- 11 minutes ago
The latest episode of Statecraft examines the escalating conflict between the United States and Iran as the sixty-day deadline under the War Powers Resolution expires.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Hello and welcome, you're watching StageCraft with me Geeta Mohan.
00:02Now what if the next phase of war doesn't begin with a bang, but with a shipment?
00:07And while one crisis grabs headlines, is another, far more invisible threat already creeping into your daily life?
00:15Tonight, two stories that don't just overlap, they amplify each other.
00:20One is loud, military and accelerating fast.
00:23The other is silent, fragile and dangerously exposed.
00:27The United States is moving weapons, drawing up war plans and even considering a hypersonic strike on Iran.
00:34This is not signaling, this is preparation.
00:37And at the same time, the Strait of Hormuz, already a flashpoint for oil, is emerging as a hidden fault
00:43line for the global internet itself.
00:46The same conflict that can spike fuel prices can also freeze your UPI.
00:52One battle above ground, the other deep below the ocean.
00:57One visible escalation, the other an invisible chokehold.
01:01So is the world ready for a war that hits both markets and machines at once?
01:05All that and more, but first up, the headlines.
01:09As the U.S.-Iran conflict reaches the 60-day mark, with political pundits speculating over Trump administration's move to win
01:16over congressional approval,
01:18Iran's state media Irna says that Iran has submitted its latest proposal for negotiations to the U.S. via Pakistan.
01:25The proposal includes Iranian response to U.S. amendments and demands to end the war.
01:30Iran is a working congressional approval to extend it.
01:34Because it's never been sought before.
01:36There's been numerous, many, many times, and nobody's ever gotten it before.
01:40They consider it totally unconstitutional.
01:44Brazil's Congress has overturned a veto of a bill that would dramatically reduce former President Jair Bolsonaro's prison sentence for
01:52plotting a coup after he lost the last election.
01:55Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in jail for his attempt to cling to power after losing the 2022 elections
02:01to Luis Inacio Lula da Silva.
02:07Hundreds of protesters clashed with Australian Emergency Service workers in Alice Springs following the alleged murder of a five-year
02:14-old indigenous girl.
02:17Video showing hundreds of protesters gathered outside Alice Springs Hospital, where Jefferson Lewis, a 47-year-old man who police
02:25allege killed the girl,
02:26was being treated after being found by locals and badly beaten.
02:37Several people were killed in Israeli attacks in South Lebanon as the Israeli military issues a forced displacement order for
02:45another town in the area,
02:46despite the U.S.-backed ceasefire.
02:51As U.S.-Iran conflict reaches the 60-day mark, it's time for the U.S. president to now take congressional
02:57approval
02:57for furthering military attacks on Iran under Operation Epic Fury.
03:02After the U.S. withdrew from Vietnam, the Congress enacted the War Powers Resolution in 1973,
03:08which will require any sitting U.S. president to take approval from the Congress to continue a war after 60
03:15days,
03:16or else terminate any use of the United States Armed Forces.
03:20The War Powers Resolution allows 60 days to the president to conduct military operations
03:25in response to an imminent threat or an attack on the United States of America if the Congress does not
03:32authorize a war.
03:33The U.S.-Israel attack against Iran that began on the 28th of February was conducted without congressional approval.
03:40As per the War Powers Resolution, the president is supposed to notify the Congress within 48 hours of introducing armed
03:47forces into hostilities,
03:49which Trump did on March 2nd.
03:51In case the Congress does not approve the war, then the president has to remove American forces from the hostility
03:58zone completely.
03:59But interestingly, the U.S. president has not declared war officially with Iran for this precise reason.
04:05He maintains that he does not need Congress's approval for carrying out military operations against Iran.
04:10And therefore, the president is using Operation Epic Fury as a military operation against imminent threat from Iran.
04:18Trump has been very tactful in not declaring a war against Iran because this will enable the War Powers Resolution
04:25to come into effect,
04:26thus requiring congressional approval.
04:28And in this regard, the Senate rejected Democrats' sixth attempt to limit President Trump's authority to wage war on Iran,
04:37with Republicans continuing to stand with the administration.
04:41Trump and his cabinet have constantly been changing stance regarding their intention of the war with Iran.
04:49From regime change to disarming Tehran of its nuclear weapons and capabilities to now blocking the Strait of Hormuz,
04:56a pressure tactic to force Iran to surrender by choking its economic lifeline.
05:02After an unsuccessful attempt at talks between top aides of both countries, which was mediated by Pakistan,
05:08a fragile ceasefire is ongoing, with U.S. forces continuing to block the Strait.
05:13So the question is whether a renewed attack on Iran will be considered as part of the ongoing conflict
05:20or a fresh attack for another 60 days, which will not require congressional approval.
05:25Meanwhile, as the U.S. government mulls over its next plan of action in case the Congress disapproves the administration's
05:31military action against Iran,
05:33Secretary of War Pete Hegseth appeared before both the House and Senate Armed Services Committee,
05:38where he had traded barbs with Democrats and a few Republicans over the Iran war and its cost,
05:45which has been creating dent in the pockets of the Americans.
05:49Pentagon has requested the Congress's approval for a nearly $1.5 trillion budget.
05:56Look, the country's doing really well, and that's despite a military operation.
06:02I don't call it a war, but you'd rather have a military operation.
06:07We're really — I mean, Iran is dying to make a deal.
06:11I can only tell you that.
06:13I don't want to get into the — but they gotta — they cannot be nuclear other than that.
06:18But they are — their Navy's gone, their Air Force is gone.
06:23Every ounce of any form of equipment practically is gone.
06:27You know, their drone factories are about 82 percent down, and their missile factories are almost 90 percent down.
06:36And many of their missiles have been knocked out between — they used some, but we knocked out more than
06:41they used.
06:42The United States is once again signalling that the Iran war is far from over.
06:47In fact, it may be entering a far more dangerous phase.
06:50A fresh military briefing, a massive weapons shipment, and now, talk of deploying one of America's most advanced missiles.
06:59Tensions have peaked.
07:00What comes next looks like Washington preparing for a decisive, possibly final strike on Iran.
07:06A strike that could change the course of this conflict.
07:10Let's start with the scale of movement.
07:13In just 24 hours, over 6,500 tons of military equipment has reportedly landed in Israel.
07:19Not symbolic aid, not routine resupply.
07:22We're talking air and ground munitions, military trucks, joint light tactical vehicles, heavy combat support systems.
07:29This is battlefield preparation at scale.
07:33And this is not happening in isolation.
07:36Because behind the scenes, United States Central Command, that's USENTCOM, has already briefed President Donald Trump on fresh war plans.
07:44A 45-minute high-level meeting.
07:46The chairman of the Joint Chiefs present.
07:49This is operational planning, not speculation.
07:53According to an Axios report, three options are now on the table.
07:57And each one escalates the conflict in a different way.
08:00The first, a short and powerful wave of strikes, precision attacks on Iranian infrastructure, designed not just to damage, but
08:09to shock.
08:10The idea is simple.
08:12Hit hard, hit fast.
08:13Force Tehran back to the negotiating table.
08:16The second option goes even further.
08:19Control the Strait of Hormuz.
08:21One of the most critical choke points in the world.
08:24Nearly a fifth of global oil passes through it.
08:26Taking control here is not just military action.
08:30It is economic warfare.
08:31But there's a catch.
08:32This would likely require ground forces, and that means deeper entanglement.
08:38The third option is the most sensitive.
08:41A special forces operation inside Iran.
08:43The objective, secure Tehran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
08:47This directly targets Iran's nuclear capability, and if executed, it crosses into extremely high-risk territory, because such an operation
08:56could trigger full-scale retaliation.
09:00Meanwhile, the pressure is already building.
09:02U.S. is enforcing a naval blockade on Iranian ports.
09:05Shipping is restricted.
09:07Oil flows are choked.
09:08This is leverage.
09:10Strategic leverage, but according to sources, it may not be enough.
09:14Because Iran is not backing down.
09:16President Masood Pazeshkian has made that clear.
09:20Trust in Washington, he says, is completely destroyed.
09:23Even as negotiations continue, Tehran believes another U.S. strike is possible, maybe even imminent.
09:30And here's where the situation becomes even more volatile, because time is running out for President Trump.
09:36Under the War Pass resolution, he had just 60 days to continue military operations without congressional approval.
09:44That deadline is now here.
09:47Which means Washington is under pressure to act, either escalate or step back.
09:52And right now, all signs point towards escalation, because the Pentagon is considering deploying a weapon it has never used
10:00before in combat.
10:03The Dark Eagle, America's long-range hypersonic missile.
10:07A weapon designed for the most advanced battlefields and now possibly headed for Iran.
10:13Let's understand what makes this missile so dangerous.
10:16The Dark Eagle can travel at speeds of over Mach 5.
10:19That's five times the speed of sound.
10:22At that velocity, traditional air defense systems struggle to react, let alone intercept.
10:28Its range is equally alarming.
10:30Over 2,700 kilometers, that means it can strike deep inside Iranian territory without needing forward deployment too close to
10:40the battlefield.
10:41And it doesn't just fly fast, it maneuvers mid-flight, making it unpredictable.
10:47Hard to track, harder to stop.
10:50This missile was developed by Lockheed Martin originally to counter China and Russia's advanced air defense systems.
10:57In other words, it was built for high-end warfare, not regional conflicts, not limited engagements.
11:04And yet, here it is, being considered for use in West Asia, in the Persian Gulf.
11:11Even though it is not fully operational.
11:13Even though it has faced delays.
11:15Even though it is technically under development.
11:18That raises serious questions.
11:21Why deploy an unfinished weapon?
11:23The answer lies in capability gaps.
11:26U.S. forces are reportedly running low on precision strike missiles.
11:30And some Iranian targets are simply out of range for existing systems.
11:35So the calculus is changing.
11:37If conventional options are limited, unconventional ones come into play.
11:42Even if they carry higher risks.
11:45Each Dark Eagle missile costs around $15 million.
11:49A full battery, nearly $2.7 billion.
11:53This is not just a weapon.
11:54It is a strategic investment.
11:57And its targets are not random.
11:59According to U.S. defense assessments, the Dark Eagle is meant for time-sensitive and heavily defended targets.
12:05That means missile bases, nuclear infrastructure, high-value command centers, the kind of targets that define the outcome of a
12:14war.
12:15But it also raises the stakes dramatically.
12:18Because once hypersonic weapons enter a conflict, escalation becomes harder to control.
12:23Reaction times shrink, miscalculations increase and the margin for error disappears.
12:29So what we are witnessing right now is not just another phase of the Iran conflict.
12:34It is a potential turning point.
12:37Massive weapons shipments, active war planning, a ticking legal clock.
12:41And the possible debut of a next-generation missile.
12:46The question now is not whether the U.S. can strike.
12:49It clearly can.
12:50The question is, will it?
12:52Will Washington launch another round of attacks to break the stalemate?
12:56Or will the risks finally outweigh the strategy?
12:59Because if the Dark Eagle is deployed, this war will enter uncharted territory.
13:05Faster, deadlier and far more unpredictable than anything we've seen so far.
13:12Pakistan claims to be the peacemaker between Washington and Tehran.
13:16But as Islamabad opens six overland routes to Iran, helping it bypass America's naval blockade,
13:22serious questions are being raised about whose side Pakistan is really on.
13:26With its credibility under fire from the U.S., Israel and even Iran itself,
13:31is Pakistan playing mediator or playing games?
13:34Here's a report.
13:50Pakistan was supposed to be the peacemaker.
13:53The country that would bring Washington and Tehran to the table.
13:56But a stunning new development is raising a very uncomfortable question.
14:01Is Islamabad playing both sides?
14:03Here is what happened.
14:04Pakistan, which is currently serving as the lead negotiator between the United States and Iran,
14:10has officially notified six overland land transit routes for goods destined for Iran.
14:16The move is designed to help Tehran bypass the American naval blockade of its port
14:21through the Strait of Hormuz in the Arabian Sea,
14:24a blockade that forms the centerpiece of President Donald Trump's maximum economic pressure strategy against Iran.
14:30The reaction from Washington's strategy community was swift and pointed.
14:35A prominent U.S. national security expert took to social media to issue a direct warning to the Trump administration,
14:43noting that Pakistan had just opened six overland links to Iran,
14:47helping the regime bypass the American counter-blockade in the Strait of Hormuz,
14:53which would help Tehran continue to resist U.S. pressure and accused Islamabad of double-dealing America once again.
15:01The numbers may clear just how significant this development is.
15:05According to a report, over 3,000 cargo containers bound for Iran are currently awaiting clearance at Pakistani ports.
15:12With these six overland routes now officially notified, those containers could soon be transported directly into Iranian territory,
15:20effectively punching a hole in Trump's economic siege.
15:24But here is the bigger picture.
15:26This is not just about trade routes.
15:29It strikes at the very heart of Pakistan's credibility as a neutral mediator.
15:34Islamabad's trustworthiness has already been publicly questioned from multiple directions.
15:39Israel's ambassador to India, Ruvin Azzar, said earlier this month that Pakistan was not trustworthy
15:46and expressed serious doubt about its ability to act as a credible mediator in the U.S.-Iran conflict.
15:53Remarkably, even Iran has reservations.
15:56Ibrahim Rizai, a senior Iranian parliamentary official and spokesperson for Iran's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission,
16:05called Pakistan a good friend of Tehran, but flatly stated it is not a suitable intermediary,
16:11arguing that Islamabad tends to lean toward American interests.
16:15So here is the extraordinary situation Pakistan now finds itself in.
16:20It is accused of being too pro-America by Iran, too pro-Iran by American analysts, and too unreliable by
16:28Israel.
16:28Every party at the table has doubts about where Islamabad's loyalties truly lie.
16:33Meanwhile, Trump has made his own position clear.
16:36He has directed his administration to prepare for a prolonged naval blockade of Iranian ports,
16:43signaling that Washington is digging in for a test of wills with Tehran.
16:48Pakistan's decision to grant these six land routes now lands directly in the middle of the standoff.
16:53This is not the first time Pakistan has been under-scanner for such activities,
16:59but the more important question that hangs over all of this is straightforward.
17:04Can a country that is simultaneously mediating a conflict and enabling one side to resist the other's core war strategy
17:11be trusted by anyone at all?
17:14With Harish Mishra, Bureau Report, India Today Global.
17:19The crisis at the Strait of Hormos can disrupt your internet.
17:22That UPI you use for everything, it gets it first.
17:26You tap pay and the screen freezes.
17:28Not because your Wi-Fi fails,
17:30because somewhere deep under the ocean,
17:33a cable thinner than your wrist takes a hit.
17:37You might know the Strait of Hormos as a critical oil choke point,
17:40but it's so much more than that.
17:42Several underwater cables that carry internet,
17:45banking and the financial system on which the entire world runs
17:49go through the Strait of Hormos.
17:51And if a mine goes off near the cable,
17:53roughly $10 trillion worth of daily financial activity gets disrupted,
17:59including your UPI transactions.
18:01So what happens when a choke point for oil turns into a choke hold on the internet itself?
18:08Firstly, what exactly is an undersea cable and what does it do?
18:12Think of it as the world's longest extension cord,
18:15except instead of powering a lamp, it powers everything.
18:20Every bank transfer, every WhatsApp message,
18:23every stock trade travels through fibre threads inside these cables
18:26at 180,000 miles per second.
18:30Over 500 of them crisscross the ocean floor.
18:34Together, they stretch more than half a million miles,
18:38enough to go from Earth to the moon three times over.
18:42They don't just connect continents,
18:44they connect economies.
18:46They connect you.
18:48Why not satellites?
18:50Why does 99% of global internet traffic go underwater?
18:54Simple.
18:55Satellites can't handle it.
18:57The sheer volume of data, financial transactions, military communications,
19:01cloud systems, video calls,
19:03would collapse any satellite network instantly.
19:07Cables are faster, more reliable,
19:10and carry millions of times more data.
19:13Satellites are the backup generator.
19:15These cables are the main power grid.
19:17And right now, the main power grid runs straight through one of the most dangerous neighbourhoods on Earth.
19:25How hard is it to actually damage one of these cables?
19:28Not hard at all.
19:29Most cable breaks happen because of fishing boats that drag anchors across the ocean floor.
19:35Not missiles, not warships.
19:37Fishing boats.
19:38These cables sit in known mapped locations on ocean floor
19:43and are near impossible to constantly monitor.
19:47In September 2025, multiple cables near Jeddah in the Red Sea got damaged.
19:52And internet access across India, Pakistan, the UAE, and West Asia took a serious hit.
20:00In February of 2024, Red Sea cables were cut again.
20:03The US blamed Iran's proxy, the Houthis of Yemen.
20:07Iran didn't even show up.
20:09Its allies did the job.
20:11Now imagine Iran decides to act directly.
20:13How does this affect normal people in India, Europe, or the Gulf?
20:17The internet doesn't die.
20:19It limps.
20:21Bank transfers slow down.
20:22Payment platforms glitch.
20:24Hospital cloud systems lag.
20:26Airline booking systems freeze.
20:28Over 20 major cable pass through the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea,
20:33connecting India, the Gulf, Europe, and East Africa.
20:38When they go dark, the most exposed regions are the Gulf states, South Asia, and East Africa.
20:45India feels it within minutes.
20:47Europe feels it within hours.
20:49Nobody goes fully offline.
20:51Everyone gets dragged into a digital mud pit where nothing works the way it should.
20:56And nobody can fix it fast.
21:00Why do experts say this disrupts trillions of dollars?
21:03How does the internet affect the global economy?
21:06Because global foreign exchange trading alone hit $9.6 trillion a day in April 2025.
21:13Every single one of those trades runs through these cables.
21:18Banks don't settle payments by carrier pigeons.
21:21Stock markets don't run on goodwill.
21:23The moment a major cable goes dark, trading platforms lag, settlements fail, and markets panic.
21:32And here's what makes Hormuz uniquely catastrophic.
21:36It's a double punch.
21:38Iran blocks oil shipments.
21:40Energy prices spike.
21:41Iran cuts cables.
21:43The financial system that processes those panicking markets also degrades.
21:47At the exact moment traders need fast, reliable data, the data highway goes dark.
21:55That's not a crisis.
21:56That's a catastrophe stacked on top of a catastrophe.
22:00Now add oil to the mix.
22:02Hormuz already controls a huge chunk of global energy flow.
22:06Block ships.
22:07Oil prices jump.
22:08Insurance costs spike.
22:10Supply chains tighten.
22:12Now hit the cables at the same time.
22:14You don't just have an energy crisis.
22:17You have a communication crisis layered on top.
22:20Markets panic faster.
22:22Recovery slows down.
22:23That combination creates maximum chaos with minimal effort.
22:28Does this kill the global internet?
22:30No.
22:31That is an exaggeration.
22:32The internet reroutes.
22:34It survives.
22:35But it slows, stutters and strains.
22:38Especially in regions tied to these roots.
22:41And in a world addicted to speed, even a delay feels like a breakdown.
22:46So the real story is not about destroying the internet.
22:49It is about controlling the choke points.
22:51Hit the right cable at the right place at the right time.
22:54And suddenly, a two-inch wire decides the fate of trillion-dollar markets.
23:00Now ask yourself, who really holds power in the Strait of Hormuz?
23:04That's all we have for you in this edition of Statecraft.
23:07Before we go, the streets of the historic Italian alpine town of Brixen,
23:11also known as Bresinon, were illuminated with lights and messages of peace
23:15for the 2026 edition of the Brixen Waterlight Festival.
23:19Take a look at these visuals.
23:21Enjoy.
23:22Goodbye and take care.
23:36Bye and take care.
24:31Bye and take care.
Comments