Iran sends its response to President Trump's latest proposal aimed at ending the war | BBC News

0:04 Hello, I'm Samantha Simmons.

0:06 This is the Iran War Today,

0:08 our daily briefing bringing you up to date with all you need

0:11 to know on the day 72 of the USIsrael war with Iran.

0:16 In the next 50 minutes or so,

0:18 we'll be live with our correspondents in Los Angeles,

0:20 Dubai, Jerusalem, and from BBC Persian here in London.

0:24 Let's start with some of today's key developments.

0:28 Iran sends its response to President Trump's

0:30 latest proposal aimed at ending the war.

0:34 The Qatari ship carrying liquid gas appears to have

0:37 passed through the straight of Hormuz with Iranian permission,

0:40 though drone strikes on other vessels have continued.

0:44 Lebanon's health ministry says Israeli strikes have killed two paramedics

0:48 in the south of the country despite a ceasefire being agreed last month.

0:54 Iran demands a series of guarantees as it indicates it will take

0:57 part in the Football World Cup in the US, Canada, and Mexico.

1:02 And we find out why shortages of Diet Coke

1:04 in India are being linked to the Iran war.

1:10 We start with the news that Iran has

1:12 sent its response to the latest US peace plan.

1:16 We've had no official word on what's in it,

1:18 but Pakistani mediators have confirmed it's being passed on to Washington.

1:22 Reports say the proposal suggests the breaking

1:25 down of negotiations into two phases.

1:27 First on ending hostilities in the straight of Hormuz,

1:30 but leaving the most complex issues

1:32 of Iran's nuclear program and sanctions to later.

1:36 The Iranian president did not directly reference the proposal,

1:39 but posted on social media, "We will never bow our heads before the enemy,

1:44 and if talk of dialogue or negotiation arises,

1:47 it does not mean surrender or defeat." President

1:50 Trump hasn't commented yet on the response from Iran.

1:53 In the past week, he has suggested the war is primarily over,

1:56 but at the same time has threatened to return

1:58 to the conflict if Thran refuses to accept his terms.

2:03 On Saturday, he spent the day watching a golf tournament in Virginia.

2:06 But he was active on social media,

2:09 posting an AI image of himself

2:11 on a warship with explosions going off around him,

2:14 with another depicting drones falling like butterflies.

2:18 Mr.

2:18 Trump is set to travel to China later this week to meet with President Xi.

2:23 Whilst America's top diplomat, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has held

2:27 talks with the Qatari Prime Minister in Miami.

2:29 In a CBS interview due to air later,

2:32 Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Iran's stockpile of enriched

2:37 uranium must be taken out before the war can end.

2:41 Let's take a listen to what he told 60 Minutes.

2:44 How do you envision the highlyenriched uranium will be removed from Iran?

2:49 You go in and you take it out with what?

2:52 Special forces from Israel, special forces from the United States.

2:55 Well, I'm not going to talk about military means,

2:57 but the pres what President Trump has said to me,

3:00 I want to go in there and I think it can be done physically.

3:03 That's not the problem.

3:04 Uh, if you have an agreement and you go in and you take it out, why not?

3:09 That's the best way.

3:10 What if there isn't an agreement?

3:11 Can it be taken out by force?

3:13 Well, you're going to ask me these questions.

3:16 I'm going to dodge them because I'm not

3:17 going to talk about our military uh possibilities,

3:21 plans, or anything of the kind.

3:23 Well, let's discuss all of this with BBC

3:25 Persian special correspondent Kazra Naji and Peter Bose,

3:27 our North America correspondent.

3:29 Welcome to you both.

3:30 Kazra, to you first.

3:31 What do we know about the Iranian response to the US?

3:35 Very little actually.

3:36 We know that this is a response

3:38 to America's response to Iran's original 14point plan.

3:44 That plan entailed basically a two-phase sort of negotiations.

3:51 the first phase to do with the straight of Hormuz opening it and and the lifting

3:56 of the blockade on Iran's uh ports by the US and then talk about

4:03 nuclear issues and other issues in a a sort of a 30day uh period uh

4:11 following that but um we don't know whether that has been um changed in any way.

4:17 I'm not holding my breath.

4:19 I think Iran is feeling that it has the upper hand in this war

4:23 and is not in a mood to to to make big concessions that the US wants.

4:31 And President Trump basically wants Iran

4:33 to surrender particularly its nuclear activities,

4:38 its nuclear program without promising anything at the beginning.

4:42 Also, what Iran wants is a promise

4:45 that the US or Israel will not attack Iran again.

4:49 We have to see uh what the the details will be

4:53 and whether they are going to be um acceptable to the US,

4:58 but I'm not holding my breath.

5:00 And and Peter, any US reaction?

5:02 And we still don't even know what was in the US plan.

5:07 That's key.

5:08 There is no US reaction yet.

5:10 We've heard nothing from President Trump in the last few hours.

5:13 But I think what is interesting here is,

5:15 and we know this from reporting from the last few days,

5:18 that this is a plan for future negotiations.

5:22 It is a framework possibly breaking down, as we've just been hearing,

5:26 all the the various issues, the enrichment of uranium,

5:29 the straight of Hormuz, economic sanctions against Iran,

5:33 discussing all of these issues over a period of time.

5:36 And what we've been hearing from President Trump recently,

5:39 signs of increased impatience I think from him

5:41 is that he wants a deal signed quickly

5:44 and clearly a deal to end the war is not going to happen in the next few days,

5:50 possibly weeks or even months.

5:52 and listening to uh Prime Minister Netanyahu

5:55 talking about the enriched uranium and acknowledging

5:57 himself that he is dodging some

6:00 of the difficult questions about how that would happen,

6:04 the practicality of removing that enriched uranium.

6:07 Of course, it's echoing essentially what Donald Trump has said

6:10 in the last few weeks that he wants that material brought back,

6:13 he says, to the United States.

6:15 But it would be an extremely complicated, sensitive,

6:18 and potentially dangerous process that again isn't going to happen overnight.

6:22 So in the last couple of days,

6:24 we've heard Donald Trump increasingly saying that if there

6:26 isn't a deal that the bombing could start again.

6:29 But as we've been hearing in the last few

6:31 hours from the uh US ambassador to the United Nations,

6:35 Mike was talking to ABC News.

6:38 He says President Trump is still prepared to give diplomacy a chance

6:43 when the mediators in this case Pakistan ask us uh head

6:48 of state to head of state to give this uh negotiation

6:52 another chance before we go back to bombing Iran then I

6:56 think that's uh completely appropriate choice for President Trump to make.

7:00 He is putting uh giving diplomacy every chance

7:03 we possibly can before going back to hostilities,

7:06 but he's absolutely prepared to do that.

7:09 Well, Casra, back to you.

7:10 And we understand that a top Iranian

7:11 military official has met with the Supreme Leader.

7:14 Do we know any more about that?

7:16 We don't actually.

7:17 We know that he basically put forward a report about

7:22 Iran's preparedness uh in the war uh to the Supreme Leader.

7:27 But the interesting thing is that this is the second

7:30 time in less than three or four days uh

7:34 that uh Iranians are talking about the top people

7:39 in the leadership meeting uh with the new supreme leader.

7:44 We know that he hasn't been seen since he was

7:46 he was um chosen uh to be the supreme leader.

7:51 Um but um we haven't seen him.

7:54 We haven't heard him.

7:54 We haven't heard his voice.

7:56 Uh but a few days ago we had the president president

8:02 saying that he had a 2 and a half hour meeting

8:04 with him and how interesting uh interesting man and a sincere man

8:10 he was which gave me the impression that it was the first

8:14 time after he was chosen that the president has actually

8:20 met with the with the supreme leader which is very strange

8:24 in a sense that if If if as the Iranians claim

8:29 that he is in a in a in a in a good state,

8:33 the supreme leader, uh why has there been a situation whereby

8:38 the president even the president hasn't been able uh to meet with him?

8:43 But anyway, uh the things have changed.

8:46 It seems that they are talking about having met him now the the the commander

8:51 of the the the the of armed forces and previously Iran's president.

8:57 So maybe there is something in the works in a sense

9:00 that we should expect more of that in the coming days.

9:05 Okay, Casra and Naji and Peter Bose in LA.

9:07 Thank you.

9:09 Well, we know that what happened in the straight

9:10 of Hormuz is key to any peace deal.

9:14 Today, maritime tracking monitors say a Qatari vessel carrying liquid

9:18 gas appears to have crossed the straight bound for Pakistan.

9:22 If successful, the fuel transit approved in advance by Thran would be

9:26 Qatar's first export from the region since the start of the war.

9:30 However, Qatar's prime minister sternly criticized Iran for an attack in Qatari

9:35 waters on a commercial bulk carrier which Thran said was US flagged.

9:41 Meanwhile, South Korea's foreign ministry says that unidentified aircraft struck

9:45 a South Korean cargo ship in the straight of Hormuz this week.

9:49 The statement came after the inspection of the fire

9:52 damaged HMM Namu at port in Dubai.

9:56 The US military shared a video that appears

9:58 to show strikes on two Iranian tankers.

10:01 The incident took place on Friday before the vessels

10:04 entered an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman,

10:06 which the US says is a breach of the American blockade of Iran's ports.

10:12 Let's go live to Dubai.

10:13 Our correspondent Caroline Davis is there.

10:14 Hi Caroline.

10:15 Well, with these clashes in the strait and still no word on a peace deal,

10:19 there has been a lot of concern about tension in the Gulf this week.

10:22 Tell us more.

10:25 Yes.

10:25 Well, what a list that you just went through of all the different

10:27 things we've seen in the Gulf in the course of the last week.

10:30 In fact, it started on Monday with reports from the Ministry of Defense here

10:34 in the UAE saying that they were engaging with missiles and with drones as well.

10:39 And it's also ended this Sunday with more reports from multiple

10:43 uh countries in the Gulf saying that they had cited drones.

10:46 You mentioned the uh the ship off the coast

10:48 of Qatar uh that was first reported um uh early

10:52 in the morning uh and later confirmed by the Ministry

10:55 of Defense in Qatar that that had been a drone.

10:57 We then also heard from uh Kuwait's Ministry of Defense

11:00 saying that they had engaged several drones at dawn this morning.

11:04 And we subsequently also heard from the UAE's Ministry

11:06 of Defense saying that they had uh engaged with two drones.

11:10 I think the big concern with all of this is that as we see more

11:14 of these clashes and tensions between Iran and the US in the straight of Hormuz,

11:18 the big concern for many Gulf countries is

11:20 that they get pulled into that crisis as well.

11:23 Um we of course you mentioned the um

11:26 the Qatari prime minister who told Iran's foreign minister

11:29 that using the strait of Hormuz as a pressure

11:31 tool would only deepen the crisis in the Gulf.

11:34 But of course we do expect that whatever deal may

11:37 or may not be done or the proposals being put

11:39 forward between the US and Iran will include some form

11:42 of solution on what to do with the strait of Hmuz.

11:46 the big question and many uh here looking

11:48 to see what sort of proposals might be being put

11:50 forward because they will have a big impact

11:52 on the Gulf and and around the wider world as well.

11:55 Okay, Caroline, thank you.

11:58 Well, Israel has continued to hit targets

12:00 in Lebanon despite a ceasefire being agreed last month.

12:04 Lebanon's health ministry says Israeli strikes have killed two paramedics

12:08 in the south of the country despite a ceasefire being agreed last month.

12:12 The ministry statement condemned what it

12:14 called Israel's continued violation of international laws.

12:17 The paramedics were from Islamic Health Committee,

12:20 a civil defense and ambulance organization affiliated with Hezbollah.

12:24 The Israeli military says it has hit more than 40

12:27 sites used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon over the weekend.

12:31 The army released footage with it which it said was of some of the strikes.

12:35 Israeli officials said the targets included buildings and weapons

12:38 depot and more than 10 Hezbollah members were killed.

12:42 On Saturday, almost 40 people were killed in a day of intense Israeli strikes,

12:47 including many civilians who had already been displaced by the war.

12:51 Let's go live to Jerusalem and our correspondent Ioni Wells.

12:54 Ioni, welcome to you.

12:55 Israel continuing to strike targets in Lebanon.

12:58 Bring us up to date.

13:02 Yeah, that ceasefire was announced on the 16th of April,

13:05 but everyone in the region has really been describing

13:07 this as a ceasefire in name only because ever since then,

13:10 in the weeks that followed,

13:12 Israeli strikes have continued in southern Lebanon where

13:15 Israeli troops are also occupying parts of that region.

13:19 Similarly, Hezbollah has also been firing rockets,

13:21 drones at Israeli troops in southern Lebanon,

13:24 but also at times into northern Israel as well.

13:27 Just this weekend uh and today on Sunday

13:30 uh the Israeli military put out a statement

13:32 saying that it has continued to carry out

13:34 strikes on what it described as infrastructure headquarters,

13:38 weapons storage facilities used by Hezbollah.

13:41 But the Lebanese health ministry has said that some of those who

13:43 have been hit by Israeli strikes this weekend include not just two paramedics,

13:47 but also several children who they say have been

13:49 killed and also a Syrian national and his 12-year-old daughter.

13:54 uh the father killed according to the Lebanese health

13:56 ministry and the daughter critically injured and in hospital.

14:00 Now uh the Lebanese uh diplomats and Israeli diplomats are due to meet

14:05 for further peace negotiations and talks in Washington

14:08 next week along with some military figures.

14:11 The hope is to reach some kind of further uh peace deal.

14:14 Israel certainly want the full disarmament of Hezbollah.

14:18 Uh the Lebanese government say that is something they are

14:20 working towards although in practice that has been a challenge.

14:23 They want Israeli troops out of southern

14:25 Lebanon and they want an end to hostilities.

14:28 Hezbollah itself doesn't think these talks should even be

14:30 going ahead at all while there are still strikes ongoing.

14:35 But this conflict in Lebanon is also really key to the separate negotiations

14:38 that are going on between the US and Iran over ending that conflict.

14:43 Because one of the uh points that Iran has stressed throughout those talks

14:47 and negotiations has been that part

14:49 of any ceasefire deal or longerterm peace deal,

14:52 Iran wants hostilities to end in Lebanon as well.

14:55 Okay, I now thank you.

14:58 Iran has indicated it will take part in the football

15:01 world cup which starts next month in the US.

15:04 Canada and Mexico, but has asked for a series

15:07 of guarantees from organizers FIFA and the host countries.

15:11 The Iranian Football Federation has demanded that all players,

15:14 coaches, and officials traveling with the team be given visas,

15:18 including those who've done military

15:19 service with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards.

15:22 Let's discuss this more with Pura Jaffare from BBC World Service Sport.

15:27 Welcome to you.

15:28 Um, so tell us more about what Iran is demanding.

15:31 I mean this has got uh a little bit over uh the top when it comes to the uh

15:38 logistics of the um the organizing committee and they are

15:43 asking uh for guarantees that not not only the players

15:47 and the coaching staff uh but also the journalists

15:51 and some of the fans they have said uh

15:53 to to get visas to enter uh the United States

15:56 and and um we we already mentioned the fact that IRGC,

16:01 the Revolutionary Guard Corpse are listed as a terrorist

16:05 organization uh in the US and Canada.

16:08 Uh but also there's a travel ban for the for the Iranian fans.

16:13 And uh uh when when you look at when you look

16:17 at some of these demands uh it seems that uh some of them

16:21 are outside uh uh FIFA's jurisdiction and they they they're um they

16:28 are in the hands of the uh US uh immigration and border control.

16:34 Uh but but then again even even um though that IRGC is listed

16:39 as a terrorist organization is still this is uh the president of United

16:44 States and also the secretary

16:46 of state's discretion and they've already mentioned

16:49 that they they are going to make exemptions for the players and the athletes.

16:54 Uh they they don't want them to uh to be affected.

16:58 uh but some some other demands are just uh basic

17:02 protocols of every other team taking part in the tournament.

17:06 Uh they want they want the national uh

17:10 uh anthem and also the flag to be respected.

17:14 uh we know that there are going to be uh fans in uh

17:18 especially in those two games in Los Angeles when if one plays New Zealand

17:22 on the 15th of June and then in a few days time they they're

17:26 playing in the same stadium Sophie Stadium

17:28 in Los Angeles they will face Belgium.

17:31 Uh there will be fans there will be Iranians in the stadium uh who might

17:36 not expect that flag and they want

17:39 to enter with an alternative flag to the stadium.

17:42 So that's that's another one of those guarantees uh that they're asking FIFA.

17:47 And then there's a bit of a unusual one

17:50 asking um asking journalists FIFA to ask the journalists uh

17:56 not to ask anything but technical questions meaning that you

17:59 cannot ask uh political questions in the press conferences.

18:03 Uh I'm not sure how he was able to do

18:05 that telling uh journalists not not to ask those questions.

18:09 And when it comes to Iran with many other things, even even the football team,

18:14 um this whole border between politics and sports is very blurry.

18:19 I don't I don't know where the limits of that are.

18:22 Okay, PIA, thank you very much for that.

18:24 Finally, today we've heard a lot about the economic impact of the war in India.

18:29 It's actually having an effect on diet coke sales.

18:32 Unlike in the rest of the world, the drink is only sold in cans in India.

18:37 The ongoing blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has

18:39 led to shortages of aluminium cans and shipping delays.

18:43 Social media has been flooded with memes showing people hoarding cans.

18:47 Some businesses are running events where people

18:49 can decorate cans or make prints on t-shirts.

18:52 Diet Coke parties have become popular as bars

18:54 and restaurants tap into the social media frenzy with some

18:58 organizing events that come with a $10 to $16

19:01 entry fee and offer access to Diet Coke.

19:05 So there's a little bit of a craze around Diet Coke.

19:07 The younger generation has really caught

19:09 on to Diet Coke as a beverage of choice.

19:12 And with the aluminium can shortage, I think a lot of people are uh you know

19:18 trying to sort of keep the Diet Coke as an aesthetic,

19:20 as a keepsake, as something to just,

19:23 you know, like create a memorabilia around it.

19:25 This is our way of an ode to the entire shortage of Diet Coke.

19:30 So people over here have gathered together.

19:32 They're bedazzling the Diet Coke cans.

19:35 Some of them are also doing a vintage art pop canvas painting.

19:39 And we also have Diet Coke t-shirts where basically they're basically dazzling

19:44 them with rhinestones or just painting over it and making their own.

19:48 So this is their way of becoming a part of the Diet Coke culture.

19:52 Whether you're joining us on YouTube, Tik Tok,

19:54 sounds, radio or TV, thanks for your time.

19:57 We'll be back at the same time tomorrow with the Iran War today.