US ‘locked and loaded’ to help Iranian protestors
Global News Podcast
BBC
4.3 • 8.2K Ratings
🗓️ 2 January 2026
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The US President warns his forces will come to the rescue of peaceful Iranian anti-government demonstrators if they are targeted by Tehran. A senior adviser to Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei has responded by saying Donald Trump should know that US interference would lead to chaos across the region. Also: two French managers of the bar in the Swiss ski resort that suffered a deadly fire on New Year's Eve have been interviewed; new mayor Zohran Mamdani is formally sworn in in New York; the difficulty of not having a birth certificate in South Africa; Donald Trump gives an update about his health after concerns were raised; and what to look out for in space travel in 2026.
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Photo by ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH/EPA/Shutterstock
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:07.3 | If American politics is leaving you with a lot of questions, you're not alone. |
| 0:12.3 | On America's, we chat through what's really going on. |
| 0:15.3 | Make sense of what's happening in the US, with new podcast episodes arriving throughout the week. |
| 0:20.6 | America's, listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:23.6 | You're listening to the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:29.4 | Hello, I'm Oliver Conway. We're recording this at 16 hours GMT on Friday the 2nd of January. |
| 0:35.8 | President Trump warns Iran not to kill peaceful protesters, saying the US will step in. |
| 0:41.6 | Swiss officials say the fire that killed 40 people in a bar appears to been started by sparklers attached to champagne bottles. |
| 0:49.1 | And what are the chances of ending the war in Ukraine this year? |
| 0:54.7 | Also in the podcast, why the US president is taking more aspirin than recommended. |
| 1:01.0 | And citizenship is not a reward. |
| 1:03.9 | It's an entitlement for someone to be able to live a dignified life |
| 1:08.4 | and for someone to be seen as a human being. |
| 1:11.7 | The plight of thousands of stateless people in South Africa. |
| 1:18.5 | Since Sunday, the authorities in Iran have been struggling to contain protests over the dire state of the economy. |
| 1:32.7 | The demonstrations which began among shopkeepers at the Grand Bazaar in the capital Tehran have now spread to other cities. Yesterday, at least seven people |
| 1:38.2 | are reported to have been killed in clashes between protesters and the security forces. Today, |
| 1:42.9 | in an early morning social media post, |
| 1:45.1 | President Trump weighed in, |
| 1:46.7 | warning the Iranian authorities not to harm demonstrators. |
| 1:50.2 | If Iran kills peaceful protesters, the US will come to their rescue. |
... |
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