Fragile Truce in Question as Iran, US Trade Fresh Strikes | Vantage on Firstpost | 4K

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:00]The so-called ceasefire between the United States and Iran has not ended the confrontation. It has merely changed the way it is conducted. Both sides are flexing the firepower with one hand holding a diplomatic pen on the other.

[00:00:13]The contradiction is striking. Diplomacy is advancing in parallel with escalation.

[00:00:19]And in the latest, the United States and Iran traded strikes today in what analysts are calling their most serious clash since the ceasefire in April began.

[00:00:29]It began when the US struck southern Iran. The attack hit a ground control station in the port area of Bundarabas.

[00:00:36]In retaliation, Iran targeted an American air base. The Iranian military did not provide details on the location of the base, but it said that it served as the source of the attack. Iranian forces are also fired at four ships attempting to cross the Strait of Ormuz, the waterway that carries nearly a fifth of the world's oil and gas. Iran has had that straight blockaded since the very start of this war. A US military blockade of the Iranian post is also in place. And then Kuwait got pulled in.

[00:01:09]Kuwait, a US ally and host to American troops, said its air defenses were responding to incoming fire.

[00:01:17]Iran's revolutionary guards condemned the latest US strikes. The foreign ministry called them a violation of the truce. Today, Iran Supreme Leader Moshtabak Kame released a written message. In that message, he said that the US and Israel are seeking to destabilize the Islamic Republic.

[00:01:34]Washington said the strikes were purely defensive and intended to maintain the ceasefire. It also condemned Iran's missile attack on Kuwait as an egregious ceasefire violation.

[00:01:46]Both sides are technically committed to peace, but both sides are still shooting.

[00:01:54]And here's the thing though, neither side wants to go back to an all-out war.

[00:01:57]That reluctance, that's the opening for diplomacy. Talks are currently being mediated by Qatar in Pakistan and a possible memorandum of understanding is reportedly on the cards. It includes sanctions relief for Iran and removal of US military in and around the Gulf region. According to a latest report by Axis, officials from both sides have reached a deal. But to finalize it, they need Trump's approval, which is not in yet. Enter Donald Trump. Yesterday, the US president held a lengthy cabinet meeting. He addressed multiple flash points in the stall talks with Thran.

[00:02:34]Let me give you the three big takeaways.

[00:02:37]First is the peace talks itself. Trump said talks with Iran were going very well. He also said any deal has got to be perfect, but he refrained from mentioning a time frame for a peace deal.

[00:02:51]>> I didn't do this to get a crummy agreement. The worst agreement ever signed was by Barack Hussein Obama. What a horrible agreement that was. It was a setback for this country, for the whole world.

[00:03:04]>> There you have it. Three months of war, a shaky ceasefire, and ongoing strikes.

[00:03:10]and the bar is not crummy in Trump's words. Trump also raised the Abraham Accords, his signature diplomatic legacy from his first term, and said he was strongly requesting that Saudi Arabia and Qatar join that framework. The Abraham Accords are a series of agreements that normalize relations between Israel and several Arab countries beginning in 2020.

[00:03:34]>> I'm not sure I'm not sure we should make the deal if they don't sign. You want to know the truth? if they don't sign to join the Abraham Accords, I don't know that we, you know, we have countries in there already. Uh UAE, great great countries, bold countries, and it's turned out to be so good, so effective.

[00:03:53]And uh so we're, you know, requesting strongly that they they join. It'll be great. It'd be great for Saudi Arabia.

[00:04:00]It' be great for Qatar and Kuwait.

[00:04:04]>> Second comes the uranium question. A few days back, a report stated that Iran is exploring sending its highlyenriched uranium to China for custody. You see, Thran's uranium stockpile has been a central sticking point in any peace deal even before the war started. Donald Trump had mentioned that the highlyenriched uranium from Iran needs to go because it can be used to develop a nuclear weapon, a claim has denied, stating that its nuclear program is strictly for civilian purposes.

[00:04:31]Yesterday, Trump was asked whether Russia or China could take custody of the material as part of a settlement.

[00:04:37]Here's what he said.

[00:04:38]>> Would you be comfortable with Russia or China taking their stockpile of highlyenriched uranium? And have they offered to do that?

[00:04:43]>> No, I wouldn't be comfortable. Mr. >> President, that would not make me comfortable.

[00:04:49]>> Both Moscow and Beijing have been floated as possible third party custodians of Iran's uranium. A way to reduce proliferation risk while giving Thran a face-saving exit.

[00:05:00]But Trump just shut that door. And finally comes the question of sanctions.

[00:05:05]The US government has sanctioned thousands of Iranian linked individuals, companies, banks, ships, organizations over several decades. And these sanctions have taken a heavy toll on Iran's economy. Inflation is on the rise. After a partial lifting of the internet in the country, it was reported that food prices have gone up. Annual cost of vegetable oil has gone up by more than 300%.

[00:05:30]almost 200% for chicken, more than 150% for rice. Data from the International Monetary Fund shows food inflation in Iran has risen to between 140% and 200%.

[00:05:45]Pushing overall inflation to 70%.

[00:05:49]Of course, the Iranian regime blames Washington for its economic wars. They say the United States has moved to economic warfare. to come out of the situation. Reports say Thran is willing to open up the Straight of Hormuz if Washington lifts sanctions. But Donald Trump has rejected this proposal.

[00:06:08]>> No, we're not talking about any easing of sanctions or giving money, no sanctions, no money, no nothing. Uh we have control of money that they claim is theirs. uh we'll keep control of that money and when they behave properly and when they do what's right, we'll let them have their money. But right now, we're not doing that and it's not one thing is not contingent on the other.

[00:06:32]>> So, as Trump pushes for what he calls a perfect agreement, the bigger challenge may not be writing the deal itself. It may be convincing both sides to stop proving how much damage they can still inflict before signing it. Because ceasefire survive on restraint, not rhetoric. And at this moment, West Asia has plenty of it. They say you reap what you sow, but terrorist state Pakistan never seems to learn. It never will. No matter how many times it ends up being humiliated by the very monsters it has created, it continues to repeat the same mistakes. Exhibit A. The same terror mastermind that orchestrated the Pelgam attack in Jammu and Kashmir at Pakistan's behest last year is now threatening to destroy Pakistan itself.

[00:07:19]You heard that right. The chickens have come home to roost.

[00:07:23]But what triggered this warning? To understand that, you need to know the context. You see, Pakistan is trapped in a mess of its own making. Islamabad tried playing peacemaker by positioning itself as the mediator in the US Iran war. It failed. But now, US President Donald Trump has put Pakistan in a corner over Abraham ecodes. He wants Muslim countries like Pakistan to normalize ties with Israel. Pakistan is already pushed back, but it's a condition that has put Pakistan in a rather awkward spot. I told you about this yesterday. Now the Lashkartoa deputy chief Sephula Kasuri has warned Pakistani leaders that any recognition of Israel will leave them and I'm quoting here destroyed, devastated and ruined.

[00:08:13]He called Israel a bully, a terrorist and the world's biggest thug and declared that the Muslim world would never under any circumstances recognize Israel.

[00:08:24]Talk about irony.

[00:08:26]This is the same terrorist who according to the Indian intelligence agencies is the mastermind of the dustedly attack that killed 26 innocent people in Jammu and Kashmir's pelgam last year. This is the same terror group that Pakistan in order to protect was willing to go to the brink with India for.

[00:08:46]Now the same terror group is threatening to destroy Pakistan itself. Think about it for a second. After decades of sheltering and protecting these terror networks, they're openly dictating terms to Pakistani state itself. This is a direct blowback. For years, the Pakistani establishment thought they could control these groups. Use them when convenient, re them in when necessary. But history has shown that terror ecosystems do not stay in the boxes states create for them. Time and again, we've seen how Pakistan's policy has backfired.

[00:09:19]From the Taliban targeting Pakistani officials to attacks on Chinese nationals to rising radicalization inside the country, Pakistan has spent years battling the very monster it helped create.

[00:09:33]And now even groups like the Lashkarto appear confident enough to publicly threaten the Pakistani state.

[00:09:40]Remember Hillary Clinton once said what she said about Pakistan. You can't keep snakes in your backyard and expect them only to bite your neighbors. Eventually, those snakes are going to turn on whoever has them in the backyard.

[00:09:56]So, today Pakistan finds itself in an impossible position. If it moves closer to Israel, it risks a backlash from the very extremist groups it once enabled.

[00:10:06]But if it refuses to engage, it risks annoying the United States and further limiting its own strategic options. And that's the real story here. Pakistan is no longer just battling a crisis of credibility. It is also battling the consequences of decades of state sponsored extremism. Because once you normalize terror groups, once you allow them to gain social, political and ideological power, they eventually start challenging the state itself. And that is exactly what we're watching now.

[00:10:38]The question now is how long before they completely turn on Pakistan. It's not a matter of if, but when.

[00:10:48]>> From breaking news to the day's biggest controversies, shedding light on the world's top headlines, detailed analysis on the stories that matter the most to you. Catch it all on Spotlight at 6:00 p.m. India time and 12:30 GMT, only on First Post.