ROGER CARSTENS:
00:02:08
It's going to be hard. I would say we may not even get there. I think Secretary of State Rubio is absolutely correct. The United States has always supported freedom of navigation everywhere in the world. To allow the Iranians to control the Strait I think would be a very bad move on everyone's part. No one would gain for that, with the exception of the Iranians. But I would offer that the United States is in a very strong position right now. It may not look like that, but if you want to put the midterms to the side, President Trump has 2 and 1/2 years right now to exert power, if he were to take the war that far. We have total naval and air domination out there. We have infantry in the way of Marines that are en route or there. So we're in a very strong place in terms of what we were able to marshal in terms of combat power with our Israeli partners. So I would say, if I were to give any advice to the negotiators, I'd be tough. Make sure that you get what you want. I would add prisoners to the list of demands, and then I would go in and see what you can get. I mean, President Trump's right to try to negotiate, but I wouldn't be so easy on the Iranians. It's interesting. I mean, our audience is very familiar with your work negotiating the release of hostages. So in this kind of situation-- you've worked in this region a lot. Who are you working with here, if you're the US? Because who's in charge? Yeah, that's a great question. I think the combat operations that we had clearly degraded their command-and-control architecture. People are having a hard time still communicating, determining who's in charge. It's clear in terms of the Iranian response to any offer that we've had that they're having some problems, I guess, marshaling command and control. In another way, we're, again, still in a good position because they're having times talking-- or having a hard time talking, internally, within the government. But I think what you're going to find is that the IRGC is going to keep reigning supreme, either to the front or, most likely, behind the scenes to provide pressure on their political leadership when it comes closer to making that deal. So who are we talking to? We'll talk to whoever shows up. Who do I think is maybe exerting the most power behind the scenes? The IRGC. I don't think you're alone in that. Roger Carstens, thank you very much. We'll see if that deal comes through today and what it looks like.
