Title: The Deep Focus Show
Show: The Deep Focus Show
Date: 2026-03-06
URL: https://youtu.be/ZhztQM2tuP8
Duration: 52:00

---

[00:03] People are seeing day and night the slaughter. As I sit and do an an interview with you, people are dying. Bombs are exploding. Who knows who's next? Will they target our house? Will they target a few streets to the south? Will they target the studio that I'm in? Will they target Who will they target? Who will they kill next?

[00:35] Hi, I'm John Kiriakou and welcome back to Deep [music] Focus. Today, we're revisiting a friend of ours, Dr. Mohammad Marandi, who has long been a friend of the show and a friend of mine. He is a professor of Orientalism and English literature at the University of Tehran. He's speaking with us from Tehran, and you can only imagine what the city is like right now. Mohammad, without any further preambles, welcome to the show and thank you so much for taking the time to be with us, especially with everything that's

[01:06] happening today. Thank you very much for inviting me, and it's always a pleasure being on your show, John. Thank you. Mohammad, can you tell us what life is like today in Tehran? It seems like you have just relentless missile strikes and and ships firing from offshore and drones and rockets. What is day-to-day life like?

[01:38] Well, because a lot of the targets are civilian infrastructure, it is pretty terrifying for a lot of people. Uh we have a large number of double-tap strikes where they bomb a square or an apartment building or some high-rise building and then when people go and rush to help and first responders are trying to

[02:09] find survivors under under the rubble, they strike again. And this has happened quite often. One of my friends was a witness to Excuse me. Was a witness to a double-tap attack in Ferdowsi Square in the city center of Tehran. I spoke to a a journalist so a journalist for Dropsite News

[02:39] who's Iranian who lives in Iran spoke to me or sent me a message and told me that um he was in a square where the same thing happened and they killed 20 people because uh they went to help the the injured and they were trying to find people under under the rubble. So these sort of massacres are taking place. Uh the uh the United States and Israeli Air Force

[03:12] they carry out uh carpet bombing. I posted a a video of one of their uh strikes on a densely populated neighborhood in Tehran. It was utterly vicious. And um so uh these are very dark times for humanity. Of course it's an unprovoked war. You wouldn't know that if you watch CNN or BBC or read the Guardian

[03:43] or read in your Times or Breitbart or Fox News. You would uh think that somehow Iran started this war. Even though this is the third time that the United States engages in war with Iran. The first time was of course after it supported Saddam Hussein for many years and allowed it to obtain chemical weapons through Germany. Near the end of the war, they in order to save Saddam cuz back then he was

[04:15] their ally uh they entered the war uh destroyed Iran you attacked Iranian naval ships, destroyed Iranian oil platforms and down the airliner killing 290 civilians. The second time of course was 8-9 months ago when the Iranians and the Trump regime were negotiating and he was uh secretly conspiring to carry out a blitzkrieg attack. And of course this

[04:46] would be the third time that under the cover of negotiations Trump was along with Netanyahu planning an attack to slaughter Iranian people. But it if you look at the news any any major news outlet in the West you would never imagine that this is what's happening the unprovoked war where they murder leaders where they murder scientists, where they murder academics

[05:18] where they murder families slaughter entire families wipe out entire apartment blocks and they're doing it simultaneously by the way in Lebanon as well as we speak. So it's a regional massacre. But um people are very steadfast and I'm uh I'm quite stunned. I I I predicted this. I believe this would be the case but I didn't quite

[05:48] um I didn't think it would be like this every night. And sometimes during the day, but every night across the country people would gather in cities in tens of millions. And in Tehran they gather not in one place, but like in 20 or so places. Each hundreds or hundreds of thousands. And during the first two nights where these gatherings began

[06:19] I posted the the ones in Tehran like clip clips from different areas in Tehran so people could understand what if they put them together what a massive crowd it would be. And these people were under bombardment. The the the Trump regime was bombing them. They're firing missiles. And you in some of the clips you could see the air anti aircrafts or anti-missile systems uh working.

[06:50] But men and women stood their ground. I found that to be extraordinary. I've never seen such a thing before in my life. I have to agree with you and I want to add something too that it is a it is a war crime to strike civilian targets. It's a war crime to rocket a school and kill 160 children. It is a war crime to sink a a a naval vessel and then refuse to aid the survivors.

[07:23] So this isn't just you know so many of us yell about the Israelis. >> that naval vessel was not armed. It had gone to India for a >> That's right. uh a naval program that different countries were involved. And uh they effectively they were just men on the ship. And so they massacred them. They bombed many hospitals.

[07:53] On the first day they in Tehran they bombed a very large private hospital, the Gandhi hospital. They targeted the uh IVF clinic. So many women won't be having babies. They uh the whole hospital has been emptied. And it's private. I mean it's not I mean no hospital is allowed to be You cannot attack them, but it's not even state owned or it's not owned by government. And uh the massacre of the girls

[08:24] on day one, there are two massacres on day one. One is less noticed because of the the fact that the Trump regime targeted um elementary school girls, killing 168 of them and 10 or 20 I think 20 of their teachers and staff. And well, you know, which we shouldn't be surprised because uh the Epstein class, they rape and murder girls, so why not bomb them?

[08:57] And then a few hours later they uh bombed a gymnasium where young women were playing basketball. Where they were playing volleyball. And they massacred them, too. But that that was just day one. I mean it it's been going on every day and today they among many other places they bombed factories, a pharmaceutical factory I hear they bombed just about half an hour ago. There was heavy bombing about an an hour ago, half an hour ago. And apparently they uh they they bombed

[09:29] a pharmaceutical fan factory in in during those strikes. They bombed the state national stadium, the Olympic stadium in Iran uh this morning. The thing is that the thing is, John, that they failed to destroy Iran's uh military capabilities, the underground missile cities, the underground drone cities, the underground factories for missiles and drones because they're deep underground.

[09:59] And I think uh you know, after um 5 days and there's no letup on on the Iranian side, they're very frustrated, so they're taking it out increasingly on ordinary Iranians. And so we we're seeing more and more carpet bombing rather than uh it's becoming less targeted and more carpet bombing. And um in in these strikes, we we we've uh they've they bombed the national

[10:31] emergency service building. >> [clears throat] >> They bombed the Red Crescent, the main Red Crescent building. I mean, they're just like during the riots a month ago when their terrorists and their uh trained rioters were slaughtering people on the streets and slaughtering police officers, if you recall back then, they were targeting ambulances and fire engines. Now, back then, fire trucks. Back then, I was thinking, well, they are doing it

[11:02] so that the buildings would burn and that the injured would die. But now I'm thinking that that that is probably true true, but they were doing it for today so that Iran would have a a shortage of um uh ambulances and a shortage of equipment to put out fires for during the wartime period because they destroyed an awful lot during those two 2 days of riots. And in fact, they they just started uh bombing specifically targeting uh police

[11:34] stations with between 30 and 40 police stations hit just in the last 24 hours. Yes, they the police stations that they hit they're just local police stations that people for neighborhoods. So what they're trying to do by destroying all the public facilities and murdering public employees is to destroy the fabric of society.

[12:05] To break society apart. That's the objective of the Trump regime. And it's like what they did in Gaza, the same thing. You know, the and of course the Western media looks away just like back then. At first they would make excuses. They would blame the victims. When the first hospital was bombed they tried to pretend that the resistance did it the second time, they pretended that there were tunnels underneath, then the third time, and the fourth after three four times they just

[12:36] said forget it. We'll just look away. And it got so bad that if you recall they went into one hospital and unplugged the incubators and let all those infants die. And no one in the Western media cared. So this is where it is. This is where things stand. And right now as we speak they're doing the same in Lebanon. They're about to carry out carpet bombing in southern Beirut. They've told everyone to leave the city and you wouldn't know it if you watch

[13:07] Western media. There's no outrage or anything like that. So the West is indeed, John, Epstein land. It is it is the land of Epstein. It is the land of the Epstein class. And the the media is owned and controlled by the Epstein class. The state is owned and controlled by the Epstein class. There are no laws. There's no There's no international law. They've created the law of the jungle. This The

[13:37] people who take little girls and do what they do and did what they did, they are the ones who are now slaughtering people across the board in our region. And the entire Western media, they're they're like cheerleaders. Mohammad, [snorts] I want to ask you about about the supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei, his assassination and the killing of his virtually his entire family. I gave an

[14:08] interview recently in which I equated the assassination with with killing the Pope. If you kill the Pope, you're not going to bring down Catholicism. They'll just appoint a new Pope. If you kill Ayatollah Khamenei, you're not going to bring down Iranian society or Shiism. They're just going to appoint another another grand Ayatollah, another supreme leader. Am I Am I missing something as an analyst of the West and of Western politics?

[14:39] What What can you tell us about what the American and Israeli goal might have been in the killing of Ayatollah Khamenei? Well, first let me tell you a bit about him so that your viewers can know him a bit better. Because he's so highly demonized. Before the revolution, he he came from a very poor family. His father was a high-ranking religious scholar. He

[15:10] went to jail six times, I think, or at least he went to jail multiple times. I think it was six times, but I I have to check on that. And he was tortured. He went He was taken to the worst prison of all. That was um in central Tehran for the special prisoners. And after the revolution he was the youngest leader of the revolutionary council. But when the war started and Saddam

[15:41] invaded Iran at the behest of the West and the Soviet Union he went to the war fronts even though he had no military experience. He had no military training. And he so he went to the war front and learned how to fight while fighting. Then he was assa- there was an assassination attempt on him and he was badly wounded his right arm uh his he he he was not able to use it afterwards.

[16:12] And he was elected president. And during the final months of the war when the US entered the war on behalf of its allies Saddam Hussein and the war fronts became unstable he quit Tehran as president and went to the war fronts. I saw him in the war fronts in the southern fronts. That's where I saw him. During the really most the the real the most difficult days of battle. So and he was a target obviously he was

[16:42] the president. But he was always on the fronts and he he was a person who had no fear. And he was fluent in four languages Persian, Arabic, Azari, and English. Uh his uh knowledge of literature, Persian, Arabic, Azari, excellent. The the most famous Azari poet in contemporary history in the last few hundred years Shahriar was his close

[17:14] friend. And and he's from his father is from Khamenei, which is an Azeri city. So, his and his knowledge of English is something that I'm and I'm aware of personally. Uh he has read novels in English. He's read uh political material in English and uh so he's he's a he's an intellectual. He was an intellectual.

[17:46] And on the day of his assassination, the reason why he was at in his office, and his office is beside his home, is because during this whole period, he was telling people that I the people around him that he's not going to leave. And he said that uh many ordinary Iranians have nowhere to go. They're struggling. And so I'm not going anywhere. And that's how it's been from the beginning. So, if you recall all those

[18:17] childish stories that uh these Persian media outlets that are funded by the CIA and Mossad and other intelligence agencies, they spread rumors about him. Where they've taken him, where he's hiding, the whole time. The whole time, he was at home and in his office. There was no intelligence coup. There was nothing. There was just a a man who was not afraid to die and who wouldn't leave because others

[18:48] couldn't leave. So, by killing him, by murdering him, they made him a martyr. The most important scholar in in Shia Islam, the most important religious political figure in the entire world. Because he is not just the pope, but he's also a political leader. So, his

[19:19] followers and his supporters are outraged not just for the insult and the aggression against their religious leader, but also against their political leader whose beliefs were social justice and emancipating the oppressed across the world. That's why he always supported

[19:50] the resistance in Southern Africa against the apartheid regime. That's why he supported Cuba, even though it was a communist state. He He He gave it his support even though Iran had its own problems, its own economic problems. We had maximum pressure sanctions, but we have always been trying to support Cuba and Venezuela and Nicaragua. Why? Because they were considered to be oppressed under the the boots of imperialism.

[20:22] And the same is true with the Palestinian cause. And um that that is basically his sin. At home, his policy has always been He supported the private sector, but his policy cuz we've had different presidents with very differing economic and political views, he would always insist not to let the dispossessed and the uh financially vulnerable uh

[20:52] not to let them uh suffer, to to to support them, to and to strengthen them. And um and also um one of the one characteristic of of his followers is that they're now becoming increasingly like him. Now they are prepared to die. And this I think that probably the reason why every night on the streets of

[21:24] Tehran and other cities you see these people standing there as they're being bombed and refraining from moving is because they've been inspired by him. By the fact that he was not afraid to die. And so I think that this is going to make it even worse for the the Trump regime. And uh I think that uh the the steadfastness of the Iranians is going to

[21:55] increase even more than it would have if he was alive. Significantly more. And you know John, I said this already to a couple of people. I've had three instances of people contacting me, students who told me that they were involved in the riots. Not among they were not like those who are the terrorists and who are killing people or who are burning down buildings, but they were you know, they were uh

[22:28] they were excited and they were foolish and I I guess they did some stupid things. I I didn't ask. But um these three people, I don't know them well, but they they're from my faculty. Couple of them I don't think I even I've met before. I'm not quite sure. I mean, I've been thinking about it today because I spoke about it a couple of times and not I'm not quite sure. Um you know, but in any case two of them were quite emotional and um

[22:58] they were saying, "What can we do? What how can we make up for what we did? How can we help? And of course, I didn't know. I said, like, go speak to this person or that person and see what you can do. But these young people who were influenced by this Persian language media apparatus, which is huge. I mean, hundreds of television channels, thousands of uh trolls. They have troll farms everywhere. Just in Albania, thousands are working in one troll farm. Tens of

[23:29] tens of thousands of Iranians are on the payroll. And so, a lot of these kids, these young kids were influenced by this Persian language media empire, and who were influenced by these fake narratives of the West loving human rights and how all your problems belong are because of your government and your state and the Islamic Republic of Iran, they saw with their own eyes what the West does.

[24:00] And uh 100 years of books and uh philosophers teaching them in class, and political scientists telling them about the s- crimes of the United States and the Israeli regime, it couldn't have had this effect. People are seeing day and night the slaughter. As I sit and do an an interview with you, people are dying.

[24:30] Bombs are exploding. Who knows who's next? Will they target our house? Will they target a few streets to the south? Will they target the studio that I'm in? Will they target Who will they target? Who will they kill next? And it's all just by chance. If you look at the places that they bombed, often poor neighborhoods, working-class neighborhoods,

[25:01] middle-class neighborhoods, to the east of the city, to the west of the city, to the north of the city, to the south of the city, everywhere. They just slaughter. And so, these young kids, except for I I I'm sure some people are, you know, they'll they'll they'll always close their eyes to reality. But, the decent ones, they've all seen the reality of the United States. And so, I think that the the United States is going to have to wait another decade or two

[25:31] in order to uh create another generation of uh that has a a a you know, substantial young set of people who believe their nonsense. But, hopefully by then there will be no more American empire. My uh my hope is that it will end in the in a very short period of time. Mohammad, the administration here in the United States is very clear that it wants nothing short of regime change. At

[26:03] the same time, all Iran has to do to win is to survive. How do you see this ending? Uh Donald Trump said a couple of days ago that he could see carrying out these attacks for weeks. Well, attacks for weeks isn't going to change anything. Iran is an enormous country. It has 92 million people. Its economy is diversified even under sanctions. It's military is spread

[26:34] out. It has a navy. So, what does defeat for the West and victory for Iran look like to an Iranian? I've been informed today by a significant political figure that Iran plans to continue this war until the midterms in the United States. And uh they will they are planning to make the United States force the United

[27:06] States to leave. And the more this war escalates the darker it becomes for US allies across the region. For the Arab family dictatorships in the Persian Gulf this if it continues for much longer they won't survive. Remember, these are all dictatorships, family dictatorships. And the passport holders in these um small entities are sometimes 10 15% of the whole

[27:37] population. So in the Emirates you have 1.4 million people who are Emiratis, the rest, 10 million or so, I guess they are they're they're there. But if the state collapses, those slaves and in the indentured servants and the underclass they had they may have something to say about the future of the Emirates or Qatar or Kuwait

[28:07] and so on, and Bahrain. So if this war lasts much longer I don't see how these entities survive. None of them have a history, they don't they're not they're not civilization states. They don't have that sort of identity. None of them have an ideology. I mean, the Iranians are have Islam and of course Shia Islam has a particular uh essence to it.

[28:37] It supports the oppressed, it fights against the oppressor. It's it's steadfast. It has no fear of martyrdom for the right cause, to support the the the downtrodden. And, you know, the you this is is heavily influenced, of course, by the prophet, his son-in-law, and of course the the the martyrdom of Imam Hussein

[29:08] in Karbala, and his sister and the role that his sister played. I mean, if the American elites had read something about Imam Hussein, uh they would have thought twice before taking on Iran and axis of resistance. So, Iran will be steadfast, and they will be bloody because the this Epstein regime is ruthless. But, Iran will see this through.

[29:39] And uh it will do what it takes. And those proxies of the United States, they will pay the price if the United States keeps pushing, because they're all complicit. They all host US bases. US conspired against us through those bases. As we speak, they're using their airspace. As we speak, they're using their territory to fire missiles from the ground, from the surface, to to Iran. So, at the moment, the Iranians are focusing

[30:11] on US assets and assets linked to the US. But, it could get worse. If the Iranians if for whatever reason Iranians and the United States get into if if the war between them escalates, there will be escalation in Iraq. There will be escalation in Yemen. And I think that you will see the destruction of all the tankers that are now stuck in the

[30:42] Persian Gulf and you will see the destruction of oil and gas installations. And that will bring down the global economy. It will. It will. The Strait of Hormuz being just the start of of something like that. Muhammad, the Washington Post >> thing, John. Just one thing. Iran is shutting the Strait of Hormuz without destroying anything to warn the Americans that this is what is going to happen.

[31:13] And Trump now says that he's going to open the Strait of Hormuz. He He doesn't have a chance in the world to do it. His ships are far, far away out of fear of Iranian missiles. His planes are far away. That's why every time they bomb, they have to refuel and refuel again to get back because of Iranian drones and missiles. So, Iran is in is in full control. There's nothing that the United States can do about it.

[31:44] And therefore, if push comes to shove then you'll see the price of oil go to what? $200, $250 a barrel? And then when the markets crash then everyone will be wondering who did this. And even the MAGA people who obviously have no moral principles because forever war is okay hiding the Epstein files is okay

[32:17] even shooting white people in the face are okay. All that's okay now. But, uh, when they lose their jobs and their factories, the factories that they work at collapse and the businesses go bankrupt and the price of gasoline becomes unaffordable and they have no money to pay for the gasoline, I think they'll be trying to figure out who's behind this. Mohammad, The Washington Post asked a rhetorical question on its front page

[32:48] today. It said that Russia and China are close friends of Iran. Why aren't they helping? First of all, are they not helping? And second, can you comment on the current relationship, whether it's diplomatic or military, between Iran and Russia and China? There's no doubt that they are working together, they're cooperating. Iran is purchasing weapons and doing business with them. I I have no doubt. I don't know any details, but um the relationships between these

[33:18] two countries are quite good. And by the way, the Russians are benefiting big time. While Europe is paying extra prices a higher price for energy, and the price of gas is is going up even faster uh because of Qatar uh than the price of oil. And this is really bad news for for Western countries. I want to come right back to that, but first we're going to take a quick sponsor break. Thanks for bearing with us.

[33:50] Right now, we're watching two major flashpoints unfold at the same time. The takedown of El Mencho has thrown Mexico into chaos, and US-Iran tensions are escalating faster than anything we've seen in years, all the way to full-out war. Here's what most people don't realize. Every time global instability spikes like this, one asset surges, gold. It happened after 9/11. It happened during the 2008 financial crisis. It happened when Russia invaded Ukraine. And it's happening again right now.

[34:21] Well, there's a free report now called the Global Crisis Playbook that lays out exactly what's going on and what it means for your for It includes a step-by-step guide to moving your retirement into physical gold tax-free and penalty-free. Plus a seven-point checklist experts say every retiree should complete before the next crisis hits. I don't think you're going to hear this on the evening news, but if you have a 401k, an IRA, or any retirement savings,

[34:53] this is worth reading. Simply go to johnlovesgold.com and get your free copy. That's johnlovesgold.com or call toll-free 888-GOLD-053 to request your free copy. Healthcare in this country is heavily influenced by politics and large pharmaceutical companies. Politics change, access changes, and medications that were once easy to get can suddenly become harder to access.

[35:24] That's why you need a place like All Family Pharmacy. They're a licensed US pharmacy focused on access and transparency, not on politics. In most areas of life, we prepare financially, for security, for emergencies. Preparing your medicine cabinet should be no different. Instead of getting a small supply and running back every 30 days for refills, you can order ahead and keep a 3-6 month supply on hand. I'm talking about antibiotics,

[35:55] antivirals, ivermectin, mebendazole, NAD+, blood pressure medications, and more than 300 other prescription meds. You choose what you need on their website, a licensed doctor reviews your request, prescribes it if appropriate, and your medicine ships directly to your door. Healthcare shouldn't depend on politics or on corporate gatekeeping. Stock up today and save 10% on your essential medications. What about the nuclear program, Muhammad? And let me

[36:26] preface this. Uh the CIA said there was no nuclear program. They said it twice in two national intelligence estimates. The consensus of all of the American uh intelligence organizations was that there was no nuclear program. Ayatollah Khamenei issued a fatwa years ago forbidding the development of a of a nuclear weapon. Of course, the Israelis worked hard to convince the world that this was all a trick and of course there was a a nuclear weapon and ever since

[36:58] the 1990s Iran was only 6 months away from developing this uh this nuclear weapon. Well, a friend of mine made a comment the other day that that struck me as very important. We're not talking today about North Korea. Why are we not talking about North Korea? Because the North Koreans have a nuclear weapon. And no one dares challenge them. So, perhaps Iran should have been uh building a nuclear weapon. Or is that analysis incorrect, do you think?

[37:29] Well, you are correct. They've been lying through their teeth about nuclear weapons in Iran for decades. And the evidence is there, but you wouldn't know this if you watch Western media. Even Trump's opponents when it comes to Iran, they will tow the line. Uh we saw during his State of the Union address only time where all the seals clapped together and simultaneously was when he was attacking Iran. So, uh Netanyahu has been saying it for uh

[38:02] almost four decades. The Israeli regime has been saying it for more than four decades, the lie that Iran is on the verge of a nuclear weapon. And we saw that during the war where Saddam Hussein invaded Iran, where the West gave him chemical weapons and I survived two of those chemical attacks, as you know. Ayatollah Khomeini, the Ayatollah Khamenei's predecessor, gave a fatwa saying well, he said no, we will not produce chemical weapons.

[38:34] And of course the West tried to prevent Iran from even purchasing gas masks. But then Ayatollah Khamenei gave his own fatwa about nuclear weapons. And the IAA has which has always been in Iran and has for years carried out very intrusive inspections, they have never discovered any evidence that Iran at any point was attempting to build a nuclear weapon at any point. Because the United States says the US intelligence agencies say since

[39:05] 2003 and that at in 2003 the Ayatollah Khamenei gave a fatwa and so the a move to build a nuclear weapon stopped. The IAA doesn't even confirm that. And they're the ones on the ground. There's never been any evidence. But at least the US admits US intelligence from 2003 to just a while back when Tulsi Gabbard

[39:36] under oath said that Iran is not developing nuclear weapons, it's clear that Iran's program is peaceful. So Weitkopf is lying through his teeth. The US Secretary of State is lying through his teeth and Trump of course is lying as well. And then in any case Trump just 8-9 months ago said he obliterated Iran's nuclear program. And now Weitkopf is saying within a week Iran can make a weapon. It's obvious they're lying. This is 2003 all over again. The only difference is that Iran is not Iraq. Iran is not Libya. Iran isn't even

[40:08] Vietnam. And I think we've already seen that. The Trump regime thought that this would end in a day or two and that Iran would be in chaos. Well, we're approaching a week now. And Iranian missiles and drones are continue to hammer and strike and Iranian factories, underground factories continue to produce. And Iran still hasn't used its new

[40:38] technology. It's using old drones and older missiles for them almost exclusively. And uh in addition to that Iranians regional allies are still not fully engaged. So ask if there is ask if there is Iran has a lot of room for escalation. What would that escalation look like? I think the destruction of Would it and and would it would it include the the

[41:10] the use of Iran's uh hypersonic missiles? Which might not Iran has many uh wea- weapons systems that they have not revealed yet. And by the way, with regards to nuclear weapons, a lot of people in Iran argue that. And uh two senior Iranian officials have sta- said to advisors to the leader, one who is now the chair of the Supreme National Security Council, before he was the chair, Dr. Larijani said this and so did Dr. Kharrazi, who was a foreign minister for eight years

[41:41] under President Khatami. Both were advisors to the leader. And they both said, Dr. Kharrazi twice and Dr. Larijani once that um if there is an existential threat to Iran then Iran's nuclear posture will change. But look how patient Iran is. And how uh you know, you know, with regards to this it's not acting irresponsibly because a nuclear weapon creates all sorts of

[42:12] difficulties. All these dictatorships around Iran, Azerbaijan, Aliyev is an unstable dictator. In Kuwait, in Bahrain, in the Emirates, none of these Qatar, these are all family dictatorships. None of them are inherently stable regimes. Then they'll all want nuclear weapons. So that's one reason and of course there's the moral issue which is the main reason. That's why Iran never produced chemical weapons. So we you know, those who say that this

[42:43] fatwa has no meaning out of their ignorance of of Shia Islam and of Islam. Uh at least they can look back in history and see when we when the West was gassing us, we refused to gas their proxies. That's the difference between us and the West. Just as when they carry out genocide in Gaza, we support the Palestinians. That's the difference between us. When they strangle Cuba, we support the Cubans. When they take the

[43:14] Venezuelan nation hostage, we support the Venezuelan nation. When it comes to morality, it's actually the exact opposite of what the West does. Iran has always had the moral high ground. And Western propaganda has always been covering a reality that they are the ones who have no morality. Zero morality. And we saw it in Ayatollah Khamenei's March. We saw it in the way in which

[43:45] they conducted themselves and we see it uh when people are on the streets. Iran I know you know a bit of quite a bit about Iran because of people close to you. Iran is a very highly educated country. Yes, indeed. Iran it it there are more Persian language media outlets working against Iran than there are in Iran. Billions of dollars a year are being

[44:16] spent spent. Troll farms and and bots and billions of dollars. So Iran is always hearing the disinformation Iranians are always hearing the disinformation. Yet, despite all that, they come to the streets and remain steadfast under missile attacks. That's the difference between Iranians and Americans. Americans know nothing about Iran. They just hear what they They just know

[44:47] what they hear on CNN or Fox News, which is all rubbish. They're all controlled by the Epstein class. The same people who won't let us figure out who Epstein's real contacts are all the files that are hidden away and the redacted information. These are the That's the reality to this. I think people are waking up to this fact in the West. I'm I'm confident in that. But the propaganda about Iran is is is something much more difficult

[45:18] to deal with because first of all, people have been hearing this propaganda for decades and second of all, Iran is far away. It's this other. So it's easier to demonize it. At home, people are waking up. They saw Gaza. They know about Zionism. But when it comes to Iran, it's a bit too difficult for them to recognize that it's not what they thought it was. Mohammad, what about the prospects for a widening of the conflict? We We hear about

[45:48] drones or or missile attacks against against Cyprus or against Azerbaijan. Um whether they're true or not. They they Just in [snorts] terms of the propaganda value it serves to to broaden the conflict. Do you see it actually broadening and what are the chances that the Russians and the Chinese get more involved? Well, if you if you believe

[46:19] Tucker Carlson's sources and he is of course probably the most well-connected journalist in the world when it comes to US politicians and the US military. He says that in Saudi Arabia and Qatar they arrested Israeli Mossad agents who wanted to plant bombs and carry out explosions. So, obviously the Israeli regime has a vested interest in

[46:50] creating chaos and turning countries against one another and that's what the empire has done historically. Divide and rule. So, that is and the Iranians have denied firing drones at Aramco and I think they also said they did not fire anything at Azerbaijan. But but in any case if the war does expand for whatever reason these regimes won't last. Aliyev is a

[47:22] dictator. He'll fall. Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar if this continues for a while they won't survive. At least the regimes won't survive. And the Emirates will never be the Emirates again. None of these entities will ever be and this is huge loss for the United States because these are key proxies of the United States which the United States milks.

[47:53] They've been milking them since they've discovered oil and gas. So, the financial punishment being inflicted on the United States is not just the rise in the price of oil. It's the loss of this purchasing power that these regimes have which helped the US economy. And also and I'm not an economist, so I should be very careful not to

[48:24] push this too far. But also it can be very dangerous for the US dollar because of the petrodollar. Because this the the dollar which is already in serious trouble is is powerful largely because of the fact that petroleum and natural gas is bought and sold largely in dollars. So, there are lots of vulnerabilities for the United States.

[48:55] And these regimes, if they collapse I think it'll be much worse for the United States. And the United States can't control this area. They can't bring troops. But they cannot win a war on the ground. There's just too many There's Iraq. There's the resistance in Iraq. There's Yemen. These are big countries. Yemen already fought a 7-week war. And during those 7 weeks, every day we were hearing from Trump that they're winning. We're We're hearing from

[49:26] Hegseth that they were wiping them all out. And then after 7 weeks, Trump said, "They capitulated." And he walked away. And they didn't capitulate. They won the war. Yemen and Saudi Allah or what they like to call the Houthis in the West. Which is, in my opinion, more of a derogatory slur. But anyway the point is that the United States is no longer in any position to wage that sort of war and it will not

[49:59] win that war. And it will bring down the global economy and it will bring down the US economy for multiple reasons. So, yes, if the war expands and Ayatollah Khamenei said it will be a regional war and we're already seeing a regional war. But the United but the Iranians and their allies are not es- not escalating swiftly. They are they have they feel that time

[50:29] is on their side that they can escalate whenever they feel the need to. They control the the the situation on the ground and from the bombastic statements coming out of the White House and the Department of War it's already clear that they're in trouble. Talking all sorts of nonsense and saying I'm when Trump says I'm going to choose the next leader.

[51:01] The United States, you know, it's he's living in fantasy land and I think it's going to come crashing down and I think Trump is going to be devastated. This is the end of his presidency. Yeah, this is I I don't see how he gets out of this. I really don't. Not with any any face or honor. I I just don't see it. This was a terrible mistake. This was you know, one of the great crimes against humanity in the modern era.

[51:33] But since the United States and the Israelis are used to it in Gaza and in Lebanon and in Syria and in Libya, you know, it's not surprising. But the problem is is that they chose the wrong enemy. Mhm. I think that's right. Well, Mohammad Godspeed. I I hope that you are able you and your family are able to remain safe. All Iranians and

[52:04] >> [music] >> and I pray for a quick end to this thing. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you very much. We do what we have to do. It's whether one survives or not, that's not really relevant. What's important is to do what's right. And inshallah, hopefully we'll all do what's right. God be with you, Dad. Thank you and with you.
