00:00We find ourselves in quite a strange position at the moment. There's no deadline
00:05at the moment when it comes to the ceasefire extension. The two sides don't appear to be
00:11talking, at least that we know of. What do you think are the prospects now of this just dragging
00:17on into some iteration of a forever war? I think it's a very realistic scenario that this could
00:24drag on for quite some time. I mean, if we look at what's happening, neither side is willing to
00:29meet the other one's demands. And it's complicated by the fact that President Trump has changed the
00:34U.S. demands each time he speaks. It's not really clear what the U.S. actually wants out of this.
00:39Even if the war were to end tomorrow, the economic consequences are going to continue to go on for
00:44quite some time. The humanitarian crisis that this war has caused will continue. This is not
00:49something that is going to be easily and cleanly wrapped up in a day or a week or a month.
00:54Have the prospects of a more intense standoff now risen? Because we are hearing from officials
00:59in the U.S. that there are concerns that we're starting to hear more and more aggressive rhetoric
01:04from President Trump now. There was sort of a stepping off of that ramp, as we thought perhaps
01:09the sides were getting closer to another round of talks. But that sort of started to ramp up again.
01:15Is this helpful at all, particularly as the president kind of has put himself in a position
01:20as being the decision maker in chief?
01:24President Trump's rhetoric certainly is not helping the situation. And I think the only thing that does
01:29help him in this case is that he often has this sort of over-the-top rhetoric. And so it's
01:34unclear
01:34if the Iranians are taking him seriously, if anyone is taking him seriously. But we have seen this
01:39escalation in the threats he's made against people who are putting mines down in the strait.
01:44You know, we've seen more military movement on the U.S. side as well. And the continued blockades on both
01:49sides that are just making this more and more difficult to step back from. And the more that
01:53Trump ratchets up that rhetoric, the more difficult it is going to be for him to stand down or say,
01:58you know, this is over. We've met our goals.
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