Transcription
I already today is Thursday, June 18, 2026 and our dear friend Larry Johnson is here with us. Welcome back, Larry.
Man, every day, boy. You're going to. Exactly. You're just going to have to rent me a room at your at your place and. [laughter] You may come to Brazil. Yeah. Do it together. That would be That would be That would be easier. Yeah, you you're going to enjoy it, by the way. In Florida, it's too hot right now. I assume.
Well, yeah. Yeah, I mean, it's uh the seasons are reversed, you know, since you're down there south south of the Ecuador.
Yeah. Larry, let's talk about the repercussions of the MOU. Last night, we were talking about the content and here is the repercussions coming out in the United States and in Iran, as well. And today, we had J.D. Vance talking with the press, basically reporting on MOU and answering the questions. One of the question was related to one of the reports on Axios, which says that Netanyahu is fuming somehow because of MOU. So, here is what J.D. Vance said.
But I think the fight is so serious right now, the way that Israelis are putting pressure on the Trump administration. Here is what J.D. Vance said.
I don't want to get into hypotheticals that could torpedo the deal because I think the president's expectation is that all of our friends, the Israelis, the Arabs in the region, we're going to work together and actually see this deal to completion. Now, I saw the Axios report uh you know, that that that that Netanyahu is fuming. That's not reflective of the conversations that I've had with him, but maybe he's saying something to somebody else that he's not saying to me. What I will say, and this does bother me, is that you have seen people within BB's cabinet who have come out and attacked the deal, and in some ways very personally attacked the President of the United States. And I guess my message to them would be twofold. Number one, Donald J. Trump is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time. And he happens to be the head of state of the world's superpower. If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world. And the second message I would give to some of those cabinet members, BB, to his credit, has not gone down this path, but to some of these cabinet members in Israel who are attacking the President of the United States, the other thing that I would say is that over the last 3 months,
[clears throat] 2/3 of the defensive weapons that have protected your homeland have been built by American hands and paid for by American tax dollars. The problem for Israel is not Donald J. Trump. And anybody in Israel who thinks their biggest problem is the President of the United States needs to wake up and smell the reality of the situation that country is in. Thank you all.
Man, that was a huge, [snorts] huge sort of statement by J.D. Vance. I think the most powerful statement so far when it comes to the situation in Israel.
Yeah. And we were talking about it. How do you find Larry, the way that, you know, these these these people are getting serious about what's going on?
Yeah. No. Look, it it's it's the truth. Israel uh Israel is acting like a, you know, an entitled spoiled child. And that they can say anything they want, do anything they want uh to Donald Trump with no repercussions. And, you know, Trump I think he's finally getting, you know, fed up with it and said, "I don't I don't have to put up with this." Uh, so um, you know, and that's really it it's going to that was the veiled threat. But then in a private conversation they can make the threat quite direct that, you know, if you do if you do not cooperate with us, if you do not pull your troops out of southern Lebanon, if you don't stop attacking, we're going to pull all support. Uh, already I know that uh, what's called the Air Combat Command for uh, Central Command is working frantically right now to start bringing all of the US aircraft that deployed to Jordan and to Israel, uh, and to any other bases in in uh, the Gulf, they're they're pulling them all back. So, as those start to leave, that's going to also drive home the message to Israel that, you know, you're on your own. Or we're not, you know, you if you want to continue starting a fight, go ahead start a fight, but we're not with you.
Larry, your understanding of because it's not JD Vance, it's about Donald Trump himself as well. He came out saying, "You're going to go after Hezbollah. You're not going to bomb the building, the whole building, the whole apartment building, you know, killing everybody just to get one or two commanders or forces of Hezbollah."
Right. Where where were they before? Are they getting more reports or Donald Trump somehow was isolated before, didn't know what what's going on, or he's changing his sort of rhetoric?
No, no, I mean they they knew what was going on before. They just decided to distance themselves from Israel. So, it's real simple. And the the Israelis are frankly I think are shocked by this. They didn't expect this.
[laughter] They go, "Hey, we thought we were buddies." Nope. Not not anymore. Uh you know, that that party's over.
Yeah. It's not about Israel, Larry. They're using their podcasters in the United States design is podcaster Mark Levin, Ben Shapiro. You go let's Ted Cruz. You see Ted Cruz coming out and talking and you know, going against the MO. By the way, MOU doesn't mean anything.
Right. [laughter] Right. To be honest.
Yeah, well But they're the reaction is too harsh in my opinion.
Well, nobody's listening to them anymore anyway. I mean, you know, Levin's audience is shrinking. Ben Shapiro's audience has shrunk. And and and candidly I think some of that went into the calculations of Donald Trump recognizing uh these guys aren't all that popular after all. And so we can uh we can probably uh they're going to have to pay attention to us more. Or we can ignore them. Because it's not like they got a giant giant audience.
J.D. Vance said two-third of the weapons they have used in basically talking about the missiles they used on the fighter jets and the interceptors came from the United States. It means came from the United States during the war or before the war or He's talking.
it's I think I doesn't matter. I mean, it's just.
Because I'm talking.
total US support it two-thirds of what Israel uses comes from the United States. Just leave it I think leave it at that.
But my understanding is all of them come from the United States. I'm talking about are they producing interceptors? Are they producing.
they produce David Sling and and the Iron Dome. Yeah, but I mean Israel does produce.
Patriot Patriot PAC-3 and.
Yeah, but that's but that's what that's what that's what Jamie Vance was referring to. If you If you look if you look at all if you total up all of the armaments that the Israelis are using then we said 2/3 of those were coming from the United States. But that means still Israel Israel was building or providing 1/3 for itself.
You know what's so amazing about what's going on right now is not only the Republicans who are, you know, totally those people who are Zionist, but you see Democrats are coming out against you know, the deal. They were criticizing Donald Trump for this war and right now they're attacking him because he's making some sort of deal.
Yeah, well, yeah. I mean again, this it's not a surprise. They're they're also bought and paid for by Israel. You know, most members of Congress are taking money from AIPAC. The one of the few who didn't was Thomas Massie and you know, that lesson has been learned by some other members. They figure well, don't you know, don't go up against the the Israeli dollars. But that but the you public opinion is changing. And and at some point you know, I think Israel recognizes the I would say the writing's on the wall. They they don't have a strong future in the United States with the American public.
I think something huge is happening Larry in the United States vis-a-vis Israel and what's going on considering the relationship between the United States and Israel because if I were to mention the most Zionist, you know, the Secretary of State of the United States, I would say Anthony Blinken and Hillary Clinton. The most Zionist or or Mike Pompeo, by the way, would be one of them. And I have never thought that one day we were going to hear this sort of, you know, objection on the part of, for example, Hillary Clinton when it comes to Israel. And she said, I don't know if you saw the latest interview she had. She's just criticizing the way Israel is behaving.
Right. Right. Something new. When she goes that far, it means a lot, in my opinion. Here is what she said, Larry.
Well, you're absolutely right. When I was secretary, it was a constant, uh, you know, theme by, uh, Netanyahu and his then government, the then defense, uh, minister, Ehud Barak, the former prime minister. It was relentless. It was a constant push. You know, I remember, um.
What would he say to you?
What?
What would he say to you?
He would basically say, um, we need we need to, uh, you need to support us in attacking Iran. And back then, this was, you know, 2009 to the end of, uh, 2012, we had more capacity than Israel did on several fronts, uh, to uh, do that. Um, and so there was a a constant argument, uh, that we would have. And and, you know, I remember one day, um, I was on the phone for hours with Ehud, with Bibi, with others, you know. And they would say things like, you know, our planes are on the tarmac. And I'd say, "Well, good luck. I mean, great." Um, why are you doing this?
Where else would planes be other than in the air?
on the tarmac ready to take off. Yes, Um, um Well, they'd be in the hangar they were on the tarmac. Um And you know, you would you would say things.
you're saying you would they were you were you were being played.
All the time. All the time. I mean.
By an ally that receives an enormous amount of aid.
Well, of course. And look, Bibi's been abs.
Yeah. This is I think these sort of interviews are huge when you remember the history of these people and the way they were talking about Israel just 1 month ago or 2 months ago. I I listened to one of the her interviews. She was totally supporting Israel. She wasn't you know, she didn't want to mention genocide what is going on in Gaza is genocide or something. Right now, she's going against Israel and the way Israel is behaving. I think they somehow perceive how serious was the war against Iran in in the West Asia. That's why they're coming out and saying this is the end. Are you going to be trapped? Or you going to you you're going to save yourself from what Benjamin Netanyahu or Israel wants you to do?
Yeah, I mean yeah, it appears to be what she's saying. You know, I it's significant, but I don't think it's that significant simply because it's not going to be widely heard. You know, uh People like you and me that follow the news closely. Yeah, it's we'll say, "Oh man, that's that's huge." But the average person out there still they won't pay attention to her. But I you know, I think it has to be taken as there there is a shift. Um But it but it's still not it's not as important a shift as needs to take place cuz again, you're seeing that there's a lot of Trump is coming under a lot of criticism, bipartisan criticism for striking this deal with Iran. So, that if if it was you know, if he's actually being celebrated that would say that you know, that actually that the the worm has turned against Iran, but not that's not the case. That it's almost like, why are we abandoning our closest ally? That kind of thing.
But what is the main sources what is the main reason of this criticism in your opinion? Nothing has happened so far. There is a document out there and the only thing that has happened last night was at midnight they lift they lifted the sanction on Iranian oil and energy sector, which they were selling before this war start.
Yeah, but which I'm not sure if I which who was saying what?
Yeah, what is the main reason for these people to go after the Trump administration? You you say that they're.
The the main reason is They think they're abandoning Israel. They have the these politicians who've been bought and paid for by Israel see this is abandoning and betraying Israel. That's That's not complicated, dude.
What do they want.
What do you mean what do they.
for Israel? What what is what is the solution then? Or do they really want to get back to war?
No, they they don't they don't have Why do you think they'd have a solution? And why do you think that they're thinking rationally about this? I mean, can you give give me any evidence that they've ever thought that you know, showed that they thought this through and have a coherent thought? No, it's just got it's it's just simplistic nonsense. You know, they I see T people Yeah, we should have gone in on the ground. Okay, I mean even guys with military experience you go How the hell is that is explain that one to me. Explain It's like there was just a report I saw I got a friend sent me a report saying that the the Kurds have now they're launched an invasion into northern Iran. And you know, and I'm thinking that's got to be a bogus report number one because to do that the Kurds would have to have a logistics chain. And I mean we're talking a lot. If they're going to invade Iran with any kind of force at all you've got to have a way to get them re-supplied with food with water with ammunition. And you need to have a medical evacuation plan that's able to work if this is large-scale. There's no way in hell they've got that. Absolutely no. They can they launch a raid and attack a town or village on the border of Iran? Sure. And but to try to actually come in and occupy territory in Iran and keep it they'll be wiped out within a day or two. They simply cannot they don't have the ability to sustain themselves because it require you know, it requires a lot of logistics behind it. That's what these people don't understand. You know, most people just you know, they're the ones who think that the chicken that they eat at you know, they go buy a chicken at the at the local grocery store and they think that's how the chicken actually exists. They don't realize it was once a bird a living bird walking around and it had to be slaughtered and then cut up and then butchered in a way so they can finally put it into a plastic styrofoam wrapper and put it in the freezer.
[cough] The reason I'm asking this Larry is that let's assume the United States let's assume Donald Trump doesn't come out with this memorandum of understanding. What is the alternative for them?
Well, what what wait wait it's already out. So, what do you mean that would that come out with it?
No, I would say because these people who are against MOU So, what is the alternative for that for MOU for these people?
Well, there's a Why do you think that they would assume there's an alternative?
So, it's staying in the fight. It means that Donald Trump said it. I think the main reason was mentioned yesterday by Donald Trump that we are four we we are four weeks away from, you know, the oil reserves four weeks away to be totally depleted.
Right. So, this is the main reason. What is Is there any sort of communication between the Trump administration and these people?
Again, you're Dude, you're think you keep talking as if these people are rational people. That they're logical. That they're saying that they're sitting there and weighing the facts and then go "Oh heavens, yeah, we we don't have the military assets to do this and if we continue down this course of action, we're going to face an economic catastrophe. Yeah, we we've got to we've got to move away from the military side and go towards trying to fix the economic side." They're not thinking that way. So, don't Yeah, I'm saying don't assume that they're thinking that way because they're not. They're doing just the opposite.
[laughter] You know, they don't think there's any consequences to be had here. That's what's That's what's sort of truly shocking about all of this.
Yeah. Uh.
Fox News by the way is playing totally in hand of the Israelis right now. They're somehow managing.
Yeah, yeah, are you surprised by that?
No, at all.
Yeah. They were supporting Donald Trump.
I mean, that is good God, it's been that way for, you know, 26 years. So, that's like that's like being surprised and God, I was looking at my male dog and he was licking his balls. Yeah, that's what male dogs do, okay?
[laughter] Do you think Israel would go you know, would go to some Are they going to do something stupid in your opinion? Because two things I think recently we've learned from Laura Loomer and Naftali Bennett in Israel.
Uh-huh. Both of them were talking about 9/11 is coming to the United States. Is Islam is going to do some sort of operation in in in in the United States. That that can, you know, totally change the whole situation with what's going on in the West Asia. A false flag, something like that.
Okay, and why would, quote, Islam do that in the United States?
I don't know. The way Why are they on the border of Iran in the northern in Iraqi Kurdistan? The new group is ISIS was formed by the British, by French. They are at the border of Iran.
Yeah. Right. In just 2 weeks ago they they came to power. They said, "We are here. We are we want to in invade Iran." The same people can do something.
Yeah, good. Let let let them invade. How do they Do you Do you understand what it takes to sustain an invasion? I I mean, you know, that means you're moving forward in what? Walking or in vehicles? If they're in vehicles, they got to have gasoline or diesel to be refueled to keep going. Where are those fuel tanks coming from? Do they Have they already pre-positioned and assembled those vehicles? There's no way that they could do that without Iran knowing about it because Iran's got the Russian and Chinese intelligence showing them that. So that, you know, that didn't happen. This is This is just, you know, more misinformation from the West to try to, you know, distract, frighten, whatever. But the Kurds do not have Do Do the Kurds have the ability to launch attacks across the border into Iranian territory? Yes. But only what you would be called a raid, just a temporary go in, kill some people, set some things on fire, and then run away. What we're talking about is do they have the ability to go in with a with a, say, 5,000 men and occupy an area and defend it and prevent Iran from controlling that area? No, they do not have that ability. They're being trained by the CIA. That That right way tells you that they don't have that ability. CIA has a has a very good track record of [ __ ] these things up.
The perception on the part of Iranians, Larry, before coming to this live, I told you that Iranian supreme leader he just issued an statement today saying that he didn't feel good about MOU. So he gave the permission to the Iranian president to sign it and see what would happen with the MOU, but basically when he puts that this sort of statement out, it means that he he doesn't feel good and it means that some part of the governments are not happy with what's going on.
Mhm. Yeah, I'm sure that I'm sure there is some division in Iran about it. Yeah. So but the Are they going to walk away from the agreement or they going to stick with the agreement? Uh they've you know they they'd be foolish to walk away from it now because they've got the United States uh, every that they had they established five red lines. And those red lines were relief of sanctions, unfreeze assets, lift the blockade, acknowledge the ownership uh, the authority of Iran over the Strait of Hormuz, and end the fighting in Lebanon. So, those are all conceded in that document. Now, there is the Israelis haven't stopped the the attacks in southern Lebanon. So, now it's a matter of is Iran once that agreement is signed again tomorrow once they or put it into effect tomorrow then Iran's in a position where it can launch attacks into southern Lebanon against Israeli positions to support Hezbollah. Because that agreement says it is now Iran's obligation to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Lebanon. Says that in the first paragraph.
It seemed last it seems last night Iran wanted to hit some targets in Israel. And so.
Well, I'm not talking about hitting targets in Israel. I'm talking about hitting Israeli targets in Lebanon.
Mhm. I don't know what where to I assume that they wanted to hit some targets in Israel in northern part of Israel, but serious negotiations, serious talks are happening between the two sides that we're not aware of in my opinion.
Correct. Correct. Behind the scene. They're coordinating what's going on between Israel and Lebanon. That's why you see J.D. Vance coming out talking this way. Iran wanted to attack Israel last night, which could have been you know the end of MOU and whatever is happening between the two sides.
Uh-huh. Do do see that happening? The management happening in the United States between the United States and Israelis?
What do you mean the management happening?
Management to withdraw Israelis from Lebanon.
Well, the I all the United States can do is ask and then threaten as as uh uh J.D. Vance did that, you know, we we can pull with pull off all the recall all of these planes and other assets we've deployed on your behalf if you don't comply. They could do that. Uh we'll see if we'll see if Trump does that. He's I mean, he's under now enormous pressure to back away, but I it also looks like he was he was given enough warning uh the other day about what was uh coming economically that uh he had zero interest in facing that. And that's why he's insisted, "Okay, we got to get out of this."
Let's assume you're you're part of the Trump administration. What would you say to the to J.D. Vance or Donald Trump himself in order to manage the situation with Israel and manage the situation, by the way, in the United States, which we know is totally against the MOU.
I would call Israel up and say, "Look, your your your troops need to be withdrawn by you know you know, 12 hours from now. Uh and if they're not, we are going to immediately suspend uh suspend aid and recall all of our assets, including the air defense assets that we've deployed to your country." Yeah, play you know, just play hardball that way.
Do you think that he's.
Uh will they do that? I don't know. We'll see. I can make the case that uh Trump would be disinclined to do that, but he's you know uh it it appears that the info the briefing he got over the weekend about the severe crisis that's going to unfold if they don't get the straight open and get oil flowing that it's going to be a real problem. I I don't think he was exaggerating that. I think he was being absolutely honest about it.
Then do you think the president has that sort of power?
What sort of What sort of power?
Yeah, yeah. The call that you mentioned calling Benjamin Netanyahu and Israelis, you're going to do this unless I'm going to do that and I'm going to punish you this way.
Mhm. Is that in the power of the president of the United States with the current conditions that we all we know what's going on in the United States and how Congress is supporting by the way the Israeli agenda.
Uh I think Trump does have it in his power to do some of that. And then there's also the possibility he'd get pushed back from uh senators that they would might even you know try to impeach him. Uh but again I I don't think that Donald Trump Well, he said it yesterday. We don't have to imagine. He said we're out of oil in 4 weeks.
Yeah. So that's that's that's why he's doing this. He got they got someone got to him got the message and said, "Okay, we've been lying to you. We've been uh convincing you that everything's okay and it's not okay. It's it's we're we're at a we're at facing an emergency situation if we don't get the straight open and get the get oil start to flow." And and so that's why that's why he he agreed to the Iranian position. Not because he thought the Iranians were right. His balls are in a vice. And it does And Israel doesn't have have leverage the the fear of the economic collapse of this economy. I mean, cuz if that happens, Israel's screwed anyway. Because the United States isn't going to have extra money to send to Israel.
Do you think instead of putting political political pressure on Israelis, which we know is totally dependent on Congress, can the United States put some sort of economic pressure on Israel without, you know, that cuz that, I think, purely is dependent on the Trump administration. It's less related to the Congress. Is that possible instead of going.
Uh what I mean So, what do you mean?
I I would say putting some sort of, you know, is about Turkey.
Uh-huh. Other countries who are somehow helping Israel in the whole process, saying, "You do this, I'm going to ignore what you're doing."
Yeah. And it's not And Congress can not it can do nothing about it.
Well, the Congress Congress has limited, you know, it can act annually with appropriations and fail to provide money or um, you know, not appropriate money. But so the power really lies with Trump and turn in terms of how to uh limit access to the aid and and withdraw aid as as he can. Now, Congress, you know, Congress gets into the role in terms of the during the appropriation process, but they can they can't really come in right now and mandate spending unless that money's already been appropriated for that activity.
I see the move of the Trump administration as so as though it's so for them it seems so it's so important 2028, Larry. And you know, it's all about oil, oil reserves. It's It's about the economy. It's about the the stockpiles of the United States.
[clears throat and cough] These are two important factors, by the way, the economy and the stockpile. And the third factor would be 2028, which is so important for the for the administration.
Well, it it may be too late. You know, Trump uh Trump's actions I were primarily driven to allow oil to start flowing back through the Persian Gulf. And to get that oil to basically get the 20% of oil that has been taken off the market back on the market. Now, the problem is it is not like going to the faucet in your kitchen, turning the faucet on and water immediately runs out. In this case, there is no faucet that he can turn that's going to make oil immediately start running out of the Gulf. You do have oil that is on Iranian tankers that are headed out of the Gulf, but where are they headed? China. So, that's not necessarily going to help the West the shortage in the West. That's number one. Number two, the you got other other foreign tankers that are not under the control of Iran that's sitting there in the Gulf ready to move except the fear of mines and the fact that insurance companies will not allow them to move for fear of hitting a mine and being sunk. So, that that insurance process is going to be held up until such time or the the insurance process will delay those ships from sailing. Um and so, how long will it take the the to clear the Gulf of mines. In April, somebody from Pete Hegseth's Department of War testified before Congress that it'd take up to 6 months. So, he said, "Oh, this is so July, August, September, October, November, December. We're all through with that. New Year's, 6 months from now." So, it's possible that that oil won't get flowing for 6 months. Then you got to say, "What is the question? Did the are the Were any of the wells damaged? And the oil terminals, where the oil is pumped into the ships, were those damaged? Have they been repaired? Uh and then on on top of that, you get um uh you know, the ships themselves, their mechanical condition, having been sitting doing nothing for 3 months, just at anchor. Are the ships' engines still good? Can they function? So, it just One complication after another just means that although Trump signed this, "Oh, yeah, we got to get the oil flowing." It ain't going to flow, and there's so there are going to be some real problems facing them.
During the press conference that J.D. Vance had, he was asked about the 2028 presidential election, and the the reporter asked him, "You said you're not going to be part of that." He was just "Where Where did I say that?" It was like this. [laughter]
Hm. And it seems that he's serious. I think his point of attacking Benjamin those those people in the in the Netanyahu administration is that "You're not going to ruin my 2028. I'm here to do it because he knows that if something if they get the United States involved in this endless war, it's not the 2 years is nothing, in my opinion, with the war in the Middle East.
Right. Right. You remember the war in Ukraine started we were talking about in 6 months it's going to be 1 year and we were we were approaching 5 years of war in Ukraine.
Right. So that's the recipe for disaster for JD Vance in my opinion.
Yeah, well I I think JD Vance current Robert Barnes has basically recognized he's got no future. His political future is pretty well sealed. Um And and and I think he's content with that but he's going to do he's going to do what he can to keep this war from expanding. And that's exactly what he's done which is driving the um the neoconservatives and the pro-Israel crowd just absolutely nuts. It's making them crazy.
Yeah, I I really believe that who's going to be the candidate on the part of Democrats for 2028? Kamala Harris?
No, no, no, no. I mean Harris and Newsom won't be. It'll be somebody else.
Who? There is nobody to be able to capture the votes.
All right, right. There's no there's nobody that you see obvious right now. Um Could Josh Shapiro out of Pennsylvania step up and become a viable candidate? Yeah, maybe. Um How about Ro Khanna of California? Possibly. You know, there's.
No, Ro Khanna he's going to be.
[laughter] So there but there are a number uh you know, that's that's just too far out. Uh cuz it'll be either for the Republicans are going to say it's going to be either JD Vance or Marco Rubio.
Yeah. From Iranian sources literally we've learned that Saudi Arabia in the in the first in the first five or after five days or six days of war when the war started on February 28th, they contacted Iran. And they said, "We have nothing to do with what's going on.
Mhm. Want to be part of this fight." You remember how many times it was reported on Wall Street Journal, New York Times that Saudis are pushing for the continuation of the war, hitting Iran harder. And they were talking behind the scene with Iranians that we're not we're not doing anything here. And they're just because I was asking you and other people on this podcast, "What's going on with Saudi Arabia? What Why are they pushing for the continuation of this war? Because we heard nothing from them."
Well, yeah, but how could you interpret that as evidence they're pushing for the continuation of the war?
No, because of the news. It was in New York Times, Wall Street Journal. They were reporting that Saudi Arabia is pushing for the continuation.
Yeah, but but but again, look at the source. That source is New York Times, Washington Post, American sources. Did you see any Saudi sources being quoted?
They were silent. That's that's why we were somehow we were speculating as if Saudi Arabia is doing this or that because they were silent. They didn't say anything those days.
Well, it's clear it's clear there were diplomatic contacts going on between the Saudis and Iranians and they were publicizing it. And you know, I wouldn't be surprised if they worked out an accommodation that Iran could happily bomb the Prince Saud airbase just provided they, you know, shied away from civilian casualties. So, you you this um we've we've seen so much misinformation about Iran over the last 3 months. And now this week when we get down to the actual truth, it came out you know, what Iran leaked about the document on uh Tuesday turned out to have been much closer to the truth than what the US was leaking, than what was being leaked to Bloomberg yesterday.
Mhm. The reason I mentioned that is today JD Vance said GCC countries want to invest in Iran. And I think the whole program is that because of the reality what has happened in the Strait of Hormuz, they want to get closer, they want to get more involved with the Iranian economy, make more ties with the Iranian economy in order to diminish the threat or any sort of war if something happens because they know Israel is not going to change its behavior. Sooner or later, they're going to fire at each other, Iran and Israel. So, they want to make some sort of deal with Iranians to somehow ensure them that they're not going to be part of the fight on behalf of Israel or facilitating the Israeli attack on Iran. Uh so.
Go ahead. Well, I just said we've seen that we've seen evidence that uh the Qatar at least has been working quietly behind the scenes. In fact, there are some report it it was claimed that um initially that Iran destroyed the natural gas facility at uh what what is it? Is Ras Laffan uh in in Qatar. But in fact, they may not have because they could coordinate and cut a deal with Qatar in advance. So, if if that's true, uh that that that adds a whole uh new dimension to things.
So, it seems to me that point of 300 billion dollars being invested in Iran is totally is some sort of concept of GCC countries. Basically, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. It's not This is not coming from the United States.
Right. States just added its name to the to the point that they're going to be there and managing and they want to know what's going on with that fund and that in sort of investment in Iran. Is that your perception?
Yeah. I mean, look, the United States is getting shut out of the Gulf. It is, you know, the talk like what of Iran's demands is that the which US withdraw troops from around from around it. Well, they've already done that actually in part not because they were reacting to that agreement, but because their base got destroyed. They hadn't have any place to left to stay. So, they had to get out.
Yeah. That's going to be I think if they decide to go to get close I don't know if you you've seen the American official one of the American officials telling one of the new this mainstream news outlet. I don't remember it was if I'm not mistaken, it was the journal. They reported that the fifth fleet and naval fleet of the United States in Bahrain was totally destroyed. And they see no option of getting back there. Maybe they go to Oman or somewhere else.
Right. Right. Yeah, no. I mean, they're done. They still call it the fifth fleet headquarters, but it's just a name only. There no personnel there of any consequence. And where else where else are they going to go? They had to go to Oman or back to uh.
[snorts] You know, just imagine you're sitting in Qatar, you're sitting in Saudi Arabia, seeing what's going on with the American bases.
Yeah. What What do you have to to pursue in.
Well, again, the the they thought they thought this was sort of a sure deal. The that uh if you get with the United States, you man, you got protection. It doesn't get any better than that. You know, Uncle Sam's got your back. And then it turns out, oops, no he doesn't. Uh you got You don't have Uncle Sam there uh helping you.
Larry, have you heard from that guy from Pakistan? Because I think that what What is he saying about, you know, the security architecture of the region?
Well, he was saying that the uh uh there was the Chinese and Pakistanis learned there was going to be an assassination attempt against uh Arachi and Galifar uh Galibov. Um that the actions and that's one of the reasons they moved the signing ceremony from Geneva to uh Birkenstock, which is a a facility a property that's owned by uh the one of the emirs of Qatar. So, it is well protected and um so, you know, we'll see. The You know, they think that's going on and they've warned uh both uh Pakistan and and China have warned Israel uh that if they proceed with something to try to assassinate, there'll be severe repercussions against them.
And that's house It's just mind-blowing. Yeah. Killing a diplomat in Europe is something new. I I have never seen such a thing happening to Iranian officials. They did it in Syria, you remember that. You know, the consulate in Syria, but I have never seen that happening in Europe.
Well, not in Europe, but they you know, and I don't know where they are planning to carry this out, but they they've been warned to, you know, if you do it or you know, expect some real repercussions.
Do you do you see Europe doing or because Donald Trump was at G7 summit and talking with various European officials or leaders or maybe all of them together because they were together. And was there any sort of discussion about how Europe can may may play some sort of role in what's going on in the West Asia or they he simply doesn't care about Europe?
Uh there there've been some comments and again, I'm not sure if they're sparked by Trump. Uh the French reportedly said that they'd deploy a minesweeper to help clear up mines and um, you know, get things back to normal. Uh I don't see though uh widespread in endorsement in the European community of the Iranian government. I think they still want to classify the government as a regime, something that needs to be dispensed of eventually.
But Europe we know in this MOU it says Iran going to do that if there is some sort of demining operation it's going to be Iranian side doing that and nobody's allowed to go there.
Mhm. So, that's that's out of discussion. For Europe.
Yeah, so yeah, we'll see right now so it is uh like 2:00 in the morning. Uh almost 2:30 2:30 a.m. in the morning in Tehran. And so, most of the same people are in bed getting some sleep. And um, they got to make a decision whether they're going to travel to Geneva uh, or or not. And it it's up, you know, they're putting pressure on the United States to do further pressure on Israel. I don't know if that that'll work. And if.
Yeah. You know, it there are a variety of, you know, uh, Iran can stay home or, uh, Iran can get permission to carry out attacks on Israel. You know, the United States may not come out and formally announce it, but they'll give the wink and a nod and a nudge and let that happen. So, you know, this it there are well, the the the thing that Donald Trump signed yesterday with Pishchian, uh, is just it's more like a letter of intent. And the intent, you can say, has some good objectives to it, but there are a lot of ways and pitfalls and and exits along the way that could destroy this thing.
Yeah. Here is really Iranian side, by the way, they have reported that Iranian delegation is not going to go to Switzerland because of the what's going on between Israel and Lebanon. That's going to be problematic for Iranians and I think that they're getting a lot of pressure. As you mentioned, Iran people are not happy. Some part of the society is not happy with the case of Lebanon. They see if they back down on the case of Lebanon, it's going to be uh, you know, it's going to be so damaging to Iranian position.
Mhm. And Well, no. They they they they can still travel to Geneva. They just informed the United States, so we're going to attack Israel. We're going to uphold the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Lebanon to because they're being attacked by Israel. That's simple. You know, it's that simple, I think. They could do that as a but they're not, you know, so Uh uh there's This is far from a a done deal, as I've said all along.
Trump said that Russia and China didn't help Iran. They were neutral during the war.
Yeah, All right, good. Yeah, it's good to know. It's not true, but it's good to know.
He's so positive, by the way. It's good for the future.
Yeah, you know, he has the he creates his little fantasy world. But but you know, both both Russia and China were quite active. And in fact, it was Zarif that just went to talk to Russia there uh [clears throat] over the weekend, I believe. Before before everything was agreed to. Just to get Russia's input.
G7 invited Brazil and UAE, two members of BRICS to the summit.
Mhm. What does that mean in your opinion? And are they going to are they trying to manipulate BRICS? Are they trying to.
I I don't think they they didn't offer membership. They said, "Hey, you can come attend." And Brazilians said, "Oh, great. That's what we need. Just go sit to another meeting." Um Yeah, no, I think the the G the G7 is actually it's its time is past. The the the BRICS countries alone constitute more of the world economy than does G7. There was a time when G7 was the dominant player, but no longer.
Larry Great pleasure as always. I think everything is so fluid and we cannot go Yeah. Before the MOU coming out you were saying let's let's see what is in MOU. Right now MOU is out and we are we have more doubts even than we had before.
Correct. We'll see we'll see what what tomorrow brings.
Yeah, exactly. Tomorrow is and J.D. Vance said by the way today he said he doesn't know if tomorrow the meeting going to happen and I think that's there is some sort of communication behind the scene between the two sides.
They got they got to work out the Israel problem first. So. All right, my friend. I will see you in a few hours. It'll be.
Yeah. Yeah. About 12 to 14 hours with Morandi, huh?
Yeah. Yeah. Let's see. Yeah.
That'll be at That'll be at 10:30, right?
Yeah. It's going to be at 11:00 a.m.
Oh, 11:00 a.m. Okay.
11:00 a.m. he said that. Make sure I got that right and we'll we'll see you to God, you know, this week is just blitz by. Holy smokes. So. All right, my friend. Later.
See you, Larry. Bye. Bye-bye.