00:00Now let's get some reaction from the region now. Mohamed Higazi is the former Assistant Foreign Minister of Egypt.
00:08So Ambassador Higazi, great to have you there. So how dangerous is this moment for the Middle East?
00:13I mean, many people are asking the same question. Are we on the brink of a wider regional wall?
00:19I hope not. Tonight the Security Council definitely will issue his statement of the danger it posed on the
00:30world peace and security. It is a very dangerous situation, which is in its beginning. This is
00:40few hours since the Israelis and the Americans have attacked the Iranian. And the Iranian reaction
00:46was expected. But the escalation of the situation is in the two parties' hands. The Israelis have
00:55started a while ago, the second wave. And the Iranian will definitely retaliate. And they
01:02have this time reached different capitals in the Gulf region, as well as attacking Israel
01:11itself. I think they are calculating the reaction not to drag the situation where the Israeli wants
01:19is an overall war where the United States will take the lead and behind Israel will do some strikes
01:27here and there to maybe gain some points on the missile defenses of Iran or on the leadership casualties
01:36that they have inflicted on Iran since the morning. So this situation is unnecessary.
01:43escalation of violence, a new war that will drag the whole region to a dangerous situation that will benefit
01:53only Israel. I don't think the United States that was very close to reach an agreement in Geneva. And then
02:04in the
02:05third round that was expected in Vienna, a few days from now, they should have given as Badr Bosaidi, the
02:15foreign
02:15minister of Oman said to the CBS broadcast yesterday that diplomacy needs time to achieve its goal, which is very
02:26clear and
02:27seen in front of us. So dragging the situation to this military escalation, you ignite a war and you don't
02:36know when you
02:37will end it and with which casualties. I think what is required now is a revival of channel of diplomacy,
02:46is of a clear talk in the
02:48security council in a call for a ceasefire that will lead everybody to claim some sense and balance. The Israelis
02:59might say
03:00that we have eliminated more threats from the Iranian defense missile system and maybe the Iranian would say that we
03:10did not fall. Our
03:11regime is still intact unless the Israeli push the situation and the American to what they call it regime change.
03:20Iran is not Venezuela and the road
03:23will be very difficult and the casualties will be hefty on all of us, not only the people living in
03:35the region or in the Gulf, but
03:37worldwide. Because today you heard about the closure of Hormuz and tomorrow, maybe you'll hear about Babylon and
03:45then the regionalization. Remember that the regionalization of the conflict with Hezbollah and Houthi and the
03:54Straits. The whole world will pay a price for the wrong ambition of Israel that tries as much to put
04:06the Americans as
04:07they have successfully make them on the forefront of the war on the past 12 days war and today. And
04:15this very
04:16unimaginable for no reason war that will drag the whole Gulf and the whole world energy security and it will
04:25destabilize
04:27a region that has been destabilized many times because of Gaza, because of Syria, because of Lebanon and above all
04:36because
04:37I think all parties could foresee the possible consequences and the repercussions. But still, only a few days ago, the
04:45United States and Iran were engaged in indirect nuclear talks. And do you think diplomacy has a field and do
04:51you think that
04:52both sides would go back to the negotiating table at some point?
04:56I think we have to keep our channel open. President Macron have announced his position very clear and called for
05:05the
05:05Security Council meeting. And I think Egypt also, just yesterday, we've been talking with Witkoff, with Arakji, with the IAEA
05:17Secretary-General and we've been talking to the parties coordinating with Oman.
05:23We should keep our diplomatic channel open whenever there is a need, at least the two parties after they were
05:32realized that inflecting damage happened before in the 12 days war that happened between Israel, America and Iran.
05:41Iran. And today they were repeating the same thing. Maybe we are on the 13th day of the same war.
05:47Each party think that he can impose his view on the other by using force, not understanding that the use
05:56of force is not the only tool to reach consensus over each body's concern.
06:03I think a renewal of the discussion will bring us to a settlement between Iran and the United States. And
06:12maybe Israel, after this war, can say that I have eliminated the Iranian threat.
06:17But you have to understand also that many reasons have led us to this situation. Above all, the mentality of
06:24Benjamin Netanyahu that feels all the time threatened by the condemnation of the Israeli public opinion after the 7th of
06:34October.
06:35The mentality that thinks that the new election is much more important than lives in the Middle East, in Lebanon,
06:44Syria or in Yemen.
06:45And the mentality of President Trump that thinks that you can gain access to world economic and energy sources done
06:56in Venezuela and the threatening Cuba.
07:00And today he's trying with Iran. But Iran is a deep rooted old nation. It's not Venezuela.
07:07Thank you very much, Ambassador. That is Mohamed Higazi, former Assistant Foreign Minister of Egypt.
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