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CNN International: Jordan Calls on All Parties to De-Escalate; World Leaders Call for Restraint After Iran's Attack; Oil Prices Tumble in Response to Iran Attack. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired April 15, 2024 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:00]
JULIE NORMAN, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, CENTER OF U.S. POLITICS, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON: So the U.S. has some very real immediate and long-term interest to not see that happen. And I think Biden is being very clear with his Israeli counterparts about that.
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: And they've got so many different potential conflicts blowing up, haven't they? You know if you consider Ukraine, what's happening in the South China Sea, and now Iran. How's Washington viewing all of this? And do they group them together in any way when they consider these responses?
NORMAN: Yes, well, certainly, it's a very widespread foreign policy moment, and probably not one that Biden was hoping for going into this election year with this many different crises around the world.
For Biden, I would say for many, they do see these as at least somewhat linked. In reality, I would say there's some indirect links for sure. But we see this very urgent crisis in the Middle East, this ongoing war in Ukraine, and of course, this much more long term challenge that many see with China and the Indo-Pacific.
So all of these are in play on the foreign policy sphere. And you see Biden and really other countries as well, trying to navigate between these as best as possible, but often in very politically challenging ways domestically.
FOSTER: OK, Julie Norman, really appreciate your time. Thank you so much.
Still to come, more reaction from around the world to Iran's attack on Israel and how the G7 nations are responding.
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FOSTER: Iran says its retaliation against Israel is now over unless Israel strikes back. That's the message Tehran is making publicly. And according to a senior U.S. official, it's the same thing being communicated to the White House privately.
Iran called the drone and missile barrage a response to Israel's strike on its consulate in Damascus about two weeks ago, and says it now considers the matter over.
In an exclusive interview earlier, CNN's Becky Anderson asked the Jordanian foreign minister whether the U.S. will be able to use its leverage with Israel to keep tensions from escalating.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AYMAN SAFADI, JORDANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: We do hope that will be the case. Reports about American positions have clearly said that the U.S. has told Israel that it should not escalate, that it will not even support Israel if it decides to go against Iran. And as I said, I mean, Israel attacked the embassy, the consulate in Iran and consulate in Damascus. Iran retaliated. It said it will do no more.
So I think that should stop now. And I think the whole world has an interest in making sure Israel gets that message and is not allowed to invoke another confrontation with Iran.
As to your second question, look, we've said it before. I think I said it on your show, Becky, before, that as the pressure on Netanyahu mounts as a result of the continuation of the war in Gaza, he will be looking for ways to dilute that. And I think he has an interest in the conflict continuing so that he doesn't face the reckoning that he is inevitably going to face in Israel.
And therefore, we should all be cognizant of that fact and we should all work to make sure that this escalation doesn't happen, that the war in Gaza stops, so that we all start working on a once-and-for-all solution that will end this conflict on the basis of the two-state solution that would fulfil the legitimate rights of the Palestinians to freedom and statehood and also address Israel's legitimate security concerns.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Leaders across the globe are condemning Iran's attack. During a virtual G7 meeting on Sunday, the group expressed its, quote, full solidarity and support to Israel.
Joining us now from Rome is CNN's Barbie Nadeau. There were some slight nuances in what different leaders are saying, but they're all, you know, rushing out of this statement, calling for, you know, no escalation.
BARBIE NADEAU, CNN REPORTER: That's right, Max. You know, I mean, Italy has the rotating presidency of the G7, but also is a crucial member of the European Union. Of course, we have here this Wednesday, the 17th and the 19th, the G7 foreign ministers meeting on the island of Capri off the coast of Naples. And the focus there is, of course, going to be on the de-escalation, trying to get, at this point, Israel not to react to Iran's reaction.
And, you know, there's a lot of tension in the air, but also the European Union, of course, still very focused on the war in Ukraine. And the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, had this to say. Let's listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: Such a direct Iranian attack against Israel is unprecedented. Today, we, the leaders of the G7, condemned this in the strongest terms. We expressed our solidarity and support to the people of Israel and reaffirmed our unshakable commitment towards its security.
Iran's actions risk provoking an uncontrollable regional escalation, and this has to be avoided.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NADEAU: And, you know, Max, when you listen to her words, they're very calculated, they're very careful. Of course, the European Union has been very focused on trying to do everything they can to stop the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
And so there's a lot of complicated internal geopolitics at play, but the underlying sentiment is de-escalation. And if that doesn't happen, what happens next -- Max?
FOSTER: Yes, absolutely, Barbie in Rome. Thank you.
Joining me now from Paris, Jasmine El-Gamal. She's a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and formerly served as a Middle East advisor in the U.S. Defense Department. Thank you so much for joining us.
It's slightly mixed messaging, it feels like. The United States saying they're not going to support any reaction from Israel to the Iranian attack. But in Israel, it's very clear that they are considering some sort of response, but they would expect U.S. support.
JASMINE EL-GAMAL, SENIOR FELLOW, ATLANTIC COUNCIL: That's right. It's a really critical moment right now. Everyone in the region.
I was just in Amman yesterday. I just came to Paris from Amman. Everyone in the region is extremely on edge, wondering and worrying about what the Israeli response will be.
And of course, the Iranian response, we have to remember, is extremely on edge, wondering and worrying about what the Israeli response will be. And of course, the Iranian response, we have to remember, was actually a counterattack. It was a response to the Israeli attack on its diplomatic facilities in Syria a couple of weeks ago that ended up killing a senior Iranian commander.
And that Israeli attack in itself, of course, was a response to consistent Iranian aggression through its proxies against Israel. So we've really been seeing this cycle of escalatory tit-for-tat actions between Israel and Iran, bringing the region closer and closer to the edge of an all-out war. And what everyone is hoping now is that things will start to de-escalate, that the Israelis will choose not to retaliate in a way that will set the region on fire.
FOSTER: How could they retaliate without setting the region on fire? EL-GAMAL: So that's a good question. I mean, the Israelis have for
years been striking Iranian targets or Iranian-linked targets in Syria without killing senior commanders. They could be striking a weapons shipment, for example, from Iran to Hezbollah in Lebanon via Syria.
They could strike a truck, for example, that's carrying a weapons shipment but that doesn't have, you know, a senior commander on it or any significant Iranian figures. There are, of course, ways to do that.
Now, Israel and particularly Prime Minister Netanyahu will be under pressure from certain more right-wing sort of extremist elements of his own cabinet, like Prime Minister -- sorry, like Minister Ben-Gvir, for example, and the likes of him and Smotrich, who are putting pressure on Prime Minister Netanyahu to be more sort of militant, I suppose, in his response.
Now, the hope is that President Biden's words to Prime Minister Netanyahu will stand. He said the Iranian attack was not -- he said the Iranian attack basically was a win. It didn't strike any significant targets. There weren't any significant casualties. It was basically a show of force. So take the win, don't escalate things further, and let's start to turn down the temperature a bit.
It's what the Jordanian foreign minister has been saying for the last 24 hours, and the hope is that Prime Minister Netanyahu will do just that. At the very least, strike some sort of moving target that is more symbolic than something that would be viewed as escalatory by the Iranian regime.
FOSTER: What would the Americans be saying in the back channels to Israel and Iran right now?
EL-GAMAL: The Iranians have been communicating -- the Americans, sorry, have been communicating with the Iranians fairly consistently, even before the strike happened, through its Arab allies in the region, making sure to reiterate that the Americans are not interested in an all-out war in the region.
And the Iranians have been relaying the same messages to the Americans. And so it's really Israel that's the wild card right now, that we're not sure whether it's actually going to keep the very tenuous peace that exists right now or whether it's going to escalate. I think the ball is really in Prime Minister Netanyahu's court right now.
But former Prime Minister Ehud Barak said something very interesting in an interview just very recently. He said that Ben-Gurion had three rules, that Israel should not rush to war without a superpower by its side, that Israel should not rush into a long war, that it did not have the luxury of getting into long wars, and that Israel should not cede its moral high ground. And Ehud Barak said Israel, and Prime Minister Netanyahu specifically, is violating all three rules right now.
So even within Israel, there is some pressure on Prime Minister Netanyahu not to escalate this further. And of course the hope is that he listens to these cooler heads.
FOSTER: Absolutely. Jasmine El-Gamal in Paris, thank you so much indeed for joining us today.
While Iran's attack on Israel is causing world oil prices to tumble, we'll check in on the markets for you next.
[04:45:00]
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FOSTER: The new trading week getting underway in the U.S. in just a few hours where investors are still waiting to see how the markets are reacting to Iran's attack on Israel. It's where the futures for the major indices stand right now.
The Dow, the Nasdaq, S&P obviously moving higher there. Meanwhile it's looking like a mixed bag here in Europe and it was across Asia as well.
Anna is following developments for us. I mean obviously a huge amount happened over the weekend but for now it feels resolved until Israel responds anyway.
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If you're trying to get a message from the markets today it's they were anticipating an attack on Saturday. We saw a lot of reaction on Friday and now as you say it's a mixed bag really. Investors perhaps treading water to see what happens next whether there's any escalation.
One of the key assets to watch of course is the oil price. Now we saw that significantly higher on Friday. It's actually lower today so it definitely feeds into that story and the oil price is very interesting with Iran. Not because Iran is a major supplier of oil but because it sits on the Strait of Hormuz which of course is a huge artery for the trading of oil. About a fifth of the world's oil consumption travels through that.
So if there were concern that this would escalate further I think we would see that oil price even higher today.
FOSTER: And then presumably things like gold would go up as investors just worry generally about the state of the world economy.
STEWART: Yes the big safe havens and actually we saw gold hit an all- time record high on Friday. It's off that high but it is higher again today. So you're still seeing some of that money flowing from riskier asset classes into safe havens. So there's certainly volatility there is risk on the table for investors.
FOSTER: And your earrings just got more expensive.
STEWART: My earrings just got more expensive if they were gold.
FOSTER: Giving away your secrets. TV secrets. Anna thank you so much.
Just ahead, golf's world number one that slips on another green jacket.
[04:50:00]
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Closes it out with an up and down par --
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FOSTER: American golfer Scottie Scheffler has captured his second career green jacket, joining an elite group of players to win the Masters multiple times and further cementing his status as the top player in the world right now.
CNN's Don Riddell has more from Augusta, Georgia.
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DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Scotty Scheffler is winning at life right now. Seemingly everything he touches turns to gold.
A four-stroke victory at Augusta on Sunday gives the American world number one his second Masters title in the space of just three years. It's his third tournament victory in four attempts and now he can return home to spend time with his wife Meredith ahead of the imminent birth of their first child.
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER, WORLD NUMBER 1 AND 2024 MASTERS WINNER: My priorities will change here very soon. My son or daughter will now be the main priority along with my wife, so golf will now be probably fourth in line. But I still love competing. I don't plan on taking my eye off the ball anytime soon, that's for sure.
RIDDELL: Scheffler held his nerve in a tense final round at Augusta, consolidating his overnight lead by shooting a four-under par score. He quickly recovered from a couple of drop shots on the front nine, making a total of seven birdies throughout his round. And as a clutch of challenges steadily faded away, he coasted home to a majestic win.
[04:55:00]
Scheffler is now unquestionably the man to beat in men's golf, but a major new star announced his arrival. This time last year, Sweden's Ludvig Ober was an amateur player, and in his very first major tournament he played superbly, finishing second on seven-under par. And although Tiger Woods finished in 60th place, he's looking on the bright side. The five-time Masters champion made history by making a 24th consecutive cut at the Masters, and it was only the third time that he played four rounds of golf since that devastating car crash three years ago.
The next major tournament will be the PGA Championship in a month's time, by which time Scheffler will be a father, and his rivals will be hoping that with a baby in his arms, he will finally take his eye off the ball. Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Thank you for joining me here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Hoss in London. Our coverage of the start of the Donald Trump criminal trial, as well as rising tensions in the Middle East, continues next on CNN "THIS MORNING" with Kasie.
