Title: JOHN KIRIAKOU: What’s Really Happening in the Iran War
Show: Unfiltered With S.A.M.
Date: 2026-03-11
URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1FZXQzLGOU
Duration: 1:01:06

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[00:02] [music] >> The US Israel war against Iran is in full swing. Missile exchanges are unfolding across the region. Energy infrastructure is burning across multiple fronts. There are attacks on US bases. Markets are reacting violently and multiple countries are suddenly deploying military assets across the Eastern Mediterranean here right off the coast of Cyprus. So joining me to break

[00:32] it all down is John Kiriakou, former CIA officer and one of the most outspoken critics of how wars are sold to the American public. Let's get straight into it. John, welcome. Thank you, Susie. It's good to see you again. Always a pleasure to see you, too, John. I hope you're doing well. Thank you. John >> Thank you. Thank you. And the same to you. The best I'm trying to do the best that we can here. You know, you've been receiving texts and messages from me, so

[01:04] You're under direct threat in a time of war. It's It's Listen, if you end up with PTSD, it would be completely and perfectly normal. It's not every day that when we go to bed at night, we have to worry about being blown up because we happen to be in a war zone through no fault of our own. Yeah. Well, Britain happen to happens to have bases in Cyprus. There's nothing we can do about it. It's a part of

[01:35] the creation of the Republic of Cyprus. It's So there's nothing we can do about it. Anyway, we have no say in it and we just hope and pray that the incidents that occurred will not follow. Of course, there were attacks on the British bases and not on Cyprus. So but the British bases are based on Cyprus land, so they're mutually exclusive. [clears throat] And when we say British bases >> That's right. I mean, I'm sorry. I'm supposed to be interviewing you, but just just to get the context out there. They're not just some military bases

[02:06] with barracks and sleeping arrangements for the staff. They occupy 3% of Cyprus land. So, within the perimeter of the British bases, you got tens, if not hundreds, of Cypriot villages and towns and uh thousands of of Cypriot population living within what is called British sovereign British areas of Cyprus. Mhm. Yeah. >> Outrageous. And schools which have schools, public schools there.

[02:36] Um all of last week, the citizens of Akrotiri uh village, which is which took which from which the the British bases be named after, uh they evacuated the whole village. The schools were closed and some went to live with family, others went to live in monasteries. They couldn't find refuge anywhere else. So, let's get into it now for uh our American viewers, also. John, I wanted to ask you that there are many Americans who've lived through Iraq and Afghanistan, and they're asking a

[03:08] simple question. How and why Washington has fundamentally miscalculated this new war in the Middle East? That's really the big question. Um and forgive me, I'm going to give you a very long-winded answer, but I think I think it needs some explanation. When George W. Bush decided to create a reason to wage war against

[03:39] Iraq, he knew that he needed to win over public opinion first. And he crisscrossed the country just repeating the lie over and over again that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and that they would be used against the United States. And Bush was successful in winning over the the hearts and minds of the American people. Donald Trump has done literally nothing to explain to Americans why this war was

[04:10] necessary. The truth of the matter is the United States partnered with Israel to attack Iran another country that poses no threat to the United States just because the Israelis insisted that we do it. I've said before on many podcasts and I'm going to say it again. In all the years that I was in government, whether it was at the CIA or

[04:41] at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and even before I entered government going back to the 1980s, every single Israeli prime minister that ever came to Washington asked every single American president to bomb Iran. Please bomb Iran, bomb Iran, bomb Iran and every single president said no. And presidents have talked about this publicly. Obama, George W. Bush, Joe Biden in the form as recently yesterday of Tony Blinken

[05:12] having said the same thing that the Israelis would demand every single time they'd come here to bomb Iran. And they were always told no until Donald Trump said yes. Now, there are rumors that the reason he said yes was was that Benjamin Netanyahu said that if Israel were forced to act alone, they would use nuclear weapons. Haven't they haven't they pulled that card that haven't they used that before also in

[05:43] the past? In the past, yes. Yes, they've they have pulled that in the past. But, why not call the bluff and say, "You know what? You want to You want to nuke Iran? Go go for it. This is not our fight. It's not our war. You go ahead and attack Iran with nuclear weapons, and then you answer to the international community. Go ahead. Go ahead and do it." And for what purpose? There was a fatwa more than 20 years ago issued by former the the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

[06:15] forbidding the Iranian government from from creating a nuclear bomb. A fatwa. Which we don't talk about in the United States. And there have been two, not one, two national intelligence estimates which are which are the final analysis of every single organization in the American intelligence community determining that Iran was not building a nuclear weapon. It was not. But, we bombed them anyway because the

[06:47] Israelis told us to. The Israelis have a hold on American politics that is unprecedented. And it's unlike anything else that we've seen anywhere in the world. They have lobbyists, effective lobbyists working at every single level of government. And if you don't tow the Israeli line, they will run a candidate against you in the primary, and 80% of the time they've won. They will spend millions of dollars to

[07:18] defeat you, no matter what office you're running for. And politicians don't have the guts to stand up to them. And so, now here we are in a war that has almost immediately dragged the entire region into it, and it has caused our Arab allies to say, "Wait a minute. Kuwait is hosting 50,000 American ground troops. Saudi Arabia 15,000 American ground troops. Bahrain is the headquarters of

[07:50] the American fifth fleet. Qatar hosts the largest American Air Force base in the world. And the United Arab Emirates has at least 10,000 American ground troops at three different bases. And those countries were still attacked. And they still have casualties. So, what benefit do they have of hosting American forces and American troops and American fighter jets in their countries? All they have received is death and destruction.

[08:21] One final point, Suzy. For the United States and Israel to win, right? To win, in air quotes, we need to see the utter collapse and replacement of the Iranian government. And to see that replacement be a pro-American, pro-Israeli Zionist regime. That will never happen in a million years. >> [clears throat] >> On the other hand, all the Iranians need to do to win

[08:52] is to survive. That's it. So, in my view, this is a no-win situation for the United States and for Israel. And instead, it is bringing only death and destruction to the rest of the region. God, there's so many aspects to it. Um one can talk for hours. Um >> [sighs] >> Yeah. You You mentioned about, you know, even in the elections, how I mean, the when was it? In 2024, your last elections, it's AIPAC. AIPAC themselves,

[09:23] they put out this this post celebrating that 95 It wasn't 90 or it was 90 90 90 or 95% It wasn't less uh of the people elected in the house, so Congress and Senate, where um um well, pro-AIPAC, pro-Israel people. So, >> Yeah. it's clear who who they're serving. They're not serving the American people. They're not serving the American interests, and that's very sad. And a recent example is Lindsey Graham.

[09:54] What was the deal with him all of these last few days? Appearing on on all these channels, making all these statements as if he's a president of the country, and wearing that Cuba hat on, mentioning that Cuba is next. I mean, the world's gone crazy. And he's he was also calling for deeper US military action against Iran, and calling his South Carolina constituents to go fight for whom? For whom? I need your comments on this >> because Americans I'm I'm happy to see that or or is it me getting the wrong impression, wrong idea all the way from

[10:25] here? You tell me if I'm wrong, but I think Americans are waking up. The general public is waking up because there's also there's also a polls taking place and and have come out saying that >> [snorts] >> this war has got the lowest support from the American public from all the wars that America has ever been involved in. So, just just your comments on these cuz we need your feedback here. >> So, there are two two polls that have come out in the last 3 days that show 27%

[10:55] in the one poll and 4% in the other poll of Americans support the war. So, the vast majority of Americans this war. So, when you come right to it, in 2016, this is one of the important reasons that Donald Trump got elected president because we were involved in these forever wars. We had transitioned into a full-time wartime economy, and the Democrats were just as pro-war as the Republicans. And so, the Republican Party split to the

[11:27] traditional neo-conservative side embodied by John McCain, who is at the head and Lindsey Graham who I call her majesty Lindsey Graham. On the other side the Democrats were pro-war. And so there was a large anti-war faction in the American electorate and they voted for Trump because Donald Trump promised no new wars. And so we got through the first the first term without any new wars

[12:00] although he did kill two senior Iranian intelligence and military officials in Iraq. He did wage war in Syria but these were seen more as counter-terrorism operations. Um somehow Donald Trump forgot who he was and he forgot what his constituents were demanding. And so Donald Trump every Republican every Democrat before him decided that war pretty good.

[12:30] And we could use a little bit of an economic boost and so he was going to wage war alongside the Israelis. Again, he's you know Trump person is such that he needs glorification constant glorification. One thing about Donald Trump's personality is that he craves glorification. Um For example, in the in the middle of the night he added his name to the John F. Kennedy

[13:02] Center for the Performing Arts. One of the most beautiful buildings in in the entire country. So now it says the Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He is holding up highway funds unless we change the name of our airport from Dulles International Airport to the Donald J. Trump International Airport. He won't He won't allow New York City to complete its subway tunnel unless they change the name George Washington Bridge

[13:33] to the Donald J. Trump Bridge. Uh it's it's It's ego maniacal. >> We know this about his personality. But um what I'm wondering is But my But my point though related to the personality though is that real glory to him can only come with war. He can only go down in history books as the president who overthrew the Iranian government when every other president since Jimmy Carter failed. That he was the that overthrew the Iranian

[14:05] government and he brought peace and prosperity to the Middle East and now it's the land of milk and honey and everybody's going to live happily ever after. The reason why we're we're already bogged down is because he truly believed that as soon as we fired the first shot, the whole Iranian government would collapse like a house of cards because these wealthy Ira- Iranian Americans, mostly in Southern California, most of whom happen to be Jewish, convinced him

[14:36] that the whole was a house of cards. And that it was so unstable the first rocket would make the whole thing fall apart and it didn't. It didn't and they're not afraid of our missiles and they have 92 million people and the country is the size of all of Western Europe. And so what are you going to keep launching pinprick missile attacks because they can take those for the next 100 years? Yeah. >> Or you going to put boots on the ground and then tell Americans to expect 10,000

[15:06] dead soldiers in the next 6 months? So now we're stuck. Um >> [cough] >> there's also the video circulating recent footage by the Sun in the UK showing the Iranian missiles emerging from underground silos that are completely like you can't tell it's a desert. There's no even like there's nothing to tell that below that there's anything, you know, and um >> [snorts] >> the the the announcement they made yesterday from Iran that uh future launches will carry warheads exceeding 1

[15:37] ton. Uh future attacks each war each uh missile will be carrying warheads exceeding um 1 ton. I mean, for 20 years the US uh failed to defeat the the the the Tal Taliban in um Afghanistan when all they were hiding in the mountains and in the caves were AK-47s and RPG launchers and, you know, hidden weapon caches. So, how are they going to how are they going to defeat this? We're not talking about RPGs and AK-47s. How how realistic I mean, of course, you

[16:07] can bomb bomb an underground facility just like they did with um Nasrallah, but you need to know where it is and they don't know where these ones are. No, they don't know. They don't know. That's why they had to use a 30-ton bomb uh last year when uh when bombing Iran because they had an idea where it was, they weren't sure if there was anything [clears throat] in it, and then Trump, being Trump, said last year that the entire Iranian nuclear program had been

[16:38] obliterated. That was his word, obliterated. So, either he lied, he was tricked, or he's too stupid to know that he wasn't able to obliterate it. Yeah, because you >> And now we're in a war. >> If it's been obliterated, then why are you stating now that you're going to you you've you've gone to this war because they were days away from producing a nuclear weapon, which is something we've been hearing for 30 days from Bibi's mouth. >> You know, there's a video there's a video going around.

[17:09] >> Exactly. There's a video going around of every time Netanyahu said on the floor of the United States Congress. >> it. That that uh Iran is 6 months away from the nuclear bomb. >> and it reaches Yeah, yeah. Uh-huh. Yeah. >> Uh-huh. I think Americans Americans are now coming to realization of this though. We're aware of these lies. Yes. You know, there's a kind of a mystery going on right now, too, Susie, as to where exactly Netanyahu is. Yes.

[17:41] >> There were reports that he was in Germany, he was hiding in Germany. I heard today he's hiding in Cyprus. Wherever he happens to be, he's hiding. You know, what kind of wartime leader is that? Yeah. Well, I mean, they seem to to be on the on his tracks a whole lot now. I mean, they seem to know I mean It's It's kind of like they're using his playbook now, you know? I don't know how they've managed. Maybe it's the Russians fe- feeding them like the satellite reconnaissance and targeting

[18:12] intelligence. I don't know if if it's from the Russians or they've managed to infiltrate with their agents like just like they did you know, the Israeli state, but um they did hit his house. They did target his house and his brother was in in his house and his brother is dead. Um [snorts] they are employing Israel's tactics of, you know, taking out taking out the heads, the leadership, because they've also targeted Ben-Gvir's house and Ben-Gvir, I don't know what is the latest, but up until last night, the reports was that he was

[18:43] seriously injured. Critically injured. So, they're now employing Israel's tactics. They are. It's the same tactic. Yes. And And this has to this has to have the Israelis on their on their heel, you know? They I don't think that they expected any of this. No. I think that these that the It was the Israelis who convinced Trump that Iran was a house of cards. That the Israelis did that because they

[19:14] actually believe themselves. Well, they I mean they wanted to use the the they only have a limited time left up until the midterm elections and everyone all the analysts are saying even you that this is a last big opportunity to take out Iran because they're getting the feedback that the American public has had it this time. So Yes. Time was running and they also have their fall I think Israel there's also fall elections in Israel. But um Yes. To Trump to for for that matter Trump came out yesterday. I mean you see

[19:45] him with the press he's making all these like co- crazy crazy ass statements. They're asking him about the Tomahawks and he's like I don't know maybe I sold them Tomahawks. I don't know. And then he was making these he was throwing um Steve Whitkoff What's the name of his son-in-law? God. Kushner. Jared Kushner. Yes and he threw them under the bus saying, "You know, they gave me the info and that's why I decided to you know call call the war and it was based on info that and he he named them and he threw them under the bus. So I mean where does Jared Kushner come

[20:16] into this anyway? He doesn't hold an official position within the government. So you're saying out publicly that God, you're going by Jared Kushner's suggestions that Iran is going to attack us soon? That's what you're telling the American public? That's why you entered this war? And let me let me add something too. The Russians made a statement today that made perfect sense. The Russians said that they will no longer engage in uh settlement talks with the Ukrainians

[20:46] that are that are headed by the United States because the United States can't be trusted. It was engaged supposedly in talks with Iran pretending to go through talks with Iran and then they attacked Iran. So the Russians said why should we trust the Americans to broker talks with Ukraine when they could just as soon turn around and attack us in the middle of the talks. And I think that's exactly right. Yeah, I mean I mean the two wars with Iran happened in the middle of the so-called discussions that

[21:18] America was having with Iran on the on its nuclear program. So, I mean they can't be trusted anymore. And Trump did reach out behind the scenes twice in these 10 days for a ceasefire with the Iranians and they sent they played some kind >> we've we've been told, yeah. >> said no Well, Bibi didn't like it and he was he was calling over at the White House to see if these reports were true, right? I mean, what does this What does this show? Who's running the show? Who's Who's the president of America? Or is the president of America president

[21:48] of America or or is he representing whose interests is he representing? >> Honestly, honestly, on foreign policy on foreign policy, Benjamin Netanyahu has just as much authority as whoever happens to be president of the United States. We've conceded foreign policy to the Israelis and to Israeli interests. But John, it seems that they that the Americans are inclined into asking for, you know, getting into back-channel talks for a ceasefire and they're seeing it's not working. It It

[22:19] seems that Trump has called Putin and asked asked for Putin's help on this. Is this true? Have we heard anything? >> I I I haven't heard that, but I wouldn't be surprised. >> So, this was this was the reporting coming in from Thanasis Avgerinos. He's a very well-respected, very well-connected our Greek reporter based in Moscow. And this was his reporting late last night on a big Greek channels. That [snorts] the report he has from the

[22:50] Kremlin is that Donald Trump reached out to Putin for him to intervene to hopefully broker a ceasefire with Iran because Iran isn't isn't isn't having it. The his two attempts so far, they they turned them down. So, this is a report that's come out. >> [sighs] >> Yeah, I believe that. And And I'll tell you what, the the Russians have been giving the Iranians targeting information. Um that was leaked a few days ago. And I remember reading it and and just

[23:21] saying to a friend, "Well, of course they're giving the Iranians targeting information. They're allies. We're giving the Ukrainians targeting information." The The Russians gave the North Vietnamese targeting information. We gave the Afghan Mujahideen targeting information and Stinger missiles. This is what enemies do to one another. So, what's the best way to to get that to stop? You just reach out directly to the Russians and say, "Please stop. Help us negotiate some kind of a ceasefire." Oh, let's see if it's true. I But I But I'll I'll add one other thing, Suzy.

[23:53] We Here in the United States, we look like fools. We look like puppets of the Israelis, and we look like fools for being duped into another yet another war of choice. The 27 uh US military facilities across the region have been struck, even in Cherlik airbase in Turkey, which is one of the key hubs for US air power for the whole Middle East for decades has been hit and rendered um unusable, while

[24:23] several ports that the US uses in the Gulf have also been damaged. Even the the port that the US was building in Oman because they wanted to stop using the port in in Dubai because of exposure and stuff. Even that has been struck. So, now the US seems to be relying heavily on the ports of in Europe and in India to ship equipment over. So, what does it I want your comment on this, please. Yeah, see, this is yet another one of those examples of the United States just

[24:53] never thought would happen and so didn't prepare for. India is far from the war zone. It's far and it's hard to get from India to the Persian Gulf. Uh but this is exactly what we should have expected. The Iranians told us in advance that this would quickly escalate into a regional war. It did almost immediately and then the Iranians told us that they would close the Strait of Hormuz. They're in the process of of

[25:24] closing the Strait of Hormuz. This morning they attacked three ships, uh two oil tankers and one cargo ship. Like what What did we think was going to happen? They told us what was going to happen. Yeah. And we just pretended not to hear. So since you've touched upon that, the economic cost of the war to America is how much per day? I'm getting I'm I'm reading reports that it could be 800 million dollars a day and then I'm reading other reports that could be up to 2 billion dollars a day. So do you

[25:54] have a a clearer idea? Yeah, Axios reported um 2 days ago I think it was that it was between 2 and 3 billion dollars a day and it reminded me of a story not a story. It reminded me of of an of an incident where I was working I was working at the CIA during the uh Kuwait Iraq uh war and it was right before we began the liberation of Kuwait and I

[26:25] remember the president's morning briefer coming back to the office and saying that the president was shocked to speechless when they told him that we were spending 100 million dollars a day in the Gulf. Well, 100 million back then, yeah. 100 million Well, just with inflation it's going to be close to 2 billion. >> Yes. And um there's there's I mean there's this all all these

[26:56] repercussions, right? We're seeing um something extraordinary happening. Yesterday, you know, oil prices had surged towards the $115 um >> [snorts] >> per barrel mark, and then they suddenly dropped before suddenly be right before the markets closed. You see President Trump calling CBS News to declare that the war was pretty much uh complete. The markets reacted immediately, and you know, correcting themselves, and but simultaneously the defense secretary, he told 60 Minutes simultaneously that the

[27:26] war might only be in the beginning. So, before we go go into the matter of, you know, um two completely different um um perspectives on the same war by two people who are on in daily contact, possibly hourly contact, about the war. I mean, what does what does this say about the president effectively moving global markets through wartime messaging? Just picking up the phone just to rectify the markets just for the day, and

[27:57] your take. I think that's I think that's exactly what he did. But, you can only do that once, twice, maybe possibly three times before people just don't believe anything you say anymore. And and so long as you continue doing what you say you're not doing, or say that you're going to soon stop doing, the markets are going to stop reacting. >> [cough and clears throat] >> And um what say does um J.D. Vance have in all

[28:28] this? And Tulsi Gabbard, because is it true that they're the only two people closest to the president who were firmly opposing this war? Yeah, it was my understanding that it was Tulsi Gabbard, J.D. Vance, and and General Keane, the the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which which is which is quite common. Usually the joint chiefs uh chiefs of staff are the last ones that want to go to war. Um and and that's it doesn't matter who's in the White House. They're always that way because they know how terrible

[28:58] war is. Um Tulsi Gabbard I fear has been marginalized and pushed off to the side. Uh to tell you the truth, I think Marco Rubio is really running American foreign and defense policy. And and I think that he's doing this not just because he's a neo-conservative that he really believes this stuff. Of course he believes it. But there's so much talk in Washington about about the very young, relatively inexperienced J.D. Vance being Trump's choice to uh to replace him.

[29:29] I don't think that's true. I think Marco Rubio is going to be the Republican nominee for president and I think Rubio is doing a lot of this just so that he can stake his claim as the Republican frontrunner before J.D. Vance gets his footing. Well, I mean if if Vance continues opposing this war behind closed doors in the Oval Office, then this is most certainly going to happen. Yeah. So I think so, too. I mean, do you find the calls These are not These are

[30:01] calls on growing discussions online about invoking the 25th? And people are really concerned. Americans are really concerned about invoking the 25th which would allow for J.D. Vance to assume presidential authority. You you know, claiming the president is no longer able to perform perform his duties. Um do you find these calls gaining traction? I mean, for it to happen, even if if the vast majority of the population asks for it, it needs Congress to okay it. So, I don't see it. I mean, do you find some Do you find

[30:32] logic behind them? No. >> Rational? No. They would have to No, they would have to determine that he's mentally ill and unable to uh to carry out his duties as president. You you can't invoke the 25th just because you don't like somebody's policies. And we have had two presidents with dementia. Joe Biden most recently, who clearly was demented. He was demented during the campaign. And then before him, Ronald Reagan. Um

[31:02] And and no seriously considered invoking the 25th Amendment. So no it's thinking on the part of Democrats. It's just not going to happen. John, I [clears throat] want to go now to uh the area again, the region here. And um Iran's Foreign Ministry Foreign Ministry has warned about what it says are Israeli false flag operations across the region citing the incidents in Azerbaijan, in Cyprus. They also cited that they're they're insisting that yes, the drone the British saying

[31:33] that the drone that hit the the drone that hit the British bases in Cyprus did not leave Iran, but it left Lebanon. But the Iranians are saying that still it wasn't an Iranian drone. It was a false flag by the Israelis. Anyway, we know that Israel is occupying chunks of Southern Lebanon. So >> [snorts] >> you wouldn't expect I mean the truth is somewhere there. Depends on who you want to believe. But anyway, the Iranians are coming out saying that um there are these are all false flag incidents. Azerbaijan,

[32:04] Cyprus, and Turkey, they were falsely attributed to Iran. And we have seen false flags being uncovered when the Saudi and UAE authorities detained Mossad linked operatives connected to the attacks on their infrastructure, specifically Aramco, which was [snorts] initially attributed to Iran. They are doing their best to make it to drag it to drag countries into this make it into a regional war. And these are false flags that luckily so far um

[32:34] were why um acted upon. So this is quite scary. They're not going to give up. I mean, there's there's there's info now, you know, about warning about in the US there are all these sleep sleeper cells and maybe something could happen in the US. So, how worried are you that you know, maybe even in the US something would happen that would be linked to Iran, but it's not really Iran that's behind it, but it's Israel that's behind it. So, I'm very fearful of Israeli false

[33:07] flags. The Israelis have been carrying out false flag operations since the founding of the state of Israel, and they're usually very good at it. Uh there are some legendary stories that they taught us at the CIA about wonderful, creative, innovative false flag operations that had been carried out by the Israeli Mossad. Um as soon as we started seeing some of these attacks, you know, on the Saudi oil field, on Azerbaijan, on Cyprus, my first thought was

[33:37] it was that they were Israeli false flags. What scares me the most is that the Israelis may try to attack the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and blame it on on the Arabs or blame it on the Iranians. I mean, Iranians Shia Muslims don't necessarily believe that Al-Aqsa as as a building is third holiest site. They believe that the site is up in the sky. It's in heaven. But we know that the Israelis want to destroy Al-Aqsa. There are entire

[34:09] factions of the Israeli electorate that publicly advocate destroying Al-Aqsa and building the third temple. So, this just has this just has war written all over it, and I think that Israeli false flags are so prevalent, so so dangerous that we all need to be on the lookout for them. John, do you think they they they would also maybe do a perform a false flag on US territory, blame it on the Iranian sleeper cells just to get US boots on

[34:41] the ground if at all possible? How can How can anyone even fathom US boots on the ground in that country? In that vast country, 92 million population. Do you think Do you think that is a possibility that they are even entertaining? Are you fearful of that? God, I hate to say it. Yes, I am fearful and yes, I think they are entertaining. And I only say that because after promise after promise that there would be no American boots on the ground, both President Trump and

[35:13] Secretary of Defense Hegseth have said that we are at least planning for that as a contingency measure. I think that would be a death sentence for thousands of Americans. You know, I was on Fox News the other night because there was there was a leak and I'm sure that it was a it was an authorized leak that the United States is in talks with the Iranian Kurds to use the Kurds as the front-line boots on the ground.

[35:44] And they asked me, you know, if this was possible. I said, "Sure, it's it's possible. The United States has long had very warm and friendly relations with Iraq's Kurds and with Syria's Kurds. Not necessarily with Iran's Kurds because there's no contact really. Excuse me. And certainly no relationship at all with Turkey's Kurds. But the Iranian Kurds hate the central government. It's just that there's nothing they can do about it. If they were to begin moving toward Tehran, they would

[36:16] be they would be obliterated by the Iranian military. You know, I suppose if the if the goal is to draw out Kurds onto the open battlefield so that the Iranian Air Force can bomb them, that's one thing. But Iran's Kurds are not going to liberate the country and overthrow this government for the American and the Israeli governments. Yeah, I mean there's been talk about that and about America wanting to arm them and fund them, but isn't that a bit too late

[36:46] and isn't that a bit hard to do logistically? I mean of course it could be done through Turkey, but I don't know if Turkey wouldn't allow it, seriously. I don't know if you want to explain to the people why. >> Turkey Turkey has to live in that neighborhood. They don't want to provoke the Iranians unnecessarily. That's that doesn't make any sense for for Turkish policy. The Turks would get nothing out of that. >> don't want the Kurds to end up setting up their own, which is their their their >> Exactly.

[37:16] >> dream also to have their own state, the state of Kurdistan. They've been always opposing it and that's the reason why they also subjugated the Kurds in Syria once Trump withdrew his support of them in 2020, his financial and arms support of them when they did all the work for for Trump. They they were fighting ISIS on his behalf. Once they got that done, >> [snorts] >> of course ISIS reemerged now with Julani, but anyway. So he withdrew his support of

[37:47] them. Turkey Turkey infiltrated the northern part of Syria where the Kurds are and has occupied it since because he doesn't want a a strong Kurdish population to set up a Kurdish state. So it's very hard. Israel wants to open that second front for Iran so that they are busy and not focus on the one front, but it's it's very hard for America and Israel to do that with the Iranians and with [snorts] the Kurds in Iran, right? >> It's very It's very hard. It's very hard because you're right. Listen, I I'm a long time supporter of

[38:20] the Kurds and I believe that the Kurds deserve an independent Kurdistan. But it's just not going to happen. It's not going to happen because no regional power, no great power is going to allow it to happen. There was very briefly an independent Kurdistan in northern Iraq from 1946 [clears throat] to 1949. That was it. The Iraqi Kurds now have autonomy, which is great because half of the country's oil reserves are are in Kurdish

[38:51] territory. So they make some money. But nobody's going to get an independent Kurdistan. And the Iranian Kurds have never even like approached a point where they may declare Yeah. Um uh independence. So no. See, but this is another This is another example of of Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, Pete Hegseth underestimating the Iranian government and the Iranian people in that they believe that Kurds are Kurds are

[39:23] Kurds. And so if we're friendly with the Iranian Sorry, if we're friendly with the Iraqi Kurds and the Syrian Kurds, then the Iranian Kurds are going to love us and they're going to do what we say. And oh look, our bombing didn't overthrow the Iranian government, but that's okay cuz the Kurds will do it for us. No. And it's like no, the Kurds won't do it for you. Yeah. It's too late. It's been I think it's been many years when um correct um um secret service uh briefings were held

[46:11] acted upon those orders, descending upon Beirut and other parts of Lebanon, living in tents or in their cars or with family. >> [snorts] [sighs] >> So, and they've killed since March 1st, hundreds of civilians, 85 of them being children. How realistic is the Greater Israel project today as we speak? As As As far as Lebanon is concerned? Yeah, I think that the Israelis have guaranteed that Lebanon will be a failed

[46:44] state. I don't think any Israeli government is going to allow Lebanon to flourish as a nation. I think we will continue to see Israeli attacks, Israeli forced displacement of civilians. I read a statistic yesterday that by the end of the week, as many as 700,000 Lebanese will be internally displaced. This is a humanitarian disaster. And And the world, most of the world isn't focused

[47:15] on it because they're all watching what's unfolding in Iran. Well, Lebanon already doesn't have enough food, enough medical care, enough enough clean water. It's It's only going to get worse. So, take that and couple it with these these incredibly provocative statements made by the by the fascist evangelical American ambassador to Israel, Mike

[47:45] Huckabee, to Tucker Carlson 2 weeks ago, that he has no problem with Greater Israel and said, quote, they should just take it. And what What he meant by it was all Arab land from the Euphrates River to the Nile. Just take it. He doesn't care. So, if that's the attitude of the of the representative of the president of the United States, then I think we should all be living in fear. Um

[48:15] I wanted to ask you before we close this, how do you see this ending? I mean, not the war as such, but all this like um thing we're living under, you know, Greater Israel and all this threat of Greater Israel and it's becoming more and more realistic. And up until a few years ago, it was just like, "Oh, you're a conspiracy theorist for even mentioning it." But it's all out in the open now. They're making public statements about it.

[48:47] Netanyahu has been caught on camera publicly stating that it's his lifelong ambition. When the [snorts] war started, he he he was so happy to speak on camera and saying, "This has been 40 years in the making for me, a dream for me." >> [snorts] >> The war with Iran because Iran is their last um um uh what do you say? Um thing stopping them from realizing the Greater Israel project. Well, Iran and Turkey, which is why Naftali Bennett, the former Israeli Prime Minister, is also now

[49:18] saying, "After Iran, it's Turkey. Turkey's next." So, what is how do you see all this ending? I mean, do you see them realizing these goals because they they weren't so close to realizing them a few years ago, but now it's it's all, you know, unraveling. I don't see them succeeding. There are too many Arabs. There are too many Muslims. There are too many people who oppose this this naked

[49:48] Israeli aggression. Um I don't even care. Well, I shouldn't say I don't care because I care [clears throat] very much, but I don't think it matters even if the United States were to support such a crazy position. And and the United States wouldn't support such a crazy position. Um, Mike Huckabee is is a fluke in the system. But they have been supported by John. They have. I mean, they're they're Not not a not a greater Israel. The the But

[50:18] what are all these wars that the US have been doing has been doing over the last 25 years? The seven nations that um BB kept saying that they need to get out out of the way to topple their regimes. They've they've reached the seventh nation. So, who has done those wars on their behalf? It's America who's done wars on their behalf. Look at them independently though. Libya was no threat to Israel. Never. Never was. Never would be. Uh Libya was was a thorn in the side of the United States. The the US didn't overthrow and kill

[50:49] Gaddafi for Israel. We did it for ourselves. Same in Somalia. Somalia's no threat to Israel at all. Never was. Um, they were a threat to the United States or to at least to American commerce. >> [clears throat] >> Excuse me. Um, Afghanistan? I mean, that was for a while that was a righteous war. It was a war uh to destroy Al-Qaeda. It morphed into something that was wrong. It morphed into this never-ending war against the Taliban who had never attacked the United States, but in the beginning that

[51:20] was a righteous war. We had to destroy Al-Qaeda. It's not that the Israelis wanted us to. Um, it certainly was in Israel's interest, but that was the United States all the way. You know, listen, I I am not a fan of Israel. I am even less of a fan of Israeli leadership, but we can't blame all of our problems on Israel. We can blame the United States for its for its mistakes, too. Mhm. Well, on Libya I I I beg to because it was Gaddafi and him making the announcement that, you know, he's going

[51:51] to um unhook the um petrol Yeah, yeah, that's what I'm saying. from uh dollar. >> that's what I'm saying. That was a That was a threat to the American economy. We didn't need the Israelis to egg us on to overthrow Gaddafi. Well, I mean, the Israelis were also uh um purporting that he was funding uh so-called Arab terrorists and stuff. So, and and it Yeah. Bibi has been on record

[52:21] naming the seven nations. >> [cough and clears throat] >> They They've had a strong a strong grip on your politicians for sure for the last 30 years, John. Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course. No, I I'm not denying that American-Israeli interests intersect. I'm just saying that that these seven countries on the list, while some of them absolutely are enemies of of Israel, um the US had in their own national interests reasons to overthrow them. Understood. Okay. Now, my last question,

[52:53] a very concerning one. The Samson option. I mean, I'm I'm sure everyone's everyone thinks it's not going to happen. It's very far-fetched, but um with with them in power now, Bibi and everyone, I mean, you can't tell. So, I mean, do how how plausible do you think they would were they would use it if Israel believed that it was close to losing this very important war for itself or losing support from America on this war,

[53:23] >> [snorts] >> uh would they resort to that? The new use of nuclear weapons as a last resort. If the Israelis believed that the state of Israel was untenable because of, you know, Arab advances, for example, that there were Arab or Iranian threats that could lead eventually even to the end of the state of Israel. Yes, I think they would use the Samson

[53:54] option. You know, I I gave an interview yesterday in which I said that even a year ago I would have said that was ridiculous. It was it was it was a a doom uh ideology. And now I I have to say that yeah, I I believe the Israelis would would carry this out. If they really believed they were in threat of collapse, yes, they would take everybody out with them. And analysts say, even though the

[54:25] Israelis have never have never acknowledged the existence of a of a nuclear uh program or nuclear arsenal, analysts tell us that they have between 80 and 200 warheads. That's enough to kill everybody. Everybody. Yeah. Very scary. Uh one last uh question, your thoughts on the um rapid accumulation of all this this military build-up in Cyprus. You have Spain, you know of them. Um Spain has uh deployed um

[54:58] a uh frigate, and Italy has deployed um the another air air defense frigate. France has deployed the um aircraft carrier, what is it? Uh Charles de Gaulle, with uh frigate Languedoc, and advanced anti-missile anti-drone systems to Cyprus. >> [snorts] >> Greece has deployed um two frigates, Kimon and Psara. Kimon is considered among the most technologically advanced frigates currently in operational service worldwide. Four F-16 fighter

[55:30] jets and an Hellenic Air Force C-130 transport aircraft. The United Kingdom is sending over HMS Dragon. This is like uh What is it today? 9 days after the attack, the drone attack on their bases, they're still going to send the HMS Dragon. They have serious problem with their military. I mean, the finances with their military is down the hole. Netherlands also has sent over a frigate. And over the last over a matter of um just 6 days, this small island in the corner of the Mediterranean Sea has
