00:00It's a beach day here in Bandar Abbas, Iran, a port city in one of the tensest parts of
00:05the world.
00:07As people stroll across the sand and take in the view, the ships at a standstill in the
00:11distance are a reminder of a war with the U.S. that has stopped traffic through the
00:15Strait of Hormuz.
00:17A ceasefire has not eased the economic pain.
00:19The blockage has cut the world off from a fifth of its oil and gas supply.
00:25It's really hard.
00:26People are really suffering and struggling.
00:28Right now, pretty much anything you want isn't easy to find.
00:32And even if you can find it, it's so expensive that people's purchasing power has really weakened.
00:37The situation is not good.
00:39There is some cause for hope, though.
00:42U.S. President Donald Trump says a deal is in the works, though not yet complete, and that
00:46he won't be rushed into anything.
00:49And on a trip to India in recent days, his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, spoke of progress on
00:55talks with Iran.
00:56But there are still fundamental disagreements.
01:00Iran says its goal with this war is to stop Iran getting nuclear weapons.
01:04Iran says it never sought anything more than a civil nuclear program.
01:09And then there's the sharp difference over what's next for the Strait of Hormuz.
01:13The U.S. says Iran cannot be allowed to keep up its limits on shipping.
01:17They don't own it.
01:19It's an international waterway.
01:21And what they are doing now is basically they are threatening to destroy commercial
01:25vessels using an international waterway.
01:28That is illegal under any concept of international law that governs it.
01:31On Sunday, though, a military advisor to Iran's supreme leader said Iran has a legal right to manage
01:37the key waterway for national security and threatened consequences if the U.S. tries to force its way into the
01:43strait.
01:48If you decide to attack the strait of Hormuz and enter the Persian Gulf, first of all, you will face
01:54an exceptionally difficult and painful response.
01:57Secondly, we will break the naval siege that we have been patient with so far and have not attacked you.
02:03But more importantly, I tell you that we may withdraw from the treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.
02:09Iran has other demands, too.
02:12An end to the U.S. counter-blockade on its ports and the lifting of sanctions on sales of Iranian
02:17oil.
02:18It's unclear how far the U.S. is willing to go to meet these demands.
02:23Back in Bandar Abbas, the Iranian port city, views are split.
02:28Now that the strait is closed, it's good.
02:30The working conditions and businesses are stagnant, but it's better.
02:34Iran has the upper hand, and that's better.
02:38One way or another, the U.S. wants to reopen the strait of Hormuz and completely take uranium enrichment away
02:44from Iran.
02:45And I doubt Iran is willing to give such concessions to the United States.
02:50But with any agreement between Iran and the U.S. vague on details,
02:54and Iran's foreign ministry saying they are, quote,
02:56both very close and very far from a deal,
02:59it's unclear how long this stalemate will go on.
03:03Hank Xu and John Van Trieste for Taiwan Plus.
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