00:00I want to ask you, I mean, earlier in the week, we were focused on some attacks and fresh attacks
00:05that have been carried out on the United Arab Emirates. And yet Iran denies it was behind them.
00:10And I'm just wondering what you read into that. Could that possibly suggest that there are
00:15breakaway groups or indeed serious fractures in the ranks of Iran's leadership?
00:22I think that goes without saying, Tom, the major issue appears to be, in my view,
00:28the reason why negotiations broke down the first time was because elements of the government,
00:35which imagined that they were in control, were in Pakistan trying to make a deal with the United
00:40States. They got back to Iran and the IRGC, which appears to now hold most of the cards, if not
00:48all
00:48of them, said, what are you talking about? We don't agree to this. This makes no sense. So my greatest
00:58concern about all of this is that rogue elements of the IRGC may take actions without reference to a
01:08larger or more senior authority, which speaks for the entire nation. So I'm certainly not suggesting
01:15this is the case, but the possibility in my mind exists that a lower IRGC commander may take it upon
01:24himself to begin laying more mines in the Strait of Hormuz. Or someone might have launched those 15
01:33ballistic missiles at Fujara the other day without reference to whoever may be in charge, whether it's
01:43Pazekian or whether it's Vahadi of the IRGC. This is unclear to me, and I suspect it's unclear to a
01:51lot of
01:51people. That is the main problem. Who speaks for Iran now?
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