Iran offers deal on Hormuz Strait, Netanyahu wants to 'finish the job'

France 24's international affairs editor, Angela Diffley, joins me now on set for a closer look. Hi, Angela. Hi. So publicly, President Trump has been sending mixed messages, to say the least, on this question. He's not necessarily aligned with Benjamin Netanyahu on this question of resuming hostilities against Iran, is he? No, Netanyahu is pretty clear about it. And they had a phone call over the weekend, which was apparently tough and direct. Not quite the... Brutal slugging match the last time they had a very tough phone call. But Netanyahu... can see the political advantage for himself. We know they're in this period in Israel where both sides are trying to cobble together coalitions. He would very much favor the resumption of war because that would put Israel in a situation where it might be advisable to have a government of national unity. The president might recommend that. Eisenkotter has said absolutely never again for me. But that is the sort of scenario that would certainly help Netanyahu. That really factors in. To his thinking and also Netanyahu feels the job needs to be finished and Israelis might support it if it was successful. Thank Against that, Trump appears to favour giving diplomacy. Another chance. The Qataris are at the moment brokering talks. you They've been talking to the Iranians. That said, Trump said only last week, you know, very that the job, we must finish the job. He also said that negotiations with the Iranians were going well, much. but that, you know, you couldn't really trust the Iranians. And so, you know, it could go either way with Trump. He is deliberately giving out mixed messages. You know, you also ask, you know, is Trump very out? out of touch with his electorate. We will see that when the results of these midterms come out. Or does he feel, I have to have something to show for this Iran war. If we can finally do something which is effective and finishes the job, in his words, then I will have had, I will have achieved something. He might end up if... The Democrats win back Congress, having a lot less power over domestic policy as well. And so foreign policy will be even more important to him. What the Americans are thinking of, he said, you know, another little operation, epic fury. You know, they would be thinking of targeting Iranian nuclear sites, notably, remember that word again, pickaxe mountain. That would be the sort of operation apparently they are considering. So what has Iran been saying in response to this mixed messaging? Iran has been saying that, you know, if their conditions are met, then the Strait of Hormuz could be open, you know, at one point they said within two days. Now, those conditions, let's just remind ourselves, they want the Americans to end their counter blockade. There is some evidence that that is being successful. They want to be allowed to export their oil. They want some access to their frozen assets overseas. Israel would not like any of that. That would seem like a very significant win. And of course, don't forget, we're back to the situation where negotiations are about Hormuz, the original negotiations which were about Iran giving up its nuclear capability. Would be the next stage. There is a so-called seven-day plan, that is this one, that was discussed at the UN General Assembly after these negotiations on Hormuz, then might be negotiations on uh. The serious business of Iran's nuclear capacity. Trump does appear quite convinced that that is a very, very important issue. That is one thing he needs to achieve with his presidency. And much of discussions on a final deal would be over those 440 kilograms of highly enriched uranium. Remember, we talked about this before a couple of months back, you know, allowing IAEA inspectors, International Atomic Energy Agency. A lot of high stakes before these very crucial elections. Angela Duffley, we'll see where that takes us indeed. Thank you very much.