Trump demands Iran's unconditional surrender

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1:12I'm Charlotte Gallagher, and at 16 hours GMT on Friday, the 6th of March, these are our main stories. President Trump demands the unconditional surrender of Iran, as the United States and Israel continue their bombardment of Iran and other Iranian cities. And as Israel pounds Beirut, the Lebanese government makes a plea to its allies. Also in this podcast, Hungary is to expel seven Ukrainians accused of money laundering after they were found with two bank vans carrying millions of dollars worth of gold and cash. And Indonesia becomes the latest country to say it will ban social media for children. Will others do the same? President Trump has demanded the unconditional surrender of Iran

2:13and said it was the only way to end hostilities. Writing on social media, he said that following any capitulation by the Islamic Republic, Iran should choose a new leader acceptable to his administration. He then added that the US and its allies would work to rebuild the country's economy. His latest comments come as the US and Israel say they're moving into a new phase of their war on Iran. Heavy attacks have continued on Tehran and other cities. The Iranian authorities say more than 1,200 people have been killed since military operations against them began at the weekend. It's difficult for international news organizations to gather information from inside the country and internet blackouts make the situation even harder. However, our colleagues at BBC Persian have been hearing from Iranians there over the past 24 hours. They've re-voiced their comments. The house was shaking for five minutes straight. Last night was the worst night.

3:14No, I'm not okay. I barely slept last night because of the constant explosions. I woke up to the sound of explosions at 5 a.m. and haven't been able to sleep ever since. It was terrible. They were hitting so hard that all the windows were shaking. It sounded as it was a dragon. Seavash Adlan from BBC Persian has been telling Tim Franks more. Well, in terms of the latest news update, today IDF released an image of the Supreme Leader's compound in Tehran having been hit for second time this morning. Last night, the Iranian capital saw very, very intense bombardment. If not the most intense over the past week, just a few hours after US Defense Secretary said that the attacks on Iran will see a dramatic surge. So the residents of Tehran have been feeling that non-stop sounds of explosion. Some didn't have water. Some didn't have electricity. Some didn't have even the possibility to make phone calls.

4:16And the internet is down. So every now and then where there is some connectivity, we get some messages or the Iranians themselves post on social media their experiences. And those that manage to do that talk about how traumatizing these loud sounds of explosions are. And today, the Iranian government spokesman said that 3,000 residential units have been destroyed during this past week. In Tehran, I mean, we've heard in the past days that, you know, people don't get a warning of when the strikes are going to be. There aren't any public shelters for them to go to. Is this a city that is presenting? Unlike the 12th day war last year, not many residents of Tehran have left the city. They feel that the attacks is not intended for them. One reason is that, unlike last year, many people are hoping that these attacks might bring about something good, might bring about regime change.

5:16And what's also different is that you have a surrogate TV, a pro-Israeli surrogate TV channel that is broadcasting programs to Tehran in Farsi. And people look at that. And that's conveying the message of IDF and Israeli governments. We're not targeting you. Just stay put. And then we'll tell you when to come out in the streets. Well, we've heard, as you've asked, in Washington President Trump calling on Iranian officials in country, as well as diplomats abroad, to switch sides to defect. Let's hear what he's had to say. And I'm once again calling on all members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the military, and the police to lay down their arms. They're only going to be killed. And now is the time to stand up for the Iranian people and help take back your country. You're going to have a chance, after all these years, to take back your country, except immunity will give you immunity and will be giving you really the right side of history, because that's what it is. President Trump also has said that he wants to have a role

6:20in picking Iran's next Supreme Leader. I've realized it's a country of 90 million people. So impossible question. But what do you think those sorts of messages? How do they play? Even that single clip that you played has two contradictory messages within it that leaves people wondering exactly what President Trump wants them to do. On one hand, he says, go out in the street and overthrow the regime. And on the other hand, he says he wants to have a say in picking the Supreme Leader of that same regime. The initial message to Iranian protesters and those who are opposed to the government was, let us pave the way for you. Let us get rid of this. And that was what was said yesterday's U.S. Secretary of Defense's press conference. And then when asked, well, are you going to announce a particular date? When is the right time for people to go out? The U.S. Defense Secretary said, just stay put right now. They're bombs falling all over the place. But either we will tell you or President Trump will tell you or yourself can decide when you want to go out in the street.

7:20While at the same time, on Iran's state TV, families of protesters are being directly warned that if they go out in the street with the intention of carrying out protests, they will be seen as agents of the enemy and they will be shot. Sea of Ash Adlan from BBC Persian. In retaliation to the ongoing strikes, Iran is still hitting other countries in the region. Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have all said they thwarted attacks. On Thursday, sirens warning of Iranian missiles went off repeatedly in Israel, visiting the site of one such attack in the southern Israeli city of Bishiba. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel was on the way to completing all of its missions. I got more from our Middle East correspondent, Injury Selam, Joe Landel. Israel said overnight that it carried out its 14th round of strikes by its warplanes in Iran. The Israeli military chief of staff talking about there being synchronized action with U.S. forces saying in the initial stage of attack,

8:21air superiority had been achieved. There have been these military successes. He was talking about missile launches and launch sites having been really targeted initially. He said that now they're going on to dismantle regime infrastructure. In terms of timeframes, we haven't really heard anything new from the Israelis a couple of days ago. There were military sources saying that the Israeli Air Force was preparing for one to two weeks of intense bombing. I've not seen the same report since, of course, earlier in the week. We have those suggestions that this could go on for four to five weeks. But, you know, I think they're keeping it quite vague at the moment to keep their options open and they're saying that they are going to be additional surprises for the Iranians. So it's also a case of kind of keeping their strategy to themselves. And for people in Israel, what's life like at the moment? I mean, it's interesting because, you know, we're not really a week into this. And yet, yesterday Israeli restrictions on public life, some of them were lifted so that people could go back to their workplaces

9:22as long as they stayed close to an air-age shelter. Through the day yesterday, you know, people were sent running to those air-age shelters with warning sirens going off. Lots of people have apps on their phones but they're also sounded in many locations, including in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. Schools are not going back yet in Israel, but I've just been to the shopping mall to see how things were this morning. And it's just striking to see people, you know, going back to some kind of normalcy. There was also the first flights for Israelis because about 100,000 Israelis were stuck abroad with the start of strikes on Saturday, unable to return. Yesterday, we saw the first flights coming back into Israel's Ben-Gurian Airport with some suggestions that they could start to see flights going out of that airport as soon as this weekend. That was Yolan Nell in Jerusalem. The conflict has drawn in Israel's neighbour Lebanon after the militant group Hezbollah launched missiles in support of its back at Iran.

10:23There have been more strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut on Friday, following a night of heavy attacks in the capital. The Lebanese Prime Minister, Nawaf Salam, called for international help. The purpose of Lebanon to support us in this endeavor and in demanding loud and clear that Israel ends military attacks on the population displacement. And it's equally crucial that the infrastructures of Lebanon be spared. In addition, every assistance you may be able to extend to us in providing relief to the population, it's precious to us and you will remain grateful to your support. Earlier, Israel warned hundreds of thousands of people to leave their homes to avoid the bombing. I heard more from our correspondent, Lena Sinjab, who's in Beirut. Thousands have fled the southern suburb of Dahye

11:24and it's surrounding areas after warning from the Israelis that they're going to strike the area and close to midnight. They were pounding these areas with air strikes and the families who fled cramped in the streets with a huge line of traffic, some fled to the north of the country, some went to shelters, others with relatives, hotels, but there are thousands who are stranded in the streets sleeping in their cars or got their mattresses and blanket to sleep under the open sky in public squares. It's really a terrible scene that the Lebanese are living yet again within the course of 15 months. And as you said, Lena, people have gone through this before. What is the mood like? I think this is the first time that we hear more and more voices, critical of Hezbollah, even among the Hezbollah community. This is a time where Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into the war, defending Iran. In 2024, Hezbollah also launched

12:26missile in support of Gaza, but there was a ceasefire that was reached and throughout the ceasefire, Israel continued to target Lebanon without any response from Hezbollah, only to come on the early hours of Monday to fire rockets into Israel and what they said in retaliation for the assassination of Iran is to clean leader Ayatullah Khamin E. And what's the price? The price is more attacks on Lebanon, more people killed, more people displaced. Economy is already struggling and these people have no clue when they're going to go back to their homes. So this is really Hezbollah, an open-ended conflict with Israel, without any strategy and without even consulting the government. And are people saying, look, this is to do with Iran and Israel, this is nothing to do with us. Why have you dragged us into it? That's more and more what you hear from people, but some have even gone further in criticizing Hezbollah and saying that they are treason now

13:27because they are acting on behalf of Iran, neglecting the interests of the country, neglecting the safety of the people. So they are even calling off banning Hezbollah completely. Now the government have banned its military and security activities, but Hezbollah is not responding. They continue with launching rockets on Israel. And now there are more voices saying, well, should we even ban the group, but will the government be able to implement this? That's really difficult to answer now. And we've got more on this story with Lena and Oliver Conway on our YouTube channel. Search for BBC News on YouTube and you'll find the Global News podcast in the podcast section. There's a news story available every weekday. Still to come in this podcast, how bad vibrations are hitting a Formula One team heart. Isn't home where we all want to be?

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15:29without slowing your business down? It's not about modernization just to modernize. Or move AI from pilot to production. It's not the technology that's failing. It's the use case that you pick. Find out how global leaders are turning enterprise change into real competitive advantage. Do it in a resilient way with speed and effectiveness. Follow Resilient Edge, Business Vitality Podcast, paid and presented by Deloitte. Check out our new episodes wherever you get your podcasts. Next to a story that could come from the pages of a spy thriller. Seven Ukrainians and two bankvans carrying millions of dollars in cash and gold have been detained in Hungary on suspicion of money laundering. Ukraine's foreign minister has accused Budapest of taking them hostage. Vitaly Shevchenko from BBC Monitoring is following the story. These two vans yesterday were traveling from Austria to Ukraine,

16:30transiting through Hungary as part of what the Ukraine officials are saying regular services when they were stopped by the Hungarians. Now, predictably, this caused outraged in Ukraine. The Ukraine and foreign minister Andrei Sabihar accused Hungary of state terrorism, racketeering, hostage taking and stealing the money. Hungary has a different view of what's going on. This morning, the Hungarian tax service confirmed the detention of those two vans and seven staff members of the Ukrainian bank or Shadbank and said that the operation was carried out on suspicion of money laundering. Now, the foreign minister of Hungary, Petr Siyarto, said that he wants answers from Ukraine. What's going on? Why so many millions are being transported across Hungary?

17:31In those two vans, there were $40 million, $35 million euros, and nine kilograms of gold. And Hungary says they were being transported to what Budapest calls the Ukrainian war mafia, presumably meaning the Ukrainian government. Because the context of this is really important. Because Orban, the lead victor Orban, the leader of Hungary, he's Russia's strongest ally in the EU and relations between Hungary and Ukraine have been quite strained, haven't they? They're going from bad to worse, Charlotte. Just yesterday, the Ukrainian president, Vladimir Zelensky, he was giving a news conference and he sounded really unhappy at Hungary, which had blocked a massive 90 billion euro loan to Ukraine and blocked EU sanctions in Russia. So Vladimir Zelensky said, well, I'm prepared to give the address of a certain person in the EU

18:31who's blocking all this and let my armed forces speak to this address in their own language. Now, Viktor Orban took this as a threat against him and he said, now this is unacceptable and he is prepared to unblock the flow of Russian oil to Hungary by force. And this is, I think, what's it about? Russian oil flows to Hungary, which have been blocked since January. That's for Tali, Chevchenko, and Hungary has now said it will expel the seven Ukrainians who'd been detained. After the success of the Winter Olympics in Italy, it's the turn of the Paralympians to show their sporting prowess, but the games are already proving controversial. As Ukraine and a number of other European countries will boycott the opening ceremony later in protest at Russian athletes being allowed to compete under their own flag. It's the first time in 12 years that a Russian flag will be held aloft at the Paralympics.

19:32The Larry Sushkevich is the president of the Ukrainian Paralympic Committee and a member of the Ukrainian Parliament. He's been speaking to the BBC's Tim Franks. I'm very angry. Many, many leaders are for national Paralympic a committee of different countries in the world not agree this decision. Why? Because it's against the Constitution IPC. It is against the United Nations Statute. It's against any international lawyer. You say that it's against the Constitution of the IPC, the International Paralympic Committee. And yet, when the IPC General Assembly met, they voted to lift the partial suspension of Russia and Belarus, so their argument is it was a decision taken democratically. I was on this general assembly. Exactly after General Assembly,

20:33President National Paralympic Committee of Russia very open say. Thank you very much. President Putin, for your influence on delegate, it's terrible. Do you think that actually maybe you and others should go further and boycott the games altogether? No. I don't want I never agree that Putin can stop participant, my country, my atlas, or maybe atlas in other countries, bety-bison in the world, in the international sport. Our diplomatic correspondent, James Landel, who's in Kiev, told me more about the background to this route. Initially, the Russians were excluded because of doping bans then because of their false innovation of Ukraine in 2022. The decision was made last September to allow these athletes to participate six Russians, four Belarusians,

21:34not surprisingly the Ukrainians are furious about it. President Zelensky yesterday described it as an unprinciple decision. His foreign minister describes it as sports-washing war crimes. And the point the Ukrainian officials make is they say, look, 650 Ukrainian athletes and coaches have died, have been killed since the Russian invasion four years ago. And they say, look, people say politics and sports don't make well in Ukraine they do. So that's why they're leading this boycott. The IPC says seven countries are taking part in the boycott, European Baltics mainly. The Ukrainians say actually other governments are also boycotting, pointing out that the UK, Austria and Romania are not sending any officials or ministers to the opening ceremony to try and make that point. The IPC says it's disappointed, it's saying that it was a democratic decision taken last September. Russian officials accused the Ukrainians of politicizing sport. But the key thing is that here in Ukraine it's really being felt they cannot really quite believe that a Russian flag is going to be flown at an international sporting event.

22:37And the question, of course, now is, is this the beginning of Russia? It's exile from international events. You know, is this the first of many? That was James Landell reporting from Kiev. Restricting social media to younger audiences has become a hot topic across the world. Australia has already introduced a ban for under 16s. And now Indonesia says it'll also take action over platforms. It deems as high risk. I heard more from our global affairs reporter Mimi Swaby. Indonesia says it is going to ban social media access for children under 16, saying this is due to threats of online pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud, as well as internet addiction. So Indonesia's communications minister said that all these accounts for children under 16 on high risk platforms. So this includes Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and other very commonly used platforms would start being deactivated on March the 28th. She says that the government is stepping in so parents no longer have to, she said, fight alone against the giants of the algorithm.

23:41So a joint effort to have better child protection policies. And what's been the reaction to the announcement? It's been quite a mixed reaction. As you can imagine, users under 16 have vented their frustration, their anger, saying it takes away their freedom. But in this mixed reaction, we're seeing actually more support, especially from parents and the public more generally, as well as government support. Sighting they see they're kind of relieved that the government are taking stronger action. One thing to point out here is that Indonesia has quite a young population. It's thought about quarter of the population under 16. So this is many people that are going to be affected. The population of Indonesia is about 280 million people. So mixed reactions, but largely a lot of people are in favor of it. So Australia have already banned it. Indonesia are going to do it now. Are there any other countries that are thinking about it? There are. This is a growing global concern. So, Indira is just the latest to say it's going to ban it. Just this week, the European Union expert group began work on a comparable, very similar ban.

24:44And France, Denmark, Spain and Greece, they're all pushing for similar action. In the UK here, they have begun, the government have begun a public consultation on a ban again for under 16. And this is where young people and their parents or guardians can comment on basically the proposal for this ban before the government decide what to do. India as well and the other side of the world are also considering their own ban on preventing teenagers of under 16s again from accessing social media. So lots of different countries and it really is a growing consensus that actually social media is potentially doing more harm than good, especially for their younger audiences that under 16 age group that is deemed a high risk on platforms, like I said, such as YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, all these kinds of different platforms that many of us are so used to going on to now, I'll have it. That was Mimi Swaby and there was no immediate response from the affected platforms. The new Formula One motor racing season has got underway with the first practice runs for the

25:46Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. The race itself takes place on Sunday. But there's a problem with Aston Martin. They're well off the pace and they'd complained earlier that the Honda engines they were using vibrated so badly that drivers feared they'd suffered permanent nerve damage, resulting from fears of further Iranian missile attacks. Sean Lay spoke to the motoring journalist Will Buckston. So firstly, what's wrong with Aston Martin's cars? Formula One has undergone one of the biggest changes in its history over the winter and that is in terms of the aerodynamics of the cars but also critically in terms of the engines in the back of them and the power delivery. They're ultimately going to have about 50% coming from the engine, 50% from the battery and that means a wholesale redesign of the power units as we call them in the back of the cars. Some engine manufacturers have been on the front foot with this, notably Mercedes. Honda have struggled when there's been a change in engine regulation,

26:46massively when we brought in the hybrid units and they appear to be massively behind the ball this time as well. We thought it was just an issue in terms of overall performance but it appears that the engine, the battery, everything in the back of that car is shaking itself so violently that it's not just shaking the engine and the battery to pieces but it's also creating unbearable vibrations for the drivers in the cockpit to the tune that Adrian Neuey, the greatest designer in Formula One history and now Aston Martin's team principle has had to admit this weekend in Australia that they probably can't even do 25 laps without causing their drivers serious nerve issues. It's more than a small problem. It is absolutely gargantuan and one that they will not be able to rectify massively quickly. So in other words, for the Australia Grand Prix this weekend, they are not expected to do that well. Well, they're not expected to see the checkered flag. They will not be able to do more than 25 laps for Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll is experiencing

27:51such terrible issues in the car. They don't think he'll do more than 15. There's another practical problem isn't it? There's more generally that everybody is facing what a matter of three or four days before they're supposed to be competing Melbourne and that's the fact that Bahrain is under assault from Iranian missiles and that a lot of flights from the sports winter quarters just aren't taking off. Yeah, there was supposed to be a tire test in Bahrain that's been cancelled for obvious reasons. The biggest potential disruptor is the fact that so many of the flights for those based in Europe usually fly through the UAE, which also we know is having its problems at the moment. Certainly to get to and from Australia, I know a lot of colleagues were either on the way to the UAE or would use a flight to the UAE to transit over to Australia. They had to completely change their flights to fly via America in order to get to Australia. In terms of the team freight, I think it's important to remember in this that the teams have multiple sets of their freight, which are set off in a sort of a beautiful ballet around the world. So the set that goes

28:54to one race won't be flown to the next race. There'll already be a second set being flown to that second race and a third set being flown to the third and the cars themselves have to go from race to race. But the garage setups, the pitwall setups, all of those things, they've got multiple sets of those. The difficulty though comes when we get into April when Formula One is due to race in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Formula One themselves have said that they are working with local authorities. They are obviously watching the unfolding situation, which is rapidly developing on a day-to-day basis. But the World Endurance Championship, which was due to race in Qatar in just a matter of weeks time, that event has been cancelled. And that's an FIA event just like Formula One. That was the motoring journalist, Will Bucston. And that's all from us for now. If you want to get in touch, you can email us at globalpodcast.bbc.co.uk. You can also find us on x at BBC World Service. Use the hashtag globalnewspod. And don't forget to our sister podcast, the global story.

29:56This edition of the globalnewspodcast was mixed by Mark Pickett and the producer of the Judy Franco and Stephen Jensen. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Charlotte Gallagher. Until next time, goodbye.