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Pakistan: Ready To Host Talks With U.S. And Iran "In Coming Days"; Oil Prices Climb Amid Iran's Warning To U.S. Ground Troops; Zelenskyy In Jordan For "Important" Security Meetings. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired March 30, 2026 - 05:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[05:30:00]

BURCU OZCELIK, SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW FOR MIDDLE EAST SECURITY, RUSI: Turkey is a NATO ally. It has so far stressed the importance of maintaining a -- maintaining its neutrality. It has condemned Iranian attacks on Gulf member states.

Saudi Arabia has emerged as a more vocal critic of Iranian threat -- of Iranian attacks, of course. It has suffered the consequence of these attacks on Saudi territory.

Pakistan is emerging as a key player here in the potential progress during these negotiations. Both Turkey and Pakistan share land borders with Iran so there is that mutual interest as well.

Egypt has been hit already very hard by energy supplies and the price tag shock alongside that. Already we're seeing evidence that the Egyptian authorities might need to curb consumer use of energy so -- of electricity usage.

So all of these states have a serious stake in the outcome of how this war ends and they are positioning themselves not only to gain influence and advantage with the Trump administration but to genuinely reshape the emerging order in the Middle East.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: Yeah.

OZCELIK: The question is how much real influence and leverage will they have over the course of these talks because the real decision- making authority, of course, sits in the White House and undoubtedly Iran also has a say in how this all ends.

ANDERSON: And you say that all of these four countries have a stake in what happens sort of post this conflict and what this region looks like going forward, as do the Gulf states -- all of them -- and Jordan, for example.

So I wonder what you make of Saudi involvement and their wider calculus at this point given that it is only Saudi Arabia directly involved in these talks as a member of the GCC?

OZCELIK: That's right. Well, Saudi Arabia was and has emerged as a major diplomatic powerhouse and influential rising middle power in the Middle East, so it's not surprising that they would take a center role in trying to drive these negotiations forward.

As you know, there have also been reports over the past few weeks that while cautious and often denied, Saudi Arabia has been seeking a harsher response by the United States to "finish the job" against the Iranian regime. Again, there is speculation around the authenticity of those reports but undoubtedly Saudi Arabia stands to suffer if the war continues because of Iran's military strategy has been to retaliate against the Gulf states. The Iran-Saudi rivalry is longstanding and well-established despite a period of rapprochement from 2023 onwards. That is all now at risk.

And I think Saudi Arabia is very vocal in the concern on behalf of the Gulf states and the wider Middle East about what would happen next in the region if Iran is allowed to retain key military offensive capabilities and potentially, its nuclear stockpile as well following the war.

So an angrier Iran that retains -- that survives in some form, what would that mean for Gulf security in the wider region as well. And I think that's why Saudi is very much on the front foot trying to find a solution while keeping all options open.

And a final note, I suppose, on that of significance is that Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have been converging along shared interests and recently signed a security agreement as well. So in some ways Pakistan is also a de factor voice or proxy for wider Saudi and Gulf interests during these talks.

ANDERSON: Yeah, yeah -- certainly for Saudi interests. I'm not sure that it provides a proxy for the wider region but you're right to point out that it could provide a proxy for Saudi -- for Riyadh.

It's good to have you, Burcu. Thank you very much indeed.

All right, that's the very latest from the region. I am Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. Let's get you back to Brian who is in Washington for you.

BRIAN ABEL, CNN ANCHOR: Becky, thank you.

Up next for us the war with Iran and closure of the Strait of Hormuz is causing oil prices to soar. We will look at what to expect in the days to come.

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[05:39:20]

ABEL: Welcome back to EARLY START. This is your business breakout.

And here is where the U.S. futures stand ahead of the opening bell on Wall Street. The Dow, the Nasdaq, and the S&P 500 all starting the day up.

And let's check some of today's business headlines now. Some stock markets across Asia fell on Monday amid rising oil prices and claims from Tehran of a potential U.S. ground invasion. Japan's Nikkei fell nearly five percent during trading and South Korea's KOSPI was down nearly four percent. Asian economies are heavily reliant on oil from the Middle East and are feeling the pinch with the current close of the Strait of Hormuz.

[05:40:00]

The stagnant American job market could stay stuck thanks to the U.S.- Israeli war with Iran. The economic ripples of the conflict are being felt chiefly as a result of rocketing gas prices. Last year was already one of the weakest for the American job market in decades and now that weakness looks set to continue.

And long-haul truckers across the U.S. are grappling with a sharp rise in diesel prices. Diesel is the largest day-to-day expense in trucking. The price has jumped just over 40 percent to $5.38 a gallon since the start of the war with Iran. The large carriers have some built in protections, but for smaller companies or independent drivers they are having to eat those costs.

And oil prices are rising as investors buckle down for a possible U.S. ground invasion in Iran and a drawn out war in the Middle East. The International Energy Agency says the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is the biggest oil shock in history. And we are seeing that play out in the stock markets as well.

CNN's Eleni Giokos joins me now from Dubai. And Eleni, help us understand where everything in the stock market and its relation to gas stands right now.

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's -- firstly, just that story that you, you know, shared with us about U.S. truck drivers already feeling the pinch of higher diesel prices. You know, it's now moved beyond the battlefield. This is a global energy shock, and this is the leverage that Iran has over the Strait of Hormuz and, you know, choking off 20 million barrels of oil per day.

And yes, the International Energy Agency is releasing record reserves of around 400 million barrels. And yes, Saudi Arabia is trying to divert some of its oil exports through the East-West Pipeline. But you still have a deficit and it's really being felt.

And I want to show you this graph before we go into today's Brent crude prices. The year-to-date of Brent crude is up around 78 percent. So from January until today, the end of March, you have a 78 percent increase on Brent crude prices. That's extraordinary. Over the month it's around 60 percent higher. That's also record increases.

So if we see a continuation of this war and the continuation of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, what happens to oil prices? And, you know, you've got a lot of fear in the market. They're saying $150 a barrel. That could turn out to be recession territory. Some are anticipating $200 a barrel.

And it really hinges on the next moves by the United States and also by Iran that is also threatening massive retaliation. We've been seeing that coming through into the Gulf region in the last month on a daily basis.

Brent crude prices right now, as you can see, sitting at $115 a barrel. And interestingly, when I look at the U.S. futures it is a shortened week because we have a holiday on Friday. It's Good Friday. And you're seeing a bit of an uptick on the futures front, but who knows what will happen by the end of the day.

The U.S. administration always comes in and tries to prop up the market, saying, you know, this is going to end very soon and its oscillatory rhetoric that we're seeing coming through from the United States.

But also, U.S. markets had a really tough week last week. The S&P was down around 1.7 percent. The Nasdaq was down over two percent.

So it's going to be really important to see what happens on the diplomatic front while we're seeing the fundamentals pretty much unchanged in terms of how much oil is taken out of the markets.

ABEL: All right, Eleni Giokos for us in Dubai. Eleni, thank you.

From Saudi Arabia to the United Arab Emirates to Qatar and now Jordan. Ukraine's president is continuing his bid to force defense ties in the Middle East. We'll have a live report next.

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[05:48:12]

ABEL: Welcome back. I'm Brian Abel. Here are some stories we are watching today.

President Trump says that Iran has agreed to most of the 15-point list of demands from the U.S. to end the war. He also claims Iran has given the U.S. oil that will be shipped in the coming hours to "prove they're serious." This comes as Pakistan says it's ready to host talks between Washington and Tehran in the coming days.

Iran warns that the U.S. is secretly planning a ground invasion as it makes a show of diplomacy. Iranian leaders say their forces will "rain fire," they say, upon American soldiers who enter the country.

The U.S. has sent thousands of troops to the region in recent days and hundreds more are on alert for possible deployment.

Some TSA agents could see more than a month of backpay hit their bank accounts in the coming hours due to an executive order signed by President Trump. Those agents and other DHS workers have gone unpaid since the start of the partial government shutdown in February. TSA workers are still unsure whether future paychecks will be handed out as usual. Iranian strikes continue to ripple across the Gulf as the war enters its second month. Earlier, smoke could be seen rising in a major port city to the north of Dubai as officials there say the air defense systems successfully intercepted strikes. The comes as a senior UAE official demands compensation from Iran for the damage caused by Tehran's strikes.

CNN's chief global affairs correspondent Matthew Chance is following all of these developments.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Four countries met in Pakistan, including Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Egypt, along with Pakistan.

[05:50:00]

And, you know, Pakistan's foreign minister saying look, you know, we've agreed to host talks between the United States and Iran in the days ahead, although it's not clear. We haven't heard from either the U.S. or Tehran about whether delegates from those countries are going to be attending any kinds of talks like that.

I can tell you there's a great deal of skepticism here in the Gulf region about the possibility of negotiations right now because the negotiating positions are -- of the two sides are so far apart. The United States has put out a 15-point plan calling for basically Iran to stop all nuclear activity. To limit its missile technology. That kind of thing.

And Iran has put out a much more, you know, contradictory five-point plan to bring the war to an end, basically calling for reparations from the United States and, you know, saying that it wants all American bases in the region, for instance, dismantled.

And so they're sort of equally unlikely to find any common ground.

There's also this sort of new fear in the region that because U.S. troops have started to arrive in the Gulf region over the past day it's an opportunity for ground operations by the United States to begin. And so there's a real fear that something like that -- that kind of escalation could happen in the hours or the days ahead.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABEL: Matthew Chance there.

This just in to CNN. Israel says fire and rescue crews are responding to an incident at an industrial complex in Haifa. They say a fuel tanker has been hit at the Bazan oil refinery's complex. Firefighters are trying to prevent he fire from spreading to additional areas and are searching for anybody trapped in the blaze. So far, there have not been any casualties reported. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in Jordan as he continues his Middle East tour trying to bolster Kyiv's defenses. He met with Jordanian King Abdullah II on Sunday and says they discussed a potential partnership in the security sector. Zelenskyy says he arrived in Jordan earlier that day for "important meetings" on security.

So joining us now to talk about all of this, CNN's Clare Sebastian. And Clare, what can we make of these meetings?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Brian, it's not like you see scores of other world leaders heading to this region at this point. And I think this speaks to the scale of the opportunity here for Ukraine both economically and, of course, politically. And I think amid fears, of course, that this war threatens to undo or reverse some of the progress that had been made towards peace in Ukraine, albeit that was limited but there was at least momentum at the beginning of the year.

So economically, of course, Zelenskyy is looking at what he says are 10-year security cooperation agreements. He's says he's agreed those with Qatar and Saudi Arabia. He said he expects to sign one in the new few days with the UAE. And he was in Jordan on Sunday meeting with the king and discussing what he described as a potential security partnership there as well.

This is -- he has been at pains to argue obviously amid the risk that this could look like he's prioritizing this over the imminent urgency of the war at home is that this is not just about selling weapons and drones. This is about a long-term agreement which could bolster Ukraine's defense industry and give it critical capabilities going forward, which in itself, of course, is a security guarantee for that country.

He's also in the shorter term looking at air defense missile supplies from these countries as well as potentially diesel supplies amid growing concerns about potential shortages there in Ukraine. So I think that's the key economically.

Politically, of course, the foreign minister of Ukraine described drones as Ukraine's oil. And I think just like for major oil producers they are a source of global influence now for Ukraine. It is a way to show that there is a dividend for supporting Ukraine in terms of getting access to their expertise and, of course, to reset the narrative around Russia's inevitable victory in this war given Ukraine's now war-tested capabilities when it comes to anti-drone defenses.

So that is where we are in terms of Zelenskyy. Of course, obviously, this comes at a point where there is not a great deal of optimism in Ukraine. They're facing another upsurge in Russian aerial attacks. There's a new Russian offensive on the front lines. And, of course, the longer the war in Iran goes on the more Russia stands to profit -- Brian.

ABEL: All right, Clare Sebastian for us in London. Clare, thank you. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL)

[05:58:55]

ABEL: The countdown begins. In just over two days NASA plans to return four astronauts near the moon for the first time in more than half a century. The Artemis II mission will take 10 days in total to fly around the moon and back to Earth. They're going to create a figure eight extending more than 200,000 miles from Earth.

Now, the agency will make history by sending the first woman, first person of color, and the first Canadian person to circle the moon.

It'll mark a major test for NASA's rocket and spacecraft system as they hope to land astronauts back on the moon in a couple of years.

The launch is set for Wednesday out of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Well, the men's Final Four is set as UConn and Michigan join Arizona and Illinois in the battle for the national title.

Michigan steamrolled Tennessee. Midway through the first half the Wolverines caught fire scoring 21 unanswered points. The final score 95-62 Michigan.

Meanwhile, number two UConn stunned the top seed Duke with that shot right there. The Huskies punching their ticket to the Final Four with a last-second long three-pointer. This will be UConn's third Final Four in four years.

[06:00:10]

UConn will face Illinois and Michigan will face Arizona Saturday in Indianapolis.

Thank you for joining us here on EARLY START. I am Brian Abel in Washington. Erica Hill is up next when "CNN THIS MORNING" starts right now.