00:00Well, tensions between the U.S. and Iran are rising as both sides maintain blockades in the Strait of Hormuz.
00:05President Trump has ordered the Navy to fire at any vessel placing mines in the straits,
00:10with the U.S. military saying it has intercepted two oil tankers seeking access to Iran's ports.
00:17The blockades remain in place with no signs of progress towards new peace talks.
00:23Why are you willing to wait until you get a unified response?
00:26Don't rush me, Jeff.
00:27You know, guys like you, you want to say, oh, so we were in Vietnam like for 18 years.
00:32We were in Iraq for many, many years.
00:35We were in for all the, I don't like to say World War II because that was a biggie.
00:39But we were four and a half, almost five years in World War II.
00:43We were in the Korean War for seven years.
00:46I've been doing this for six weeks.
00:53Joining me now is Stuart Livingstone-Wallace, Bloomberg's executive editor for Middle East, North Africa and Russia,
00:58and Stephen Zatynski, who leads our energy coverage.
01:01Stuart, I'm going to start with you.
01:03A bit of a, I guess, an uncomfortable parallel that President Trump was drawing there between the timeline of this
01:08war
01:08and obviously referenced to Vietnam.
01:11But let me just ask you, I mean, as it pertains to talks, there doesn't appear to be a lot
01:16of progress on that front, at least.
01:18I think you're right.
01:19But also at the same time, we've got to remember what's happened in the last several weeks,
01:23where often we don't find out about stuff until it's happened.
01:25So we know that, I mean, for one thing, Pakistan, we know, is furiously mediating.
01:31And actually, it's been pretty effective so far.
01:32I know we don't have a peace deal, but just to get them, you know, vaguely on the same page.
01:36And I know that there are lots and lots of other countries, too, because the stakes are so high.
01:40Every country on the planet, with almost no exception, is going to be impacted by what's happening in Hormuz.
01:46It is in everyone's interest to get some sort of resolution.
01:49So I would imagine that the diplomatic back-channeling is pretty furious right now.
01:53So we may not have seen anything. That doesn't mean nothing's happening.
01:56Yeah. Even though there's a current stalemate, it's unlikely to persist.
02:00So when President Trump over the weekend announced the extension of the ceasefire,
02:04he also alluded to fragmented leadership in Iran.
02:07And I thought it's been really interesting over the last 24 hours that many of those Iranian so-called leaders
02:13have been taking to social media, including the president himself, Pazeshiaan, saying,
02:18in Iran, there are no hardliners and moderates. We are all Iranians and revolutionaries.
02:22They're really trying to paint this picture of being a cohesive unit.
02:26What do you make of that?
02:27I mean, I don't think they've ever been cohesive, but I would apply that same characterization
02:32to every administration in every country.
02:35It seems absolutely insane that you would have everyone of one mind about what to do.
02:39So I think Iran's leadership has always been far more complex than I think many in the West gave it
02:45credit for.
02:45They always sort of saw it as this completely autocratic system.
02:49It's absolutely not. There are definitely differing camps of opinion with them about what to do.
02:55But similarly, you can point to the U.S. administration and say there are different camps there
02:58about what to do about Iran. And they've been perhaps more visible because of the media attention.
03:03But to have this idea that everyone is in accord in Iran, I think, is a follow-up.
03:08That's a fair point. Stephen, let me come out to you.
03:11So overnight, President Trump saying that he has instructed the U.S. Navy to shoot at any boats,
03:16putting mines. You know, the U.S. Navy also intercepted two Iranian vessels.
03:22Run us through the latest developments. What's going on there?
03:25Yeah, so we've certainly seen a heightening of U.S. interaction and intervention in the strait
03:32and the surrounding waters, especially when it comes to Iranian vessels. Not only have they
03:37intercepted those two ships, also said they would fire on vessels that are laying mines.
03:43Overnight, also, the U.S. boarded a ship, an oil tanker carrying Iranian fuel. That was in
03:50the Indian Ocean. That's the first time that they've done something there. As well, they've
03:57essentially pushed back or forced, according to them, over 30 vessels to return or change course
04:05that were carrying goods or were connected to Iran or were sanctioned. All of this together has led
04:12to a near halt of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. Yesterday, while there are a lot of ships that
04:19are going through dark, potentially, because we weren't able to see them, we are able to track
04:22at least one bulk carrier that is Iranian-linked went through yesterday. Right now, it appears that
04:28there's a tanker carrying potentially Iranian oil from Karg, their export infrastructure going
04:38through at the moment. It's unclear whether it will continue the journey or if it will turn around or
04:43if it will be stopped by U.S. forces. But essentially, where we stand right now is a near closure
04:48of oil
04:50exports and liquefied natural gas exports from the region, which represent about 20 percent of
04:55global supply, seaborne supply, for both of those fuels.
Comments