US and Iran indicate a deal to end the war is close

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0:39Hello and welcome to NewsHour live from the BBC World Service in London. I'm Rebecca Kesby. Could a deal be close between the United States and Iran? There have been positive signs in the past 24 hours with both sides indicating that a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz at least could be close. That would be in return for the US lifting its blockade on Iranian shipping. The issue of Iran's nuclear program is not part of the deal and would be discussed later. Well, Israel has not been involved in the negotiations directly, though we understand President Trump has been speaking separately to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

1:18Iran has insisted that peace in Lebanon must be intrinsic to any deal. But in the past couple of hours, there have been reports of a fresh wave of Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon. So could that scupper things? In a moment, we'll get into the detail and we'll get a perspective from Israel, from a former general and intelligence chief. First, though, let's hear what Iran's foreign minister has been saying. This was Abbas Aragchi on Iranian TV last night.

1:52As soon as we complete the final stages of the negotiations, the agreement will be signed and announced. At this first stage, the signing will take place in what people these days call a digital format. Each side will sign remotely, after which it will be announced that the Memorandum of Understanding has been signed by both parties and that will conclude the process. As I requested in my tweet today, I urge the media to refrain from speculation that could create confusion or undermine this opportunity, because we are closer to an understanding than ever before. It could happen within the next day or two, or it could happen within the next several days.

2:31That was the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi speaking on Iranian TV last night. Now then, let's check in with Sanam Vakil, who's the director of the Middle East and North Africa programme at Chatham House. She joins us live. Thank you so much for coming on. I mean, this does sound like the most positive discussions that we've had in a long time. What are you reading into what we're hearing from both sides, Sanam? It's good to be with you. You're quite right. The mood music is incredibly positive. We have seen this movie before. So many times President Trump has said that we're almost there.

3:10But all indications suggest that once the Iranian system signs off, there could be a signing ceremony, maybe in Switzerland. But it's important to just remember this doesn't sort of resolve everything in one go. We're basically launching into new negotiations. That's right. Let's break down the detail because there's a lot that's not included in this deal that they're discussing. What do we know is in it and what isn't? Well, it's a memorandum of understanding, basically, where both sides have agreed to broad principles. We haven't seen a final agreement, only Iran's version, which I think is dated and old.

3:54So in principle, there will be a gradual reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a gradual lifting of the Iranian blockade, a formal end to the war, as well as the war in Lebanon, supposedly. There is a commitment to agree within a 60 day period to negotiations on broader issues. And in that period, only then will there be sanctions relief and maybe access to Iran's frozen assets. So there's a lot of ambiguity about what comes next. And there's no guarantee that in that 60 day period that an agreement will be achieved. Right. We're just seeing that the Pakistani Prime Minister, Shabazz Sharif, is saying that he's expecting the truce to be signed within the next or finalized within the next 24 hours.

4:49I'm not sure how the logistics of this is going, whether they'll sign remotely or what. But Iran has throughout this insisted that the situation in Lebanon is also included in any peace deal. And in the past few hours, we've had reports of more strikes. The Israelis have said that they will fire back if they are fired upon by Hezbollah fighters. And it seems there have been clashes. Can you give us the latest? Well, you know, in this context, Prime Minister Netanyahu wants to maintain freedom of action in Lebanon and be able to respond again if there are strikes. And the Iranians here are looking to assert control and preserve Hezbollah and showcase that they have more influence.

5:36So it is very much a standoff between Iran and Israel here. It will be up to President Trump on how he maintains the ceasefire and tries to preserve the agreement. I think Israel is trying to do as much as it can before the agreement is signed. And then perhaps Netanyahu's hands will be tied. We shouldn't expect in this process, though, that there won't be incidents. There will be incidents in the Persian Gulf. There'll be incidents around the region in the same way that this ceasefire over the past two months now has been not a traditional ceasefire. I can imagine that we will see a creeping up and a creeping down of pressure and, you know, even tip for tat strikes.

6:24Yes. And actually, we heard from the foreign minister, Mr. Aragji, last night. I mean, he seemed to indicate that there was a difference of opinion inside Iran on this deal. Can you talk us through that and what the condition is of the current leadership there in Tehran at the moment? Well, the leadership is, you know, and people that have been around and in the system for quite some time, I think that there's a hesitancy to commit to this agreement because the leaders and they make a decision in a consensus based way in a body called the Supreme National Security Council. they are not confident that President Trump will keep his end of the bargain.

7:13And these leaders are all also thinking about their future within the system. This is a highly competitive, factionalized system inside Iran. So they're worried that signing a deal that might not deliver for Iran and put perhaps Iran in a position of greater weakness will lead to, of course, their own unraveling within the system. And very briefly, of course, the Iranian economy has been under such pressure for such a long time. Can it afford to keep fighting as it is? Well, you're quite right. Hyperinflation, currency collapse. But for the leadership in Iran, this is existential. So they have put the people in a very uncompromising position, and they're the ones that are suffering.

8:03Sanam, good to speak to you. Thank you so much. That's Sanam Vaikil, their director of the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House, where we can speak to General Amos Yadlin now, former general in the Israeli Air Force, former Israeli military intelligence chief as well. He joins us live from Tel Aviv. Sir, thank you so much for coming on the program today. Obviously, this isn't a done deal so far, but it does sound as if things are moving in that direction. What's the view from Israel on this? We are waiting to see. It is not a deal. It is a memorandum of understanding, very much like the same mechanism that was in Gaza, that solves some of the very immediate problems, like in Gaza, the hostages, the ceasefire, the withdrawal to a certain line, and keeping the most important issue to a second stage.

9:04In Gaza, it was the future of Hamas as a terror organization and taking the weapons, who will control Gaza and how Gaza will be rebuilt. And in Iran, it's the nuclear issue, it's the missile issue, it's the proxy issue. And from Iran's point of view, how the sanctions are lifting, and how Iran will get back some of the money that is frozen according to the UN sanctions and the USA sanctions. So there are two versions to the memorandum of understanding. You just spoke about the foreign minister of Iran with a list of understandings that was never approved in Washington. and a Washington version.

10:01And in Israel, we are waiting to see which version will be signed, if it will be signed. Right. Sorry to interrupt. I mean, I suppose one of the big questions for Israel is what has been achieved in this campaign? And do Israelis feel the situation is any better as a result of this war? How are things any different to how they were in January, say? I think the goals of the war were achieved partly. And Israel haven't started this war. This war was started by the brave Iranians that went to the street to demonstrate against the oppressive regime. And this regime killed 35 ,000 of them. And the president of the United States decided that help is on the way.

10:52And Israel joined. There's lots of Americans that sort of point their finger at Mr. Netanyahu as being the instigator and sort of persuading Mr. Trump to start this war. Is that not true? I don't know. I wasn't in the meeting between them. At least Mr. Trump is saying that it is on initiative and it was on record that he promised to come and help the Iranians to change the regime, to destroy their nuclear program, to destroy their ballistic missile program, and to stop their financing terrorist organization proxies all over the Middle East. No doubt that these goals were not achieved totally. And no doubt that the jury is still out.

11:43But it very much depends on what will be the wording and the condition and the framework of understanding that we will see in the coming hours. But it's been it's been it's been sorry to interrupt, but I mean, it's been a very costly endeavor for the Israelis to be part of. There's been casualties in Israel. The air defenses have been working against the drone and missile attacks coming from Iran. What is the mood inside Israel in terms of how long they're prepared to keep going on like this? And also the morale within the military, which has been so busy over the past few years. the morale in the military is very high.

12:30Because if you look at this war, the Israeli military have done excellent job. They destroyed the Iranian air defense. They destroyed the Iranian industrial military base that produced ballistic missiles. They decapitated their leadership in Iran. And on this kind of war, it was an Israeli total victory. But they're still firing missiles there, aren't they? I mean, that's not a total victory. It's never a total victory since the Allies and the Soviet Union got to Berlin. I don't know any war that finished with total victory. It was a strategic military victory. However, the Iranians play another game.

13:19They took as hostages the Gulf state and their energy sector, and they closed the Strait of Hormuz. It's not affecting Israel, but it's affecting the rest of the world. We must leave it there. General Amos Yadlin, thank you very much for joining us live. Coming up later in the programme, the UN condemns increasing levels of aggression and intimidation in the occupied West Bank. 30 armed settlers entered the town, stole my cousin's horse and baby horse, with Israeli police and the military and walked out of town. And we couldn't stop them. More on that to come and our top headlines. As we've been hearing, Pakistan, which has been mediating between the United States and Iran, says it expects a deal to be finalized in the next 24 hours.

14:09And also workers have removed President Trump's name from the Kennedy Center in Washington after a court ultimatum for its removal was initially missed.

14:35This is Rebecca Kesby with NewsHour, live from the BBC. The AI developer Anthropix says it's been forced by the US government to suspend access to foreign nationals to two of its new artificial intelligence models. That will include foreign nationals that actually work for Anthropic. The company says the US government is citing national security concerns as the reason that the AI tools Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 will no longer be accessible to non-US citizens. AI and tech reporter Tamsin Craftman has been explaining it all to me. We were previously aware of MISOS. It came out originally a month or so ago, and it was marketed as the most powerful system by Anthropic ever.

15:24And its kind of main use was to act as a cybersecurity tool. So essentially, when it was released, it was released to a very finite amount of individuals and organizations, really. They called it Project Glasswing, and it was a way to control the amount of people that were using it. But the concern was, you know, if something is so powerful, it can be hacked into and used to manipulate governmental systems and national security systems. So that really was the main concern. But now, a few days ago, they have released Fable 5 and Mythos 5, which is a new version of Mythos. And while these are two separate systems, Fable is essentially mythos with a massive glass box around it.

16:13It means that you and I can have access to Fable 5, but underneath it, through layers of security and restrictions, is essentially mythos. So the concern was from Trump is that somebody is going to use vibe coding or is going to essentially hack or jailbreak their way through Fable 5, which they have access to, and instead be able to reach Mythos, which is quite a dangerous system. It does show a shift, doesn't it, in policy from Trump because he's traditionally had good relationships with many of the so-called tech bros. But this is the first time he's sort of weighed in in this way with Anthropic.

16:58What's that about? Well, I mean, that is the crux of the argument, really. Anthropic have said that chat GPT 5.5 has got the same sort of risks that Fable 5 has. What is the difference here? Well, in February, Anthropic, their systems were being used by the Pentagon. And because of a lack of a big regulatory framework, they said to Trump, we want to bring in some safeguarding protocols. Trump said no. And so they said, okay, we'll cancel our contracts. And because the same risks that are with Fable are also with open AI systems, quite fairly, they're then saying what's different. It simply must be a personal thing as opposed to a genuine concern.

17:46But for the general population, all of this does sound rather concerning because, as you've said, Anthropic itself has already warned that some of its software was so dangerous, there could be, you know, apocalyptic implications if it's not handled properly. I mean, is there proper oversight politically of the AI industry? Globally, it's very fragmented. The problem is things are developing so quickly that it's hard for the policy to really keep up. But the fact that Trump is able to block one company and support another, it shows that there is a real need in the US, especially where most of these companies are based for very strict frameworks.

18:28That's tech reporter Tamsin Craftman there.

18:35known as the grandfather of immersive art the argentina argentina-born artist julio le parc died at the age of 97 just two weeks ago in a career spanning seven decades le parc was known for his use of geometrical patterns often to create optic illusions and for his interactive installations. Julio Leparc had lived in France since the 1950s and shortly before he died he was still involved in the organising of a major retrospective of his work at London's Tate Modern Gallery. The exhibition has just opened and the BBC's Martin Venard has been along.

19:18This is the sound of ribbons in the wind, dozens of long strips of white material being blown towards visitors at the Light Colour Action exhibition of the works of Julio Leparque at the Tate Modern in London. It's one of the exhibits on display by the recently deceased Argentinian artist. My name is Val Ravaglia. I'm curator of displays and international art at Tate Modern. We're in the first room of the exhibition, which focuses on Leparque's works in black and white. We see patterns arranged mostly, usually across square canvases or sheets of paper. He developed a system that was based on mathematical principles, essentially.

20:09So in this room, there are dozens of strips of material hanging from the ceiling, and there are two lights in boxes amongst all these strips of material. the lights are spinning and it's creating a movement on the strips of material. This is an installation called Vibrating Light Tool. And it really does create a feeling of movement, doesn't it? Your eyes feel like they're moving, the room feels like it's moving. Yes, there's mirrors on the sides as well, so they generate this sense of kind of an infinity of reflections all around them. Shall we move on from here? Yes. and we're seeing dozens of ping pong balls bouncing around in a square and there's some in a in a circle on the wall above it as well so well he was known as the grandfather of immersive art how did he get that name he was really talking in a language that is basically the same as that of artists making immersive installations today, really thinking about the presence of the viewer in the space.

21:22You need to experience the works to be in front of them. He was born in Argentina and he moved to France in the 1950s. What took him to France? Well, he still considered it to be the capital of the art world. So he wanted to move to Paris, but also to be a disruptor of whatever was going on there. At the same time, there was so much happening in Paris in the 1960s in the art scene.

21:49So he also had a political side. He was temporarily thrown out of France after the May 1968 protests by students and workers. Why was that? What happened? He was very much on the front line. He participated in the popular workshops making posters. He actually made a number of works that were very much like political caricatures. Some of them you could even punch, like he made punching balls with depictions of generals that you could take a good swing at. And so who were his contemporaries that he would have been associated with at the time? He had a personal friendship with Astor Piazzolla, the Argentinian tango master.

22:37They chatted about the relationship between visual art and tango.

22:46And so you met him, you got to know him. What kind of a person was he? He was very playful, just like his art. Strong-minded, strong-willed, again, up until the very last days. He continued to insist on being given pencils and rulers to make little changes here and there to the layout of the exhibition.

23:10That was curator Val Ravalier there, Ending that report by Martin Venard and that exhibition just on at the Tate Modern Gallery here in the UK of Julio Leparque, who died last month, aged 97 years old.

23:37How did the United States build the largest soft power empire in the world with the help of some tiny metal objects? I'm Tristan Redmond, one of the hosts of the Global Story podcast from the BBC. To mark 250 years of the United States, we speak to Roman Mars of 99 % invisible. This soft power, this influence was an incredible invention. For more, listen to The Global Story on bbc.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

24:27Decide if they're good, bad or just another billionaire. Good, bad billionaire from the BBC World Service. Listen now or search for Good, Bad, Billionaire wherever you get your BBC podcasts.

24:44Now, once upon a time, football-obsessed Scotland routinely qualified for the World Cup with globally recognised talents like Kenny Dalgleish and Dennis Law, but then came more than a quarter of a century in the wilderness, leaving a generation of young Scots who've never seen their team compete in the tournament. Well, ahead of their first match against Haiti, Scotland is remembering how it feels to be at the World Cup and our Scotland editor, James Cook, reports.

25:17The last time Scotland's men played in the World Cup, Bill Clinton was in the White House and Google didn't exist. It was a different time. The team's in the tunnel, ready to take the field. We can just imagine what must be going through those Scottish players' minds. In the opening match of France 98, Scotland took on world champions Brazil. Midfielder Paul Lambert remembers it well. You knew who they were. They look great, don't they? They smell great. We're aftershaving, things like that. They look a million dollars and we're from Scotland and we're pale, no teeth and Vaseline on your eyebrows.

26:01But we gave them a game. We gave them a right good game, you know. The World Cup growing up was every boyhood's dream. That was the biggest tournament in the world and still is to this day. What does it mean to Scotland as a nation being back there now? We've needed it. We needed this to galvanise everybody and enjoy football again.

26:22And it's unlikely anyone will enjoy it more than Scotland's famous travelling support, the Tartan Army. It was the first Scotland team in 28 years. To walk out at a World Cup is just going to be something so special. Josh Henderson calls himself a foot soldier in that army, and he says it's about much more than football. We want to express ourselves internationally. We want to demonstrate the sort of pride in being Scottish. Is that, in some way, nationalism? Yes and no. I think there probably is something in the fact that the vast majority of the Tartan Army have got a sense of pride in being Scottish and pride in being an ambassador to the world.