US says no time frame for ending war, as Iran says reopening strait 'not possible' — BBC News

[0:00] Within 24 hours of President Trump announcing an extended ceasefire with Iran, a number of cargo [0:05] ships have been attacked in the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranian state news agency Tasnim has released [0:11] new video claiming to show the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps seizing two foreign-flagged cargo [0:17] ships in the Strait of Hormuz earlier on Wednesday. Iran also attacked another cargo ship. Iranian [0:23] officials accused the vessels of trying to exit the strait without permission. With Iran's ongoing [0:30] chokehold over the waterway, up to 2,000 vessels are stuck in the Persian Gulf. It's causing economic [0:36] havoc around the world, especially in energy markets. The U.S. is also maintaining a naval [0:42] blockade of Iranian ports. Iran's chief negotiator Mohamed Bagar-Galabaf says Iran cannot reopen the [0:49] vital shipping route while the U.S. maintains its blockade, which Iran considers a ceasefire [0:55] violation. Meanwhile, the White House says there's no deadline for an end to the ceasefire [1:00] with Iran, which Donald Trump extended on Tuesday night. The press secretary, Caroline Leovitt, [1:05] told reporters the president would decide when the war would finish. [1:09] CAROLINE LEOVITT, President, President of the United States of the United States of the United States, [1:10] Look, again, I'm not going to set a timetable for the president. He has not done that, and [1:15] I won't. I know there's been some anonymous-sourced reporting that there was maybe a three-to-five-day [1:20] deadline. That is not true. The president has not set a deadline himself. Ultimately, [1:24] he will dictate the timetable, and again, he is satisfied with the naval blockade, [1:30] and he understands that Iran is in a very weak position, and the cards are in [1:34] President Trump's hands right now. Well, I talked to our correspondent in Islamabad, [1:40] Azadeh Mishiri, to get the latest. It's worth remembering that J.D. Vance was meant to travel [1:46] here this week and instead didn't board that plane. No one has turned up here, and yet this is the [1:52] week we were expecting peace talks, if not a deal, at least another round of negotiations. [1:58] And so the fact that instead we're seeing these events in the Strait of Hormuz feels like an [2:02] extremely precarious moment. Two of the ships that were attacked belong to the world's biggest [2:07] shipping company. Now, none of this, Sally, means that negotiations aren't happening behind the [2:15] scenes. We are hearing that Pakistan is trying to bridge the gap between the two and is trying to [2:21] bridge that deep mistrust that runs historically between the United States and Iran. But it does [2:27] feel like that path towards a mediated solution is being increasingly squeezed. Instead, what we're [2:34] seeing is the United States and Iran trying to run down the clock. The United States is hoping that [2:39] its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz will create enough economic pain that Iran will come to the [2:47] negotiating table, let go of some of its demands. So far, we haven't seen that happen. Iran, similarly, [2:54] is hoping that the fact that its own blockade and these attacks is causing economic havoc, that it's [3:02] affecting energy prices, that Donald Trump will want a deal quickly, let go of some of his concessions, [3:07] lift that blockade. Keep in mind, there is also a visit by King Charles to the United States [3:12] that is coming up. It does feel, Sally, like we're waiting to see who blinks first. [3:18] Yeah, absolutely. Which means it is unlikely, is it not, that talks will take place this week. [3:24] Today is Thursday, and that was very much the focus that this week we'd see a second round of [3:30] in-person negotiations. I think the one thing we can say for certain is that this war has been [3:39] incredibly unpredictable. And so I think it's still too early to completely rule it out. Remember when [3:47] the first round of talks happened earlier this month, the night before they happened, we weren't [3:52] sure whether either side would turn up. That led to the highest level face-to-face talks between the [3:57] United States and Iran since 1979, since the Islamic revolution when the regime was founded. So I [4:04] wouldn't rule it out completely, but it does feel like the chances are lower than they were last week [4:10] if you're going to be placing any sorts of bets. So I think the path is still there. We have heard [4:18] from Pakistan that they are still mediating. We've heard from other sources that both sides are [4:24] recognising that Pakistan has been working very hard to get these two to the negotiating table. [4:29] But the fact is, we thought that would have already happened by now, and it hasn't. [4:34] Azadeh Mishiri there with the latest from Islamabad. Well, there has been a major shake-up at the U.S. [4:39] Department of Defence. The Secretary of the Navy, John Fellan, is leaving the Trump administration [4:45] effective immediately, according to a statement from a Pentagon spokesperson. Fellan is the second [4:52] high-ranking U.S. military official to leave his role this month after Army Chief of Staff [4:57] was asked to step down a few weeks ago. Benjamin Raad, who's senior fellow with the Burkle Center [5:03] for International Relations and a lecturer in law at UCLA, gave me his assessment of what's going on [5:10] within the military. Given that this is the highest-ranking official in the Navy and given the prominent [5:15] role the Navy has played in these operations and continues to play, it is, to say the least, disruptive [5:21] and a sign of the internal dysfunction that exists and also the tension within the Defence [5:27] Department between Secretary Hegseth, his number two, the deputy, and then subordinates on down [5:33] the chain. So, indeed, this is something that's going to cause, I think, additional headaches [5:36] for the President and his team as this war goes on. [5:40] Yeah, as the war goes on. And the pressure is on the U.S., certainly from Iran, to stop that [5:45] blockade of its ports in the Strait of Hormuz, which is something that the Navy was sort of in [5:50] charge of. Just give us your take on where we are, Benjamin. We haven't talked for a little [5:54] while. We have had such a tumultuous week, where at the beginning of the week it looked [5:58] like talks would take place. We had, you know, J.D. Vance virtually boarding a plane headed [6:03] for Islamabad, but then it all was pulled off. [6:07] So, there are two takeaways that I have from this. Number one, I don't think it's quite [6:11] emphasised enough the degree of damage, of self-inflicted harm, that Iran's actions in the Strait [6:18] are doing to its economy. Estimates are that it's losing about $435 million a day as a result [6:25] of the U.S. blockade. This is in large part because Iran has oil that it's refined that [6:30] it can't send anywhere. It's unable to receive goods, machine parts, supplies, foodstuffs, [6:36] I mean, ordinary things it needs for its domestic use. And it's unable to replenish and restock [6:41] supplies that it needs to fight the war. All of this has come to a halt while it's losing [6:45] money because it cannot export its main resource. So, this is something to keep in mind. As much [6:50] as this is costing the global economy in the U.S., the rate at which it is impacting Iran's [6:55] economy is greater. So, now we're at a point where basically which side will capitulate [7:00] first under these immense pressures. And that is the strategy of Trump, we assume, [7:06] with the blockading of Iranian ports to actually make that economic pressure that much more acute [7:12] in Iran. But what we're hearing from within Iran itself is they're willing to take the [7:17] pain and they're willing to see it through. And, you know, whether the people of Iran are [7:23] suffering, they're happy to shoulder that. Well, and here's the issue is that this will [7:30] impact their ability to resupply, restock, to fund basic services, to basically buy off and [7:35] pay the Basij, the other members of the lower, the lower-ranking members of the IRGC, those [7:41] whose loyalty to the regime is subsidized, and also the subsidies that are spent on the [7:46] general population. I mean, they're going to face another wave of domestic unrest if [7:50] supplies are limited, if the strikes continue, if there are no jobs, if there's no ability [7:54] to pay for anything, if the financial system is broken, and if the currency continues to be [7:59] devalued. It is now fighting both the domestic threat from within and also an external enemy. [8:04] So as much as the regime says it can tolerate this pain, it can until it can no longer do [8:10] so. And I think that is really the race against the clock that we're seeing unfold.