{"text":[[{"start":10.92,"text":"Donald Trump has signalled an end to his vice-president’s efforts to negotiate a peace agreement with Iran, days after announcing plans to maintain the “status quo” rather than launch a new bombing campaign."}],[{"start":23.52,"text":"“We don’t need a deal with Iran. Those days have long since passed. We’ve got their money, Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and we’ve got their Strait [of Hormuz]!” the US president on Thursday posted on his Truth Social platform."}],[{"start":36.809,"text":"JD Vance last month initiated a fresh effort at injecting momentum into mediation efforts with Tehran, bypassing Iranian negotiators with a letter sent directly to Mohsen Rezaei, the regime’s top security official."}],[{"start":51.04,"text":"Regional mediators, led by Qatar, have for weeks been trying to broker an interim deal between the US and Iran, while urging Trump to give diplomacy more time."}],[{"start":61,"text":"The president and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month suggested they could resume attacks on Iran after America’s midterm elections."}],[{"start":69.68,"text":"Concern that strikes were imminent following the Republican Party’s staggering losses at the polls last week spurred a flurry of diplomacy over the weekend, with the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates placing calls to the White House."}],[{"start":85.32,"text":"After meeting Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani in Washington on Monday, Trump said there was “positive momentum” towards ending the war. A diplomat briefed on the meeting, which included Vance, also said the discussions were positive, with “agreement that diplomacy is the preferred way forward to get a deal”."}],[{"start":104.44,"text":"Later that day, the president said “military action doesn’t seem to be a very necessary thing” and said he planned to continue to exert pressure on the regime’s economy through sanctions and the US Navy’s blockade of Iranian ports in an attempt to force it to submit to Washington’s demands."}],[{"start":119.76,"text":"“It’s really status quo territory. We’re keeping it going,” he said at an impromptu news conference."}],[{"start":126.415,"text":"US secretary of state Marco Rubio said in Paris this week that Washington’s “economic campaign is working so well that the president really doesn’t have any need to conduct major combat operations”."}],[{"start":139,"text":"In his Truth Social post on Thursday, Trump said he had asked Vance to shift his efforts to going after “Democrat run Cities and States”, alleging without evidence that the jurisdictions were stealing “Billions of Dollars” each month."}],[{"start":152.464,"text":"A US official told the FT that “the United States is in a very strong position” and that Iran’s economy is “collapsing”. The official also repeated Trump’s claim that the White House has “control of the Strait of Hormuz”, despite explosions that disabled two oil supertankers on Wednesday night."}],[{"start":171.44,"text":"While officials in Tehran had greeted Vance’s letter positively, mediators have struggled to bridge the deep distrust and wide gaps in expectations as they seek a temporary agreement."}],[{"start":181.92,"text":"Under a recent proposal, Iran would allow the free flow of shipping through the strait, the Middle East’s main energy export corridor, and the US would lift its naval blockade, allow Tehran to export oil and enable it to access some of its frozen funds held overseas."}],[{"start":198.128,"text":"The US also wants the regime to agree to allow International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to visit its main nuclear facilities, which the US bombed during a 12-day conflict last year."}],[{"start":209.28,"text":"But sticking points include the sequencing of different elements of the deal and the fate of the Islamic republic’s 440kg stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which the US has insisted Tehran should transfer offshore. Iranian officials have publicly rejected any such move."}],[{"start":226.22,"text":"Iran wants the US to take concrete steps, such as lifting the blockade, before any formal agreement."}],[{"start":236.68,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1794534833_9170.mp3"}