00:00Well, President Trump says he has called off strikes on Iran, plans scheduled for later today.
00:05That is after Gulf allies asked for more time to seek a diplomatic resolution.
00:09Trump says the U.S. remains prepared to attack if an acceptable deal is not reached, but did not give
00:15a deadline.
00:16I was asked by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE and some others if we could put it off for two or
00:24three days, a short period of time,
00:25because they think that they are getting very close to making a deal.
00:29And if we can do that, where there's no nuclear weapon going into the hands of Iran, I think, and
00:34if they're satisfied, we will be probably satisfied also.
00:41Let's stand by now and speak to Stuart Livingstone, Wallis, Bloomberg's executive editor for Middle East, North Africa and Russia.
00:48Stuart, well, yesterday we were having a discussion about what the U.S.'s options are and whether they actually do
00:54end up going down the military route.
00:55It seems now, from what President Trump has actually told us, that they were very close to launching a renewed
01:02round of attacks on Iran,
01:04but held off because Persian Gulf allies restrained them.
01:10Does this mean that there's a potential for a breakthrough on a deal in the next few days?
01:17Good morning, Jermaine. So, I mean, I think you need to apply a certain level of skepticism to the truth
01:22social posts,
01:23because, as you know, they're frequent. They're often, you know, they need to be treated with a degree of caution.
01:30However, it must be said that it did feel like there were fewer and fewer options here.
01:36Iran seemed like it was totally unbending on the key issues as far as the U.S. is concerned.
01:41And at the same time, the U.S. was unwilling, you know, to compromise on what it sees as the
01:46red lines.
01:47So, on that basis, maybe we are getting closer to a deal.
01:50I have to say there is very little visibility on where exactly that might be and where are the common
01:55grounds here.
01:56But, clear, I think, from a regional perspective, that a diplomatic option remains the preferred option over a kinetic one.
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