Iran fast tracks protester trials
Global News Podcast
BBC
4.3 • 8.3K Ratings
🗓️ 14 January 2026
⏱️ 26 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Erfan Soltani, arrested during Iran's crackdown on protesters, faces imminent execution, his family says. The human rights group, Hrana, reports that more than 2,500 people have been killed in the protests. Also: As Russian strikes damage Ukraine's power grid, many in Kyiv have started sleeping on specially outfitted trains to keep warm. At least 32 people are dead in Thailand after a construction crane falls onto a moving train. The leaders of Japan and South Korea begin their summit with a jam session. And amateur tennis players compete against the pros at the "Million Dollar One Point Slam".
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:05.5 | This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:10.9 | I'm Celia Hatton, and at 1600 GMT, Wednesday, the 14th of January, these are our main stories. |
| 0:18.7 | The Iranian authorities have said they'll fast-track trials for suspected protesters involved in anti-government demonstrations. |
| 0:26.2 | At least one man has already been sentenced to death. |
| 0:29.7 | Russia continues to attack Ukraine's infrastructure, forcing many people to live in unheated homes in winter temperatures well below freezing. And China last year |
| 0:40.1 | had a record trade surplus, despite tariffs imposed by President Trump. Also in this podcast, |
| 0:59.8 | how two political leaders used a jamming session to cement diplomatic ties. |
| 1:12.4 | Let's begin in Iran, where information still coming out about the scale of nationwide protests over the last few weeks and the numbers of people who died at the hands of the authorities who tried to stop them. A U.S.-based human rights |
| 1:18.1 | group, Hurana, believes that more than 2,500 protesters have been killed. The government |
| 1:24.8 | has said it will fast-track trials for suspected protesters. We already know of |
| 1:30.1 | one man, 26-year-old Arfan Sultani, who's been sentenced to death. On Wednesday, the authorities |
| 1:36.5 | held a mass funeral for more than 100 members of the security forces. |
| 1:52.9 | Coffins were displayed on the back of open trucks with hundreds of pro-government supporters lining the streets. |
| 1:56.9 | The government appears to be trying to show that it's back in control. |
| 2:01.2 | I put that development to Lee's Doucette, our chief international correspondent. |
| 2:06.2 | Yes, that's been happening for a few days on that very moment where it seemed like using deadly force had largely emptied the streets of that roar of people calling for change, political change, |
| 2:19.3 | economic change. Then they went out to reclaim the streets with huge rallies, which State TV said |
| 2:24.6 | millions of people, that seemed quite a large estimate, but certainly lots of people, the streets |
| 2:28.9 | were flooded by supporters of the government. And now today, there's been a state funeral, as we've been hearing. |
| 2:36.8 | Certainly security personnel have died in this violence. And insofar as we can ascertain in our very |
| 2:43.4 | partial picture, because of the communications blackout, there have been protesters who have set |
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