, and being with the plaintiffs
00:23:42and torture victims. Therefore, Amnesty International
00:23:45has welcomed this ruling. It is a hopeful
00:23:48ruling for everyone.
00:24:05human in law, and
00:24:08we should move towards a future where torture
00:24:12is never justifiable and has no place. Thank you, Raha Bahreini,
00:24:16human rights lawyer and researcher for Amnesty International from London.
00:24:23The British government has described bomb threats on commercial
00:24:27flights in Europe as fake and sabotage,
00:24:30but said it takes all matters seriously. Following the latest round
00:24:34of threats, at least 19 passenger flights were forced
00:24:38to make emergency landings or divert. Italian
00:24:41and French fighter jets escorted at least two planes until
00:24:45landing. Four flights also landed safely in Prague.
00:24:49No explosives were found on these planes.
00:24:53This is the second wave of similar threats in
00:24:56Europe this week.
00:25:00Riot police in France fired tear
00:25:04gas at protesters. This is the latest round of protests against the rising
00:25:07cost of living and declining public services in France.
00:25:11Labor unions, who are demanding higher
00:25:14wages, say they expect 800,000 people
00:25:18across the country to take to the
00:25:20streets. In Paris, before the official march began, protesters
00:25:24built barricades with garbage cans and clashed with
00:25:28police. There were also reports of a fire at a school
00:25:32near Toulouse.
00:25:36From France, let's go to Hungary, because tens of thousands
00:25:39of files related to the secret police of the communist
00:25:43era in Hungary have been released. These files reveal a network
00:25:47of informants who spied on citizens. Peter
00:25:50Magyar, the Prime Minister of Hungary, said that this action
00:25:54will help citizens to come to terms with their country's
00:25:58totalitarian past. However, this decision also has opponents.
00:26:01Nick Thorpe
00:26:15Previously, each
00:26:17person could only search for their own file, but
00:26:21now you can find anyone's name. I
00:26:24think this can be an opportunity to learn more about people
00:26:28and confront the past more deeply, not just on an individual
00:26:35The release of these files was one of the election promises of Peter
00:26:38Magyar, the Prime Minister of Hungary.
00:26:41These wounds should not be hidden or swept under the carpet, but
00:26:45we should talk about them so that a collective process of healing
00:26:48and reconciliation can begin.
00:26:50There were many reasons why some
00:26:54agreed to spy on family members and friends. Some
00:26:58faced pressure and threats. Some
00:27:01were in...
00:27:47Scientists, television presenters, and politicians are also
00:27:51on this list, and the consequences of this revelation are still
00:27:55ongoing.
00:27:55Thank
00:30:43now, on BBC Persian Television, current
00:30:47affairs.
00:30:51An election that completely overturned the balance of
00:30:55power in the US, the composition of the future Congress and the situation...