Iranian Foreign Minister visits Oman for talks — BBC News

[0:00] This is the Iran War Today, our daily briefing, bringing you up to date with all you need to know [0:04] on day 58 of the US-Israel war with Iran. Let's start with some of today's key developments. [0:12] Iran's foreign minister is back in Pakistan following a trip to Oman, where he's been [0:17] meeting the sultan. He's due to go to Russia shortly. This is after President Trump called off [0:23] a trip to Pakistan by US negotiators. Despite that, Trump says he's open to talking. So what [0:29] is America's next move? It comes as Israel carries out further strikes on Lebanon. It says it's [0:35] targeting sites used by Hezbollah militants. And Iran's foreign minister is back in Pakistan to [0:44] set out his government's position on potential peace negotiations with the US. Abbas Arachi has [0:51] just been in Oman, where he's been meeting the sultan and calling for a regional security framework [0:58] free of outside interference. He's shortly due to travel to Moscow. This all comes after Donald [1:03] Trump canceled plans for US officials to return to Pakistan. Let's speak now to Jiar Gol from [1:12] BBC Persian, who is in Islamabad for us now. So we know the foreign minister back where you [1:18] are. What does this mean? Well, I think the foreign minister obviously brought back another [1:25] proposal from the Iranian side. When, Louis, yesterday, he was here, he met the chief of [1:32] Pakistani army. Iranians said they have offered a comprehensive proposal. So when that proposal [1:39] was passed to the United States, obviously, President Trump canceled his invoice trip to [1:45] Islamabad. And again, Mr. Arachi's team split to two parts. One part with him, they went to [1:51] Muscat. And another part with his plane went back to Tehran to consult with the new proposal [1:57] they got from the United States. And again, I think they have a new proposal. Again, they [2:02] came back here. They don't want to talk about what's the issue. But the newspaper, which is [2:06] very close to Revolutionary Guards and Iranian officials in Iran, they say the nuclear program [2:12] is not on the table. And that is the red line for them. And even one of the newspapers said [2:18] the there will be a new regime in the Strait of Hormuz. It would never be the same as before. [2:25] And also they said they have to talk about the paying damage to Iran for the for the for [2:30] the war. And also the war must stop permanently. But in the other hand, you can see there is [2:36] a mountain apart. And also the enrichment of the nuclear program enrichment and also enrich [2:44] uranium are the red line for United States and President Trump. And last time in the last [2:50] negotiation, we know that the main reason and obstacle on the way to agreeing was the [2:55] nuclear program. The U.S. was wanted to to halting the nuclear program or it's extremely strict [3:04] or limited. But the Iranians didn't accept that. Obviously, the negotiation didn't reach [3:09] to any agreement. And just talk us through this trip to Russia by the Iranian officials. What do we [3:19] know about that? Well, I think this is part of the roundtrip Iranian prime minister, Iranian foreign [3:28] minister has. He came here in Islamabad, then to mask at Oman and then going to Moscow. And what we are [3:35] hearing is he will meet President Putin. And I think obviously Iran and Moscow has been an ally and Iran [3:43] helped Russia in the fight against Ukraine by providing them the kamikaze drones. And so [3:52] they have a strategic relationship. But in the same time, I think it is a part of regional diplomacy, [3:58] Iranian trying to to project that they are talking to everyone in the neighboring countries. They already [4:05] talked to Turkish foreign minister. They talked to Saudis and Qatari foreign minister. And I think it's a part of [4:11] the Iran diplomacy. They say, actually, the region should solve its problem. And even when he was [4:16] meeting Qatari's Omani sultan, he said the U.S., the reason the region is so many tension in the region [4:26] is because the foreign interference and the U.S. president, in a way, actually, there is a U.S. troops [4:31] based in Oman as well. So he was telling them that one of the reasons for this tension is the U.S. troops [4:38] in their country. So this is, as I said, this is the kind of diplomacy Iranian trying to start it [4:44] again. They haven't been traveling much in the past few months since the war. And I think they have [4:49] traveling and talking and consulting with their allies and neighbors in the region. [4:55] And G.R., let's look ahead now to next week. What do you think is possible? What's on the table? [5:03] Look, Luis, they don't offer any. There is no clarity about what kind of offer Iranian are [5:08] offering them or what kind of offer the United States give to Iran. But what we know, for example, [5:14] President Trump yesterday said, Iranian offer is better than past. There is a lot of things in it, [5:20] but it's not enough. And obviously, Iran took U.S. proposal, took it back to Tehran, and they are [5:27] coming back with counter-proposal. We have to wait and see. President Trump said he don't send people [5:34] anymore. If they want to talk, pick up the phone, we were willing to talk to them. We can solve this [5:38] problem through the phone conversation. And also, in an interview with Fox News, he said, [5:44] the war with Iran will be finished soon. But the reality is, the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz [5:49] by U.S. Navy has been also one of the main obstacles on the way. Iranians say, just today, [5:56] Iranian president said, you cannot negotiate when you have been imposing blockade on the Strait of [6:02] Hormuz. Today, again, a Navy, a U.S. Navy intercepted an Iranian, a ship which was bounded [6:07] for Iran. They pushed them to go back. They didn't let the ship, the vessel pass through. And I think [6:14] this is affecting Iranian economy, because Iran economy is heavily dependent on export import from [6:21] the Strait of Hormuz. In fact, choking, closing the Strait of Hormuz, in fact, choking Iranian-owned [6:27] economy. Yes, U.S. and the world economy has been suffering. But I think Iranian economy, [6:33] because of the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, have been severely affected. [6:40] Jiar, thank you so much for that. Now, there's no sign of any U.S. delegates heading to Pakistan. [6:47] And America's military forces says its forces boarded sanctioned vessels in the Arabian Sea. [6:53] Donald Trump says Iran's leaders can pick up the phone if they want to talk to him. So what is [6:59] America's position? Let's speak now to Shader Houshmandee, who's in Washington for us. Hi there. [7:05] So just talk us through what is or what do we know about Donald Trump's position right now? [7:11] So in his recent interview with Fox News, he made it pretty clear that he's taking a tough line on Iran. [7:18] He's very consistent in his stance on the nuclear issue. And he says they're not going to chase the talks [7:28] anymore. He actually explained what happened in terms of canceling the travel of the delegations to [7:36] Pakistan, to Islamabad. And he mentioned that it was Saturday and the talks were meant to happen on [7:43] Tuesday. And he made a call that there's no point sending his officials to Islamabad on a 17 to 18 [7:53] hours flight. The lines are open and the Iranians can talk to them if they want to. He also says the [8:00] lines are secure, hinting that probably if if he maybe he was talking to some people inside the Iranian [8:07] regime, that they can they can talk to the to the U.S. government. He also says he talks from the [8:15] position of power and he says the U.S. has all the cards in his hands. He mentions that the blockade has [8:22] been very successful in his words. He says that the pressure is so much that the Iranians might [8:29] actually come to a deal, come to negotiation for a deal within days. He says the oil industry of Iran [8:37] is under pressure. They cannot sell oil to the world and economically and industry wise, they're [8:45] under pressure. So all he tried to mention is that the stance of Washington, D.C. hasn't changed. [8:54] They still don't want Iranians to reach a nuclear weapon. And that's their red line. And as Jiar mentioned, [9:02] that's exactly where the two parties cannot agree on. That's exactly the red line of the Iranian regime [9:09] as well. So he says that he's not going to compromise on that. And if the Iranian side decides to [9:18] basically make the big decision on the nuclear weapon, then perhaps there is a deal in the horizon. [9:26] And yeah, just talk us through what the U.S. does now and where does it go forward with this? [9:34] So what we are seeing is that the negotiations and talks have stalled, but it's still moving. So [9:43] what Donald Trump is trying to signal to the Iranians is that by saying that the lines are open, [9:50] they can talk, is that the ball is in their court. And really, they need to make the next move, [9:57] perhaps come up with a better suggestion. And he signaled it yesterday as well. He said right after [10:05] he canceled the travel of the delegation, 10 minutes after that, the Iranians came with a better [10:11] suggestion, but that's not enough. So certainly there are some demands that the Americans have [10:19] basically communicated to the Iranians and they haven't agreed to them yet. So what Donald Trump [10:27] is actually waiting on is a signal from Tehran that they're happy to at least compromise on certain [10:35] points in the nuclear negotiation and perhaps sit down on the table for this time for a deal. [10:43] What we know is that both parts, both parties, they don't want to go back to tension. And also, [10:51] frankly, the whole region don't want that. And that's why they're all trying to keep the talks [10:56] between the U.S. and Iran. And also the clock is ticking for both sides. Although Donald Trump is [11:04] actually reiterating in this interview that time is not on the Iranian side and they have to be very quick. [11:15] Okay. Thank you, Shayna. Well, let's turn now to Lebanon, where Israel has carried out more strikes. [11:23] Earlier, it issued evacuation warnings telling people to leave seven villages in the south. Israel says it's [11:30] targeting sites used by the armed group Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran. Hezbollah does [11:35] say it's used drones to target Israeli soldiers in the Lebanese town of Teber. Israel's Prime Minister [11:42] Benjamin Netanyahu accuses Hezbollah of attempting to dismantle the ceasefire agreement. [11:47] Hezbollah's violations are effectively dismantling the ceasefire. Therefore, from our perspective, [11:57] what binds us is Israel's security, the security of our soldiers and the security of our communities. [12:04] We are acting vigorously in accordance with the rules we agreed upon with the United States and also, [12:10] by the way, with Lebanon. And that means freedom of action not only to respond to attacks, [12:16] but to thwart immediate threats and neutralize emerging threats as well. [12:21] Well, despite Israel's claims it's targeting Hezbollah, residential areas are repeatedly being hit. [12:27] And Lebanon's health ministry says almost two and a half thousand people have been killed since March. [12:33] Our correspondent in Beirut is Lina Sinjab. [12:36] A fragile ceasefire. Today is the end of the first 10-day period and the start of the three-week [12:44] extended period of the ceasefire. But this is happening at the time that [12:49] Israel is continuing with airstrikes, with evacuation orders. Yesterday, four people killed. [12:55] Today, eight more people are reported to have been killed. Israel has given order to seven [13:03] villages in the south to be evacuated. The government announced the number of the people [13:09] dead have increased 2,500 to reach 2,509. In the south, there is nothing like a ceasefire. It is quiet [13:21] here in Beirut, although you still hear the drones flying over the city, warning people of an imminent [13:28] attack. But the south is far from, you know, a ceasefire. People are still eager to go back to their homes. [13:36] The Israelis are saying they have the right to continue striking Hezbollah wherever they see they're posing [13:44] a threat to their security, a threat to their northern border. But in fact, they're actually occupying [13:51] big swathe of the south. They're moving around in the south. They have boots on the ground in the south. [13:57] And Hezbollah is saying as long as the Israelis are violating the ceasefire, as long as the Israelis have boots [14:05] on the ground and occupying the south of Lebanon, they will continue to strike back. And they consider [14:11] it legitimate for them to strike Israelis on Lebanese lands and also in settlements in northern Israel. [14:22] So these two statements are far from what the government negotiated in Washington, what the Lebanese [14:30] government talked about, and what the Americans have promised, a three-week ceasefire and possible [14:37] meeting between the leaders of Lebanon and Israel to find the lasting solution for the country. [14:44] This fragile situation here is really putting the country in a risky situation of continuous war [14:53] and more escalation. And in this equation, there are over a million displaced people, displaced Lebanese. [15:01] Most of them come from the south. They want to go back to their homes. They want to go back to their [15:05] villages. They want to go back to rebuild what Israel has destroyed. But so far, there are no signs that [15:14] will give them a green light to do so. Thanks to Lina for that. Well, that is your update for today on the [15:21] latest on the war with Iran. Whether you're joining us on YouTube, TikTok, sounds, radio or TV, [15:27] we'll be back at the same time tomorrow with the Iran war today.