Iran: US strikes continue as late supreme leader is buried

0:00This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. The CIA has been carrying out covert operations around the world for decades. How has it shaped how people feel about the U.S.? I'm Asma Khalid. And I'm Tristan Redman. And together we host the Global Story podcast from the BBC. As part of our series to mark the United States' 250th birthday, we're exploring the CIA's hidden history. Do you think the word of the United States will be trusted in years to come? For more, check out The Global Story on bbc.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

0:41Hello, welcome to NewsHour from the BBC World Service. I'm Paul Henley. We're coming to you live from London. Coming up on the programme... A tiny frog whose squeaky call became an internet sensation has been added to the latest red list of threatened species, more on the desert rain frog, in about 20 minutes' time, first today. It was much more than a burial when Iran's supreme leader was laid to rest in his home city today. Power and unity were projected to the outside world as many thousands of people filled the streets of Mashhad and Ayatollah Khamenei's body was transported to his grave.

1:29The coffin was driven on a truck through packed streets. Many in the crowd waved the red flags that symbolise a search for vengeance in Shia Islam. The burial was the final act of a funeral that's lasted nearly a week. The man who led Iran for more than three decades lay in state in the capital before being processed through Tehran.

1:55Among a sea of flags and banners in the packed streets of Mashhad was a huge sign designed to be read from above saying, hey Donald, we will kill you like a dog. It was written in English. Elsewhere during events, the tone was quieter as prayers were made and people paid their last respects.

2:28The Ayatollah was killed in the first wave of US and Israeli strikes on Iran when the war began back in February, but the Iranian authorities delayed his funeral until a ceasefire agreement was in place. They needn't have bothered. The US struck scores of targets in Iran today and last night, including the railway line that connects Tehran and Mashhad. This was recorded in Chabahar, a port city in the south-east of Iran.

3:00Those attacks came on a second consecutive day of tit-for-tat barrages, launched by both sides, more than testing a fragile truce, as the enemies continue to disagree on fundamental issues such as the strategic control of the Strait of Hormuz. This Iranian man has been speaking to the BBC about the strikes.

3:24If war breaks out again, God forbid, what will be targeted this time? People are exhausted by this situation. One day there is a ceasefire and the next it's violated. So military actions resumed on both sides. Our chief international correspondent, Lise Doucette, joins us live here in the studio. Lise, you've just returned from Iran. At the moment, what is being hit and what is the aim? It really underlines again that this so-called memorandum of understanding agreed by the United States and Iran, signed last month, is being understood differently by both sides. And the problem is in the wording.

4:0614-point interim deal meant to lead to another two months of negotiations. It has led Iran to say, and it's in the wording, it can be interpreted that way, that Iran will still have sway over the workings of the Strait of Hormuz, whereas the United States is emphasizing that there should be return to the status quo, the free flow of maritime traffic. So then this doesn't result not just in an argument around the negotiating table, it results in the escalation that we saw over the last two months. After Iran attacked three oil tankers who were trying to take a different path than one that Iran has selected, closer to Oman than to Iran's coastline, Iran hit the tankers.

4:48The United States then started launching what turned out to be 170 strikes, and Iran retaliated. A tit-for-tat which, Paul, is really going to be very much part of how this deal works. So kind of no war, no peace situation. Occasional exchanges of fire. Then you have President Trump saying, as he's often said, oh, they're desperate to make a deal. I've been speaking to Iranian officials, which is basically him saying the mediators behind the scene are trying to cool tensions, get us talking again. So they'll return to the table and no doubt we'll see a return to fire again too. A big question is who's in charge now in Iran because the supreme leader's son, the new supreme leader, Mushtaba Khamenei, has not been seen in public, not even at his father's funeral.

5:42Yes, in the explanation we were given both by the leaders of Iran and people we met in the streets, they'd say those who are the true believers, oh, Mushtaba Khamenei is in my heart, He can't come out because it's too dangerous. And it is true that Israel has made it clear that they still want him in their sights. But there is also the question about just how severely injured he was. Most of the reports we get, Paul, are that he is playing a role behind the scenes. But it's a problem for the regime when symbolism is so important to the maintenance of their rules. Also, they maximized other symbols during this six week of a highly choreographed days of public mourning.

6:24They've erected this huge statue towering over Revolution Square, a clenched fist, which is called the Fist of Defiance. Then there are those red banners, religious banners, symbolizing blood and revenge. But we also hear that the hardliners, there are within their ranks among the hardliners who don't like this deal signed with the United States. After all, the country, one of the two countries which ordered the assassination of Ayatollah Khamenei, they're saying, well, where is the Supreme Leader? Why are you not allowing us to see him? So again, it amplifies some of the disagreements. But going forward, I think the general view is that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who's now been laid to rest, was the last of the supreme leaders.

7:10The new leader will not have the same kind of authority or power. Power is now dispersed among multiple centres in Iran, most of all among the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. And we see these huge crowds, whether they're there willingly or forced onto the streets, how many, we can't tell. And this is a tricky question, but you're better placed than most. Tell us about the public mood and support for the war or not, briefly. Well, the pictures tell a story and it's a story, it's a spectacle that Iran wants the world to see, that they're able to mobilise huge numbers said to be in the millions in one city after another, including in neighbouring Iraq.

7:47What it does emphasise to us is that they do have a core of support. Some of that outpouring of emotion, grief, anger was genuine. We also met people in the throng who said, my company told me I should come. Some were just curious. We also had some women completely clad in black, like all the mourners, who whispered to us, these are not the real voices of the revolution. The real ones were on the streets six months ago and were crushed with such force, which killed many thousands. Thank you very much, Lise Doucette, with the latest on events in Iran. Well, this was the week when Donald Trump at the NATO summit in Turkey declared that the ceasefire with Iran was over and that Iranian leaders were scum.

8:30It was something of a distraction for many NATO representatives who preferred to focus on the war in Ukraine, even if President Trump said at the meeting there was tremendous love. So what do those within NATO who feel most exposed to Russian threats think about what is going on? Latvia shares a border with its huge neighbour. Its prime minister is Andris Kulbergs and he's been speaking to this programme's Tim Franks. I think how much trouble we anticipated before the summit because there was a lot of things in the air, especially what we hear in the Eastern Front truly dislike, which is helping Russia very much more than us, is the, I would say, stupid deterioration in the relationship between Poland and Ukraine.

9:22Unnecessary, in my opinion. We have to understand it's a wartime. It's the fifth year in the war. Things can happen and Ukraine is its word. But it's been a wonderful summit with a lot of concrete outcomes, with the sanctions package discussed, with the Ukraine support. And for Latvia particularly, we were pointed out as a clear example where we're spending real 5 % on our defence. The stronger the Eastern Front is, that's the security for whole Europe. Your chief of staff, commander of Latvia's armed forces, General Pudans, said just last month in an interview with Financial Times that he was concerned that Russia's edge in drone warfare over NATO countries could mean that they could seek to exploit a window of opportunities, as you put it, by the end of 2028, to invade the Baltic states.

10:17Would you agree that there really is a moment of maximum peril for Latvia over the next couple of years? Every military person has to go for the worst to understand how to prepare for that. It is a window when Europe is not pulling up its capabilities in time. But from the other side, Russia is so occupied with what's happening in Ukraine, and Ukraine is taking upper hand, that this possibility is highly unlikely. But if there is a peace deal reached, then NATO and us, we have to understand what's happening on the day after. And that means Eastern flank has to be supported on the security matter more than we're speaking even now.

11:01And that is a vital thing to take into account. So what happens if 1.5 million troops, Russian troops returned back home to Putin with no money, no job, and no understanding of the future and hostile personalities. That's an important question. When it comes to the sort of actions that you and indeed NATO have to take to strengthen, in particular, your eastern flank, I mean, you've mentioned the fact that Latvia is very, very close. I mean, I think you're up to, what is it? It's going to be 4.9 % of GDP by next year, something like that? 5 % already next year. And that's not like the other countries.

11:42We fully spend it on defence. So that's what I was going to say. I mean, you know, you were celebrating the end of this NATO summit as a tremendous success. But, you know, the hard figures are, I mean, if you look at the two of the major military powers in NATO, Britain and France, they're barely getting up on track by 2030 to get up to about 2.7 % and nowhere near getting, it seems, up to the 3.5%, which is the NATO target by 2035. I mean, are you disappointed? I am. But I understand that our society's eastern flank feels it every single day. We have a 48 % decrease in tourism, decrease in investments, direct effect of business, inflation, etc., etc., the mood of the people.

12:34We have direct attacks, 36 already interactions in our airspace. This is the reality. And 5 % is not enough for Latvia. We need 20, we need 25 in order to secure European, European Union border, not just Latvia's border. That was the Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbegs talking to Tim Franks. Don't forget if you want to listen to NewsHour but miss the live broadcast, an online version of the programme is available, updated twice a day shortly after we come off air. BBC NewsHour podcast is what you need to search for and you can subscribe to the feed if you want to get it on a regular basis. I'm Paul Henley and this is NewsHour from the BBC World Service.

13:36I'm Paul Henley with NewsHour, live from the BBC. Bangladesh has been gripped by a severe outbreak of measles, with nearly 750 people dying of confirmed and suspected cases since March, most of them children. Before this surge, the World Health Organisation had said that Bangladesh had made substantial progress towards eliminating the disease. But that progress has quickly unravelled, with hospitals now pushed to the brink. The BBC's South Asia correspondent, Azadeh Moshiri, has this report from inside the affected area. We've reached the top floor of this hospital and have put our masks on because we're in a specialist measles ward.

14:19all around us there are dozens of families with their babies. They're lying on thin banquets. Some of them are rocking their children to calm them down. Others are fanning them because it's so hot and humid. Hospital officials have told us this ward has more than double the amount of patients it can handle and they've run out of beds. 32 days, fever and cough. It took more than 9 hours for Alamir to reach here with his son Arafat, his first child and just 4 months old. Arafat is having trouble breathing and has heart failure. He's lying on a bed between his parents, hooked up to an IV. When we first heard that a new disease had broken out, People in our village were crying in panic.

15:13I've cried so much that tears won't even come to my eyes anymore.

15:22We've reached Ashulia. It's an industrial city here in Bangladesh. Many people here work in textiles factories, including Mahfuz. He shares a one-bedroom apartment with his wife, Neela Akhtar. And earlier this year, they tried to vaccinate their daughter, 11-month-old Malija. But when they turned up at the clinic, the doctor told them there weren't any vaccines left. Now all they have left of her are bits of clothing, including the one vest she was wearing when she was on life support at the hospital. Everything about her was wonderful. The doctor asked, why did you make such a big mistake? We explained we couldn't get the vaccine.

16:05He said, look, now it's all up to Allah. We've just reached a vaccination centre. Just 11 months old, K-Nut was asleep in her mother's arms and now she's wide awake after the nurse's jam. She may not like it, but that vaccine has likely saved her life amid this surge in Mises cases. The UN's Children's Agency says there were delays in ordering vaccines under the interim government. Miguel Mateos Munoz, who works for UNICEF, has said what's been happening here in Bangladesh was the perfect storm. The only thing that UNICEF expressed strongly was, whatever you are going to do, give yourself time enough to make the changes in the procurement mechanisms.

16:48We were worried about possible gaps increasing. We are speaking of a very highly dense populated country in which there were a huge movement of population at the same time. So it is many factors.

17:01So we're back from our trip, and we've just received a message from baby Arafat's parents. Arafat has died, just days after we left the hospital. We've also heard from a senior health ministry official under the former interim government. Sayyidur Rahman has denied there was any vaccine shortage, and claims while UNICEF had raised concerns about delaying vaccine orders, there was never any specific warning about a potential measles outbreak. Speaking to experts the past few weeks, they say the lesson here is vaccines work. The hope is now that a mass vaccination campaign has been completed, the rate of cases and deaths will keep slowing.

17:38But there are still nearly 1 ,000 new cases every day and Arafat's death is a reminder that children are still dying from a preventable disease. BBC's Azadeh Moshiri reporting from Bangladesh.

17:56Now on NewsHour, its high-pitched squeak has made the tiny desert rain frog an internet sensation.

18:09That really is it making the sound. The desert rain frog's been classed, though, now as a threatened species. It's come to the attention of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, or the IUCN. It's a tiny creature found in the coastal dunes of Namibia and South Africa's northern Cape. Here's how it was described in a BBC Earth documentary a year ago. The size of a ping pong ball The desert rain frog To avoid frying to a crisp By day, this amphibian hides deep in the sand

18:51But when the conditions are just right He emerges to feed well i've been speaking to devon boker who's a biologist and content creator known as devon the nature guy he shines a spotlight on unusual and endangered species their story is kind of a brilliant biological story they live in this small strip of sand dunes in the namaqua desert which right kind of usurps our expectations about frogs in general but they survive there because they have this really rotund body shape. They're only about the size of a ping pong ball and they look a little bit like an angry toasted marshmallow and they are nocturnal.

19:33So they have these spade-like feet where they can burrow down into the sand during the day and then at night they'll come out and hunt insects. But in addition, they have this really thin patch of skin on their belly that they can use to suck up the condensation from the sand that comes in from the mist off of the ocean. They're quite voracious predators, aren't they? Oh, absolutely. They're nocturnal. They primarily hunt insects. So they just kind of come out and search for those. That's kind of one of the things about them that has their popularity up is because they can't really hop very well.

20:09So, you know, they're really good at consuming insects, but they're not super great at getting away from predators and things. And so they let out this really high-pitched squeal to kind of deter predators because they can't run. So it's just one of their many adaptations. Were you surprised to see this species on the endangered list? No, not surprised. It's sort of one of those things where we are seeing an increase. Amphibians in particular are facing a massive biodiversity crisis, as many things are on our planet right now. And because they live in just such a small, narrow strip of desert, they're subjected to a lot of risk.

20:48Any change to their habitat is going to be really disproportionate compared to some other species. You'll be a follower of these endangered lists. What else on it has caught your attention? Well, as far as the rest of the IUCN update goes, what stands out to me most, I think, is the over half of deep-sea mollusk threatened by deep-sea mining and things. The commonality here is the energy infrastructure. Many of these animals are equipped with some of the most ingenious survival strategies on Earth with extraordinary stories that we're just starting to learn. And it's our ingenuity that's driving them towards extinction.

21:27The desert rain frog alone, if we don't step up conservation action now, they're projected to decline by 20 % in the next decade alone. But conservation starts with awareness. It helps when you're promoting a cause, a particular species, if it's cute, lovable. What about those species that are not instantly appealing? Oh, yeah, that is definitely tricky. It kind of comes down to storytelling. That's why I do a lot of what I do is try to feature the weird, wacky, I often call them freaky little freaks in my videos to try and get people to care. But sometimes even cuteness can be a double-edged sword.

22:03The pet trade is also being looked at as a possible cause of decline. So, you know, people are seeing them online with their squeaks. They think they're adorable. And now, knowing that they're becoming increasingly rare, that might drive up illicit trade. That was Devin Boker, who's a biologist and content creator, a naturalist, who shines a light on endangered species, including the desert rain frog. It's NewsHour.

22:38The CIA has been carrying out covert operations around the world for decades. How has it shaped how people feel about the U.S.? I'm Asma Khalid. And I'm Tristan Redman. And together we host the Global Story podcast from the BBC. As part of our series to mark the United States' 250th birthday, we're exploring the CIA's hidden history. Do you think the word of the United States will be trusted in years to come? For more, check out the global story on bbc.com or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back to NewsHour. The Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has told the BBC that she's found concrete evidence of crimes against humanity committed in Darfur during Sudan's civil war.

23:24Shamim Khan said the ICC could prove links between specific leaders and acts of violence against civilians when the paramilitary rapid support forces seized the city of Al-Fasha last year. The RSF has consistently denied its fighters committed atrocities in Darfur as Khan spoke to the BBC via a video call from Chad where she's been interviewing Sudanese refugees who survived the violence. The BBC's Africa correspondent Thomas Mukwana asked her for an update first on the ICC investigation. Well, what we see is patterns of offending that, in fact, were the same patterns of offending 20 years ago when this situation was first referred to us by the Security Council.

24:06We see this targeting of civilians and we do see the targeting of non-Arab and other targeted dafouri communities. we also see this inherent presence of sexual violence, both of men and women, but largely of women. And we consider that that overall picture of persecution, of attacking civilians, of torture, of rape, of killing, we see that is very much reflective of the overall offending. The people that you spoke to, what do they say about the alleged perpetrators? Well, they've given us a great deal of detail. We do not share the names of the perpetrators. We really need to protect the way that our investigations are being conducted so that our evidence is sufficient and protected for the court and confidentiality is always protected.

25:00But they have been very forthright in the evidence and the identification evidence that they have given us. The ICC has been through this before. Omar Arbashir has never been brought to justice years after what happened in Darfur. Why should this be any different? I think that there is now a greater focus on the way that we gather evidence. I think that we have got better at using technology in innovative ways to gather evidence. I think we've done very well in building cooperation with states, not just in the region, but everywhere, helping us to gather evidence. I think we have been able to work very hard in overcoming challenges to gather evidence and to build cases.

25:42Having said that, the execution of arrest warrants is entirely dependent on state action. You have heard many times we do not have a police force, we do not have an army. So the surrender of suspects to the ICC always depends on state action and state willingness. In relation to those suspects, we have a very active and a very capable tracking unit which tracks where suspects are. and we know where these suspects are in the context of the old arrest warrants, including Mr Bashir. And we have on many occasions said at the Security Council that we asked Sutan to surrender these suspects to us. And I don't think that there is any doubt in anyone's mind about our wish to have them in the court.