Donald Trump scraps threat of 20% fee on Strait of Hormuz cargo | BBC News — Transcript

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1. 0:04Hello, I'm Marian Masheri and this is
2. 0:06the Iran War Today, our daily briefing
3. 0:09bringing you up to date on all you need
4. 0:10to know on the USIsrael war with Iran.
5. 0:14Well, let's begin with some of today's
6. 0:16key developments. President Trump backs
7. 0:18down over his threat to impose a 20%
8. 0:21charge on ships transiting the Strait of
9. 0:23Hormuz. It follows another round of
10. 0:25strikes and counter strikes as the US
11. 0:28continues its battle to break Iran's
12. 0:30hold on the crucial waterway.
13. 0:33Iran's Gulf neighbors bear the brunt of
14. 0:35its retaliatory attacks with strikes
15. 0:36reported in Kuwait, Bahrain, and Jordan.
16. 0:40Oil prices recover after Mr. Trump's
17. 0:42announcement as shipping traffic in the
18. 0:44Strait of Hormuz slows to a two-month
19. 0:47low.
20. 0:53Well, the battle between the United
21. 0:54States and Iran for control of the
22. 0:56Straight of Hummus continues. Explosions
23. 0:59have been reported in multiple Iranian
24. 1:01cities around the key waterway now
25. 1:03contested by both sides. Strikes near
26. 1:06the port cities of Bandrabos on Busher,
27. 1:08the site of Iran's only civilian nuclear
28. 1:11power plant, follow a night of
29. 1:13reciprocal attacks with the US saying it
30. 1:15hit military sites across the country in
31. 1:17a 5-hour mission. Iranian forces say
32. 1:20they hit and disabled two super tankers
33. 1:23in the Strait of Hormuz. One crew member
34. 1:25was killed and eight others wounded.
35. 1:28Jordan, Kuwait, and Bahrain reported
36. 1:30Iranian strikes on several US facilities
37. 1:33in their territory with Gulf nations
38. 1:36again saying they intercepted aerial
39. 1:38attacks. This all comes a day after US
40. 1:41President Donald Trump promised to hit
41. 1:43Iran very hard, reinstating a US
42. 1:46blockade of Iranian ports set to take
43. 1:48effect on Tuesday. The blockade will
44. 1:51stop Iran ships or customers from
45. 1:53entering or leaving the Straight of
46. 1:55Hormuz through the Gulf of Oman. Well,
47. 1:57on Monday, the president said he would
48. 1:59be imposing a 20% charge on all cargo
49. 2:02shipped through the straight. But in the
50. 2:04last few hours, some 24 hours since that
51. 2:06announcement, he posted this on Truth
52. 2:09Social. He said, "Based on highly
53. 2:11productive conversations with Middle
54. 2:13East leadership, I have decided to
55. 2:15replace the 20% United States
56. 2:17reimbursement fee with trade and
57. 2:19investment deals the various Gulf States
58. 2:22will be making into the United States."
59. 2:25Well, Mr. Trump is hosting the Iraqi
60. 2:27Prime Minister Ali al- Zahedi at the
61. 2:29White House, a meeting in which the
62. 2:31issue of Iran dominated discussions.
63. 2:34Have a listen to what he had to say.
64. 2:37>> I don't like the concept of a fee, but
65. 2:39at the same time, it's not fair that
66. 2:40we're protecting this straight for the
67. 2:43entire world, for China and everyone. I
68. 2:45I don't mind protecting it for China. I
69. 2:47don't mind protecting it for anybody,
70. 2:49but it's unfair that we're not in
71. 2:50somehow compensated.
72. 2:53Well, let's cross live and speak to
73. 2:55chief North America correspondent Gary
74. 2:57O'Dono. Gary, the president's changed
75. 2:59his mind about that 20% toll. So, what
76. 3:02exactly is going on here? Where do we
77. 3:03stand?
78. 3:08>> Well, it's kind of as you were as of 24
79. 3:10hours ago. The president uh is still
80. 3:13going ahead with imposing the blockade
81. 3:15on Iranian ports and Iranian shipping.
82. 3:18That kicks in in about 2 and a half
83. 3:20hours time.
84. 3:22uh the plan to impose this 20% charge on
85. 3:26cargo as he put it uh that's gone away
86. 3:29within 24 hours. He's been persuaded, it
87. 3:32seems, by concerns here in Washington,
88. 3:34but also, in his own words, by
89. 3:36discussions with Saudi Arabia and other
90. 3:39uh countries in the region who didn't
91. 3:42want to see those tariffs, not
92. 3:43surprisingly. And he says they're going
93. 3:44to get inward investment from those
94. 3:47countries instead. Nothing very definite
95. 3:49on that, but a complete reversal. They
96. 3:51call it plays into this whole idea that
97. 3:54um that President Trump doesn't always
98. 3:57follow through on some of his threats.
99. 3:59They have a word for it, don't they? in
100. 4:01the markets here. Taco Trump always
101. 4:03chickens out.
102. 4:05>> Gary, thank you very much indeed.
103. 4:09>> Well, Iran's military has warned it
104. 4:11would respond if the US naval blockade
105. 4:13is reinstated. President Trump accused
106. 4:15Thran of violating its preliminary
107. 4:17agreement with Washington because, in
108. 4:20his words, there was something in the
109. 4:21deal they didn't like. He was referring
110. 4:24to clause five in the memorandum of
111. 4:26understanding which says the Islamic
112. 4:28Republic of Iran will make arrangements
113. 4:30using its best efforts for the safe
114. 4:32passage of commercial vessels with no
115. 4:35charge for 60 days only from the Persian
116. 4:38Gulf to the Sea of Oman and vice versa.
117. 4:42Well, Iran has insisted that all traffic
118. 4:44must receive its prior approval and pass
119. 4:46through a designated route along the
120. 4:48Iranian coast, one of three maritime
121. 4:51routes through that narrow straight.
122. 4:54With me here in the studio is BBC
123. 4:56Persian Siovash Adlan. Siovash, a lot of
124. 4:58space for interpretation in terms of
125. 5:00that clause. What is it that the
126. 5:02Iranians in the US are not seeing it on
127. 5:04in as far as this memorandum is
128. 5:06concerned? Well, in the memorandum, it
129. 5:09says that Iran with the cooperation of
130. 5:12Oman, they will have discussions to
131. 5:15determine the future of the arrangements
132. 5:18that will govern the maritime shipping
133. 5:20in the straight of Hormos. Uh that's
134. 5:23what's been you know disputed between
135. 5:25Iran and the US. While the discussions
136. 5:28were going on in that 60-day space that
137. 5:31was given between the two countries,
138. 5:33what the Iranians are saying is that the
139. 5:35US decided to open up an alternative
140. 5:38route very close to the coast of Oman
141. 5:40for the shipping to go through that
142. 5:42route, thereby reducing Iran's leverage
143. 5:45and control over the straight of Hormos.
144. 5:47Iran felt that this is a violation of
145. 5:49the memorandum of understanding and it
146. 5:51was ridden with ambiguities anyway not
147. 5:53just on the straight of hormones but on
148. 5:55other issues as well but particularly in
149. 5:57the straight of hormones it was just a
150. 5:58matter of time before the two sides
151. 6:01would have clashed over this
152. 6:03>> so where does this leave things now then
153. 6:05what are the Iranians thinking at this
154. 6:06very moment do you think
155. 6:08>> Iranians are discussing worst case
156. 6:10scenarios in a lot of these strategy
157. 6:12forums the many of them are thinking the
158. 6:14flare up of of of of The conflict
159. 6:17between the two sides, US's relentless
160. 6:19attacks over the past four days against
161. 6:22Iran's uh military assets on the
162. 6:24southern coast is a prelude possibly to
163. 6:28a ground invasion or the occupation of
164. 6:30one of Iran's islands. They are
165. 6:33preparing for worst case scenarios, but
166. 6:36they are hoping that by trying to fire
167. 6:39it ships and deter shipping from the
168. 6:41straight of Hormos not to allow us to
169. 6:44take control of that straight. And this
170. 6:46is apparently what President Trump is
171. 6:48trying very hard in his own turn to
172. 6:50avoid as well, not to allow Iran to have
173. 6:52control. So really, it's a war over
174. 6:55control of the straight of Horos
175. 6:57>> and control over that strait is
176. 6:58something that Iran is not ever going to
177. 7:00be willing to give up now that it's
178. 7:02discovered that it has this level of
179. 7:03power that it didn't have before.
180. 7:05>> Absolutely. Many are
181. 7:06>> be intelligence that the US have
182. 7:08>> even now become more crucial to Iran's
183. 7:10long-term strategy than the uh nuclear
184. 7:13than the nuclear program. So u what many
185. 7:17analysts are saying no matter what the
186. 7:19US does no matter how much it strikes
187. 7:21Iran it just takes one little drone to
188. 7:24hit a ship for insurance companies to
189. 7:27withdraw their coverage for ships for
190. 7:29the whole you know shipping uh flow of
191. 7:32oil and other goods to be disrupted and
192. 7:34as we see in the past 2 three days
193. 7:36hardly any ships have gone through the
194. 7:38straight of hormones so this is not
195. 7:40something that Iran will give up at any
196. 7:42cost so really what they're saying is
197. 7:44the US has to come up with another plan
198. 7:46other than brute force.
199. 7:48>> Okay, Sash, great to talk to you. Thank
200. 7:50you very much.
201. 7:52Now, let's move on to the region and the
202. 7:54impact regionally because Bahrain,
203. 7:56Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates are
204. 7:58among Iran's Gulf neighbors to be hit as
205. 8:01Thran retaliates at this latest round of
206. 8:04US strikes. The UAE has condemned Iran
207. 8:07for what it called a brazen attack on
208. 8:10its super tankers in Omani waters. Well,
209. 8:14India has also sharply criticized Iran
210. 8:16for the strikes which resulted in the
211. 8:18death of two seafarers, one of them from
212. 8:21India. Eight others were injured, six of
213. 8:23whom are Indian and two Ukrainians. The
214. 8:25BBC's Makaji has latest reaction from
215. 8:28Delhi.
216. 8:30>> We know that there were 12 Indians on
217. 8:32the Alba. One was killed and another was
218. 8:35injured. Now there were 18 Indians on
219. 8:38board the Mombasa of which nine
220. 8:40sustained injuries including two who are
221. 8:42in a serious condition. As a result of
222. 8:44this earlier in the day India summoned a
223. 8:46senior diplomat from Iran posted in
224. 8:48Delhi to lodge what it said was a strong
225. 8:50protest against these attacks. In a
226. 8:53statement India said it condemned the
227. 8:55attacks targeting seafares which
228. 8:57disrupted free and safe navigation
229. 8:59through international waterways like the
230. 9:02street of Hormuz. This is not the first
231. 9:04instance of Indian casualties. Earlier
232. 9:06on in June as well, three Indian sailors
233. 9:08were killed after the US military struck
234. 9:10a tanker in the Gulf of Oman which it
235. 9:13had accused of violating its blockade on
236. 9:15Iranian ports. India had at that time
237. 9:17also summoned a senior US diplomat to
238. 9:20lodge a strong protest. Now these
239. 9:22killings once again highlight how
240. 9:24developments in West Asia continue to
241. 9:27impact countries far and wide even if
242. 9:29they're not directly involved in the
243. 9:31conflict. In that same statement, India
244. 9:34has again said that they urge dialogue.
245. 9:36They've always tried to walk a tight
246. 9:38rope in this conflict. It's been very
247. 9:39cautious so far and has not openly
248. 9:41condemned US action in strong terms so
249. 9:44far. They have said they are following
250. 9:45developments very closely and once again
251. 9:48want the waring sides to come to the
252. 9:50talking table uh and advocated
253. 9:52deescalation saying that the differences
254. 9:54between both sides must be solved
255. 9:56through dialogue and diplomacy.
256. 9:59Well, Thran insists it only targets US
257. 10:02interests in the region, but a military
258. 10:03spokesman said any collaboration by Gulf
259. 10:06countries with Washington will be
260. 10:08considered an act of war. Well, let's
261. 10:10speak to BBC Arabic say Shahhata and
262. 10:12say, how much of a threat are these
263. 10:14latest strikes to stability in the
264. 10:16region?
265. 10:18It is uh very alarming uh because the
266. 10:21Gulf countries have been paying a heavy
267. 10:23price uh since the war in 28th of
268. 10:26February and uh there is question mark
269. 10:29about the uh the ability of the United
270. 10:32States to protect the Gulf countries
271. 10:33after what happened to them because they
272. 10:36lost people, they were killed, people
273. 10:38were killed in the Gulf, people were
274. 10:39injured, infrastructure were hit, uh
275. 10:42they lost billions of dollars of the uh
276. 10:45the infrastructure were hit, you
277. 10:47especially the gas oil field in al-
278. 10:49Masal in uh in uh in uh in the uh in
279. 10:54Qatar. So there is many problems, many
280. 10:56problems. So after you know the Gulf
281. 10:57puts their trust in the United States,
282. 10:59they question it now. And talking with
283. 11:01some politician from the Gulf, they are
284. 11:04questioning the ability of the US to
285. 11:06protect them because after 1990s after
286. 11:08Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, there was
287. 11:10they lost trust in the what's called the
288. 11:13common Arab defense. So they put after
289. 11:15that their uh trust in the United
290. 11:17States. They still trust the United
291. 11:18States but you know the air defense
292. 11:20system are even they are intercepting uh
293. 11:23the missiles and drones but is still
294. 11:25affecting the Gulf countries. So
295. 11:26stability of the Gulf countries under
296. 11:29scrutiny because of the strikes of Iran.
297. 11:32So they need protection from the Iran
298. 11:33threats. They were not didn't have that
299. 11:35from the Arab defense after the Saddam
300. 11:38invaded Kuwait in 1990s. And nowadays
301. 11:41there is question mark. the United
302. 11:43States try to h get more money from the
303. 11:45Gulf investment and as Mr. Trump said he
304. 11:48will wave the 20% charge who he
305. 11:51announced it recently in order to for
306. 11:53investment and trade of the Gulf in the
307. 11:54United States but the Gulf countries
308. 11:56with instability with this you know like
309. 11:59ships going the straight of hormones it
310. 12:01will affecting the money will get from
311. 12:03the oil and gas so in this case it will
312. 12:05be a problematic for the Gulf countries
313. 12:06so the only solution for that is to end
314. 12:09the war between Iran and United States
315. 12:11but the hormos is a big problem between
316. 12:14them Iran won't use this h as a
317. 12:16bargaining hard not only for now but for
318. 12:18the for the future and they put you know
319. 12:21conditions and the Americans they cannot
320. 12:23with using the force to stop Iran
321. 12:25because Iran has still the ability to
322. 12:27hit any ship and this what happened over
323. 12:30the last few days American retaliated by
324. 12:33striking different places in Iran but
325. 12:34this didn't stop Iran so even Iran was
326. 12:37this you know strike very hard but it
327. 12:39still is very very crucial that the
328. 12:42United States give you know uh
329. 12:45guarantees for the Gulf in in order to
330. 12:47not to see any strikes again against uh
331. 12:50the the states and affecting their
332. 12:52economy.
333. 12:53>> Say, thank you for that.
334. 12:56So, what is the impact of all of this on
335. 12:59the global economy? Well, oil prices
336. 13:01have begun to recover in the last few
337. 13:02minutes since Mr. Trump's announcement
338. 13:04that he's dropping the straight of
339. 13:06Hormuz toll. They had spiked earlier in
340. 13:08the day, but the latest shipping data
341. 13:10shows that traffic has slowed to a
342. 13:12two-month low. Well, let's talk to our
343. 13:14business correspondent, Mark Ashdown,
344. 13:16now. Mark, what are the oil markets
345. 13:17thinking right now? Do they even know
346. 13:19what to think?
347. 13:20>> I'm not sure they do, actually. I mean,
348. 13:22yeah, another day of uh interesting
349. 13:24movements, as you say there. Uh this uh
350. 13:27plan from Donald Trump to impose 20%
351. 13:29tariffs potentially saw contributed to
352. 13:32really a spike uh in the oil price. Uh
353. 13:35it reached about $87 a barrel earlier in
354. 13:38the day in early trading. Uh it did ease
355. 13:41off though as you say towards the end of
356. 13:42the day after Trump softened his
357. 13:44language said he wouldn't uh be pursuing
358. 13:46uh that plan. Uh so I think traders
359. 13:48really a bit weary I suppose of all
360. 13:51this. They they hear this combosive
361. 13:53rhetoric from both sides but I think in
362. 13:55their minds uh they feel that the best
363. 13:58course of action remains a deal for uh
364. 14:00both sides. So we saw in early trading
365. 14:02today uh the Footsie for example and the
366. 14:05uh indexes around Europe dropped off but
367. 14:08only to about a percent down and we saw
368. 14:10some pretty wild swings remember back a
369. 14:12few months ago when war broke out more
370. 14:13like sort of 5 10% and then the same
371. 14:16sort of swings back up when peace seemed
372. 14:18a possibility. So I think really traders
373. 14:21holding their breath holding off uh at
374. 14:23the moment and waiting to see the hope I
375. 14:25think is that this can get resolved uh
376. 14:27quickly. That's why we didn't see such a
377. 14:29major reaction today.
378. 14:31Mark, thank you very much indeed.
379. 14:34Well, let's now bring ourselves to our
380. 14:38final thought for the program. Let's
381. 14:40cross live and speak to our chief
382. 14:41international correspondent, Lee Tuset.
383. 14:44And Lee, this memorandum of
384. 14:45understanding that we talked about
385. 14:47earlier feels very much more like a
386. 14:49memorandum of misunderstanding between
387. 14:51the two countries. Where do we go from
388. 14:52here?
389. 14:54Yes, this uh dispute uh over the control
390. 14:58over the straight of Hormuz which we
391. 15:00have to keep emphasizing is a dispute
392. 15:02that was created uh by this war. It was
393. 15:05the straight was open and functioning
394. 15:07normally with the free flow of traffic
395. 15:10before the war was unleashed by Israel
396. 15:12and the United States on February the
397. 15:1528th. And now, as you've been hearing in
398. 15:17this program from our various
399. 15:19correspondents, is that Iran has now
400. 15:21decided that it will never return to the
401. 15:24status quo anti that it will always
402. 15:26maintain some kind of presence. What
403. 15:28kind of control still remains to be seen
404. 15:31because countries like Oman, which Iran
405. 15:33insisted be included in this memorandum
406. 15:36of understanding, has its own ideas
407. 15:38about this crucial waterway and had been
408. 15:41allowing some US vessels to go through
409. 15:43its southern coastline. Uh, and those
410. 15:47vessels did come under attack by Iran.
411. 15:49in Iran and Oman, long-standing
412. 15:51traditional allies, are now struggling
413. 15:54to come to some kind of an understanding
414. 15:57over how they can move forward in this
415. 16:00strait. But M is just one example of the
416. 16:02wording, the vague wording in a hastily
417. 16:05drafted deal which allows both sides,
418. 16:07all sides to see in it what they want to
419. 16:10read. Iran sees in clause five of a 14
420. 16:15paragraph agreement uh giving it u the
421. 16:18that it should that Iran will now make
422. 16:20arrangements using its best efforts to
423. 16:23restore the free row of traffic and as
424. 16:25we heard from our colleague Iran has
425. 16:27interpreted that that it does indeed
426. 16:29have control over the management of the
427. 16:31straight whereas the United States reads
428. 16:34that same paragraph as saying that Iran
429. 16:37has to completely open uh the the
430. 16:40traffic through the waterway as one. I
431. 16:42was speaking yesterday to some oil
432. 16:44executives, some Arab oil executives
433. 16:46working in the region and they said you
434. 16:48could drive a truck uh through that
435. 16:50drafting and so this is what is
436. 16:52imperiling this ever so fragile
437. 16:55memorandum.
438. 16:57>> So where does the answer lie lease?
439. 16:59Because at the moment it just feels like
440. 17:00there as someone I spoke to an analyst I
441. 17:03spoke to earlier said there's fighting
442. 17:05and talking and fighting. How much
443. 17:07longer can this mix last?
444. 17:10>> From the very beginning, it's uh to use
445. 17:12the phrase a no war, no peace scenario.
446. 17:15Not an allout war, but not a permanent
447. 17:17peace. And I know from speaking to some
448. 17:19of the Arab mediators, they're becoming
449. 17:20exasperated by this state of affairs.
450. 17:23And in the last 24 hours, it did seem,
451. 17:26Marian, that the region was tipping more
452. 17:29into a war with the President Trump
453. 17:32again going to Congress to ask for a
454. 17:34return to war. I think the general idea,
455. 17:37and we've said this many times, is
456. 17:39neither sides wants to return to an
457. 17:41all-out confrontation, but both sides
458. 17:44believe they have the upper hand and
459. 17:45neither side wants to back down,
460. 17:48believing their uh their enemy in in
461. 17:50this confrontation is the weaker side
462. 17:52and will eventually uh give in.
463. 17:55President Trump is facing the pressure
464. 17:57of the midterm elections. The clock is
465. 17:59ticking. Oil prices, as we've been
466. 18:01hearing, have just have gone up again.
467. 18:03Markets have been affected. But Iran has
468. 18:06its own pressures. I know from having
469. 18:08been there recently, the economic and
470. 18:10financial crisis is dire. A staggering
471. 18:1380% inflation, millions of job losses,
472. 18:16not just through this war. And we should
473. 18:19emphasize two wars in less than a year,
474. 18:21but also through what was the largest
475. 18:23one of the largest digital shutdowns in
476. 18:26history. But Iran has made it clear this
477. 18:28fault line is a big bright red line and
478. 18:32it will not cross it. Lee, thank you
479. 18:34very much indeed.
480. 18:37Well, whether you're joining us on
481. 18:38YouTube, Tik Tok, sounds, radio, or TV,
482. 18:40thanks for your time. That's all from
483. 18:42the Iran War today.