Global News Podcast - Iran says its peace terms - rejected by US - are 'generous'

Episode Date: May 11, 2026

Donald Trump calls Iran's counter offer to end the war "totally unacceptable". Iran defends its proposals, saying they are "generous". Tehran wants the release of its frozen foreign assets, an immediate end to the war on all fronts and a halt to the US naval blockade of Iranian ports. Also: the final passengers from the cruise ship with hantavirus are repatriated. The British prime minister, Keir Starmer, speaks of his hopes for a new deal with the EU, as he tries to shore up support after last week's dismal election results. The former Thai prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, is met by cheering crowds in Bangkok after being released from prison. And the holiday hotels looking to ensure that all their guests get a sun lounger.The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight. Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment. Get in touch: [e-mail]

This is the global news podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Alex Ritson, and at 16 hours GMT on Monday the 11th of May, these are our main stories. Iran denies its counter proposals to US peace plan are excessive. Uncertainty over the negotiation sends oil prices higher. A French passenger from the cruise ship M.V. Hondias tests positive for Hanta virus. and the British Prime Minister Kirstama tries to shore up support after last week's dismal election results. Also in this podcast, a former Prime Minister of Thailand, Taksin Shinawatra, is greeted by supporters on his release from jail. We start with the war in Iran and the diplomatic efforts to secure a lasting peace.

Both sides seem to be talking, but there doesn't seem to be much agreement. Tehran says it. Its latest proposals to end the conflict and reopen the Strait of Hormuz are responsible and generous, even though President Trump has already described them as totally unacceptable. All this could undermine the ceasefire. James Gilmore, a former U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, says he doesn't think there'll be a quick breakthrough. We're not yet getting anywhere.

I think the United States got themselves into a war in which they're going to try to achieve an outcome through the use of force. And that force is either air bombing, air attacks, or and or a blockade against their economics. And the question remains outstanding. Is that going to be enough to bring Iran to the point where they're willing to concede some very important issues? So far not. So far the Iranians are behaving almost as though they're winners. And I think that they're not yet losers, frankly. And I think that this negotiation is going to go on. for some time in my view. Our correspondent, Carrie Davis, in Dubai, says neither side has publicly released details of what they want.

What was it exactly that the president thought was unacceptable? We don't have any further details on that. Well, it might be the case that in the coming days we hear more from the U.S. side about where they think Iran needs to change its starts. We may also get the simile from Iran, but both sides seem to be pretty rigid in their positioning at the moment. and also both have talked about further potential escalation. So before we had this response from Iran, the president had said that if Iran did not agree to a deal, that the US would resume bombing and with greater intensity.

At the same time, we've also heard from the White House, particularly in the course of the last week, talking about how President Trump is open to diplomacy. So what path will the president choose next and what sort of further actions are we going to see from either, side, that is what we're waiting for. Do we think it's a real rejection or is it a negotiation tactic? With all of this, it's very difficult to know how much of this is a negotiation tactic, how much of this is public posturing because both sides are trying to appeal to their own domestic audiences.

Bear in mind, both need to appear that they are coming away with a win, with a success for this. Both sides have been talking about the weakness of their opponent. and even though both sides have continually talked about their public positions which seem miles apart, yet this back and forth of negotiation seems to be going on behind the scenes. So there must be something that they're finding that is appealing. There's something to further talk about because otherwise you'd imagine this negotiation wouldn't be going on. But exactly what that middle ground is is very difficult to say, and how much of this is genuine rejection from president,

and how much of this is an indication of him trying to sort of, of play hardball, as it were, and trying to get more from the Iranian side, we don't know. I think the only way for us to be able to read that is what the president says and does next, whether this starts to have more positive noises again from the US saying, I know actually we think that there is more that the Iran are already offering us, or if we start seeing further sort of escalatory tactics, potentially in the straight-of-hormoos from either side, that will give us a bit more of an indication about whether or not this feels like a genuine dead end,

or it is just something that is being said publicly to try to all. to that position behind the scenes. Carrie Davis. As the conflict continues, people inside Iran continue to struggle despite some respite brought by the ceasefire. The BBC, using trusted sources, has been speaking to some of those affected. Our special correspondent, Fergal Keen,

has been hearing from those traumatised by conflict and government repression, the warning that some listeners may find the material in his report disturbing. They own the streets today, the women of the Islamic Revolution, but in a country where the men still make all the rules. This demonstration, stage managed by the regime, to convince the world they're ready to fight, to tell their own people, don't even think about protesting. There's little chance of it.

The population is wounded in, spirit and mind. Huddled over a stove, musician Ali Reza cannot come to terms with the things he's seen in the last few months. Luters fighting next to the bodies of bomb victims. The situation was completely out of control. The police had come to take the bodies of those killed in the barracks to the hospital, but they couldn't control these looters. At the same time, I saw many corpses, some with the lower half of their bodies severed. People were collected. them in blankets to take them to the hospital. If the situation continues like this for another six months,

many might commit suicide because they can't endure it. Living in Iran is truly difficult. Families of all political persuasions are mourning. They're dead and missing. Airstrikes have put added strain on the under-resourced health system, unable to cope with the wave of trauma, as a medic explained. As soon as you ask, how are you feeling, the patient starts crying. And we have one psychologist who only comes one day a week

because they haven't signed a contract with him. Only one day a week for a population of 26,000 people? They say there will be an agreement. But it feels like the fire of war in this country never goes out. I am completely hopeless. Now I can say with certainty, hope will not come back. For former political prisoners like Shirin,

these are days of relentless fear, war, the death of friends, the possibility of torture. When they've come for you once already, the fear never goes away. Whenever I hear a disturbing sound, my body reacts involuntarily. The psychological pressure that entered my mind

has numbed part of my left hand. It doesn't work. I still have anxiety that the war might start again, and that is a terrifying thing. More than 50,000 people have been arrested, and last month saw a record number of executions. For Shirin, despair. Things have happened that we couldn't do anything about. The detainees were hanged. We've now lost the streets. Whoever controls the streets controls the streets, controls the country. And for their enemies, they've made Iran into a claustrophobic hell. Fergal Kean. The last remaining passengers on board the M.V. Hondias, the cruise ship affected by an outbreak of the deadly Hanta virus,

are being repatriated from Tenerife in the Canary Islands. 146 people are on board. Three of them have died of the virus, and several others have become ill, including most recently a French woman. The US Department of Health says one of the American passengers being flown home has also tested positive and another is showing symptoms. The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Capriasis, who's on the island, has questioned the American decision not to follow WHO guidance to isolate passengers for 42 days. I heard more from Guy Hedgeco, who's in Tenerife. I'm at the port where the passengers are being brought to land and then put onto flights. from here and then repatriated yesterday. Just over 90 passengers from 19 different countries

were brought in small boats from the cruise ship, which is anchored just off the port here. And then they would move very quickly in a bus to a nearby airport and put onto their flights to go home. There are just 24 more people to go today. There will be a flight going to the Netherlands, taking them home to the Netherlands, and the final flight we're expecting will go to Australia. Some of the crew will remain on the boat and it will continue on to Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Guy, tell us more about the WHO guidelines. Are people expected to isolate and what's happening in the US? Well, yes, I mean, the WHO recommends 42 days quarantine because that is the period of incubation for the virus. And so it says that that is recommendable for anyone

has been in contact with someone who has tested positive for the virus. Now the situation in the United States is the US Centers for Disease Control says it doesn't want to cause alarm and that this virus should not be treated like COVID. Now, on that point, the WHO and the US agree, they don't want to see comparisons or close comparisons with COVID because that might cause alarm. But the US, certainly the health authorities there, don't seem to be imposing this 42-day quarantine. The 17 American citizens who were flown back home yesterday, for example, are undergoing clinical assessment in Nebraska. But it doesn't seem that they'll be undergoing that long quarantine.

And the WHO has said that there may be risks associated with not following its guidelines. Guy Hedgeco. Here in the UK, Prime Minister Kirstama is fighting for his job after disastrous local elections that were dominated by the populist right-wing reform party. Calls are growing even from his own Labour Party MPs for him to resign. But speaking at a news conference, he said he was determined not to give up. I know that people are frustrated by the state of Britain, frustrated by politics, and some people frustrated

with me. I know I have my doubters. And I know I need to prove them wrong, and I will. Mr Stama also launched a direct attack on Brexit, saying it's made people poorer. He said a new deal with the European Union was an immediate priority. So is this an attempt to reverse Britain's decision to leave the EU? Our UK political correspondent is Rob Watson. I think reversing it might be going a bit too far, Alex. But I think what Kirstama has decided is that if you look at Britain, I know it's 10 years on from the referendum

Alex, but essentially the country is still sort of broadly split along those lines of people who voted remain and people who voted leave. And I think the Prime Minister has decided that the Labour Party is really struggling to get any leave voters to come back to support Labour

and that therefore the idea is you try to unite the progressive left, if you could put it that way, and that therefore to come out and denounce Brexit, talk about the harm it's done, and talk about closer relations with the European Union really, really makes a lot of sense. But he's in trouble.

Would that turn things around for him? Well, it would certainly help things because the argument goes inside the senior ranks of the Labour Party that if it's true that the party is split still along remain leave lines, you might scoop up some of those people who used to support labour, but we've gone off to parties like the Liberal Democrats and the Greens, who are very much more pro-European. So that's the strategy, but of course he has all sorts of other problems.

Yeah, as you say, I just give us a sense of how disillusioned British people really are with this Prime Minister. So he gets, I was looking at the latest polling from UGov, one of the biggest polling companies in Britain, Alex, and he gets a net favourability rating of minus 40. I mean, that is pretty dire. Only Liz Truss has been more unpopular. And that is why the view, I think, inside the governing Labour Party is that his position is unrecoverable. He's just too unpopular in the country, too unpopular in the party to come back from this and that he is therefore a Prime Minister living on borrowed time. The challenge to his leadership that might

have happened today, I think, has perhaps dissipated Alex. But I think there is a sense that it is borrow time and that at some point in the medium to long term, he will be gone and he will not lead the party into the next election, despite his determination annexed to stay and fight. Rob Watson, to Thailand now, crowds filled the streets of Bangkok to catch a glimpse of Taksin Shinawot being released from prison on parole. The former Prime Minister was originally sentenced to eight years for corruption and abuse of power in 2023. That was then shortened to year. He initially served time in a prison hospital, but Thailand's Supreme Court decided he would have to go to an ordinary prison. Now, after serving eight months, he's out, but he'll still have

to wear an electronic ankle monitor for the remaining four months. He says he feels relief. But is everyone in Thailand happy to see him released? Our Southeast Asia correspondent is Jonathan Head. Taxin is a very controversial figure, very divisive. He has people who dislike him as strongly as those who showed up to greet him as he came out of prison, love him and believe in him. That's the way he's been. He's abrasive, you know, autocratic in some ways, visionary in others. He made of a huge impact when he first came to power 25 years ago. The first party that really had a kind of modern platform. And a lot of his policies genuinely improved the situation, particularly of lower income people. And they still thank him for that and still believe in him.

But there were lots of problems with the way he governed as well. and Thailand has an extremely well-entrenched and powerful conservative establishment built around the monarchy and with the backing of the army, which is very skeptical of any elected politician who has ambitions to transform the country. Antaxon was not a diplomatic man, and he fell out with them, ended up being ousted by a coup. Governments led by his parties, his parties kept on winning elections, even when he was in exile. Those governments also found themselves either being dissolved by the courts or there was another coup in 2020. 2014, there has been this persistent opposition to him. And in many ways he would argue the time he's spent in jail the last eight months is part of that political process. His critics would say,

well, he was convicted of three counts of corruption and abuses of power that these things did go on when he was in government and he's lucky to have spent so little time in jail. The big question really now is he's always sought the limelight. He's never shrunk into the background. But he's 76 years old now. his party is no longer the election winner at once was. It was pushed into third place in the most recent election three months ago. Will he still attempt to be a decisive player? Or will he finally do what he said many times and spend more time at home to be with his grandchildren? And that is the question, isn't it? Will he have his eyes on a return to politics? I think he will stay very involved in his party. You know, there's no question he's still the main funder. He's a very wealthy man. His family are very influential in the party as well. They all play a role. There's no question.

that as an elder statesman, they will go to him for guidance. But I don't think he will have the profile that he had in the party. There will be some saying, look, we need to let younger people come forward. We need new leaders. And the party itself, which is now only a junior partner in the current conservative government, just won't have the clout it had. And for all those reasons, it's impossible to imagine taxing Shinawatra, playing the kind of decisive, often divisive role in Thai politics that he has in the past.

but he'll be in the headlines for sure. You just know he's not going to stay quiet. Jonathan Head. Still to come in this podcast. People who go to Washington and suck up to Donald Trump or frankly do the same in Beijing are making a massive mistake. Some blunt advice from Australia's former Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull,

ahead of Donald Trump's visit to China. This is the Global News podcast. It's the end of a three-day day. ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine that was agreed to cover the celebrations of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany. Speaking at the Victory Day parade in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the conflict could be coming to an end. But both sides have accused each other of continuing attacks through the truce. Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, said there were more than 850 drone strikes on Ukrainian positions in the first few hours

of the agreement. I heard more from our defence correspondent in Kiev, Jonathan Beale. It isn't a ceasefire on the front lines. What there has been is a limitation on long-range strikes carried out by both sides. So there haven't been air raid warnings going on in Kiev for the last few nights. That said, there have been a few drones, long-range drones getting through, which have hit cities like Harkiv, like Herson, three civilians killed, more than a dozen injured, but as far as the front line is concerned, the fighting really hasn't let up. And, for example, there were yesterday 140 clashes on the front line, 5,000 one-way attack drones being used, and 1,500 artillery shells fired, according to Ukraine's

general staff. So I think you get a sense that, you know, this is in name a ceasefire, but not in reality. So, yeah, effectively, over, what then the prospect of longer-term peace talks? Well, I mean, clearly there are discussions going on with the US at the moment. And remember, it was the US that brokered this ceasefire. President Putin had tried to declare one unilaterally to coincide with the Victory Day parade in Red Square. And then President Zelensky suggested his own ceasefire. And it was only reached an agreement because of the US.

And there's also the promise of prisoners swap of thousand prisoners, which hasn't happened yet, between both countries. We'd have seen evidence that the US is still engaged in so-called peace talks, but we know that the US is more focused on the war in Iran at the moment. So there isn't any expectation that this war is going to come to an end soon. And the expectation is that on the front line, as we've seen with the evidence of the fighting, that the Russians will continue to push ahead. That said, they are making much slower progress than they have in previous years. You know, we've heard President Putin talk about the war may be coming to an end. I think that's for a domestic audience. You know, that's his own side who are clearly concerned some people in Russia about this war

and the effects it's having on the economy. There is no indication, as I said earlier, that this war is coming to an end. Jonathan Beale in Kiev. All eyes will be on China later this week when the long-awaited and delayed meeting between President Trump and the Chinese leader Xi Jinping, will take place. Many will be watching for signs of how well they'll get on. But the relationship between the world's two most powerful men is also important for all the other smaller nations that have to keep on good terms with both Washington and Beijing. The former Australian

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is one man who's had experience in the often tricky task of keeping both partners happy. He spoke to my colleague Anna Foster. This is a critically important thing both with China and with Washington. In the imperial capital, they regard deference as they're due. So people who go to Washington and suck up to Donald Trump, or frankly do the same in Beijing, are making a massive mistake. You win respect from strong men, from bullies, if you want to call them that, by standing your ground and being true to your own values. Recently, the focus has been on Donald Trump, and you can see those. leaders. I mean, look at the Europeans, look at that unfortunate, awful incident last year when

the Europeans rolled over to Donald Trump. What did they get in return for that? Tariffs and threats to invade Greenland. The bottom line is sovereignty matters and you have to stand up and defend your sovereignty. And all of the flattering and groveling is a massive mistake, particularly with Trump. When you have a personality who is making decisions on his own, big, far-reaching decisions, often depending on what kind of mood he's in that day. For those leaders to speak out, to risk souring that relationship for a long time, it feels like the kind of dance that we've barely seen before. That's true.

I mean, I was fortunate in my dealings with Trump in the first term because by force of circumstance, we had a very big row, really, their first encounter. And I stood my ground. He started off saying, no way. ended up grudgingly and unhappily agreeing to stick with an agreement I'd done with his predecessor. But that won his respect. There's no need to be rude or performative, but you can be respectful, but nonetheless stand your ground. But you've got to be very careful whether it is in the playground or in geopolitics.

If you're dealing with strong men, bullies, you know, people who like to use force, power to get their own way, who bluntly say might is right. If you're dealing with that, the only way to do that is with, obviously, respectfully and politely, but stand your ground. Malcolm Turnbull, speaking to Anna Foster. When Javier Malay became president of Argentina in 2023, he promised a radical shake-up of an economy that was on the brink of collapse. Since then, Argentina's economic woes have eased with the country reporting a budget surplus

for the first time in 14 years, thanks to significant cuts in government spending. Inflation has also been slashed, and although progress has slowed recently, some Argentines do have more money to spend. Many of them have been flocking to neighbouring Chile in search of goods that are much cheaper or not available back home. Jane Chambers has been to see if Chile is becoming Argentina's shopping centre.

Every year, hundreds of Danes, of Argentinians head to neighbouring Chile's central coast. One of the reasons is because it's Argentina's closest, most accessible shopping zone. I'm here at Vinya Outlet Park, which has become a popular destination for Argentinian shopers. In a large shoe shop, I talked to one of the sales reps. In the last two months, the majority of people in the shop have been from Argentina. I think it's because of the exchange rate, which at the moment is working in their favour, and it's holiday time now.

Eduardo spots an Argentinian customer, Dolores, who's visiting with her family. I'm hit by trainers and football boots for my children and things like school rucksacks and pencil cases for when they go back to school, as well as clothes. The outlet parks currently running a marketing campaign called Tourista Feliz, which in English means happy tourist. I'm off to meet head of marketing, Carolina Coremes, to find out more. The Tourista Feliz campaign means that we give special benefits and discounts to tourists who visit us here.

Why are Argentines such an important market for you? Because we are in outlet, our prices are already cheaper than other shops. But we also have brands that are more expensive for them back home, but they can't find in Argentina, like Adidas, Puma, Rosen, Cannon, Oakley, Levi's, and many more. And that makes it attractive for them. I've come to the leafy campus at the Universidad de Seroa in Chile's capital, Santiago, to meet Chilean economist Klaus Schmidt-Hevel,

who teaches here and at the Catholic University. For 80 years, on and off, Argentina has had very significant hyperinflation when inflation went up to 10,000% per year, and then moderately high inflation of 30 or 50%. During that time, people in Argentina didn't know how much their daily goods like bread and meat would cost from one day to the next, Household budgets were squeezed, and for many of them, trips to Chile were out of the question. Then something changed.

This happened until two years ago when Mr. Milley was elected president, and from then on he put into place a fiscal and monetary shock program. Now, with a more predictable exchange rate, people can plan trips and spend with more confidence. Back at the shopping outlet in Vina del Mar, I get chatting with some more Argentinians, Ricardo and his family. Personally, I am a lot happier, and if things continue like this, I think everything will stabilize in the future. Household goods are so much cheaper here than in Argentina, there can be a 30 or 50% difference in the price.

If we buy them here, with the price difference, we can pay for our holiday in Chile and buy things that we need for our home. Chile's tourism authorities say around 3 to 3.5 million Argentinians visited last year, and most didn't fly. Instead they drove across the Andes, making sure they had more room to stock up on cheaper clothes, electronics and household goods. Jane Chambers Now, have you ever stayed at a hotel on holiday and wanted to sit down on a sun lounger, possibly near the pool, but been unable to find a spot because they've all been taken or have other people's belongings on them?

It seems it's a growing issue and one that some hotels say they're trying to do some. something about. It comes after a German tourist want to pay out of more than $1,500 in damages because all the sun loungers at his holiday resort were taken. Our reporter Pete Ross told me more. I think some listeners can relate to this idea of trying to find a sun lounger when you've spent hundreds or maybe thousands of pounds on a hotel and you want to use the facilities. It seems that long gone are the days where you can kind of just mosey on down at any time and just take a nice spot or find a free sun lounger. In UK culture, nabbing one of these places where you can recline and then sort of dropping your towel and wandering off so no one else can use it for

hours on end. It's been a bit of a joke for years. But it is a phenomenon in other countries too. And as you say, the issue does seem to be getting worse. TikTok and other social media platforms are full of videos of dozens, if not more, holidaymakers behind closed doors, waiting for them to be unlocked and flung open at the crack of dawn so that they can all sort of speedwalk or sprint in some cases to some of these coveted spots. There is a serious consumer rights issue to this. I mean, you look at the case in Germany you mentioned there.

Imagine again, as I've said, you've saved all year, possibly for the one holiday that you and your family can afford, and then you cannot use the facilities that you've paid for. Then perhaps there is a serious case to answer. And certainly that man in Germany, who won that. $1,500 payout suggests that, yes, perhaps holidaymakers or hotels want to look at this issue a bit more seriously. Yeah, what are the hotels doing? Yeah, well, it seems in the past they were a little bit reluctant to step in to resolve disputes. Arguments can often get quite heated. They can

even sometimes get physical. And there have been accusations that hotels didn't take the issue as seriously as perhaps they might do. We've had holidaymakers contact the BBC telling us about a range of ways that hotels now seem to be tackling this issue. Essentially a booking system. You know, if you think about here in the UK, you used to be able to walk into a cinema and just take any old seat. Now you have to book in advance.

Same with trains, same with many things. It seems it's happening with sun loungers now as well. And one hotel in France has struck on a very interesting idea. They set off a horn two times a day and if you're not in your seat, a bit like musical chairs, they'll come along, clear all your stuff off

and it's free for someone else to take. In a few seconds, some people do it just to be annoying? I think so. I thought so. And that's all from us for now. If you want to get in touch, you can email us at global podcast at BBC.co.com.

You can also find us on X at BBC World Service. Use the hashtag Global NewsPod. And don't forget our sibling podcast, the Global Story, which goes in-depth and beyond the headlines on one big story. This edition of the Global News Podcast was mixed by Holly Smith and the producer was Richard Hamilton. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Alex Ritson. Until next time, goodbye.