Trump says US to pause operation to guide vessels through Strait of Hormuz | BBC News

0:00 Donald Trump has announced the operation to help commercial ships sail through

0:04 the straight of Hormuz will be paused less than 48 hours after it began.

0:10 He said it's because there's been progress toward

0:12 a deal with Iran and wrote on social media,

0:16 "We have mutually agreed that while the blockade

0:19 will remain in full force in effect,

0:21 Project Freedom will be paused for a short period of time to see

0:26 whether or not the agreement can be finalized and signed." The president's

0:31 post comes just hours after his secretary of state Marco Rubio said

0:36 the initial US-Israeli offensive in Iran

0:38 was over with all its objectives achieved.

0:42 That's despite Iran continuing to threaten navigation in the Strait of Hummus

0:46 and the US still hoping to negotiate an end to the Iranian nuclear program.

0:53 Mr.

0:53 Rubio spent about 50 minutes answering questions from the media.

0:57 Let's get more on what he had

1:00 to say from our North America correspondent, David Willis.

1:03 Hello, David.

1:04 So, he got quite a grilling.

1:06 Talk us through it.

1:08 Yes, he did, Sally.

1:09 He answered questions for quite some time in the White House press

1:13 briefing room and he announced most crucially the end of Operation Epic Fury.

1:20 That's the uh basic combat mission name that was given

1:24 to the US and Israel assault if you like on Iran.

1:31 Mr.

1:31 Rubio said that the focus now would be on Project Freedom and that was

1:37 a defensive operation that the United

1:39 States was launching to basically guide vessels,

1:43 oil tankers in particular, through the Strait of Hormuz,

1:47 which of course Iran had also claimed was uh it was in control of.

1:53 Well, only a few minutes uh a couple of hours I should say after Mr.

1:57 Rubio had concluded his remarks and stepped down from the lectern.

2:02 Uh, President Trump went on social media, Truth Social,

2:06 to announce that basically Project Freedom was a thing of the past

2:11 a day and a half after it had come into operation.

2:16 the president saying, as you mentioned,

2:18 that he was pausing the operation in order to make time

2:24 for talks between or to capitalize on talks between the US and Iran,

2:29 which he seemed to think were bearing fruit.

2:32 What are we to make of all this?

2:34 I mean, frankly, your guess is as good as mine.

2:37 It does seem that project freedom that move by the US

2:42 to guide ships through the straight of hormers had antagonized Iran.

2:48 They had promised to attack ships that were going through escorted uh by the US.

2:56 But is the US on the verge of some

2:59 sort of agreement with Iran over its nuclear stockpile?

3:04 something that President Trump suggested might be

3:07 the case in that truth social posting this evening.

3:11 We really don't know and uh the next few days

3:15 may perhaps shine some light on it or maybe not.

3:19 Yeah, interesting David in terms of what might happen

3:22 next because the price of oil has come down

3:25 in the hope I I'm assuming that there could

3:27 be some negotiation uh in the in the near

3:30 future between both sides and of course we've

3:32 got Iran's foreign minister in China and China

3:35 may exert some pressure on Iran to reopen

3:39 that straight because for China it's very important.

3:43 Well, that's true.

3:44 And of course, if you're to believe Donald Trump,

3:46 then it is Pakistan that has been exerting pressure as well,

3:50 Sally, seeking to get the two sides back to the negotiating table.

3:56 But of course, there's only been

3:57 one face-to-face negotiation between the two sides.

4:01 This conflict began towards the end of February,

4:05 and that resulted in the two sides walking away, still a long way apart.

4:11 So, a lot of questions among them, of course, uh what happens to the 1,600 or so

4:17 vessels still stranded in the Strait of Hormuz,

4:21 some of which have been there for up to two months with sailors,

4:26 according to Marco Rubio, in some cases dying of starvation.

4:31 We will just have to wait and see.

4:33 Okay, David, thank you very much indeed.

4:34 David Willis there with the latest uh from the White House.

4:38 Well, let's now focus on Iran's foreign minister's trip to China.

4:42 He is in Beijing and has begun a meeting with his Chinese counterpart.

4:48 Asked about that visit, Secretary of State Marco Rubio had this to say.

4:52 I hope the Chinese tell him what he needs to be told,

4:54 and that is that what you are doing

4:55 in the Straits is causing you to be globally isolated.

4:58 You're the bad guy in this.

4:59 You well, you you guys should not be blowing up ships.

5:01 You should not be putting mines.

5:02 You should not be holding hostage the global

5:05 trying to hold hostage the global economy.

5:07 It is in China's interest that Iran stop closing the straits.

5:10 It's harming China as well.

5:13 Well, let's go live to Beijing now.

5:14 Our China correspondent there is Steven McDonald.

5:17 Uh Steven, so is uh Iran's foreign minister in meetings with Wang Yi right now.

5:25 Yes, that's right.

5:26 And what we're waiting for is the official

5:29 readout which will come at some point.

5:32 This is the sort of notes that both governments give us.

5:36 It's not a verbatim record of what's said,

5:40 but will give us the highlights of points discussed.

5:43 Certainly in terms of what the governments want to tell us, though.

5:46 The interesting thing about this though is why are they meeting face to face?

5:51 Why has Iran's foreign minister flown all the way to Beijing for this meeting

5:56 when these two foreign ministers have had

5:59 plenty of phone conversations since the war started?

6:02 And I think most analysts would say it's because it's

6:07 in the leadup to Donald Trump visiting here later next week.

6:11 China would love to be able to say to the US, look,

6:14 we're doing our best to end the gridlock in the straight of Hormuz.

6:21 We've been having these discussions with the Iranian government on that front.

6:26 Now, we heard US Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying that basically

6:30 Wang Yi should be reading the riot act to the Iranian government,

6:34 saying that you're the bad guys in all this.

6:39 You should stop blocking that straight because and it's

6:42 because of your actions that you're essentially an international pariah.

6:46 Well, the Chinese government is not going to say that Iran is the bad

6:49 guy because they think that the US and Israel are also the bad guys.

6:54 After all, they started the war.

6:56 The official line from the Chinese government is

6:58 that everyone needs to sit down and start talking.

7:01 And naturally, the Chinese government wants that straight to open as well

7:06 as other countries because even though this is a very strong economy,

7:11 that war is also hurting China.

7:13 Yeah.

7:13 Yeah, I mean China's role in all of this is very interesting in that China is

7:18 uh seen as a friend to Iran um an ally of Iran and yet the same time

7:22 it's got huge economic and investment ties in the Gulf and a lot of its energy

7:28 flows through the strait of Hormuz which is

7:30 to all intents and purposes shut at the moment.

7:33 So China is trying to mediate here in a very diplomatic

7:37 way and and gain points on the international stage for doing so.

7:43 Yeah, you're absolutely right.

7:45 And what's more, we're hearing that the Chinese

7:48 government has been telling these Chinese companies which

7:51 are buying Iranian oil to keep doing it

7:54 even though they're facing sanctions from the US.

7:57 Now, that could also be so that when Donald Trump and Xigin

8:01 Ping sit down at the end of next week and have these talks,

8:04 there's leverage on that front.

8:06 So both sides have got something to give if you like.

8:10 Uh for the moment though,

8:12 China is still buying this oil from Iran and Beijing would argue,

8:16 well, why shouldn't we?

8:17 We didn't start the war.

8:18 We're not a party to the war.

8:21 Why should we stop buying Iranian oil just because the US

8:24 and Israel are involved in a conflict with that state?

8:28 Okay, Stephen, for now, thank you very much indeed.

8:30 Well, let's now uh pick the brains of the director

8:33 of the Iranian studies at Stanford University, Abbas Milani.

8:37 Abbas, I know you were listening into all of that.

8:39 So, what do you think Wang Yi's messages for Abbas Agarachi today?

8:46 First of all, I think one message is

8:48 that Iran must open for China has been very clear.

8:52 They have repeated it several times that this is

8:55 the international waterway and it should be opened.

8:59 Uh I think he might be reading the right act.

9:01 I'm not sure.

9:02 Uh but China is very clear on that.

9:05 But China also has a lot of interest in um

9:08 United Arab Emirates that has been attacked by Iran repeatedly.

9:12 There are 150,000 I think about Chinese

9:16 citizens who live in United Arab Emirates.

9:20 I would be very surprised if the Chinese government doesn't tell Iran

9:24 that it they should cool their heels and stop attacking United Arab Emirates,

9:29 which is a non-combatant in all of this.

9:32 But don't you think China as well is seeing this as a great opportunity,

9:37 this war initiated by Israel and and the US to undermine the US

9:43 on the international stage and to uh show

9:46 China as the place of stability and collaboration.

9:50 Well, absolutely.

9:50 I think China is cherishing the position that it has.

9:54 It is doing exactly as you suggest.

9:57 I think one of the things that the Iranians

9:59 literally have been writing about as their anxiety,

10:03 the Iranian regime particularly is that China might

10:06 make a deal with the United States when Mr.

10:10 Trump goes there.

10:11 They want to make sure that they're on the same page

10:14 with the Chinese that they won't be part of some kind of a deal.

10:19 But China has extensive contacts with Saudi Arabia,

10:22 with the United Arab Emirates,

10:24 with Qatar, with all of the countries on the other side of the Persian Gulf.

10:27 So China is sitting in a very comfortable position.

10:31 But also it has been criticized China.

10:33 There has been accusations that it's been providing military support to Iran

10:38 in the same way that Russia has been seen to be doing so.

10:42 But China is uh refuting that, isn't it?

10:46 Yeah, China has refuted it.

10:47 that I would be surprised if they haven't

10:50 given some aid some for example intelligence as Russia

10:56 apparently has done but that's the least you can

10:59 expect of China has been considered Iran's chief ally

11:05 in the international community next to Russia both

11:09 of those countries I think have decided to sit

11:12 on essentially the sideline they have provided enough just

11:16 enough to Iran to say that they're still an ally,

11:20 but they have made their sentiments very clear

11:22 that they don't think Iran is doing the right things.

11:25 They might be critical of Israel and the United States for attacking,

11:29 but I think they believe, for example,

11:31 the attacks on the other China's allies on the other side of the Persian Gulf,

11:36 closing the straight of all of these things

11:39 I don't think sits well with the Chinese.

11:41 And just briefly, Abbas,

11:43 do you think we could be on the verge of a deal between the US and Iran?

11:48 Uh, I would be surprised if it wasn't.

11:50 I think both sides uh need a deal.

11:53 Both sides want a deal and both sides will declare a victory after

11:57 a deal where I think both of them will have probably made some concessions.

12:01 Okay, Abbas Milani, thank you again for your