Speaker 1: Diplomacy is being tested at every turn of the Iranian regime.
Speaker 1: They don't seem to favor diplomacy unless they can use
Speaker 1: it to tap us along. They're doing the same thing
Speaker 1: over and over again. I know people call that the
Speaker 1: definition of insanity. I think that's diplomacy Iranian style, by
Speaker 1: coming back with more of the same demands, et cetera,
Speaker 1: et cetera. But what has happened is that they continue
Speaker 1: degrade in their position. We continue to advance.
Speaker 2: Iran now demanding concessions from the United States before reopening
Speaker 2: the Strait of Hormuz, further complicating efforts to reach a
Speaker 2: peace deal between both countries. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Speaker 2: Nett Yahoo is rejecting the Trump backed fifteen point peace plan,
Speaker 2: vowing the IDF will not withdraw until Hamas is disarmed.
Speaker 2: Alex Hogan is live from the White House with more
Speaker 2: Hi Alex Hi Mike.
Speaker 3: Among new demands, Iran says it wants the US to
Speaker 3: lift its naval blockade, pay Iran for war damages, and
Speaker 3: also unfreeze Iranian assets. Those are demands that could potentially
Speaker 3: derail what have already been delicate negotiations. The same time,
Speaker 3: the administration is facing new pressure over this conflict. So
Speaker 3: according to a Marquette Law School poll, seventy five percent
Speaker 3: of Americans say that they don't believe that the cost
Speaker 3: of this war so far has been worth it, and
Speaker 3: Fox News polling showing that seventy three percent of Americans
Speaker 3: think we either get a bad deal or no deal.
Speaker 3: Senator Bill Haggerty from the Foreign Relations Committee today on
Speaker 3: Fox addressed some of those numbers.
Speaker 1: I think the American public are indicating they're ready for
Speaker 1: a deal to be done, and that deal could be
Speaker 1: at the end of a military operation as opposed to diplomacy.
Speaker 1: It's up to the Iranians, but I think we're very close.
Speaker 3: Congressman auckin class today on Fox argues that the fallout
Speaker 3: from this conflict will stretch long into future generator future administrations.
Speaker 4: Mister Trump, you are the first president in American history
Speaker 4: to start and lose a war by yourself. You have
Speaker 4: made America more weak, more alone, and less respected. Congress,
Speaker 4: he has to take back the steering will from this
Speaker 4: impaired driver.
Speaker 3: Meantime, here at home, this week, the latest jobs report
Speaker 3: year it's revealing a weakening labor market so take a
Speaker 3: look at these numbers. Despite eighty thousand jobs expected, July's
Speaker 3: numbers show twenty three job twenty three thousand jobs, we're
Speaker 3: actually cut. President Trump is currently spending the weekend in Bedminster,
Speaker 3: New Jersey, and one of his properties there. He's expected
Speaker 3: to travel back here to the White House later today.
Speaker 2: Mike Alex Hogan live in the North Long Alex, thanks
Speaker 2: very much for more on this. Let's bring in doctor
Speaker 2: Rebecca Grant, a national security and military analyst and vice
Speaker 2: president of the Lexington Institute. Welcome, Thank you. All right,
Speaker 2: So a lot of folks, you're trying to figure out
Speaker 2: where we are in this conflict with the Iran third quarter,
Speaker 2: fourth quarter. Here's Vice President jd. Vance.
Speaker 5: We're just going to keep on applying the pressure that
Speaker 5: we can apply and getting as much oil and gas
Speaker 5: out of the Middle East so that Americans can enjoy
Speaker 5: lower gas and energy prices. So that's the delicate dance.
Speaker 5: Try to remind people that we're really in the middle
Speaker 5: of the game here. This thing is not over. It's
Speaker 5: obviously not at the beginning. We're in the middle of
Speaker 5: the game, and we're applying a whole host of tools diplomatic, economic,
Speaker 5: military tools to ensure that we get the best outcome
Speaker 5: for the American people. I feel quite confident we will
Speaker 5: get there, but we're still a bit in the middle
Speaker 5: of the game.
Speaker 2: Middle of the game, Rebecca, where are we in this conflict?
Speaker 2: In your view?
Speaker 6: I agree with that, But remember it's the US Navy
Speaker 6: and the rest of the joint force that's in control there.
Speaker 6: The blockade that has gone back on is really squeezing Iran,
Speaker 6: and you can see that in their list of outrageous
Speaker 6: and unacceptable demands. The fact is the US Navy can
Speaker 6: keep up that blockade as long as necessary. Two aircraft
Speaker 6: carriers there, the USS Boxer MPAB ship, all kinds of
Speaker 6: land based air and this is the squeeze that is
Speaker 6: going to make the difference.
Speaker 2: Does that mean the regime will seek a deal or
Speaker 2: is the United States military going to have to force
Speaker 2: the deal?
Speaker 6: I think there's no question that we have to have
Speaker 6: military options ready to go. But what the past several
Speaker 6: weeks have shown us is that Iran can't take the
Speaker 6: squeeze of not being able to sell oil their primary
Speaker 6: terminal at Cars Island that we all know so well,
Speaker 6: with a low ninety percent of their oil that is
Speaker 6: basically dark at this point they had been shipping out
Speaker 6: mostly to China, okay, but unable to do that. And
Speaker 6: so it is this pressure of the blockade that has
Speaker 6: been the single most effective diplomatic measure in this conflict
Speaker 6: so far, and that's why it's still there.
Speaker 2: When the regime talks tough, is that for domestic consumption
Speaker 2: for the Iranian people, Is that for the neighborhood because
Speaker 2: they live in a tough neighborhood.
Speaker 6: It's for everybody. And I'm telling you, I don't want
Speaker 6: to hear any more of this tough talk from Iran.
Speaker 6: Ignore their Twitter messages. You know what's really going on
Speaker 6: at this point is that all of that neighborhood, the
Speaker 6: Gulf States have turned against them. The mecha pack that
Speaker 6: three regional powers just signed really shows that. And don't
Speaker 6: forget Ran is basically a proxy of China. They are
Speaker 6: an ally of Russia, and so this is a conflict
Speaker 6: with geopolitical stakes. And that's why in the end we've
Speaker 6: got to see freedom of navigation through the straight of
Speaker 6: hor moves. I think we're going to get that, and
Speaker 6: the question about weakening the IRGC. That is why we
Speaker 6: must keep military pressure in place to do that if necessary.
Speaker 2: How challenging is it for the Trump administration to keep
Speaker 2: our allies cool when the Iranians are firing at them
Speaker 2: and their interests.
Speaker 6: And we've seen some really, really perplexing strikes. You know,
Speaker 6: We've seen strikes on everything from the nearly two thousand
Speaker 6: drones and missiles that went over to the UAE. We've
Speaker 6: seen data centers you know, owned by companies like Amazon
Speaker 6: hit in the region. We've seen tankers and other ships
Speaker 6: selectively picked off. But I've got to tell you, I
Speaker 6: think the Trump administration has done a great job of
Speaker 6: keeping the golf partners together. And this is a big
Speaker 6: reversal in the Middle East. And don't forget President Trump
Speaker 6: wants to come out of this with momentum towards the
Speaker 6: Abraham accorp and a situation where Iran can't be a
Speaker 6: danger and China can't sneak in to dominate that region.
Speaker 6: That's why we've got to have the patients to see
Speaker 6: this through.
Speaker 2: Do you worry about a broader regional conflict? We've seen
Speaker 2: some fighting in other places? What about that? Could it spread?
Speaker 4: Right?
Speaker 6: And we've seen the hoodies try to get in, but
Speaker 6: they're just a sideshow at this point. I think we
Speaker 6: have so much air and sea dominance with our golf
Speaker 6: partners that at this point I don't see that spreading.
Speaker 6: Iran strikes have gone down, down, down, because our military
Speaker 6: really has taken out most of their power projection capability.
Speaker 6: It's just a matter of finding the way to get
Speaker 6: the straight safe enough for international maritime traffic to resume
Speaker 6: the flow through that strait, and we're going to end
Speaker 6: up in a situation where we've got it contained and
Speaker 6: we've got the number one objective, and that is not
Speaker 6: having Iran on the path to a nuclear weapon or
Speaker 6: the ability to threaten that region. That's what's at stake here.
Speaker 6: I know the gas prices are high, I get it,
Speaker 6: but this is why we have got to keep that
Speaker 6: in place. And we've got fifty thousand US service members
Speaker 6: stationed there are still carrying out this objective.
Speaker 2: We see at the bottom of the screen eighty six
Speaker 2: days to the midterms. Does your gut tell you this
Speaker 2: will go before and before the midterms, after the midterms
Speaker 2: end of the year. Have a gun instinct?
Speaker 6: Yeah, so tough to say because Iran is so irrational,
Speaker 6: but I see an interim agreement here. I think there
Speaker 6: are glimmers of progress in the Oman Iran talks. Remember
Speaker 6: it is Oman and Iran that have run that waterway
Speaker 6: for a long time. Oman keeps all the traffic and
Speaker 6: the radar flow through there, so there are glimmers of
Speaker 6: hope there. I think we'll see a resolution of some
Speaker 6: sort in the strait and an uptick in traffic within
Speaker 6: a much shorter period of time.
Speaker 2: Doctor Rebecca Grant, thank you very much for your analysis today.
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