Huge explosions reported in Iranian capital
Newshour
BBC
4.2 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 5 March 2026
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The United States and Israel have carried out a sixth day of attacks. Columns of smoke are towering in the sky in the capital, Tehran, where the Azadi football stadium appears to have been severely damaged. We'll also investigate unconfirmed reports that the US is trying to foment a Kurdish rebellion in the north of Iran.
Also in the programme: people in Nepal have been voting for the first time since last year's "Gen Z" demonstrations, in which dozens of young protesters died; and the drug trials that have had some terrific results for children with the severest epilepsy.
(Photo: People gather on the sides of a road as smoke rises in the background following an explosion, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, March 5, 2026. Credit: Majid Asgaripour/West Asia News Agency via REUTERS)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:09.2 | Hello and welcome to NewsHour. It's coming to you live from the BBC World Service studios in London. |
| 0:15.0 | I'm Tim Franks. And we're beginning with day six of this war that began inside Iran, but is not confined now to Iran. |
| 0:23.9 | We'll take you to Tehran, to Lebanon, and to northern Iraq in the course of this program. |
| 0:30.3 | There's been a new wave of airstrikes carried out by Israel and the US today. |
| 0:35.9 | One video that's circulating online shows Tehran's Azadi football stadium severely damaged |
| 0:42.7 | with smoke coming out of a sports hall nearby. |
| 0:45.2 | Our colleagues from the BBC's Persian service received this account of the attack from an eyewitness, |
| 0:50.8 | which has been voiced by one of our producers. |
| 0:53.6 | Last night, the car factory rang. |
| 0:56.3 | One of my friends, bless him, had registered for a car. |
| 1:00.2 | And then they said, come and collect the car quickly before a missile hits the place. |
| 1:05.4 | So anyway, today I went to Taranzar, and I was there exactly when Azadi was hit. |
| 1:11.9 | When the first strike hit Azadi, nothing much happened. |
| 1:15.1 | But when the second one hit, orange smoke rose up from the ammunition depot. |
| 1:20.2 | The situation was really bad. |
| 1:22.9 | We quickly took delivery of the car without number plates and brought it somewhere near my house. |
| 1:29.2 | An eyewitness to that attack on the football stadium. Iran, despite the battering, it's on the end of, |
| 1:38.0 | has managed to loose off some missiles and drones. There have been loud blasts heard over the Bahraini |
| 1:43.8 | and Qatari capitals today. |
| 1:45.8 | And looking northwards rather than southwards towards the Gulf, |
| 1:50.5 | Azerbaijan says that Iranian drones struck an airport in the west of its country. |
... |
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