Azadeh Moshiri
Appearances
Global News Podcast
Dismay in Ukraine as Russia and US reset ties
A lot of the information that we've been getting has been coming from Iranian state media. This latest information is from a judiciary-run news agency and even quoted a judiciary spokesman, Asghar Jahangir, saying the couple had been under surveillance by intelligence agencies in the province and were in their words arrested as part of a coordinated intelligence operation. They're arguing that
Global News Podcast
Dismay in Ukraine as Russia and US reset ties
The couple came under the guise, the pretense of a tourist trip, but actually were collecting information for Western intelligence officials. Now, this is completely different to what we've heard from Lindsay and Craig Foreman's family and also from Lindsay Foreman's own social media accounts.
Global News Podcast
Dismay in Ukraine as Russia and US reset ties
Because what's really notable about this case is that since they were embarking on this trip across the world on their motorbikes, they'd already posted so many videos and pictures online. Vielen Dank. Lindsay Foreman spricht darüber, wie sie dort einen wunderschönen Zeitraum hat, die Nahrung genießt, über die gemeinsame Menschlichkeit spricht. Und vieles ist, weil sie ein Lebenscoach ist.
Global News Podcast
Dismay in Ukraine as Russia and US reset ties
Sie hat ein Doktorat in Psychologie. Und der Zweck dieser Reise war, in Australien zu enden, als ihr letzter Stopp, wo Lindsay ihre Forschung präsentieren würde, was es bedeutet, eine gute Leben zu leben. Und in der Tat, sie hatten nur fünf Tage geplant, in Iran zu bleiben, und sind stattdessen seit Anfang Januar verhaftet.
Global News Podcast
Dismay in Ukraine as Russia and US reset ties
There is. The Foreign Office currently advises British nationals to avoid all travel to Iran. It adds that British and British Iranian dual nationals are at significant risk of arrest, questioning or detention. It even says that having a British passport or connections to the UK can be reason enough for the Iranian authorities to detain you. But they actually knew about these risks.
Global News Podcast
Dismay in Ukraine as Russia and US reset ties
It's very clear because Lindsay foreman posted about it on social media prior to making the trip they said they're facing their fears and defying recommendations from friends family and the fcdo travel advice
Global News Podcast
Dismay in Ukraine as Russia and US reset ties
She acknowledged that travelling to Iran and to Pakistan, which was her next stop, was risky and in her words slightly scary, but that they hoped the reward would be worth it and that they'd hired a tour guide and were taking every precaution.
Global News Podcast
Dismay in Ukraine as Russia and US reset ties
They said that they believed they'd be able to really show that the world had some form of shared humanity and that they were doing this with the best of intentions.
Global News Podcast
Pakistan militants attack train in Balochistan
An official has told us that more than 400 passengers were on board when gunmen stormed the train. And it's important to say that while we do know that there were injuries, officials have confirmed that to us, including the driver themselves. We don't have any confirmation on any casualties.
Global News Podcast
Pakistan militants attack train in Balochistan
The Jaffar Express left the city of Quetta and it was headed for one of Pakistan's major cities, Rawalpindi, as well as Peshawar. And That train tends to go through an area with very poor cellular service and it goes through several tunnels. From what we understand, the train was stopped in between two of them.
Global News Podcast
Pakistan militants attack train in Balochistan
Now, we've also been told by local railway officials that a group of civilians, including women and children, were seen to be disembarking the train and leaving. So keep in mind that 400 figure may have changed by now. A militant group called the Baloch Liberation Army has claimed the attack, and it's said that it's still in control of the train.
Global News Podcast
Pakistan militants attack train in Balochistan
And it's also threatened to harm those on board if authorities do respond with any military operation.
Global News Podcast
Pakistan militants attack train in Balochistan
Well, so yes, that is what the militant group is claiming. And they've carried out many deadly incidents in the province before. And a lot of this has to do with the context of that region. Balochistan is home to several separatist groups, and they're all calling for independence. It's Pakistan's largest province.
Global News Podcast
Pakistan militants attack train in Balochistan
And what they accuse the central government of is exploiting a lot of the rich resources in the region. Because even though it's the least developed province, despite being one of the largest, it has a lot of rich natural resources, gas, minerals. And it's also home to a multi-billion dollar project that's funded by China called the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
Global News Podcast
Pakistan militants attack train in Balochistan
So the region is very important to China as well. And what these groups typically do is target military personnel, but not only military personnel, they also go after miners as well as labourers.
Global News Podcast
Pakistan militants attack train in Balochistan
Well, we don't know much in terms of the response. What we do know is that a local hospital has declared an emergency. Part of that is so that they can respond to any eventuality accordingly, especially when we're talking about these numbers and we're talking about injuries already confirmed by officials.
Global News Podcast
Pakistan militants attack train in Balochistan
And we also have seen local videos that have been sent to us by local journalists there of military helicopters that are in the area. But that's all we know so far.