Israel holds off attacking Iranian gas infrastructure

Summary

BBC Global News Podcast — “Israel holds off attacking Iranian gas infrastructure”

Date: March 20, 2026
Host: Ankur Desai
Source: BBC World Service

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on the dramatic escalation of conflict between Israel and Iran, focusing on Israel’s decision to hold off on attacking Iranian gas infrastructure at the request of U.S. President Donald Trump. The discussion delves into the resulting geopolitical, economic, and social impacts across the Middle East and beyond, with on-the-ground insights from Jerusalem, perspectives from Washington, and analysis of the ripple effects on global energy prices, U.S. domestic politics, and public sentiment. Additional segments explore life in Jerusalem’s Old City under conflict, the science of microplastics and fertility, and a brief look at mysterious radio “numbers stations.”

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Israel’s Decision and US-Israel Relations (01:09–04:55)

Main Points:

• Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu publicly confirms Israel will pause attacks on Iranian gas infrastructure as requested by President Trump.
• Discussion on cracks in the US-Israeli alliance, particularly regarding coordination and war aims—especially energy infrastructure and regime change.
• President Trump is described as independent and not easily swayed, even by Israel.

Notable Quotes:

• Netanyahu, via spokesperson Kasher Junaidi:
  "President Trump asked us to hold off on future attacks, and we're holding out. One other fake news, and that is that Israel somehow dragged the US into a conflict with Iran. Does anyone really think that someone can tell President Trump what to do? Come on." (02:55)

• Lucy Williamson (Middle East Correspondent):
  "There are a couple of areas where potentially they could start to diverge. One is on the targeting of energy sites ... The other is on the regime change and the sort of priority that each side puts on that and the price they're willing to pay." (03:32)

Timestamps:

• [01:09] Main story introduction
• [02:55] Israeli position on US alliance and war aims
• [03:32] Analysis of cracks in the alliance

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2. Israeli and US Domestic Perceptions (04:55–08:27)

Main Points:

• War weariness among Israelis but substantial support for the conflict as an extension of prior tension with Iran and its proxies.
• In the US, Republican support for the war is strong, amplified by high-profile developments (e.g., death of the Ayatollah), but general public support is low and eroding—especially if American casualties or economic pressures grow.

Notable Quotes:

• Lucy Williamson:
  "There was certainly a lot of war weariness here ... but there was still a lot of support for this war, partly because it was framed ... as the culmination of two years of conflict against Iran and its network of proxies around the region." (05:20)

• Simi Jala Oso (North America Correspondent):
  "Amongst Republicans, around 70% have polled to support this war. But amongst MAGA, that's even higher ... Overall, US opinion is quite negative, with half of the public being against the war." (06:56)
  "A lot of people have said that they don't want a forever war and that they want a clear end game. And that messaging hasn't been clearly defined by the Trump administration." (07:31)

Timestamps:

• [05:20] Israeli public opinion
• [06:56] US opinion and political divisions
• [07:31] Call for a clear end game

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3. US Political and Economic Fallout (08:11–12:47)

Main Points:

• Analysts suggest President Trump misjudged Iran’s resilience and escalation strategy.
• US casualties and rising oil prices are beginning to affect public opinion and the electoral landscape.
• The Pentagon requests an additional $200 billion for the war, sparking bipartisan concern as midterm elections approach.
• Global oil and gas prices spike, especially after direct attacks on key infrastructure in the Gulf, but partially ease after de-escalatory signals.

Notable Quotes:

• Simi Jala Oso:
  "President Trump likely misjudged key aspects of Iran's response, particularly its willingness to escalate. He has said he was very surprised that they hit facilities in Gulf states." (08:27)
  "The Pentagon has said it plans to request an extra $200 billion for this war…Democrats have criticized the size of this request, and there are worries amongst Republicans that it's going to severely affect the party come the November midterm elections." (09:23)

• Michelle Fleury (Business Correspondent):
  "Brent crude briefly sort of touched about $119. But then…Netanyahu…signaled…maybe there was an attempt to try [to] step back from what some had seen as an escalation. And that meant that oil prices fell back down to around $107 a barrel." (10:00)
  "America is more insulated than other countries because it is a net oil or energy exporter. But…you're still going to see higher prices because supply chains are affected. That's going to push up the price of goods down the road." (11:48)

Timestamps:

• [08:27] Trump’s miscalculation and escalation
• [09:23] War funding and political risk
• [10:00] Oil price volatility
• [11:48] Economic impact and inflation

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4. Iranian Perspective and Regime Dynamics (12:47–15:35)

Main Points:

• Iranian regime displays both defiance and efforts to establish control at home, countering reports of internal chaos.
• Mystery around new Supreme Leader Mujtaba Khamenei, reportedly injured, and questions about regime legitimacy and stability.
• Symbolic executions and media releases aimed at projecting strength.
• Anticipation around the upcoming Nowruz (Persian New Year) leader’s address.

Notable Quotes:

• Kasher Junaidi (BBC Persian):
  "The regime is trying to show that it is defiant towards external forces. At the same time is in control within the country....The problem is that there is a big mystery. And the mystery is, where is Mujdaba Khamenei, who replaced his father as leader of the Islamic Republic?" (12:57)
  "There are lots of rumors going on circulating, but one thing that happened ... is that Iranian media for the first time published an unseen video of one of Mushtaba Khamenei's theology classes ... maybe the media, the state media, is trying to fill in the void of him not being seen or heard of." (13:59)

Timestamps:

• [12:57] Current strength and narrative strategies of Iran’s regime
• [13:59] Mystery surrounding new leadership

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5. Life in Jerusalem’s Old City During War (19:28–22:23)

Main Points:

• Conflict freezes tourism and shutters historic and sacred sites.
• Jerusalem’s Old City, usually bustling during Ramadan, Passover, and Easter, is deserted. Economic hardship for small businesses and religious communities.
• Iranian missiles intercepted over the city lead to damage at key religious sites.

Notable Quotes:

• Basil Hajazi (leather goods store owner):
  "The first war with the Gaza and Israel war starts, everything is disappeared...So we close up our shops and all city it's empty also from pilgrims, Christians and Muslims. You know, it's Ramadan also for the Muslims here and they were coming up to the Easter for the Christian pilgrims as well." (20:20)

• Aminah (local resident):
  "Ramadan, thank God for Ramadan. But the whole situation is dead below zero. There's nothing. Shutting the Al Aqsa mosque, that kills us." (21:27)

Timestamps:

• [19:28] Situation in Jerusalem’s Old City
• [20:20] Economic and religious impact on residents
• [21:27] Community sentiment

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6. Science Spotlight: Microplastics and Fertility (22:23–25:34)

Main Points:

• Dr. Shanna Swan discusses her contribution to the Netflix documentary “Plastic Detox” and its emphasis on the link between microplastics and falling fertility rates.
• The project aims to increase awareness and inspire systemic, policy-driven change beyond individual action.
• Early scientific results have passed peer-review and may lead to more rigorous, larger studies.

Notable Quotes:

• Dr. Shanna Swan:
  "Feel it's just the start of this journey to, you know, to, to make people aware of all the various sources of toxins in their environment that are affecting their reproductive health ... and the fact that they can do something about it." (23:15)
  "The data from this small study has been accepted by a peer reviewed journal ... we are using these data as pilot data for a much larger controlled trial, actually a randomized control trial that we're proposing to get funding from NIH." (24:37)

Timestamps:

• [23:15] Raising awareness and early evidence
• [24:37] Scientific rigor and plans for future research

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7. Special Report: The Mystery of Numbers Stations (25:34–28:19)

Main Points:

• Numbers stations: mysterious shortwave radio broadcasts believed to be coded spy communications.
• New broadcast in Farsi from Europe appears since the start of the US-Israel war with Iran.
• Despite their old technology, numbers stations are considered secure and untraceable forms of clandestine communication.

Notable Quotes:

• Will Chalk:
  "Since the start of the Israel US war with Iran on 28 February, a new numbers station broadcasting in Farsi from somewhere in Europe has appeared." (25:46)

• Akin Fernandez (numbers station enthusiast):
  "The beauty of radio frequencies is that it's impossible to tell where they're being picked up. So provided your spy has a shortwave radio, they can hear their instructions without revealing their location." (27:10)

Timestamps:

• [25:46] Introduction to numbers stations
• [27:10] Security and rationale behind their use

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Does anyone really think that someone can tell President Trump what to do? Come on." — Kasher Junaidi relaying Israeli sentiment on autonomy (02:55)
• "There was certainly a lot of war weariness here... but there was still a lot of support for this war." — Lucy Williamson on Israel’s domestic view (05:20)
• "A lot of people have said that they don't want a forever war and that they want a clear end game." — Simi Jala Oso reflects shifting US public opinion (07:31)
• "You're still going to see higher prices because supply chains are affected. That's going to push up the price of goods down the road." — Michelle Fleury on economic fallout (11:48)
• "The whole situation is dead below zero. There's nothing. Shutting the Al Aqsa mosque, that kills us." — Aminah on the emotional cost of conflict in Jerusalem (21:27)

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Recommended Listening Points

• US-Israel alliance and divergent war strategies: 01:09–04:55
• Public sentiment and political risks in the US: 06:56–08:27
• Impact on Jerusalem’s religious sites: 19:28–22:23
• Plastic Detox documentary discussion: 22:23–25:34
• Numbers stations explainer: 25:34–28:19

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For those seeking a full global update with on-the-ground reporting and big-picture analysis, this episode provides nuanced perspectives on the Middle East conflict and its reverberations worldwide.

Transcript

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[Ankur Desai]

This is the global News podcast from the BBC World Service. Hello, I'm Ankar Desai and in the early hours of Friday 20th March, these are our main stories. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will hold off attacking Iranian gas infrastructure at the request of President Trump. The strikes and retaliation from Iran have caused steep rises in the prices of gas and oil. Also in this podcast, we find out how life has changed in Jerusalem's Old City now that its most sacred Christian, Muslim and Jewish sites are closed to the public.

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And feel it's just the start of this journey to, you know, to, to make people aware of all the various sources of toxins in their environment that are affecting their reproductive health.

[Ankur Desai]

We hear from the scientists behind a new documentary about microplastics and fertility. It's been an alliance which has stood firm on the global stage, first during the war in Gaza and more recently against Iran. But are we starting to see some cracks in the relationship between the US and Israel? Donald Trump was quick to distance himself after reports suggested that Washington knew about the Israeli attack on Iran's largest gas field, which led to retaliatory strikes across the Gulf. I told him, don't do that. We're independent, we get along great, it's coordinated, but on occasion he'll do something and if I don't like it, and so we're not doing that anymore. Benjamin Netanyahu has now backed up the US President's assertion, but insists the allies are still working together to achieve their goals at lightning speed.

[Kasher Junaidi]

Israel acted alone against the Slawiya gas compound. Fact number two, President Trump asked us to hold off on future attacks, and we're holding out one other fake news, and that is that Israel somehow dragged the US Into a conflict with Iran. Does anyone really think that someone can tell President Trump what to do? Come on.

[Ankur Desai]

Prime Minister Netanyahu appeared keen to show a strong united front in that press conference. But are the US And Israel aligned in their war objectives? I put that question to our Middle east correspondent, Lucy Williamson, who's in Jerusalem.

[Lucy Williamson]

I think you have to divide up the coordination and the ultimate war goals. I mean, there's certainly a lot of overlap in terms of their war aims. But I do think there are a couple of areas where potentially they could start to diverge. One is on the targeting of energy sites, and we've seen that recently. The other is on the regime change and the sort of priority that each side puts on that and the price they're willing to pay. Israel has seemed to be much firmer in its urging of the Iranian people to overthrow their government. Benjamin Netanyahu has repeated that again and again, whereas the US Administration, much less so. And there's widespread speculation here as well about whether Israel is going to use the very deep intelligence assets it has inside Iran to try and support that process as the war goes on. And certainly, speaking to officials here, they talk about surprises that are lined up later in the war. There's been a lot of briefing about cracks in the regime appearing not so much at the top level on the surface, but at the local level, and how some of the security forces are unwilling to show up for duty. At the moment, this is all coming from the Israeli side, but there is also talk about many more weeks planned, about thousands more targets, and, yes, surprises in store later on.

[Ankur Desai]

How has this all been viewed in Israel when the initial conflict began against Iran? I can imagine a lot of people there thinking, oh, gosh, not another conflict, not another war. Benjamin Netanyahu has been accused in the past of sometimes beginning conflicts because he wants to stay in power as long as possible. What's the view being held by Israelis at the moment?

[Lucy Williamson]

There was certainly a lot of war weariness here. People had been doing many rounds of reserve duty. The economy was suffering. There was a sense that people were tired of conflict. But there was still a lot of support for this war, partly because it was framed by the prime minister as the kind of culmination of two years of conflict against Iran and its network. Of proxies around the region. Iran is a critical supporter of Hezbollah in Lebanon, of Hamas. Other armed groups around the region are committed to Israel's destruction. And so Benjamin Netanyahu framed the conflict with Iran, and I think the public has largely stayed with him on that. And he's talked about Israel's power having changed in the region. He's talked about the Middle east having changed, about Iran not being able to produce ballistic missiles anymore or enrich uranium. So he is signaling that a lot of the war goals have been achieved. But of course, the regime is still in power. It is still firing missiles day and night, and it does still have that stock pile of enriched uranium.

[Ankur Desai]

Lucy Williamson reporting from Jerusalem. Are we on the same page here? That's an idiom the governments of the US and Israel have had to ponder over the last 24 hours. Very few people would invite the wrath of Donald Trump. But Israel's attack on the South Pas gas field prompted a quick rebuke from the US president. So is Mr. Netanyahu leading the charge? And will Mr. Trump let go of the reins? I asked our North America correspondent, Simi Jala Oso how people in the US Are reacting to this war.

[Simi Jala Oso]

So it's still very mixed amongst the public. Amongst Republicans, around 70% have polled to support this war. But amongst MAGA specifically, that's even higher. And that was strengthened with the quick killing of the late Ayatollah Khamenei. But overall, US Opinion is quite negative, with half of the public being against the war. And there is little appetite for ground troops for this war to drag on. And we're already seeing warning signs that the public is becoming increasingly skeptical. I think the real tipping point would be the timing and the cost of the war. Historically, US Public opinion has shifted when casualties rise. And we've seen, even if it's a relatively small number, we've seen 13 U.S. service members have been confirmed dead. And also when that sort of equal economic pain hits home, we already seeing an increase in oil prices and an increase in the cost of living. So a lot of people have said that they don't want a forever war and that they want a clear end game. And that messaging hasn't been clearly defined by the Trump administration to the public here.

[Ankur Desai]

Just finally, President Trump, could he have miscalculated or maybe underestimated the Iranian response in terms of how they could regenerate and continue fighting as well? And is there a concern maybe that they could be even more hardlined than the previous generation?

[Simi Jala Oso]

There is a growing consensus amongst analysts that, yes, President Trump likely misjudged key aspects of Iran's response, particularly its willingness to escalate. He has said he was very surprised that they hit facilities in Gulf states. Perhaps the core assumption by the Trump administration behind these strikes was the killing of the ayatollah. That would lead to a sort of fracture in the Iran Iranian system or collapse. And we're seeing that the Iranian state is perhaps more durable than they anticipated. And we could hear that frustration from President Trump recently. Yes, analysts would say that President Trump misread Iran's escalation doctrine and also potentially misjudged the length and cost of this war. Now, the Pentagon has said it plans to request an extra $200 billion for, for this war from Congress. And that has brought mixed reaction from both sides of the political spectrum. It is likely to receive all the votes it's needed to be approved. But Democrats have criticized the size of this request, and there are worries amongst Republicans that it's going to severely affect the party come the November midterm elections.

[Ankur Desai]

Simi Jolo, also reporting from Washington. Well, Mr. Trump's public criticism of Mr. Netanyahu put the markets in freefall yet again. So how is all this playing out in the US Economy? I put that question to our business correspondent in New York, Michelle Fleury.

[Michelle Fleury]

We continue to see volatility, stocks falling. Brent crude briefly sort of touched about $119. But then we had language later on in the day from the Israeli leader, Benjamin Netanyahu. And that seemed to sort of signal to traders that maybe there was an attempt to try, stepped back from what some had seen as an escalation. And that meant that oil prices fell back down to around $107 a barrel.

[Ankur Desai]

With Donald Trump appearing to distance himself from those comments from Benjamin Netanyahu. I guess, going on what you said, it can help in the coming days, depending on how long this continues for.

[Michelle Fleury]

Look, I mean, it helps sentiment. The focus initially had been on the Strait of Hormuz, but now you were seeing potentially the battlefield expand to attacks on energy production. And that is a different ballgame. I mean, Qatar, for example, is responsible for 20% of the world's gas supply. In retaliation, Iran attacked their facility at Ras Lafan. Now, when the shipping blockade lifts, you can see tankers return quickly. Ras Lafan, that attack means that there is no return to normal supply quickly. You know, rebuilding the infrastructure that was damaged in those attacks. You know, that's, we're not talking days or weeks here. We're talking months, possibly Years, that is supply that is lost much longer term to the market. That is going to put pressure on prices for much longer. And so the idea of any escalation or de escalation really changes sentiment in terms of what we're seeing with the oil price.

[Ankur Desai]

How much is this war affecting the US Economy and the damage it's doing to Donald Trump, especially with midterms on the horizon later this year?

[Michelle Fleury]

Yeah, I mean, these national elections here in America were meant to be about affordability. We know that the price of oil has gone back. That has led to an increase at the petrol pump. If that is sustained, Americans could find themselves out of pocket by an extra thousand dollars depending on where they live over the course of the rest of this year. Every time they go fill up their car, they are reminded that they are paying more. So if this election is about affordability, you can see how that sort of isn't the ideal optics that you want to go into. The longer term economic impact still has yet to show America is more insulated than other countries because it is a net oil exp or energy exporter. But that being said, you know, it's still going to see higher prices because supply chains are affected. That's going to push up the price of goods down the road. It could. We know that fertiliser prices are higher. If it costs more to plant a crop six months to a year from now, you could see higher prices in grocery stores.

[Ankur Desai]

Michelle Flowery reporting from New York. Let's get the view from Iran now. BBC Persian's Kasher Junaidi gave me this assessment of the current strength of the regime.

[Kasher Junaidi]

When he was meeting the Prime Minister of Japan, President Trump said that there are defections within the system. And also Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, was talking about chaos within the command and control apparatus of the regime. But the truth is the regime is trying to show that it is defiant towards external forces. At the same time is in control within the country. They have expanded the battlefield, attacking energy infrastructure in the Persian Gulf area in order to put pressure on President Trump's decision making. And on the other hand, Thursday morning it was announced that three young men who were arrested during the January protests in Iran were executed. So the government is trying to show that it's strong and it's functioning. The, the problem is that there is a big mystery. And the mystery is where is Mujdaba Khamenei, who replaced his father as leader of the Islamic Republic. There are rumors that he's been heavily injured during the attacks that led to the death of his father and his other family members. The U.S. intelligence Organ Community believes that he's been injured. There has been no video or audio produced from him after he was announced to be the new leader of the regime. Only four series of statements have been announced, and frankly, many people even doubt that the statements were produced by Mujtab Al Khomeini himself. There are lots of rumors going on circulating, but one thing that happened on Thursday is that Iranian media for the first time published an unseen video of one of Mushtaba Khamenei's theology classes where he taught at the Qom Seminary. And frankly, although for years he's been considered as a possible replacement for his father, people hadn't heard from him. People are unfamiliar with his voice, they've seen pictures of him, but no audio of him had been published before. And this is the first time maybe the media, the state media, is trying to fill in the void of him not being seen or heard of. And I have to mention, Friday is the Persian New Year, Nowruz. And every year on Nowruz, the leader and the president issue televised speeches issuing messages towards the nation on the occasion of the New year. Yes, we have to see whether such message will be published by the new leader on Friday.

[Ankur Desai]

BBC Persian's Kasha Janadi. Still to come, in this podcast, A story about radio stations with mysterious frequencies and lots of numbers.

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[Ankur Desai]

This is the global news podcast. The war in Iran has brought a halt to tourism across much of the Middle East. In Jerusalem, the streets of the walled Old City are now largely deserted, with its most sacred Christian, Muslim and Jewish sites closed to the public. Our Middle east correspondent, Yolande Nell went to look

[Yolande Nell]

I've just come into Jerusalem's Old City at what would usually be a peak time of year for visitors and honestly I've been not seen anything like this since COVID times, most of the shops are shuttered up. Tourism had been hit by two years of war in Gaza, but the war in Iran is another blow. I meet Basil Hajazi who came to check on his leather goods store and is just locking it back up. How has the war impacted you here?

[Ankur Desai]

The first war with the Gaza and Israel war starts, everything is disappeared.

[Kasher Junaidi]

And during the second world also, it's getting more worse now. So we close up our shops and

[Ankur Desai]

all city it's empty also from pilgrims, Christians and Muslims. You know, it's Ramadan also for the Muslims here and they were coming up to the Easter for the Christian pilgrims as well.

[Yolande Nell]

So celebrations and prayers for the Islamic holy month of Ramadan have really been hit by the timing of this war. The Israeli authorities don't allow large crowds of people to gather in places where there's no protection. That includes the holy sites here. Because Palestinian Muslims can't pray. In Al Aqsa Mosque, Haram al Sharif as they call it, they have been praying on the streets by the old city walls at. At Damascus Gate, Aminah is buying vegetables from one of the few market stalls that's open. I ask her how Ramadan has felt for the community here.

[Michelle Fleury]

Ramadan, thank God for Ramadan. But the whole situation is dead below zero. There's nothing shutting the Al Aqsa mosque that kills us.

[Yolande Nell]

Shapnal has hit inside the old city after Iranian ballistic missiles were intercepted by Israeli ones. Israeli police say it's fallen inside the mosque compound, which is also holy for Jews, who call it Temple Mount. And it hit an important church building very close to the Holy Sepulchre Church, where many Christians believe Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected. Even after many conflicts in the region, it's unusual to see something like this at the holy sites. And now with some reports that Israel is preparing for at least another month of war, it looks increasingly likely that Jewish and Christian holidays, celebrations of Passover and Easter will also be muted.

[Ankur Desai]

Yolande Nell reporting from Jerusalem. A TV show following couples as they try to get pregnant isn't perhaps typically where you'd go for rigorous science. But the new Netflix documentary Plastic Detox claims to offer just that about the threat of microplastics to our health. The couples involved try and reduce their daily exposure to plastic related chemicals in their everyday lives to see if it will help them conceive. The lead scientific figure in the documentary is Dr. Shanna Swan, professor of environmental medicine and public health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. Dr. Swan, who is 89, has devoted much of her career in to the study of chemicals and fertility. The BBC's Ben Chu asked her whether this film marked the culmination of her life's work.

[Dr. Shanna Swan]

Feel it's just the start of this journey to, you know, to, to make people aware of all the various sources of toxins in their environment that are affecting their reproductive health and, and the fact that they can do something about it. That will take time to get that message out. And this is a great step along that journey, but definitely not the end

[Ankur Desai]

in terms of the impact you hope it will have. Is it to raise awareness or to get people to directly reduce the amount of plastics in their lives? What's the end result, you hope from this?

[Dr. Shanna Swan]

Well, I think those two things are closely related because awareness of the chemicals and their harms and showing them how to reduce their exposure together will reduce their exposure. Right, and that's one part of it. The other part is to make people aware that we need to do more than what we can do by ourselves. You know, it's just not the job of individuals to do this. This is something that we would like the government to help us with or to take care of or to protect us from. And that's not really happening in the

[Ankur Desai]

U.S. is it a scientific program or is it more entertainment? Because it does follow individual couples, doesn't it? And there's quite dramatic results as a result of them taking plastics out of their lives. How literally should we take this as a piece of, of scientific evidence, would you say?

[Dr. Shanna Swan]

It's very small and I would say it's an important start. But I want to add that the data from this small study has been accepted by a peer reviewed journal, scientific journal, so it passes the mark that way. And we are using these data as pilot data for a much larger controlled trial, actually a randomized control trial that we're proposing to get funding from nih. So who knows? And you know, it's quite difficult to get funding these days, but that's our hope that we can now do this in a much larger sample. I'm a pretty, you know, rigorous scientist. I'm a statistician and I've trained, you know, gotten grants for years and conducted many large studies that are highly respected. And I know what I'm doing. And all the boxes were checked for a study. But now we have to make it bigger.

[Ankur Desai]

Dr. Shannon Swan. Now, earlier I mentioned a story about radio stations and mysterious numbers. Well, it's come from our reporter, Will Chalk and He spent the last few hours in the office, irritatingly excited about it all.

[Will Chalk]

Picture the scene. You're in a cold, dark room with shadows creeping across the walls. You turn on the radio for comfort and hear this. Well, that's not a crazy, far fetched scenario. In fact, it could well actually happen, provided you own a shortwave radio. That was just one example of what's been picked up on various shortwave frequencies over the past 50 or so years. They're what's known as numbers stations. And to make it even more exciting, no one can be certain what they are or why they're there. And to make it even, even more exciting, since the start of the Israel US war with Iran on 28 February, a new numbers station broadcasting in Farsi from somewhere in Europe has appeared. Now, when something like this usually happens, the explanation is disappointingly mundane. But not in this case. Because although no one can be certain what numbers stations are, lots of people have hazarded a pret good guess there

[Ankur Desai]

to send messages from an espionage agency or a government agency to agents who are in the field who have domestically available shortwave radios.

[Will Chalk]

That's Akin Fernandez, a number station superfan who got into them after accidentally hearing one himself many years ago. Now you might be thinking, why, if these are spy messages, would they be using technology invented a century ago? Well, some things simply can't be improved on. The beauty of radio frequencies is that it's impossible to tell where they're being picked up. So provided your spy has a shortwave radio, they can hear their instructions without revealing their location. Plus, in theory, as long as only your spy has the means to decode the message written on a bit of paper they can swallow, when courts say it's also completely secure, it doesn't actually matter whether any enemies or even members of the public hear it, they can't decipher it.

[Kasher Junaidi]

So that's its purpose, to send messages

[Ankur Desai]

in a way that doesn't reveal the location of the recipient and in a way that prevents the breaking of the

[Kasher Junaidi]

message by people who are listening to the station.

[Will Chalk]

So if you're a James Bond fan and you want to experience potentially the real thing, get yourself a shortwave radio and start twisting the dial. You never know what you might hear.

[Ankur Desai]

That was Wilchalk reporting on the Global news podcast and that's all from us for now. If you want to get in touch, you can email [e-mail] and you can also find us on X@ BBC World Service. Use the hashtag Globalnewspod and don't forget our sister podcast. It's called the Global Story, which goes in depth and beyond the headlines on one big story. This edition of the Global News Podcast was mixed by Masoud Ibrahim Khale, and the producers were Will Chalk and Wendy Urquhart. The editor is Karen Martin and I'm Ankur Desai. Until next time, goodbye.

[Ryan Seacrest]

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