00:00Now today, six countries, among them Britain, France and Japan, have said that they are ready
00:05to contribute to efforts to ensure the safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
00:11The waterway, of course, has been effectively blocked since this war began because Iran has
00:16been threatening to attack the ships that pass through. With me also in the studio is Kertavan
00:22Gordastani, who's been looking into that statement today from those six countries.
00:27Kertavan, France among the countries that says that they are willing to participate in this somehow.
00:33I wonder how significant you think this is, because the detail of it so far is rather lacking.
00:39Absolutely. If you look into the statement, it's actually a pretty long statement, but most of it
00:45is not actually focused on the Strait of Hormuz. There's a lot of condemnation of Iran's attacks,
00:52especially on those gas and oil installations. There is a part about how these countries that
01:00are that are signatories to the statement, and we'll get to to that point, but to stabilize energy
01:07markets, what they're going to do. But the real crux of the matter is this. We express our readiness
01:14to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait. We welcome the commitment
01:20of nations who are engaging in preparatory planning. What does that mean exactly is very unclear.
01:28What are appropriate efforts to ensure a safe passage through the Strait? Are these military efforts?
01:36Are these diplomatic efforts? We don't know. I've actually asked the French Foreign Ministry,
01:42what do you mean by appropriate efforts? I still haven't heard back from them. But clearly,
01:50when you see that statement, it's not necessarily opposed to what we've heard from countries like
01:57France or like the UK or even like Italy, who are saying, we're not getting involved right now.
02:05The French president, for example, has always said about reopening the Strait of Hormuz,
02:10we will join those efforts once the situation allows us to, meaning most likely the end of the war
02:20when things calm down a little bit. So if you look at the statement, it's not necessarily contradictory
02:25because there's no timeline. There's no information about do they mean right now? Do they mean in two weeks?
02:32Do they mean they're sending ships? We don't know any of those details. And the other thing that was interesting
02:39to me was when they say, we welcome the commitment of nations who are engaging in preparatory planning.
02:46Who are those nations? Are they the people who are signing the statement? Do they mean the Americans?
02:52There's no mention of the United States in that statement. I think one of the people who might be
03:00asked about these things, at least in front of a camera, is going to be the prime minister of Japan
03:07because she is going to be in the next hour meeting with Donald Trump at the White House.
03:13Her country is one of the signatories of this statement. And of course, we know that Donald Trump
03:18has been the one calling on these countries to come and help in the Strait of Hormuz, even though he
03:23says
03:24that he doesn't need any help. But this statement, with this timing, might be a way of making that
03:31meeting for the Japanese prime minister a little bit more comfortable because she could have a
03:37statement to give to Donald Trump to say, look, we are participating, contributing in a way.
03:43But at the same time, when you look at the details of the statement, it doesn't mean that they're going
03:48to go in tomorrow.
03:49All right. Thank you very much for your analysis there.
03:51Ketivan Gorjastani and Ketivan there talking about that meeting at the White House between
03:56the Japanese leader and Donald Trump.
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