AILSA CHANG, HOST:
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Ailsa Chang in Culver City, California.
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
And I'm Mary Louise Kelly in Washington, where the Trump administration's approach to the war in Iran has changed almost daily this past week. On Monday, the military launched Project Freedom, an operation to escort commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
BRAD COOPER: Iranian forces are strongly advised to remain well clear of U.S. assets and personnel operating to international waters in and near the Strait of Hormuz.
KELLY: That's U.S. Admiral Brad Cooper, head of the Military Central Command. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth praised it as, quote, "a direct gift from the United States to the world." That was during a Pentagon briefing Tuesday morning.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PETE HEGSETH: We have established a powerful red, white and blue dome over the strait. American destroyers are on stations supported by hundreds of fighter jets, helicopters, drones and surveillance aircraft, providing 24/7 overwatch for peaceful commercial vessels.
KELLY: By Tuesday night, President Trump had hit the brakes on the operation, saying a full naval blockade would remain in force as a deal was negotiated. And then on Wednesday - so yesterday - Trump announced that if Iran did not agree to U.S. terms, that bombing would continue at, quote, "a much higher level and intensity than it was before." Well, I tracked each of these developments, along with NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman, on NPR's weekly national security podcast Sources & Methods.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
KELLY: So, Tom, happy Thursday.
TOM BOWMAN, BYLINE: Oh.
KELLY: (Laughter) Where are we?
BOWMAN: Is it only Thursday?
KELLY: It's only Thursday. I'm sorry, my friend. Where are we?
BOWMAN: Well, we're - the U.S. is waiting for Iranian officials to respond to what the U.S. wants. What does the U.S. want? A 20-year pause in any enrichment. It wants Iran to give up those thousand pounds of highly enriched uranium at 60% that is at Isfahan, the, you know, nuclear facility, and buried under rubble.
KELLY: That was bombed last summer.
BOWMAN: Right.
KELLY: Yeah.
BOWMAN: And also they want the strait to reopen. And they - that's kind of where we are. What Iran wants is a five-year pause. And they still want to enrich some uranium like they did under the Obama agreement. That was 3.67 - very, very minor. And also they claim, we have a right, a sovereign right, to control the Strait of Hormuz. We'll have a sense today or tomorrow of the way ahead here. But you're right. President Trump said, you know, the talks are going great. We can pause this Project Freedom. That red, white and blue dome, I guess, is floating away. And...
KELLY: Wait. Just - stop. Red, white and blue dome...
BOWMAN: Well, can't you...
KELLY: What does that even mean?
BOWMAN: Well, here's the thing. They have...
KELLY: Is this, like, a play on Israel's Iron Dome?
BOWMAN: I think it is.
KELLY: OK.
BOWMAN: They have, you know, more than a hundred aircraft overwatching the Strait of Hormuz. They have helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft, warplanes, drones. They have ships there that would be guiding these commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz. So that's what they mean by this dome.
KELLY: You just said the U.S. wants this. Iran wants this. How do we know what Iran wants? Like, in what form are these demands being conveyed back and forth?
BOWMAN: Well, it's through Pakistan. They're the mediator here and...
KELLY: Passing slips of paper back and forth?
BOWMAN: Presumably.
KELLY: Yeah.
BOWMAN: Yeah. So what does Iran want? Iran wants to probably, again, enrich some uranium. They say that's their right. And again, they say it's our right to charge tolls through the Strait of Hormuz. I was talking with a shipping industry guy today, and he said, well, no, that's international waters, and freedom of navigation should be free, right? So these guys aren't going to pay the tolls. None of the ships are moving. And also the ships weren't moving under Project Freedom. You know, Mary Louise, it reminds me of...
KELLY: Just to be clear, they're still not moving.
BOWMAN: Correct.
KELLY: The strait is still largely frozen.
BOWMAN: No, that's right. There are 1,500 ships, including - get this - 1,000 oceangoing vessels, so oil tankers, large ships and so forth. Both Project Freedom and the Iranian toll procedure reminds me of the movie "Jaws." When after the - get this.
KELLY: OK (laughter).
BOWMAN: Stay with me.
KELLY: I'll keep trying.
BOWMAN: After the shark attack, remember, the mayor said, hey, everything's great. You can just go back in the water. It's the same situation here. These ships aren't going back through the Strait of Hormuz because it's dangerous. They don't want to get shot at by Iran. They're not going to pay the tolls. So that's where we are right now. And meanwhile, as we all know, gas prices are very high. The cost of fertilizer has increased because the ships aren't getting through the strait and diesel as well. It's been incredibly harmful to the world economy. That has not changed.
KELLY: I'll just pause for a moment to allow everyone, along with me, to get the "Jaws" theme tune out of your head.
(LAUGHTER)
KELLY: We know we're all stuck on it - a little earworm. One more question on the diplomacy and how this is unfolding - because this is a side note but might turn out to be significant. The Trump administration brought on a regional expert to the diplomatic team. This is somebody from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. What do - that's a pro-Israel think tank that is focused on countering Iran. What does it mean that this new person's been brought on? Who is it?
BOWMAN: His name is Nick Stewart, and he has a lot of experience on Capitol Hill, also at the State Department under the first Trump administration, also at the U.N. working Middle East issues, working Iran issues in particular and working national security issues. And you're right. Some people are pointing to this and saying wait a minute. The FDD is pretty conservative. They wanted this Iran war. They're very closely tied to Israel. But I was talking with someone who worked Iran issues under the Obama administration. They said, listen, this guy, Nick Stewart, he actually is a pretty good, pretty solid guy with solid experience.
KELLY: NPR's Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman, speaking on our national security podcast Sources & Methods. You can hear the full episode, which includes NPR Russia correspondent Charles Maynes discussing the latest with Russia and Ukraine. And you can listen wherever you get your podcasts. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
