Israel holds off attacking Iranian gas infrastructure

This BBC Podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. Du, jag skulle köpa några nya palpstrält i lagret. Det kanske blev lite mer grejer. De hade ju allt, hade en skribord, jag köpte en sån, och kontorstolar, och så hade de en skit snygg tippkontainer. Vi har inredning för hela arbetsplatsen. Välkommen till AIPred. Ländolei fer! Men om du samlar ihop en massa applen kan du göra en äppaj.

Likadant kan man tänka med småln och krediter. De kan man också samla ihop på ett och samma ställe. Ja, en låne. Paj. Samla dina lån till ett på lendom.se. Sveriges största jämförsteltjänst. This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service.

Hello, I'm Ankhur Desai, and in the early hours of Friday, the twentieth of 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. And Feel it's just the start of this journey. To you know, to to make people aware of of all the various sources of toxins in their environment that are affecting their reproductive health. 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.

Uh 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. Israel acted alone against the Slowia gas company. Fact number two, President Trump asked us to uh hold off on future attacks and we're holding.

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. 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.

I think you have to divide up the coordination and the ultimate war goals. I mean there's certainly a lot of overlap. 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 it urging of the Iranian people to overthrow their government. Uh Benjamin Netanyahu has has repeated that again and again, whereas the US administration much less so

Um and there's widespread speculation here as well about whether Israel's 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 uh 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 at at the at the top level on the surface, but at the local level and and how some of the security forces are unwilling to to show up um for duty at the moment. This is all coming from the Israeli side. But there are there is also talk about many more weeks uh planned, about thousands more targets and and yes, um surprises in store later on. How has this all been viewed in Israel?

When the initial conflict began uh against um Iran, I I can imagine a lot of people there thinking, Oh gosh, not another conflict, not another war. Uh 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 what's the view being held by Israelis at the moment?

There was certainly a lot of war weariness here. People have 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.

ymwneud â'r ymwneud â'r ymwneud â'r ymwneud â'r ymwneud â'r ymwneud â'r ymwneud â'r ymwneud. 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 um Israel's power having changed in the region, he's talked about the Middle East having changed, about

Iran not being able to produce uh ballistic missiles anymore or enrich uranium. So he is signalling 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 stockpile of enriched uranium. 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 twenty four hours. Very few people would invite the wrath of Donald Trump, but Israel's attack on the South Pars 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 Jolooso how people in the US are reacting to this war.

So it's still very mixed amongst the public. amongst Republicans around seventy percent 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 Hamine. But overall US opinion is quite negative, with half of the public 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 sceptical.

I think the real tipping point would be the timing and the cost of the war. Historically uh US public opinion has shifted when casualties rise and we've seen even if it's a s a relatively small number We've seen thirteen US service members have been confirmed dead. And also when that sort of economic pain hits home, we already see 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. And so finally, President Trump could he have miscalculated or maybe underestimated the Iranian response in terms of how they could regenerate and and continue fighting as well. And is there a concern maybe that they could be even more hardlined than um the previous generation?

There is a growing consensus amongst analysts that yes, President Trump likely misjudged key aspects of Iran's response. uh 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 uh the killing of the Ayotollah that would lead to a sort of fracture in the 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 two hundred billion dollars

for the swore 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. Simi Jolooso 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. We continue to see volatility stocks falling. Brent crude briefly sort of touched about one hundred and nineteen dollars.

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 and stepped back from what some had seen as an escalation uh and that meant that oil prices fell back down to around a hundred and seven dollars.

With Donald Trump appearing to distance himself from those comments from Benjamin Netanyahu, I guess going on what you said it can help uh in the in the coming days, uh depending on how long this uh continues for. Look, I mean it helps sentiment. The focus initially had been on the Strait of Hormuz, but now you were seeing uh potentially the battlefield expand uh to you know economic attacks on energy production and that

is a a different ballgame. I mean Qatar, for example, is responsible for twenty percent of the world's gas supply. Uh in retaliation, Iran attacks uh their facility at Raz Lafan. Now when the shipping uh blockade lifts, you can see tankers return quickly. Rouse 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. Um 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 of what we're seeing with the oil. Now how much is this war affecting the US economy and and the damage it's doing to Donald Trump, especially with midterms on the horizon later this year?

Yeah, I mean, you know, these national elections here in America were all meant to be about affordability. We know that the price of oil has gone back, that has led to a an increase at the petrol prompt. 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 exporter or energy exporter.

But that being said, you know, it's still going to see higher prices because uh supply chains are affected, that's gonna push up the price of goods down the road. It could we know that fertilizer prices are higher. If it costs more to plant a crop six months to a year from now you could see higher prices in in grocery stores. Michelle Flury reporting from New York.

Let's get the view from Iran now. BBC Persians Kashar Janaidi gave me this assessment of the current strength of the regime. When he was meeting the Prime Minister of Japan, President Trump said that there are defections within the system. And also uh Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, was talking about chaos within the command and control apparatus of the regime. But the truth is uh the regime is trying to show that it is defiant.

towards external forces at at the same time it's in control uh within the country. They've expanded the uh battlefield. They're they're d attacking energy infrastructure in the Persian Gulf area in order to put pressure on President Trump's decision making. And on the other hand, um Thursday morning it was announced that three young men who were arrested during the January protests in Iran were executed Uh so the government is trying to show that it's strong and it's functioning.

Uh the the problem is that there is a big mystery and the mystery is There is Mojtabo Khomenei who uh 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 US intelligence organ community believes that he's been injured and

Uh there has been no video or audio produced from him after he was announced to be the new leader of the regime. Only f four series of statements have been announced and frankly many people even doubt that the statements were produced by Mushtaba Khomene himself. There are lots of rumors going on, uh circulating.

But um one thing that happened today on Thursday is that Iranian media for the first time published an unseen video of one of مشتبه خامنهی's theology classes where he taught at the home 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 uh him not being seen or heard of. And I have to mention uh Friday is the Persian New Year, no rules. and every year on Noruz 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. Still to come in this podcast. A story about radio stations with mysterious frequencies and lots of numbers. HVO100 på utvalda stationer. Läs mer på Hej, står du kvar här i kemrummet? Ja. Letar du efter något särskilt. Nej, nej. Men min familj brukar inte ta hit. Det är liksom min man cave här på biltimma, snälla. Låt mig bara stå här och.

Ja, hela familjens varuhus. Vi ses! Fem vackra hem med golvme som standard och möjlighet till inred övervåning. Eller på Smålandsvillan. Det, jag skulle köpa några nya paldstält för lagret. Det kanske blev lite mer grejer. De hade ju allt, hade en skribord, jag köpte en sån, och kontornstolar, och så hade de en skit snygg tippkontainer. Vi har inredning för hela arbetsplatsen. Välkommen till!

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 Yulan Nell went to look.

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 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 Hijazi who came to check on his leather goods store and is just locking it back up. How has the war impacted you here?

start everything is disappeared and during the second world also it's getting more worse now 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 and they were coming up to the Easter for the Christian pilgrims as well. 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. Harama Sharif as they call it, they have been praying on the streets by the old city walls at At Damascus Gate, Amina is buying vegetables from one of the few market stalls that's open.

I ask her how Ramadan has felt for the community here. Thank God for Ramadan, but the whole situation is dead. Below zero. There's nothing. Shutting the Alexa Mosque. That kills us. Israeli police say it's fallen inside the mosque compound, which is also wholly for Jews. 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. Yelan now 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 doctor Shanna Swan, Professor of Environmental Medicine and Public Health at the IKAN School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. doctor Swann, who is eighty nine, has devoted much of her career 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.

feel it's just the start of this journey to you know, to to make people aware of 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.

In terms of uh 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? 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 and and 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 this is 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 US.

Is it a scientific programme 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 scientific evidence, would you say? It's very small and and I would say it's an important start, but I wanna add that the data from this small study

has been accepted by a peer reviewed journal, scientific journal. So it's it's it it passes the mark that way. And we're using these data as pilot data for a m much larger control 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.

That's our hope that we can now do this in a much larger sample. I'm a a pretty, you know, rigorous scientist. I I am a statistician and I've trained, you know, gotten grants for years and ha conducted many large studies that are highly respected and I know what I'm doing and all the boxes were checked for a study.

Uh but now we have to make it bigger. Doctor Shanet 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. 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 fifty 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 the twenty eighth of February, a new numbers station, broadcasting in Farsi from somewhere in Europe has appeared. Hi. 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 number stations are, lots of people have hazarded a pretty good guess.

from an espionage agency or a government agency to agents who are in the field who have domestically available Shortwave radios. That's Aquin Fernandez, a number station super fan, 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 caught, say, it's also completely secure. It doesn't actually matter whether any enemies, or even members of the public, hear it. So that's its purpose to send messages in a way that It doesn't reveal the location of the recipient.

And in a way that prevents the breaking of the message by people who are listening to the station. 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. That was Will Chalk reporting on the Global News Podcast.

And that's all from us for now. If you want to get in touch, you can email us at globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk. And you can also find us on X at 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 Masood Ibrahim Kale and the producers were Will Chalk and Wendy Urkhard. The editor is Karen Martin and I'm Ankhur Design. Until next time, goodbye. Med golvme som standard. Det är ett inred övervåning. Besök oss i våra visningshus eller på Smålandsvilla.