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00:02:03.940Can you ensure that the Iranians won't use profits
00:02:06.320from oil sales to rebuild their military?0.91
00:02:08.840Well, they're not supposed to be doing that,
00:02:10.540so I will say, but they're supposed to use money
00:05:16.020Then came out with another statement saying traffic continues to flow
00:05:19.300and U.S. forces are monitoring the situation to ensure this, in fact, remains the case,
00:05:25.320is what the CENTCOM spokesman, Captain Tim Hawkins, said in a statement.
00:05:29.660Now, safe passage through the international waterway remains intact today as 55 merchant ships transited, moving large amounts of cargo and more than 17 million barrels of oil to the global market, Simcom said on Saturday.
00:05:48.140U.S. forces remain present and vigilant to ensure all aspects of the agreement with Iran are adhered to, obeyed, and in full force and effect, the statement continued.
00:05:59.660Now, CENCOM referred to the latest bulletin from the Joint Maritime Information Center,
00:06:05.840which lowered its risk advisory level for the Strait of Hormuz to moderate and said the Strait is, quote, now open.
00:06:14.960JMIC posted an update on Sunday that said traffic flows are increasing, so not decreasing,
00:06:22.500even though Iran said that the Strait was closed.
00:06:25.420Well, the number of ships going through increased.
00:06:28.100They said navigational system interference and wider regional military activity continues to warrant caution.
00:06:35.160Navigational interference includes hailing and surveillance activity by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the IRGC.
00:06:43.040Reuters also reported on Monday that oil and liquid natural gas tankers are indeed moving through the Strait of Hormuz and traffic is picking up.
00:06:52.000They said four LNG tankers controlled by Qatar headed into the Gulf and through the strait on Monday,
00:06:59.720while two super tankers, which can carry up to four million barrels of crude alone,
00:07:05.240crossed into the Gulf with one signaling its destination as the Iraqi port of Basra.
00:07:12.420The report said that the data from the ship tracker also confirmed that.
00:07:16.480They said two smaller crew tankers carrying just under 2 million barrels of oil in total
00:07:22.660sailed out of the Strait of Hormuz into the Gulf of Oman on Monday,
00:07:27.240citing a different set of ship tracking data for that.
00:07:30.240So what we now know, it's pretty clear now that this is apparently what Iran says0.63
00:07:38.620and their propaganda doesn't actually match reality, I think it's fair to say, yet again.
00:07:43.860Now, Reuters also noted that more ships could be passing through the strait with their Automatic Information System, or AIS, transponders turned off for safety.
00:07:55.320They said based on visual observations, traffic does seem to slow considerably after the IRG said that the strait was closed again,
00:08:03.580falling from 26 ships spotted on Saturday to just five on Sunday.
00:08:09.980So when they say something like this, it does have an impact.
00:08:13.860Now, the South Korean Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries also said on Monday that two ships operated by South Korea have been able to pass safely through the straits since the MOU was signed.
00:08:24.060The ministry provided few further details in the interest of safety because the ships have not yet fully exited what is described as a high-risk zone.
00:08:32.980They mentioned that neither of them is crewed by South Koreans or currently headed for port in South Korea.
00:08:40.700They listed also intelligence, Lloyd's List Intelligence said on Sunday that commercial traffic, quote,
00:08:48.760continued to move through the strait over the weekend despite repeated Iranian claims that it had closed the waterway
00:08:54.720in response to what described as Israel's violation of a ceasefire because of them targeting terrorists in Lebanon.
00:09:02.080Now, another maritime intelligence company known as Windward concurred with its own analysis
00:09:07.420that traffic through the Southern Corridor was not reflecting any closure.
00:09:12.660They noted that the Strait was nowhere near returning to its pre-war traffic loads
00:09:20.080Windward split the analytical difference by observing that high visibility traffic
00:09:24.260with transponders switched on had stalled even before the IRGC declared the Strait was closed on Saturday.
00:09:30.400So they're turning off their transponders for safety reasons.
00:09:33.860They said 12 transits today down from 21 on June 20th, neutral and European tonnage absent five of the seven inbound vessels dark, Windward said.
00:09:46.540So again, that means that they're turning off their transponders because they feel like that gives them a better chance of safely passing through the strait.
00:09:54.060They said the current traffic profile is dark, sanctioned, and Iran-linked resemble the late blockade baseline more than a functioning open strait,
00:11:05.260but the vice president there with a caveat that says
00:11:09.020we don't know exactly what that means,
00:11:10.660and if history is any guide, it might not mean much.
00:11:13.180Yeah, adding that it's been a very confusing process to negotiate with the Iranians,
00:11:17.300but that positive talk about getting that oil moving
00:11:19.800is what continues to send oil prices lower now, near $74 a barrel.
00:11:24.360The U.S. stock market's still hovering near all-time high,
00:11:27.320So as long as the messaging continues to be that, you know, we have reason to believe that the White House is happy with what they've seen so far, John.
00:11:35.600And the word from the administration, and you and I know this because we were on a call with the senior administration official a little more than a week ago,
00:11:41.600is that if this all transpires in the way that the White House hopes it will, it has the potential to transform the Middle East.
00:11:49.280The vice president reiterated that again.
00:11:51.220But he also said we haven't built the house yet.1.00
00:11:53.560And I would think of all of the things, all of the houses or all of the buildings that President Trump has built over his long and storied career as a real estate developer, building this particular house with the Iranians is probably the toughest challenge he's ever faced.0.96
00:12:08.480And I'm sure that's all part of the vision. All right. We are going to have much more on that and reaction to it coming up.0.99
00:12:13.120So you can hear there, there's a lot of people that are scratching their head like the vice president is there with a caveat that says we don't know exactly what that means referring to this, you know, nuclear inspections.
00:12:25.640And if history is any guide, that might not mean much.
00:12:29.260Those are the words from Fox News Channel.
00:12:31.220I think it's very interesting how blunt they were there after the vice president kind of gave his update of where we are.
00:12:37.320We now are being told that the frozen Iranian funds would not be released unless the United States continues to see progress while describing a Qataris as an oversight mechanism for funds that could be used to buy American soybeans.
00:12:52.840Vance's remarks came after a reporter asked whether Iran had already agreed that frozen funds could be used to buy American soybeans.
00:12:58.620Vance replied, yeah, that was something that came up yesterday.
00:13:01.800We actually asked the Qataris to help us set up the mechanism so that we could ensure that the money goes where we want it to go.
00:13:10.860We have a good relationship, obviously, with them and a good operational oversight mechanism in place.
00:13:15.680But even with that said, even with the caveat that's going to benefit American farmers and obviously benefit the people of Iran, we want both.
00:13:23.740But fundamentally, the money is not going to be unfrozen unless we continue to see progress.
00:13:28.080and that will obviously be a big part of the negotiations in the days to come.
00:13:33.040Now the comments follow the release of the memo of understanding between the United States and Iran
00:13:37.060which the White House confirmed after the full text was shared with reporters.
00:13:41.100The memo said the United States and Iran had jointly agreed in good faith
00:13:44.380to terms involving the current conflict, the current sanctions,
00:13:48.400Iran's nuclear program and negotiations towards a quote-unquote final deal.
00:13:52.860The memo also stated the United States would make fully available for use
00:13:57.380the frozen or restricted funds and assets of Iran upon implementation of the MOU.
00:14:03.240Two countries would mutually agree on procedures for releasing these funds during the negotiations,
00:14:09.300and the text said that such funds, whether kept in the original account or transferred,
00:14:13.840would be fully usable for payment to any unlimited beneficiary designed by the Central Bank of Iran.
00:14:23.280That is where a lot of conservatives started screaming, I was one of them,
00:15:22.040The numbers are incredible. The oil is at a level that nobody's ever seen before. Oil prices are way down. I think they're very comparable to what they were. Chris, I don't know, pretty comparable to what they were before we started.
00:15:36.100They've returned most of the way back down.0.71
00:15:37.620So if Iran does not abide by the MOU, are you still willing for drugs?
00:15:44.620What I didn't say it would cause a depression.
00:15:47.620I said it could cause a depression, right?
00:15:49.620And they said that I don't want to be Herbert Hoover.
00:15:52.620That's a president I don't want to be because he, you know,
00:15:56.620he was in charge during the Great Depression.
00:16:00.620And certainly a lot of bad things could happen.