00:00The U.S. and Iran have agreed to stop attacking each other before peace talks resume this week.
00:05The development signals a de-escalation after several days of tit-for-tat strikes tested a
00:11fragile truce. Let's get more on the situation with Bloomberg Middle East breaking news editor
00:17Donna Krish. Donna, will the ceasefire hold and why exactly did the escalation happen in the first
00:24place over the past few days? Good morning. Yes, I think the ceasefire will hold. I think both
00:33parties do want the truce to remain and I don't think that these skirmishes that we're seeing would
00:40impact that or impact the talks over the MIU. I think the question maybe remains is why Iran targeted
00:48this container ship in Hormuz last week and of course another one that prompted the U.S. to
00:53retaliate and attack Iran. And it seems that the U.S. have to respond, right, because it's considered
01:00that to be a breach. And then we had U.S. President Trump, you know, he wants to show that
01:06they're not
01:06going to tolerate any breaches and that they are still in a very strong position and they won't allow
01:12Iran to have a free hand anywhere, especially in Hormuz. And that is, of course, maybe at the heart
01:18of this escalation this week. And of course, the fate of Hormuz, the free flow of traffic there,
01:25will it remain free given that, you know, of course, Iran's insistence on some sort of fees
01:30and that isn't clear, of course. I think the worrying bit is, of course, what President Trump posted
01:36on Saturday. He said there may come a point that when we are no longer able to be reasonable with
01:43Iran
01:43and that we'll be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started.
01:50So his words kind of leave the door open to more escalation and more skirmishes.
01:56But definitely both sides don't want to undermine their positions. But yet again, Iran doesn't want
02:01the blockade to return and neither does the U.S. because they want Hormuz to remain open and have
02:06those ships pass through. Right. And quite all of that really underpid some of the talks that we are
02:13anticipating over the next few days. What exactly can we expect, especially considering all of those
02:19considerations you just pointed out there? What is it that you're watching out for over the next few
02:24days? I think we are watching for an announcement on the frozen assets, right? We saw the sanctions waiver
02:33is taking place. But the frozen assets is what Iran will focus on, I think, this week.
02:39They want to start discussions on this and see the release of some of these assets. They are
02:43anticipating about $12 billion to be released to them. And this is, of course, to ease some of that
02:50monetary burden as a result of the war. You know, finance imports begin some sort of reconstruction and
02:57pump cash into its economy. Now, President Trump insists that Iran will use that money to buy
03:02grains and wheat from the U.S. But we saw Iran last week, you know, rebuffing this and saying we
03:08will
03:08buy it. It is our decision only to decide on what to do with this money. I think the most
03:15sticking
03:15point will remain to be Hormuz and, you know, Iran's insistence on having any kind of administration
03:21over it. We saw Oman last week telling from our own original reporting, telling European allies that
03:27it will at some point have to impose fees and that it is under pressure from Iran to do so.
03:33So the situation is still very volatile, I would say, even now with the technical talks, all eyes
03:39remain on Hormuz. And of course, those 60 days, if they expire, will Iran impose any fees? Will Gulf
03:47countries be able or want to pay? This remains the sticking point, I think, more so than the frozen
03:53assets.
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