World News War: ‘Stop this madness’ – Ex-UN chief cries out as Trump threatens ‘hell’ A former director of the United Nations nuclear watchdog, Mohamed El-Baradei, has called on Gulf countries to prevent the US President Donald Trump from transforming the region into “a ball of fire.” This is following the US president’s recent threat against Iran. El-Baradei, who served as the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, from 1997 to 2009, also tagged the UN and European Union accounts, along with French President Emmanuel Macron, in his online posts. “Nothing can be done to stop this madness?” He wrote, also tagging the Chinese and Russian foreign ministries Trump stated on Saturday that Iran must either negotiate a deal or reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz, which Tehran has effectively blocked since the US and Israel initiated their conflict with Iran in February. “Time is running out – 48 hours before all Hell will reign (sic) down on them,” he vowed. El-Baradei, an 83-year-old former Egyptian vice-president, led the IAEA during the onset of the public controversy regarding Iran’s nuclear program. He and his organization were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005 for their efforts to advocate for the peaceful applications of nuclear energy.
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International mediators have proposed a 10-day ceasefire between the United States and Iran, according to a senior Iranian official cited in reports. The measure is described as intended to reduce hostilities and allow renewed talks on a prior interim agreement.
Both sides are assessing next steps in the current regional security situation.
Reports indicate that a US-Iran ceasefire has broken down amid renewed fighting, with the potential impact of mediation efforts by Pakistan, Qatar, and Oman remaining unclear. Earlier diplomatic steps included a June memorandum of understanding between the parties for further negotiations and talks hosted in Geneva in February.
The summary also references Europe’s historical role in diplomacy, including the 1814-15 Congress of Vienna.
Donald Trump stated in a Fox News interview that his representatives had spoken with Iranian officials an hour earlier and that those officials wanted to make a deal to end the conflict, though he noted they had broken prior agreements and expressed uncertainty about whether one would be reached.
He added that people do not want to die and that Iran would need to proceed carefully to avoid further losses. The remarks come amid an ongoing US-Iran conflict that has involved casualties and shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, with some social media users criticizing the repetition of similar statements.
Why the Iran-US ceasefire is falling apart Iran and the US have resumed fighting because they don’t see each other as ‘reliable negotiating partners’, says analyst Ali Vaez. Neither Iran nor the United States seems able to deliver a “knockout blow at an acceptable price” to the other side, and both know “they have no choice other than engaging in diplomacy”, but they’re not ready to make uncomfortable concessions, argues Ali Vaez, director of the Iran Project at International Crisis Group.
Vaez tells host Steve Clemons that Tehran and Washington are trying to “enforce their own interpretation” of the ceasefire agreement they signed last month. President Trump has become “frustrated” with diplomacy because he’s not seeing “the kind of quick results that he likes to see”, Vaez says.