IRAN DEAL | JAPAN | SHANGRI-LA | AUSTRIA | NewsX World

Added: 2026-06-01

[00:00:01]Hello and welcome. I'm Ellie Richardson and you are watching the world report on News X world. Let's take a look at some of the top headlines of this hour.

[00:00:10]The US is ready to restart attacks on Iran [music] if a deal cannot be reached, defense secretary Pete Hegseth has said. The Pentagon chief said President Donald Trump [music] was patient and wants to make a great deal that ensures Iran does not get [music] a nuclear weapon.

[00:00:29]The US military says it fired [music] a missile into engine room of a vessel trying to get through the US blockade of Iran. Before the attack, US forces issued more than 20 warnings [music] informing the vessel it was a violation of the US blockade according to CENTCOM.

[00:00:49]Israeli troops have expanded [music] their ground operations after crossing the Litani River and are continuing to push north towards [music] the city.

[00:00:58]Israeli forces have been carrying out air, drone, and artillery strikes in [music] the southern sector declaring the entire southern part of Lebanon a conflict zone.

[00:01:11]Health authorities in Brazil's Sao Paulo state are investigating a suspected of case [music] of Ebola in the state capital. A man from the Democratic Republic of Congo presented [music] with a fever after recently visiting the African country which is experiencing [music] an Ebola outbreak.

[00:01:32]The World Health Organization chief traveled to the Congolese province the hardest hit [music] by an Ebola outbreak urging residents to seek treatment and practice safe burials as officials scramble to contain the fatal disease.

[00:01:44][music] At a press conference alongside Congo's health minister, Tedros said that the rare strain has no approved vaccines or treatments. [music] >> US military said it has carried out a strike on a vessel in [music] the Eastern Pacific killing three men, the second The second strike in as many days. US Southern Command said in a post [music] on X intelligence have confirmed the vessel was transiting alongside a narco [music] trafficking route in the Eastern Pacific and engaged in narco trafficking operations. [music] And we start this hour with some breaking news. The US military has said that it has carried out another strike on a vessel accused of drug smuggling in the Eastern Pacific Ocean killing three men. According to US Southern Command, the vessel was alleged engaged in narco trafficking operations and linked to a designated terrorist organization. The strike marks the third such attack this week and pushes the overall death toll from the campaign above 200. The Trump administration has described the campaign as part of an armed conflict against Latin American drug cartels.

[00:03:27]However, authorities have not publicly provided evidence supporting claims that the targeted vessels were transporting narcotics. The latest operations were reportedly carried out under the direction of General Francis Donovan, the top US military commander for Latin America.

[00:03:52]The Iran-US peace deal is being sent back to the drawing board as US President Donald Trump demands significant changes to the framework his own negotiators spent weeks hammering out. Axios is reporting citing officials with direct knowledge that Trump has asked for several amendments to the deal into our situation room meeting and the same meeting that ended without a signature and without a decision.

[00:04:21]According to Axios, Trump wants change and also he wants the clauses regarding Iran's nuclear program with the current text including a commitment from Iran not to pursue a nuclear weapon but no specific concessions beyond that.

[00:04:40]A senior administration official told Axios that it's more specifics about how the US gets the material with Iran's enriched uranium stockpile and the timing.

[00:04:50]Trump also wants changes to the language around the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz which remains the single most economically critical element of the entire deal.

[00:05:01]We are now for this being joined by Collins Chong Yew Keat who is in a foreign affairs security and strategy analyst joining us live from Kuala Lumpur. Thank you so much Collins for joining us here today on NewsX. Well, pleasure as always having you on. After weeks of negotiations by his own team, President Trump has reportedly sent key parts of the Iran deal back for revision.

[00:05:30]Does this suggest the agreement was never as close as advertised or is Trump trying to secure a stronger deal before putting his name on it?

[00:05:42]>> Well, both can be true. We have seen how, you know, the the mere fact that uh you know, President Trump is is asking for amendments uh this still suggests that he still I still see the Iran framework to be to be positive to be positive to be usable and if you would wanted to kill the deal outright of course he would likely reject it you know publicly but you know by by reshaping the text before approval by also giving some some leeway some opening for for for new provisions including especially as Trump stated on still the red line being imposed it would be of course on Iran's nuclear material and but I still see this as a positive picture and I think what Trump is trying to do here is to avoid this total and no similarity of of this deal being done before under the Obama administration the the JCPOA deal and of course Trump would like to avoid being seen as weak being seen as somewhat similar to what Obama has done he has repeatedly accused Obama of being of of making this one of the worst deals ever and the the preferred framing would be of course not appeasement but capitulation through pressure and to ensure that you know Washington is not being rushed into a deal that will that will make Washington to look weak and especially on the on the on the issue of nuclear material and I think this is precisely what the Trump administration the Trump administration is trying to do here to ensure that they're still both sides are not being rushed into a deal and that both sides will also being being given this opening this 60 days opening will be of great importance and that also at the same time without also discounting the the option of further piling the pressure on Iran through military means keeping military channels open and this is of course a two-pronged approach I think this is what Washington Washington has been trying to do here for weeks now and this is not a signal of weaknesses by both sides of course Iran also would like to maximize uh to avoid pressure and humiliation uh domestically. And Trump also would like to also appease uh domestic audiences in the US. And uh the 60-day extension I think will be uh uh an accepted deal by both sides to ensure that uh both will have uh great off-ramps and both will maximize returns uh without being seen as uh kowtowing to to one another. Ellie?

[00:08:02]>> Mhm. Of course. And also, um the reported sticking point is no longer longer whether Iran will uh forego a nuclear weapon, but what happens to its uran- enriched uranium stockpile? And when? Is this now the single most important issue determining whether a deal succeeds or fails?

[00:08:24]>> That has always been the core, you know, contentious issue. And uh I know uh you know, President Trump has been very clear from the beginning. I think he has been very consistent in what uh he wants from from Iran. And of course also there have been a lot of different uh I know uh sidelines in terms of issues that have gained priorities or urgency. Of course, Strait of Hormuz, uh you know, the the return to normalcy, the return to to ensure that uh you know, global economic stability and energy security have always uh been been protected. But eventually, uh you know, uh the idea of the day of course we have seen how the nuclear material, the uranium enrichment capacity uh will always be the red line.

[00:09:03]But uh and and I think President Trump also is trying to ensure that uh uh Iran is not being you know, uh given a dead end here. And uh knowing full well that the Iranians would not completely give up uh their own uranium uh leverage and advantage. And hence we have seen these adjustments, some flexibility is given in terms of maybe the timeline, and also maybe the level of enrichment, and uh the the the period of time where uh the Iranians are not allowed to to enrich uranium. So, we might see some similarities as to uh the previous deal under Obama. But of course, you know, great efforts have been made and will be made by President Trump and his team to ensure that uh uh you know, the US will will get the the best of best returns here. So, whether it's it's complete removal of uranium or whether it's a it's it's a fixed timeline of uh you know, this this uh you know, limits or halt to any kind of uranium enrichment, that will still remain to be seen, but uh again, uh in terms of stockpile, in terms of enrichment, inspections, breakout capacity, all these will be uh negotiated uh in this later term for the next 2 months, but I don't see any way or any opening for President Trump to accept any deal that is worse than the deal that has been signed by Obama, the the JCPOA. So, that I think there will be no repeat of the same elements of JCPOA here, and that uh you know, Iran might be given new leeways or openings uh you know, to maybe to have you know, a a longer timeline of uh a halt of uranium enrichment, uh so as to get this deal being done, but not at the expense of what President Trump would have wanted in the first place. I think.

[00:10:38]>> Hm, of course. Collins, thank you so much for joining us here today on News X. Well, it's a pleasure having you on as always. Thank you.

[00:10:46]Japanese Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba has delivered a sharp, direct rebuttal against persistent accusations from Beijing, labeling Tokyo's historic military build-up as a slide back into new materialism. Speaking at the prestigious Shangri-La Dialogue Security Summit in Singapore, Ishiba pushed back against the narrative being pushed by Chinese state media and officials.

[00:11:12]Turning the tables on Beijing, Ishiba pointed out the profound mismatch between China's own massive, aggressive military expansion and its vocal criticism of Japan's transparent domestic defense upgrades.

[00:11:26]Ishiba directly challenged the logic of the materialism labeled by explicitly highlighting that Japan possesses neither nuclear weapons nor strategic bombers, whereas China maintains a massive arsenal of both.

[00:11:40]Under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Tokyo has aggressively fast-tracked its defense spending to a record $58 billion for a fiscal year of 2026, aiming to reach 2% of its gross domestic product to acquire critical counter-strike capabilities like long-range standoff missiles and uncrewed coastal surveillance systems.

[00:12:05]Kishi firmly reiterated that Japan remains completely faithful to the United Nations Charter and its post-war pacifist stance, framing that the military modernization is minimum required threshold to preserve a free and open international order amidst an increasingly severe regional security climate. Let's listen in to what Japanese Defense Minister had to say at the Shangri-La Dialogue.

[00:12:30]>> You may have heard the term new militarism, but nothing further from the truth.

[00:12:38]Think about it.

[00:12:40]There is a country that has a huge arsenal of nuclear weapons and a strategic bombers.

[00:12:46]Japan has neither of such weapons, and yet Japan is labeled new militarism.

[00:12:54]Isn't it strange?

[00:12:55]Since the end of the Second World War, Japan has consistently respected international law, including this Charter of the United Nations, and has made sincere efforts to maintain and strengthen a free and open international order.

[00:13:11]Japan's past as a peace-loving nation has been valued by the region. And let me say this as well.

[00:13:18]Differences in perception and the friction do arise between nations.

[00:13:23]What is needed at such time is not a repetition of unfounded claims in the other side's absence.

[00:13:31]What is needed is direct and candid dialogue.

[00:13:35]And in fact, Japan's door to dialogue is always open.

[00:13:41]>> We are now being joined by Yuichiro Professor Yuichiro Sato, who's a professor of political science at the Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University.

[00:13:55]Joining us live from Japan. Thank you so much for joining us here today on News X. Well, pleasure to have you on, Professor.

[00:14:06]Um Japanese defense minister has openly called China's criticism of Japan's military buildup. Is this simply a war of words, or does it reflect a deeper shift in the balance of power and security competition in the Indo-Pacific?

[00:14:24]>> Well, uh let me tell you first that China has been very actively running its propaganda to discredit whatever Japan's defense efforts as sign of returning militarism and possible aggression.

[00:14:44]And this propaganda offensive has no longer been tolerated by the Japanese government. But still, uh as Koizumi's comments indicated, it's very much defensive in nature and trying to calmly explain to the rest of the world that Japan's the renewed security policy, including the increased defense budget, is a response to China's rapidly increasing military spending and military procurements.

[00:15:23]>> And um also um Japan is rapidly expanding defense spending and pursuing long-range counterstrike capabilities for the first time in decades. At what point does defensive modernization become offensive military deterrence and what where is that line today?

[00:15:42]>> Well, the problem Japan has had with its uh strictly defensive uh military doctrine was that uh it has become overly costly.

[00:15:55]Just to take example, the countries like China and North Korea uh rapidly expanding their missile arsenals which are capable of striking Japan possibly with a nuclear warheads.

[00:16:11]Meanwhile, Japan has refrained from any kind of ground-attacking capabilities including long-range warmers or ballistic missiles.

[00:16:22]As a result, Japan concentrated its resources on missile interceptions [clears throat] and in order to intercept incoming ballistic missiles, it costs a lot more than to deploy Japan's own ballistic missiles in order to deter the launching of such missiles by hostile countries.

[00:16:50]So, eventually this race will become become unfavorable to Japan from economics point of view.

[00:17:00]So, Japan has reached the limit of that and now talking about uh deployment of limited counterstrike capabilities. But I emphasize it's limited. Japan's not talking about massive retaliatory forces and such, but limited counter-striking forces to disrupt the missile launching sequence of the hostile countries.

[00:17:30]>> Mhm.

[00:17:31]Um also um the broader strategic question, as China expands its military footprint and Japan strengthens its counter-strike capabilities, are we entering a new era of deterrence in East Asia or the early stages of an arms race that could make the region less stable?

[00:17:55]>> I think possibly we're entering a period of arms race, but uh it really depends on whether countries like China, North Korea, and and Russia are willing to discuss uh avoiding such a risk.

[00:18:16]On the other hand, uh Japan's facing the demands from the United States to spend more on defense.

[00:18:26]And the secretary uh defense secretary Heck says during the the recent uh Shangri-La Dialogue meeting noted that the US expects its allies to spend 3.5% of GDP on national defense.

[00:18:45]Japan is uh merely trying to hit the 2% target for national security spending, which is uh larger than the defense spending, at 2% of GDP, which was promised by the the government of Prime Minister Kishida with uh Biden administration back in 2027.

[00:19:11]The target year is 2027.

[00:19:15]Excuse me. Uh yes, 2027.

[00:19:18]And the Biden uh Kishida agreement was uh agreed in 2022.

[00:19:24]So, even before hitting the target year, the Japan's already facing a higher uh spending demand from the United States.

[00:19:34]>> Mhm. Of course.

[00:19:36]Um Professor, please stay with us as I'll be joining back with you very shortly.

[00:19:43]German Chief of Defense General Carsten Breuer has said that the chance of dialogue being not sending a menstrual level delegation to the forum with Beijing dispatching only a lower level team led by Major General Meng Xiangong after Defense Minister Dong Jun skipped the conference for a second consecutive year.

[00:20:07]Breuer has called the absence dangerous, saying this is his 42nd year as a soldier, and he has never experienced such dangerous times as the world is living through today.

[00:20:18]Breuer has said that he strongly recommends using every available dialogue forum to discuss and compare notes and opinions, calling it simply necessary in a world that is contested and increasingly volatile.

[00:20:31]US Secretary of War Pete Buttigieg separately called out China earlier, declaring that no state, including China, can impose its hegemony and hold the security or prosperity of America and its allies in question.

[00:20:45]>> [snorts] >> Once again, we are being joined by Professor Sato.

[00:20:49]Thank you for joining us back here. Um now, Germany's top military commander says China's absence at this level is a dangerous missed opportunity. Is Beijing disengaging from crisis diplomacy or deliberately choosing lower level military messaging over political dialogue.

[00:21:13]>> Well, I think China is trying to show its displeasure with the United States, Japan, and also various European countries.

[00:21:25]The Shangri-La Dialogue is opportunity for the security practitioners and analysts to get together and have discussions face-to-face.

[00:21:39]However, in terms of discussing things that are highly sensitive and important, this is not the right forum anyway.

[00:21:51]Those things are discussed rather informally in a quieter and often bilateral manners.

[00:21:59]So, so in that sense, the China has little to gain from showing up in Singapore and getting bashed by a whole bunch of other countries after China more or less successfully managed the image of successful G2 diplomacy between Xi Jinping and Donald Trump.

[00:22:25]So, I think China is simply trying to keep that image intact.

[00:22:32]>> Mhm. Of course. And um also, US Secretary of State of War Pete Heir Scephe has directly warned that no state, including China, can impose hegemony over allied security and prosperity. Are we seeing the emergence of a more confrontational US-China defense posture in a parallel with Europe's warnings?

[00:22:58]>> I do not think so. I think as far as the US approach toward East Asia is concerned or the Indo-Pacific is concerned, the US has assured China that it's it's willing to maintain the status quo rather than going any kind of offensive stance against China's interest.

[00:23:25]So, so in that sense, I think China doesn't have too much to worry about at the moment.

[00:23:34]At the same time, it's very important for the US to keep assuring its allies in the region about its commitment to the defense of the allies.

[00:23:46]And often times the ongoing the crisis over Iran is alleged to be diverting US interests. And often times the the comments by the government officials interpretations of US policy are hurting the credibility of the US commitment. For example, the President Trump did not promise the delivery of the the arms to Taiwan after the meeting with Xi Jinping.

[00:24:26]Or the Defense Secretary Hagel says told the Japanese Defense Minister that the the delivery of the Tomahawk the ground attack missiles will be delayed. And those are often interpreted as signs that the US is short of ammunitions in the Middle East and that will hurt the credibility of the US commitment to the Indo-Pacific defense.

[00:24:56]>> Mhm. Of course. And um when China stays away from top-level defense talks while US and Germany escalate their rhetoric, are we moving towards a structured strategic competition or an unstructured security vacuum where miscalculation becomes more likely?

[00:25:16]>> Well, I think we are already in a strategic competition between the US on one hand and China on the other.

[00:25:24]But at the same time, the US allies uh trying not to unnecessarily escalate this competition, especially to the detriment of their own interests.

[00:25:40]The both European countries and Japan, South Korea, they all have significant economic relations with China and they do also understand that the US has significant economic relations with China. As was demonstrated during the President Trump's delegation to Beijing uh a couple of weeks ago.

[00:26:03]So, uh So, in that sense, the none of the allies uh stupid enough to just blindly uh do whatever they were told to do, but rather they're carefully trying to read where the US is going to strike a deal with China.

[00:26:27]>> Mhm. And um lastly, is the is the absence of um China's defense minister a diplomatic gap that can still be repaired or an early signal that global security dialogue is fragmenting into competing blocks?

[00:26:47]>> I think uh Uh the competing blocks are already present, but uh I think what he refers to is a bifurcation of the blocks. Another word, uh China block versus the US block. And that is something the middle powers, both in Europe and in the Indo-Pacific, are trying to prevent.

[00:27:15]So, in that sense, I think there will be more than two blocks in competition, and the smaller powers by demonstrating that they could be a third pillar, which would either stay out of the competition and by internally cooperating, or if absolutely necessary, be able to play a swinging vote.

[00:27:45]So, so that kind of grouping is already emerging, and both China and the United States should not ignore that.

[00:27:56]>> Of course. Um Professor Tselios, thank you so much for joining us here today on News X. Well, it's a pleasure, as always, having you on. Thank you.

[00:28:06]Up next, hundreds of protesters in Austria have temporarily shut down one of Europe's most important transport corridors through the A13 motorway, linking Germany and Italy through the Tyrol region. Demonstrators say the route is overwhelmed by heavy transit traffic, with more than 2 million trucks passing through the region each year.

[00:28:28]Residents complain of growing noise pollution, dust, and severe congestion, arguing that local communities are bearing the cost of Europe's freight network.

[00:28:39]Protesters are calling for more cargo to be shifted from roads to railways, saying existing infrastructure can no longer cope with rising traffic volumes.

[00:28:48]They were also urging action from Austrian authorities and the European Union warning that the problem extends beyond regional politics.

[00:28:56]Campaigners say projects such as the Brenner Base Tunnel could help ease pressure on communities by moving heavy freight traffic underground or onto rail as a citizen some of the protesters.

[00:30:13]And that is all we have time for for this hour. Keep watching News X World for more news updates from around the world.