Google Speech-to-Text API Automatic Transcription (Chirp). Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:00:04of
00:00:34of
00:00:38of of Prime Minister Shahbas Sharif
00:00:42departs for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia a
00:00:44of three-day official visit from the 6th of August to the 8th. The prime minister is
00:00:48accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising of chief of defense
00:00:52forces, field
00:00:53of marshall, Said Simuner and other ministers. Now
00:00:56of during his visit, the prime minister will be holding a meeting with
00:01:01Prime Minister Shahbas
00:01:05of Sharif
00:01:09has highlighted the positive
00:01:10of momentum in Pakistan China relations and reaffirmed Pakistan's
00:01:14commitment to further strengthening the two countries all weather
00:01:18strategic cooperative
00:01:19partnership.
00:01:26US President Donald Trump says that he prefers
00:01:28of a deal with. on over military action while warning that the
00:01:32use
00:01:33of of force remains an option if diplomacy
00:01:38of fails. of
00:01:43Iranian deputy foreign minister for legal and international
00:01:47of affairs says that Iran and Oman are close to finalizing an
00:01:51agreement on the new
00:01:52of arrangements for commercial shipping through the straight of
00:01:55hermus.
00:02:01global
00:02:01of oil prices edge lower as concerns ease over potential
00:02:05supply disruptions in the middle east, brent crew drops to
00:02:08$79 per barrel, while US West Texas intermediate
00:02:12fell to $74.5 cents per
00:02:15in barrel.
00:02:21of US, China and Pakistan raise concerns at the UN
00:02:25of security council over terrorist safe havens in Afghanistan, urged the
00:02:29Taliban honor counter terrorism
00:02:31commitments.
00:02:52of
00:03:01Broad peak search operation underway as the bodies
00:03:05of five more
00:03:07of international climbers shifted to the combined military hospital in
00:03:14of Skardu.
00:03:49Prime Minister Shahbas Sharif has departed for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia a three-day
00:03:53visit from the 6th to the 8th of August. The prime minister is accompanied by high-level
00:03:57delegation comprising
00:03:58of the chief of defense forces. field marshall sayir and other
00:04:01ministers. more
00:04:06of Prime Minister Mohammad Shahbaz Sharif will undertake an official visit to
00:04:10Saudi Arabia from 6 to 8 August. He will be accompanied by high
00:04:14level delegation comprising the deputy
00:04:16of prime minister, field marshall sayir and several
00:04:20ministers. During the visit the prime minister will meet the crown prince
00:04:23of Saudi Arabia Mohammad bin Salman. According to the foreign office, discussions
00:04:27would focus on consolidating the Pakistan. Saudi Arabia bilateral
00:04:31relations as well as exchange of views on regional and international
00:04:35of developments of mutual interest. Discussion will focus on consolidating
00:04:39the
00:04:39of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia bilateral relationship as well as
00:04:43exchange of views on
00:04:45of areas of regional and international developments of mutual
00:04:48interest. The visit marks Pakistan's longstanding partnership with the
00:04:52kingdom of Saudi Arabia anchored intackers of mutual trust,
00:04:56cooperation and brotherhood. Foreign Office has said that although the
00:05:00visit is taking place against the backdrop of height and tensions in the
00:05:03gulf, the visit carries significance
00:05:06of beyond the immediate crisis and short term consideration. the visit will further
00:05:10strengthen bilateral relations, deepen strategic. cooperation, enhance
00:05:13coordination on regional and international issues of mutual interest
00:05:25Shahbas Sharif has highlighted the positive momentum in Pakistan, China relations
00:05:28and reaffirmed Pakistan's commitment to further strengthening the two countries all
00:05:32weather strategic cooperative partnership. He was speaking to the Chinese
00:05:36ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zidong who called on him in
00:05:39Islamabad. Now during the meeting the Chinese ambassador. presented a letter from
00:05:43Chinese President Shing Ping to the Prime Minister, expressing gratitude for
00:05:47his message on the 105th anniversary the founding the Communist Party
00:05:51of China. Shahbas Sharif also underscored the importance of enhancing people to
00:05:55people contacts as well as expanding exchanges between the political
00:05:59parties and parliaments of both the countries. The two sides also
00:06:02exchanged views on bilateral cooperation and regional issues of
00:06:06mutual
00:06:06interest.
00:06:11The embassy of Pakistan in Washington DC observed
00:06:15yamashmir organized by a special webinar titled
00:06:18contemporary challenges to international law in South Asia, Jammu
00:06:22and Kashmir dispute and the Indus Waters treaty. Now the event marked
00:06:26the seventh anniversary of India's illegal and unilateral revocation of articles
00:06:30370 and 35A of its constitution on the 5th of August
00:06:342019. The event reaffirmed Pakistan's unwavering solidarity
00:06:38with the people of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir and
00:06:41support for. their inaliable right to self-determination in accordance with the
00:06:45relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions. Messages from the
00:06:49President, the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Pakistan were
00:06:53read out loud. reiterating Pakistan's steadfast political,
00:06:56moral and diplomatic support for the people of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and
00:07:00Kashmir. They called upon the international community to play its role in the peaceful
00:07:04resolution the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the international law and
00:07:08the relevant UN Security Council resolutions. The speakers also underst.
00:07:12scored the need for peaceful resolution the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the
00:07:16international law and the relevant United Nations Security Council
00:07:19resolutions. In his opening remarks, ambassador
00:07:23Rizwan said Sheikh ambassador of Pakistan to the United States stress the
00:07:26importance of international law addressing the Jammu and Kashmir dispute and broader
00:07:30rachel
00:07:31challenges.
00:08:28the hour where the world
00:08:29of course looks towards Iran and Oman and the agreement that
00:08:33seems to be inches away from being finalized and it seems that there
00:08:37is lot going on as to what it is that the future of this straight of hermous is going to look
00:08:41like essentially very important aspect of what the United States
00:08:45and Iran are also focusing for quite some time now, especially since the
00:08:48conflict began in late Feb this year, it seems that lot
00:08:52the inbound vessels coming in to the Gulf will
00:08:56be in control of Iran if this agreement
00:09:00is gone through, and of course what the Iranian side has also
00:09:04emphasized, if there is no third party or any other involvement coming
00:09:07in, we will be seeing this agreement put in place, what exactly does that do
00:09:11to the straight? and then also the conversation between US and
00:09:15Iran of course remains to be seen and that will be important in terms the
00:09:19larger middle eastern crisises as well and what it is then that the US is going to
00:09:23decide to do, in which we've seen that the US president has emphasized a
00:09:26lot of control on the straight and the presence the US naval fleet in
00:09:30making sure that no authority is being given
00:09:34to Iran, however the agreement of course looks at things in a little different
00:09:46treaty and what it is that will be the focus of what
00:09:50India has been doing since it has so-called held
00:09:54the treaty in abayance, we've seen that the permanent court of
00:09:57arbitration has also talked about how India's
00:10:01emphasis on not accepting the court and not moving
00:10:04as part of its obligations does not change the course of action and the international
00:10:08momentum remains the same and so the neutral process
00:10:12is going to stay as planned and there are going to be independent observers and
00:10:16actions that are going to be taken as part the hydropower projects that are
00:10:20being constructed by India and so it will be important to see how
00:10:24exactly the... "this process is going to continue, what it is that Pakistan can
00:10:28do, especially legally, as part the institutional framework laid out in the
00:10:31IWT, and what then will be the future scenario of India of
00:10:35course continues to do this, and lastly we'll take a look at yome
00:10:39Isasal that is being observed today in of
00:10:43course Pakistan and in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and
00:10:47also in the Indian occupied territory, it's going to be very, very important
00:10:50emphasize once again that despite about seven years
00:10:54be..." passed since 2019 on this very day that India revoked the
00:10:58special status the occupied valley,
00:11:02it still remains a very important aspect to be emphasized
00:11:06in the international community that the the special status the
00:11:10occupied valley cannot be changed unilaterally and just because India
00:11:14has put forward its own constitution under article 350 and
00:11:1835 a is not mean that it changes the status the
00:11:22occupied territory and so this has to be resolved in. with the UN security
00:11:26council resolutions, which again is something that Pakistan has been
00:11:29emphasizing and is doing so
00:11:38to be the scenario with regards to what Iran and Oman are
00:11:41finalizing,
00:11:42and what that means for the United States and the conversation between
00:11:46Iran and the US, and it's going to be important to take that forward with
00:11:50our guests, we've been joined by associate professor Dan Afjan, director
00:11:53the Center for Iranian. and studies and Dr. Fadhi Hillani, senior fellowing
00:11:57director the Middle East Program at the National Council on U.S. Arab
00:12:01Relations. Thank you very much gentlemen for being part the show today. Dr.
00:12:05Fadhi, let me begin with you in ways that you observing the
00:12:09developments taking place between Iran and Oman, it seems that lot the
00:12:13independent observers are pointing out that perhaps this is
00:12:16something that again is being looked at as as victory for
00:12:20Iran, and what does that do to what the United States has
00:12:24been emphasizing? as part of its own control that it wants to exert
00:12:28over the
00:12:37agreement, which according to US and other
00:12:40officials uh is very eminent, and what we have
00:12:44heard from the media is that, as very much you mentioned in the
00:12:47introduction, is that there will be
00:12:51two routes to transit in the straight of herm?
00:12:55one is in the uh Iranian territorial waters and the other one is in the
00:12:59Omani territorial waters, which means both countries Oman and
00:13:03Iran will be in control of that straight, but let's remember that this
00:13:07is going to be temporary arrangement for 60 days
00:13:11after which there is a supposition that
00:13:15the area in between these two routes
00:13:18between the Iranian and the Omani waters, which is the
00:13:22international waterway during these 60 days
00:13:25it will be cleared of minds, which means the Americans
00:13:29are looking after the 60 days to bring
00:13:33the straight of hermus back to the pre- war arrangement, meaning
00:13:37that vessels can exit and transit the
00:13:40straight of hermus without being of course
00:13:44attacked by the Iranian IRGC
00:13:48navy, so the deal
00:13:51itself is not going to tell us very much as much. as the details
00:13:55of that agreement. Let's remember that the
00:13:58Mou, which was structured with some ambiguous
00:14:02language gave the opportunity and open the door for the
00:14:06Iranians and the Americans to interpret that agreement in two different
00:14:10ways. So the idea is that not what kind of agreement we
00:14:14will have, but what this agreement entails, does it
00:14:17provide the Iranians with permanent
00:14:21control over the straight of hermus? That is something I doubt very much to have.
00:14:25happen at the same time, I doubt that this agreement
00:14:28will uh entail uh very
00:14:32openly that the uh Americans will
00:14:36consent to arrangements in which the Iranians will be on control
00:14:39after that 60 days over the straight of
00:14:43hermus, so there is very much what we would like to
00:14:47see coming in the coming hours in that agreement, but it's too
00:14:50early to say that this uh provides victory to Iran or victory to the
00:14:54US. "the US at this time is looking for what is called as
00:14:58phased diplomacy, so they want to take out the table for now the
00:15:02straight of hermus so that they can focus in the coming stage uh on the
00:15:05nuclear program uh which the Iranians have and the highly enriched
00:15:09uranium, if that agreement is going to provide us with that
00:15:13ability to move to phase two then we can say we have done of
00:15:17course uh we are done with step number one and we will be moving step forward to
00:15:20step number
00:15:25come to you in this as well, even if we see Iran and Oman
00:15:28agreeing onto something, how do you think that this
00:15:32will be implemented if
00:15:34it is not validated by other countries and fully accepted by
00:15:38countries, including the United States, and also similarly, do you
00:15:42think that there can be lobbying and support garnored, especially in the
00:15:46middle east from the Gulf states, perhaps as part of this
00:15:50agreement, do you think that they're going to be looking at this and offer support for this
00:15:53to be at least mechanism in terms of having the straight
00:15:57open?
00:16:14I think um, first of all we don't really have
00:16:18anything new in our hands, I mean everything and
00:16:22dialogue between Iran on over the last few days, which according
00:16:26to the Iranian sources are going pretty much well,
00:16:30we're already in the
00:16:31mo signed on June 17th with the
00:16:35mediation of Pakistan definitely. so I think Iran was
00:16:39supposed to do that anyway and all these conflicts which
00:16:42follow the mou between Iran and United States should not have
00:16:46happened if Iran I think would
00:16:49have moved faster so Iran I think
00:16:53seems to overplay its
00:16:56hands at some points and I think the
00:17:00crisis over the straight of vomus is an example of that and
00:17:04we have a problem here because Iran from the very...
00:17:07beginning claimed sovereignty and actually
00:17:11mutual sovereignty over
00:17:13the syrup with oman definitely the sultanate of
00:17:16oman, but same time Iran prevented omanis to
00:17:20let the vsles and
00:17:22the sheeps pass through their own
00:17:25shore shores and then we had these dialogues and the talks
00:17:29between these two countries and eventually I think we are very close to
00:17:33deal between Iran and Roman to open up this
00:17:39to to the world at large, but the question here, we have
00:17:42been talking about straight off for obvious reasons
00:17:46because it was one to major that locks even
00:17:50close reforms as part of its war strategy, but
00:17:54i think we should be talking about the gulf region at
00:17:57lch, that is i think more important, because when it comes to the
00:18:01gulf region, we have number of arab countries in that
00:18:04region, gulf countries definitely. "and I think at
00:18:08some point Islamic Republic of Iran will have to talk to those
00:18:12countries as well and that there I think the real
00:18:16difficulty will will start for the Islam Republic
00:18:20because there is huge disappointment to say the
00:18:23least in in those countries about Iran's wartime
00:18:27strategy and even the resentment for Iran attacking
00:18:30those countries from the very beginning so I think
00:18:34opening up the st form is definitely very..." important, it's
00:18:38especially important for the United States of America, it's actually
00:18:42important for the global economy,
00:18:44especially the the flow of energy from that
00:18:48region, but I think the real question is the question the gulf
00:18:52region, and we will come to that part the story eventually as
00:19:01the ways in which other aspects in the middle east are
00:19:05also being observed, particularly of course what? is happening as part of
00:19:08Israel's actions against Lebanon, strikes still continue and
00:19:12we've also seen Huti rebels have a maritime blocked against Saudi
00:19:16Arabia, and of course the situation in Palestine and West Bank
00:19:20also is underway. Unfortunately, the kind of
00:19:24aspects that we see in the larger Middle Eastern region makes it a very
00:19:28conflict brown area. how exactly do you think that this
00:19:31situation dynamics as is being looked at by
00:19:35Iran and the stance that it's making how exactly do you think it
00:19:39will navigate what is happening within the middle east and then to
00:19:43what extent the US would also be deciding based on these
00:19:54i saying this? because from a US perspective,
00:19:57these proxies which you have been referring to in the question have all
00:20:01been significantly weakened over the last three years. we are talking
00:20:05about the uh what happ what happened to Hamas and
00:20:09let's remember that from Washington's perspective, Hamas is
00:20:12also an Iranian proxy, but even when we look at Hizballah in
00:20:16in Lebanon, that has been also significantly weakened
00:20:20according to Washington because the military
00:20:23operations which the IDF, the Israeli army has conducted over
00:20:27the last two years, the Hies as well have been significantly
00:20:31weaken through US military campaign lah last
00:20:35year early after President Trump to... office in
00:20:382025, the major problem which remains according to
00:20:41Washington is Iran's support to these proxies,
00:20:45but there is a there is an understanding in
00:20:48Washington. that what has been seen as
00:20:52Iran's forward defensive strategy
00:20:55has proven to be a failure, in other words,
00:20:59Iran's strategy to defend its border by by uh providing
00:21:03proxies in Lebanon and previously in Syria and
00:21:06Iraq with military and economic support so that
00:21:10attacks could be launched from these places rather than
00:21:14waging war against Iran and having the war turn
00:21:17into inside the Iranian borders. This has
00:21:20all proven to be a mistake in calculation
00:21:24because obviously since last year with the 12-day war
00:21:28and the current war uh the war has been within Iran's
00:21:32border so the Iranian regime decided
00:21:35obviously to find another deterrence
00:21:38strategy and we
00:21:40can talk about moving
00:21:41from that forward defensive strategy which I mentioned towards
00:21:45looking for to the straight of her moves not only as a bargaining.
00:21:50in the negotiations which we are currently having, but also as
00:21:53detering strategy, in other words, the Iranian regime can claim that
00:21:57any time in the future, if the Americans and the
00:22:01Israelis decide to wage war against Iran, Iran can close the straight
00:22:05of hermus, and upon this principle the
00:22:09Iranian regime can formulate a kind of deterrant strategy to deter
00:22:13the enemies, the Israelies and the American as I mentioned from waging that
00:22:16war. however, the United States
00:22:20Since also President Trump took office
00:22:23and we all know about the
00:22:26maximum pressure strategy which President Trump even
00:22:29took from his first presidency uh which is based on economic
00:22:33pressure plus now military pressure has been working on two
00:22:37tracks, the first one is weakening the proxies, which according to
00:22:41Washington as I mentioned has significantly be weakened and now
00:22:45Washington is working with both Beirut and Baghdad
00:22:49for a truck. where these proxies will
00:22:52eventually have to surrender their weapons
00:22:54to the state and these two gover to those two governments in Iraq and
00:22:58Lebanon, so that is as far as the proxies are concerned, but as
00:23:02far as the military support and the economic support is concerned, there
00:23:06is the idea in Washington that weakening Iran
00:23:09militarily and economically will actually prevent
00:23:13Iran from a long-term strategy to continue supporting these
00:23:17groups, so this is why we find that there is a condition. in Washington that
00:23:21there will be no economic sanctions lifted
00:23:24unless we have deal with Iran and that deal will entil number
00:23:28one limits its nuclear capabilities and uranium, but
00:23:32eventually there will be also some condition forward on
00:23:36Iran trying to support these proxies. These proxies according to
00:23:40Washington will eventually diminish if that
00:23:43diplomacy with Beirot and Baghdad prove to be successful, but
00:23:47that is something we have to wait and see. However. up till now
00:23:51and before we see that deal coming into light, everything is starting
00:23:55from the straight of hermus, but if that proce successful, as I mentioned,
00:23:59we will be moving to phase number two, which is the nuclear. In my
00:24:02opinion, the Iranian regime will try to do is
00:24:06best to prevent a formula where
00:24:09control is control over the straight of
00:24:13hermooz is surrendered, because according to the last statement I
00:24:17heard from the Iranian officials, surrender. in control
00:24:20over the the straight of herms equals
00:24:24complete capitulation as President Trump is asking
00:24:28for, and in my opinion, this is so far is very hard to get
00:24:31in light of what's going on. Right,
00:24:35Professor Saran, I'd like your perspective on this too, and add to that, the response
00:24:39that you think will exist as part of what the Gulf states decide to do
00:24:43and how exactly they will be interacting with Iran moving
00:24:46forward and what it is that they are looking forward to in terms. the
00:24:50negotiations between US and Iran and especially
00:24:54countries like Iraq, which of course have important ties with the
00:24:58US, but also deep historical and religious ties with
00:25:01Iran. Actually, I would like
00:25:04to few remarks on these proxies which
00:25:08Iran cause access of resistance, as we all know, I
00:25:12think it would be too much to say or to claim that the
00:25:16access of resistance has fallen or has collapsed.
00:25:20Definitely not, I mean from October 7 to to
00:25:24this day, they suffered lot of
00:25:27casualties, and definitely they lost much their power,
00:25:30but hisbullah is still there, there are Iran
00:25:34affiliated groups in Iraq definitely, and there
00:25:37is, which I think is not the same with his bull, I
00:25:41mean the relationship between the hoothis and Iran, I think it's a
00:25:45complicated one, but that's an entirely different story, and
00:25:48when you have... if you call it as an Iran
00:25:52proxy, which I personally would not, I
00:25:56think Iran will at some point try to
00:25:59revitalize the acts of resistance. a sense, but it's gonna
00:26:03be very, very difficult for the Islamic Republic of Iran,
00:26:07hence I definitely agree with Dr. Hilani that hence
00:26:11Iran pays a lot of attention to the street of
00:26:14formus, as a by gaining chip, yes, but at the same
00:26:18time I think as a part of its national security,
00:26:22from this time on we will be hearing
00:26:25more and more from the Iranian authorities each and every
00:26:29crisis, we have been hearing that in the past as well, but Iran
00:26:33had never weaponized so to speak this for
00:26:37mouse to this point, so now Iran has tried that, tested that
00:26:41and successfully did that, and I am sure Iran is going to use that in the
00:26:44future as well, so I think we should be focusing on the street
00:26:48of more and more, and I think the international community will
00:26:52not lead let the street of formus, the the fate
00:26:56the Iran alone, because we we we have
00:27:00seen how can it hurt the international? economy and
00:27:04how
00:27:04it can it hurt the flow of energy from the middle east to the rest the
00:27:08world, but when it comes to the relationship between Iran and its
00:27:12neighbors especially in the gulf region and also beyond, because there is
00:27:16also
00:27:17I think very deep crisis which is not sufficiently
00:27:21addressed
00:27:21I think between Iran and Jordan, there is huge crisis
00:27:25going on between these two states, but actually the real
00:27:28crisis is happening between Iran and its neighbors in the Gulf.
00:27:32region starting with Kuwait definitely and then you
00:27:36can name each and every one them including Saudi
00:27:39Arabia, when we talk to the Iranians in different
00:27:43conferences, symposiums or other meetings, they have
00:27:46very visible self-confidence for maybe
00:27:50understandable reasons, I think they have shown
00:27:54impressive resilience against the United States and Israel, that's
00:27:58definitely the case, but same time when it comes to their
00:28:01rhetoric. than the approach to the neighbors, it's not
00:28:05necessarily favorable and it's not necessarily friendly
00:28:09and Iran heard these countries for one reason or the other,
00:28:13if you ask the Iranians they can legitimize every move that
00:28:17they have put into operation from February
00:28:2028 onward, but if you look at it from the other side the
00:28:24Gulf, I mean what they feel is resentment because
00:28:28they, I mean they lost their prestige
00:28:30for example Dubai United.
00:28:32Qatar, even Oman was h at some
00:28:36point, so I think in Iran will have incredible
00:28:39difficulties rehabilitating its relations with its neighbors in
00:28:43the Gulf, not that Iran will be excluded from the balance of
00:28:47power in the United, which is impossible definitely, but Iran is going to
00:28:51have lot of difficulties, and I think not each all
00:28:54these states are very interested in in
00:28:58quickly rehabilitating their relations with with Iraq.
00:29:02"once this war is over and once we are in the post conflict
00:29:06period, I think they are going to watch and see the behavior the Islamic
00:29:10Republic of Iran and they will not act sly
00:29:13to restore their relations with
00:29:23Dr. Fadi, in your opinion, when looking at what is
00:29:26happening in terms of what the US administration has been
00:29:30trying to achieve with Iraq."
00:29:33on especially now with this straight affirmas deal inchin
00:29:36closer, what do you think will be the way forward that Mr.
00:29:40Trump is going to be announcing and especially in terms of what it
00:29:44is that he can then present to his own public as to
00:29:48what it is that the US has achieved so far, what is
00:29:51it is aspiring to achieve and what is the strategy in order to
00:29:55achieve that? so far the Trump
00:29:59administration has been mentioning that, "this
00:30:03war has the strategic end of not
00:30:06allowing Iran to have nuclear
00:30:09program, nuclear bomb, and of course that
00:30:13means we have to negotiate their nuclear program and highly enrich
00:30:17uranium, but obviously over the last weeks that there has
00:30:21been much talk about another strategic
00:30:24end for this war, which is not allowing iran to control the straight of
00:30:28hermus, this is why it's very likely that the language"
00:30:32here from President Trump after that agreement comes to light is
00:30:36that it doesn't give Iran control over the straight of hermooz,
00:30:40but it gives it some kind of control over
00:30:44allowing ships to transit through the
00:30:48uh Iranian waterways so that there will be time to
00:30:51clear the waterway in between Oman and Iran from the
00:30:55mines which the IRGC has planted during the war
00:30:59time.