Iran yet to decide on sending delegation to Islamabad for US talks, official says — BBC News

[0:04] Hello, I'm Maryam Mashiri and this is the Iran War Today, our daily briefing bringing you up [0:10] to date with all you need to know on day 53 of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran. Over the course of [0:16] the next 10 minutes or so, we'll get the latest from our teams across the world. We'll be live [0:21] with Gary O'Donoghue in Washington and with Azadeh Mashiri in Islamabad. Let's start there with some [0:28] of today's key developments. President Trump says he expects to be bombing Iran if no progress is [0:34] made in peace talks and he doesn't want to extend the ceasefire due to expire soon. Well, I expect to [0:41] be bombing because I think that's a better attitude to go in with, but we're ready to go. I mean, the [0:47] military is raring to go. There's no confirmation that talks will go ahead in Islamabad. J.D. Vance is [0:54] still in Washington, whilst Iran is yet to decide if it will go. So far, no decision has been made [1:01] and I think the reason is very clear because of the confusing messages we have been receiving [1:08] from the United States. China's president calls for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz for the [1:14] first time since the war began. And petrol thefts in the U.K. surge as the war pushes up fuel costs. [1:21] They're up 72 percent, 62 percent compared with a year ago. Well, let's start with those comments [1:30] from President Trump. He says that he believes the U.S. is in a very strong negotiating position [1:36] with Iran, but expects to be bombing if progress is not made in Iran's peace talks. Well, time is [1:43] running out before a temporary ceasefire between the United States and Iran ends. It's still unclear [1:49] whether the talks in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, will go ahead. The White House says U.S. Vice [1:55] President J.D. Vance, who is expected to lead the delegation, has not yet left Washington. [2:01] Well, Iranian state television said no delegation from Iran had gone to Islamabad. A spokesman told [2:07] the BBC Iran was yet to decide on whether to go. The Iranian parliamentary speaker did say Tehran is [2:13] preparing new cards on the battlefield if fighting with the U.S. resumes. Well, both Iran and Pakistan, [2:20] which is playing a key mediation role, say the truce will end within the next few hours. But [2:25] President Trump has suggested that it expires on Wednesday evening, Washington time. Let's take a [2:30] look now at some of what President Trump told CNBC when he spoke to them on the phone. [2:36] What I think is that we're going to end up with a great deal. I think they have no choice. We've taken [2:41] out their navy. We've taken out their air force. We've taken out their leaders, frankly, which does [2:46] complicate things in one way. But these leaders are much more rational. It is regime change, [2:52] no matter what you want to call it, which is not something I said I was going to do. But I've done [2:57] it indirectly, maybe, but I've done it. And I think we're in a very strong negotiating position to do what [3:04] other presidents should have done during a 47-year period. Well, let's cross live to Islamabad and speak [3:11] to our South Asia correspondent, Azadeh Mishiri. Azadeh, what are we hearing about whether or not these talks [3:17] are actually going to go ahead? Well, we've heard that the Iranian delegation was prepared [3:26] to come to the negotiating table, was going to travel to Islamabad, but that the moment that the [3:32] United States fired on an Iranian flagged cargo vessel is when everything changed. That's what an [3:38] Iranian source told me earlier. Now, that episode happened just days before these talks were due to [3:45] happen. And the White House may have thought that this would add some pressure to the Iranians at [3:51] the negotiating table. But instead, Mariam, we're seeing that neither delegation is here in Islamabad, [3:56] and that ceasefire is now due to expire with no word on whether it will be extended. And remember, [4:03] after weeks of war, of brute force, the United States didn't get the immediate political and military [4:10] concessions that it was expecting from the Iranians. And now here in Pakistan, the information minister [4:15] has, in a social media post, said that the mediators are still trying to convince the Iranians to travel [4:21] here. And that's an acknowledgement, a formal acknowledgement of the fact that the Iranians [4:27] are so far not showing any signs that they are going to travel here to Islamabad. So, [4:32] Mariam, if we weren't sure whether these talks were going to happen before, [4:36] we're now very clear that they're up in the air. Azadeh, thank you very much. Well, let's get the [4:44] view now from Iran. Our chief international correspondent, Lise Doucette, is allowed to report [4:49] from Tehran on condition none of her material is used on the BBC's Persian service. This is her [4:54] assessment of whether the Iranians will attend any talks. We just got back from Iran's foreign [5:00] ministry, saw no sign there of any delegations preparing to travel. We were told that the foreign [5:07] minister Abbas Arraqi and his close states were locked in meetings behind closed doors. They [5:12] were still exchanging, you can imagine, frantic messages through the mediators. So we sat down [5:18] with the senior foreign ministry official Ismail Bagai. He had been at the last round of talks in [5:24] Islamabad and asked him what was the situation now. So far, no decision has been made. And I think the [5:32] reason is very clear because of the confusing messages we have been receiving from the United [5:38] States. Confusing messages, he said, and that includes those posts from President Trump threatening [5:48] military action. Also, the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, where for the first time, the US Navy [5:54] fired on, boarded and seized an Iranian vessel. But I put it to him that President Trump said it's Iran [6:01] which is violating the ceasefire by not opening that strategic strait. And he pointed out that [6:06] last week they did announce the strait would be open on routes coordinated by Iran. But then [6:12] President Trump immediately announced thank you in capital letters and said their US naval blockade [6:19] would stay in force. So the two sides locked in disagreement while the clock is ticking down on [6:25] Iranian time. The ceasefire should expire in a number of hours. [6:30] Least to set there. Well, the Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for the opening of the Strait [6:35] of Hormuz for the first time since the closure of the vital energy passageway. [6:40] Speaking by phone to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, President Xi said [6:45] the Strait of Hormuz should remain open for normal passage, which aligns with the common interest of [6:51] countries in the region and the international community. Our China correspondent Stephen McDonnell [6:57] has this assessment of what was said by President Xi. [7:00] Well, it's not so much the lines that are important, because in a way this is what the Chinese [7:05] government, via its various spokespeople, has been saying throughout. That there needs to be [7:11] discussion. There needs to be a respect for everyone's sovereignty with a view to reopening the [7:18] Strait of Hormuz to normal shipping traffic. The difference is that it's Xi Jinping saying it [7:24] this time in a conversation with the Saudi Crown Prince. Now, in that conversation, or at least from [7:31] the readout we get from that conversation, he wasn't blaming anyone directly. But in the past, [7:38] the Chinese government has said that this really is all the US and Israel's fault for starting this war, [7:45] and that they're the ones who should be taking the main initiative to ease off on all of the hostilities. [7:52] Interestingly, from the Saudi side, we had the Crown Prince saying that China and Saudi Arabia should [7:58] work together to find a pathway to lasting peace and stability in the region. Now, some are interpreting [8:05] that as possibly him hinting to Xi Jinping that perhaps Beijing could be doing more [8:11] to lean on Iran to get the Strait opened. But there is an element of tea leaf reading in this because [8:18] this is all this diplomatic speak that we're trying to unpack. Well, here in the UK, the Chancellor, [8:25] Rachel Reeves, has today said that economically, Britain was well placed if the conflict continued. [8:32] But the price of petrol and diesel has risen quickly in the last six weeks since the start of the Iran war. [8:38] Independent petrol retailers have told the BBC they've seen a big rise in petrol theft. Simon [8:43] Browning has more. £151 stolen by this white van. Blatant, unashamed. £110 stolen here. The [8:53] youngster fills up before an adult drives off. Fuel prices have rocketed since the war in Iran [9:00] disrupted the global flow of oil. They've stabilised in recent days. But everyone is paying more. [9:06] In Coventry, just after meeting four-core owner Paul, petrol theft again. I don't know what, [9:13] he's already got 36 on there. A few moments of confusion. It hasn't been a drive-off, has it? [9:18] Then reality dawns. Drive-off? Is that a drive-off? Yep. Is that a regular thing? So, this week so far, [9:25] it's been one a day. Paul's now bought new theft tech to combat losses. Yeah, well, we get hit inside and [9:32] outside the shop. So, you know, people are stealing the fuel on the forecourt and then they're stealing [9:36] the products inside the shop as well. Josh has five garages in the south of England. [9:41] He didn't want to show his face as staff abuse has risen. They've been accused of profiteering. [9:46] They've had people, you know, calling them thieves, shouting at them. It's quite intimidating for these [9:51] guys. We're probably at five drive-offs per site per week now, whereas historically it was probably one [9:57] to two. Retailers like Josh feel in a trap. People are stealing. They're also saying they can't pay [10:04] for it. And far from making more profits, people are buying less fuel, so takings are down. [10:10] Petrol retailers and their trade body say a surge in abuse is linked to claims drivers are being ripped [10:16] off. The government said thieves must face the full force of the law and abusing people at work [10:22] is unacceptable. Simon Browning, BBC News. Well, to finish, let's take stock of where we think [10:29] President Trump is and what he might do next. Live now to our chief North America correspondent, [10:35] Gary O'Donoghue. And Gary, just talk us through, first of all, the likelihood of J.D. Vance, [10:40] the vice president, actually making that journey to Islamabad. What are we hearing? [10:46] Well, he hasn't left yet. So time is running out in terms of the deadline for the end of the ceasefire, [10:53] sometime tomorrow night, Wednesday evening, local time in the US. And we're hearing unconfirmed [11:00] reports at the moment, anonymous sourced reports from American media that the trip is on hold, [11:06] as it's described, that there is a pause because they haven't had a satisfactory response, they say, [11:13] from the Iranians in terms of what they're prepared to talk about. These reports say that the trip hasn't [11:19] been cancelled at this stage. So we seem to be in this kind of limbo where they won't get on the plane [11:26] unless they think there's a reasonable chance, a, that the Iranians will show up in Islamabad and b, [11:32] that they will be prepared to talk substantively. But even if that happened in the next five minutes, [11:38] there's still going to be a very limited amount of time. You know, it's a 14, 15, [11:43] 16 hour flight from here to Islamabad. So they wouldn't get there until, you know, tomorrow morning, [11:51] effectively, Wednesday morning. So a lot of uncertainty at the moment, a lot of uncertainty [11:56] about whether there's anything to talk about. And that deadline that's already been extended by a [12:02] day by the president, and him saying he's not really minded to extend it any further. [12:06] And I'm also saying that if he doesn't get some sort of agreement, then he's happy to [12:10] start bombing Iran again. What is the mood in Washington now, given all of this rhetoric that [12:15] we're hearing from the president and the fact that Mr. Vance hasn't even started that journey yet? [12:20] Well, I think there's a lot of frustration around because the, the tough talk, if you like, the, [12:26] the kind of, we'll bomb even more, we'll destroy infrastructure, we'll target other stuff that's [12:33] been mentioned by the president, bridges, roads, et cetera. That doesn't seem to be bringing Iran [12:39] any closer to the table. Taking that oil tanker off Sri Lanka may have been, may have been aimed at [12:46] trying to persuade them to come to the table. That doesn't seem to have worked either. And at the [12:53] same time, there's this problem, this political problem that whenever you set time limits and [12:59] deadlines, that if you don't stick to them and you don't follow through on them and nothing [13:05] substantive happens, then you can end up looking weak. And that is the last thing this president is [13:10] prepared to do, which is end up looking weak. So there's a lot coming together here, a critical [13:17] moment in this, this conflict where hostilities could break out all over again and things could [13:22] get an awful lot worse. But there doesn't seem to be like, doesn't seem to be like there's a coming [13:27] together of minds on any of the substantive issues, namely the opening of the strait, of course, [13:33] that crucial, crucial artery out of the Gulf into the Arabian Sea and the wider world. And then the [13:40] question of Iran's ability to enrich uranium for nuclear purposes and whether or not they really [13:48] do want a bomb and all that kind of thing. So there's no movement here by the look of it. [13:54] Gary, thank you. Well, whether you're joining us on YouTube, TikTok, sounds, radio or TV, [14:01] thank you for your time. We'll be back at the same time tomorrow with the Iran war today.