Political Commentator (1:59)
Donald Trump is panicking as negotiations have started in Islamabad, in Pakistan between the United States and Iran. Iran showed up with force. Iran brought all of its top national security advisors, its top foreign policy advisors, its top parliament leaders. On the other hand, the Trump regime sent J.D. vance, Steve Witkoff, like a random real estate guy that Donald Trump knew from his real estate days, and Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son in law. I mean, the difference between the arrival of Iran and Pakistan. Iran was greeted like heroes in Pakistan with a huge team of like, all of its top Leaders, right? For all of this talk about how all the leadership in Iran was assassinated, they have like a whole group right here of like a dozen of the top leaders of Iran. They showed up in Islamabad for these negotiations. And again, you can see the motorcades that they're driving in. You can see how the Pakistani military greeted him, shaking the hands of Foreign Minister Rakji. I'm showing you the B roll here, showing Pakistan treat the Iranian leaders like conquering heroes, like the victors of the war. All the Iranian leaders smiling, having a time, showing supreme confidence, it seems. Look for yourself. And on the other hand, you had J.D. vance arriving with his wife Usha going down the stairs. Just a very different scene right here. And I just don't know. It doesn't seem like the Trump regime is taking this seriously at all. And think what, they're just dealing with a group of people in Iran that don't know what they're doing. I mean, Iran has people who are veteran diplomats and negotiators handling it. And we've got Usha, J.D. vance, Jared Kushner, and Steve Witkoff. I mean, like, are you absolutely kidding me? I mean, just look at the names right here of all of the top Iranian officials who are there now. The posture of this negotiation tells you everything you need to know. Iran sending a huge team of all of its top leadership, all of its top parliament leaders, National Security Council leaders, foreign advisor leaders. On the other hand, the United States sending not even the Secretary of State Rubio isn't even there. The fact that you just have J.D. vance, his wife Usha, Jared Kushner, and Steve Witkoff, that tells you everything about the dynamic that essentially the Trump regime is conceding defeat at this point and or not taking it seriously. And Iran has already got the United States to agree to its 10 point negotiation framework, where the US has basically given up every single critical point in favor of Iran. I mean, Iran controls the Strait of Hormuz, keeps its ballistic missiles, enriched uranium, long term security, guarantees full reparations, all sanctions get removed. So what Iran is doing is they want to put the dagger in right now, and they all want to be there for this historical event to force the surrender of the Trump regime and the mighty United States. That's how Iran sees this. They see this as all of them want to be there for the historical moment where they embarrass and humiliate the United States, because this is what Trump has done to the United States of America. There's no other way to view it. And an intelligence officer from the region who's really done a good job covering this, Danny Citronetz. And I mean, this is what he devoted his career to. Here's how he describes it. With all of those people from Iran that you see on that list showing up. The Iranian regime is treating the current negotiations with a high degree of seriousness, viewing them as a potential platform to advance its core set of 10 guiding principles that the US administration has signaled that it is prepared for these principles to serve as the basis for negotiations. From Tehran's perspective, this is not merely a diplomatic process aimed at de escalation, but rather a strategic opportunity to shape the terms of a broader agreement. One that would include not only restrictions, but also meaningful economic relief, which Iran urgently needs. Importantly, Iran does not perceive these talks as negotiations to end hostilities per se. Instead, they are seen as a vehicle to consolidate and formalize a new strategic reality grounded in what Tehran considers to be its achievements during the conflict. In this context, Iranian leadership appears to assess that the combination of its perceived battlefield gains and the current US Administration's openness to an agreement creates a rare window of opportunity. This window could enable Iran to secure substantial economic concessions while simultaneously reinforcing its position as a dominant regional power in the Gulf. And just think about this. Who's there with the United States? The United States is going it alone. You don't have countries like the UK or France or anyone from NATO. You don't have anyone else from the region. You've got J.D. vance and his wife Usha. You've got Jared Kushner, Trump's son in law, and Steve Witkoff, like a random real estate guy who knew Donald Trump, who's been a horrible, horrible wannabe diplomat thus far. Just think about the dynamic. Iran smells blood. Iran sees what's happening and views this as an opportunity based on this dynamic. Now what Donald Trump posted when these negotiations began in Islamabad last night into the morning, this morning, here was Donald Trump's negotiating tactic. Great exclamation point. He posts on his social media platform. Very cool seeing the wave of empty tankers heading to the US to pick up some desperately needed crude for Hormuz starved markets. All the tankers on the map below are empty VLCCs, 2 million barrel capacities each currently heading for the Gulf Coast. U.S. crude exports are about to boom. Like do you have the most basic understanding about the way the oil markets work? And there's an international oil market. So a supply shock in the Strait of Hormuz has a crippling effect not just on the Strait of Hormuz, but on the United States as well. That's why we're all paying more for gas right now because the prices are set basically on an international basis for the supply that's out there. Who are you even posting, Donald? Like who is your source for this? Do you realize how clownish this looks? Also, it should be noted that but one of the things that the United States agreed to as a precondition for these settlement negotiations or these so called peace negotiations when they agreed to the Iranian framework, the ten point framework, is that there would be security guarantees not just for Iran, but for Hezbollah in Lebanon, for the Houthis in Yemen and for the Shiite militia groups in Iraq. But as the ceasefire negotiations or these negotiations as part of the ceasefire have been taking place in Islamabad, we're seeing Israeli airstrikes reported in Lebanon right now. Israel claims that it's detecting a drone attack from Lebanon. And here's what's being reported on drop site. Israeli strikes hit south Lebanon power station as attacks intensify. You can see the electricity generator right here that was struck and damaged in southern Lebanon right here we have video of it. Israeli fighter jets struck the power station in southern Lebanon's Nabita district early Friday north of the Latani River. According to Iran state linked mayor News. There were airstrikes taking place throughout the day, you know, and this is leading up to the negotiations that are taking place right now. So we'll be following that as well. We'll be keeping you updated there. Also, US Intelligence is now claiming that China may soon be sending shoulder fired air defense missiles to Iran, possibly via third countries to hide their origin. China denies the claims, calling it false and urging de escalation. But as I said before, Iran's never been stronger and more powerful internationally. Donald Trump basically made Iran into a major international power, not just in the Middle east where it's the strongest power basically there, but in the entire world. Right now they control the Strait of Hormuz and they say they're not giving that up in the negotiations and that they're going to be charging $2 million per tanker. We'll keep you posted. If that's impacted at all by these negotiations. They get to keep their ballistic missiles and drones and they also say that they get to enrich uranium under the deal that they entered with Donald Trump as part of the framework for this negotiation. Now we will be following if there's any changes to the negotiating framework. But Donald Trump agreed to the 10 point negotiating framework by Iran and now the Reports are that China is providing Iran with supplies. Russia's continued. We knew that China was doing it before. Russia was obviously doing it before. The sanctions basically have already been removed from Iran to begin with for their ability to sell oil. Sanctions against Russia have been removed, removed right now. And so that's what we got going on there. At the same time you have that going on, you have gas prices here in the United States surging, right? Donald Trump's like, everything's going great. Look how much? No, U.S. gas prices spiked 21.2% in March. That's the largest monthly increase since 1967. 21.2% increase in March. Also one of the things that Iran has been saying. Iran is reporting that it is unable to find mines that it laid in the Strait of Hormuz. As Nicholas Kristof reports. He goes, maybe that's true, but this is also convenient for Iran. This keeps the main ship lane and international waters effectively closed. But ships can still pass safely if they go closer to Iran through Iranian territorial waters between Laraq and Hormuz islands, reinforcing Iran's control of ships passing through the strait. In other words, it's not in Iran's interest to find those mines and clear the international passage. Also, one of the things that Wall Street Journal just reported, Iran's missile capabilities not severely destroyed during the war. As Gregory Brew explains, a war launched largely to neutralize Iran's ballistic missile program, lasting a month and ending with Iran in control of the Strait of Hormuz, succeeded in destroying roughly half of its missiles and destroying, disabling or burying about half of its launchers. That means they still have half and they are going to be able to quickly build up right now as well. And as part of the negotiating framework that Donald Trump agreed to, Iran gets to keep its ballistic missiles and shahed drones and FPV drones and it could keep on building them up faster and faster and faster while they control the Strait of Hormuz. But Donald Trump goes on social media to post. The Iranians don't seem to realize they have no cards other than a short term extortion of the world by using international waterways. The only reason they are alive today is to negotiate. The Iranians are better at handling the fake news media and public relations than they are at fighting Donald J. Trump. What do you mean by that? What do you mean by that? I mean, look at the Strait of Hormuz. Only two ships transited the Strait of Hormuz in the past 24 hours. Again, according to data shared with NBC by SPG Energy Oil marking the lowest level since this for a very long time. Even during the war, There were about 10 to 15 ships, tankers that were being able to go that negotiated with Iran directly on a bilateral basis. Right now we see what we saw. Two cargo tankers, not cargo tanks. Two cargo ships, not tankers, no tankers at all have gone. Just cargo ships that are Iranian flag zero tankers thus far according to senior Iranian state media figures. They claim that Donald Trump already accepted additional preconditions for these negotiations. That they claim that Donald Trump released Iran's frozen assets. They claim that Donald Trump has agreed to a cap of 15 vessels a day once the Strait of Hormuz opens. We'll keep you posted there. And of course, earlier in the day Donald Trump was saying while he was on the tarmac that Iran's navy is gone, that they don't have any leaders, that their military is obliterated.
