00:00Let's take a look at that.
00:31This route goes on to pass through Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan has been an important land link to China that gained
00:37further relevance during this year's blockade of Iran gulf ports by the US. The route has also been used by
00:43Russia for cargo shipments to Iran since late 2025. According to reports, repairs to the bridge are expected to be
00:51completed quickly. Just to give you a background, the geography of the country shows that because toward the north of
00:58Iran is where Turkmenistan,
01:00is and that then connects China and the railway corridor. That's where it's been so badly hit. Let's immediately get
01:06a perspective on this and we'll put out the map also of Iran to help our viewers understand the topography
01:14and the geography of that area. Prana, you tell me here because from what I see, the ports that are
01:20being targeted are toward the south. How is the China connection coming in? What exactly happened? What are you hearing?
01:26So clearly this shows that the infrastructure which is considered to be maintaining the supply line for Iran is being
01:35targeted. Al-Kala, Al-Taqa area, especially in the northern region, you know that China runs a multi-nation China
01:42-Iran rail corridor.
01:44And this rail corridor was considered as a route. And recently in an interview, President Donald Trump said that the
01:51Chinese were supplying few things. We do not think that they were supplying military ammunition or weapons to Iran.
01:58But if you see, you know, this statement coming from President Donald Trump or U.S. leadership and thereafter a
02:06military action carried out by the U.S. military, certainly they wanted to give out a message that, you know,
02:12such infrastructure which is supporting Iran to sustain its fight to maintain the supply lines of Iran is also vulnerable
02:21and can be targeted.
02:22And certainly, you know, this is not for the first time that the northern part of Iran was targeted. In
02:27fact, earlier the area of Mashhad was also targeted, but that was at the height of this conflict during the
02:3240-day conflict.
02:32Do you think China gets involved here or no, they wouldn't really be giving out statements right now?
02:36We have to see, we have to wait for what, because so far China has been very cautious, they have
02:41been criticizing the U.S. military action and aggression.
02:45And in fact, China has appointed Ambassador Jai Jun as the Chinese President Xi Jinping's special envoy for the West
02:53Asia peace process.
02:53They have engaged with Iran, with other stakeholders of the Gulf region, they have also, they also engaged with Israel
03:00as well.
03:00But currently, the situation is, you know, precipitating between Iran and United States.
03:06And there we have to see that, you know, besides statement, what concrete action they will take.
03:10And Iran has started to already bombard in response.
03:12Absolutely. They are not only taking this action, which they have already, you know, they have always carried out such
03:19actions in response to a U.S. military action.
03:21But we have to see that from here, how does this entire, you know, thing or entire situation precipitates or
03:28spirals down?
03:29Regional to global as the fear is. Appreciate you joining us, Pranay. I have some news coming in.
03:32Iran is starting to bombard American bases across the Gulf region. Let's take a look at that.
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