Still no sign of US-Iran peace talks — BBC News

[0:03] Hello, I'm Lucy Gray. This is the Iran War Today, our daily briefing, bringing you up to date [0:08] with all you need to know on day 57 of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran. Let's start with [0:13] some of today's key developments. What seemed to be an opportunity for renewed peace talks [0:18] between Iran and the U.S. has been scuppered. Donald Trump has cancelled a planned trip to [0:23] Pakistan by his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. News of the [0:29] cancellation came hours after Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Arachi, had left Pakistan after [0:34] a day of key meetings. He delivered Tehran's views on ending the war to Pakistan officials [0:39] and said it's unclear if the U.S. is truly serious about diplomacy. [0:44] Meanwhile, in Lebanon, the government says Israeli airstrikes in the south have killed four people. [0:49] That's despite the current ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. Earlier, a senior official [0:54] said there is almost full-blown war in the south of the country. Israel has claimed [0:58] Hezbollah is trying to sabotage the ceasefire agreement by targeting IDF positions. [1:05] And for the first time in almost two months, Tehran's international airport has resumed [1:08] some international passenger flights. The first flights departed earlier on Saturday for cities [1:14] across the Middle East. While a ceasefire holds between Iran and the U.S. still, Islamabad wants [1:22] to host talks that may or may not happen. As I mentioned, Iran's foreign minister spent the [1:26] day in Pakistan for key meetings, but now he has left, sparking Donald Trump to cancel [1:32] the U.S. delegation's trip to Islamabad to take part in talks. In a post on Truth Social, [1:37] the president claimed Tehran is confused about who is in charge and said if they want to talk, [1:42] all they have to do is call. Well, joining me now from Islamabad is G.R. Gol, [1:46] from our BBC Persian team and from Washington and North America correspondent Peter Bowes. [1:52] G.R., to you, first of all, can you talk us through how things developed today? [1:58] Well, what happened today, we heard from Pakistan, Iranian team, that Foreign Minister Abbas [2:05] Arakhi have presented a package to Pakistani, particularly a meeting with General Asim Munir, [2:12] the head of Pakistan army, to pass it to Americans. Obviously, Iranians from yesterday, [2:19] when the news came, Abbas Arakhi, foreign ministers traveling to Pakistan, they said they don't have [2:24] any plan to meet U.S. delegation. Also, inside Iran, many hardliners said he doesn't have a mandate [2:32] or authority to meet American or talk about nuclear program, an issue we know. In the first round of [2:39] negotiation here in Pakistan, that was one of the major issues they couldn't reach an agreement. [2:45] And after that, Abbas Arakhi left the country and he said he's on a round trip to Muscat, [2:53] the capital of Oman, and then he's going to Moscow to leave, to meet the Russian leaders. [3:01] And I think what I'm hearing inside Iran also, maybe something President Trump said, that there [3:07] is no unified opinion or decision in Iran. It seems when Abbas Arakhi came yesterday, [3:14] we heard many voices inside Iran from different factions inside establishment. They weren't happy [3:21] for him to come here. And they said, he should not and he cannot meet U.S. delegation. But we [3:27] do know exactly what Abbas Arakhi presented to Pakistani to send it to American. We don't know [3:32] whether President Trump hear those proposals and decided to cancel the trip for his special envoy, [3:41] Steve Witkopf and Jared Kushner. [3:44] Okay. Peter, talk us through what President Trump said his reason was for the cancellation. [3:50] Well, Donald Trump, as blunt as ever, said he intervened as preparations were underway for [3:56] that U.S. delegation to head to Pakistan. But he said, and just to quote him, the news first broke [4:01] on Fox News. And the president said that you're not going to make that 18 hour flight to go there, [4:09] referring to his representatives. He said, we have all the cards. They can call us, Iran can call us [4:15] anytime they want, but you're not going to be making any more 18 hour flights to sit around [4:20] talking about nothing. And then on his Truth Social platform, a short time later, he confirmed that news [4:28] that the delegation would not be heading to Pakistan. And he said, I just canceled the trip. [4:33] He said, too much time wasted on traveling, too much work. And then he said, and we've just heard [4:38] a little bit about this, besides which he said, there is tremendous infighting and confusion within [4:43] their leadership. Nobody knows who is in charge, including them. Also, he says, repeating this thought, [4:49] we have all the cards. They have none. If they want to talk, all they have to do is call. And I think [4:55] this reflects what we've been hearing from the White House for a few days now, that they believe [5:00] that the ball is very definitely in Tehran's court to come up with a unified plan, unified thoughts [5:09] and ideas, proposals for the United States to end the war. And G.R., where does this leave Pakistan's [5:15] role in all this? And if we've got Donald Trump saying that Iran just has to call us, we don't want [5:20] to get on a flight and go to Islamabad. Well, we know Pakistan in the past few days, they have been [5:28] putting a lot of effort behind the scene, the shuttle diplomacy, talking to Iranian, talking to American, [5:36] also talking to regional powers to persuade both sides, come back to negotiation table. Pakistan have [5:42] invested tremendously, diplomatically and in terms of security. Even those places, those hotels, supposed [5:48] to host the delegations. Still, they are empty. Still, there are security forces around them. The [5:54] streets leading to them cordoned off. Pakistan was hopeful that this might result in a tangible result, [6:02] so both sides come back to negotiation table. And in fact, if this succeed or it would have succeeded, [6:09] definitely it would have been a great boost for Pakistan to bold Pakistan in the region and [6:15] internationally to having a role to solving such a big problem in the region. [6:22] And Peter, meanwhile, the economic impact of this continues globally, and I suppose also Americans [6:28] feeling it as well. What do you assess the mood as there in the U.S. as this war of Donald Trump's [6:34] continues? It's quite obvious that the mood in this country is very much or at least increasingly [6:43] against the war. Now, there was quite a significant proportion of the American public right at the [6:49] beginning who did not want to see this war happen, including some of Donald Trump's own supporters. [6:54] But as the war has gone on and we saw the impact pretty quickly in terms of crude oil prices rising [7:00] very swiftly, the impact on fuel prices, petrol prices, and people now are feeling the pinch in a pretty [7:07] serious way. And it's affecting their everyday lives. And clearly there are potential political [7:14] repercussions here for the president in what is an election year, the midterm elections in November. [7:19] It feels like, it sounds like a long way away, but with this deadlocked state seemingly in these [7:27] talks or what would have been talks to end the war, people see this dragging on. And I think politically [7:33] that could not be good for the, certainly the Republicans, the president's party. [7:37] Okay. Thank you. Peter Bowes for us there in Washington and Djurgul there in Islamabad. Thanks [7:43] to both of you. Now to Lebanon. Despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, the fighting has [7:48] continued with one senior government official in Beirut claiming the south of the country is in almost [7:54] full-blown war. The Lebanon health ministry there says four people were killed on Saturday on top of [8:00] six who were killed on Friday. Israel's military said it had struck positions used by Hezbollah [8:06] militants to launch rockets across the border. Israel has accused Hezbollah of trying to sabotage [8:11] a ceasefire that's been extended for three weeks. Our Middle East correspondent Lina Sinjab is in Beirut [8:16] with the latest. This is the second day where, you know, people are killed during this 10-day ceasefire [8:23] before it is extended. On Wednesday as well, the Israelis have killed five people, including a prominent [8:30] journalist whose deaths sparked really anger across the country. Israel maintains the same line that [8:40] they have the right to protect Israel, protect the northern border, and they need to attack Hezbollah [8:47] operatives or Hezbollah structures so that to maintain this safety for their own nation. Hezbollah on its own [8:56] say they are retaliating to Israeli attacks. And that's all this whole narrative is threatening the [9:03] ceasefire despite, you know, the U.S. being behind these negotiations and the U.S. president announcing [9:12] this extension of three weeks, including announcing that there might be a meeting between the Lebanese [9:18] president and the Israeli prime minister. There hasn't been any comment from either side whether this is [9:24] going to happen or not. But I think that's going to be really, if it happens, it's a big breakthrough. [9:31] I mean, the fact, the sheer fact of these direct negotiations happening between the two sides, [9:36] you know, it only happened in 1993 to also find a solution for, you know, the two worrying side. [9:43] Lebanon has in its own law that it is a criminal to deal with Israel. So to have a peace signed with [9:54] Israel, knowing that none of the, you know, countries in the region have had this kind of [10:00] deal is still really a big shot to look ahead. But just to secure a lasting ceasefire for the government [10:08] to have the Israelis pulling out from the south, to have the people, the civilians who've been displaced [10:14] to be able to go back to their towns and villages, despite most of them being flattened with Israeli [10:20] bombardment, that's a breakthrough and an achievement for the Lebanese government and the Lebanese people [10:25] that is still no confirmation is going to be achieved. So I think, you know, things are going to [10:34] take step by step until, you know, you reach an understanding of how the relationship is going [10:41] to be between the two sides. And that's only if Hezbollah committed to the ceasefire and stopped [10:48] firing rockets into northern Israel. [10:51] Luna Sinjab from Beirut. Well, even though the ceasefires remain in place, almost no ships have used [10:57] the Strait of Hormuz, which remains effectively closed. The uncertainty is leaving European leaders [11:02] concerned about the supply of oil and the wider economic impact. Today, French President Emmanuel [11:07] Macron is in Greece to strengthen ties and said that it's important for nations to come together [11:12] and not panic. [11:14] We're all in the same boat. And though we didn't choose this boat, if I may say so, [11:21] we're subjected to geopolitics. And we're subjected to this war that started several months ago. [11:26] The worst thing in times like these, when there is geopolitical tension and uncertainty, [11:30] is that such tensions are exacerbated by panic-driven behavior. And very often, [11:35] shortages are actually caused by that panic-driven behavior itself. [11:39] And it's not just oil prices that are of concern. The war is having impacts across the supply chain [11:44] and leading to a rise in prices for consumers. One example is plastic. It's an industry which relies [11:50] heavily on the petroleum industry and as a result is feeling the consequences of the lack of oil supply. [11:56] Here's Kevin Kelly, CEO of California company Emerald Packaging, on how his business has been impacted [12:02] by the war. [12:03] Plastic is a petroleum product. It's either made from oil itself or from natural gas. [12:10] So that means, since the war started, the price of plastic has doubled because, again, [12:16] of the supply disruption in the Middle East. [12:19] Well, it's not just packaging that's going up. It's trucking going up. It's boxes going up. It's [12:24] inks going up. It's labor that will be going up. So there's so many different things right now that [12:31] are increasing that all of our customers are just being hit across the board. Those have to get passed [12:38] on. So it will lead to an increase in inflation. I don't think it's shown up in the grocery store much [12:47] yet. I think most of what's happening is coming. [12:51] Kevin Kelly there. Well, whether you're joining us on YouTube, TikTok, Sounds, radio or TV, [12:57] thank you for being with us. And we'll be back at the same time tomorrow with the Iran war today.