Global News Podcast - Can the US really take control of Iran's oil?

Episode Date: March 30, 2026

President Trump says the US is in serious discussions with what he described as a new and more reasonable regime to end military operations in Iran. Also: Russia comes to the aid of Cuba by sending more than 700,000 barrels of oil to the communist island. Thieves in Italy make off with paintings by Renoir, Cezanne and Matisse - worth millions of dollars - after breaking into a museum near the city of Parma in a matter of minutes. As General Min Aung Hlaing is set to become Myanmar's next president, we ask if it will be business as usual? One of the biggest manhunts in Australian history comes to an end as the man wanted for killing two police is shot dead. Researchers in Italy find that those who stay up late at night are more likely to be depressed, anxious and irritable. And an incredibly rare bronze-age shield is returned to Scotland for the first time in more than 230 years.

This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Charlotte Gallagher and at 1600 hours GMT on the 30th of March, these are our main stories. President Trump repeats his threat to hit Iran's energy infrastructure, but also says he's negotiating with the Iranian leadership to end the war. And Cuba is set to receive 700,000 barrels of oil from Russia after months of a US blois. Also in this podcast, the ancient shield that's going back home for the first time in two centuries. You can really clearly see where a prehistoric sword or spear has pierced this shield at some point. So they were definitely used in combat.

President Trump's latest remarks on the war with Iran have been raising eyebrows with his mixed messaging. He's repeated that a deal to end the war could be reached very soon. just as thousands of U.S. troops arrive in the region preparing for possible ground operations to take over Karg Island, Iran's main oil exporting hub. That would not be without risks, as we heard from Brad Taylor, a former U.S. Special Forces lieutenant colonel, who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. The question in my mind would be applying a military application of force for a strategic in-state, what is that? If it's just to stop the Iranians from exporting oil to fund the regime, you don't need troops to do that. You could blow up the piers. You could do anything you wanted from the air and prevent them from exporting oil.

So in my mind, if we were going to do that, it's more of a psychological effect of, here we come, here comes, you know, the troops. But I'm not sure it's worth the risk of actually doing it. It's very close to the shores of Iran. And, you know, we're dealing with the drones and the missiles and that kind of stuff, which are going a long distance. but that puts them in direct line of an artillery fan. And the other risk is when he hit the island, they'll probably have 48 hours of supplies to get going. But eventually you're going to have to get them resupplied to sustain the operation.

And that's going to have to come through air. And that involves another component of risk. You're going to be flying helicopters in and out of there to get the resupply going. It's just a very logistically challenged piece. I've been speaking to our diplomatic correspondent James Landale. I asked him first, what's the strategy behind President Trump now focusing on Kag Island. This is a huge source of revenue for Iran's economy.

Iran's economy is already in bits. It has been struggling for a very, very long time. And the argument is that if the Americans can control that island, then they can put pressure on the Iranian regime in talks, particularly in discussions to open up the Strait of Hormuz. So in other words, it would, in theory, give the Americans some leverage. And if there were U.S. troops on Kag Island, I mean, they would be very easily reached by Iranian missiles, Iranian artillery.

I mean, would they be sitting ducks in a way? Well, yes and no. I mean, first of all, the Americans would have to take it, and that's no mean feat. It's a long way from anywhere. Remember, the Strait of Hormuz is highly defended, so there's a question mark about whether or not the Americans could get any warships into the Gulf. Then you've got the question of how the Americans could hold Karg Island. It would require substantial resupply in terms of soldiers,

munitions, emergency medical evacuation. The military experts will tell you it's entirely possible, but as ever, the longer you hold any island or piece of ground militarily, the harder it becomes to defend it in the long term because the cost will mount. And they're also talking about the possibility of going into Iran and seizing the uranium. Yes, so look, there is about 400 kilograms of highly enriched uranium that is missing. This is left over from the US-Israeli attack on Iran last June, and this is the material that's relatively close to weapons-grade material. You could probably just enrich it a little bit further, make the experts estimate about 10 to 12 bombs.

And the suggestion is that the Americans might try to conduct some kind of special forces operation to seize and remove this material. But again, the military experts are all warning. This would be hugely complex. Has President Trump got himself in a bit of a mess here? Because it doesn't appear like there's an exit strategy. He's very mixed with all his messages. You know, what is going on? Well, sometimes the American messaging is deliberately mixed to confuse the enemy.

And therefore, on the one hand, the Americans are suggesting a willingness to talk. But at the other hand, they're suggesting a willingness to escalate. and deploy military force in different ways. On one level, that's designed to keep the Iranians guessing. It's also designed to try and put pressure on the Iranists to say, look, if you don't agree to some kind of deal over reopening the Strait of Hormuz, then the Americans are willing, in theory, to deploy greater military force and to escalate. The risk, though, is, A, the element of surprise has gone

because Donald Trump has been speaking so openly about some of these potential options that he might deploy. But also, as you say, there is still a degree of strategic confusion over how the Americans wish to exit this war. And at the moment, there's not a great deal of clarity coming out of the White House. That was James Landale. And you can hear more from James about how US troops could be used on the ground in Iran and how that could give President Trump more leverage in talks by going to our YouTube channel. Search for BBC News on YouTube.

And you'll find the Global News podcast in the podcast section. There's a new story available every weekday. As Israel continues to carry out attacks across Iran damaging power grids, life for ordinary people there is getting harder by the day. Our correspondent Joe Inwood has compiled this report. Working by torchlight, a search and rescue team navigates a vast crater in the centre of a Tehran street. The beam of light pauses on the twisted remains of a motorbike before moving on. This has become a common scene as the US and Israeli strikes enter their fifth week.

One man who lives nearby witnessed the aftermath. Last night they hit the middle of the street near our house with no specific target. No building, no person, nothing, just the middle of the street. The asphalt was torn up and a huge crater was created. Several parked and passing cars were turned to dust. By daylight it is a very different scene in terms. Tehran, certainly the official version is. The historic bazaars and markets seem subdued but not empty in footage released by the news

agencies. Colourful sweets are piled high. A man squeezes fresh pomegranate juice. Only one man speaks on camera, a computer programmer called Matin. He appears to be in his 20s and has a bag slung over one's shoulder. We are fighting to fight him. Prevent sanctions to show the strength of the country, of our country, he says. For me, these things are more important than internet outages or anything else.

But that message of defiance is not what you always get in private communications, as shared with BBC Persian news and voiced by their team. My businesses are completely shut down now. My situation is not better than theirs. It's been very quiet. and I think I can hold up the business for one month maximum. We're slowly starting to learn how to live with war. We're going out with the kids, open our shops,

and we get emotional watching old photos and movies of Iran. Just as getting information out of Iran is difficult because of the near total internet shutdown, so too is it hard for Iranians to hear from the outside world. But clearly, information does get in. Over the weekend, President Trump said this. open it up. They have to open up the straight of Trump. I mean, Harmouth. Excuse me for I'm so sorry. Such a terrible mistake. Now, whether or not it was a joke is seemingly upset

Iranians, even those who oppose the regime. Trump called the Strait of Hormuz the Trump straight. The Strait of Hormuz and the Iranian islands are in danger of being lost. Last night in Tehran there was an unusual sound, certainly for those who watched this war from afar. Iranian air defences firing into the black sky. They appear to be aging AA guns, unlikely to shoot down a modern fighter jet. But they are still firing. In what is fast becoming a battle of wills, that is significant. Joe Inwood reporting, Russia has come to the aid of Cuba.

and sent more than 700,000 barrels of oil to the communist island, which has been suffering under a US oil blockade. The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, said it had raised the issue with the United States and was pleased the sanctioned delivery was taking place. Amid a severe blockade, our Cuban friends need petroleum products and oil. They're essential for keeping normal life running, for electricity generation, and for providing medical and other services to the population. Russia, of course, believes it's our duty not to stand aside

and to provide the necessary assistance to our Cuban friends. So does this mark the end of the oil blockade by Washington? I asked our global affairs reporter Mimi Swayby. President Trump has told journalists he doesn't have any problem with Russia sending fuel to Cuba. Now, it isn't clear if these remarks, which he made on board Air Force One on Sunday, are a complete reversal of his blockade on the island,

which has now been in place about three months. That includes threats of tariffs for any country who is delivering oil to the nation, or if it's just a one-off allowance. He said that if a country wants to send oil to Cuba right now, I have no problem with that, whether it's Russia or not. He said, anyway, Cuba is finished. They have a bad regime and a corrupt leadership. So it essentially didn't matter if a boat of oil got through or not.

It's really unclear. I think Cuba will be wanting this. oil to continue now from Russia. Russia has made it clear as well, the Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitri Peskov, saying that Russia will continue to work on oil supplies to Cuba and that these supplies to the island were actually raised in its talks with the US. But it is a bit of a grey area, which no one seems to have a definite answer for at the moment. So once this oil vessel is docked in the northern shore on Cuba, we will then find out if there is another one or if there are any more progress to be made with it. And presumably, this is going to make

a huge difference for Cubans. So President Miguel Dieth Canal basically said that Cuba hasn't had any oil delivery from one three months now. Now Cuba is suffering a severe economic crisis, essential collapse of the economy, as well as severe fuel shortages. Since the US imposed its oil blockade, there have been two nationwide blackouts. And this is on top of daily extended blackouts, fuel scarcity, basic goods being very scarce, as well as water shortages. So this amount of oil on board the Anatoly-Kollodkin vessel, is thought to be able to supply Cuba for about a week of fuel. And that is including things like essential services.

So hospitals which from dire need at the moment, many running off generators with their intensive care units and emergency services seriously kind of under pressure from this blockade, as well as transport and electricity. Again, the electricity system, the grid is in kind of disarray, but it has been exacerbated by this fuel shortage, which in turn has been put on more pressure by this US blockade. Mimi Swaby.

Now, if you're someone who prides yourself on being an early riser, fresh and chirpy in the morning, spare a thought for your opposite numbers who prefer being up late into the night. Because researchers in Italy have found that night owls are more likely to show signs of being depressed, anxious and irritable. Dr Lindsay Browning is the founder of Trouble Sleeping, a sleep clinic here in the UK.

She told Leila Nathu that each of us is predisposed to function better at certain times of the day. We all have a thing called our chronotype and that means at which point of the day do you feel your most awake and alert. And there are early people, larks who seem to wake up and feel really refreshed and want to get going straight away. But as the day progresses, they start to fade. Whereas the later people, evening types or night owls, the morning is not their friend. And as the day progresses, they tend to get more and more energy and want to stay up a bit later. And there are lots of people somewhere in the middle. So that's your chronotype.

It determines when in the day you feel your most alert, basically. You can't change that particularly. Right. So it's genetic, is it? There is definitely a genetic component to that. There are ways you can tweak it, but you can't completely change yourself from a night owl to an early morning lark. And on this idea of night owls being associated with worse moods,

is that to do with something biological or is that to do with how they have to operate within the constraints of society. Perhaps they feel a bit more out of sync with the schedules imposed by society. That's what we think that if you are someone who is a night owl, then your daytime isn't really working with your biological, what you want to achieve.

So you might be trying to be out of step with a daily schedule. You want to fall asleep later, but work, school or family still require you to wake up early, which means you probably might end up getting less sleep because if you go to bed late, but still have to get up at the same time as everybody, else, most people who are night owls or evening types tend to have short sleep. And also, if you are sleeping in at the weekend and you have a very different social jet lag, you have a different

bedtime, wake time during the working week and the weekend, that can disrupt your circadian rhythm, which can lead to poor quality sleep. And those things, short sleep and poor quality sleep have a huge impact on our emotional regulation. And that's probably what this study is showing, because it's an association. It didn't say that night owls will definitely become having poor emotional regulation and those kinds of traits associated with a developing bipolar disorder, but it did show an association because of those factors. You said that you couldn't really do much about it if you are inclined to be better in the morning or be better in the evenings. But what can you do to sort of smooth the path? What would your advice be for somebody who really genuinely is a night owl,

for example, but who has to have early starts? Think of it a little bit like jet lag. So the answer isn't just to ignore it, but to really help your body. So keep your bedtime and wake time as regular as possible so that you allow yourself enough time in bed for sleep. And also get bright light first thing in the morning because that can really help to anchor our circadian rhythm.

So first thing in the morning, open those curtains, maybe even go outside for a quick walk or have your breakfast in the garden. Try to reduce bright light exposure late in the day. And like I said before, it's so important to avoid the pattern of short sleep during the week, followed by a long catch-up lines at the weekend, because that really creates this sense of a dysregulation of your circadian rhythm. Your body doesn't really know what time it is.

So consistency really is the key. That was Dr. Lindsay Browning. Still to come in this podcast. Their understanding of how art crime works is from the same films and fiction that the general public watches, which suggests, that criminal collectors exist, when in fact, in known history, we know of almost none that have ever existed. After a daring heist in Italy, we ask, what do thieves do with stolen art? In Myanmar, General Minong Line is set to be the country's next president. He led the military

coup five years ago, which resulted in a brutal suppression of the opposition. He's been chosen by the country's parliament, which is dominated by the military following recent elections that were widely described as a sham. So is it business as usual with the military in charge? Our Southeast Asia correspondent, Jonathan Head, is in Myanmar. I think it is. This certainly isn't any kind of new dawn. This is, in essence, an expanded version of the existing military regime in civilian clothes. You've got a parliament where 90% of the members of parliament are loyal to the military,

loyal to Minonlein himself. And Minonlein is choosing his own loyalist. He'll clearly choose loyalists to be in his... new government, but also to replace him in command of the army. So it's very much still his show. This is something he's wanted to do for a long time. You know, when he launched his coup, he claimed somewhat implausibly when he ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi five years ago, that he was doing it to protect his version of democracy. And they call it the military calls of the discipline, flourishing democracy. And he's always said he wanted to have an election

and get back to civilian rule. It's taken him this long because he's set off. of a civil war and armed opposition to his coup, which has resulted in his regime losing control of large parts of the country. And indeed, there were many parts of the country where the election could not take place. That civil war goes on. But he will be pleased that he's passed this particular milestone. And he will also be trying to persuade countries, particularly in this region, who are more likely to be persuaded by his argument, that they should engage with him and recognize him now as the legitimate government. Legitimacy is something he's not had for the last years. Western governments, of course, will continue to shun him and argue, as do many others,

that his position is essentially illegitimate. And how do people in Yangon feel about this election and feel about him taking over the country? I think there's a large degree of resignation. It's pretty hard to get people to speak openly. A lot of people were unhappy. They felt forced to take part in the election. I think for most people here, they're just exhausted by the civil war. The economy has completely collapsed. And now, of course, we've got fuel shortages caused by the Iran War, which are particularly bad in Myanmar. It's very hard to get fuel now.

And remember, this country doesn't have a reliable electricity supply, so many people rely on generators. So things are really grim economically, and people just want an end. The problem is that Minong Line isn't giving any sense that he's going to change his tactics and perhaps soften his suppression of the opposition. His message on his last Armed Forces Day parade

at the end of last week was very hard line and he's appointed a very hard line man to replace him in the military. So sadly much as people hear hope that a civilian government might possibly bring an end to the civil war, nothing Minot Online is saying or his deputies are saying suggests they're going to change.

That was Jonathan Head in Myanmar. One of the biggest manhunts in Australian history is over. The suspect, 56-year-old Desi Freeman, who was wanted for killing two police officers seven months ago, has been shot dead. fled into bushland last August, prompting a huge search operation. This report from Richard Hamilton.

Everyone knows that these scumbags buffered because they're obsessed with power. In 2021, police arrested Desi Freeman, previously known as Desmond Filby, during an anti-government protest. He was a self-declared sovereign citizen who regarded the government as illegitimate. In August last year, he opened fire on a team of police officers when they arrived to his semi-rural property in Port Punker, about 300 kilometres northeast of Melbourne. They'd gone there with a search warrant in relation to a child sexual abuse investigation. Two officers were shot dead at the scene and a third was injured. Freeman, who was believed to have expert bushcraft skills and multiple firearms,

then fled into bushland in Mount Buffalo National Park. Although he's not yet been formally identified, Police say Freeman was shot after a three-hour standoff. Mike Bush is the Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police. This morning, Victoria Police fatally shot a man as a result of the operation. Everything I know at this point tells me that this shooting was justified. The operation was conducted by professionals. There was an appeal to encourage...

The person to come out, he then exited the building. There was an opportunity for him to surrender peacefully, which he did not. This brings closure to what was a tragic and terrible event. The search for Desi Freeman was one of the largest in Australian history. A reward of a million Australian dollars had been offered for information leading to his capture. At one point, around 450 police officers were running. involved, including experts from New Zealand and even the Australian army. More than a hundred homes were searched and police used helicopters and sniffer dogs to scour a vast area of scrubland

that was also littered with disused mine shafts. But they admitted that Freeman had known the terrain much better than they did. Richard Hamilton. Thieves in Italy have made off with paintings by Renoir, Cézanne and Matisse, worth millions of dollars after breaking into a museum near the city of Parma in just a matter of minutes. It's one of the most significant thefts in Italy in recent years and follows the audacious robbery of France's crown jewels from the Louvre in Paris last October. So what actually happens to stolen art? Leila Nathu spoke to Noah Charni, the founder of the Association for Research into Crimes Against Art. In this case, it's quite clear that the thieves knew what they were after. There were the three pictures that they took, plus a fourth one, the identity

of which has not come forth to the public yet, that they tried to take about scared off by the security system, the alarm is going off. So it was targeted, but it was probably chosen as a location to Burgle because it was relatively underprotected a bit out of the way. And they saw the objects as high value, easily portable objects that were perhaps undersecured. Are they high value, though, on a black market for art? That's an excellent question, and the short answer is no. If art thieves knew how difficult it was to turn stolen art, especially by famous artists, into cash, they probably wouldn't bother.

So at open auction, these are extremely valuable, particularly a Cézanne watercolor, which is very rare. But there is almost no market, black or otherwise, for identifiable, unique stolen paintings. So thieves have to come up with another way to profit from them. but a lot of them don't know how to because their understanding of how art crime works is from the same films and fiction that the general public watches, which suggests that criminal collectors exist when in fact in known history we know of almost none that have ever existed. So they're not stealing to order for sort of underworld collectors. So what then happens? They just end up staying in storage, presumably, never to resurface.

So it's true. The idea of criminal art collectors is primarily from the realm of things. I know of a few dozen counter examples, but that's it. And there are tens of thousands of art thefts reported worldwide every year. So it's just a fraction. But what happens more often is maybe more interesting, but more complex. Most art theft involves organized crime at some level. And organized crime groups will sometimes take these stolen objects and use them on a closed black market in dealing with other criminal groups and using them for trade or collateral for other deals involving objects that have a high risk in turning into cash like arms and drugs. And you have this idea that the stolen work of art, which experts estimate on a black market is worth maybe 10% of its legitimate value. And you can equate that as a check that you never want to try to cash, but you think you're pretty sure you could get 10% of the value for it. And then you can trade it for other objects of a similar value on the black market. Noah Charnie. Finally, an incredibly rare bronze age shield has been returned to Scotland for the first time in more than 230 years.

The Shield was originally discovered in a peat bog in North Ayrshire in about 1779 and has been in a museum in London ever since. Matthew Knight is the senior creator of prehistory at National Museum Scotland. It's a really, really important object. These were highly decorated objects, generally considered to be symbols of ceremony or status. But we've also been able to show that they're very effective defence weapons. Describe the shield for us. How big is it? What does it look like?

The shield is about 60 centimetres in diameter. It's a round shield hammered from a fingerlingot of bronze into a very, very thin sheet. But then it's been decorated with concentric rings and concentric hammered bosses. And there's over 9,000 of these bosses hammered into the surface of the shield. Does it look as if it's been used in anger or in self-defense? Yeah, this is the real. fascinating thing about this shield in particular is you can really clearly see where a prehistoric sword or spear has pierced this shield at some point. So they were definitely used in combat. And this is really significant as well, because these are some of the very early origins of conflict and violence in Britain.

When are we talking about? What year? Do you have a sense of when the shield was created and what the conflicts were that were driving its use? The shield dates to just over 3,000 years ago in what we call the Bronze Age. This is a period where people are settled in farming communities, they're living off the land. But this is also a period where we see the invention of the sword, the first object in human history that's designed purely for harming another human, unfortunately. And with this, if somebody has a sword, you want to shield or you want a bigger sword. and it fuels what I call the Bronze Age arms race, where you have societies coming into conflict with each other in a very dedicated fashion for the first time.

And this gives rise to a sort of status with a warrior, somebody capable of defending your community, but also unfortunately shattering another. That was Matthew Knight speaking to Justin Webb. And the Shield will be on display towards the end of June at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. And that's all. from us for now. If you want to get in touch, you can email us at global podcast at BBC.com.

You can also find us on X at BBC World Service. Use the hashtag Global NewsPod. And don't forget our sister podcast, The Global Story. This edition of The Global News Podcast was mixed by Mike Campbell and the producers were Judy Frankel and Paul Day. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Charlotte Gallagher. Until next time, goodbye.