US announces 'economic onslaught' against Iran

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0:30us. And then we'll be learning about Francis Galton and the racist, discredited pseudoscience of eugenics with Desiree Birch. We'll meet many medieval saints in their bone boxes with Rachel Parrott. So if that sounds like your sort of thing, listen to You're Dead to Me wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you. Bye.

0:54Hello and welcome to NewsHour from the BBC World Service, coming to you live from London I'm Rajini Vaidyanathan. Later this hour, we'll bring you a special report from Afghanistan, where our reporter gained access inside a family court operated by the Taliban. Also, we'll meet a very rare Montague's harrier, described as the aristocrats of the bird world. Easy, easy, easy. Here she is. God, they're beautiful birds, aren't they? Absolutely the best, yeah. And we'll talk about food.

1:33Nothing's off the table for the cookie monster, but would he go for a cookie made with recycled plastic? But first, it's been almost six months since the US and Israel first launched attacks on Iran. The military conflicts claimed many lives, but at the heart of America's war with Iran is economics. The continued wrangling over the Strait of Hormuz has impacted oil and gas prices and been a block to ceasefire efforts so far. America's been threatening to unleash the greatest financial offensive ever against Iran. And today it came. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Besant unveiled a new wave of economic measures aimed at severing Iran's links with the global economy.

2:17In the Second World War, D-Day marked the historic beginning of a campaign with our allies to target and drive the enemy from its positions, including those in third countries. Today, in that same spirit, we are launching an economic onslaught against Iran's financial connections around the globe. Around the globe. Our objective is to sever every economic lifeline that sustains this tyrannical regime until Tehran stands alone. Well, if you think you've heard that before, then you're right, because of course this isn't the first time Washington's announced financial penalties on Tehran. Well, Scott Besson said other countries, as we heard there, would be put under pressure to cut economic ties with Iran, and those that did not comply would share its isolation.

3:11It is no longer acceptable to operate in the grey spaces of this conflict. Countries cannot claim they are blind to enabling this activity. Iran's enablers purchase, transport its petroleum. They facilitate the flow of its finances through exchange houses and free trade zones. They welcome Iran's flights and maintain registries on its behalf. They turn a blind eye to seaborne fuel transfers and overland transits. They condone illicit use of their banks, all the while concealing the extent of their complicity. Well, in response, Iran's chief negotiator, Mohammed Halibaf, has been posting on social media.

3:55He said the US is not in an economic position to further restrict its relations with other countries. Iran's trading partners have told us, both publicly and through private messages, that they attach no importance to these statements. So what impact will this latest wave of sanctions have? Our State Department correspondent in Washington's Tom Bateman. The press conference itself from Scott Besson, as you heard there, was a lot of very belligerent rhetoric, a lot of threats. And at the same time, the US Treasury sent out a document which outlined what was supposed to be the detail in this. And I have to say that, you know, although there are sanctions detailed in there, largely in sort of three parts.

4:39These are against any entities that help with Iran's ballistic missile programs. those that are said to have carried out cyber warfare on behalf of the Iranians and then about 60 individuals or brokers and ships as well that help get oil out of Iran and help get that money that's paid for it back into Iran there really isn't the kind of delivery on the scale of the threat that Scott Besson has said so you know a lot of analysts had looked at this and said if you start to see the Americans sanction big Chinese banks that they claim are helping facilitate the purchase of Iranian oil for China, then you have, you know, quite a new advance in terms of these threats of big sanctions being carried out.

5:24We haven't seen that today. And I think that's why Scott Besson was being questioned quite a bit to say, look, you know, you've made all these threats, you've called it D-Day, but D-Day was an invasion. It wasn't the threat of an invasion. Scott Besson really acknowledge that and say, well, look, you know, this is about putting the threat out there. If those countries don't do what we want and cut Iran off from their trade ties and their financial systems, then we will start to deliver this. And how does this all play into that wider quest for a lasting ceasefire? Well, I think it's intended by Mr.

5:54Trump to apply more pressure on Iran. And remember, you know, the economy is an absolute nightmare for ordinary Iranians. They've had massive devaluation of their currency. It's very difficult to buy basic groceries. Bread is extremely expensive. And, you know, the administration knows that. And they think that the more they apply pressure, the harder it becomes in the country en masse, that that may increase the internal pressure on the regime. and that you know there have been sort of nods to that in some of the things that scott bestner has been saying and writing over the last 24 hours but of course they've you know this is they've tried this for years now the two trump administrations so-called maximum pressure and then you know added to that with the war they launched on iran with the israelis which hasn't got mr trump where he wants so i think we're seeing him run out of options militarily so he's reverting back to maximum pressure so-called economically certainly the threat is a maximum pressure, but not actually delivering on it in terms of the announcement today.

6:58That's the BBC's Tom Bateman there. Well, as we heard there, Iran has been subject to US sanctions in various forms for years. So let's get a bit more detail about how different this latest wave is. Well, I've been speaking to Esfandir Batmanghelich. He's the chief executive officer of the Borsan Bazaar Foundation. He writes about the Iranian economy and sanctions. Well, I think Tom's assessment is correct. It was really striking how little substance there was in the announcement. I mean, if you compare, for example, to when the Biden administration announced economic warfare against Russia in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, in that announcement, you had a clear indication of what countries were joining the coalition to isolate Russia.

7:44You had clear timelines about when economic pressure would intensify on the country. You had specific measures that were being announced that really were perceived to add economic pressure on different sectors within the Russian economy. And finally, and I think most importantly, you had a very clear articulation of the goal of the economic pressure, which was in that instance to end the war. And Secretary Besant did not, in fact, set out a very clear goal other than trying to deny Iran financial resources. So I think Tom's view that, you know, the administration is running out of options and is falling back on an old playbook is a correct one.

8:24What did you make of his threat, though, to countries who have financial connections with Iran, you know, a threat to sever every economic tie with them? Well, the Secretary of Treasury answered it in the final question he would pose in the press conference, where someone asked him, well, why have you not announced more stringent measures today? And the Secretary responded, why would I want to blow up the global economy? And I think that's an admission. And it's a realization that each Treasury Secretary has arrived at, at various junctures of the U.S.'s increased reliance on sanctions over the last 20 years, that as you expand the use of these tools, you actually start to undermine the U.S.'s ability to act as the steward of the global economy.

9:14And so although the Trump administration is trying to, I think, strike fear into a number of countries that maintain economic ties with Iran for very strategic reasons, either for energy security or as part of managing their bilateral relationship and thereby trying to minimize escalation. escalation. At the end of the day, I think it will be very difficult for this administration to convince those countries that they need to take dramatic action, because in some sense, I believe those countries will call the administration's bluff and recognise that Trump will not be willing to take the kinds of measures that might undermine sort of the US's role in the global financial system.

9:58I mean, some of the countries we're talking about, China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Qatar, Turkey. The US has differing levels of closeness to that list. But in the end, that's what's tricky, isn't it? We haven't had any concrete measures naming any of those. That's right. Whether the country is an ally or an adversary, it poses a political challenge to try and compel them to do something they don't want to do. In the case of allies like the UAE or Qatar, this is something that may actually contravene the national interests of those countries to try and manage their bilateral relationships with Tehran by using economic inducements or economic engagement, often with the idea that there can be win-win basis for diplomatic ties, something that this administration has struggled with.

10:45And with countries like China, perhaps an adversary, any time that you try and escalate in an economic war against China, as this administration has seen on numerous junctures, it can have blowback. And I think that's going to be cause for some hesitation on the part of the administration in really implementing the measures that they have promised through their rhetoric. And we just heard from Iran's economy minister saying that the country has a two-year plan to counter US sanctions. What is that plan then in your assessment? I'm not sure that there's necessarily a very defined plan. I think Iranian policymakers have been very reactive to this slow grind of the economic pressure on the country in the last eight years.

11:29But I think it's precisely because the sanctions have been in place for so long, and maximum pressure dates back to 2018, that there have been learnings. I'd also note that the economy minister, Madani Zadeh, completed his PhD at the University of Chicago. And so it's not as though this is an economist that doesn't understand the extent to which this pressure might make life difficult for the government and for ordinary Iranians. But it's something that ultimately, you know, Iran will try and find piecemeal approaches. I think the main thing, though, is that the solution to the pressure in the view of Iranian leaders is not something about economic countermeasures.

12:10It's to return to military escalation. And I believe that in some sense, the US strategy here could be counterproductive because it incentivizes Iran to respond to this economic warfare with further military actions. Because that's what I was going to ask you. Do you think this in any way could bring Iran back to the negotiating table? It sounds like you're saying the opposite. It's unlikely. Iranian leaders have been very clear that what they want is for the Trump administration to honour the commitments it made in the MOU earlier this summer, which included commitments to lift both primary and secondary sanctions, really envisioning Iran's full integration into the global economy.

12:52The administration today has taken a step way in the opposite direction. And so I think they don't see the goodwill and are likely to respond by trying to compel the US back into the MOU. And that means potentially further military escalation. That's Esfandia Batman-Gelich there. Well, we have had more reaction from Iran's economy minister, Ali Madar-Nizadeh, who says Iran, the US I should say, has done everything they could to test the determination of the Iranian people and the country's officials but they failed every time. It seems they wish to suffer yet another defeat. We've been waiting for these plans for a long time.

13:32The government's ready and has a plan to manage these events. He made those comments to Iran's state television. You're listening to NewsHour.

13:50Coming up, our correspondent is taken to an undisclosed location to see one of the UK's most majestic birds of prey, the Montague's harrier. So we've come to a top-secret location. All I can say is that we're somewhere in England. I've been told not even to mention the county because this bird is so rare that if bird spotters knew where it was, they would come here, not just in their hundreds, but in their thousands. More from Justin Roller coming up in the programme. Some of the other stories we're watching this hour, and Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney says he'll only resume trade talks with the United States if it stops treating Canada as a subsidiary.

14:35And fire crews in the American state of Nevada are battling to stop the advance of a wildfire, which has forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes near the city of Reno.

14:51This is Rajini Vaidyanathan with NewsHour, coming to you live from the BBC in London. In their heyday, they were rivals on the pitch. Now cricket greats from across the world have come together to raise concerns about the treatment of Pakistan's ex-captain-turned-Prime Minister Imran Khan, who's been in jail since 2023. The 73-year-old's being held on charges of corruption, which he denies. His family and friends say they're worried about his health and the conditions he's been held in prison. Last week, Pakistan's Supreme Court ordered Mr Khan to be transferred to a private hospital. Instead, he was sent to a government hospital, which declared him medically fit.

15:32Now, a letter signed by players including India's Kapil Dev and Dilip Venksakha, Australia's Adam Gilchrist and Steve Waugh, and England's Mike Atherton and David Gower, is calling on Pakistan's current prime minister to ensure that Mr Khan gets proper visiting rights and adequate medical treatment. Well, I've been speaking to former England captain David Gower. It's not for me nor us as a group to intervene in the judicial process, but you'd expect that in other circumstances, maybe elsewhere in the world, that things might move more quickly. Do you think you yourself could help move things along then?

16:09Would you consider a trip to Pakistan? with some of the co-signatories, perhaps? Well, last time I was there, I asked that same question. So Imran Khan was in jail at that point, was he? Oh, yes, very much so. The last time I saw him, he was prime minister. I went to see him in the prime minister's house in Islamabad, and very impressive it was too. The last time I was in Pakistan, a couple of years ago, I spoke to one of his lawyers, saying, well, is there any way one could actually make contact? And let's face it, his close family, So Jemima, ex-wife, the sons, they found it very hard to speak to their ex-husband and father, respectively.

16:46For me, coming in just as a former cricketer, there's zero chance I would get anywhere near him. That's what I found out very, very quickly. What would you say to the assertion from the government and government doctors that, first of all, Imran Khan is receiving the best possible medical care and that he is in good health? One would treat that statement with a little bit of suspicion. The news, as I see it in front of me, is that the Supreme Court, no less, had agreed that he should be looked at by a board of physicians. He did get to go to a hospital, albeit not the one that was deemed by the Supreme Court that he should go to the Super International.

17:23But he still got to see a doctor, didn't he? I guess that would be the government's position on this. Of course it would be. But as an impartial observer, which is what I try and be here, if a Supreme Court says he should be allowed to be assessed by a certain board of independent doctors, albeit one of those would have been his own sister and his own positions, maybe just for them to be reassured as to his condition. When he's only allowed to see a board of state-appointed physicians, surely that's not really enough. You're amongst a group of international well-known cricketers who've signed this letter.

18:02But what's quite telling, isn't it, that there are only two other Pakistani cricketers who've actually been speaking out about Imran Khan. Why do you think that's the case? That could be as simple as if you are living in Pakistan under the current government, one of the things you'll probably want to do is keep your head down. What's interesting to me is that the list includes, obviously, generated by Greg Chappell, an Australian. We've got some of the English captains from my time, starting with Mike Brearley, Mike Catherton. You've got Australians. You've got Indians. Sonny Ogavisker, who is an immensely well-respected figure.

18:40So you've got a consensus across the world. And I think that's more telling than the absence of anyone who might feel it's more sensible to keep their heads down. And how worried are you right now for your friend? If the reports are accurate about failing health, I'd be very worried about it. And you would hope that someone who has achieved so much, both as a cricketer, if you remember the story about him building a hospital, a cancer hospital in Pakistan in memory of his mother, and that was his first major political achievement in many, many ways. He's an immense figure. The other point is this.

19:12Imran being who he is, is very much associated with Pakistan. I don't think it does the image that much good for the country as a whole. If the government has genuine concerns about the charges that were laid against him, then one of the great things you can do is hear the charges and see them through the courts. That's former England captain David Gower there.

19:38They're the UK's rarest breeding bird, one of the world's most agile birds of prey. The Montague's harrier is known for its grace in flight, so it's often referred to as one of the aristocrats of the bird world. Well, in 2021, it was put on a red list of birds most at risk here in the UK. Now, some good news. This year, there are not one, but two nests in the UK, both served by the same very busy male. The BBC's climate editor, Justin Rollat, has been given exclusive access as the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the RSPB, fits satellite tags to two of the chicks, hoping to unravel the mystery of their migration to West Africa and back.

20:21Easy, easy, easy. Here she is. God, they're beautiful birds, aren't they? Absolutely the best. RSPB experts are fitting a female Montague's harrier with a tiny satellite tag that sits on her back like a rucksack. She is still a chick with wisps of fluffy baby down amongst her dappled brown feathers. Fully grown, her wings will stretch more than a metre. The RSPB's experts want to understand more about the astonishing journey these birds so desperately rare in the UK make. So we've come to a top secret location where somewhere in England I've been told not even to mention the county because this bird is is so rare that if bird spotters knew where it was they would come here in their thousands and and these birds these montague harriers already have it really tough as recently as a few years ago for about a five-year period none were breeding in the uk down from in the 90s there were as many as 12 15 breeding pairs The bird's feeding behaviour is extraordinary The male is supporting two females and six chicks across two nests and he can make up to ten food deliveries a day He swoops in carrying prey in his claws, drops it mid-air and the female twists beneath him to snatch it as it falls This isn't the first time the RSPB has encountered the male bird says Mark Thomas, who is Head of Investigations at the charity.

22:03The male here is an incredibly special bird. So this was ringed as a chick in Wiltshire in 2016. I was present when that bird was ringed. When he's come back this year, he spent 10 days displaying like crazy in the sky at several thousand feet and amazingly attracted two female Montague's Harriers. Montague's Harriers nest on the ground, hidden among the crops. and climate change is bringing harvests forward. So it almost puts any Montague's harrier nest at the perils of inadvertently being destroyed by farm machinery. If the nests aren't found, the chicks would be killed by the combines. But surviving the harvest is just the first hurdle, which is where that satellite tag comes in.

22:49Two of the chicks are getting them because soon they will be leaving Britain. We know adult birds migrate thousands of miles to West Africa, but much less is known about the young birds, says Thomas. It allows for the first time ever to work out where they're going, what migration route and how long they'll spend there. All of that information is the bit that's missing from the jigsaw. Within weeks, these juvenile birds will be heading south. And now, for the first time, the RSPB will be able to follow two of them into the unknown. What a lovely story there. That is the BBC's climate editor, Justin Rollat, who had rare exclusive access on the Montagues Harrier.

23:34There's more on that story online on the BBC News website or app. I'm Rajini Vaidhin-Arden. This is NewsHour.

23:55Hello, Greg Jenner here. I'm the host of You're Dead to Me, the BBC comedy show that takes history seriously. Every episode, I pair up a top historian with a fantastic comedian, and we have a lovely, funny, fascinating chat about a different subject from world history. And in this new series, we're beginning with an epic voyage through the story of Homer, the Iliad, and the Odyssey. And that's with Kyle Smith-Bino joining us. And then we'll be learning about Francis Galton and the racist, discredited pseudoscience of eugenics with Desiree Birch. We'll meet many medieval saints in their bone boxes with Rachel Parrott.

24:28So if that sounds like your sort of thing, listen to You're Dead to Me wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you. Bye.

24:39Welcome back to NewsHour. Tens of thousands of people in the US city of Reno in the state of Nevada have been told to leave their homes immediately as a large wildfire reaches the outskirts of the city. Bright, thick plumes of smoke can be seen over Reno. Officials say the fire's expected to burn for two more days. They also say it was caused by humans. Well, I've been speaking to our correspondent Shaima Khalil, who's been monitoring events from Los Angeles. The latest is that the firefighters say they'd made some progress holding parts of the Hawk Fire, But it remains at zero containment. It remains dangerous, unpredictable.

25:19And crucially, evacuation orders are still in force. We've got 42 ,000 people that have been told to evacuate and 45 ,000 that have been told to remain on standby and to evacuate the minute that they're told. Because the speed of this has been quite extraordinary. And Regina, you talked about the pictures, of course, and they just give you a sense of the ferocity. walls of orange flames sweeping across hills in the darkness with fire engines silhouetted against them and then these plumes of smoke really that are covering Reno and the concern is that this is one of many fires that have been happening in the west coast in Nevada but this is not just in remote wilderness it is burning on the edge of Reno a city of around 280 ,000 people and it's moving towards established suburban communities where family homes sit at the foot of the hills.

26:12And this has really been the problem. Some families had only minutes to gather children, medication, important documents. One woman said that she was at work when she was told to evacuate and her children were still at home. And we've seen a mix of some people sleeping in their cars, some people going to evacuation centers, some people going to hotels that have been offering rooms at discounts. But at this point, they still don't know when they can go home and of course, what they're going home to. Indeed, Shima. And the authorities are saying that this fire was caused by humans. Are they saying deliberately or accidentally?