President Trump says Iran strategy "working very well" — BBC News

[0:06] Hello, I'm Maryam Mashiri. This is the Iran War Today, our daily briefing, bringing you up to date [0:11] with all you need to know on day 55 of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran. Well, let's start now [0:18] with some of today's key developments. In a phone call with the BBC, Donald Trump says his strategy [0:23] in Iran is working very well. We'll bring you the top lines of what else he told us. [0:29] Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps releases footage of armed troops boarding cargo ships in the [0:34] Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, the U.S. releases footage of American forces boarding a sanctioned [0:40] ship transporting oil from Iran in the Indian Ocean. And the Lebanese prime minister accuses [0:47] Israel of war crimes a day after Amal Khalil, a Lebanese newspaper journalist, was killed in an [0:53] Israeli attack. We're in a phone call with the BBC's North America editor today. Donald Trump says [1:02] Iran is dying to make a deal, and he believes his current strategy is working. His comments come [1:08] amid an indefinite ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran after face-to-face talks fell apart [1:14] in Islamabad just under two weeks ago. Well, let's speak to our North America editor, Sarah [1:19] Smith. He's fresh off the phone with the president. And Sarah, what's your assessment of what the [1:24] president said in terms of Iran and his criticism of America's NATO partners? Well, he's been very [1:31] optimistic about the position on Iran, possibly more than the evidence would necessarily allow [1:38] for it. He often is quite bombastic when he's describing the American position on the war. [1:43] And what he said to me was that Iran was dying to make a deal and that whatever he was saying, [1:48] whatever he was doing, was obviously working well because, as he said, Iran was so keen to make [1:54] a deal. Now, that may or may not be the case. I think it's deliberate that Donald Trump, when he's [1:59] speaking to journalists, puts as positive a spin as he possibly can on the situation with Iran. [2:05] He does the same when he's posting on social media as well, insisting that he's already won the war [2:11] and that he will get exactly what he wants in a deal with Iran. We will wait and see if his optimism [2:17] is borne out. But I spoke to him as well about his disappointment that the U.K. and other NATO [2:23] allies had not joined him in the war in Iran. He's been very, very critical of other countries that [2:28] didn't offer more assistance. And the U.K. in particular. He's singled out the Prime Minister, [2:33] Sir Keir Starmer, for criticism. And I said to him, if he is so pleased with how the war has gone, [2:39] why did he need NATO allies to join him in this effort? And he said, well, he didn't actually need them [2:45] at all, but that the help should have been there, that other countries ought to have joined him. [2:52] And it was a test to see whether or not they would be prepared to get involved when he thinks [2:57] America needed the assistance. So he said that the U.K. ought to have got involved. And he clearly [3:03] thinks that by not doing so, the Britain failed some kind of test there. And Sarah, I can't let [3:09] you go without asking you how you got the interview. How did it all go down? Did you pick up your [3:14] mobile phone and just dial his number and he picked up? Yeah. It seems unbelievable, doesn't it? But [3:22] I tried a few times in the morning and it went straight to voicemail. But on like the fifth or [3:28] sixth attempt, it rang a few times and he picked up himself with just a very gruff hello. That's all [3:34] you get. And so you have to assume that that is President Trump himself on the end of the line [3:39] and start asking him questions. And depending on the mood he's in, he may stay on the line for a few [3:45] minutes and answer questions about all sorts of different things. And he may chase you off the phone [3:50] very quickly. I'm not the only journalist in Washington who has been able to get him on the [3:54] phone. And it does seem to be his preferred way of communicating at the moment, of getting his [3:58] message about how he feels about the war in Iran, particularly out to the public via these phone calls [4:04] with journalists. The thing he most wanted to talk about, though, I have to say, was the royal visit [4:08] that's coming up next week. King Charles and Queen Camilla are going to be visiting Washington. He's going to [4:13] be hosting them at the White House. And he's obviously very, very excited about that prospect. He's very [4:18] happy to talk about the royal visit at length. And he said he does think it might go some way [4:23] to repairing US-UK relations, not least because he's so keen on the king. He said he's a fantastic [4:29] man, a great man, a brave man, that it's going to be a very positive visit. And asked if it [4:34] might help with the special relationship. He said absolutely yes. [4:39] Sarah, fantastic stuff. Thank you very much indeed, Sarah Smith, our North America editor. [4:45] Well, the US president says he's ordered the American Navy to shoot and kill any boat laying [4:51] mines in the Strait of Hormuz, insisting the US has total control of the waterway. In the [4:56] last 24 hours, both the US and Iran have released dramatic footage showing their forces boarding [5:02] ships. American forces boarded a sanctioned tanker in the Indian Ocean that was reportedly [5:07] carrying oil from Iran. Well, while Iran released footage of masked members of the IRGC boarding [5:13] a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz, although analysis from BBC Verify suggests the video was filmed [5:19] after Iran seized two ships in the Strait yesterday. Well, with me to explain what we've been seeing [5:25] in the last 24 hours is BBC Verify reporter Thomas Copeland. What more do we know about that footage [5:30] released by the US, Thomas? So they say this is a ship. They say it's called Majestic X. It is sanctioned [5:36] by the US and they say it's stateless as well. Now, ship tracking data also identifies this vessel as being [5:41] known as Phonix, sailing under the flag of Guyana. That's the name that it has been sanctioned for [5:46] for links to Iran. It last broadcast its location about 550 kilometres east of Sri Lanka in the Indian [5:52] Ocean, where it took an abrupt turn in the early hours of this morning. Monitoring groups have said [5:57] that this ship has helped Iran export about 230 million barrels of oil since 2023. It's the third [6:04] tanker where we've seen footage of an interception by US forces, the Tiffany in Sri Lanka, off Sri Lanka [6:10] on Tuesday, and the Iranian flag Tuska in the Gulf on Sunday. And we've also seen footage showing [6:15] Iranian forces boarding two vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, Thomas. So what does that tell us? [6:20] Well, it's highly produced footage. It looks like it's being, you know, it's been underlaid [6:24] with very dramatic music in the background. What we've done is examined the position of the sun [6:28] and compared that to what we can see about the direction of the ship in ship tracking data. [6:33] And what that indicates is that this footage was actually filmed up to eight hours after the IRGC [6:38] announced that it had seized these ships. The hatch that the men climbed through, for example, [6:42] is already open. There's a cameraman on board. Both of the ships that are in the video have stopped [6:48] sharing their locations. We don't know where they are. But Greek authorities behind one of the ships [6:53] say that their captain is still in control. OK. Thomas, thank you very much. [7:00] Lebanon's prime minister has accused Israel of war crimes after a journalist was killed in an Israeli [7:06] strike in the south of Lebanon. Lebanese officials say Amal Khalil was deliberately targeted by Israel [7:13] while seeking shelter in a building in the village of Al-Tayri after an earlier strike hit her vehicle [7:18] in front of them. Well, officials said rescue teams were also blocked from reaching the scene. [7:24] The prime minister says Lebanon will pursue international forums. The Israeli military says [7:28] the incident is under review. Well, thousands of people attended Amal's funeral. Our Middle East [7:34] correspondent, Hugo Bochega, was there. This is the funeral procession for Amal Khalil. Another Lebanese [7:43] journalist has been killed by Israel in this conflict. It is a huge procession as we go through [7:52] the narrow streets of this village. Thousands of people have come here. And it really gives us an idea [8:00] of how beloved she was in this country. The crowds are now walking through the streets of her village [8:08] as a casket is now being carried to the cemetery, wrapped in the Lebanese flag. And there's also [8:19] a blue helmet and a blue flag jacket with the word press written on it. [8:29] Well, we've spoken a lot over the last eight weeks or so about the economic impact the war has had around [8:35] the world from the price of fuel to food to the transportation of goods. But today, there's been a fresh [8:42] warning from the United Nations, who say tens of millions could be pulled into poverty as a result of [8:48] increased energy prices and fertiliser shortages. The head of the UN's development programme has been speaking to [8:54] Newsday on the BBC World Service. Even if the war would stop tomorrow, this is pushing at least 32 million [9:02] people back into poverty. Back into poverty, because very often these were people living in [9:07] countries that were actually lifted out of poverty over the last decades. [9:12] Well, let's bring in our North America Business Correspondent, Michelle Fleury. Michelle, great to see [9:17] you. Talk us through some of the economic impacts already being seen around the world. [9:21] Yeah, I mean, Alexander de Creux is sort of picking up on something we've already heard warnings for, [9:27] at least when it comes to food, where you've got warnings of potentially 45 million people being thrown [9:33] into acute hunger because of those fertiliser issues that he referred to. I mean, I think around the [9:37] world, we've seen different impacts. So, for example, if you start in the Middle East, Mariam, [9:42] there are obviously economies that were once thriving are sort of struggling. And you've got rumours that [9:49] the UAE, for example, may rely on a swap line, in other words, getting dollars from the United States [9:54] potentially. So it kind of speaks to the impact of the war. But then you look at countries like Asia, [10:00] a lot of sort of the recipients, if you like, of the oil that gets shipped through that crucial [10:05] shipping lane, the Strait of Hormuz. And there they are struggling. So Pakistan has gone to a [10:10] four-day work week. I was speaking to the finance minister last week in Washington at the IMF, [10:16] and he was saying, look, in the short term, we can get through this. But the longer this carries on, [10:21] the sort of recovery that our economy had been making, all of that comes into question. So it kind of [10:26] speaks to the scale that many bystanders, in other words, people not directly involved in the [10:33] conflict, are experiencing. And in fact, the conversation last week in Washington was how much [10:39] the burden would fall on sub-Saharan countries, perhaps the hardest. In Europe, where you are, [10:44] of course, you know, there is lots of talk about jet fuel and what's going to happen there just ahead of [10:50] the summer travel season. You've also got, obviously, the impact on inflation, leading to [10:55] that kind of worrying spectre for central bankers of stagflation, which is when you get kind of rising [11:01] inflation, but also slower growth. And that will challenge central bankers probably for the next [11:06] six months to 12 months, even if the conflict were to end immediately. So the ripple effects of this [11:12] really being felt around the world, but in different ways. [11:16] Michelle, thank you. Let's end today where much of the week started, in Pakistan. Because for the last [11:24] five days, parts of the capital have been at a complete standstill, on standby for any potential [11:31] talks between the US and Iran. We were told on Tuesday that no talks would take place in the [11:37] immediate future and the ceasefire would be extended indefinitely. But the diplomatic back-channeling [11:43] facilitated by Pakistan appears to be ongoing. Let's get the view now from our Pakistan correspondent, [11:49] Caroline Davies, who's in Islamabad. And Caroline, no talks scheduled, but back-channel discussions, [11:54] we believe, are ongoing. Yes, that's certainly the indications that we're seeing, that Pakistan [12:01] is still playing that same role that has done for weeks, being this back-channel between the US [12:06] and Iran. Some of the other sort of indications that we've seen are officials from the US embassy [12:11] here in Pakistan met Pakistan's interior minister. But the issue here, of course, is that Pakistan is [12:16] trying to bridge what feels like an ever-increasing gap between these two countries. And Pakistan has [12:21] to continue to be able to walk this tightrope, being trusted by both sides. And at the same time, [12:26] the longer this conflict continues, the more we see that the language is escalating, actions are escalating, [12:32] and there's a real risk of miscalculation. And what's the impact been on Islamabad to be prepared [12:40] in this way for talks, to hold the talks, then be prepared for more talks, and waiting for talks [12:45] that never happened? What's the impact of all that been? Yes, I mean, we're all sitting in a sort of [12:51] holding pattern at the moment, and the city is still partially shut down. Some of the roads have started [12:56] to ease a bit, but we're seeing the real impact of the city being closed in this way. Heavy goods [13:01] vehicles have not been allowed into the city. We know that that's been causing issues in trying to get [13:05] petrol into the city. Some of that has started easing. They've allowed some of those vehicles in. [13:09] The same issue as well for fresh dairy, fresh fruit, fresh vegetables. A union rep told us earlier [13:15] today that some vegetables and fruit are going rotting at the edges of the city because they're not [13:19] able to get them in here. Meanwhile, some of the prices we've been told from people have started to creep [13:25] upwards because of that issue. Other issues as well with the courts. There's some courts inside the diplomatic [13:30] area that lawyers have said that they haven't been able to access, and so their cases have been suspended. [13:35] The big question is how long Islamabad can kind of stay in this suspended state of readiness at the [13:40] same time as the US and Iran are trying to almost count down the clock and see which side blinks [13:45] first. But Islamabad can't stay in this suspended state of readiness. And the problem, I think, [13:52] with that is that a lot of people, while you don't know what's going on behind the scenes [13:55] diplomatically, have looked to see what is happening in Islamabad. And so the worry is that if you start [14:01] taking on those signs that say Islamabad talks that are projected all the way around the city, [14:06] does that suggest that diplomacy is starting to lose momentum? That is a big question. So [14:11] here we're stuck in this holding pattern, but we know that this can't continue forever. [14:16] Caroline, thank you for that. Well, whether you're joining us on YouTube, TikTok, [14:22] sounds, radio or TV, thank you so much for your time. We'll be back at the same time tomorrow [14:28] with the Iran war today.