Return to Transcripts main page
Connect the World
U.S.-Israel War with Iran; Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Iran Agreement; Inside Lebanon's Push to Dismantle Hezbollah; 2026 FIFA World Cup. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired June 17, 2026 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is CONNECT THE WORLD with Becky Anderson.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): Welcome back to the show from our Middle East programming headquarters. I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi,
where the time is just after 6:00 in the evening. It is 4:00 in the afternoon in Evian in France at the G7 summit.
And we are gearing up for a news conference expected soon from the U.S. president, Donald Trump. Political observers say he is getting ready to
defend the U.S.-Iran agreement, known as the memorandum of understanding. CNN has obtained the text of that MOU. More on that in a moment.
Talking to reporters earlier today, president Trump says he can upend the agreement whenever he chooses.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: No, it's not final. It's a memorandum of understanding. And if I don't like it, we'll go back to shooting at them,
dropping bombs on their heads.
QUESTION: Do you expect the wording --
I don't like it if they don't behave. We'll go right back to dropping bombs right smack in the middle of their head.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, the 14 points of what is this draft agreement between the U.S. and Iran are brief and, in some cases, rather vague. But U.S.
officials do say that that is intentional and that this is the setting -- or certainly setting the groundwork for a new round of talks.
Let's take a closer look at some of those key points for you.
Number one, Iran and the U.S. agree to an immediate and permanent end to the war. Both countries pledged to negotiate a final deal within 60 days.
But that period can be extended, the document says.
Iran agrees to allow normal shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to resume, aiming to reach pre-war volumes within 30 days.
The U.S. and regional partners will create a fund for Iran's economic recovery, valuing it at least $300 billion. Iran reiterates that it will,
quote, "never" produce nuclear weapons. The U.S. and Iran agree to maintain the status quo while talks are underway.
Iran won't advance its nuclear program and the U.S. won't impose new sanctions or strengthen its military in the region. The U.S. agrees to work
toward lifting sanctions on Iran but pledges to issue sanctions waivers for Iranian energy products in the meantime.
And the last point in the draft deal, the final U.S.-Iran agreement will be approved through a binding resolution of the U.N. Security Council.
Now other measures included in this draft agreement cover the U.S. pledge to unfreeze Iranian assets, an agreement to respect each other's
sovereignty and a brief outline of how the next phase of talks will proceed.
Now it is important to note that this document was given to CNN by a U.S. official and three other diplomats have confirmed that it is accurate. It
is possible that some of the wording of this draft that I've just been alluding to may change before a final memo of understanding is actually
signed in person on Friday.
That's certainly the schedule for that signing. Well, to help us break all of this down, let's bring in CNN's Nic Robertson. He's in London today.
Jeremy Diamond is in Tel Aviv. And the former prime minister of Sweden, Carl Bildt, is in Vienna today.
Good to have you all. Thank you so much.
Nic, let me start with you. It is hard to see how everything I just laid out is anything other than a win for Iran. We are talking about historic
amounts of money and a full elevation of Iran on the global stage if -- and it's a big if -- these parties come to a more robust deal down the line.
What are your key takeaways here?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes. Look, Iran has gone into this with an extreme amount of distrust of the United States. And certainly
I think everyone recognizes 60 days and even multiples of 60 days and extensions to try to bring all this to a final agreement, which is what's
called for, is a very big stretch.
So Iran gets these waivers off the top. That allows it to immediately get financial benefit from selling its energy products globally. That's an
immediate benefit.
So to get to some of the other things, as we heard from the vice president yesterday, JD Vance, that Iran really has to play ball, that there are
these financial opportunities for them if they play ball, there is an amount of ambiguity.
That was always the understanding, soft language to try to get to this point of having the two sides back in these talks again, the idea that, for
example.
[10:05:00]
To get the frozen assets released, this catch-22, if you look at article point 13, if you will, you have to have achieved point 4, point 5, point
10, point 11. Well, point 11 is you can have sanctions relief if you get to the final agreement.
But 13 is you can't get to the final agreement, not sanctions relief, rather, unfrozen assets. And you can't get to that final agreement unless
you've unfrozen the assets. So there are some catch-22s in there.
But by and large, this does open a major economic opportunity for Iran if it takes it. It doesn't get into ballistic missiles. It doesn't get into
proxies like Hezbollah. It does give the Iranians what they wanted, language in there, side by side with the point that president Trump gets no
commitment to making nuclear weapons.
But from Iran's perspective, they get the commitment that the status quo remains with their nuclear civilian activities. So there's so much that's
left to be discussed. But there are -- but the idea that adequately discussed is what is the only agreement about the difficult nuclear issues?
Wow, that's so broad.
ANDERSON: Nic, let me just jump in before I get to our other guest, stand by, please, because we've got to just get to Evian, where the bilateral
between Donald Trump and the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, is ongoing. And we want to listen in.
TRUMP: We have a G2 coming up. And then we have a G20 coming up.
You know what the G2 is, I think, most of you.
But we had in particular some very good conversations with Prime Minister Modi, India and we're doing trade deals. We're doing a lot of things. A lot
of things are happening between the United States and India.
The United States is doing the best we've ever done. We have over $19.2 trillion coming in and we're building factories, we're building everything.
And prime minister's building a lot in the United States. He's spending a lot of money in the United States, so we appreciate that, jobs.
But I just want to say he's been my friend for a long time now and we've always had a great relationship and it's great to be with you. Thank you
very much. Great to be with you.
NARENDRA MODI, INDIAN PRIME MINISTER: Thank you.
MODI (through translator): Mr. President, it's a pleasure to meet you here in Evian. We had extremely productive meeting in Washington last year and
since then we have given new speed a new energy to our relations and we are working together on a number of areas.
And we are also happy that our teams have also been working in close coordination and engagement and they have been working towards achievement
of the targets that we had set for ourselves last year.
Mr. President, I commend you for your leadership on the progress that has been made in the efforts to restore peace in West Asia.
Thanks to your efforts, Mr. President, new hope for peace and stability in the region has been rekindled and I am confident that this will lead to a
long standing peace in the region.
Mr. President, you and I agree that keeping the Strait of Hormuz open is vital for the global economy.
India has consistently emphasize the importance of ensuring freedom of navigation and we should work together and place a particular emphasis on
that.
Mr. President, we are aware across the world Indian seafarers in hundreds of thousands are working and performing their duties across global maritime
trade routes.
[10:10:05]
Including the Strait of Hormuz and their safety is of utmost importance to us.
Mr. President, you made tremendous efforts towards reaching this understanding and this agreement and I am confident that the issue of
seafarers will receive the highest priority during the implementation of this agreement.
Mr. President, once again, I deeply appreciate and I deeply commend your efforts in ensuring the restoration of peace and making efforts towards
restoration of peace and stability in West Asia.
TRUMP: Thank you very much.
MODI: Thank you.
TRUMP: Any questions?
QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President. We just heard the prime minister praise your efforts, you know, the peace efforts in the Middle East.
TRUMP: Thank you.
TRUMP: Do you think you can carry the momentum from the Iran deal over to securing an end to the war in Ukraine? And can you tell us about your
conversations with President Zelenskyy here at the G7?
TRUMP: Well, I had very good talks with President Zelenskyy and with President Putin. And we'd like to see that one end. I ended eight wars and,
to be honest with you, I thought this would've been one of the easier ones but they're not liking each other too much and that makes it much more
difficult. But we're working.
I had two good conversations with President Zelenskyy and with President Putin.
QUESTION: Will you let them build U.S. missiles or manufacture missiles, American missiles in India?
TRUMP: They would like to be able to do that. We'll take a look at it. They have --
Steve, Steve.
QUESTION: How close are you to a U.S.-India trade deal?
TRUMP: Very close. We've been there for a little while and he's a very tough negotiator. He's one of the toughest, actually.
So you look at this man, I'll give you a lesson. He's the most beautiful looking man. He looks so nice. He's like an angel but actually he's as
tough as he's a killer. I don't want to -- he's a killer. He's as tough as they come but he looks so good, so he gets you by surprise.
There's few people like this. People say, he's such a nice man. I said, he's very tough. He's a tough trader and he loves the Indian people but he
also loves the USA. We had Howdy Modi in Houston, remember? And the stadium was full. The stadium was full.
That was great. And we'll be going to India sometime in the future.
QUESTION: President Trump, when will you go to India and how do you see (INAUDIBLE) as well? This is a grouping that was started under your first
term and this is a grouping that all the four countries are looking forward to.
TRUMP: Well, we had a great visit last time in India. We opened up that new stadium and I think there were, 300,000, 400,000 people. It seated like
about 150,000 and there were 250,000 outside and there were 100,000 on the grass. That was -- I don't know if that record's ever been broken but we
had a great -- I had a great time in India.
QUESTION: President Trump, do you expect India to play any role in West Asia?
TRUMP: Say again?
QUESTION: Do you expect India to play any role in West Asia.
TRUMP: Yes, I do. I do. I think India plays a big role in everything, as long as he's the leader, India's going to play a big role.
QUESTION: You said many times that India has a great friend in United States, in Washington, D.C., in White House until the time you are
president. But some of your decisions recently caused trouble concern in India. How would you like to assure people of India that India --
TRUMP: Well, I said, as long as I'm president, we have a great -- they have a great friend in the White House. I don't know where there might have
been a trouble but I don't think so. I can tell you everyone here, they love India. They have tremendous respect for this man, tremendous respect.
Go ahead, ma'am.
QUESTION: Are there going to be sanctions that are going, are there going to be sanctions that are going to be reimposed on Russia now that the focus
has once again been shifted to the Ukraine-Russia war?
TRUMP: We are looking at that. We're seeing how far the price of oil comes down. It's really tumbling. It's, I guess, $74, $75 right now. So it's
down. It's soon going to be at the number that it was four months ago. It's pretty amazing. And on top of that, we will have an Iran without a nuclear
weapon, which I can tell you, the prime minister feels very strongly about that, too.
QUESTION: Mr. President, have you heard from European or G7 leaders on Iran?
TRUMP: They were.
[10:15:00]
To a leader -- and we had G7 plus many others came, as you know.
To a leader, they were thrilled. They could not have been happier. Well, this gentleman came and that's a big get he came. And they are -- they
could not even believe that it happened. It happened quickly but it really didn't happen quickly. It happened -- it's been happening for a long time.
It's been happening from my first term when a very evil man named Soleimani was killed. That's when it started.
And nobody else did this but Trump. You know, you look at our president, 47 years, Iran took advantage of the world, the Middle East but the world.
Nobody did anything. The Obama deal was one of the dumbest deals I've ever seen. It was a road to a nuclear weapon. My deal is a wall to a nuclear --
you're not going to have it. It's a wall to a nuclear weapon.
Yes?
QUESTION: On mine sweepers, do you want the Europeans to send mine sweeper folks? Did you talk about that?
TRUMP: We don't need them but if they want to send them, I think it's good.
QUESTION: Has anyone committed to sending minesweepers?
TRUMP: Yes, all of them, all of them.
QUESTION: Which nations?
TRUMP: The ones that have that kind of equipment have. But every one of them have committed to being involved in some form.
QUESTION: And at this point, do you feel that Vladimir Putin is more responsible for the ongoing conflict in Ukraine?
TRUMP: Well, I don't want to comment on that because I'm trying to get it settled and that doesn't make it easy.
QUESTION: Mr. President, you're on the cusp of making history with the possible peace in the Iran conflict.
TRUMP: I like this guy. Who is he? Do you know who that is? I like him. Your reporters are much nicer than my reporters. Go ahead.
QUESTION: But there is also a tragic loss of lives of Indian sailors recently, sir, in American strikes. Any words of condolences for the
grieving families, sir?
TRUMP: Yes, I do. I heard about that. It's a rough profession. There's no question about it. And we work together on it with -- this has been
happening throughout time but we work together on it. Yes, certainly, we love all of those people and they're great people.
Yes, please.
QUESTION: How long do you expect Bill Pulte to be acting DNI? What's --
TRUMP: Well, as long as it takes to get everybody else approved. I mean, they were doing a rush act and we didn't get anything for it. Look, he's a
very legitimate guy. He's very smart. He's a brilliant guy.
Look at the job he did at Fannie Mae-Freddie Mac. I mean, it's worth probably a trillion dollars right now. So we put him there. But all of a
sudden it was like a rush act by the Democrats and they said they were going to approve FISA.
And I said but we want FISA approved but we want the Save America Act approved, voter I.D. proof of citizenship, no mail-in ballots, with
exceptions, like for the military, sick, you're sick you're traveling, disabled, very, you know, open and generous.
We also want no men playing in women's sports and we want no transgender mutilation of our children, none.
Those are five things that are 99 percent to -- I mean, that's all we want. It's not a lot. The Save America Act. And that can be passed any way they
want to pass it but I'm not going to sign FISA unless it's done. And this was like a rush act. And it was a rush act by the Democrats.
All of a sudden they want to get -- and why are they afraid of this guy? I mean, they're so afraid of him, they'll do anything not to have Pulte go in
there. He's a very capable guy and they're worried about that.
QUESTION: Mr. President --
TRUMP: Yes, ma'am.
QUESTION: You said the deal, the Iran deal, the text is still being finalized. How confident are you that this Friday's signing will happen?
TRUMP: Are you talking about this one, on the deal?
QUESTION: Yes.
TRUMP: You know, deals are amazing. I've done them all my life. I've gone into deals that were 100 percent and they don't happen. I've gone into
deals that there was no chance of getting them done and it happens and they happen easily.
So you never know with deals, do you? But you're going to find out pretty soon. I think it'll be done. They want to sign. They want to get back to a
normal life.
You know, we hit them very hard. don't forget, you know, people talk about when this started. This didn't start three, four months ago. This started
years ago when I took out Soleimani. That was a big event.
There are those that say it was the biggest event in the Middle East in 50 years. So we took him out and they became a much different country.
And then we terminated -- I terminated the JCPOA. That's Barack Hussein Obama's horrible deal that gave them a nuclear weapon. And I terminated it
and I stopped it and then I stopped it a second time with the B-2 bombers.
And these are all major events in the history of the world, in my opinion, because it prevented them from having a nuclear weapon. And now we're going
to do it again and we're going to see how it works out.
So this is a memorandum of understanding but it's a very strong one. This isn't just like a two-paragraph. This is a long, you know, pretty detailed
memorandum that goes into a regular contract.
[10:20:04]
I would think they would do it. If they don't, then that's -- you know, that's okay. We'll have to start the process again and we don't lose. We
have the greatest military in the world. We have the greatest blockade. The naval blockade was 100 percent effective.
And, again, they have no navy, they have no air force, all bombed out. I don't want to say the leaders but first level of leader, gone. Second level
of leader is gone. Some of the third level of leaders, gone. And they want to make a deal. They are so ready to make a deal.
You know what --
QUESTION: Mr. Trump, can you speak to the defense relationship between India and the United States? Sorry, I'm speaking (INAUDIBLE).
TRUMP: That's okay.
QUESTION: Can you speak to the defense relationship between India and the United States?
TRUMP: I think it's a great relationship. I can tell you this, without having a contract and we don't have a contract. You'd have to write a
contract. But if they were attacked, we would be there to help them.
QUESTION: How would you take that issue?
TRUMP: How is that? Is that a good statement? Okay? Come here, man. If anybody attacks that man, we're going to be there. Now if there's a new
leader, I'm not sure about it. If there's a new leader, I don't know about that. But if they're attacked and he's the leader, we're going to be there
to help.
And we have -- and I will say this and everybody says it. I had a great meeting three weeks ago with President Xi of China. We have the strongest
military in the world by far and I built it in my first term and we're using it in my second term. And they gave some of it away stupidly in
Afghanistan, as you know and they spent a lot on Ukraine, $350 billion.
But we have the most powerful military in the world. You saw that with Venezuela, which was 48 -- think of it, 48 minutes. And now our
relationship with Venezuela is great. We paid for the cost of the war 40 times, taking millions of barrels out. Venezuela's benefiting. We're
benefiting. Venezuela's benefiting.
And then we go to Iran and, really, in the first week, militarily, we defeated Iran. Nobody thought that could be done.
Yes, please.
QUESTION: Mr. President, do you want Israel to halt its military campaign in --
TRUMP: No, I want Israel to be able to protect themselves but I do want them to use good judgment.
QUESTION: Can we expect some highly skilled Indian professional to be getting more opportunities in the United States under your presidency?
TRUMP: What does that mean? What?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Highly skilled professionals to get more opportunities here in the U.S.
TRUMP: Oh, yes, sure. I mean, always. We've always had tremendous relationships in terms of employment with India, very talented people.
QUESTION: We've seen European leaders interact very warmly with you at this summit. Do you think that they're coming around to your worldview?
TRUMP: Well, I think they think I was right. I'm always right. You know, when you get right down to it, I think they think I was right. They feel
good. Now all of a sudden they all want to be involved.
There's no reason to have them because it's pretty much over but they all want to be involved. He'd be involved if I wanted but we don't want to
waste his time or his people.
No, the European leaders, the meeting we had today was, you know, just the leaders. I don't even say the European. The leaders that we had met with,
in addition to the seven, we had quite a few come in, they all were willing to get involved.
Thank you. Thank you. But we had a great meeting on A.I. We had all the top people here and it was a great meeting. And as you know, we're building
tremendous numbers of plants. But A.I. we're building the biggest in the world. We're number one in A.I. by a lot and it was a very productive
meeting.
QUESTION: The negotiations with Anthropic --
TRUMP: He was here, going fine. I think it's going fine.
QUESTION: How is your energy cooperation? India is diversifying, buying more energy from across the world, including United States and (INAUDIBLE).
How do you see India buying energy from you?
TRUMP: India can do anything they want with us. We have the best relationship. We cannot be closer than we are. Would you say that's right?
I don't think we can be any closer. Both him and I and our nations but it really starts with the two of us. We cannot be closer.
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: All right, well.
[10:25:00]
A lot of talk there about U.S.-India relations. Donald Trump saying that he and Narendra Modi cannot be any closer when asked about the status of those
relations. There was also talk and some questions taken on the Iran conflict and some on Ukraine as well. I've got Carl Bildt still standing
by.
And Carl, thank you for your patience. Jeremy is with you, as I understand as well. But Carl, thank you for standing by. Let's get back to the Iran
conflict and this memorandum of understanding that will be signed, we're told, by the U.S. and Iran in Geneva on Friday.
And I've been through, the beginning of this show, some of the 14 points in that. Here is how Canada's prime minister, Mark Carney at G7, speaking to
one of my colleagues, reacted to the draft MOU before it was actually publicly released. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK CARNEY, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: I have to say, it's exceeded my expectations. We're very pleased with the deal that's been struck.
It sets the groundwork for to ensure Iran doesn't have a nuclear weapon. It sets the groundwork for a reintegration over time of the economies in the
region. It sets the groundwork for a solution in Lebanon, which we discussed today.
So it's positive. Of course, it has to be followed through, it has to be implemented. And I think one of the things is the president helped create
that deal, led creating that deal. The rest of the G7 and the broader community need to help implement it.
I think it's a gamechanger, not just for this situation because, it starts to take off, certainly this issue but it allows us -- and this is what's
happened in the meeting -- to step back, look anew at Ukraine --
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN HOST: Yes.
CARNEY: -- the Ukraine situation. We had a very, very constructive conversation around Ukraine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: So I thought that was really interesting. I want to discuss this with you because, on the draft document, I think he does have a point to a
degree.
This document at least drives us onwards in that, you know, it drives us toward discussions about what could be a plan which would sort of, you
know, change the very nature of what's going on in this region where I am.
But whether his comment, Carl, about it being a game changer was meant to refer to the draft itself or about the fact that it's very existence at G7
allowed leaders to move beyond Iran to talk about Ukraine, I think wasn't quite clear there.
I think some are calling Carney's description of this draft document as a game changer -- and I'm not quite sure that that is what was meant there --
I just wonder what you thought of what you heard from Carney there and how you just see all of this.
BILDT: Well, I think part is he had every reason to be polite to president Trump. They have some other upcoming issues that are fairly critical for
Canada.
As for the memorandum of understanding, I mean, the positive thing is, of course, that it solves, I hope, the problem that the war created and that
is the Hormuz. If that is opened up within the next few weeks, absolutely good. It was unnecessary, I might add, to create the problem.
But once created, now it's solved. As for the rest, if you look back to the beginning of the war, very few, if any, of the war aims proclaimed then
have been addressed. That Iran says that the promise not to have a nuclear weapon. I mean, that is yesterday's news very much.
I mean, they've been promising that for decades and there haven't been any signs of them breaking that particular promise, either. And all of the
other issues are there for further negotiations; 60 days, that seems to be a fairly short period for sorting them out.
So it is, yes, prime minister Carney had reason to be nice to president Trump. I think others who are looking at the document are probably going to
be somewhat more skeptical, to put it mildly.
ANDERSON: Nothing, as you say on the -- on the core, on the core nuclear file at this point, the ballistics file.
BILDT: Well --
ANDERSON: The proxies file, all of --
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: -- are and remain a massive threat to this region.
BILDT: Well and you might start with the, let's call it the regime change file, which was there with Trump in the beginning, certainly there with the
Israelis. And now everything that I pick up from inside Iran, the regime is rather stronger rather than weaker. Because it is, evidently, the feeling
they have stood up, against both the United States and Israel.
[10:30:02]
They have endured. And, they haven't really make any concessions worthy of the name so far.
ANDERSON: Let me bring Nic in. Stand by, Carl, I don't want you to go anywhere, because I've got a couple of other really important questions for
you. And I really want to lean into your experience and insight.
Nic, Israel has been essentially left out of the drafting of this MOU. And indeed our sources telling CNN the Israelis were not even shown the memo.
The understanding seems to be to avoid Israel leaking it.
The Gulf region, by contrast, Gulf region where I am has been heavily involved in this agreement. And the messaging from the U.S. and from this
region is framing this agreement as a grand bargain that will reshape the Gulf, Middle East and wider Middle East. I just want to get your thoughts
on that.
ROBERTSON: Yes, it's the so-called -- when you read through the memorandum of understanding as it is, it's called the final agreement. And you can
see, if Iran delivers, then it gets all the money that's possibly they're going to be on the table -- its money, it would -- it would argue, of
course.
And that is what a grand bargain looks like. Everyone does what the other side wants them to do. And you get to a grand bargain.
You know, the weakness is, of course, on the Lebanon front because this does leave a lot of pressure on prime minister Netanyahu and his own
domestic constituency in an election year. We heard president Trump ask that question in that meeting with prime minister Modi just now.
What about Israel?
And, you know, he says Israel has a right to defend itself. But I want them to use their judgment. That's pretty ambiguous. But -- and it leaves a
margin there for Israel to be able to continue to strike Hezbollah, which leaves a margin for Iran to strike back at Israel because of that.
We're not into that phase two of the talks yet. That begins after the signing on Friday. But that's where that very, very hard detail is aimed to
be hammered out and put down. But I think a lot of experts would look at this and see the ambiguities, the huge gaps between the sides that remain.
And president Trump himself threatening the potential if he doesn't like what happens, to go back to war. If every side takes that view, then that -
- it is possible to have a return to military action. And I would go back to what I said at the beginning.
This deal is front loaded. So Iran gets some money quickly. Iran is of the position that it will strike back if it feels the terms are broken. Iran is
of the position that it can withstand more pain. They would rather have the money and rebuild, it appears. But that's where I feel where we're at.
But for Israel on this, of course, this is why prime minister Netanyahu wants this very -- this meeting as soon as he can have it with president
Trump to discuss his political fortunes at home tied to how, in essence, to use this word spin, how he can spin it.
ANDERSON: Carl, I know you've got really good relations with a number of key stakeholders, leaders around this region. I mean, given your
experience, in diplomacy over the years, not surprising that you are, you know, you speak to a lot of really influential people around this region.
So I want to get your take on, firstly, this idea of what I think is emerging. It seems to me it's a $300 billion-plus sovereign wealth fund
that the Iranians would be able to lean into, of frozen Iranian funds, plus some funding from around this region where I am.
I mean, these sovereign states in the Gulf have overarching regional security issues that they see as one, as a broad framework around the
region for those. And then these sovereign economic projects which need, you know, a safe, secure region that isn't in conflict.
They are navigating a new-looking Middle East. And it, you know -- they are looking for a day after. And if what seems to be emerging as a grand
bargain is that, perhaps it's understandable that this is where we are headed.
What do you make of the involvement of this region?
BILDT: I think the region is happy that there's got to be no more fighting. That's the number one thing for them. I mean, they were unhappy
with the start of the war. Then they wanted to conclude the war in a favorable way.
But now the war has been concluded in these particular terms. And then their view would be, let's get on with whatever it is. I think there are
going to be divergences between, say, between Abu Dhabi and Riyadh.
[10:35:02]
I think there is a different tonality between them and the approach. Then it remains to be seen what happens in these subsequent talks on all of the
open issues. If Iran gets everything that is in this document, it has to deliver in order to get it.
Then it is a major reintegration of Iran into the global economy, into the regional economy. And that, of course, changes the dynamics of politics in
the region.
But I think the road to there is going to be fairly bumpy. It is very vague, the wording in the documents. So there's a lot of issues that needs
to be sorted out. And it's not going to be -- I don't think it's going to be straight sailing.
ANDERSON: Yes. Yes. And it's hard not to miss the fact that, of course, the Europeans seem to be entirely sidelined up until now at least. I mean,
you know, G7 has been the opportunity for some of those Western leaders, not all Europeans but Western leaders to get inside the tent. So let's see
what develops after that.
It's been really good having you on, Carl. Thank you very much indeed for joining us and for standing by and your patience today.
Nic, thank you.
Well, away from the front line in Iran, another battle line is being drawn in the frontier of AI. And Donald Trump speaking to that. He talked about
the fact that G7 did, you know, address AI today in a rare meeting involving three of some of the world's most powerful artificial
intelligence companies.
The bosses of OpenAI, Anthropic and Google DeepMind joined those leaders at G7 for lunch. On the menu, concern around U.S. dominance of the industry as
well as a side order of discussion around regulation and security.
Well, our AI correspondent Hadas Gold, following developments.
Just a light lunch, then.
(LAUGHTER)
ANDERSON: It does seem striking to see Altman, Dario Amodei across from each other. I mean, two real rivals, each with blockbuster IPOs expected in
the coming weeks. All it needed was Musk around that table and we'd have been sort off to the party, really. Tell us more about what we believe was
discussed today.
HADAS GOLD, CNN AI CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, president Trump just commented on this meeting. He said that it was a good meeting. I think it
was pretty notable to look at that seating and where everybody was seated.
Sam Altman seated right next to president Donald Trump. Who was not next to president Donald Trump and was way across on the other side of the table
was Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei.
Obviously, there's the rivalry with Sam Altman but also Dario Amodei's company, Anthropic, is in a lot of fights with the administration right
now. The administration issuing that export control ban on Anthropic's latest models on Friday.
President Trump even commented on the negotiations between the two sides trying to come to an agreement on that export control ban, saying that they
are going fine.
It was also just fascinating to just look at the amount of power in that room. And I think it goes to show you where we are in the world right now,
where these leaders are not meeting with oil executives. They're not meeting with these banking executives. This big meeting was with the AI
executives.
And it goes to show you that the power right now is in the hands of these few companies, most of them represented at this table when it comes to the
future. And so what they were discussing, according to the G7, was frontier AI risks, infrastructure and sovereignty.
And this issue of sovereignty has particularly come up as a result of this export control ban on Anthropic. We're hearing from a lot of other non-
American AI companies that are raising their hand and saying, see, this is why we need to make sure that the power of AI is not concentrated just in
these American companies.
Because, you know, one thing happens with the government and suddenly you might have these big companies, big governments elsewhere, who lose their
access to these very powerful models. Cannot use them anymore because of something that happened in the United States.
So you hear from companies like France's Mistral, Canada's Cohere, who are saying, hey, look at us. Cohere's CEO came out after the -- Cohere's CEO
who was at this meeting, I'm going to be speaking to him in just a few minutes.
He came out after the Anthropic export control ban and said, in part, we must avoid accidentally locking our critical infrastructure into a fragile,
centralized ecosystem dominated by a few Big Tech companies.
And that's why I'm hearing from a lot of companies that are saying, well, this was a wakeup call. We need to start figuring out some backups here.
And that's why the one -- this -- well, that's why AI sovereignty was one of the big topics at this meeting today. Becky.
ANDERSON: Good to have you, Hadas. Always a pleasure. Thank you.
Soon we're going to hear from U.S. president Donald Trump at the G7 summit in France. We will take his comments live. Stand by for those.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:40:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ANDERSON: Well, as we've been reporting, looming behind this U.S.-Iran draft agreement and the G7 summit are the ongoing hostilities between
Israel and Hezbollah.
Now Iran has said the agreement includes an end to the fighting in Lebanon. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his country's military will
continue to occupy southern Lebanon for as long as necessary. Well, last hour I spoke with Lebanese justice minister Adel Nassar about these
developments. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ADEL NASSAR, LEBANESE JUSTICE MINISTER: It is clear that the position of Lebanon and the government of Lebanon is very clear. A ceasefire,
withdrawal of Israeli troops and put an end and final end to the interference of Iran in Lebanon.
So these three points are major. We consider internally also that, to build a state, we need to dismantle Hezbollah's military means and
infrastructure. Now the withdrawal, as you know, there is a direct negotiation that is being conducted in Washington between Lebanon and
Israel under the auspices of the United States.
And all these subjects are being dealt with in this negotiation. Lebanon's position is clear. We require a clear and direct and final ceasefire, a
direct and clear withdrawal from Lebanon and to put an end to the interference.
ANDERSON: Right.
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: -- the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon, despite the fact that this text does not mention that fact and despite the fact that
the Israeli prime minister has already said he has no intention of pulling his troops out.
NASSAR: No, no. On one hand, we consider that we negotiate for ourselves and there are direct negotiations that are being conducted in Washington.
It is clear that anything that could lead to the withdrawal of the Israeli troops from Lebanon is supported by Lebanon.
However, at the same time, it is very important to underline that we need also to stop the interference of Iran in Lebanon, which is to control,
equip and finance Hezbollah. And we consider as an internal matter. But as a matter of the essence is to dismantle also all the military
infrastructure of Hezbollah in Lebanon.
ANDERSON: And if you can't do that and Israel isn't able to do that, president Trump has suggested -- hang on, hang on.
President Trump has suggested that Israel allow Syria to, quote, "deal with Hezbollah."
What do you make of that?
NASSAR: No, our position is very clear. Lebanon has to dismantle the weapons of Hezbollah and the military infrastructure of Hezbollah.
[10:45:00]
It is not about having foreign troops doing the job. We, Lebanon suffered for years from interference of others. And if Hezbollah is today a proxy of
Iran, it is because there is an interference from Iran in the internal affairs of Lebanon.
All what we are asking is to have all countries stopping their interference in Lebanon. We need to have the sovereignty of Lebanon on all the
territory, which means a withdrawal of the Israeli troops and which means dismantling the are the military infrastructure.
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: Can I ask you this?
Have you been promised sufficient funds for the LAF, the Lebanese Armed Forces, sufficient funds and support to dismantle Hezbollah?
NASSAR: We consider and we are asking all countries of the international community to support our national army, because this is a very important.
We, our political decision is clear.
It has been taken from the right beginning, from the formation of this government regarding the dismantling of the weapons. And clearly, we need
the support of the various countries to help the -- so to be able to implement this.
ANDERSON: So you haven't been given or sufficient support as of yet?
I know there's been a really big issue about not having the capacity in Lebanon with LAF to dismantle Hezbollah.
So at present, are you telling me you do not have sufficient funds or offers of support as of yet and you are looking for more?
NASSAR: No, I wouldn't say it this way. We clearly need a full support. The U.S. gave an important support. We need more support but by no means
I'm saying that we have to await support to dismantle Hezbollah's weapons. Dismantling Hezbollah's weapons is an internal matter to build our state.
And I don't want to make it conditional.
ANDERSON: Are talks between Israel and Lebanon are still expected to go ahead next week?
NASSAR: Yes.
ANDERSON: Good to have you, sir. Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: I want to bring in Kimberly Dozier for her thoughts on what we just heard there.
Firstly, let me get you, just nail your reaction to that interview.
KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes. The world community, the White House has set an impossible task for the Lebanese government.
If you don't have the capacity to dismantle Hezbollah, which is funded by Iran and, at this point, largely commanded by the Iranian Revolutionary
Guard Corps, how can they do the job?
In a larger sense, this is the Iranian Trojan horse in the memorandum of understanding it just initialed with the U.S. and is supposed to officially
sign on Friday because, at any time, it can trigger Hezbollah to attack Israel. Israel will strike back and then Iran can dig in its heels and say,
we're not going forward with talks until this stops.
ANDERSON: All right. As we -- thank you. I think those are really important points.
As we wait for Donald Trump's news conference today from G7, we've heard a lot from him in the past couple of days. So it will be interesting to see
whether he says anything new in this press conference or repeat some of the what are now quite well-worn talking points.
But I wonder how you expect him to frame this draft agreement with Iran to both an international audience, which is effectively what we're going to
hear today but to a -- very specifically to a domestic audience.
DOZIER: Yes. The White House seems to be counting on the fact that most people in the MAGA movement aren't in the room negotiating deals. They
don't know the details. They don't know how much this particular agreement has let Iran get away with.
And it's front-loaded, giving Iran a lot of cash without getting much in return, except for a talk to commit to 60 days of negotiations and, you
know, let ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
I think you've seen in the White House's reaction to CNN's reporting, obtaining a copy of the memorandum of understanding and dismissing it. And
from Trump's comments in the past 24 hours, he is very defensive about this. He's trying to say this is better than the JCPOA, the Obama nuclear
deal.
[10:50:02]
When all the experts who were involved can point out chapter and verse how it's not.
ANDERSON: It's going to be fascinating, isn't it?
Good to have you, Kim. Always a pleasure. Thank you.
Folks, you're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. There is more news ahead. Stay with us.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ANDERSON: As we gear up for Donald Trump's news conference, I just want to take a moment to update you on the other major global event. And that is,
of course, the men's World Cup 2026.
Tuesday, a star-studded day on the pitch as countries work their way through the World Cup's opening group stages.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON (voice-over): And one match rose above the rest. At the Kansas City stadium, Argentina beating Algeria 3-0. And those three goals scored
by one Lionel Messi. Oh, my goodness.
Also, Jordan and Austria wrapped up a hard-fought opener. It was Jordan's World Cup debut but the team's defeat was ultimately self-inflicted, an own
goal in the second half gifted Austria a narrow lead.
[10:55:00]
Which they then expanded with a goal in stoppage time to solidify a 3-1 win. We're going to keep an eye on Jordan and, of course, the other teams
from this region of the Gulf, Middle East and wider Middle East and North Africa.
In other action on Tuesday, Norway cruised past Iraq in a 4-1 beatdown in Boston. Norway's star striker Erling Haaland scoring two goals in the first
half of his first World Cup match.
France-Senegal, France winning that two goals from French superstar Kylian Mbappe, boosting his team to a comfortable 3-1 victory.
Right. Let's take a look at today's matches. It is Wednesday and Portugal will play the Democratic Republic of Congo, a key one to watch for momentum
in the group stage. And, of course, because Ronaldo plays in his sixth World Cup at a ripe old age of 41.
Then the side that I am supporting this World Cup. Yep, England going to face Croatia. Ghana will take on Panama. Uzbekistan will play Colombia;
four games, two groups, plenty on the line. I've just posted on Insta how I feel about yesterday's games and tonight's games.
Check me out @BeckyCNN. That is it for CONNECT THE WORLD. Stay with CNN. "ONE WORLD" is up next.
END
