Trump drops SURPRISE Iran update

[0:01] President Trump posting on Truth Social just moments ago. [0:05] Iran has requested a meeting. It will take place tomorrow in Doha. [0:08] This following the U.S. and Iran agreeing to halt strikes and resume peace talks after several [0:13] days of fresh weekend strikes. These talks are going to focus on Iran's nuclear program [0:18] and resolving the dispute over the strait. Tehran agreed to keep it open to commercial [0:22] shipping before walking that back and claiming sole authority over the key oil passageway. [0:28] And all of this following what happened late last week. Tehran hit a cargo ship in the [0:33] strait of Hormuz. The U.S. responded with strikes in southwestern Iran. The U.S. [0:38] targeted Iran's military surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, [0:42] air defense sites, drone storage facilities, and mine laying capabilities after another hit [0:47] from Tehran in an oil tanker. I want to bring in Heritage Foundation Vice President of National [0:52] Security and former Deputy National Security Advisor to President Trump, Victoria Coates. [0:56] And Victoria, it's always great to have you on. I have to ask you about this comment in particular [1:01] because it's pretty eye-brow-raising. This is Foreign Minister Abbas Aragashi. Here's what he said [1:07] yesterday, and this was put on Iranian state media. The full restoration of traffic in the strait [1:13] is Iran's responsibility. Then he said no other country or entity has any responsibility or authority [1:20] in this matter. That's a pretty bold statement. Well, good morning, Cheryl. Good to be with you. [1:28] Yeah. I mean, Aragashi says lots of stuff. And in this case, I would like to phone a friend in Muscat, [1:34] which would be the capital of Oman, which is on the other side of the strait of Hormuz, [1:37] and ask how they're feeling about this. And Oman is a really interesting country on an extraordinary [1:44] trajectory. They were actually the most improved in our 2026 index of economic freedom that Heritage [1:51] puts out every year. It came out in March. Oman jumped like 19 points because they've imposed [1:57] these really strong fiscal reforms to their tax code, to foreign ownership of businesses. [2:03] They're going up like a rocket. Why would they want to tether themselves to Iran? They're the ones [2:08] we should be dealing with here. And they would have every bit as much right to the strait as Iran [2:13] does. So I think what you see here is Iran a little bit desperate and also not doing any, [2:18] itself any favor with its friends or its neighbors, rather, in the region. [2:23] Well, and that would, that would go along with what we heard from the president this morning that, [2:28] you know, Iran requested a meeting, Iran wants to talk. That is, that flows in line with what you're [2:33] saying. And also, you know, the Secretary of State Rubio was out there last week in the region. [2:37] He was in Kuwait. He was in UAE. He was in Bahrain. So maybe those meetings are what has brought us to [2:44] this moment. And maybe the tables are going to be turned on the Iranians for once, finally. [2:49] I think so. And there are a number of different dynamics in the region. You mentioned Secretary [2:55] Rubio's visit to Bahrain. This was to participate in a really important Gulf Cooperation Council [3:01] meeting that took place to discuss the negotiations between Israel and Lebanon. And historically, [3:07] Cheryl, those sort of communiques that come out afterwards would be loaded up with anti-Israel [3:13] sentiment, you know, declarations of solidarity with the Palestinian cause, objections to Zionism. [3:20] None of that was in this statement this time. It just expressed support for the Israel-Lebanon [3:26] negotiations that have now resulted in a framework and support for free navigation through the [3:32] Strait of Hormuz. So, you know, the Iranians might want to think twice about trying to collect [3:37] tolls from the likes of UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia. You know, that may not be really [3:44] going concern for them. Those neighbors might not, excuse me, might not be so interested in paying those [3:50] tolls. Well, just a reminder that we have a very large military base in Bahrain. And again, [3:56] right along that waterway. So, our interests are there as well. I want to ask you about this, [4:02] because Lebanon is now bowing that the U.S. brokered peace agreement with Israel, they're saying [4:07] it's not going to be implemented. And Hezbollah, they're saying they ripped it up. They're calling [4:11] it null and void. They say it's, quote, humiliating. Lebanon's parliament speaker called the [4:16] framework 10 times worse than the 83 agreement, which was the closest that Beirut and Jerusalem ever [4:21] really came to having any peace between them. And this is all three days after the U.S., Israel, [4:26] Lebanon signed that framework in Washington, where, you know, Hezbollah was supposed to be [4:32] dismantled. What do you make of all of this? Yeah, I think for sure this is going to be a process of [4:38] two steps forward, one step back. After all, we're dealing with Lebanon and not particularly [4:42] well-functioning country. You know, they know as much as anyone, they need the Israelis in southern [4:48] Lebanon to try to keep Hezbollah in check, to keep that government in Beirut in place. Now, [4:54] at the same time, they're going to do some posturing for their domestic audience. But I think what we [4:59] should do is see this as a very important first step towards resolving the situation in Lebanon, [5:05] but that it's going to be a process. So I think I think what happened in Washington was extremely [5:10] important. And we will work forward from there. But the really significant thing in the in the [5:17] framework was it did not call for an immediate Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon. Everybody [5:22] knows the only group that's going to be able to defang Hezbollah is the IDF. And so, yes, [5:28] Hezbollah did rip up the deal. Hezbollah thinks it's terrible. That makes me like it all the more. [5:33] Absolutely. And, you know, just final question on this, because, you know, [5:38] the thinking is here is that this is another tool that the Iranians are using to just play this back [5:43] and forth, you know, game of chicken with the United States with these negotiations. [5:47] OK, let's go back to the table. Let's have peace talks. And then they make sure their proxies [5:52] and Hezbollah carry out new attacks. And then they blame Israel for that. It's a sick and twisted game. [5:58] But it seems to me that's what the Iranians are doing. [6:00] It is. But it's a game that they're losing more and more. So Hezbollah increasingly isolated. [6:06] The other space, Cheryl, that I think we're going to be talking about in 10 days is Iraq. [6:10] They have a new prime minister, Ali Azaidi, 40 years old, background in business and finance. [6:17] You guys should have him on, find out what he's up to. He's executing one of the biggest [6:21] anti-corruption campaigns in Iraq's history. He was sworn in last month. And he's after all of [6:26] these pro-Iranian PMs who literally have pallets of cash, American dollars in their houses, seizing [6:34] all of this money. Will he succeed? I don't know. But that's a huge additional blow to Iran because [6:39] they've been counting on Iraq as a kind of a counting house for them. They seize all those [6:44] dollars. So that's another space where we're starting to cut away that. We have a real [6:49] opportunity as the United States. So let's see how this unpacks going forward. [6:53] That's really interesting, Victoria. Very interesting point you're making there. [6:56] Before you go, I do want to ask you about Russia. Because Vladimir Putin did detail the country's [7:02] fuel shortages. There's been a barrage of long-range Ukrainian drone strikes on key energy [7:07] infrastructure. This happened over the weekend. He's now acknowledging the fuel deficit. First time [7:11] he's ever done this. And this is one of Ukraine's heaviest drone strikes ever on Russia. [7:16] Zelensky is telling Putin get out of Ukraine, take that step towards peace after approving a 40-day [7:21] offensive to influence Russia to end the war. Do you think this is it? [7:25] Well, it's really interesting. I'm actually talking to you from Iceland today. I came here from [7:30] Helsinki where I met with a lot of European counterparts, a lot of discussion of this. [7:35] It turns out that the Ukrainians have been doing so much damage to Russian refining capacity. [7:40] So they still have a lot of crude, but they can't turn it into anything. [7:43] So they're going to Belarus where they have a big refining capacity, Kazakhstan, [7:49] which is exporting to them. But that isn't making up for the shortfall caused by the Ukrainian [7:54] strikes. So I think this is 18 months of President Trump driving a real hard bargain [8:00] on Ukraine, encouraging the Ukrainians to do more, not getting the United States entangled [8:05] in the situation. We could actually get to some kind of meaningful negotiations in six, [8:10] eight months. That could be incredible. [8:12] That is, that's very interesting. And your take because you're on the ground in Europe right now, [8:17] even more so important to the conversation as it always is. Victoria Coates, it's great to have you on [8:22] the program. Thank you, Cheryl. [8:25] All right. Safe travels to you. We're going to be right back, everybody. You're watching Mornings with Maria.