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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Pakistani PM Invites U.S., Iran To April 10 "Islamabad Talks"; Trump Agrees To Suspend Strikes On Iran For Two Weeks; War Disrupts Supply Chains Including Aid Deliveries. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired April 08, 2026 - 04:30   ET

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

SOPHIA SAIFI, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: But we've not been able to confirm it with other diplomatic or American sources that there is a potential that J.D. Vance, Vice President J.D. Vance, will be representing the American delegation. So we're waiting to confirm that.

[04:30:14]

But in case that happens, that would be incredibly historic for Pakistan, because the last time a U.S. vice president was in Islamabad or in Pakistan at all was back in 2009. This is being fettered as a complete diplomatic game changer for this South Asian country, which has often considered itself to be a black sheep when it comes to global diplomacy.

But it's found its way through. And it's been at the very forefront, Pakistan, at making this ceasefire happen. It is being celebrated the fact that there was a lot to lose here for the Pakistanis, considering the fact that Pakistan has a long border with Iran. It's got a long and strong friendship with Iran to the point that in the United States, the Pakistani embassy in D.C. is actually used by the Iranians to process any consular services for Iranian citizens.

At the same time, there were concerns because of the Saudi defense pact that Pakistan could be pulled in to some sort of conflict that would spread further across the borders into Pakistan itself.

Also, what's interesting is that President Trump has begun his announcement of a ceasefire by applauding and celebrating Pakistan's very powerful chief of army staff, Field Marshal Asim Munir and Pakistan's Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif. So there is a cabinet meeting ongoing at the moment. There is a lot of trepidation and excitement in the capital. And this is being celebrated across the country. Becky?

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: What or who do you understand to have made the difference in getting this ceasefire across the line in the dying hours of the deadline?

SAIFI: Well, we've been up all night covering this story and basically being in touch with all of our sources. And by we, I mean the entire journalist press corps here in Islamabad. We were told late last night, I was told last night that, you know, things aren't looking good, that it's looking dicey, that there are concerns.

The foreign minister had addressed the Senate and said that Israel had upended the entire thing by targeting Iran. At the same time, there were strikes by the Iranians at Saudi Arabia. So we were being told by sources that they're very concerned that this could be a problem. But that kept moving. And then eventually we got that tweet by the Pakistani prime minister calling for a two-week extension, which eventually led to the ceasefire announcement. Becky?

ANDERSON: Sophia, just before I let you go, as you understand it from sources that you're speaking to there in Islamabad, is this -- does this ceasefire include Lebanon?

SAIFI: That is something that we have reached out to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about. We are aware that that is something that has been contradicted as well with regards to the prime minister's tweet, but we haven't received a response yet. We're waiting to see what comes out of the cabinet meeting that's ongoing at the moment.

ANDERSON: Yes, good to have you. It's 1:30 in the afternoon there in Islamabad. Thank you. And more from there as we get it.

Well, there has been a wave of reaction to the announcement of this ceasefire, including from Gulf nations, so many of which have been on the front lines, of course, of this conflict bearing the brunt of Iran's attacks. Omani Foreign Minister Badr Al Busaidi said, and I quote here, the world has stepped back from disaster, but there's no room for complacency. On X, he added that Oman will support the next phase of serious negotiations and more reaction as it comes in.

To discuss with Gregg Carlstrom, who is a Middle East correspondent for The Economist, has covered the region for more than a decade. He's the author of the book, "How Long Will Israel Survive?: The Threat From Within," and he joins us from Doha in Qatar today. And let's just start there. What's been the reaction there, Gregg?

GREGG CARLSTROM, MIDDLE EAST CORRESPONDENT, THE ECONOMIST: There's a sigh of relief, I would say, here and everywhere else in the Gulf, not just for what was avoided last night, just because we didn't go down that very dark path of Donald Trump threatening to wipe out a civilization in Iran, Iran threatening to plunge the region into darkness. Obviously, everyone quite happy that that didn't happen, but also a relief that the Strait of Hormuz might start flowing again, at least in some limited capacity, which means gas exports might be able to move from Qatar, supplies might be able to come into the country.

[04:34:56]

So that's all positive. But then there are a lot of questions around this deal, around just how open is the Strait, how many tankers are going to be able to get through it each day. Normally about 125 vessels do that. We've only had a handful each day since the war started. And then questions about the longer-term prospects for this deal, given how big the gaps are between the Americans and the Iranians. Can they bridge them in two weeks? That seems like a very heavy lift. ANDERSON: Yes. You posted in the sort of, you know, hours after the ceasefire was announced, "The ceasefire includes Lebanon, but also doesn't include Lebanon. America has agreed to all of Iran's demands and Iran has agreed to all of America's demands. America will recognize Iran's right to enrichment and also insist on zero enrichment." Look, and you go on to say, both sides are scrambling to portray this as a war ending victory when there is a decent chance that the war hasn't even ended.

Look, talks are at least scheduled to start on Friday. So it is not clear what exactly an agreement might look like going forward. Let's just talk about what those gaps are at this point.

CARLSTROM: Right. And this is where both sides are trying to spin it. The Iranians have put forward this 10-point proposal for ending the war on their terms. So it includes things like recognition of their right to enrich uranium, the closure of American military bases in the region, reparations for the war, things like that. Now, Donald Trump, in his statement announcing the ceasefire, said that those 10 points were what he called a workable basis for negotiations. And the Iranians are trying to cast it as if Trump has agreed to those 10 points.

He hasn't actually done that. He's just said, we'll talk about those 10 points. But then you look at America's own proposal, the 15-point plan that it has transmitted to the Iranians. Some of the points in that are incompatible with Iran's demands. So America wants Iran to give up on uranium enrichment entirely and to shut down large parts of its nuclear program. That is going to be one of the main points of dispute here. I think another one is likely to be the issue of the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranians want to keep control of that waterway. They've been talking with Oman about a plan to charge tolls on vessels going through the Strait.

That is going to make most other countries in the Gulf very, very unhappy. They see that as an extortion scheme, basically, by the Iranians charging fees on what should be an international waterway. So they are going to urge the Americans not to agree to that. I'm sure the Americans are going to find that problematic as well. Again, these are very big, very substantive gaps. And there's not a lot of time to reconcile those in talks.

ANDERSON: Gulf nations have been pushing hard, some for de-escalation. Some have sort of hedged their bets to a degree. Others have really sort of thrown their weight behind what they see as a terrorist nation in Iran in April of 2026. We are getting more reaction from these nations. The UAE, for example, Anwar Gargash, senior diplomatic advisor in the UAE, put it this way just in the past hours. He posted, today we move forward to manage a complex regional landscape with greater leverage, sharper insight, and a more solid capacity to influence and shape the future.

Officials in the region have been telling me that they had wanted Iran's missile capabilities completely degraded and proxies sort of off the table as it were alongside, you know, an end to the potential for a nuclear bomb. I just wonder to your mind, as you look around this region, you know this region very, very well, and you understand the nuances, if not complete differences that we've seen emerge in these countries as they have endured what this 40 days of attacks. Has this war made the Gulf countries safer? Sorry, has this ceasefire made these countries safer today?

CARLSTROM: I think it depends on what happens over the next couple of weeks. I mean, you can say in the immediate term, yes, things are safer in the Gulf than they were yesterday because there isn't for now the threat of Iranian drones or missiles raining down on Gulf cities as we've seen for the past six weeks. So that's certainly a plus in their column. But do we get to a deal? If we do, what does that deal look like? How far is Iran willing to go in terms of making concessions around its missile program? For example, the Americans in the past, when they've negotiated this issue with Iran, they've mostly been focused on its longer range ballistic missiles, the ones that have the range to hit Israel or perhaps even places further afield. But those aren't by and large the missiles that Iran is using to strike at the Gulf because it's much closer. And so it can use a short range arsenal for that.

[04:40:23]

Does America try to impose limits on that part of Iran's arsenal as well? Does Iran agree? Those are the sorts of questions that Gulf governments are going to be worried about in the talks. And then if the talks don't succeed, we have the prospect of either a renewed war in a few weeks when the two-week ceasefire runs out or a situation where maybe the war doesn't restart, but we go back to the status quo as it was on February 27th, where Iran remains under sanctions, it remains under the threat perhaps of future American or Israeli attack, and you will have a wounded, weakened, but still intact regime in Tehran that might look for ways to try and intimidate, coerce its neighbors in the Gulf in the hope of gaining financial benefits. It might essentially try to coerce them into paying for peace in the region.

ANDERSON: Yes, I think it was Anwar Gargash just a couple of days ago, I spoke to him. He insisted at the time that regional security must be part of any deal. And that is certainly reflected around the region, whatever the sort of, you know, the sort of positioning on how we get to that regional security looks like. It's good to have you with us, Gregg. Thank you very much indeed for joining us out of Doha today.

Well, still ahead on this show, I'm going to get you inside one of, if not the world's largest humanitarian hubs. It's in the UAE, it's in Dubai, to see how billions of dollars in lifesaving aid has been held up because of this war with Iran. More on that is after this.

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[04:46:52]

ANDERSON: Well, this conflict in the Middle East has severely disrupted supply chains, including vital aid deliveries. Dubai Humanitarian in the UAE is one of the biggest aid hubs in the world. It plays a huge part in getting aid to Gaza, Lebanon, Afghanistan, for example.

The UAE itself accounts for more than 45 percent of international assistance or about $3 billion to Gaza. Well, the World Health Organization is a key agency hosted at the Dubai hub. It faces a massive, well-documented funding squeeze at present. And I got a chance to see just how much added impact the war with Iran has had on its ability to deliver life-saving supplies.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERT BLANCHARD, HEAD, WHO HUB FOR GLOBAL HEALTH EMERGENCIES LOGISTICS: So what we have here today is 57 metric tons of medicines valued at about $1.8 million that are intended for Gaza. This has everything from antibiotics, anticoagulants, medicines that are going to be needed to treat diabetes and hypertension.

ANDERSON (voice-over): This is the World Health Organization's hub at Dubai Humanitarian, the largest aid center in the world.

BLANCHARD: Primarily emergency health kits.

ANDERSON (voice-over): From here, supplies can reach two-thirds of the global population within hours. On a normal day, this is a lifeline for millions of people in need.

BLANCHARD: On a normal day, we would see 100 metric tons of medicines moving in and out of the hub to reach those in need in response to health emergencies all around the world.

ANDERSON: On a normal day.

BLANCHARD: On a normal day.

ANDERSON: Things aren't normal at present. We're in the middle of this conflict. We've seen the, certainly in the early days, the suspension of flights and you are facing real supply issues at present. Is that why we see nothing in here?

BLANCHARD: Well, that's certainly part of the reason.

ANDERSON (voice-over): The U.S.-Israel war with Iran is now choking global supply lines, forcing aid supplies to slow down or stop completely. With shipping squeezed through the Strait of Hormuz, airspace disrupted and ports targeted by Iranian attacks --

BLANCHARD: -- emergency health kits.

ANDERSON (voice-over): -- getting life saving aid out of the UAE has become increasingly difficult.

BLANCHARD: It's almost a perfect storm. It's going to cost more to deliver supplies. It's going to take longer to deliver those supplies. And we're doing it under a period where we're constrained financially.

ANDERSON: To explain exactly what's in here, you can see it says Egypt in transit to Palestine Authority. This is Gaza's WHO. And this pallet, for example, what's in there?

BLANCHARD: Simvastatin; so this would be for hypertension, for example. There's other pallets that would contain antibiotics. It's a real mix of what you have here. It's a tremendous number of line item medicines.

ANDERSON: I'm just looking here. We've got Kenya. We've got Sudan up here.

[04:50:03]

BLANCHARD: We have Zambia, cholera.

ANDERSON: Yes. So we've got here trauma and emergency surgery kits.

BLANCHARD: We have external fixators here. These are used to secure and mobilize the bones after a fracture or break.

ANDERSON: Right.

BLANCHARD: What you have here are general surgery instruments for dressings. So perhaps after a burn or a serious injury, the surgeons can use these immediately to render care.

ANDERSON (voice-over): As the conflict rolls on and supply routes remain compromised, getting critical shipments like these out means constantly adapting.

One solution for the WHO's current emergency efforts in Lebanon, a land corridor via Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria. A shipment successfully reached the Masnaa Crossing just as the WHO warned me that some hospitals in Lebanon had just two weeks of supplies left. That crossing is now closed, cutting off aid to the million people displaced in Lebanon.

ANDERSON: It's not just the WHO. There are dozens of aid agencies moving medical supplies, equipment and food from here at Dubai Humanitarian.

ANDERSON (voice-over): The World Food Programme is also rerouting shipments. They say costs and transit times for freight out of Dubai are up 30 percent since the crisis began.

MARWA AWAD, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME: We're looking at one of the most complex humanitarian detours since the Middle East crisis began; 400 metric tons of nutritional aid from the World Food Programme are being loaded by the United Nations humanitarian response depot from the warehouse in Dubai Humanitarian. Twenty trucks will set off from the UAE to Saudi Arabia and all the way to Turkiye and Turkmenistan, where they finally enter Afghanistan.

ANDERSON (voice-over): Throughout this conflict, Dubai Humanitarian has kept operating but at a fraction of its capacity. In January, aid reached 25 countries. By March, that number down to just nine.

Despite the logistical challenges, this shipment will be flown out of the UAE today, bound for al-Arish in Egypt, from where it will enter Gaza. A 72-hour trip for a consignment, which could be the difference between life and death.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: And we will be right back.

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[04:56:57]

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: An important update in a story we've been following closely. The American journalist who was kidnapped by a pro- Iran militia in Iraq last month has reportedly now been released. A senior Iraqi official says the government made extensive efforts to ensure Shelly Kittleson's safety.

The militia group says Kittleson was released on the condition that she leave the country immediately. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the U.S. is working to support her safe departure. Kittleson was abducted while reporting in Baghdad shortly after the U.S. government had warned her of an active plot to kidnap or kill her.

Over the weekend, the U.S. embassy in Baghdad issued another warning to Americans saying they should not travel to Iraq for any reason and also telling anyone there to depart immediately.

Thanks so much for joining us. This hour on Early Start, I'm Erica Hill in New York. Stay with us. We're back at the top of the hour here in New York and with Becky Anderson and Abu Dhabi for another hour of Early Start.

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