Trump again threatens civilian infrastructure if Iran refuses deal with U.S.

[0:00] Welcome back to Live Now from Fox. I'm Stephanie Quinew. We continue to follow the very latest developments out of Iran as we take a live look here at the White House. [0:10] President Trump now stating that negotiators will head to Pakistan on Monday for another round of talks with Iran, raising hopes of extending a ceasefire, which is set to expire by Wednesday, even as Washington and Tehran remain in a standoff over the Strait of Hormuz. [0:30] Iran did not immediately confirm the talks, but its chief negotiator said in an interview aired on state television late Saturday that, quote, there will be no retreat in the field of diplomacy while acknowledging a wide gap remaining between the sides. [0:47] The White House says the delegation to Pakistan includes envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, and Pakistani authorities began tightening security in Islamabad. [0:58] A regional official involved in the efforts said mediators were finalizing preparations and U.S. advanced security teams were already on the ground. [1:08] Meantime, we continue to follow the very developments, latest developments out of the Strait of Hormuz, as this is a live shipping map there by marine traffic. [1:19] All of this comes as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz was at a standstill earlier today after Iran reasserted control over the strategic waterway that is key to global energy supplies, days before the ceasefire with the United States is set to expire. [1:38] Iran's top negotiator said recent talks with the U.S. had made progress, while President Trump called these very good conversations with Tehran, but neither side offered any specifics, and Iran's chief negotiator said that the two sides remain far apart on nuclear issues, as well as the Strait of Hormuz, the two main sticking points. [2:00] On Saturday, Iran, which had earlier announced that it would allow shipping to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, reversed course, accusing Washington of violating a ceasefire agreement by maintaining its own blockade of Iranian ports. [2:16] After two Indian-registered ships reported being attacked on Saturday while trying to pass through the Strait, shipping data showed traffic through this area had come to a stop early on Sunday. [2:28] One China-owned tanker and an Indian-owned gas carrier were seen transiting eastbound earlier on Sunday morning, but they appeared to have been turned back, and no other vessels entered or left the Gulf after midnight. [2:42] To speak more on this, I do want to bring in Alex Trayman with the Jewish News Syndicate, and as always, Alex, we appreciate you joining us here on Live Now from Fox. [2:53] Stephanie, thanks for having me. [2:54] I do want to start off with the very latest, as President Trump now says negotiators will head to Pakistan for more talks. [3:03] The first round of negotiations were not successful in that there was no long-term compromise. [3:14] But what has changed between the first round of talks and now? [3:18] Well, certainly, there's been more pressure, this economic blockade by the Trump administration on the Straits of Hormuz. [3:27] But we've also seen Iran violate the ceasefire with attacks on Indian vessels and on French vessels in the Straits of Hormuz. [3:36] Clearly, the Iranians are testing the president and testing his will, whether he is prepared to engage in another round of military escalation against Iran. [3:48] Iran and the United States have already engaged in two previous rounds of negotiation. [3:54] Both of those rounds resulted in a strong Israeli and American military response, and it looks like there's a high probability this may be heading in the same direction. [4:04] So when it comes to moving these negotiations and making progress, what do you feel needs to happen during these next round of talks? [4:15] Well, the president and his negotiating team need to make it clear that there's no leverage and there's no leeway in the negotiations on the key points. [4:24] Those key points are that Iran must give up any machinations of having the right to enrich uranium or move towards nuclear development and or ballistic missiles. [4:36] That the United States will come in in some fashion together with the IAEA or Iranian troops and extract the uranium that is buried underground and that the Straits of Hormuz will be open. [4:51] If Iran agrees to those three points, then I think the United States can have some leeway over the release of sanctions, possibly over some aid package for rebuilding some of the infrastructure that's been destroyed. [5:06] But if there's not at least an agreement on those three key points, I think you're going to see a renewed military operation. [5:14] And you just pointed out what those sticking points are, including reopening the Strait of Hormuz, as well as you mentioned uranium enrichment. [5:26] But those sticking points have always been there. [5:29] You know, from your perspective, as we continue to watch the negotiations, you know, is there any confidence from your perspective that there could be a different outcome this time around? [5:40] If the Iranians recognize that the president does have his finger on the trigger, is ready to renew the military operation and penalize the pummel Iran, like the president said he's willing to do to knock out all the bridges, all the power plants, potentially to take over the Harg Island in the deep inside the Persian Gulf, which is where the majority of Iran's oil is exported from. [6:06] If Iran feels that that's a real legitimate possibility here, then they have every incentive to reach an accommodation, even if it's a painful one. [6:15] And, Alex, I did want to share this. [6:17] This is just a new social media post by Reuters, some breaking news right here, saying that Iran's IRNA, saying that Iran has rejected taking part in the second round of the talks with the United States. [6:31] This just coming into our newsroom right now, you know, what do you make of this development? [6:36] I think it's hard at this point to base our reactions off of, you know, posts on social media, both from Iran, which is speaking with a lot of bluster right now, as well as the president, who is continuously shaping the discourse with misdirection, both on the lenient side and on the extreme side. [6:59] So you might be hearing right now reports that, you know, Iran is, you know, talking tough in public, but it could very well be that behind closed doors they're saying other things. [7:10] We have to wait and see, you know, at the way Iran is behaving right now, there's no guarantee that they're willing to reach an accommodation. [7:16] There's no guarantee that whichever party you're negotiating with in Iran actually still has full control. [7:24] It could be that the people that the Trump administration is negotiating with, you know, have promised that the Straits of Wormuz will be open. [7:30] And then there's other factions vying for power that are attacking ships trying to move through those very straits and that they don't have that kind of a consolidated control. [7:39] So there's a lot of factors at play, and I think the administration's team is going to head out to Pakistan, and they're going to wait and see if the Iranians come to the table. [7:48] But again, if no accommodation is reached on this, if no deal can be negotiated, the president has said that there's more than one way to reach an agreement, either at the negotiating table or by force. [7:59] And Alex, I also want to talk about some major developments that happened in Washington, D.C. this week in terms of Israel and Hezbollah agreeing to a 10-day ceasefire. [8:12] Can you share with us more of the purpose of this ceasefire and also what the expectations are that potentially this could be a longer-term ceasefire? [8:22] Correct. I think that there's a difference here between the negotiations between the United States and Iran on the one hand and Israel and Lebanon on the other. [8:33] First of all, one of the purposes is to take this issue of Israel's attacking Hezbollah inside Lebanon off the table during negotiations between the United States and Iran. [8:46] They don't want there to be any excuse that Israel is attacking the forward front of Iran, which is Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, is one of the potential triggers for Iran not to come to the table or not to reach an accommodation. [9:00] So it was easy for President Trump to ask Prime Minister Netanyahu for this break, which basically coincides. [9:08] It's a 10-day ceasefire, but it ends just shortly after the 14-day window for negotiations between the United States and Iran. [9:15] But I think that inside Lebanon, you actually have the greater potential for a longer ceasefire and potentially a permanent resolution to the conflict between Israel and Lebanon. [9:28] This is for several reasons. [9:30] First, because Israel has achieved its objectives in Lebanon, which was to push Hezbollah outside of this section of southern Lebanon between the Israeli border and the Latani River. [9:43] Israel has established a very firm security border. [9:47] They've released a yellow line to which they are holding all of the land in southern Lebanon. [9:52] They have attacked Hezbollah's headquarters deep inside Beirut. [9:56] They've attacked different Hezbollah strongholds in Bin Jabal and other places. [10:01] And I don't think that there's too much of an appetite for a larger ground operation by Israel inside southern Lebanon. [10:08] So Israel, I believe, has achieved their objectives on the one hand. [10:11] And on the second hand, they have weakened Hezbollah to the point where the Lebanese government may be able to take control of the country once again. [10:20] And they recognize that it is better to be in partnership with the state of Israel than it is to be in partnership with Hezbollah. [10:28] As we are looking ahead to the potential negotiations in Pakistan later on this week and the ongoing ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, [10:39] you know, is there anything in particular, Alex, that you're keeping a very close eye on? [10:44] Well, it's so unpredictable here. [10:46] You know, we feel like we've been on a roller coaster. [10:48] You know, Israelis have been enjoying the ceasefire, both with Iran as well as with Lebanon. [10:54] You know, we've been pummeled for the last seven weeks, really, by Iran and Lebanon simultaneously moving in and out of bomb shelters. [11:03] I think Israelis would be very happy for that ceasefire to hold. [11:07] But ultimately, there are a lot of Israelis that want to see the United States and Israel finish the job and get toward a regime change. [11:14] The question is, of course, whether you can get to a regime change through a military campaign, [11:19] which is mostly led by airstrikes inside Iran, and whether the Mossad and the CIA have plans to try to further undercut this regime on the ground [11:32] once an accommodation is reached and once the military campaigns stop. [11:38] All right, Alex, as always, we appreciate you joining us here on Live Now from Fox. [11:42] Thanks for having me. [11:43] And I did want to share this social media post from President Trump as he has issued new threats at Iran, saying no more, Mr. Nice Guy. [11:53] He writes, quote, Iran decided to fire bullets yesterday in the Strait of Hormuz, a total violation of our ceasefire agreement. [12:01] Many of them were aimed at a French ship and a freighter from the United Kingdom. [12:06] That wasn't nice, was it? [12:08] My representatives are going to Islamabad, Pakistan. [12:11] They will be there tomorrow evening for negotiations. [12:15] Iran recently announced that they were closing the Strait, which is strange because our blockade has already closed it. [12:23] They're helping us without knowing, and they are the ones that lose with the closed passage, $500 million a day. [12:31] The United States loses nothing. [12:33] In fact, many ships are headed right now to the U.S., Texas, Louisiana, and Alaska to load up, compliments of the IRGC, always wanting to be the tough guy. [12:45] We're offering a very fair and reasonable deal, and I hope they take it because if they don't, the United States is going to knock out every single power plant and every single bridge in Iran. [12:57] No more, Mr. Nice Guy. [13:00] They'll come down fast. [13:01] They'll come down easy. [13:02] And if they don't make the deal, it will be my honor to do what has to be done, which should have been done to Iran by other presidents for the last 47 years. [13:13] It's time for the Iran killing machine to end. [13:18] And if you're just joining us at this hour, I did want to share this social media post by Reuters reporter Phil Stewart saying that Iran has rejected taking part in the second round of the talks with the United States. [13:30] This comes as President Trump says that he is going to be sending negotiators to Pakistan tomorrow to take part in those negotiations. [13:40] As we were just speaking with Alex Treman with the Jewish News Syndicate, what is publicly said may not be what is happening behind the scenes. [13:51] And so he feels that this really is a wait-and-see situation because while Iran may be talking strongly now, they may still come to the negotiating table. [14:02] A live look here at the White House on this Sunday. [14:05] We're going to step away for a brief moment. [14:07] We have a lot more news to get to. [14:09] We'll be right back.