Iran's foreign minister meets Putin in Russia as Israel continues strikes in Lebanon — BBC News

[0:05] Hello, I'm Anita McVeigh and this is the Iran War Today, our daily briefing, bringing you up [0:11] to date with all you need to know on day 59 of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran. Let's start with [0:18] some of today's key developments. Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Arachi, praises the strategic [0:25] relationship between Moscow and Tehran as he meets Vladimir Putin for talks on the war. [0:30] Oil prices climb again as peace talks between the U.S. and Iran stall and shipments through the [0:37] Strait of Hormuz remain limited. Israel's military says it's launched fresh strikes against Hezbollah [0:44] sites despite the ongoing ceasefire. But we begin our daily briefing with the latest on the diplomatic [0:55] front. Iran's foreign minister is now in Russia, the latest stop on a tour which also included Oman [1:02] and Pakistan. It comes after Donald Trump canceled a planned trip by U.S. officials to Pakistan over [1:08] the weekend, claiming it would be wasting too much time. Immediately after arriving in Russia, [1:14] Abbas Arachi blamed the U.S. for the failure of peace negotiations in Pakistan. He then thanked [1:21] Vladimir Putin for his support while praising the strategic relationship between Moscow and Tehran. [1:27] Mr. Putin promised to continue to support Iran, saying he hopes peace will prevail. [1:32] Well, let's speak now to Bahman Kalbasi from BBC Persian. He joins us live now from New York. [1:39] Bahman, good to see you. How important for Iran right now is this strategic relationship with Russia? [1:46] It has been reported that Russians were helpful in the war, intelligence-wise, [1:53] and of course the support they gave in the Security Council. So that strategic relationship, [2:00] as Mr. Arachi, the foreign minister of Iran just mentioned, is important. There was a meeting with [2:06] the senior military officials in Russia as well. There has been warnings by Russians that Israel and [2:14] the U.S. might be regrouping and getting ready for another round of attacks. So this all could fall [2:20] under the continuation of this relationship and Iran getting assistance from Russia in preparing for a [2:29] possibility of resumption of the war, as well as looking to Russia for ways to maybe play a role if the [2:38] nuclear file were to be settled. Especially one of the most important sticking points is U.S.'s insistence [2:46] that Iran's 60 percent enriched uranium be sent out of Iran, something Iran says it will never do [2:52] and never allow. But maybe the middle way would be that that material goes to Russia. So all of those [2:59] are obviously things that they would talk about. And this regional trip is about the Iranian government [3:07] trying to find ways to end the war on its own terms. As we've heard now a proposal given to Pakistanis that [3:18] will give the Americans an option of settling the issue of Strait of Hormuz, opening that for now in [3:25] return for end of the war, official end of the war and lifting of the blockade, and then pushing the can [3:33] down the road when it comes to the nuclear file. It's unclear how the United States will respond to [3:38] that. We heard passingly from the United States president that this was a positive move, but it [3:43] was not enough. And we know there's a there's a Situation Room meeting about that today as well in the [3:49] White House. And very briefly, Bahman, if you would, how concerned do you think Iran is about President [3:57] Putin's continued support in terms of the fact that he is keeping an eye, of course, on his strategic [4:03] relationship with the United States? They they think Mr. Putin is more on on their side than it is [4:11] on the United States' side. Obviously, Mr. Putin has also been proven not to be the best ally at all [4:17] times. During this the 12-day war in June, there was a lot of rumblings in Iran that Russia didn't come [4:25] to our aid. There was more assistance apparently during the 40-day war. So it's not a solid, you [4:33] know, alliance that will always be there. But it is one that Iran hopes to be able to count on in [4:39] circumstances that is very fluid as we are in right now. OK, BBC Persians, Bahman Kalbasi, thank you [4:46] very much. And let's join our reporter Lisa Focht from the BBC Russian Service. Now she joins us [4:53] from Berlin. Lisa, what is Russian Russia getting out of these talks? Well, Anita, as you just discussed, [5:01] Russia and Iran, they have a very special, somewhat complicated, yes, but very special relationship. [5:08] They have had an intense defense cooperation. Iran helped Russia with drones when Russia invaded [5:13] Ukraine in 2022. And that's why when Israel and the U.S. attacked Iran and Russia didn't or couldn't [5:20] interfere, many thought that it did put Russia in a somewhat awkward and uncomfortable position. [5:26] Because on the one hand, Vladimir Putin couldn't help an ally, even though no formal agreement to do [5:33] so in the event of an attack have ever been bridged. But on the other hand, we know, yes, how important [5:39] this relationship with President Trump is for Moscow and how Moscow is trying to leverage this [5:44] relationship to achieve goals in Ukraine. We know that Vladimir Putin has offered President Trump [5:50] to become some kind of a broker in his dealings with Iran. And Russia has already repeatedly offered [5:57] to store Iran's enriched uranium as a way of diffusing tensions in the region. But so far, [6:05] the United States has been rejecting these these offers, even though President Trump recently [6:10] admitted that he talks to Putin. And given that the current U.S. negotiations with Iran are clearly [6:16] struggling, I think Russia could be looking into playing a role of a peacemaker, intermediary, [6:22] especially when so many countries, maybe to even Russia's surprise, Iran turned out to be more [6:34] resilient than expected. And I think this first official Iranian delegation's visit to Moscow since [6:39] the start of this war should be seen in this context, because becoming an intermediary allows Russia to [6:46] become, again, more relevant in this region to secure its position in the region, position that has been [6:52] somewhat lost when Iran was attacked, when Bashar al-Assad's regime was thrown in Syria. And of course, [6:59] to start a dialogue with the United States that suits Russia. It's a kind of dialogue where two [7:04] countries can be seen as superpowers solving the biggest world's issues. [7:08] Just time for a brief answer, if you would. What do you think are the real limits of what [7:14] Moscow and Russia is willing and able to do to help Iran right now? [7:19] There have been reports that Russia has been sharing intelligence with Iran, [7:23] but that didn't really trigger any kind of harsh reaction from the United States, [7:27] with President Trump seemingly unbothered by it. Moscow never promised Iran to interfere in any kind of [7:35] war with the U.S. or other countries' participation. That's just not part of their agreement. And again, [7:42] it's worth noticing that perhaps to Tehran's disappointment, Moscow's reaction to the war [7:47] has been not very, very restrained. But it's very clear that for Russia, Ukraine stays the main priority [7:53] and building up on this relationship with President Trump has to be the main focus for Moscow. [7:58] Okay. Lisa Fogt from the BBC's Russian service. Thank you very much. [8:03] Well, with the warring sides still seemingly far apart on key issues and tanker traffic [8:08] through the Strait of Hormuz at a near standstill, oil prices have resumed their upward march. [8:13] There's also growing concern for the fate of crews waiting for an opportunity to sail through the [8:18] strait. The head of the UN's International Maritime Organization has called for seafarers being held [8:24] in the Gulf to be released immediately. While he hasn't mentioned any names, it's thought he was [8:29] talking about the crews of two ships detained by Iran. They're believed to have been part of a convoy [8:35] attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend during a brief period when the route [8:40] appeared to reopen. The Secretary General of the IMO also stressed the importance of ensuring freedom [8:46] of navigation through the crucial waterway. The freedom of navigation is not negotiable for IMO and [8:53] no country has the right to obstruct the traffic on a strait for international navigation. That's not [9:03] only the United Nations law, the SAFE convention, but it's international customary law. Equally, at IMO, [9:12] under the SOLAS convention, the SAFETY of LIFE convention, the traffic separation schemes are mandatory [9:18] and adopted here and put in place for the SAFE operations. Equally, there's no legal basis for the [9:26] introductions of any tax, any customs or any fees for on straits for international navigation. [9:32] The Israeli military says it has begun hitting Hezbollah positions in Lebanon's Beqa region and [9:40] in other areas across the south of the country. The ceasefire deal agreed by Israel and Lebanon [9:46] earlier this month appears increasingly fragile, with both sides accusing each other of repeated [9:51] violations. On Sunday alone, Israeli strikes killed 14 people in Lebanon. The Israeli military says an IDF [9:59] soldier was killed in a Hezbollah drone attack. This marks the deadliest day since the truce came into [10:05] effect earlier this month, according to Lebanese officials. Here's our Middle East correspondent, [10:11] Lina Sinjab. The past few days, almost on a daily basis, there have been airstrikes with people being [10:18] killed in the south of Lebanon, while we're talking about an extended ceasefire for another three weeks. [10:25] The Israelis say they want to protect their northern border, but the Israeli prime minister had given [10:31] orders for his troops to accelerate attacks on Hezbollah, and that's also during the period where [10:40] we're talking about ceasefire. Hezbollah, by its turn, said that it will have the right to retaliate [10:45] whenever there is an attack, and they can retaliate within the Lebanese territories, but also in northern [10:51] Israel. And we have to remind our audience that the Israelis also have boots on the ground. They [10:56] control a big swathe of land in the south of the country, which the Lebanese see as an occupation. [11:03] And this is also part of the negotiation to have the Israelis pull out of the south of Lebanon to allow [11:10] hundreds of thousands of civilians to go back to their destroyed homes. In fact, many villages on the [11:17] borderline have vanished because of the Israeli demolishing any sign of life there. So at the [11:26] moment, the ceasefire is very fragile, although there is a diplomatic commitment to make it last. [11:33] The U.S. President Donald Trump, when he announced the extension of the ceasefire, he also talked about [11:40] you know, attempts for meeting between the Lebanese president and the Israeli prime minister, [11:45] which is not really clear if it's going to happen, given that neither side have confirmed it. And [11:52] given the hostilities that are, you know, increasing in the past few days. But Lebanon is in dire need [11:59] for a lasting ceasefire for, you know, the Israelis to pull out from the south and for people to go back [12:06] to their homes and villages. You know, over one million have been forced to flee their towns and [12:11] villages and they're desperate to go back and have some sort of normality. [12:16] Lina Sinjab. U.S. President Donald Trump says his intervention has helped spare eight Iranian women [12:24] from the death penalty. Iran has rejected the claim, insisting that none of the women were facing [12:29] execution and accusing the president of spreading false reports. The BBC's chief international [12:35] correspondent Lise Doucette explains what we know about the women and the argument surrounding their [12:40] fate. She's reporting from Tehran on condition that none of her material is used on the BBC's Persian [12:46] service. These restrictions apply to all international media organizations operating in Iran. [12:52] President Trump says he has saved eight Iranian women from execution. Iran's judiciary says that's not the [13:00] case. So what do we know? Trump's intervention came after a photograph circulated online showing that [13:06] the eight women were on death row accused of crimes linked to the nationwide protests here in January [13:13] which were crushed with lethal force. The president posted twice on his Truth Social platform about [13:20] these women and he asked Iran to pardon them. Iran's judiciary issued a statement saying none of the women [13:27] were facing execution and accused the president of making fake reports. We asked to speak to a judicial [13:35] official here and are awaiting a reply but we did speak to the director of an Oslo-based organization [13:41] Iran Human Rights Mahmoud Amiri Moghadam and he shared with us what they know about five of the women. [13:48] Two, he said, have been released on bail last month but two are facing possible death sentences [13:55] and one Bita Hemati is facing execution. She was arrested in January along with her husband during the [14:03] protests and the executions by hanging are continuing. Iran's judiciary has confirmed that at least five [14:11] took place over the past week most accused of spying for Israel. Human rights groups regularly condemn [14:18] Iran's human rights record saying that last year at least 1639 Iranians were executed. That's the highest [14:28] on record since 1989. Lise Doucette, whether you're joining us on YouTube, TikTok, sounds, radio or TV, [14:38] thanks for your time. We'll be back tomorrow with the Iran war today.