Latest / INSIGHT TODAY / Trump claims countries will send warships to Strait of Hormuz

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Trump claims countries will send warships to Strait of Hormuz · INSIGHT TODAY

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: President Trump is calling on other countries to help secure
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: safe passage of ships through the Strait of Horror Moves.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Trump specifically called on China, France, the UK and others
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  Speaker 1: to help a shipping traffic has been at a virtual
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  Speaker 1: standstill in the strait, caused gas prices to spike. In
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  Speaker 1: a new interview with ms NOW, Iran's foreign minister disputed
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  Speaker 1: the claim that the strait is closed. Seeing N correspondent
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  Speaker 1: Julia Benbrook has more.
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  Speaker 2: This is a big area of focus right now, as
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  Speaker 2: roughly twenty percent of the world's oil travels through the
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  Speaker 2: Strait of Horror Moves, and President Donald Trump has posted
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  Speaker 2: about this several times over the weekend. I want to
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  Speaker 2: pull up part of one of those posts for you
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  Speaker 2: now in it, he said this, many countries, especially those
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  Speaker 2: who are affected by Iran's attempted closure of the Horror
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  Speaker 2: Moves straight, will be sending warships in conjunction with the
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  Speaker 2: United States of America to keep the strait open and safe.
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  Speaker 2: We have already destroyed one hundred percent of Iran's military capability,
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  Speaker 2: but it's easy for them to send a drone or two,
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  Speaker 2: drop a mine, or deliver a close range missile somewhere
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  Speaker 2: along or in this waterway, no matter how badly defeated
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  Speaker 2: they are. He added that he hopes, emphasis on hopes
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  Speaker 2: there that China, France, South Korea, and the United Kingdom
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  Speaker 2: will be sending ships. In the meantime, he says that
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  Speaker 2: the United States will be bombing the shoreline now. In
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  Speaker 2: a separate post, he reiterated his calls for other countries
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  Speaker 2: to help secure shipping in the passage, adding that he
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  Speaker 2: believes this should have been a team effort all along,
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  Speaker 2: and now it will be. He said the United States
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  Speaker 2: will be helping with coordination to ensure that this is
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  Speaker 2: done quickly, smoothly, and well. And this comes as Americans
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  Speaker 2: are feeling a direct impact here, as there is a
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  Speaker 2: surge in gas prices, and while Trump has said he
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  Speaker 2: is confident those will eventually go down, this could be
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  Speaker 2: an attempt to ease some of those growing concerns. Iran's
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  Speaker 2: foreign minister has denied claims that the strait is completely closed,
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  Speaker 2: instead saying that they are blocking vessels with ties to
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  Speaker 2: the United States and Israel.
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  Speaker 1: A week ago, President Trump told Keir Starmer that he
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  Speaker 1: didn't need help from the British, especially coming in after
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  Speaker 1: the US, in his words, had already won. Fast forward
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  Speaker 1: to this weekend where he's asking for help from China, France, Japan,
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  Speaker 1: South Korea, the UK others as well to continue passage
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  Speaker 1: through the straight offor moves frame the reality that is
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  Speaker 1: confronting the president at this stage of the war.
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  Speaker 3: Sure, I think his initial comments were related to the
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  Speaker 3: four objectives that were laid out in terms of what
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  Speaker 3: the Pentagon was trying to achieve from a military perspective,
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  Speaker 3: because there was a question about whether or not we
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  Speaker 3: would need to use the British base at Diego Garcia
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  Speaker 3: in the Indian Ocean to be able to launch strategic
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  Speaker 3: bombers against Iran, and I think the Pentagon determined obviously
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  Speaker 3: now that it could do so without having to use
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  Speaker 3: that base. Now we're talking about a different mission set.
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  Speaker 3: So in addition to those four objectives that were laid
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  Speaker 3: out in terms of taking out the missiles, the missile launchers,
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  Speaker 3: the drones, the Defense Industrial base behind that, the Navy,
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  Speaker 3: and then potentially the nuclear program which Cedric just spoke
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  Speaker 3: to in terms of what they're targeting, a new mission
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  Speaker 3: set has popped up, and that is the defense of
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  Speaker 3: the Straits of Hormuz to allow folks to be able
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  Speaker 3: to transit their commercial shipping. Wise, because the Iranians have
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  Speaker 3: now adopted a strategy of trying to buy pressure on
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  Speaker 3: the US administration to stop the war by jacking up
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  Speaker 3: the price of oil, basically by making the trade the
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  Speaker 3: straits virtually impossible to strands that they're physically open, but
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  Speaker 3: due to the threat of a potential attack, ships are
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  Speaker 3: not transiting at the moment, and so the US is
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  Speaker 3: trying to build an international naval coalition similar to what
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  Speaker 3: they did off the coast of Yemen when the hoo
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  Speaker 3: Thies were attacking during the last round of conflict.
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  Speaker 1: Colonel I want you to listen here to the Iranian
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  Speaker 1: Foreign Minister Abasarachi, he was on last evening's watch.
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  Speaker 4: Say that the threat is not closed, but it is
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  Speaker 4: only closed to American and is really you know, ships
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  Speaker 4: and anchors.
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  Speaker 5: Are not to others.
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  Speaker 1: So he says it's it's open our countries. Companies likely
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  Speaker 1: to test that assurance. I mean, consider President Pozeski and
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  Speaker 1: said that the Iranians were sorry for attacking their golf
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  Speaker 1: neighbors and then continued hours later to attack them. And
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  Speaker 1: still are you think anybody's going to test that offer.
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  Speaker 6: I don't think so a victor, and I think, you know,
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  Speaker 6: as Alex was alluding to, the basic thing is this,
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  Speaker 6: because the Iranians can't be trusted, shipping companies are not
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  Speaker 6: going to trust them, and that's the real dilemma for them.
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  Speaker 5: Here.
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  Speaker 6: They've got a whole bunch of ships on either side
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  Speaker 6: of the Straight or Foremos, and those ships aren't moving
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  Speaker 6: except for a very few exceptions. Because the Iranians are
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  Speaker 6: opposing a threat, they probably so far at least have
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  Speaker 6: not really mined the straight offemus maybe you know, symbolic
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  Speaker 6: since they've done you know, they've deployed a few minds,
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  Speaker 6: but they have not done so en mass, and that,
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  Speaker 6: I you know, definitely leads to the conclusion that yes,
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  Speaker 6: it's physically possible to possibly translate transit the Straight, but
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  Speaker 6: it's very dangerous and there's a risk there that they're
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  Speaker 6: not willing to take Alete.
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  Speaker 1: What's your thought on what the President told NBC that
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  Speaker 1: he's not ready to make a deal to end the war.
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  Speaker 1: The President says that Iran wants to make a deal,
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  Speaker 1: but he doesn't want to quote because the terms aren't good.
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  Speaker 1: Enough yet doesn't say what those terms are, but implied
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  Speaker 1: here is that there are terms offered, that there are talks,
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  Speaker 1: that there are some offers from the Iranians. Doesn't seem
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  Speaker 1: like there's been anything since the talks before the the
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  Speaker 1: opening of this war. What do you hear there from
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  Speaker 1: the president?
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  Speaker 3: Well, I'm here from the President's when I'm hearing from
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  Speaker 3: mediators in the region as well, where there's been several
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  Speaker 3: nation states that have attempted to mediate or pass messages
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  Speaker 3: in between, and so that part is just alluded to. Yes,
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  Speaker 3: I mean, that's pretty common at this point in the war.
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  Speaker 3: And this actually all aligns with strategies on both sides,
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  Speaker 3: to be honest with you. So you know, it looks
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  Speaker 3: like there's several weeks of strikes left to complete the
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  Speaker 3: military mission on the US side, and it becomes a
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  Speaker 3: question of will. Is the will there to see the
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  Speaker 3: mission through and ensure that there's not a capability left
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  Speaker 3: inside of Iran they could strike back, And I think
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  Speaker 3: the President's made clear that the objectives that he's laid
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  Speaker 3: out are to make sure that Iran doesn't have a
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  Speaker 3: nuclear weapon or the ability to get one. At the
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  Speaker 3: end of this you know to break out, so to speak,
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  Speaker 3: missiles and drones and that type of thing, which is
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  Speaker 3: a pretty robust mission. It's a very very big industrial
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  Speaker 3: base that has to be targeted in order to sort
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  Speaker 3: of take that out. And for the Iranians, they're acting
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  Speaker 3: from a position of existential threat. They believe that the
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  Speaker 3: regime is a threat, and so they're doing everything they
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  Speaker 3: can to try to ensure that this doesn't end in
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  Speaker 3: an unconditional surrender. They want a conditional ceasefire on their terms.
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  Speaker 3: So I think at this point you almost have to
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  Speaker 3: see the Straits mission through and open that up and
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  Speaker 3: not allow the Iranians to choke it off, or that's
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  Speaker 3: going to become a strategic choke point and means of
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  Speaker 3: des in the future, and that'll hold the global economy
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  Speaker 3: basically at risk whenever the Iranians want to and that's
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  Speaker 3: something that simply can't stand.
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  Speaker 4: How do you see this playing out from where we
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  Speaker 4: sit today?
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  Speaker 7: The President doesn't yet know how to get the Straits reopened.
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  Speaker 7: As of right now, almost all of the naval assets
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  Speaker 7: that the United States has in the Persian Gulf are
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  Speaker 7: being used to defend golf infrastructure, energy desalination, and bases,
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  Speaker 7: and as a consequence, you can't defend the ships that
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  Speaker 7: are going through the straits or that are sitting there
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  Speaker 7: in the streets, which are right now basically sitting ducks,
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  Speaker 7: if the Iranians choose to hit them. That's why President
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  Speaker 7: Trump is suddenly calling pretty urgently for.
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  Speaker 5: Every country around, including China.
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  Speaker 7: He's asked looking for other countries to send ships. And
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  Speaker 7: this was member of the United States when they launched
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  Speaker 7: this war went with the Israelis. They weren't asking anyone
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  Speaker 7: else to be a part of it. They weren't getting
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  Speaker 7: anyone else's heads up. They were telling the Brits, we
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  Speaker 7: already won. That was just last Saturday. It's too late
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  Speaker 7: for you to send any ships. One week later, he's
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  Speaker 7: saying we need a global flotilla. And that is because
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  Speaker 7: the impact of these straits staying disrupted. But the only
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  Speaker 7: country that can get ships out right now the Iranians.
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  Speaker 7: That is a major major disruption that we're going to
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  Speaker 7: feel for months in the United States and the global economy.
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  Speaker 4: And so two follow ups to that, what is the
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  Speaker 4: likelihood of this actually happening? What the President is requesting
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  Speaker 4: these other countries coming together to help and are you
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  Speaker 4: surprised by Iran's actions that they were willing to do
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  Speaker 4: it and shut down the street.
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  Speaker 7: I think that other countries are going to participate. We've
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  Speaker 7: certainly heard from the French. I suspect the Brits will participate.
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  Speaker 7: I think other countries will as well, maybe even India.
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  Speaker 7: How much of that will be defensive overwhelmingly. It's not
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  Speaker 7: like they're joining the United States and a coalition of
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  Speaker 7: the willing to beat up on Iran. But everybody wants
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  Speaker 7: the straits reopen now. And India has managed to get
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  Speaker 7: one of their own tankers through in the last twenty
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  Speaker 7: four hours on the back of an agreement between Mody
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  Speaker 7: and the Iranian president.
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  Speaker 5: Maybe we can get more support that way too, But.
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  Speaker 7: No, I mean the surprise here is that the United
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  Speaker 7: States did not have a plan for what happens if
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  Speaker 7: they don't have a regime they can work with, and
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  Speaker 7: they don't.
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  Speaker 5: I mean, everybody.
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  Speaker 7: Knew that the Straits of Hormuz could be made impassable
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  Speaker 7: by the Iranians.
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  Speaker 5: I mean, this is something that the.
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  Speaker 7: CIA analysts and the Department of Defense analysts have been
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  Speaker 7: working through for decades. It's been scenario planned every which way,
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  Speaker 7: So that doesn't come as a surprise. But Trump wasn't
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  Speaker 7: worried about it because he said, well, after we decapitate
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  Speaker 7: the Iranians, they're not going to do anything. They're going
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  Speaker 7: to need to work with us. That turns out to
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  Speaker 7: not be the case at all. And so two weeks
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  Speaker 7: into this war, a war of choice, Trump's timeline, Trump's preferences,
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  Speaker 7: Trump's extent of targeting. You still got the straits closed
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  Speaker 7: with no way out. And it is urgent for Trump,
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  Speaker 7: who is now facing four dollar gas real soon in
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  Speaker 7: the United States. And you know, fertilizer, you don't get
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  Speaker 7: fertilizer through it's too late if it's after the planting season.
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  Speaker 5: That's going to come through.
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  Speaker 7: Food costs all over the world, grocery stores in the
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  Speaker 7: United States. Too late if you don't get that done urgently.
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  Speaker 7: So he does understand the urgency, he just doesn't have
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  Speaker 7: a plan for it.
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  Speaker 4: And so to the point about who is in charge
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  Speaker 4: in Iran and how that is all working, I do
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  Speaker 4: want to ask you about Iran's new Supreme leader. Ostensibly
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  Speaker 4: we heard a purported statement from him in this last week,
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  Speaker 4: the first statement since he was named, But we have
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  Speaker 4: not seen him in public. We have not heard from him.
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  Speaker 4: What does that mean.
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  Speaker 5: To you, Well, we know a couple of things.
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  Speaker 7: He certainly doesn't have experience running the country. And they
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  Speaker 7: also are mostly cut off from their local commanders because
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  Speaker 7: the idea of military leadership having regular conversations with the
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  Speaker 7: commanders on the ground means that they are potentially more
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  Speaker 7: vulnerable to the Israelis than the Americans striking them.
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  Speaker 5: So right now, the.
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  Speaker 7: Decisions being made to put all of these drones in
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  Speaker 7: the air against all of these targets around the Gulf,
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  Speaker 7: those are being made locally.
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  Speaker 5: At the same time.
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  Speaker 7: It was the Iranian President who is a symbolic leader
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  Speaker 7: and hasn't had a lot of power, but he's the
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  Speaker 7: one that talked with Mody, the Indian Prime Minister, to
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  Speaker 7: essentially get a swap steel done that got a tanker through.
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  Speaker 7: So it's very hard to know what, if any authority
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  Speaker 7: the Supreme Leader has on a day to day basis now.
• 12:00
  Speaker 7: I mean, the analysts that we have that are very
• 12:02
  Speaker 7: close to politics in Iran have no visibility on that whatsoever.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, and so it leaves this that open question that
• 12:11
  Speaker 4: you're getting at right there. What about Iran's allies in
• 12:15
  Speaker 4: this war. China by far the biggest buyer of Iranian oil,
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  Speaker 4: and US intelligence suggests they're preparing to financially aid Iran
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  Speaker 4: as well. What about the China and all of.
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  Speaker 7: This, Well, the Chinese, of course, would much rather see
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  Speaker 7: the Straits open. They have right now plenty of oil
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  Speaker 7: and reserves probably for three months of domestic usage, so.
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  Speaker 5: It's not urgent for them.
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  Speaker 7: But these prices are hurting their economy clearly, and that
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  Speaker 7: will also be true for fertilizer, It's going to be
• 12:43
  Speaker 7: true for you, petrochemicals and the rest.
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  Speaker 5: So they want this open.
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  Speaker 7: You know that the tankers that are getting out right
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  Speaker 7: now are Iranian tankers. Pete Hegseth said this in his
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  Speaker 7: press conference yesterday morning.
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  Speaker 5: He said that the Straits are not blocked. That is true.
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  Speaker 7: There are Iranian tankers getting out, and they are getting
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  Speaker 7: out to provide oil to China. The United States has
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  Speaker 7: every capacity to interdict them if they wish.
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  Speaker 5: They don't.
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  Speaker 7: They want the prices lower, just like why the US
• 13:15
  Speaker 7: is right now suspending sanctions on Russian oil.
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  Speaker 5: And they also don't want to antagonize the Chinese.
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  Speaker 7: Remember, just six hours ago, Trump called on the Chinese
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  Speaker 7: to help keep the strait open. So, and he also
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  Speaker 7: has he's going to travel to China in a couple
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  Speaker 7: of weeks and he's going to meet with Chijin Ping
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  Speaker 7: and he wants good relations there. So he doesn't want
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  Speaker 7: to suddenly be responsible for shutting down oil to China.
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  Speaker 7: But it is all very ironic in an environment where
• 13:45
  Speaker 7: the Americans are at war with Iran, that the Iranians
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  Speaker 7: are presently sending oil to China, and the Chinese, of course,
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  Speaker 7: are quite comfortable with that.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, interesting stuff, Abrumer, great context. Thank you so much.
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  Speaker 4: We appreciate it.