00:00Do you think this is an actual turning point within this conflict, a permanent ceasefire,
00:05or do you think this is just a temporary pause in tensions between the US and Iran?
00:10I think it's a mixture of both. I think we're going to see this temporary pause because,
00:13as I say, Donald Trump wants it. The knock-on geopolitical economic consequences of the
00:20Straits of Hormuz being closed has actually meant that Trump has felt it right across the world,
00:24with countries constantly badgering him to say, what have you done? Fertiliser, for example,
00:30unable to get out of the Straits, is impacting on countries' ability to grow crops. And this
00:35is all being pointed to Donald Trump's blame. He's being blamed for this. So he wants some
00:43form of get out. He wants an off-ramp as soon as possible. Likewise, you therefore have to ask
00:49yourselves, what was it all for? Where was it supposed to go? I have to say, as Middle East
00:54minister, I've followed this region for over a decade. And I saw how little we did to actually
01:00stand up to Iran, using its proxy influences to cause such a toxic atmosphere across the Middle
01:09East, to disrupt not just economies, but also the politics as well. The West, the world didn't do
01:14enough. You now have an American president who dares to step forward, but he's done it in such a
01:20cack-handed way that we've ended up with the regime remaining intact, being able to control
01:26its own population with a sense of brutal force that we've not seen even before this war even started.
01:35So, arguably, we're in a worse position than before the 25th of February.
Comments