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.