00:00The tense standoff between the U.S. and Iran is escalating again after Tehran declared that
00:05all ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz must first get permission from the Islamic
00:10Revolutionary Guard Corps. The announcement comes after Iran attacked two commercial ships in
00:15recent days, triggering U.S. retaliatory strikes, which then led to Iran attacking U.S. military
00:20sites in Kuwait and Bahrain. Iran also says it will exercise sole control over the strait for
00:26the next 30 days, even though the original agreement called for the waterway to remain
00:30open during 60 days of peace talks. Meanwhile, shipping traffic in the strait has dropped
00:35sharply, with just 10 ships making the crossing on Saturday after dozens have been passing through
00:41earlier in the week. Can we even call this a ceasefire anymore? And what about negotiations?
00:47Where do they stand? Here's The Post's Deputy Managing Editor, Michael Zinni.
00:51So this is very much a ceasefire. We were briefed today. Our reporter, Josh Christensen,
00:57was actually briefed today by a source close to all of this, who basically said that what is happening
01:05is that Iran realizes it is in a vice. So the U.S. Navy has successfully opened a route through
01:16the
01:16Oman side of the Strait of Hormuz. And these are ships that were actually passing through this
01:23route, which is not controlled by Iran, are the ones that were targeted for attacks over the last
01:30few days. The other thing that's happened is the U.S. and Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a deal
01:37that
01:38basically cuts Hezbollah out. And then the third major thing that's happening is that the oil revenue
01:45is not coming in for Iran the way that they think they thought it was going to. The U.S.
01:53has is,
01:54according to this source who spoke to The Post, the U.S. has basically stuck to its guns that until
02:02there are actual serious concessions on the nuclear issue, there would be no money released.
02:09The other thing is, in the time that the Strait of Hormuz was blocked, China and a lot of other
02:17customers found alternative sources of energy. And so what's happening is Iran is not seeing the
02:24immediate relief that it expected. The other bit here is that they're basically, they thought that
02:33they had it made in the shade with this deal. And according to the administration source that we
02:41spoke to, that they're finding that's very much not the case. What we've seen now, though, just as
02:49we're speaking on Sunday night, right before oil futures markets were about to open, there was an
02:55announcement that there would be no more attacks. We shall see whether that holds.
03:00New York City's socialist mayor Zora Mamdani is putting to rest any speculation about a future
03:05White House bid. In an interview Sunday, the mayor laughed off the idea of changing the
03:10Constitution so he could one day run for president. ABC News' Jonathan Karl pointed out that Mamdani is
03:15about to turn 35 years old, one of the requirements to run for president. The other, according to the
03:20Constitution, is that candidates be natural-born citizens, meaning born in the United States.
03:24Do you think that's something that should be changed in the Constitution? It would take an
03:29amendment, but do you think that we should change that? No. I think the Constitution looks good the
03:35way it is. Just the way it is. Just the way it is. I'm very excited to focus on New
03:38York City,
03:39but thank you for reminding me of my upcoming mortality. 35 years old.
03:43Mamdani was born in Uganda, came to the U.S. as a young boy, and became an American citizen in
03:472018.
03:48But while he dismissed all that talk of a presidential run, he embraced his growing influence inside of
03:53the Democratic Party. He represents this wave of democratic socialism gaining traction on the left.
03:59Mamdani recently scored a series of political wins after three candidates he endorsed won their
04:03Democratic primaries. He said those victories show that Americans are hungry for, quote,
04:07a new kind of politics that puts working people first. Mamdani also defended one of those candidates
04:12when pressed about her past calls to abolish prisons and borders. While declining to say he supports
04:17eliminating prisons himself, he said simply, there are prisons. Safety is not something that's up for
04:23debate. Now the latest on those devastating earthquakes in Venezuela. The death toll has
04:30climbed to over 1,400 as rescue crews from around the world continue digging through rubble five days
04:35after the country was hit by twin earthquakes. The quakes were massive too, measuring 7.2 and 7.5.
04:41That high death toll is unfortunately just part of the horrific devastation. Authorities say about
04:463,000 people have been injured, nearly 69,000 remain missing, and aftershocks are continuing to
04:53hammer the region, making the search for survivors that much more dangerous. Meanwhile, international
04:58aid has poured into the country. The State Department announced $150 million in aid last week,
05:03and the United States has deployed elite search and rescue teams from Virginia and Los Angeles.
05:07More than 20 international delegations have also arrived with rescue workers, search dogs,
05:12heavy equipment, and tons of medical supplies. With tens of thousands of people still unaccounted for,
05:18officials say the focus remains on finding survivors before time runs out.
05:23For more on these stories and everything else you could possibly want to know, check out the New York
05:28Post in print or online. And don't forget, like and subscribe to the New York Postcast wherever you
05:32get your podcast and on YouTube. I promise, you'll be glad you did.
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