Google Speech-to-Text API Automatic Transcription (Chirp). Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:00:00future for a country like Pakistan of course um and it's
00:00:03very important ties with countries like Saudi Arabia and
00:00:09of of Turkey uh it's important to see how exactly this will transpire as part
00:00:12of the defense cooperation in case of any aggression, but in what in
00:00:16what ways do you think it also looks at
00:00:19or impacts Pakistan's own
00:00:23regional problems and in the ways that Pakistan would also like to
00:00:26strengthen its geopolitical and military. missions and
00:00:30the kind of threats that the country is facing, how do you think that such
00:00:34alliances, if
00:00:35of not part of this agreement, but in terms
00:00:40of of the importance of engaging and expanding our alliances with
00:00:41in different countries, how does that help Pakistan's
00:00:43of position of in terms of leveraging towards the
00:00:47aspects that are of a special interest to
00:00:49us? yes, I
00:00:52think, I think the the
00:00:56message that goes out of this trilater.
00:01:01a Alliance is that that Pakistan is
00:01:05at least now trusted on the on
00:01:08the middle eastern side and the western
00:01:11side with one country is a
00:01:14of NATO member so it it
00:01:17a raises Pakistan's
00:01:21of position defensive fies but at the same
00:01:23of time of it provides deterrence
00:01:26of now of geopolitically Pakistan's. main
00:01:30problem nowadays rises from the east or the
00:01:34west,
00:01:35of think in those two theaters also, i think the message goes
00:01:39out whether there are
00:01:43joint kinetic operations as air
00:01:46commodor said whether
00:01:49jf 17 will go from this place to that place, but it
00:01:53gives it gives punch, it gives punch to
00:01:56Pakistan that it's part of a trilateral alliance.
00:02:01"we had our RCDs, we had other
00:02:04of ECOs, but this is historically the first
00:02:07trial at with Saudi Arabia
00:02:09of was the first
00:02:11of bilateral alliance, but this is now a trilateral alliance,
00:02:14so so
00:02:15a I think I think it gives Pakistan lot of lot of
00:02:19weight in international affairs in its own
00:02:22geopolitical conflicts, it gives, it gives
00:02:25of Turkey, Turkey lot of it
00:02:28of that Turkey is now playing role. regionally
00:02:31also being a being being a NATO
00:02:34member and it afford Saudi Arabia the
00:02:38multilayered
00:02:40defense protection, it has
00:02:44protection from
00:02:45of the from the US, but now it it is also in
00:02:48alliance with two two different countries, so geopolitically it
00:02:52helps Saudi Arabia also, so it
00:02:56will raise challenges for Pakistan in its mediation.
00:03:00"but generally it will be very
00:03:03of beneficial for Pakistan this agreement. Right,
00:03:07ambassador Imran, there is also of course the aspect of
00:03:11what
00:03:11of ways we're looking at the situation develop
00:03:15between the United States and Iran, and like you mentioned earlier,
00:03:19Pakistan's role of mediation is very, very integral to this and is
00:03:23of closely linked to how exactly Pakistan is interacting with key regional players,
00:03:27I'd like you to stay with us for the next segment also that takes a..." als look at the
00:03:31situation and how exactly uh this is moving
00:03:35of forward, we've also been joined for that segment by Brian Steet was author and
00:03:39senior fellow with narrative strategies and author of narrative war. thank
00:03:42you very much Brian for joining us and being a part
00:03:44of the discussion today. in light of what we are seeing happening now about
00:03:48six months from when this war actually started, how do
00:03:52you think that the United States has progress throughout this
00:03:56conflict and what
00:03:57of it is that the Trump administration uh is still hoping to
00:04:01achieve or at least is communicating that is
00:04:04trying to achieve to its own public, where do you think is the goal
00:04:08post and what's the strategy to achieve it?
00:04:12oh, that's a lot of
00:04:13of questions. okay, so
00:04:18of - i don't think the goal posts have changed as much
00:04:22as the commentary on the goal post implies that
00:04:26they've changed, but
00:04:27of that said, i think that there is a... certain
00:04:30realization uh that the way to
00:04:33get the goals or to accomplish the goals that were
00:04:37originally set out is going to have to
00:04:40happen through some other
00:04:42in means, it is not going to be sufficient to
00:04:45inflict harm on the state of
00:04:48Iran
00:04:49and then that will cause Iran to concede whether
00:04:53that's nuclear enrichment or it
00:04:55conceeds its support
00:04:59for regional non-state
00:05:01actors, keep the straights of
00:05:05hormos separate, because the straight
00:05:07of is issue that was not the
00:05:12in me reason that the... administration went into the war, it's
00:05:14a uh, it's an objective that became
00:05:18an objective because the war, so it's part
00:05:22the Trump administration went in with a
00:05:26highly kinetic uh, meaning
00:05:29bombing and inflicting damage
00:05:33that way, they they went into
00:05:36this with that being their method,
00:05:40but now and... and then Iran responded
00:05:44after several weeks by closing or at least
00:05:47primar mostly closing the straight of hermus, which
00:05:51now means that we are a negotiation about
00:05:55something that interestingly enough should not even be matter of
00:05:59negotiation, the straight is considered by everyone except
00:06:03Iran and maybe now Oman uh to be an international
00:06:07waterway and nobody has the right to negotiate over
00:06:10movement through an international water. waterway, but that's sort of where
00:06:14we are, uh, I'm not, I personally I'm not happy
00:06:18that that's where we are, I, I think the
00:06:21administration would be happy if we could get out of this
00:06:25position uh, with something that looks
00:06:28like return
00:06:30to - the
00:06:34conditions before the war began, because even
00:06:38with that, if everything else returned to the pre-war
00:06:41conditions, "the United States has still
00:06:45inflicted tremendous damage to the
00:06:49IRGC, to the Iraqi military and their
00:06:53capacity to conduct operations and
00:06:55also inflicted tremendous harm to the
00:06:59Iranian economy, I think I said Iraqi military, but the IRGC
00:07:03military and to the Iranian
00:07:06economy, so those could be considered
00:07:09wins all by themselves, now the..." the obstacle to
00:07:13declaring victory, i think from a political
00:07:16standpoint would be something that can be
00:07:20communicated as the reopening the straight of
00:07:23hormos. right, ambassador
00:07:26Imran, in in your perspective, when we see the
00:07:30situation inch closer between Iran and Oman in the
00:07:34agreement that essentially will give lot of control to Iran, which is
00:07:37what it has been asking for, and Brian is right in saying that that's a product the war in
00:07:41itself and not. perhaps the core core objective as to why it started, but
00:07:45in what ways do you think that now lot of this is centered around the straight
00:07:49offers and how exactly will that be navigated further and whether
00:07:53or not there is move forward towards its resolution that is
00:07:56acceptable to the US which can then lead to at least addressing the
00:08:00core questions. thank you, i
00:08:04think, i think if the man and
00:08:07Iran agreement on the straight
00:08:11is actually done
00:08:13with, done and dusted as the say the
00:08:17supreme leader has agreed to it, I think
00:08:20Oman would not be in total contravention the
00:08:24US, Oman were knowing Oman very
00:08:27well, I think Oman would discuss this
00:08:31with with Great Britain because it has privacy in
00:08:35Oman as well as the US, it would not go
00:08:38against the against US wishes, so I don't know.
00:08:42whether the sort of root agreement
00:08:46that the they are doing on the straight and some voluntary
00:08:49fees, whether it has tasset us approval or not, i would think
00:08:53man would never sign to anything that is
00:08:57anti entire us,
00:09:00so why the straight is important, because the
00:09:04straight stopped the whole
00:09:07discussion even before it could start
00:09:11the 60 day. period and all of that, so negatively it
00:09:15obstructed everything, and my hope is that if it is
00:09:19indeed resolved between those two countries,
00:09:22probably discussions can start on other major
00:09:26issues or or as footprind court, the various
00:09:30cold posts which are going to be discussed in the so-called
00:09:33mou, right,
00:09:37Brian, how are you looking at the ways in which the the
00:09:41leadership in Iran right now is approaching these
00:09:45aspects and of course the possibilities of negotiations, of course
00:09:48earlier, especially at the start, the rhetoric was
00:09:52centered around the leadership and with that essentially different now in
00:09:56place, do you think that there has been a change in the way that Iran is interacting
00:10:00with the US or do you think that it's pretty much the
00:10:02same? well, well obviously there's a
00:10:06change from last February and
00:10:10till today and ' what is
00:10:13interesting, and I mean, I wish I could be a fly on the
00:10:16wall, which I have not been, so I'm not exactly sure how it's
00:10:20being done, but the way it kind of comes across to as an
00:10:24observer. is a little bit like an American
00:10:28police interrogation from an American tv
00:10:31show or movie where you have a good cop and a bad
00:10:35cop and the way the interrogation
00:10:39goes in television and movies is uh you have
00:10:42somebody who acts like the uh the
00:10:46victim or the supposed criminals
00:10:50friend and then another cop comes in and asks like the tough
00:10:54guy like there they want to do all this harm, and I
00:10:57don't know, and and I've talked with other people
00:11:01that kind of implied that the negotiators who are
00:11:05working both with the Omanis and interacting with the Americans, even though
00:11:09the Iranians will say they're not negotiating directly with the
00:11:12Americans, those negotiators are
00:11:15essentially still IRGC individuals, that all they
00:11:19did was take off the uniform and put a suit, they're not
00:11:22fundamentally of a... different ideology or
00:11:26different world view, so I don't think Iran has
00:11:30two different tracks, one that's inclined to
00:11:33negotiation and one that's not, and therefore I'm
00:11:37kind of curious if Iran is doing this
00:11:41simply as a stage to
00:11:45sort of make the Americans look foolish, where
00:11:49they the Americans will be able to say, oh, it looks like we have deal,
00:11:53and then the IRG see spokesperson or whoever
00:11:57it is will then come out and say no there is no deal and then maybe
00:12:01they'll fire rocket or something like that to prove that they're right
00:12:05and and therefore there's this confusing
00:12:07element that's how it looks from the
00:12:11outside that there is confusion within Iran what I'm thinking
00:12:14more and more is there's not confusion within Iran they're just
00:12:18making it look that way because it's to their benefit
00:12:22to kind of uh
00:12:26so confusion on the part the American
00:12:30delegation with whom they
00:12:32interact. right um another
00:12:36important aspect Brian is with reference to Israel's
00:12:39actions in the middle east and then Israel's relationship with the
00:12:43United States, how exactly do you think
00:12:46that um where does it stand at the moment and whether or not there is a change
00:12:50in that relationship and the importance that it has been
00:12:54given? previously or historically to israely
00:12:57interests,
00:13:02support for Palestinians and to a degree just plain
00:13:05support for Hamas that has taken place in
00:13:08America, I believe that you have previously talked on
00:13:12the show about Abdul
00:13:14Rahman
00:13:17the person who
00:13:18is now the democrat
00:13:22candidate for the US senate from the state of Michigan.
00:13:26and his success in that and using
00:13:29particularly the US relationship with Israel, is quite
00:13:33clear that the democrat party in the United States
00:13:37is now almost, well it's a majority
00:13:41opposed to relationships with Israel, and
00:13:45as a block US congress people
00:13:48uh voted against support for Israel, so
00:13:52it's within America there's a... really fascinating
00:13:56dynamic happening where Israel used to be 20
00:14:0030 years ago, it was a unifying voice, you would get people on
00:14:04the far left and people on the far right on the American political
00:14:07spectrum, and they would disagree on everything else, but they would
00:14:10vote together a bill to support
00:14:14Israel, but now that is not true, I
00:14:18think it would be very, very hard to get almost any
00:14:21house votes for
00:14:24a support. Israel uh bill
00:14:27and in the Senate, maybe two or three, maybe
00:14:31more, but it's it's very slight, now
00:14:34between the US executive and the Israeli
00:14:38executive, that's another interesting
00:14:40dynamic, uh, President
00:14:43Trump does not seem to be,
00:14:45and I don't know him personally, so I can't say this for certain, but he does not seem
00:14:49to be a person who likes to be bossed around, nor a person
00:14:53who likes to be... uh made to look
00:14:56foolish, and uh,
00:15:00BB Netanyahu has very
00:15:04strong personality, and he states things very
00:15:07unequivocally, which then kind
00:15:10of comes across as if he's ordering the American
00:15:14president, and that has rankled President
00:15:17Trump over the F-35 sale to
00:15:21Turkey, or
00:15:22or while the reintroduction of Turkey into the... f35
00:15:26program and uh and then of
00:15:29course uh the promises the
00:15:33Netanyahu government uh with respect to what would happen
00:15:37a iran or how quickly Iran would go uh have not
00:15:41come to fruition and I don't think Trump is happy with that, so I think
00:15:45there's there's more friction between the Netanyahu government
00:15:49and the Trump administration than there was back in
00:15:52February, but I I don't know, I don't think it's as
00:15:56bad as some people are portraying it, I don't think
00:15:58that there's a break, I don't think it's a fundamental shift, I just think that
00:16:01it's it's not as positive as it was six months
00:16:05ago uh "and if it is negative, it's a
00:16:09negative that could be overcome by positive
00:16:13accomplishments. Right, I understand that
00:16:16ambassador Imran, I'd like your perspective of this too, especially given
00:16:20what we've seen transpire throughout this conflict and the way
00:16:24it's started and how it has evolved so far, there is of course aspects
00:16:28of what is going on both within Israel and the United United
00:16:32States that adds to the influence on the key
00:16:36decision makers in the ac'. that they take, but in what ways do you think that
00:16:39this factor and then of course Israel's actions
00:16:43v Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, and then also
00:16:47the front between the Huti rebels in Saudi Arabia, how exactly
00:16:51are all these dynamics affecting the decisions being
00:16:55taken by both Iran and the United States and what do you think they are
00:16:59making their own interests in light these developing
00:17:01situations? very difficult and very
00:17:05very expensive. sort of
00:17:07question, I agree with Brian that
00:17:11there might be some meritants between the executive branches
00:17:15of Israel
00:17:18and and the US,
00:17:21but they seem to be getting along, I mean I don't
00:17:25know whether whether they'l be obvious in
00:17:29policy and the legislature as he has
00:17:32explained the house and the Senate, they
00:17:35are there are different. kettle of fish, I am
00:17:38not, and I wish I could be a fly on the wall in the
00:17:42IRGC, I don't know,
00:17:46I and I would agree with Brian again that
00:17:49this theory about a great dissonance in the
00:17:53Iranian government structure, I think this is
00:17:56overplayed,
00:17:58this they probably may be
00:18:02good cop or bad cop or maybe the
00:18:05iritants are much lesser. than those that are
00:18:09portrayed, there has been major
00:18:13Iranian loss, there have been major losses in
00:18:17the last 10 days also, so I don't know
00:18:20whether they would force the hand the IRGC,
00:18:24and they would, they would not fire rocket, as
00:18:28Brian says disrupt the to disrupt the peace process once
00:18:32again or to prove their point, I hope they don't,
00:18:35because here in Pakistan. we are we are affected not
00:18:39only because the economic off shoots but because we
00:18:43have we put our own whole state in
00:18:47the mediation process and that has that has
00:18:51been the center of our of our work if might say
00:18:55so so hope they don't but
00:18:59one can't predict the irgc just as one
00:19:02can't predict trump one can't
00:19:06predict the...
00:19:09see is right right, thank
00:19:10you very much ambas imran for joining us and being a part the news room today.
00:19:13Brian, my last question to you especially given now how the
00:19:17situation has developed further and we're almost of course six months into it,
00:19:21there's the added economic pressures also that Mr. Trump
00:19:25is face facing and of course the entire world is facing, but in what ways
00:19:29do you think that the effect that that we see within
00:19:33the United States towards the Trump administration and this
00:19:37president? see and then of course the decreasing popularity that we've seen, how
00:19:41much of that is being navigated by the
00:19:44administration and what is being said that can
00:19:48then appease or satisfy the American public the kind of
00:19:52rises and prices that they are also witnessing?
00:19:55okay, it's really good questions
00:19:58- I'm going to say the
00:20:02obvious, Donald J. Trump is not the typical
00:20:05American president, and where that
00:20:09might be really important is lot of presidents
00:20:13might radically adjust or might if even have not even gotten
00:20:16involved in during an election year, even a mid-term election
00:20:20year into incursion uh
00:20:23that he has. i don't know that he is
00:20:27as concerned as say normal president
00:20:30would have been given the same thing or the same
00:20:34circumstances.
00:20:35that said uh This war is unpopular, it is an unpopular
00:20:39amongst Republicans,
00:20:41it is, it is wildly unpopular among democrats
00:20:45and
00:20:46it is unpopular among independents, and of course the independent.
00:20:50or what matter, because it's about a 40, 40, well, it's
00:20:54probably like 35, 35, 30 in America where you
00:20:57have about even 35
00:21:00each or republican and democrat, and about 30%
00:21:04independent, and that depends on the state that you're talking
00:21:08about, and so independent voters are are significantly
00:21:12important, they are moved
00:21:15obviously by by economics, gas prices are higher in America,
00:21:19but they... are way lower in America than almost anywhere else in the world, and
00:21:23huge reason for that is because the Trump administration's
00:21:26energy policies that have ensured that America is
00:21:30producing more oil now than it is ever produced
00:21:34before, so uh the Trump
00:21:37administration could make the argument that this was
00:21:41necessary war, I don't think they've communicated that particularly well to this
00:21:45point, and then they could also make the argument at the same time that the reason
00:21:49why things aren't... worse is because
00:21:52of uh the policies that they've implemented that are very
00:21:56pro-energy, so all of those things i would just argue that
00:21:59it's all not necessarily doom and gloom, but if
00:22:03you are democrat uh
00:22:06campaigning for election or you're a
00:22:10democrat political consultant, you have lot to be happy
00:22:14about in terms the mood and in terms the economic direction and
00:22:18that general polling. so if you look at right track, wrong
00:22:22track, uh, it's it's not in favor the
00:22:25Trump administration at all uh, and Trump's overall
00:22:29popularity is below 40%, which tends to be a bad
00:22:33marker uh in terms of holding seats, so there's a lot of
00:22:37intricacies within the American political system that are quite unique this
00:22:40year, but still I would say it doesn't look good,
00:22:44but I don't think it's hopeless uh, and it really will, it
00:22:48will be - "the person who enjoys watching the political
00:22:52game, this will be fascinating election
00:22:56season to watch, because I don't think it's going to come out
00:22:59as lot the surface level
00:23:02predictions are are predicting, I think it's going to be closer run
00:23:06thing than people imagine, but that's just
00:23:09a guess on my
00:23:10part definitely, definitely be interesting - nothing else, thank you so much, Brian
00:23:14state for joining us and being a part the show today, the going on and the developments
00:23:18of course taking place a very..." in terms of what is happening in the larger middle
00:23:22east and what the future scenario will be and we'll be here to talk more about that
00:23:26as it develops. that's all that we have from the news room today. we'll now see you on
00:23:29Monday.
00:23:50Hello and welcome to experts corner. This is Mahin
00:23:52Joffrey.
00:23:58Uh, I think Trump once he had elected
00:24:00to go to
00:24:00war.
00:24:06Uh, only Congress can actually undo the sanctions, so
00:24:09whatever Trump says, it has to go through Congress. One
00:24:13the key weapons that Iran is using this moves for is leverage against the
00:24:17US. Having a US presence on your territory. has made you
00:24:21more likely to be attacked realignments taking place to counter the
00:24:25Israelis and that includes your country, Pakistan, along
00:24:28with uh Saudi Arabia and Egypt and
00:24:31Turkey.
00:24:40From the heart of South Asia to the cross roads of central Asia, from the turbulent
00:24:44Middle East and North Africa to the power corridors the west. Iran
00:24:48has successfully... demonstrated its
00:24:51ability not just to negotiate its
00:24:55term, but also to negotiate on
00:24:59each term for that amount of time that
00:25:03Tehran considers as strategically equivalent.
00:25:06article 3 the NATO treaty is all about
00:25:10self-defense and that's been a sore point between the United States of
00:25:14America and the other NATO allies since the foundation
00:25:17the uh the alliance. So what's happening now is burden
00:25:21sharing is going evolve to burden shifting, Amit
00:25:25Shah, he is the one who is running the extortion,
00:25:28assassination and all these plots sitting a
00:25:32government office, being a minister of India, America
00:25:36knows it, Canada knows
00:25:37it.
00:25:51Pakistan has done human work, it's been
00:25:54absolutely remarkable what Pakistan, what
00:25:58Islamabad has been able to bring about? Well, I think the
00:26:02countries. mediating have to keep plugging away and trying to find
00:26:05a modus a solution. i think the first thing that has to
00:26:09happen is there has to be agreement on the straight of hormos
00:26:13because that was the cause of this latest war. most
00:26:17important part is going to be dialogue and i think the
00:26:20Pakistan back door diplomacy uh Qatar
00:26:23also uh is essential. india is not only
00:26:26destabilizing the region. india
00:26:28has i think it's look at this ambition. it it was involving.
00:26:32terrorist acts in Canada, the persecution of minorities in India has
00:26:36been very, very long problem,
00:26:39very systemic problem, systematic persecution
00:26:43the Muslims there, not only the Muslims but also the
00:26:46Christians, forces are police and devies and
00:26:50scouts rangers, they are doing the very
00:26:53best.
00:27:10Ofganistan remains a central hub in the global truck
00:27:13trade. According to the UNODC 2025 report,
00:27:17it produced 433 tons of opium in
00:27:202024, nearly 20% the global
00:27:24supply. Despite a temporary drop after the
00:27:272022 ban, cultivation rose again by
00:27:3119%. in 2024. Trafficking networks
00:27:35stayed active. Average opium prices of
00:27:38$750 per kilogram reflect the continued
00:27:42demand and functioning smuggling routes. According to the world
00:27:45drug report 2025, total global opium
00:27:49production in 2024 reach
00:27:512,140 tons. Myanmar led with
00:27:55995 tons, which is 46%. Followed
00:27:59by Afghanistan at 433 tons. which is
00:28:0220%, while Mexico and Colombia produce smaller
00:28:06shares. These figures highlight that despite bans and
00:28:10crackdowns, the global opium trade remains deeply
00:28:14entrenched with regional networks adapting and
00:28:17expanding. Moreover, an cartels are shifting from
00:28:21plant-based drugs to synthetics like crystal meth, which
00:28:25are cheaper to produce and easier to hide and harder to
00:28:29detect, showing that the threat is moving from field. to
00:28:33laboratories spreading globally, but Pakistan is
00:28:36actively countering this threat under the national
00:28:40anti-narcotics policy 2019 and backed by the laws like
00:28:44the control of narcotics substances act
00:28:461997, pakistan's anti-narcotics force
00:28:50(Anf) conducts extensive operations in
00:28:53Balochistan, kp and Singh, using drones,
00:28:57satellite imagery and modern agricultural methods,
00:29:00Pakistan eradicates poppy. props even in remote
00:29:04areas. In 2024-2025 alone Pakistan cleared
00:29:08hundreds of hectares of puppy fields, dismantled
00:29:11419 illegal waterboards, destroyed
00:29:1464 solar systems and repatriated 1
00:29:18and10 foreign traffickers. National seizures exceeded a
00:29:22361 metric tons of narcotics worth
00:29:25billions, cutting off major supply lines with
00:29:29technology driven surveillance, corridor and...
00:29:33and the interagency coordination, pakistan maintains its
00:29:37poppy free status since 2001. the country
00:29:41is not just protecting its borders, it's safeguarding the
00:29:44region.
00:30:10Hello, you're watching Pakistan TV, I am Sadif Ali Khan. Let's take a look
00:30:14at the headlines
00:30:15first.
00:30:37Pakistan, kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Turkey is signed the Makka joint defense
00:30:41agreement. The historic pact aims to strengthen collective deter.