Transcription
Welcome back. We are joined today by Seed Muhammad Mandi, a professor at Tran University and a former adviser to Iran's nuclear negotiation team to discuss this uh new round of very dramatic escalations occurring in the war against Iran. So, thank you very much for coming back on.
>> Thank you, Glenn. It's always a great pleasure being on your show. Well, as I as I said, there seems to be some very powerful round of escalation. First, we heard about this attack on the Busher uh nuclear power plant. Uh that is it didn't hit the the nuclear reactor, but uh well, close enough to create some concern about what could happen in such an attack in terms of nuclear contamination. We've seen further assassinations of Iranian leaders and uh also of course uh the most recent only yeah coming breaking news now over the past two hours it seems this attack on this um south Paris in Thran which is uh the largest natural gas field in the world. Uh I mean I guess Iran has many ways of retaliating. How are you assessing this situation and where do you see this heading?
>> Well, there are a number of things. Uh one is that Iran has a very strong chokeold on Trump and the Trump regime and that is of course the straight of Hormos and the vulnerability of Saudi Arabia even as it exports uh oil uh through the Red Sea. Iran can block that with missiles and drones and it is doing that with regards to the Emirates and that portion of oil that it exports from outside the Persian Gulf. So this is a very difficult situation for Trump, excuse me. And as he admitted, he didn't think or his administration didn't think. It's not clear to me uh where the fault exactly lies. uh they didn't think that Iran was going to attack US assets in the Persian Gulf region or shut the trade of Hormos which I find extraordinary because you and I and many others I think knew quite well that such a thing would happen. We've been discussing this together for maybe a couple of years. So when this happened, Trump of course uh made many bold threats, he saw that they weren't working and he despite saying that Iran was obliterated again he called for the entire world to help him open the trade of hormones and everyone said no. So obviously Iran hasn't been obliterated. Iran's navy is almost the entire navy that is used for wartime is in tunnels and they will uh enter the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean when the time comes. their speedboats with missiles and Iran's uh missile capabilities and drone capabilities are are endless. They haven't struck any of the underground bases. They've uh failed to do anything about Iran's production capabilities. So Trump is in a very difficult place. On the other hand, the Israeli regime wants escalation and uh from what I'm hearing in the operational control has shifted from the United States to the Israeli regime. And so it is the leading the war and they are the ones who chose the targets and the United States agreed to cooperate with it to strike these targets. So it may not make a huge difference, but it is significant. And um I think the Israeli regime probably and the United States maybe uh want to escalate to see how far Iran will go. That's one possibility. I think they'll soon find out find out that Iran is willing to go to the very end and it will fight to the finish. So this experiment is a foolish one. Some believe that the Israeli regime wants the total destruction of oil and gas assets in the Persian Gulf region and it's possible that Trump will go along with it. In any case, Iran is going to go uh up the escalation ladder if that is what the US Israeli coalition does. So I think ultimately the big issue is that the United States is stuck with the trade of Hormos and Iran really holds all the cards. Now the Israelis are assassinating people. They may continue to do so or have successes, but it's not going to change anything. Uh the Iranians have a very sophisticated constitution. They have a very sophisticated state. They have many experts and uh people who are acquainted well acquainted with uh matters of state. So if one person is martyed, someone else will replace him. It's a loss without a doubt. Dr. Li Jani I've never worked in government but uh um I encouraged him to go to China and ultimately went when he went he asked me to go with him and when he came back he asked me to take care of the China dossier for him. Uh so for a couple of years until he left parliament uh he was the speaker of parliament of course I was in charge of the dossier on his behalf as a volunteer. I didn't receive any uh salary for this. U but um he was an excellent man, very smart, very dedicated, very a very moral person and uh it's a major loss and I'm I'm I was very fond of him. He was a very polite, highly educated, but everyone can be replaced with someone else. And martyrdom itself boosts the morale of society. It awakens the society further. as we saw today on the streets during his funeral and the funeral of the victims of the US attack on Iran's naval ship that was unarmed and was participating in a naval ceremony in India. Uh so I don't see any success of major substance uh because obviously I you can't say an assassination is not an a success but it's not going to achieve the results that they're seeking and in a way it's actually going to have the reverse effect as we saw with the martrdom of it it really mobilized the nation in a way which I have never seen even during the 1980s I have witnessed things in tan on personally and I have seen images and videos that I have never seen before anywhere. People on the streets, huge crowds. I was there on Friday and then the USI-Israeli coalition bomb the people demonstrating on the streets and murder a person. And you don't even hear about in the hear about it in the Western media, but no one ran away. You may have seen I'm I'm sure you've seen images of it and many of your viewers may I'm sure have but I it's on my Twitter account. So people are steadfast and people have been mobilized and the United States has they they had a plan to uh carry out terror attacks last night and riots as they did a couple of months ago. It failed completely. people are on the streets throughout Tehran and throughout the country and they couldn't do anything. So on the whole I think the war is going very well for Iran. It's painful. They murdered many people, school children. They bombed hospitals today. They bombed key infrastructure. This is this is not something uh none of this is makes us happy. It's painful. Uh when they murdered Dr. large journey. They murdered all the neighbors of that in that apartment block. But the United States and Israeli regime have failed so far.
>> Yeah. Well, what is he being um likely retaliation? because I watched a a spokesperson recently, well 20 minutes ago or so uh given talk about how the energy infrastructure of those who participate in this will now I think he said burn to ashes. But uh we also see now some incoming strikes on the capital of Saudi Arabia. But I was also curious um what is the likelihood that Yemen could actually be be activated in terms of closing down the Red Sea as a response to this escalation because there's an important straighter of course that is the uh Babel Mandeb if I'm not slaughtering that name right >> and um yeah also narrow straight which can be used to sever access to the Red Sea. This is quite you know a critical uh maritime corridor as well because with the straight over moose disconnected this is essentially the only access to Saudi Arabia then all on this western coast. So how do you how do you do you see this as a possibility or how or what kind of a retaliations again I know the government doesn't tell you what they're going to do but what kind of retaliations do you think are realistic here?
>> Well, the government has said that they will strike uh oil and gas facilities in the Emirates and Qatar and Saudi Arabia. I think by the time your viewers see this video, probably that retaliation will have taken place. We already hear that there was a strike on Qatar and on Saudi Arabia. Apparently this the strikes on Saudi Arabia targeted uh jet fuel depots for the US air force because the Saudis are deeply involved in this and uh it is increasingly becoming clear that the Saudis are encouraging the Americans to carry out these strikes against Iran. In the case of Yemen, they have said that they will enter the war and uh we'll have to see when that happens. Obviously it things depend on the escalation matter. Uh Iraq in in Iraq the resistance is striking at US assets but um it could do much more and the same is true with Iran. Iran can strike much harder. But Iran is moving up the escalation ladder based on US uh Israeli or what I would call the Epstein coalition's actions. So so for example today when they struck Iran's infrastructure the gas installations that was something that Iran had to respond to. Iran doesn't want to create a global economic meltdown. this war was imposed on Iran and as we saw Joe Kent uh resign and basically say what we've been saying all along that Iran was no threat and that it was the Israeli regime and the Zionist lobby that pushed the United States to war a war that's not in US interest at all uh so Iran is responding to aggression and it has shut the straight of hormones to put pressure on the United and its proxies and its allies. But if the United States moves to to destroy Iranian key installations, then Iran will do the same and then we will go definitely we will move to crisis mode with regards to the global economy because later on if there is an end in hostilities in Iran, Iran's demands demands are met. If there's no oil or gas uh be- because of the damage or destruction of the installations and if there are no tankers then what's the use. So the global economic crisis will be permanent or these it will last for many years that will be a global economic depression. So the United States began this aggression. The US regime, the Trump regime, the Israeli regime and its proxies in the region are all they are all complicit. The Iranians shut the trade of Hormos to put pressure. But if the United States starts attacking Iranian key installations, key in key infrastructure or the Israeli regime, it doesn't make a difference to us. Iran will respond in kind. And since these Arab regimes are host US bases and allow them to use their airspace and allow them to use their air bases and allow them to use their territory to fire missiles towards Iran like high missiles, they have no reason to complain whatsoever.
>> Well, we see uh this US troops which have been sent to the region and some speak of putting boots on the ground. I'm not sure if that it's on Iranian soil or is it intended to open up the straight of Hermoose or you know is also not unrealistic uh that it could be used to invade Yemen perhaps to make sure that uh this straight uh well keeping the Red Sea accessible uh uh is kept open. Uh how are you assessing this? Do you think the that the US could go to this extent uh to I guess go in with uh troops uh on the ground?
>> Well, Iraq and Yemen are not small countries with small populations. And Yemen today is much more powerful than it was a year ago when the United States waged the war against it and lost after 7 weeks. And by the way, let's remember that during the seven-year long genocidal war carried out by the Saudis and the Emiratis against Yemen with the support of the entire region except for Iran in Turkey and and Katar also supported the genocide in Yemen until the Saudis and the Amiratis turned against turned against Katad and then the Eron and Katar tilted away from them. But the entire west and the region were all supporting the genocide in Yemen. And after 7 years, it failed. What brought the Saudis to accept the ceasefire? When Yemen targeted Saudi oil installations and oil exports. So if the if Yemen could do that four years ago, I think it was, it could do it now. can end the Saudi oil exports that go to the Red Sea and it can also shut the Red Sea. So Yemen has these cap capabilities and I'm sure it's missile and drone capabilities are more of a threat today than they were back then to the US Navy. I don't see a a scenario where the United States can its troops a few I don't know 2,000 3,000 4,000 troops can make any real difference. And this and it's even more implausible with regards to Iran. But let's say hypothetically that the Americans somehow with this small group takes the straight of homos. They've already under estimated Iran's missile and drone capabilities obviously and they say they keep saying they've destroyed them all and Iran keeps firing missiles and drones. But let's say that they take the stray of hormones and that the Iranian armed forces which have been preparing for such a scenario for 25 years, they fail to dislodge them. What difference is it going to make? Ships have to come into the Persian Gulf. Iran, if anyone looks at the map, Iran owns one half of the Persian Gulf. They could strike missiles at ships from anywhere and then missiles that Iran fires are not fired from the coast. They're fired hundreds of kilometers in inside Iran. So they can take the straight of Hormos and Iran can still destroy whatever it wants, whether it's ships or whether it's installations as we're seeing right now. Or if they want to go all the way to the north of the Persian Gulf and take Park Island, it's a flat island. Then the Iranians can hammer them on that flat piece of land and they'll take large casualties, but still they're not going to open the straight of hormones for trade. There won't be any oil. The only thing that will happen is that through escalation, you're going to have more tankers destroyed and more oil and gas installations destroyed. And so ultimately when this ends and it will end at some point but with failure on be by the you know US failure and Israeli failure then there won't be the oil that they're seeking to bring back to the market and every day that goes by Glenn you have what 15 20 million barrels a day that are not being sent to the market. So the the shortage is growing by the hour and they can manipulate the market for a few days or a couple of weeks, but then it's going to hit them very hard. And of course, it's not just oil, it's gas. And of course, it's not just gas, it's fertilizer and prochemicals. And it's imports and exports because the these Arab family dictatorships are are huge consumer markets. And the United States and the Europeans have huge assets in this region, trillions of dollars. They've invested all sorts of money in these consumer societies. The losses to the United States to the rise in the price of energy, the shortage of energy or fertilizer, the the destruction of their assets, a lot of the weapons that the US sells, they sell it to these countries and they these countries don't even know how to use them because they don't even have competent military forces. that doesn't there's only like 350,000 400,000 people how are they going to use their all those jets that they bought those jets jets are basically bribes and also the kickbacks and the commissions by western senators and their business partners and the royal family and all that and the same is true with other countries so the losses to the United States are multi-dimensional uh and of course the petro dollar takes a hit So, as things stand, I don't see the United States finding a way out. They're only digging themselves further in the hole. And the world is going to blame them. I mean, what Joe Kent says is recognized across the world. So, people are going to blame blame Zionism and Trump for for the misery that they are beginning to impose on the international community.
>> Yeah. the resignation letter of um Joe Kent. It's been read tens of millions of times apparently online now. So it's uh um yeah it's quite extraordinary that essentially the the second in commander uh would be the one who resigns and put this out there. So it does show that um the narrative of this war is well also not going well. Uh but I think what you referred as panic is probably correct because this began. It looked like Trump genuinely thought this would be uh another Venezuela quick in and out. attack and by the end of the weekend before the stock markets open then have your uh you know your victory speech uh prepared but uh but the government didn't fall and the army didn't collapse and so I I can there seems to be uncertainty in terms of what what other cards can be played and uh we'll see reports that Trump was quite upset that uh there are no military ways to open up the straight of moose but it does seem that uh as one often us in this kind of situation that is to uh prepare a proxy to fight on your behalf that this has been attempted but the Gulf states appear to have resisted so far at least that is they don't want to go get into a direct fight with Iran Azarban looked for a moment like it could take the more direct role but then they turned the Kurds which were armed by the CIA then also apparently got very concerned I'm not sure if they were ever ready to go or if they just you know didn't want bet on the losing horse. But uh but even the allies of the US, NATO and in East Asia, they didn't want to join in on this mission to I'm not sure how they would do it, but the yeah the convoy to try to open up the straight of moose. So but the last efforts we see now is uh some we read uh in the American media some pressure on Syria to enter Lebanon that is to take you know in this chaos to assist Israelis that is Jolani's government uh to help Israel to essentially get rid of Hezbollah in Lebanon. uh how do you how how do you see this scenario or the likelihood of this being initiated and even succeeding then?
>> Well, first Glenn I want to say something and then there are a number of things we have to unpack here. One is that you know the people in the west in the mainstream they have always there are two types. one says, "Let's go and take them out." And the other says, "They're bad, but this is not a good idea." In my opinion, they're all the same. And the reason why I say this is that I won't name names, but one of your guests who came on a few days ago, he was that sort of person. He he he said something dishonest about Masa. He said that she was murdered. There's no evidence of that. Uh she the footage is out. the uh uh the medical report uh clearly indicates that she had a condition. She was not beaten. There's no evidence of that. And and when you just like that tens of thousands of people claimed, you know, but they keep saying that Iran killed tens of thousands of people. These are all lies. And those people who repeat those lies are making the case for war. And so they're complicit in war and they're they have blood on their heads. Every single one of them. Uh and it's unforgivable. I I'm I'm glad that you invite all sorts of people. I'm just saying that I'm I'm trying to make this point because I want people to know that those in the United States in the mainstream, it's like Maduro. those who say Maduro is a bad guy, but we No, they're they have blood on their hands because instead of saying no, we're the bad guys for bombing boats in the Caribbean, we are the bad guys for murdering a 100 people and then um kidnapping the president. Uh they say yes, he's a bad guy. No, you're the bad guys. And so these people who make repeat these lies, I think usually they just want to be relevant in the mainstream or some of these leftists, European leftists. In the global south, they're not like that at all. Uh but in Europe, they're very hostile towards Iran. They have this old irrational hatred because the only revolutionary movement for some of these people can be them. And so obviously the Islamic revolution of Iran is medieval and backward and evil and the mullas, you know, they're crazy and they suppress women and you know, all that nonsense that we we've been hearing for 47 years. But um but and for the last 18 19 days, ever since the beginning of the war, we've seen millions of people on the streets every night as we speak, Glenn. There are huge crowds in Tehran. Huge crowds across the city. And you you know, we all saw the footage of men and women standing standing their ground under missiles. That's that's not a people that hate the regime. That's not a people who will, you know, people willing to die under air strikes but stand their ground. That's not a people who believe that Masa amini was battered to death and that the mullah regime is killing women all the time and that they're slaughtering tens of thousands of people. Iranians know better what goes on in their country than these people who live in Europe and the United States and basically uh lie about Iran because it serves their interest. But in any case, the point I'm making is that for me, those who say Maduro is evil, the Cuban regime is evil, but let's not do this. No, they are evil. And so are their governments. And if they are if they have intellectual honesty, they'll point the finger at their own their own governments and leave Cuba alone, leave Venezuela alone, leave Hezbollah alone, leave Iran alone. It's none of their business. But to get back to the question, I I think that what we are uh what we are witnessing is a a a completely new situation. And that is that for the first time the empire has failed not only at regime change, it's failed to even take a country because we've always always been told that the United States lost the war in uh in Iraq. It lost the war in Afghanistan. It lost the war in Vietnam. But in the case of Iran, it hasn't even been able to take occupy parts of the country. After weeks of battle and with a huge coalition, it collective west is behind it. All these regional regimes are with them. Azar boy, the Persian Gulf, Turkey under Erdogan, the transports oil. Awax jets fly over Turkish airsp airspace to gather intelligence against Iran. And so US bases work as well. They're all working against Iran, but they failed. Why? Because the Iranian people support the Islamic Republic of Iran today, yesterday, two weeks ago, and two months ago. Today, they're more mobilized. They're more united. And a and a lot of those that minority that was rioting, that small minority that was on the streets rioting that the West glorifies and and exaggerates and lies about, a lot of them have changed their positions because they now see that the West which said we're democratic and we support, you know, they basically they're kids. They were kids like first year university students, second year university students like you know 11th grade, 12th grade, high school kids, but they see that they're bombing schools, they're bombing hospitals and their whole world view has been shattered. So now they are I'm not saying all of them but many of them them are on the streets like everyone else and I have my own anecdotal uh examples of them. So that's why the Republic of Azarbajun would never dare attack Iran. I mean look at the images of people on the streets in Tabris in Aril in Urum in Marand another Azeri city. They would take over the Republic of Azarbaijan in a week. They'd overthrow the regime, the Iranians. And the same is true with these Kurdish terrorist groups because the Iranians have warned the uh semi-autonomous government in Arabil, the Kurdish government in northern Iraq, that if you allow these people, these terrorists to attack us on behalf of their masters, the CIA and MSAD, because that's what these these groups are. they're they're owned by the you know by Western and Israeli intelligence agencies then we will destroy you and we will and so will the Iraqi resistance and then there will no longer be a autonom autonomous Kurdish government in northern Iraq so they stood back stood down Julani if he tries to do anything against Lebanon first of all he's shown his true colors everyone now who is has who unless Unless they're like utterly sectarian uh you know ignorant sectarian people who just you know wahhabi a likei you know salafi types that close their eyes to truth and just support these terrorists you know even though they know that the Americans were controlling them and the Israelis were allied to them. Everyone knows who Golani is now. It's you know he's a he's a US asset. If he attacks Lebanon, Iraqi resistance will move into Syria and Iran will destroy him and his commanders with drones and missiles. We don't need our long range drones to do drones and missiles that we strike Israel with. We can do it with shorter range missiles and drones, different classes of missiles and drones just like what we're doing in the Persian Gulf. So, I don't think he's going to do that either. So ultimately the United States has failed to create to use terrorists inside Iran. Maybe it tries something in the days and weeks ahead, but it will fail. Even if one person is killed, they'll make a big deal about it and you know and the Western media will say all sorts of nonsense, Fox News and all that, but uh they'll fail. And the same is true in all these other arenas that we've been talking. So the United States is stuck. So all they can do is assassinate. That creates more determination. That makes our the Iranian leaders more uh angry and adamant that we must defeat the enemy because these are friends. These are national figures. Uh they have, you know, they people will seek revenge when they kill more people. I I just posted a woman who was uh a missile struck nearby and uh then she was in panic and then another missile hit her. I said there, you know, people see these these clips in Iran and the rage grows, the anger grows, the I was the day I was at the funeral, the huge crowd for Dr. Liy and the naval officers and I'm not a government official. I'm not in I'm just at the University of T but people see me on online and uh or rarely I'm on Iranian television and they come up to me and say you know the leaders should protect themselves more. They you know they say they're too courageous. You saw on Friday on the national foots day Jerusalem day the rally for supporting Palestine the Dr. The lani was on the streets and the president was on the streets. The head of the judiciary the head the head of the judiciary was doing interview when the missile hit. He didn't even bling. The foreign minister was there and so on. And of course the US secretary of war called them all rats hiding in their holes. But people saw the reality. They know who the real cowards are. So, you know, so people were telling me, you know, they thought I have access or, you know, tell them to not to come out on the streets, tell them not to come to the funeral. They were demanding that the leaders not attend the funeral. Literally, Glenn, literally, hundreds of people said this in one way or another. I was just walking through the crowds and people were stopping me the whole time. So this is a nation that's united. So they can assassinate. It's not going to help. It's going to make things worse for them. They can bomb Iranian infrastructure, critical infrastructure. Iran is going to hit back and that's only going to complicate matters further because as I said if the United States uh meets Iran's demands then this rate of hormones can be opened and after a period of time the flow of oil and gas and everything else petrochemicals can can go back to normal but if they d if the a if these the key infrastructure in Iran is destroyed then it's going to be destroyed in those regimes where they have their bases so the problem is going to become very long term. So that's not a solution either. So Trump is stuck in a hole and Netanyahu put him there. The Zionist put him there. The Zionist and Netanyahu and the Epstein class has created a global crisis.
>> Well, it's interesting what you said about the political left and all this. You see this I yeah I made that point earlier as well and not here but that after the cold war especially you saw this neoconservatives on the right who aspire for you know security through hedgeimonyy or empire they more or less you know engaged in this unholy alliance with the political left as well under the idea that this is a li liberal hedgeimmony by dominating will elevate the role of democracy and human rights around the world. So uh so all conflicts are now just framed as humanitarian and then suddenly you see the the former yeah the people advocating for peace on the left they're now essentially well peace is um by well we can't support those authoritarians. So this is why Maduro uh you know the Russians, Iran, they're all all regimes and uh you know delegitimized and they they can never be supported but as you suggested once they are denounced then they already made essentially indirectly the the the case for war and uh even um you know even when you sell to people on the left that well they it's about liberating women then suddenly okay well then they're on board with war. You also see this with the Ukraine war on the political left. The people who traditionally are first ones to take up the cause for peace. They they're not talking about the diplomacy. They're not talking about dialogue, mutual understanding or peace. They're talking about how do we send more weapons? Uh how do we close down uh you know uh media of the opponent uh uh and uh yeah this is essentially what they're talking about. So it's the whole concept of peace uh has been perverted to a large extent. I I like Jeffrey Saxs for this reason. He went to speak at the UN Security Council and he opened up this was before the attack on Venezuela and he opened up as as I'm just saying I'm not here to discuss any the character of the Venezuelan government. That's beside the point. We're talking about what the US is planning to do. And just to put that whole thing aside because once you get you know either you support this and we condemn you or you also condemn him then then make the point for war. He just swept the car this whole thing aside. Um, but uh, yeah, I wanted to ask about something you said. You mentioned that if the US meet the demands of Iran and I did see the Iranian foreign minister though he said that Iran does not want a ceasefire. It wants a political settlement, a peace settlement. So peace is not the same as a ceasefire. And again we heard similar arguments coming actually from Russia as well. that is a ceasefire's temporary pause that allows the enemy to regroup, replenish and uh you know get get back to the the fighting while peace settlement would then address the underlying causes and actually find a solution. So what is the solution? What what are the demands that America uh must meet? I mean what is the opening position of Iran versus you know where do you see possible compromises coming in?
>> Well, first I just wanted to because I was I was thinking I was really laughing inside whenever these people like they talk about Iran or Venezuela like they say, "Oh, do you support the war?" And first they have to for five minutes they have to badmouth Iran and say, "Well, Iran is really evil. They're really bad people. They're horrible." I don't condone anything. I it's a distilled but I I don't support war and Maduro and you know and when when I look in Iran neighborhood and then when I look at the west I mean it's Iran that's opposing genocide and the west that support this so I you know and the regional countries they're all US proxies but anyway I think that first of all this is not just going to be about Iran Iran has said that its allies in the region they have to be included in any uh sessation of hostilities. Why do we oppose a ceasefire? Just as you said, we've done this before. We had a ceasefire and they regrouped and attacked us again. We were negotiating, they attacked us. We negotiated again. They attacked us again. And doing a deal with Americans, especially under Trump, is just meaningless. Nothing that he says means anything. a piece of paper that he signs is just a worthless piece of paper. So the facts on the ground have to change. So first of all, it has to include Iran's allies across the region. Second of all, the facts on the ground have to change. What do I mean by that? It means that the Persian Gulf must be structured. The security of the Persian Gulf must be must be structured in a way in which Iran no longer feels threatened by the United States. These countries cannot be used as platforms to attack Iran and if the Israeli regime attacks Iran there has to be consequences. So there has to be change on the ground. Pieces of paper are worthless and there's the issue of reparations. Iran will demand reparations and the the security of the Persian Gulf in future will be will be different from the past. These Arab family dictatorships, if they last, they will have to deal with a new reality and they will be severely weakened. They're all they are already severely weakened. Will never again be the Emirates that it was three weeks ago. That's gone. All those billionaires, they're not coming back, which is a good thing. I mean, if if in the sane world, there should be no billionaires, but you know, anyway, but uh they won't be coming back. And the same is true with the rest of these tiny regimes in the region. So, you know, Iran is here to stay and after almost 3 weeks, we've seen that the Americans are incapable of defeating Iran and ultimately the United States is going to have to Iran is prepared for a very, very long war. Then, as we speak, Iran is producing more missiles. I don't know if it's producing more drones because it doesn't even have space for drones. All of its underground bases are full. They are more than prepared to go on for years. This is not a war that the United States can win. We fought Saddam Hussein for eight years and people in Iran are now prepared. Before the war, everyone was concerned what will happen. Now that there's war, people say, "Let's do it. Let's finish it. Let's defeat them. We have to get this. Everyone understands that a ceasefire is of no use. People on the streets know this because they this wasn't 20 years ago. This was 9 months ago. And both were unprovoked. In other words, people in Iran just like people across the world recognize that the United States is I mean unless someone watches Western mainstream media, especially Fox News and what are the other crazy ones, you know, Newsmax or whatever. I don't uh I just did an interview with one I don't remember saying it was they were crazy but anyway um unless someone watches that sort of nonsense everyone knows that negotiating with Trump is is useless. So it the facts on the ground will have to change so that Iran feels and its allies feel secure in the years ahead. The Israeli regime can't just bomb Lebanon whenever it wants despite having a ceasefire. Can't just kill people. Gazins, Palestinians in Gaza every day just because it feels like it. So the facts on the ground, it has to be inclusive and there have to be reparations. There may be other issues and of course there they can negotiate these issues in different ways but ultimately uh Iran is not going to accept a situation where it can be attacked again in a few months.
>> Yeah. just um I had a thought what you said about this um yeah the yeah the the obligatory condemnation of the opponent uh because I've been in yeah many interviews and debates and it's always almost always starts with the same question that is do you condemn uh Putin do you condemn Iran do you condemn Hamas do you condemn Maduro you know this is the opening question it's very clever though because if one hesitates then uh then it's already said, well, you know, there's a false dichotomy. Either you align yourself with the moral posturing of the person doing the interview or then you're with the other side and then if you fail to, you know, um, yeah, say yes to this opening question which allows you through the gate as being, you know, legitimate and, you know, now we can listen to you. If you fail to do this, then you're, you know, morally suspect. You can't be, yeah, you're already compromised. you're now a you know Putinist or a toll apologist or you know whatever words one would use it's again it's um it's clever because it forces either they are weeded out so now we can't listen to you or you have to buy into the premise and if you buy into the premise uh you know if you condemn then you say essentially which side is goody which is the baddie which is legitimate who is illegitimate and also at times it indicates when the conflict starts So uh you know no one would ask start an interview asking me do you condemn you know the past decades of Israeli you know treatment do you condemn US bombing you know this is not how it's intended it's always goes one way and it's it's manipulative but it's very effective it's uh you know people have a hard time getting through that uh starting line u uh just a final question though I I also I forgot who there was a spokesperson I think from the Iranian government who said the perhaps it was foreign minister I get things mixed up now um who said that there's no going back to the things way the way things were in terms of the straight of our moose uh what is that how do you interpret this or I'm not sure if you heard it but uh uh will will the waterways the the accessibility be conditioned in the future or how what do you think was meant by this sorry a lot of speculation
>> no no I think I think you're Right. I think the foreign minister said that. I think others said it as well. I don't think it was just him, but I do vaguely recall him saying it in an interview recently, but uh I mean he's been doing a lot of interviews and he's been doing a pretty good job. Actually, some people say to me that he he does a smirk and apparently I'm known by some for my smirk and they say he does it better than I. So, I'm I should be jealous.
>> Why did you? So he's he's I haven't watched uh many of his interviews. I've saw seen bits and pieces because so many things are happening and the internet connection isn't great. But um I think I from what I'm hearing and the bits and pieces that I've seen, he's been doing a really really good job. Um I think what they mean is that um there will be a some sort of control by Iran and there will probably be a financial element to it. Whether that will be a part of the compensation mechanism or whether it will be something else, I don't know. But again, uh we're not going to go back to where we were before. These regimes in the Persian Gulf, they've harmed us for a very long time. When Saddam Hussein invaded Iran under western with Western pressure, I mean, they encouraged him. I mean, the Soviets also helped him, but the West pushed him for war. When he invaded these same regimes in the Persian Gulf, they funded the war. They gave him hundreds of billions of dollars then. I mean I think maybe 2002 250 300 billion dollars which in today's if you you know in today's dollars it would be much more and he was able to develop I mean he was able to purchase chemical weapons from the Germans and the the Germans helped him build a huge uh chemical weapons capability slaughtering so many Iranians. I mean, one of those really hypocritical regimes are the is the German regime that's never apologized, never paid compensation. Once a an MP, a a a number of German MPs came to Iran and they visited our university and someone asked me to be in the session and there was this woman from the Green Party and she was bad mouthing Iran and I said, "Excuse me, I'm a chemical weapons victim. Uh, will you apologize for what you've done to me?" and she couldn't say anything. And actually afterwards, two or three of the other MPs, they came to me and said, "She's, you know, these these people are crazy." The Green Party, I I thought the Green back then I thought the Green Party would because I didn't know European politics that well. This was like this was 2009. So anyway, yeah, it was 2009 when they came that delegation. So in any case those chemical weapons uh they were uh part you know part of a lot of the funding came from these countries. So they supported Saddam Hussein. We forgave them after the war and normalized and you know then they began building bases. Those bases were used in the previous war against us to help the Israelis defend themselves and the Americans defend the Israeli regime. uh the radar systems and uh and for the to help with their offensive uh actions against Iran and of course we the US attack on Iran. So we have many grievances but after this war Iran is not going to allow these regimes these family dictatorships if they remain in power to behave like they did before. That's just not that's just not acceptable any it won't happen. And of course, Iran holds the cards and ultimately the United States will have to leave. This cannot go on forever. And when they do leave, these regimes will have to recognize that uh they have to behave like ordinary countries, not with the arrogance that they did before. Just because they had gas and oil wealth and they were dictatorships and they had American bases there, they could behave in any, you know, way that they wanted. that's that's no longer going to be accepted.
>> I know things aren't easy over there in Toron now. So, I I do appreciate that you yeah took all this time uh to speak with me and uh yeah, thank you and uh take care and stay safe.
>> Thank you very much, Glenn. I I do what I have to do and I'm grateful for all the great work that you do.