US: Iranian drones threatening maritime traffic intercepted

Added: 2026-05-28

[00:00:00]former US diplomat, and he joins us from Washington now. Thank you for being with us on the program, William.

[00:00:06]So, let's uh look at these strikes first, then, uh cuz that's the newest line that we have coming into us. Do you think that the US strikes on southern Iran could derail this potential peace deal um that's been negotiated at the moment? Um they come after strikes by the US earlier this week. Um is this a violation of the ceasefire again?

[00:00:31]>> Yes, on the violations of the ceasefire.

[00:00:33]In fact, for all of these ceasefires, whether on the Israeli-Lebanese front or the US-Iran front, or the experts are calling them less fire ceasefires because they're not really ceasefires. And blockades are an act of war, and a lot of the strikes earlier in the week were around the blockade. Um I haven't been able to analyze up close what the latest strikes are, whether they're more blockade-related, but based on the statements by Trump and the other news reports I've seen, it seems that these have more to do with the stalling negotiations and the wrong idea that Trump has that he can force Iran uh into a a more advantageous deal for the Americans uh and and into a quicker deal by hitting them. Um but the Iranians are smart enough to know that that's what's going on and to pursue the peace talks at their own uh pace, you know, independent of this new US military pressure. I think the main variable in my mind is how the Iranians hit back. If the Iranians hit back hard against the Gulf Arab allies of the United States and the US bases there, but also other points of uh of attack, that could derail the negotiations quite handily. Whereas, if it's just the Americans doing a few strikes in Iran, um the negotiations could proceed.

[00:01:51]>> And William, your instinct is right there because uh the US is saying that this was focused on the Strait of Hormuz. So, let's go there now in terms of their their strikes. Um it all seems to be focused now on the Strait. Do you think that this will become a real sticking point of the deal that's being thrashed out at the moment?

[00:02:12]>> It already is. So, the the the the big areas now that the US has to make concessions on along with the Iranians are on the nuclear program, on the missiles, on the proxies, and on the um uh release of assets um where the Trump's not really in a position yet to to approach the Iranian demands. But, the biggest issue is the Strait of Hormuz, which was basically a non-issue before this war and became an issue because of the way in which uh the Iranians made it an issue and dominated it and that the outrageous statement today by Trump that he was going to bomb Oman if they got in league with Iran on assessing fees, you know, after Trump just not long ago said he'd be happy to assess fees along with Iran uh and use some of the money for reparations for his strikes against Iran. You know, all of that uh um is is is means that Hormuz is the main issue and it's affecting, as you guys report every day, you know, the entire global economy, the domestic US economy, the midterm elections here, the elections in other countries, the fates of certain uh uh governments around the world that are under incredible economic pressure because of what's going on in the Strait of Hormuz, which means that this White House is being besieged uh with phone calls by world leaders every time they sense that these negotiations will fall apart. Uh and so, Strait of Hormuz is the main issue.

[00:03:34]>> You referenced there, William, that extraordinary statement um in the last day the US President Donald Trump saying that he would blow up Oman if they don't behave. I mean, is this something to be taken seriously? Do you think that he has a grievance here with the Gulf states? Or am I taking that too seriously? I mean, why would he say that?

[00:03:57]>> Yes and no. I mean, I was watching some seasoned US diplomats in exchanges this evening scrambling saying Trump just should have said he meant to say Iran. You know, and that's what Rubio should have said around the world. But if you look at the statement, he clearly was indicating Oman and talking about it in a way that will never happen. I mean, the US is not going to blow up Oman unless Trump completely loses his mind. You know, but but you know, this is this this sort of bumbling hyperbolic way in which Trump thrashes about looking for people that will bow to his rhetoric when he's frustrated.

[00:04:33]And with the negotiations frustrating him, he's starting to make these more bombastic, more hyperbolic statements. I put in the same category when he says that UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia must join the Abraham Accords in order for there to be peace in the Middle East. You know, that's just sort of another outlet just claiming an attempt at bullying.

[00:04:54]But you know, everyone's sort of on to Trump's game now, so a lot of people, including a lot of his supporters, just look the other way when he uses these bombastic outlandish statements.

[00:05:05]>> Well, we all waiting waiting for an answer. So, we'll leave it there for now, William Lawrence, former US diplomat. Thank you very much for joining us. We'll speak soon, no doubt.