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- [00:00]
Charlotte Gallagher
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- [01:08]
Charlotte Gallagher
This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Charlotte Gallagher and this is an extra edition of the Global News Podcast to update you on the developments in the US Israel war with Iran on Saturday 7 March today. Today's main stories the Iranian President Masoud Pejeskian says Iran will stop striking its Arab neighbors as long as no attacks originate from their territory. President Trump has characterized the remark as a surrender in response to relentless US And Israeli bombardment. And we'll hear from northern Iraq, where Kurdish Iranian opposition groups have been coming under attack.
- [01:49]
Catalina Gomez
And I'm located in the very center, close to the compound of the Supreme Leader that was actually attacked in the first moment of the Israel and American attack. I feel it like it was like two streets from my house.
- [02:03]
Charlotte Gallagher
One Tehran resident tells us about her experience of the war so far. As the US Israel war with Iran enters its second week, the Iranian president has apologized to Iran's Arab neighbors for striking them with missiles and drones. Arab countries hosting US Military bases are adamant they've not allowed them to be used to launch attacks against Iran. Several Gulf countries also try to dissuade Washington from starting its bombing campaign. In a televised speech, President Masoud Pezeshkian said attacks would stop as long as no attacks come from those countries.
- [02:47]
James Menendez
I should apologize to the neighboring countries that were attacked by Iran or on my own behalf. What happened was that our commanders and our leader lost their lives following the barbaric aggression. And our armed forces, the champions that are sacrificing their lives to defend our territorial integrity, fired at will because their commanders were absent and did whatever was necessary. They proudly and powerfully defended our homeland.
- [03:13]
Charlotte Gallagher
On Friday, President Trump said only Iran's unconditional surrender would end hostilities. But President Pezeshkiakhan ruled that out,
- [03:26]
James Menendez
that we surrender unconditionally. They should take that dream to their graves. What we are committed to are international law, human frameworks and the principles they talk about. They should be committed to those principles.
- [03:40]
Charlotte Gallagher
Our chief international correspondent, Lys Doucet, who was reporting from Iran not long ago, listened to the president's speech.
- [03:47]
Lys Doucet
The president is known for trying to strike conciliatory tones. You may remember that during the major protests, which were put down with lethal force, he apologized for the government's shortcomings, at least in economic matters, not in political ones. And here he is again now today, offering a conciliatory tone, apologizing to neighboring states, particularly in the Gulf, which have been coming under attack by Iranian forces. But he made it clear that this was not just his gesture. He said that a decision had been made by Iran's current leadership. It's a three man interim leadership council, and they had decided that they would make this clear to neighboring states. And he had this interesting explanation, and we heard of it earlier from the foreign minister, Abbas Arakchi, when he was embarrassed that Oman, which is a key mediator for a long time, had also been hit by Iranian strikes. And he said that the command had been decentralized. So again, Pajisian said that army officers, he said, had been firing at will in the absence of a top command. So one would suggest that they're going to try to make their decisions a bit more consolidated if they can. But there was still the caveat that if attacks by the US Or Israel originate in countries with military bases, they would still be a target. So it's not clear what impact it will have.
- [05:10]
Unnamed Analyst/Commentator
And it's been brushed off by President Trump.
- [05:15]
Lys Doucet
Yes. And I should say that the decision of the leadership in his apology is in response to the fury among Arab leaders. I spoke to a senior official in the Gulf yesterday, and he said they were absolutely shocked by Iran's strike and said it would take decades for this rupture to be healed, that there was no going back. And he said after this, he said if we ever sit down for negotiations, ballistic missiles will have to be on them because they are clearly a threat. And yes, to President Trump, of course, how swiftly he responded in the middle of the night in the United States. And he says, I'll read a little bit of it. Iran, which is beat to hell, hell in capital letters, has apologized and surrendered to its Middle east neighbors and promise that it will not shoot at them anymore. And then he goes on to say, he says Iran is no longer the bully of the Middle east, and then in capital letters, they are the loser of the Middle East. It's such a harsh tone, and he said that they will, they're going to be hit very hard. And sadly has an echo of some of those petulant messages he has sent before. And it's hard to remember that about a year ago, he said he wanted to be remembered as the president of peace and a unifier in the world.
- [06:31]
Unnamed Analyst/Commentator
Now there is talk of regime alteration. And this in the wake of what's happened in Venezuela, of course. And I guess the, I mean, Donald Trump has been talking about, you know, he personally being involved in who will be the next leader in Iran and finding another Delsey Rodriguez, the equivalent of the Venezuelan sort of deputy who has sort of stepped up now to become an American ally in the wake of Maduro being taken into prison.
- [06:54]
Lys Doucet
I think President Trump is realizing that his second job as commander in chief gives him this extraordinary sway. And he has such powerful military weapons, the strongest up in the world, and therefore he can lose them at will. He calls Venezuela the perfect scenario, but it simply wouldn't work in Iran to take the leader off and then work with the administration that's left.
- [07:18]
Charlotte Gallagher
That was least you said. Our correspondent, Barbara Plett Usher has also been listening to the Iranian president's statement from the Qatari capital, Doha, as Mr.
- [07:28]
Barbara Plett Usher
Pizescki and the President was issuing his recording. There was a missile attack here which the Qataris intercepted. There have also been missile and drone strikes this morning. So I think it will be greeted with a fair bit of skepticism. Now, what the President said was that the Iranian military units had acted on their own authority and did what they deemed necessary after their commanders were killed. It suggests that he's speaking about the decentralized defense strategy that, that the Iranians organized in the anticipation that Israel and the US Would go after their top leadership, so in effect saying that local commanders could continue to carry on without centralized orders. So it sounds like the leadership, at least the diplomatic and political leadership, is trying to control a situation that has very much angered their Arab neighbors. And perhaps they are seeing that it is not helping their case, the Iranian case, because it seems more and more that the Gulf leadership has been joining ranks with the United States rather than arguing Iran's case.
- [08:39]
Charlotte Gallagher
And is there a sense of shock in Qatar that they've been drawn into this conflict?
- [08:45]
Lys Doucet
Yes and no.
- [08:47]
Barbara Plett Usher
Before the war started, Qatar and the other Arab countries in this region warned the US that there could be dire consequences. They all host US Military bases and the Iranians had said quite clearly that they would target the US Military bases. They also warned the US that if the leadership felt there was an existential threat, that it was being targeted directly, then it could get much worse than that. And it might even involve the Iranians targeting their oil and gas industry. And that is what has happened. So it is their worst case scenario. But I think the week of quite relentless or at least regular, I would say missile and drone fire from Iran and the fact that it has hit residential areas and civilian infrastructure as well is something that has really, I'm not sure if they were explaining quite expecting that. I don't know if the civilians were expecting that. It has been something that has really hit the region hard. And you've had some very sharp statements from some of the officials, especially in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
- [09:51]
Charlotte Gallagher
That was Barbara Platt Usher reporting from Doha as we record this podcast. Iranian media reports say two influential clerics have called for a quick selection of the new supreme leader to help solve steer the nation AMID the ongoing U.S. and Israeli strikes. President Trump has argued the U.S. should have a role in choosing the new leader, a demand rejected by Tehran. Israel is continuing to pound Lebanon, saying it's targeting strongholds of the Iranian backed militant group Hezbollah. Two Ghanaian UN Peacekeepers have been critically wounded in a missile attack. The Lebanese Health Ministry says more than 200 people have been killed since airstrikes began. The prime minister, Nawaf Salaam has warned a humanitarian disaster is looming as hundreds of thousands of people are being forced to leave their homes ahead of an anticipated ground incursion by the Israeli military. Tanya Babin from the humanitarian group Medglobal is based in Beirut.
- [10:51]
Tanya Babin
What we're witnessing right now in Lebanon is an extremely rapid humanitarian escalation. So in the last almost 72 hours now since the massive evacuation orders in the south, in Dahiye, in the southern suburbs of Beirut and in the Biqa region, which is northeast, the scale and the speed of this displacement is pushing humanitarian resources to the absolute brink. Shelters are filling up so quickly, the authorities are now trying to prepare as of last night, one of the main sports stadiums in Beirut to try to accommodate these additional displaced families. These families, remember, are Fleeing. They're given a very short time to leave their homes. Many people are arriving at shelters with no basic supplies, nothing.
- [11:37]
Charlotte Gallagher
I've been speaking to our correspondent in Beirut, Leena Sinjarb. She first told me about those two UN peacekeepers that have been critically injured.
- [11:45]
Leena Sinjab
The statement coming out from the uniform that the peacekeeping mission in the south of Lebanon, that a missile hit their base yesterday, at least three were injured, but two in critical condition. The statement did not specify the source of the attack. However, the Lebanese president, Joseph Aron, came out to condemn the attack and blame it on Israel Defense Forces or who. They didn't make any statement about that. And in the last round of War in 2024, there were several attacks by IDF on UNIFIL, on UN peacekeeping mission in the south. It's really worrying that in this time these kind of attacks continue on peacekeeping missions. Just in the past hour, we've heard of an attack in the Beqa Valley. At least a dozen people, probably more, were killed, which will bring the number of the total dead over 200. And that's likely to increase for Lebanese people.
- [12:41]
Charlotte Gallagher
They've gone through this so many times. I mean, I read an interview with one woman today who said, look, I've not even finished repairing my house from the last set of military strikes, and now it's been damaged again.
- [12:52]
Leena Sinjab
You know, I spoke to one person who said, it's generation after generation. It's his. His grandmother fled with, with his mother, and then his mother fled with him, and now he's fleeing with his children. So it's really generation after generation living in this war with Israel. But this time you can see more voices critical of Hezbollah because really they didn't want any involvement. They haven't recovered from the last war in 2024, and yet Hezbollah decided to launch rockets into Israel, prompting this retaliation and attack on civilians in big numbers.
- [13:27]
Charlotte Gallagher
Do you think this could be a real turning point for Hezbollah in Lebanon? Because as you said, support for them is weakening and people are just so fed up with the situation.
- [13:35]
Leena Sinjab
You know, I think the political decision and the public decision is clear about Hezbollah. But this is not a group that was established yesterday. They've started in the 1982 by Iran with the Revolutionary Guard. They've trained them, they've established them, and they funded them until they've reached this point. Although in the last war in 2024, they've lost 5,000 of their fighters, most of their leaders. Israel destroyed their weapons depot. But we can see, see today that they've managed to rearm themselves and they still have tens of thousands of fighters. So it really is going to cause a big rift in the society.
- [14:09]
Charlotte Gallagher
And yesterday the Lebanese prime minister asked for international help. Is there any sign that is coming?
- [14:14]
Leena Sinjab
I think the international community made it clear first the decision and the action to be taken from the Lebanese government, from the Lebanese army, so that they would be able to chip in even on the level of financial aid to rebuild and reconstruct. They also want to monitor the country, that government with long reputation of corruption. So there are lots of lists of demands from the international community, from Lebanon before anyone can come in and help. But actually the key issue is what to do with Hezbollah and how to stop them.
- [14:44]
Charlotte Gallagher
That was Lena Sinjab in Beirut. Iraq has also been dragged into the conflict. There have been some explosions at several locations overnight. Drones attacked oil facilities in Basra and rockets targeted a complex near Baghdad airport which has a milit military base and a US Diplomatic facility. Iran is also stepping up its attacks on Kurdish Iranian opposition groups at their bases in northern Iraq. Olagarin is in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
- [15:14]
Ola Guerin
Iraq is trying hard to stay out of the war next door. That's getting harder to do. Late last night after about 10 o' clock local time, we had a series of explosions which we could hear. Now. They were actually interceptions of four drones which security officials here are saying were bomb laden drones and which appeared to have been targeting one of the main hotels here. Quite a high profile location. In the end, they were shot down, debris fell in an open area. No injuries, no casualties. But it certainly increased the tension here. And there had been a warning shortly before that from the US Embassy telling its citizens to get out of hotels in the city because they believed that they might be targeted. Now the attack has been claimed by one of those pro Iran militias. It's an Iraqi group based here, but supportive of the regime across the border. And we heard open threats yesterday from Tehran. A senior official there saying that facilities here, all kinds of facilities, would be targeted if Kurdish Peshmerga fighters cross the border from here into Iran. Now that's a story that's been bubbling for the past few days. These Peshmerga fighters here are part of opposition groups, Iranian Kurdish groups that have been here for decades. President Trump is now openly encouraging them to get involved in the war. You'll have heard that he said it's a wonderful idea and he's all for it. So far they say they have not crossed the border. The authorities in Baghdad and the authorities here In Erbil, which is an autonomous Kurdish region. Both say, we do not want them to do that. We do not want to get involved. We don't want our territory being used to launch attacks on our neighbor. But as the days go by here, the tension, the level of tension is increasing and I would say the risk for Iraq of becoming embroiled.
- [17:16]
Charlotte Gallagher
That was Ola Guerin reporting from Iraq. It remains difficult to know exactly what's going on inside Iran. The BBC, like most international media, can't freely report from the country and communications with people there remain difficult. But a few international journalists are still able to report from Tehran. Catalina Gomez has lived there for around 20 years and reports for the French news channel France 24 and Spain's Lan Vanguardian newspaper. She spoke to James Menendez and began by telling him about the attacks which hit the city on Friday.
- [17:52]
Catalina Gomez
It was basically around 5, 5, 10 in the morning that several explosions came, like they were dropping the bombs, very consecutive. And it last for five minutes. It was very strong. Everything was shaking. You can feel the sound of the plane on the earth. Immediately all these pictures from Tehran start going out in the social media and they were very strong. You could see this huge attack in the city and it continues during the day in different parts, east, west and in the afternoon, back to the center very strongly.
- [18:26]
James Menendez
And those ones early in the morning at dawn, I mean, how close to you were they, do you think?
- [18:31]
Catalina Gomez
I'm located in the very center, close to the compound of the Supreme Leader that was actually attacked in the first moment of the Israel and American attack. I feel like it was like two streets from my house.
- [18:45]
James Menendez
And more generally, I mean, are you able to find out what is being hit in this campaign?
- [18:53]
Catalina Gomez
Tehran is a very, very secure city with a lot of checkpoints of different militia groups like the Basijis or the special forces or the special police. Then there are some areas that is very difficult to transit around.
- [19:08]
James Menendez
It's interesting, you talk about the checkpoints and the presence of the militias and so on. That suggests that much of the regime's military apparatus and personnel, I mean, they're all still in place. It's not like people have been deserting their posts. Is.
- [19:24]
Catalina Gomez
I mean, what we know and we would see in the streets is they are not deserting, they are really much there. I know that they have been attacking bases of militias, but we can see in the streets is that they are so much presence. But I also have to point something interesting. Two days ago I was in the north of the city close to a very Famous place in Tehran, Tadris. It's usually very crowded. Of course, these days it's not crowded because we are in holidays, because they declare seven days of mourning. But some people close to the system were there with flags and chanting slogans, remembering Supreme Leader, but also against America and Israel. And it was full of checkpoints that day. Very difficult and very dangerous because they were showing their guns very openly. But today I was there and it was very, very quiet. It's Friday, people should be out. And also there were almost no checkpoints that really show something because very empty. I never see in my life Tehran
- [20:30]
James Menendez
Asenti so people clearly staying at home and are you able to speak to people at all in the city and find out what they think about what's going on? I mean, clearly people are worried, but I just wonder whether, you know, people welcome what's happening. I mean, what are their thoughts about what the days and weeks to come might hold?
- [20:50]
Catalina Gomez
People are worried, but people have different approach depending on where they are. I mean, people who support the system and is mourning the Supreme Leader, they are very much requesting for revenge and they are really against America and Israel, but they believe that Iran has to go until the end. And you have other people who are really, really worried because even if they are against Islamic Republic, they are worried what is happening with the country and what is going to. And they are also very worried of being a victim of these attacks of the Israelis of Americas. And also they are very afraid of these militias and these checkpoints in the streets, that something will happen to them. That's why people are trying to be very careful being in their house or out of the city.
- [21:40]
Charlotte Gallagher
That was Catalina Gomez speaking to James Menendez from Tehran. And that's all from us for now. If you want to get in touch, you can email us at Global podcast@BBC.co.uk you can also find us on XBCWorldService. Use the hashtag globalnewspod. And don't forget our sister podcast, the Global Story. This edition of the Global News podcast was mixed by Craig Kingham and the producer was Stephen Jensen. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Charlotte Gallagher. Until next time.
- [22:11]
Lys Doucet
Goodbye.
- [22:21]
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