- 3 months ago
The third round of indirect talks between the United States and Iran concluded in Geneva with significant progress on nuclear issues and sanctions relief.
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00:00Hello and welcome to the special broadcast. I'm Geeta Mohan reporting from the religious city of Qaum in Iran.
00:06Let's begin with the conversations between Iran and the United States of America.
00:11The talks in Geneva concluded with significant progress forward.
00:15The next round of talks are going to take place in Vienna.
00:17Here's a report by Mahashwetha Lala on what really transpired and where things headed.
00:30The third round of indirect talks between U.S. and Iran concluded in Geneva with the Iranian side expressing a
00:36significant progress
00:38as the next high-stakes, technical-level meeting will take place in Vienna in the coming week.
00:48Also, it was decided that very soon, perhaps in less than a week, the next round of negotiations will be
00:54held.
00:54During these several long and intensive hours, we made good progress and very seriously entered into the elements
01:01of a possible agreement in the nuclear field and in the area of sanctions.
01:05On some issues, we have now become very close to an understanding.
01:09On certain other issues, we still have differences of opinion.
01:12The technical teams will begin technical talks in Vienna on Monday at the International Atomic Energy Agency.
01:18And with the assistance of agencies' experts, we will try to bring some of the technical issues into a framework
01:23so that it can later be aligned with the political demands of both sides.
01:32The talks were mediated by Oman.
01:34The earlier two round of talks held in Muscat and Geneva were also mediated by Omanian Foreign Minister,
01:41Sayyid Badr al-Busaydi.
01:44After the talks, Badr al-Busaydi posted on X that both sides will resume talks soon
01:49after consultation in their respective capitals.
01:53Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Arachi expressed optimism about talks on sanctions
01:59and said it will be discussed in detail in the next session.
02:09On the issue of sanctions of relief, we clearly presented our demands, what we expect and what needs to be
02:15achieved.
02:16Regarding the U.S. unilateral sanctions, their various dimensions, as well as the discussions in the U.N. Security Council,
02:22the differences of opinion concerning these sanctions and what should happen were clearly stated from our side.
02:28It was decided that in the next session, we will go into this discussion in more detail.
02:39The negotiations, like the previous one, were led by U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff
02:44and President Trump's son-in-law, Sherid Kushner.
02:47But the third round included Rafael Grossi, the head of the global nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.
02:56President Trump has prioritized diplomacy over the use of military force against Iran.
03:01In his State of Union address, though he reiterated his claims that Iran's nuclear program was completely obliterated,
03:09he did not mention the use of military, but echoed his earlier promise that he would not let Iran possess
03:15nuclear weapons.
03:16They've already developed missiles that can threaten Europe and our bases overseas,
03:21and they're working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America.
03:27After a midnight hammer, they were warned to make no future attempts to rebuild their weapons program,
03:35and in particular, nuclear weapons, yet they continue starting it all over.
03:41We wiped it out, and they want to start all over again,
03:45and are at this moment again pursuing their sinister ambitions.
03:49We are in negotiations with them.
03:51They want to make a deal, but we haven't heard those secret words.
03:55We will never have a nuclear weapon.
04:16My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy,
04:20but one thing is certain.
04:22I will never allow the world's number one sponsor of terror,
04:25which they are by far, to have a nuclear weapon.
04:29Can't let that happen.
04:33The crisis in West Asia has escalated as Trump ordered the largest U.S. military build-up in the region
04:39since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
04:43The USS Gerald R. Ford, the biggest U.S. aircraft carrier,
04:47left port near the Greek island of Krait bound for shores near Haifa in northern Israel.
04:54The U.S. has also sent around a dozen F-22 fighter jets to Israel.
04:59The first time Washington has deployed combat aircraft to the country for potential wartime operations.
05:15After the talks concluded, U.S. Central Command posted on social media pictures of U.S. fighter jets
05:21conducting flight operations aboard U.S. aircraft carrier.
05:28With Mahasweta Lala, Bureau Report, India Today.
05:35We spoke to the Foreign Minister of Iran, Minister Sayyid Abbas Araqchi,
05:41and here are the key takeaways that really give a sense of what is happening between Iran and the United
05:48States of America
05:49and where Iran stands when it comes to its position.
05:52Not compromising on sovereignty, yet wanting diplomacy and peace.
05:58Donald Trump has put Iran on notice yet again.
06:03What's your reaction? Is Iran prepared?
06:07Well, first of all, thank you for having me.
06:12On your question, of course we are prepared.
06:16We are fully prepared for both options.
06:24War, God forbid, and peace.
06:30As you know, I'm going to Geneva this afternoon
06:35in order to have the third round of our talks with the U.S. team.
06:43And we have made some progress last time.
06:47We were able to find some sort of understandings.
06:51And I think based on those understandings,
06:55we can build something in the form of an agreement, a deal.
07:04I think a fair, balanced, and equitable deal is achievable.
07:10And we can do it.
07:13Of course, our armed forces are prepared to do their job.
07:18And we know how to defend ourselves.
07:19And this is what we did last time.
07:22And we have learned lots of lessons from the last war.
07:25So we are even more prepared.
07:27And that means, by the way, that the aim is to prevent a war.
07:32When you are prepared for a war, you can prevent it.
07:36Otherwise, you are inviting it to your home.
07:39So we are fully prepared, not because we want war,
07:43because we want to prevent the war.
07:45I'm a man of diplomacy.
07:46I have to talk about my own job.
07:47And I think the way we are going to is the best possible way to resolve this problem.
07:57There is no military option for Iran's peaceful nuclear program.
08:01If there is any concern, if there is any question,
08:03if there is any ambiguity, we are ready to address.
08:08We are ready to answer questions.
08:10We are ready to remove concerns.
08:13But we are not ready to give up our right for peaceful use of nuclear technology.
08:18This is what we are, what we demand.
08:21So I believe that tomorrow in Geneva,
08:23there is every possibility to come to an agreed solution,
08:32which is fair and balanced.
08:34You believe there is going to be an agreement,
08:36or are you just hopeful there is going to be an agreement?
08:39Well, I'm hopeful, of course.
08:41But I think it is achievable.
08:44Of course, it depends on the other side's determination.
08:49To be honest with you,
08:50we are not fully convinced that they have a real determination to do that.
08:55Why?
08:56Because we have a bitter experience of the last time.
09:00We were negotiating last June
09:03when Israel attacked us,
09:05and then the U.S. joined that attack.
09:08So that memory is still fresh for us.
09:11The wounds of that aggression is still alive in our minds.
09:16So we cannot forget that once we negotiating with the U.S.
09:21and then they decided to attack us.
09:22This time we are obviously more careful
09:29and we know we have concern.
09:32But if there is a genuine,
09:34if there is a real serious determination on their side to come to a conclusion,
09:38I believe it is achievable.
09:40Iran is at a critical juncture.
09:43The news is tightening when it comes to the West.
09:46Conversations are underway.
09:47The Iranian foreign minister made it very clear that peace is the only way forward.
09:52But should there be war, Iran is prepared for it as well.
09:56So what happens next?
09:58A few things.
09:59There is no long-range missile that Iran is planning,
10:02is what Tehran says.
10:04And why?
10:05Because they don't need long-range missiles.
10:08The range that they have of 2,000 kilometers is enough
10:12for the bases around Iran in West Asia,
10:15what you know as the Middle East,
10:17to retaliate and respond to any threat that Iran faces.
10:23Secondly, there is a massive,
10:25there is massive support that Iran gets
10:28from two very important allies and partners,
10:31Russia and China.
10:32The economics is shifting.
10:34This is not a country that is stifled,
10:37although it is, but not stifled absolutely
10:40because it still has support from Russia and China.
10:43But when asked whether if they will seek help from Russia and China,
10:47Iranian foreign minister very clearly said
10:50that's not going to happen because they can defend themselves.
10:54The message from all these allies and partners is very clear
10:58that they do not want war, that everybody wants peace.
11:02Because should there be a war,
11:04and there are many within Iran who are seeking change,
11:07reform and maybe regime change,
11:09but should there actually be war,
11:11the economic situation is going to be so bad
11:13that everybody is going to be feeling the pinch and the crisis.
11:18And therefore, they will turn.
11:20They will turn against the Western attacks
11:23that you've seen in the past
11:25in the whole of West Asia and the Middle East as well.
11:27So that's another aspect.
11:28There are many aspects that show
11:30that at this point in time,
11:32nobody really wants war.
11:34War does not serve anybody's purpose.
11:36But how can they come to peace through the talks?
11:41The first three rounds of talks have concluded,
11:44Geneva being the last.
11:45And now the next round of talks are going to be in Vienna.
11:50How is that really going to go forward
11:52is something we'll have to wait and see.
11:55The geopolitics of Iran aside,
11:58there is a real economic crisis.
12:00I spoke to a few people from Iran
12:03and this is what they had to say
12:05on how they're dealing with the situation,
12:07how things are not absolutely fine.
12:09There is a call for reforms
12:10and this is what they have to say.
12:13Tell me, I see a lot of life,
12:17a lot of people outside,
12:19but truly, what is it that you're looking at
12:22when you see Tehran, when you see your country?
12:26Okay, so what could be seen right now
12:29is not exactly just the real image
12:33of what people really feel
12:36or it doesn't just prove
12:41that they are so excited about their life
12:45and they are so satisfied
12:49about what they are experiencing.
12:51It's quite against just, you know,
12:57about people's feelings
12:58and about people's emotions.
12:59It might be because everyone just knows
13:02them responsible right now
13:03to survive and keep going,
13:06but just majority of people
13:08are really against this system,
13:12this regime,
13:12and just they wish they could
13:14bring a lot of changes.
13:16There are many evidences these days
13:19and the best evidences would be
13:21just what is happening
13:23in the universities these days.
13:25The universities like Sharif,
13:27you know.
13:28The protests that are continuing right now.
13:31The protests, yeah.
13:32They are exactly the best proof,
13:35I can say,
13:36how people are against
13:39or are opposed to the idea of this regime.
13:42And they know how cruel,
13:44how brutal they are
13:45and not to give them enough freedom
13:47just to force a lot of people
13:50to be living in such a terrible economic crisis.
13:53Right.
13:54Sarah,
13:54a lot of women have suffered a lot,
13:58you know,
13:58here.
13:59But the protests,
14:01women trying to reclaim their space,
14:03do you think that's the reason
14:04why we are seeing
14:06the moral policing
14:07in Iran going down?
14:10That a lot of people
14:11are not coming and saying,
14:12wear a hijab.
14:13Is that something
14:14that is changing a little?
14:16Just, you know,
14:17about the veil
14:18or about the hijab,
14:19it is quite different
14:21because just,
14:23you know,
14:24it was connected
14:25to the politics
14:26of the government,
14:27I think.
14:28In this case,
14:29it was the only freedom
14:31which was given.
14:32But the reason
14:32why people protested
14:34against government
14:35four years ago
14:36was not only
14:37because of just veil
14:39or mass aminism,
14:43actually disagreement
14:44against government,
14:47you know,
14:47it was not the only demand
14:50that people requested.
14:52It was something
14:54a lot,
14:54much more,
14:56and actually freedom
14:59is not just limited
15:00to the appearance,
15:02it's limited to
15:03what people can say
15:05or just can present.
15:08Sia,
15:08in terms of expectations
15:10from the government,
15:10what do you want
15:11from the regime
15:12over here?
15:14You know,
15:16we just
15:17don't need anything more,
15:20you know,
15:20we just don't hope.
15:22We just,
15:25we're really tired.
15:28we just want
15:31something new.
15:34We just
15:36don't know
15:37how to live like this.
15:38This lady's right.
15:41The tax,
15:42the prices,
15:43everything here is hard.
15:45And more of that,
15:47we don't need war.
15:48We don't want
15:49to have a war.
15:50Of course,
15:51everywhere in this world
15:53have any,
15:54like you,
15:55like you,
15:55I think,
15:56have a,
15:57with your neighbor.
15:58But,
16:00this,
16:00in our country,
16:02it's different.
16:04You know,
16:05because
16:06we people live here,
16:07we really don't think
16:09like our government
16:10and regime.
16:11You don't?
16:12No.
16:13Most of us,
16:14I think,
16:15maybe 60 or,
16:17maybe 70% of us
16:18don't think like them.
16:20Okay.
16:21But,
16:21do you also think
16:22that the West
16:23does not think
16:23the way they should
16:25think of Iran
16:25and the people
16:26over here?
16:27You mean?
16:29The U.S.
16:30and West,
16:31yes.
16:31Of course,
16:32every government
16:34people,
16:34the first thing
16:36is their people,
16:38not another people
16:40like Asian people.
16:42We are
16:43in not property
16:45of what they think.
16:48They just do
16:49what they have to do
16:51for their people
16:52and we are
16:54in the second,
16:56third thing
16:57or choice for them.
16:59There's a significant
17:00Indian population
17:01in Qom
17:02who come
17:03for religious studies.
17:04There's an Indian
17:05advisory
17:05that has been issued
17:06for Indians
17:07to leave Iran.
17:08But,
17:09listen to what
17:10Indians in Qom
17:11are saying
17:12about the situation,
17:13how they see Iran,
17:15how they see the conflict,
17:16and whether they're
17:17going to leave Iran
17:18anytime soon.
17:20Why are you still here
17:21when there's an advisory
17:22for everybody to leave?
17:24Because you are also here
17:26that you are seeing
17:26there is nothing such
17:28that there will be war
17:29or something
17:29and we feel very safe here
17:32and peaceful here.
17:34But should there be,
17:36should the situation
17:36become serious,
17:40how are you going
17:41to then look at
17:44leaving?
17:44Because then you'll have
17:45to depend on the
17:46Indian government
17:46to evacuate.
17:47I was here last time
17:49when there was
17:49a 12 days war
17:50and I was saying
17:51there was very normal
17:52so hopefully I won't leave.
17:54I will be here
17:55and we don't think
17:56that there will be war
17:57because Iran is also prepared
17:59and Iran has his own
18:01trust in God
18:02so I don't think
18:03so US or any other
18:04allies will dare
18:06to attack Iran.
18:08Regarding the negotiations
18:10between US and Iran,
18:12Iran has been
18:13on the front foot.
18:15Iran has made sure
18:16that none of the demands
18:18of Americans
18:18are accepted.
18:20First of all,
18:21it was in Turkey.
18:22Iran said no,
18:23it should be in Oman.
18:24Then it happened in Oman.
18:26Iran said,
18:26we are not going
18:27to speak to you directly.
18:28We do not see,
18:29we do not feel
18:29you're worthy enough
18:30that we can speak
18:31to you directly
18:32because you betrayed
18:33us in the past.
18:34So they said
18:35we'll speak to you
18:35indirectly.
18:36America accepted
18:37that as well.
18:38America put four
18:39conditions initially.
18:40They said nuclear
18:41enrichment,
18:41ballistic missiles,
18:43proxies and
18:44regime change.
18:45Iran said
18:45the last three,
18:47forget it,
18:48we are not going
18:48to talk about it,
18:49only nuclear enrichment.
18:50Once again,
18:51America accepted it.
18:52So if you look
18:53at it,
18:53if you look
18:54at the negotiations
18:55perspective,
18:56Iran is
18:57on the front foot,
18:58not on the back foot.
18:59So, look, it's more than one month.
19:02It's going through the 28th December.
19:05It's the end of February.
19:07It hasn't happened yet.
19:10The advisory has been done,
19:12but the advisory doesn't even know where it's been.
19:16It's so bad.
19:19One month ago.
19:20One month ago, the advisory came.
19:22But there's nothing here.
19:24It's very normal.
19:28And now, the Indian students are not doing such a thing.
19:32They're doing classes.
19:34I'm also going to university.
19:36I'm going to my PhD.
19:37I'm going to my Islamic philosophy and Vedant.
19:42I'm going to go and go.
19:43There's no problem.
19:45I'm going to my PhD.
19:48And this was why I'm not doing.
19:48And this didn't have any information about all this,
19:49that any parents came and asked for the device to go,
19:51and said,
19:51you're going to go.
19:52This is not going to be afraid of anyone.
19:55So, all the days we've learned from the whole day and everything,
19:57all these things are happening.
19:58Everything is happening and happening,
19:59and all this different life.
20:00If we live in the world,
20:02we live in India and we are living in silence.
20:05Even a tension,
20:05there is no tension,
20:06there is no family.
20:08There is no to be fear,
20:09where there is no concern.
20:26In the recent past, the situation in Iran has been tense.
20:33Let's take a look at the past uprisings and protests and how they really turned when
20:38it comes to the action by the Iranian regime.
20:50Iran's history with the CIA is not a conspiracy theory.
20:55It starts with a confirmed coup.
20:57In 1953, the CIA and Britain's MI6 launched Operation Ajax to overthrow Prime Minister
21:04Mohammad Mossadegh after he nationalized Iran's oil.
21:09The West saw it as a threat.
21:11The CIA saw it as a mission.
21:13Around $1 million were funneled into bribes, propaganda and street violence.
21:19Military officers, clerics and hired mobs were paid.
21:23Actors were even recruited to pose as communist to their party supporters to discredit Mossadegh.
21:30The first attempt failed.
21:33The second succeeded on August 19.
21:36Mossadegh fell.
21:37Mohammad Raza Pahlvi returned stronger than ever.
21:46Decades later, declassified CIA documents admitted the operation was real and undemocratic.
21:52The damage to Iranian trust in the United States never healed.
21:57Even before the coup, the CIA ran a covert network called TPB-EDAMN, recruiting anti-communist
22:05agents and tribal leaders like the Qashqais to counter Soviet influence.
22:11Some later backed the coup.
22:13Some refused.
22:13But the groundwork had been laid.
22:18Then came 1979.
22:20The Iranian revolution exploded against the Shah's authoritarian rule.
22:24Corruption, economic problems and brutality of SAWAK.
22:28The secret police, the CIA helped establish.
22:31Unlike 1953, there is no evidence the CIA orchestrated this surprising.
22:35In fact, the US backed the Shah until the very end, supplying intelligence and arms while misreading
22:42the scale of public anger.
22:44Analysts failed to predict the storm.
22:48After the revolution, fear of another CIA-style coup shaped the new regime's mindset.
22:54Loyalists of Rahula Khomeini formed the Revolutionary Guards partly to prevent foreign-backed overthrow.
23:03In 1983, the CIA even shared lists of Iranian communists with the new regime to counter Soviet
23:10influence indirectly aiding purges.
23:15Fast forward to today.
23:16Two US carrier strike groups led by the USS Abraham Lincoln and the USS Gerald R. Ford sit
23:23near Iran with over 150 aircrafts.
23:28President Donald Trump warns of military action if no deal emerges.
23:33Iran says it prefers diplomacy but vows to target US bases if attacked.
23:39History shows one thing clearly.
23:42Regime change in Iran has required more than airstrikes.
23:46In 1953, it needed money, propaganda and internal unrest.
23:51Today, with reports of Mossad and CIA infiltration and assassinations, the fear inside Tehran is
23:58simple.
23:58Is history about to repeat itself?
24:02With Rishika Radhia, Bureau Report, India Today.
24:09That's all in our special broadcast from Iran.
24:12The perspectives, the voices, the opinions, all of that put together in this one show to
24:19show what exactly is the reality from the ground.
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