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You are listening to an art media podcast.
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It's Monday, april 13th. This news update was recorded at 6pm new york time on Sunday. I'm deborah pardes and this is arc news daily. After 21 hours of face to face talks in Islamabad, the negotiators left Pakistan's capital on Saturday with no deal. The core breakdown, Iran's nuclear program.
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The simple fact is that we need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon and they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon. That is the core goal of the president United States, and that's what we've tried to achieve through these negotiations.
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Vice President J.D. vance led the talks on the U.S. side. He said afterwards that his team had been flexible, but Iran refused to accept their terms. Terms. Vance added that there would be no further concessions, saying that he had made, quote, our final and best offer. Yesterday, the top Iranian negotiator, Parliamentary Speaker Mohammed Bagar Galiboff, also sounded like he was done compromising. He said the US had failed to earn Iran's trust. He also said, quote, if you fight, we will fight, and if you come forward with logic, we will deal with logic. According to Iran, another issue that scuttled the talks was the US Refusal to end sanctions and release frozen Iranian assets. Neither side publicly mentioned Israel's ongoing campaign in Lebanon, even though Iran had said a ceasefire there would be a condition going into the talks this weekend. But in an interview with Fox Business, President Donald Trump said that he expects Iran to return to negotiations.
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I predict they come back and they give us everything we want. And I told my people, I want everything. I don't want 90%, I don't want 95%. I want everything.
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Considering the gaps between the US and Iran were so irreconcilable going into the talks, it's worth considering whether the entire effort was sincere or just posturing meant to stabilize energy markets and for each side to prepare for the next phase of the war. Following the failure of diplomatic efforts, Trump Yesterday declared a U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. He told Fox Business that either all shipping would be allowed through the strait or none would. Even at the cost of spiking energy prices.
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We're not going to let Iran make money on selling oil to people that they like and not people that they don't like or whatever it is. It's going to be all or none, and that's the way it is.
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Trump also told Fox News that he sent warships to clear mines from the strait. According to the military, the operation began on Saturday while the talks in Islamabad were still going on. Two US Destroyers entered the strait to clear mines laid by Iran, and the Navy shot down an Iranian surveillance drone that was tracking the ships. Iran released a recording of a radio exchange between the Revolutionary Guard Corps and one of the US ships.
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This is Sapan Navy Station. You must alter course and go back to the Indian Ocean immediately. If you don't obey my order, you will be targeted.
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Iran claimed that after the warning, the US Ships turned back. But independent maritime tracking data appear to confirm the American version of events that the ships entered the strait. If the ceasefire holds, it expires in about a week. But each side signaled yesterday that they were ready to resume the war if necessary. More US Forces are heading to the region and Israel has reportedly drawn up plans to resume attacks on Iran's energy production. State media said Iranian naval special forces have been deployed to the strait in preparation for a potential land invasion by U.S. forces. Iran's Supreme National Security Council said our hands remain upon the trigger. Meanwhile, the economic pressure is mounting. More than 230 loaded tankers are still stranded in the Gulf. Europe is warning of a jet fuel shortage within weeks. The big question is whether Trump can use this blockade to break the stalemate over the Strip or whether this escalation just brings the war closer to resuming. Hungary voted yesterday. Viktor Orban lost and that may have some far reaching consequences for Israel. After 16 years in power, the longest serving leader in the European Union called his rival to concede. Peter Magyar won and Orban called the result painful. The numbers are brutal. Magyar's party had over 52% of the vote, compared to 38% for Orban's turnout was a record nearly 78%, the highest in Hungary's post communist history. For Israel, the loss is not about the size of the vote, but how the EU works. Many of the most consequential decisions require unanimous consent from all 27 member states. One country can block them. For years, that country was hungry. Orban vetoed EU condemnations of Israeli military operations. He blocked sanctions targeting settlers. He was the only EU leader willing to host Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for alleged war crimes. And then he pulled Hungary out of the court entirely. A former Israeli ambassador to Budapest said Hungary was, quote, israel's strongest political backstop internationally, second only to the United States. Israel, like the United States, tried to help Orban in the election. Netanyahu sent a campaign video in support of Orban, calling him quote, stability, safety, security. But Israel didn't appear to be a major issue in the election. Locally, Magyar didn't make it one. He focused instead on Orban's right wing nationalist positions on issues like immigration, family values and Ukraine. He ran on fighting economic stagnation, rising prices, collapsing public services, corruption. But to fix those problems, he vowed to unlock billions in frozen EU funds that could necessitate that he align more with Brussels and make him less willing to be Israel's veto vote. An Israeli source told Israeli media it's enough for Magyar to turn Hungary into Germany, a country that's very supportive of Israel but doesn't veto anti Israel decisions. At the same time, Israel has been paying less attention to Europe than it has in years. Relations have been fraying for a long time, and the war with Iran has made things worse. Several European countries even blocked American and Israeli military logistics on their territory. Israel pushed back. It cut off arms purchases from France, and Netanyahu joined Trump in criticizing the EU as weak. ARK Media contributor Amit Seagal said in his Sunday newsletter that polls in Hungary were deeply divided. Right leaning pollsters predicted a win for Orban. Left leaning ones called it for Magyar. Seagal says that same split may be a sign for what lies ahead in Israel as Netanyahu heads toward the October vote. I'm Deborah Pardes and this is ArkNews Daily. See you tomorrow.