Waleed Aly

So you end up with, you know, Barry O'Farrell resigning over a bottle of Grange, and that's the same situation as, you know, Eddie Obeid.

So you've set out some things you would like to see by the way of reform, some criticisms you've made of the way the Albanese government has handled this.

Are you optimistic at all that your vision will become reality?

Nick, thanks so much.

I'm guest host Waleed Ali and you're listening to 7am.

7am.

They're actions that don't exactly scream peace deal.

The US launching fresh strikes on Iran this week in the middle of a ceasefire.

Days earlier, Donald Trump had said an agreement to end the war was close.

Now Iran's threatening to retaliate amid fears things could escalate again.

And while Trump insists peace talks are still, quote, proceeding nicely, the president has upped the stakes for negotiators, trying to turn a narrow deal over Iran, Hormuz and sanctions.

into something much bigger, a massive regional reset built around Israel, the Abraham Accords.

Today, Middle East correspondent for The Economist, Greg Karlstrom, on the fragile ceasefire, Trump's bigger gamble, and who will blink first in the standoff between America and Iran.

It's Thursday, May 28th.

Greg, let's start with these recent US strikes inside Iran.

What is happening exactly?

I suppose the worst case scenario is that it might mean that the whole idea of negotiation becomes implausible.

That certainly on the Iranian side, but perhaps even on both sides, no one really believes that the other side is trying to negotiate or that negotiations are in bad faith.

And so they become just kind of strategic distractions while we do the things that we actually want to do.

Would those sort of concerns be misguided in a situation like this?