US-Iran Diplomatic Talks Update

Well, Tehran has provided the US with a list of

conditions for ending the war,

handed to Washington via Qatar.

This is what they include: ending the conflict on all fronts,

including in Lebanon,

and releasing frozen funds estimated at more than $100 billion.

Tehran's also demanding the US lift its blockade of Iranian ports

and stop interfering in Iran's internal affairs.

Our chief US correspondent, Alan Fisher, is standing by at the White House.

But first, let's go to, uh, Toheod Assadi, who's, uh, with us from- in, uh, Tehran.

Good to see you, Toheod. So, Mohsen Naghvi is back in Tehran on his

sixth visit,

as we mentioned. So is Pakistan actively trying to

salvage the stalled US-Iran talks?

Yes, indeed. Iran says diplomatic engagement has been

underway with

the assistance of Qataris and Pakistanis who

are basically mediating the

talks between Washington and Tehran.

And we know that the recent visit is critically important as it

takes place, uh, uh, prior to the UN General

Assembly and prior to the Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshki's

visit to New York. However, we know that the entirety of the

situation is engulfed by two certain elements.

First, the very complicated nature of the issue

and

many knots that need to be untangled when it comes to this

already deteriorated situation between Tehran and

Washington, on the one hand. Also, on the other hand, in Tehran, there is

this, there is this cloud of mistrust pertaining

to any

rapprochement, and that comes from a historical background

and

from the very fact that Iranians are saying they were engaged

in the trajectory of diplomacy not once, not twice,

even thrice, when their country faced this campaign of

unprecedented airstrikes by the Americans and Israelis.

So it's not really easy for Iranians to trust the

trajectory of di- diplomacy under this current circumstance.

While we know that there are many issues when it comes to the

situation at the

Strait of Hormuz when it comes to sanctions,

frozen assets of the country,

the nuclear dossier of the country, Iran's regional relations,

and many more. Whether the two sides can sit down to

resolve

all these issues is something that we have to keep waiting.

And Toheod, given Tehran's, uh, repeated insistence on these

seven conditions to end the war, how is Iran calculating its

leverage against Washington

as all the m- economic and military pressure continues to mount

on Iran?

Well, indeed, it's a very intricate calculation here in

Tehran. First, militarily speaking, we, we just hear this,

uh, posturing and re- rhetoric from the country saying

that there

is readiness for a decisive war. They're saying that in case

of an escalation, that runs the risk of getting beyond the

region and getting into a war of attrition.

So militarily speaking, they're trying to send out a message of

defiance. Yesterday, we've got it from the joint military

headquarters of

Khatam al-Anbia coming out to say that if the United States commits

a mistake, the response, the retaliation is going to be

painful. And in, in the meantime, we know that diplomatically speaking,

the country is trying to leave the doors ajar with

potentiality for further engagement.

But geostrategically speaking, which is perhaps the most

important point of leverage for Tehran, Iran is trying to use the

situation at the Strait of Hormuz and of course the leverage in Yemen when

it comes to Bab el-Mandab as a geostrategic leverage

to, uh, put more pressure upon the United States.

But last, but-- last but not the least, indeed, we have to keep in mind

that economically speaking, Iran is dealing with a sort of

deteriorated situation with high prices, increasing

inflation, and the devaluation of the local currency

all putting

pressure on the ordinary citizens across the country.

Toheod, many thanks for that. Toheod Assadi in Tehran.

Let's, uh, go to our chief US correspondent,

Alan Fisher, who's at the White

House. Uh, Alan, so we know Donald Trump has mentioned

he's, uh, he's

game to sit down with the Iranian president on the sidelines of the UN

General

Assembly, uh, kicking off in New York.

Just how badly does he need to secure a deal here?

Well, I think there's an acceptance that this is going to end with a

diplomatic

solution rather than a military solution, even though Donald Trump is keeping all

his options open and saying that a big strike on Iran could be

just days away. He said at the weekend he

was open to meeting

the Iranian president, and this administration has, in its

previous iteration and also this time round,

been willing to meet with

people that before former US governments just would never have sat down

with. You're thinking of the Taliban, North Korea, uh, a- and even Hamas,

uh, more recently. So the idea of Donald Trump sitting with

the Iranian

president isn't as bizarre as many people think.

Now, Donald Trump is also going to meet with

the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation

Council. A lot of them have conduits to the

Iranians.

The Qataris, in fact, have acted, acted as mediators.

Donald Trump would like a deal. There is no doubt about that.

He would like to be able to say he secured the fact that Iran will never have a

nuclear weapon, and he's aware because he said it several

times,

as soon as the war ends, then the price of oil will come down, and

that will be impacting, uh, the US economy in general.

So would he like a deal? Yes. Is it likely to come with a

pull aside at the United Nations General Assembly in the next couple of

days if he manages to meet the Iranian president?

Probably not, because there's a lot more detail to be

worked out than they could

manage in a very short conversation.

But it shows that Donald Trump is open to these conversations,

but he's also reserving the right to go back to a military strike

if he thinks that will force the Iranians to the negotiating table again.

Uh, and talking about conversations, um, Alan, reports of back channel

discussions between Washington and the Houthis.

Do we actually know about what's going on here?

Well, if you go back to when Donald Trump

was in Ireland just a week ago, he said

that they were having conversations with the Houthis.

"The Houthis called us, and they don't want to fight us." Now,

that

becomes important because we know that Mohammed bin Salman,

the Crown Prince of

Saudi Arabia, has asked the United States on a number of

occasions to

launch attacks against Houthi positions.

Now, according to some reports here in the

United States, after a phone call on

Thursday, Donald Trump had flipped his position

and after being against the

strikes, was very much in favor, and in fact, ordered military

chiefs to line up a list of targets, and even some planes had

started to be loaded. But he pulled the plug on that on Sunday.

Now, no confirmation from the White House on

that in the last couple of

hours. Uh, but it perhaps suggests that Donald Trump is willing to

hear what the Houthis have to say and not open a second front

up in the Middle East at a time when his war with Iran is

already incredibly unpopular with most American voters.

And so, yeah, there, there, there could be back channel conversations.

Donald Trump says they're talking directly.

As I said, this administration is not averse to speaking

to people, particularly if it thinks it can deliver a deal for the

American

people, and particularly if that deal makes Donald Trump look good.

Understood. Alan Fisher, many thanks for that.

Our chief US correspondent there at the White House.