Confusion over second round of Iran-US talks
Newshour
BBC
4.2 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 20 April 2026
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Confusion surrounds the second round of talks scheduled in Pakistan between US and Iranian officials.
Also in the programme: We speak to Arab Barghouti, son of the prominent Palestinian prisoner, Marwan Barghouti. In 2004 an Israeli court found Marwan Barghouti guilty of five counts of murder as well as membership of a terrorist organisation. The court found there was insufficient evidence connecting him to 21 other deaths on the original indictment. He is currently serving five consecutive life sentences in an Israeli prison. Opinion polls indicate that despite his imprisonment, Barghouti is the most popular Palestinian leader. He remains a member of the Fatah Central Committee.
We also hear about the immunotherapy that could save cancer patients; and comparisons between the King of Horror, Stephen King and Shakespeare.
Photograph: Pakistani security officers outside Islamabad's Red Zone, where most diplomatic missions are based. Credit: Shutterstock
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:09.3 | Hello and welcome to News Hour from the BBC World Service. We're coming to you live from London. I'm Paul Henley. |
| 0:17.1 | First, there is still a lot of confusion about the status of peace negotiations over the war in the Middle East. |
| 0:23.4 | President Trump earlier said he was about to send a delegation led by Vice President J.D. Vance to Pakistan |
| 0:29.2 | for talks to stop the fighting resuming. Iran insisted it had no plans to attend for now. |
| 0:36.3 | Both sides have traded accusations of ceasefire violation, |
| 0:40.1 | including the US seizure of an Iranian cargo ship earlier today |
| 0:43.9 | that Trump said was trying to evade a US blockade. |
| 0:47.2 | Iran said that and the continuing blockade |
| 0:49.5 | breached a two-week truce set to end tomorrow, |
| 0:53.1 | and it threatened to retaliate, while President Trump said Tehran had breached the cease-week truce set to end tomorrow, and it threatened to retaliate, |
| 0:54.7 | while President Trump said Tehran had breached the ceasefire in the crucial strait of Hormuz. |
| 1:00.2 | The BBC's chief international correspondent Lees Doucet is in the capital Tehran. |
| 1:05.4 | She's been speaking to the senior Iranian lawmaker, Ibrahim Azizi, |
| 1:09.7 | who is chairman of Iran's parliament's national security |
| 1:12.5 | and foreign policy committee. And a reminder, she's reporting on condition that none of her |
| 1:17.3 | material is used on the BBC's Persian service. These restrictions apply to all international media |
| 1:23.5 | organizations operating inside Iran. She first asked Ibrahim Azizi whether Iran would ever give up control of the Strait of Hormuz. |
| 1:33.2 | Certainly not. |
| 1:36.2 | Certainly not. |
| 1:38.0 | We believe this is our inalienable right. |
| 1:41.7 | We are preparing a plan to be approved by Parliament, with comprehensive |
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