{"text":[[{"start":8.8,"text":"Donald Trump has said the US has agreed to continue peace negotiations with Iran but his top officials issued a new demand for Tehran to publicly declare that they would stop any attacks in the Strait of Hormuz. "}],[{"start":21.3,"text":"The US president veered back towards an attempt at negotiations with Iran on Friday, after saying this week that a fragile ceasefire was “over” and launching new intense rounds of military strikes that risked a return to full-scale war."}],[{"start":36.65,"text":"“Iran has asked us to continue ‘talks.’ We have agreed to do so, but the United States has stated to them, in no uncertain terms, that the Cease Fire is OVER!”, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Friday. "}],[{"start":49.25,"text":"Later in the day, senior US officials told reporters that the talks could advance if Tehran issued a public statement pledging to stop any attacks on vessels in the strategic waterway which is crucial to oil and gas trade and global energy prices."}],[{"start":64.7,"text":"“We are hoping to get to a place where they publicly say that they will stop shooting at ships,” one senior US official told reporters. "}],[{"start":73.10000000000001,"text":"“The President has directed us to talk . . . but if they keep shooting at ships or if they engage in any other hostile act, then we’re going to hit them back.” The senior US official added that Iran’s commitment needed to include a pledge for every channel in the strait to be open and free of tolls."}],[{"start":90.10000000000001,"text":"US officials said any further talks on Iran’s nuclear programme would happen after an agreement on the Strait of Hormuz."}],[{"start":98.7,"text":"The US had opted not to strike Iran for a third consecutive night on Thursday, after launching intense attacks on the Islamic republic on Tuesday and Wednesday that sharply increased tensions in the region. "}],[{"start":111.15,"text":"Washington said the latest round of military action was in response to Tehran’s attacks on commercial ships that were attempting to transit the strait."}],[{"start":120.85000000000001,"text":"A different senior US official said that Iranian officials had told Washington that the attacks on the ships came from an “errant part of their system that was trying to undermine the deal”, adding that Trump wanted to give some “space” for an agreement but there was “not a lot of time”. "}],[{"start":136.45000000000002,"text":"“What you see in some ways is the power struggle within Iran playing out in real time. We have a lot of options if the hardliners get the upper hand,” the first senior official said. "}],[{"start":147.25000000000003,"text":"Tasnim, the semi-official agency affiliated to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, said on Friday that a Qatari delegation had travelled to Iran for talks with officials after “the American terrorist army carried out widespread attacks on a number of Iranian military and civilian targets on Wednesday and Thursday”. "}],[{"start":167.45000000000002,"text":"It did not mention Trump’s statement. "}],[{"start":171.3,"text":"The US president first said he considered the ceasefire with Iran to be over on Wednesday during the Nato summit in Turkey. "}],[{"start":178.5,"text":"“I’m not happy with them,” he said, adding that he was “not sure I want to make a deal” with them. He called Iran’s leaders “scum” and “sick people”."}],[{"start":187.4,"text":"The tit-for-tat attacks marked the most violent period since the nations signed their memorandum of understanding extending a ceasefire by 60 days more than three weeks ago. "}],[{"start":199.4,"text":"American forces hit more than 160 Iranian targets on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, including radar systems that were being rebuilt, underground missile-holding facilities and fast boats belonging to the Revolutionary Guards."}],[{"start":213.85,"text":"Strikes also hit Kharg Island, the hub through which about 90 per cent of Iran’s oil is exported."}],[{"start":220.4,"text":"The US widened the scope of its targets on the second night, striking Iranian infrastructure for the first time since a broader ceasefire went into effect in April."}],[{"start":229.3,"text":"Iran said the US had targeted railway bridges on the route to the holy city of Mashhad, where Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was buried on Thursday, disrupting train services from the country’s south. "}],[{"start":241.25,"text":"Khamenei was killed in February during the opening bombardments of the US-Israeli war on Iran."}],[{"start":248.75,"text":"Iran’s health ministry said at least 14 people were killed and almost 80 injured this week in the first two days of American strikes."}],[{"start":256.8,"text":"Tehran called the American attacks a ceasefire violation and said in response it had launched missile and drone strikes targeting US military bases in Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar. "}],[{"start":268.8,"text":"Israel has said it is prepared to return to the battlefield if needed. “The IDF is alert and ready to resume the campaign, to achieve renewed air superiority and to strike Iran for the third time,” Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said on Thursday."}],[{"start":284.85,"text":"However, Trump said on Wednesday that he did not think he would return to full-blown war."}],[{"start":290.1,"text":"“I don’t think it’s going to start again. I think it’s going to go very quickly.”"}],[{"start":302.15000000000003,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1783740157_8917.mp3"}