The crisis in the Gulf worsens with US strikes and retaliation from Iran 7 30

May 1, 2003. Aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, President George W. Bush marks the moment. Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed. Then came the insurgency. And eight more years of Americans fighting in Iraq. 23 years later, another US president signed off on a quick victory. This was not easy. For the first time in 3,000 years, we are finally going to have peace in the Middle East. We're going to have peace in the Middle East. It's not working out that way. Trump administration seems to me is in a box. I recall, this is not Vietnam, but I recall the words of former President Lyndon Johnson who said about Vietnam, I feel like I'm a hitchhiker in a Texas hailstorm. I can't run, I can't hide, and I can't make it stop. Donald Trump can't win and can't get out to his great frustration. And they're a bunch of scum. You want to know the truth. They're scum. And so we don't like them. I don't like them. And they're evil people. And it's the denuclearisation of Iran. And we're going to denuke it. We're not going to let them because they're crazy. But Iran's nuclear stockpile is supposedly out of reach, buried by US strikes last year. This conflict is about the Strait of Hormuz and Iran's stranglehold on the export of oil. About 20% of the world's supplies came through the strait. Their main leverage now is not nuclear weapons. It's the straits. And any effort on the part of the United States to escort ships through, to figure out a way to have the Gulf states resist the order that Iran is trying to impose. Hayley Channa is an expert on global economic security, or in this case, insecurity. Prior to February this year, there were about 125 ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz every day. During the conflict, that went down to zero. And then when there was a ceasefire agreement between the US and Iran, there were about 10 ships a day that were passing through the strait. The strait is now effectively closed. That's bad news for nations dependent on Middle East oil, including Australia. That means that oil can't get to Asia. And Asia relies on 80% of its oil coming out of the Strait of Hormuz. So we're very acutely exposed to any closures. And that will mean there will be higher petrol prices, higher diesel prices. As it mourns its supreme leader, Iran has buried Trump's peace deal. They're sick. There's something wrong with them. We said, go and do your funeral stuff. And instead of that, they start shooting rockets at ships. So why is Iran attacking ships when the deal with Trump signed last month seemed so favourable? It's simple. Money. It's navigation fees. It's transit fees. It's protection money. I think Bloomberg did a study. 130 ships a day at 2 million a ship times 365 gets you well into the scores of billions of dollars. It was a shame that Iran realised it had such leverage because until the United States started the war, Iran had that as a question in its mind. And now it has this key leverage point that it can use in future negotiations. Aaron David Miller thinks the war is unlikely to escalate. Mr Trump tried that and it took him here. No political change in Iran, war in Lebanon and a blocked strait. We are going to, I think, operate in a no war, no peace situation where the US will apply economic and military pressure against Iran. Iranians will do the same. They'll continue to try to frustrate shipping through the straits and we'll see whose point of vulnerability is greater. I'm reminded of what the Taliban said to the US in Afghanistan. You have the clock, the Taliban said, but we have the time. Mohamed Morandi is a supporter of the Iranian regime and a professor at the University of Tehran. I spoke with him from Tehran earlier. Mohamed Morandi, welcome to 7.30. Thank you. What right does Iran have to hold the rest of the world to ransom by preventing oil shipments passing through the straits of Hormuz? Excuse me, I think it was the United States that waged the war against Iran and your government supported it. They did nothing to, they said nothing in condemnation. The United States slaughtered our children. The United States murdered our leaders. The United States destroyed our critical infrastructure, along with the genocidal Zionist regime that your government loves. And so you're in no position to critique Iran. But when we finally had an MOU with the Trump regime in Article 5 of that MOU, the movement through the Strait of Hormuz is to be managed during the period when the MOU is valid by the Iranians. And the Americans, in violation of the MOU, created their own corridor. The Iranians warned them and warned ships for days. And they ignored Iran until ultimately Iran was forced to strike those ships so that other ships did not disobey. They have to go through the corridor that Iran has determined for them. And this is not the only violation of the Trump regime. The Trump regime has failed in accordance with MOU to hand over stolen Iranian assets. It has failed to force the Israeli regime to leave Lebanon and to stop the slaughter. It has continued to threaten to murder Iranians, to wipe out the country, and to slaughter its leaders in violation of a commitment in the MOU. So the United States is violating every single element of the MOU, not Iran. That's a long answer. The United States also reversed its removal of sanctions on the Iranian oil sector. Let me just come in because the MOU did not say that about the Strait of Hormuz. But let me ask you this. Will Iran ever return to the pre-war situation where ships had free passage through the Strait of Hormuz? No, indeed, the MOU does say that it is Iran that will normalize the passage through the Strait of Hormuz. And in collaboration with Oman, they will determine how things will be carried out in future. Iran wants the passage of goods and services and products to move through the Strait of Hormuz, because that's how our economy and the economy of our region grows. We didn't wage war. Is the Strait of Hormuz now even bigger leverage for Iran than the development of its nuclear program? First of all, Iran's nuclear program is legal. The United States' attack on Iran and the destruction of parts of Iran's nuclear program was illegal and a violation of international law, which your government supported that violation of international law, just as it supports genocide in Palestine. But with regards to the Strait of Hormuz, if you recall, before the United States and the Israeli regime attacked Iran, the Strait of Hormuz was open and the Iranians had no interest in controlling it. Right now, the Iranians want to make sure that they control it in future so that the United States can never again use the Persian Gulf as a platform to attacking our country. The assaults that we saw last night and the night before all came from U.S. bases or were enabled by the U.S. presence in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, the Emirates, and Kuwait. Without its presence in these countries, last night's attacks wouldn't have happened. So as long as the Trump regime and the Zionist regime are a threat to Iran's national security, Iran will maintain a very heavy presence in the Strait of Hormuz. Will Iran still take part in the scheduled peace talks in Pakistan? No, there are no talks scheduled as long as the United States refuses to abide by its commitments and murder Iranians and refrain from carrying out the MOU and end the occupation of southern Lebanon. There's no reason for Iranian senior negotiators to meet American senior negotiators. Let me ask you this. However bold your statements are in defense of Iran, it's still a country in the midst of an economic crisis. Many of the population, as much as 40% of the population, lives below the poverty line. The war has badly damaged your industrial base. Don't the people of Iran deserve a chance for peace? Well, that's your problem, isn't it? Your aggression. I think the question is about the people of Iran. I'm asking you a question about whether the people of Iran deserve a chance for peace and to establish some economic future for the country. It's very difficult for you to tolerate anything that goes against your narrative, isn't it? It is your problem because you have supported aggression against Iran. If the Iranian people are suffering, it is because wars that your regime has helped enable by supporting Trump, by supporting the United States. Three wars have been imposed upon our country for the last 47 years. All three were supported by the United States, and all three of the United States was directly involved. The maximum pressure sanctions on the Iranian people are because Iran supports the Palestinian people while your government supports the genocide. Let me ask you a question, if I may. Let me ask you a question about those sanctions. The sanctions that were imposed on Iran by the European Union and the United States were in relation to Iran's development of a nuclear weapons program. Now, as things stand, if the conflict continues, the USA will not deliver the billions of dollars in unfrozen assets to Iran, as was agreed under the terms of the MOU. Doesn't Iran need that cash to rebuild the country? When you mean frozen assets, you mean stolen assets, right? I mean what I said. I mean exactly what I said. Frozen assets under sanctions delivered to the Iranian government because of its development of a nuclear weapons program. Go ahead. Don't be too cowardly. Stolen assets. What was an Iranian nuclear weapons program? Where is your evidence of this? Where did we have a nuclear weapons program? I'm just asking you to answer the question, if you would. Doesn't Iran need the money that was promised to Iran? If peace talks continue, doesn't Iran need that money to rebuild the country? First source your claim. When did Iran have a nuclear weapons program? We're not going to get into a debate about that because we've got about a minute left to discuss. I want to stick to the subjects of the day, that is the breach of the MOU by Iran attacking ships using the southern corridor through the Strait of Hormuz. I want to get one thing clear that Iran will continue to attack ships who use that southern channel through the Strait of Hormuz close to Oman. You're not very much of a journalist, are you? Iran did not violate the MOU. The United States has been violating the MOU on multiple levels from the beginning, starting from Article 1 and including Article 5 with regards to the Strait of Hormuz. You know this. I know this. Everyone knows this. But since you are Australian and you are affiliated to the state, and since you've been supporting genocide in Gaza, I don't expect anything from you. Mohamed Morandi, thank you very much indeed for joining us.