US attacks and seizes Iranian vessel ahead of peace talks — BBC News

[0:05] hello i'm mariam mashiri this is the iran war today our daily briefing bringing you up to date [0:10] with all you need to know on day 52 of the u.s israel war with iran over the course of the next [0:17] 10 minutes or so we'll get the latest from our teams across the world we'll be live with [0:22] lease to set in tehran and azadeh mashiri in islamabad let's start though with some of the [0:28] day's key developments now pakistan gives up to host iran u.s peace talks an american team is [0:35] set to head to islamabad but the big question is will iran attend the moment the u.s military [0:47] attacks and seizes an iranian cargo ship trying to escape the american blockade of iran's ports [0:54] the iranians say they will retaliate israel warns people in lebanon not to return to their homes in [1:00] the south as lebanon's president says he hopes fresh talks with israel will save his country from [1:06] further war meanwhile israel's prime minister condemns an israeli soldier who attacked a [1:12] statue of jesus christ with a sledgehammer in southern lebanon and the bbc investigates insider [1:18] trading rumors swirling around the trump presidency including during the iran war now let's talk about [1:32] the big question will they or won't they go ahead we are of course talking about peace talks in [1:38] pakistan well the capital islamabad is certainly gearing up for the discussions you remember it [1:44] hosted those failed talks earlier this month barbed wire has been rolled across many roads leading to [1:50] the city's diplomatic area police army and paramilitary are providing armed security with [1:56] thousands of officers on the streets the u.s team will be headed by vice president jd vance reports from [2:02] washington say the delegation will set off soon but it's still unclear if iran will attend an iranian [2:09] spokesman says they have no plans for the next round of negotiation and no decision has been made [2:15] but it comes after the u.s attacked and seized an iranian cargo ship trying to get past its blockade [2:21] of iran's ports well the u.s military released images which they said showed marines that have [2:27] departed the uss tripoli assault ship by helicopter descending by rope onto the vessel the tuska president [2:34] trump says the ship was given fair warning to stop the crew refused to listen and the navy ship in his [2:40] words stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engine room well here's the moment [2:46] shots were fired motor vessel tuska motor vessel tuska vacate your engine room vacate your engine room [2:54] we're prepared to subject you to disabling fire well iran's military has said it will retaliate [3:16] to that seizure the strait of homoos is certainly one of the stumbling blocks between iran and the [3:21] u.s that the talks if they go ahead would have to tackle well let's cross live now to islam bad and [3:27] our south asia correspondent azadeh mashiri azadeh what are the pakistani government saying right now [3:33] about the likelihood of these talks actually going ahead well there's been so much anticipation but also [3:41] a lot of preparation for these possible talks between the united states and iran to happen again here [3:46] in islamabad in an effort to end weeks of war and while pakistan has been broadcasting its mediation [3:55] has been showing images of the field marshal assay munir the chief of the army here and the de facto [4:01] leader in pakistan that's how it's how it works making these trips around the world to meet not only [4:07] with iranian officials but also other mediating countries as well we still don't know whether both [4:14] sides will actually will actually turn up here in islamabad we've heard that the u.s delegation as [4:20] you mentioned uh will make its way here will be led by jd vance but as far as the iranians are concerned [4:28] they haven't ruled it out but they say as of now they have no plans to attend those talks so what does [4:33] that mean for the united states would a delegation come here if there's no guarantee from iran and what [4:39] would that delegation actually look like it's worth remembering that we have been here before during [4:45] that first round of talks uh in islamabad up until the night before we weren't sure whether muhammad [4:51] ghalibaf the speaker of iran's parliament who was due to lead those talks would actually uh turn up here [4:58] with his own delegation and yet that led to the highest level face-to-face talks between the united [5:04] states and iran since 1979 when the islamic republic was actually founded and so it's worth remembering [5:12] that anything can happen here what is different are the events in the strait of hormuz and the ceasefire [5:18] that is due to expire on wednesday as the day thank you well let's get the view from inside iran now our [5:28] chief international correspondent lise toucette is allowed to report from tehran on condition that none of [5:33] her material is used on the bbc's persian service well lise let's talk a little bit more about what's [5:39] happening in iran what more are you hearing about the likelihood that uh someone from the iranian [5:45] delegation will arrive in islamabad and that talks can continue well miriam there was that uh press [5:53] briefing that you referred to earlier today by the foreign ministry spokesperson ismael bagai [5:58] and really the phrase to hold on to he said so far so far we have no plans to go to islamabad [6:05] so far we haven't made any uh decisions but i think there is a growing sense here that iran is [6:11] trying to make its point bear in mind that even before the incident in the strait of hormuz that [6:17] is called an act of piracy it already had reservations about going to islamabad it said [6:23] and it didn't say it through official it said it through media reports uh that it didn't want to uh [6:28] to go back to talks while the u.s naval blockade was still in force and so therefore they were [6:35] already they already had some reservations we also have heard that they really aren't certain [6:41] about what can emerge from a second round of high-level high-stake talks they still believe [6:47] and we see this reflected in some of the social media posts the most recent by the president masoud [6:52] peshashian talking about the demands being made by the americans their negotiating style and of course [6:59] about the absence of trust but the fact of the matter is very they don't want to be seen as the ones [7:04] that will be responsible for the breakdown in talks if jd vance gets on a plane and goes to uh [7:11] goes goes all the way to islamabad they will make a very short flight later in the day and would be [7:16] expected to turn up and lease you yourself have talked to a senior iranian lawmaker about the strait [7:23] of hormuz and iran's intentions there what did he tell you there's a lot of discussion here about [7:33] what is the future what is the fate of this strategic waterway this has been a gift to iran's [7:40] leadership during this war when they carried out this this horizontal escalation we're able to weaponize [7:46] the strait and it's been it's what they've been using it as leverage as a bargaining chip in the [7:51] negotiations but there is a growing sense uh that actually they they see this as as long term that [7:56] it could be an economic lifeline to get out of the stranglehold of sanctions and that it could give [8:02] them more leverage some part of a strategic deterrence in the long run so we sat down with the chairman of [8:10] the parliament's national security national security and foreign policy committee and i i asked him when [8:17] are you going to give up control of the strait of hormuz ibrahim azizi will iran ever give up its [8:25] control of the strait of hormuz certainly not certainly not we believe this is our inalienable [8:35] right we are preparing a plan to be approved by parliament with comprehensive regulations ruling [8:41] passage through the strait to be implemented by the armed forces even your neighbors with whom you had [8:48] good relations before the war are saying this is international waters and this is an act of piracy [8:56] i'm rose today america is the world's biggest pirate i'm request well lise before i let you go [9:04] just tell me if you can what the mood is like of people inside iran as we get ever closer to the [9:12] end of that ceasefire deal well we're only in tehran it was a cold rainy day today and you really get a [9:22] sense your people are just getting by day by day a little by little the pressures that were imposed [9:29] during that war are being lifted the airspace has been partially reopened for those who can fly who [9:35] have enough money to fly the two major airports here in tehran will soon be opening up to passenger [9:41] flights that near total internet blackout is slowly being eased they yesterday they announced they'd be [9:47] opening it of course to academics now today there are reports of businesses of course who would be [9:52] chosen by the authorities will also be able to access uh that internet the worldwide uh web and [10:01] what we're seeing too though is the mark when you go to the markets where prices were high even before the [10:06] war they are higher still and some people mariam would really like to see a deal they tell us they're hoping [10:13] that the deal can be done so that these sanctions strangling their lives can be lifted but in one [10:18] grocery store one shopkeeper said i don't want to deal i want to keep punishing the americans others [10:24] of course don't want to deal because they don't want an agreement which helps keep the hardliners they [10:30] want to remove in place lise thank you very much indeed our chief international correspondent lise to set [10:37] reporting live from inside iran there well let's turn our attention now to lebanon because israel's [10:42] warned people there not to return to their homes in the south that's despite this fragile truce being [10:48] in place a military spokesman said people should not move south of a line of villages or approach [10:54] areas near the litani river the spokesman said israeli forces would remain in the area to counter hezbollah [11:00] activity the lebanese president says upcoming negotiations with israel are aimed at ending hostilities [11:06] meanwhile israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu says he's stunned and saddened after an image [11:12] emerged on social media of an israeli soldier hitting a statue of jesus christ with a sledgehammer in [11:18] southern lebanon miss netanyahu said he condemned the act in the strongest terms well our correspondent [11:25] john donison is in jerusalem and john tell us more about that statue and the reaction after the event [11:32] well a pretty striking image you see an israeli israeli soldier standing over the statue with a sledgehammer [11:41] about to destroy it and it's caused outrage in lebanon but also further afield we have the us ambassador [11:49] to israel mike huckabee himself an evangelical christian calling for swift severe and public [11:55] consequences for whoever this carrot carried this out and then a statement earlier today on social media [12:01] from the prime minister here benjamin netanyahu saying that the vast majority of israelis were stunned and [12:08] shocked by this action and that there would be uh harsh and appropriate disciplinary measures taken [12:17] against a soldier who carried it out and meanwhile john we're hearing of course that israel's been [12:22] warning people not to return to southern lebanon despite the ceasefire what more are you hearing [12:28] well it's a fragile ceasefire at best it's been in place since friday it's expected to last for 10 days [12:36] it's due to last for 10 days but the truth is the fighting hasn't really stopped israel today saying [12:42] that it carried out strikes on hezbollah uh rocket launchers which which it said were ready and loaded [12:50] uh to use there have been further strikes today and there are thousands of troops occupying southern [12:57] lebanon that is about five percent of lebanese territory and when these talks resume in washington [13:04] on thursday we think it's going to happen they're being brokered by the united states direct talks it's [13:09] unusual but a key sticking point i think is going to be whether those troops remain in southern lebanon [13:17] the lebanese prime minister joseph ayoun has said that is a no-go he wants them to withdraw to what [13:23] he called the internationally recognized borders but so far prime minister netanyahu here has given no [13:30] indication that he's ready to meet that demand so as i say the the ceasefire in a pretty precarious [13:37] position john thank you the bbc has found a pattern of spikes in trades on financial markets ahead of [13:49] public announcements by president trump including during the iran war it's raised suspicions of [13:54] insider trading whereby bets are made based on information that's not available to the general [13:59] public well the white house has not responded to a request for comment although it has strenuously [14:04] denied allegations of insider trading in the past here's the bbc's nick marsh traders are making [14:10] millions after donald trump makes a major announcement now there are questions is this [14:17] insider trading the bbc's found a pattern of spikes in trades just before donald trump says something that [14:24] moves the financial markets for example nine days into the war with iran trump said in an interview that [14:31] the war was pretty much complete and oil plunged the first time the public would have known about that [14:38] was 3 16 pm us eastern time but market data shows a surge in trades 47 minutes earlier another case [14:47] involves the online predictions platform polymarket in which the president's son donald trump jr is an [14:54] investor one account made nearly half a million dollars by correctly predicting the removal of [15:00] venezuela's president nicolas maduro the day before he was seized the account changed its username and [15:07] hasn't placed any more bets since these activities have raised suspicions of illegal insider trading using [15:14] information that isn't available to the general public polymarket told the bbc that it proactively works with [15:21] regulators and law enforcement to ensure market integrity there are also people that say that [15:27] some traders are simply getting good at guessing when the president is going to say something [15:32] significant donald trump jr didn't respond to a bbc request for comment nor did the white house though [15:38] it's strenuously denied allegations of insider trading in the past now let's finish off by taking stock of [15:47] where we are will iran go to the peace talks in islamabad well with me now is bbc persian correspondent [15:54] power home kobadi and power home i guess many people are asking themselves tonight will iran go [15:58] and if it does go who would it send so iranian officials have remained largely silenced over their [16:05] decision they said that so far they haven't made their mind whether they're going or not but what we can [16:10] see is that two iranian news agencies tasnim and force that both are linked to iranian revolutionary [16:16] guards simultaneously almost within a few minutes published two articles saying almost the same [16:21] things they said that it's a miscalculation for iranian delegation to take part quote unquote as [16:27] they're saying american charade because of the mistrust that they have but the core issue that they have [16:32] and the the reason they call it a miscalculation is because of the naval blockade of a strait of hormos [16:38] because they say that last time we reopened the strait of hormos they were expecting the americans [16:44] lifting the blockade as well when that did not happen that created even a more distrust so even [16:51] today masoud pezashqian iranian president said as well that americans should stick to their [16:57] commitments and their obligations when they take part in negotiations he said that it's obvious that [17:03] they are seeking iranian capitulation and iranians will not submit to coercion okay parham good to talk [17:09] to you thank you very much indeed for that parham goody from bbc persian well whether you're joining [17:16] us on youtube tick tock sounds radio or tv thanks so much for your time we'll be back at the same time [17:22] tomorrow with the iran war today