In Iran's Eyes a Price Must Still Be Paid /Prof Mirandi & Lt Col Daniel Davis

President Trump has removed the deadline for his ultimatum that was supposed to have expired just hours from now. But the war continues on. Lots of talk about maybe there's a negotiated settlement in the works, maybe there's discussions back and forth, maybe there's not. Lot of disputes on that. But one thing we do know is that nothing has changed on the battlefield. That continues to pace. We're going to try to figure out just exactly what is going on here today. What does the Iranian side said? We've covered a lot about what the uh President Trump has

had to say and other Americans, but the question is how is all of this both the the imposition of the of the ultimatum itself as well as the reaction to that from the Iranian side because it takes two to tango as they say. So we've got to know the other side and there's nobody better for us to have that today than Professor Sad Morandi who is a professor at Thrron University and a former adviser to Iran's nuclear negotiating team. Uh professor, welcome back to the show. Thank you very much for having me. It's a great

honor being here. Well, listen, I I just got to ask real quick uh to the extent that you can, where are you physically located right now? I'm in the city of Tron. Okay. So, I'm at the studio. The question is, are you safe uh from from all this that's going on there? That was one of the first questions we wanted to know. Well, um I'm not necessarily safe um because no one is safe. They're targeting hospitals, schools. Uh the Red Crescent Society building was targeted. The um the the n national uh center for emergency services

was bombed. You have uh bomb squares are bombed. Uh homes are bombed and uh therefore no one is really safe. And there are double tap strikes that are carried out repeatedly. I posted one of them where a woman survived the first strike and was killed in the second. She was filming it. Uh but there's also an additional issue and that is that a verified account on Twitter uh which has a paid partnership it I think three days ago it said that they are fundraising a million dollars to kidnap me and they want me alive and

um Twitter refuses to remove that tweet and it obviously refuses to u shut down the count which is quite remarkable because it's basically condoning uh kidnapping, probably torture, and then death. Whereas I've had many tweets removed by Twitter simply because, for example, on multiple occasions, I would Post a a photo of Palestinian kids who were murdered or uh their bodies under rubble and their legs laying out and I would write on I would write Western civilization and then Twitter would say this is a misrepresentation of Western civilization. in order to be able to you uh

access your account, you have to remove the tweet. So, I would obviously have to remove my tweet. But, uh people can threaten me with death. All my loved ones are very worried. I'm not worried. I mean, I do what I have to do. But, uh but all my loved ones are very worried about my Yeah, I can certainly imagine. And uh we're really sorry about that. It's a it's a black mark on on uh just the modernity that anybody like that could could be threatened just because they're sharing a point of view. We don't have

any hesitation in having plenty of Israeli voices out there saying exactly what they think, American voices. Uh and it's reprehensible that somehow we want to silence any of those on the other side because as I argue that is absolutely vital to understanding and having any chance to bring any of these wars to an end or potential potentially even keep them from happening had we listened. We have to listen to all sides of this or we're never going to get anywhere. And toward that end, that's one of the reasons we're grateful for having you on today

because the timing couldn't have been better. Uh because we've had President Trump has been talking since first thing this morning on True Social and then he had some interviews in front of the uh uh the tarmac before he left on a trip somewhere. And then now then we have some additional information. Here's what he said uh just moments ago in I think Memphis, Tennessee. We're systematically dismantling the regime's ability to threaten America. They're not threatening us anymore. As commander-in-chief, it's my sacred responsibility to protect our country from all threats. For decades, Iran refused every opportunity

to renounce its nuclear ambitions. And in recent months, its own negotiators brag to our representatives about having enough material to make nuclear weapons. And that was supposed to deter me, but it it didn't deter. It made me more anxious and and it just made it much more important. This mission that we're all on together was much more important and we did it quicker. So, there's three things I want to ask you about in there. The the first one is how he starts this. He's characterized that Iran has been a threat to America for all 47

years of existence. Has Iran been a threat to the United States? The only threat has been the threat to Iran. The United States carried out a coup in 1953, installed the Sha then during the revolution as the Sha was gunning people down on the streets. Uh the United States, the US president at the time, Jimmy Carter, gave his back. In fact, he called the Sha the day after a day called Black Friday where large numbers of people were gunned down by the army. And he called him the next day to give him his full support.

Then after the revolution they gave refuge to the sha and that created great fear because They were worried that 1953 would be uh repeated and that's why students took over the embassy. They wanted to prevent another coup and then they found documents in the embassy where the embassy was indeed working to carry out a coup and then they supported Saddam Hussein in his war against Iran. They gave him chemical weapons. I survived two chemical attacks. So the history it if you look at the history it's the other way around but also you know uh Joe

Kent in his resignation letter he said Iran is not a threat to the United States. He said that Iran in his interview with Tucker Carlson said Iran was not developing a nuclear weapon. It was nowhere near developing a nuclear weapon. But uh Trump chooses to say these things to justify the atrocities that are being carried out against the Iranian people. the murder of our leader, the uh the murder of 168 school children on day one in the first strike which people here believe was intentional because in in first strikes are very carefully planned. I mean

if it was three after three weeks maybe some young officer in a rush to find new targets may have made a mistake but the the first wave of attacks are very carefully vetted and uh that school was not a new school it was very well known in any Iranian app or American app uh would clearly indicate that that is a school so people don't buy the argument that it was a a mistake and especially Since Trump tried to blame Iran, the victim, for carrying out the attack and pretending that Iran had tomahawk missiles, it of

course added insult to injury. But Iranians are used to this because Iran is always the victim. Yet, Western media and Western governments always present Iran as the threat. Whereas the real the reality is that Iran wants to be independent and Iran supports peoples like the Cubans who are being starved and supports the Palestinian people and of course that is unacceptable. And the the next thing that he said in there which is something that's repeated a lot in that first of all Iran is representing a threat perpetual threat. episode says the president and then he said

of this very specific thing and what gets to the heart of you mentioned uh Joe Kent who by the way he he'll be on our show on Thursday this week so we'll get to hear from him firsthand but in his resignation letter he said there was no imminent threat at all and so President Trump has and many of his allies have sought to really go out and reinforce it no there really was and what he said there he has said before which is that uh for decades Iran has refused to renounce nuclear weapons we gave

them every chance and they just wouldn't do it. Is that accurate? No, because even Joe Kent in his uh in interview, I didn't watch the whole interview, but I saw bits and pieces. Uh he did say that there is a fatwa and that fatwa was strictly adhered to. There's never been any evidence that Iran has been pursuing a nuclear weapon. Even the CIA admits that after 2003, Iran was not pursuing a nuclear weapon. The IAA does not acknowledge that it was pursuing one before 2003. So this is just uh propaganda and an excuse to justify

uh the the murder of u countless Iranians and the bombing of of hospitals, the the bombing of schools as as I said uh the bombing of Iranian national radio and television. Today uh a professor at one of the uh good universities he was uh he was murdered along with his family. Uh seven children were murdered LA the previous night in one strike. I think two three families put their kids brought their kids together so that they would to boost morale. All of them were massacred in Thran. And of course this story the same story sort

of story exists across the country. And what is the uh if if it's if there is such numbers, what is the current uh casualty count uh in Iran so far? I don't know. I I a few days ago is is like approaching 2,000 I think. I I don't know the number. I'm sorry. I should have checked before the show, but the number is but the number is large. It is probably double what it was during the 12- day war where Trump and Israeli regime carried out that war operation. So that's what President Trump is saying

right now. Then of course that was in concept in the context of by the way I basically because I was gracious instead of bringing the death and destruction onto Iran tonight which is when the deadline would have evaporated he now gave a grace period of five additional days and then he claimed in in his statement this morning that that was because there was a lot of negotiations going on between uh Iran and the United States over the last several days uh mediated by I think Egypt and Qatar and uh with Witoff and then unknown somebody

on the Iranian side, but he says, "Yeah, the Iranian side called me." That's what he said this morning. They called me. I didn't call them and they asked for this uh thing because I think we're really close to a negotiated settlement. Is that accurate? No. There there haven't been any negotiations. Iran doesn't trust WIKO or Kushner because uh they they lied about the negotiations that took place. Um they made comments and attributed those comments to the Iranian foreign minister and uh the mediator the Omani foreign minister he is never in his uh descriptions about the

negotiations he said nothing of the sort he he did not acknowledge anything that Kush that uh Witoff had claimed. So either Wickoff is just lying was lying to the people the public or perhaps he there there are those in Iran who believe that Wickoff and Kushner lie to the president. I have No way of knowing but uh the exact you know for example Wickoff said that spoke about Iran wanting to have nuclear weapons that the foreign minister saying that sort of thing that's not what the Omani mediator said and fortunately he was there and he

was the person passing the messages back and forth and he went on television in the United States saying that there was progress at the negotiating table and he and then the United States carried out that attack. But um uh the I think what is we can find out really what Trump's intentions were through the timing. It was right before the markets were to open and uh he declared a five-day delay and u surprise it's we shouldn't be surprised that after 5 days the markets close. So I think what he wanted to do was to bring

down the the price of uh oil and energy and in in the context of saying that this their Iran wants to make a deal and we're really close to it. The a lot of the media in the United States today is saying that what he is doing is he's exposing some rift inside the Iranian side that there's a rift between the Iranian government and the IRGC and it's unclear who's running the show. Trump implied this morning that he was talking that who his side was talking to uh is somebody that's almost like a secret inside

the government. Watch this. A top a top person. Don't forget we've wiped out the leadership phase one, phase two, and largely phase three. But we're dealing with the man who I believe is the most respected and the leader. Uh you know, it's a little tough. They've wiped out we've wiped out everybody. No, not the supreme leader. We don't much Well, nobody's ever nobody heard of the second Supreme Leader, the Sun. Are these direct? Nobody. We have not heard from the Sun. Uh, every once in a while you'll see a statement made, but we haven't. We

don't know if he's living. But the people that seem to be running it, and they seem that based on really fact because things they've said have taken place. Mr. President, again, Mr. President, I know you I don't want him to be killed. Okay. I don't want him to be killed. Mr. President, you deployed. Nobody wants to be that. Nobody wants that job right now, you know. So, he's claiming that I'm not going to tell you who we're talking to because if his name got out there, then the Iranians might even kill him. So, we can't

be saying that. Is that accurate? I don't know at all. I don't understand at all what he's trying to say because he he doesn't make any sense. We have a leader. It's Ayatah. He's the person in charge and uh we have an administration and we have uh uh Senior leaders. The lead the leadership is I mean the leadership in Iran is just as what what did you say the third layer first layer second layer third layer they're all gone and then he says Iran is also obliterated. Well if Iran is obliterated then why can't you

just open the straight of hormones? Everything that he says is is just nonsense. Uh and sadly the American people are propagandized and when it comes to the empire and especially a country like Iran which this the Zionist lobby despises because Iran is opposed to ethnos supremacism. Uh there's a consensus. So it doesn't all of the opponents of Trump, they are all going to basically run the same psychological warfare campaign against Iran because uh there's a consensus on animosity towards Iran and supporting this genocidal regime in Palestine. But uh the leader is he says uh he

he he's the most important person obviously he's in charge and uh there are no negotiations and the Iranians have said there are no negotiations. The foreign ministry has said so that is the administration and the speaker of parliament which the Americans are trying to imply that it's him. He's said that there are no no negotiations and Trump's track record of dishonesty I think is more than enough to uh indicate that what he's saying is nonsense and the timing is clear after the 48 hours ended uh would end. I'm Sure he's worried about the Iranian response

if he starts targeting Iranian um vital infrastructure and power plants which would be a crime against humanity in itself because and Iran said it will response by devastating the um the power plants on the other side of the Persian Gulf because all those regimes are complicit in the war. They're allowing the Americans to use their airspace, their territory to to kill Iranians. I think that is as a matter of fact we we have this soundbar here from uh I think this is before the day I think it was yesterday so before President Trump made this

announcement uh and this uh spokesman for the IRGC said this about the retaliation if US threats regarding Iran's power plants are carried out the following punitive measures will be implemented immediately the straight of Hermuz will be completely closed and will remain closed until our damaged power plants are restored all power plants as well as the energy and information and communications technology infrastructure of the Zionist regime will be extensively targeted. All similar companies in the region that have American shareholders will be completely destroyed. Now the first point he makes there he said that the hormones will

be completely shut down because right now it's it's it's open I guess for anybody who wants to do business in the Chinese currency or any other people that work out a deal specifically with with Iran that is going on to some degree right now. Is the implication here that if if the energy infrastructure is hit that nobody will be able to pass through? That's right. That's u as we speak and as you rightly point out a limited number of ships do pass through with Iranian consent and uh of course they there's a relationship going on

between their owners and the Iranian government. But if uh if these attacks are carried out the straight of hormones will be fully shut. The Israeli uh infrastructure vital infrastructure will be devastated. But also he said that all the infrastructure in the Persian Gulf area that where the Americans have or American citizens have some sort of share in it uh they too will be targeted in retaliation because these family dictatorships are all complicit in the war. And I think that is something that scared Trump. Doesn't mean that he won't do it. We'll have to see what

happens when the markets close on Friday if he's going to do this. And I think if if he does carry it out, it will be uh there will be devastation beyond belief. I think that that would lead very swiftly to a global economic depression far worse than 1929. And and what do you say to those people who say, well, I mean that's just what he says, but I mean we've been damaging so many of their launchers and according to Secretary of War Pete Hexath and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, they said like

90% of their launchers have been destroyed. So they have a little bit of of capability which we saw in Deona and Arad I guess over the Weekend but those are just lucky shots here but they wouldn't be able to do that. What do you say to that claim? Well, uh, they haven't actually, and this is information that I actually do have because I have spoken to someone who is in the know, the number of launchers that Iran has lost in this war, which is has been going on much longer than the previous war, twice as

long almost. and the the the enemy forces are much larger because the United States is a part of it and they have much more air power than the Israeli regime. The number of launchers that Iran has lost so far is much less than the previous war. And there are a number of reasons behind this, but a lot of the strikes that the Americans and the Israeli regime have carried out have been on decoys. And I've actually published I've actually posted a couple of the the examples of where they did bomb decoys. And but the the

underlying evidence is the fact that if you recall dur after a week or two they started publishing these charts where they said every day the number of missiles and drones are decreasing. But over the last week and especially today the strikes have been very severe. Uh the Iranians have been hitting left, right and center. And so obviously it's becoming sort of like Vietnam. I I was of course uh not born until 1966, but reading history books. Uh the Americans every night would give out numbers of the number of People they killed and and so on.

And I think someone once added up those numbers and it was like more than the entire population of Vietnam. So I think uh what we're seeing in the United States today is is not dissimilar. Well, then that kind of leads to the question, uh, how long can Iran continue on with this? Because there's no question that they're taking a significant pummeling, uh, even with limited uh, energy going out through the straits, it still is limited to what Iran can sustain. How long can Iran maintain this with this relentless bombing from the United States and Israel?

Well, actually Iran um because it it began preparing itself from for and what it believed to be an inevitable US war against the country since the occupation of Iraq. So they've been developing their own indigenous technology for drones, for missiles, and they've been building underground bases across the country. So Iran has drones and missiles to last for years and the factories that produce them are also deeply underground. In fact, the reason why the American armed forces and the Israelis are targeting civilian civilians and civilian infrastructure is because they're frustrated that they can't destroy Iran's key

assets. In fact, today they Iranians released a clip of an underground base for its anti-aircraft systems. So Iran has its Defense capabilities are all deep underground and they will bring them to the surface whenever they need them. And so the Iranian air defenses, they are largely right now being protected underground until the day comes when they feel that they have to be out there in large numbers. In fact, the navy is the same. Trump keeps saying he's destroyed the navy. The navy that Iran needs to fight a war, it's all underground. It's all in tunnels

alongside the coast of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Uh the these are speedboats that launch missiles and the Iranians are leaving them for when the time comes that they need them. So uh Iran's military capabilities are very much intact and the popular support for the war I think is clear for everyone to see. Every night you see millions of people gathering on the streets in different cities uh defending the calling for the armed forces to attack, supporting the government, supporting the state, supporting the leader. On my way here uh I passed through

three or four different gatherings um just to get here. Gatherings of large numbers of people on the street the streets. And in fact, uh, the Americans and the Israelis bombed these gatherings. And this is something I don't think has ever happened before in history. And I was witness to one on last Friday during the month of Ramadan. On, the last Friday of month of the month of Rabb Ramadan, you have Internationals Day. It's a it's a it's a day for and to defend the Palestinian people. Every Friday on the last Friday of Ramadan, they have

this. And so people in Tehran and across the country in every city, they gather to show solidarity for Palestine. And as they were on the streets, and there's footage of this, I posted it on my Twitter account. They bombed it. They bombed the gathering that I was in. And a woman was murdered, but it you didn't see it anywhere in Western media. They also bombed it three, four nights ago, I think. um uh a gathering of people in the city of Anzeni in the north of Iran. I posted footage of that where people are there

and uh the city of Hamadan also during a funeral where people had gathered to pay their respects for martyrs of the war. So they bombed these gatherings and no one in the west in western media says anything about it even though people like myself have constantly putting been putting that out. So these bomb demonstrations, popular demonstrations, it's it's it's unbelievable. Uh yeah, there's not a lot of that. And of course, that's uncomfortable for many Western viewers. And so that's why they don't like to talk about that because well, only Iran is the bad guy. So

I don't know if you knew that, but only you guys do bad stuff. We actually don't. Um obviously tongue and cheek. And I've got an example of that here in just a second. But before we do, I want to ask you what uh one of the other things that's really in the news right now has a lot of people paying attention. Uh and that is Carg Island. Of course, here's the Gulf of Oman, the straight of Hormuz, and then way up here in the north is Car Island. The idea is many people are saying maybe

we need to uh take this over. In fact, right now there are two uh USS Boxer and USS Tripley strike groups that have F-35s V22 uh tiltwing Osprey aircraft along with some other capabilities and helicopters that make this a possibility that maybe the US is going to take Car Island. But as you can see on the map right here, uh unlike what Lindsey Graham said over the weekend, this is not exactly like taking uh the island during the Japanese the war with Japan in World War II. Uh that one was out in the middle of

the Pacific Ocean with no help. This one, as you can see, is right off the coast of uh of Iran. Now, I wonder if you can tell us and my understanding is that Car Island was actually taken under some fire and had some difficulties during the Iran Iraq war. And so to what extent did the Iranians prior to this uh have some kind of defensive capabilities and could they withstand a marine attempt to take this island? Well, first of all, I was a combatant during the I was a volunteer during Saddam's war against Iran, but

uh you know more much more about military affairs than I. So I have I should be very cautious speaking in front of you. But um it really doesn't make sense. Clark Island itself, I mean, what Trump wants to do doesn't make sense. Clark Island, first of all, it's a very flat island. I've never been there, but I'm told that it's very flat and uh it's very close to the coast, as you rightly point out. It doesn't have oil itself. Uh the the oil is transported by uh to to to the island. Um and uh there

the ships uh uh it's transported to the ship so that they can sail and export it uh in different parts of the world. Big tankers can use this island and so that is the advantage of it. However, let us assume that Trump attacks the island. As you rightly pointed out, geographically speaking, it's not really a good place for any occupier and it can be it hit easily with missiles and drones from uh Iran's u from the shores from from the Iran itself. And but but let's say they did take the island and so what I

mean all they would do is they would Iran would stop exporting oil from the island. That would only make the global economic crisis energy crisis worse. It's not going to lead to the opening of the straight of Hormos because the island is very far away from it. So it doesn't make any sense. On the other hand, if Trump was to carry out an assault on the straight of Hormos to open it, u of course there the Iranians have defenses, but Iran doesn't control the straight of Hormos from the shore. It's not like the 19th century

or the mid 20th century or even the late 20th century. Iran's missile and drone capabilities are hundreds of kilometers away from the Straight of Hormos and those boats, those speedboats that are in those tunnels, they're not in the Straight of Hormos. So if the United States escalates the war, the Iranians can easily destroy all the tankers in the Persian Gulf and they can also destroy the oil and gas facilities that produce the the oil and gas that's exported from the straight of Hormos. So if we have an escalation that would lead to the destruction of

all the infrastructure if that happens then there are no ships to take the oil or gas which itself would be non-existent. So, this map here, where do you say the uh the speedboats would come from to the in this map right here? They have bases and they're underground. So, obviously I'm I wouldn't be privy to them, but they have they they've showed the bases on Iranian TV during the the last few years many times. They don't say where they are but the bases are alongside the shore the coast of the Persian Gulf and also which

is to the north of the straight of Hormos and then in the uh Gulf of Oman which is to the south or south let's say east of the straight of Hormos and it's not just the the naval forces it is the drones it is the missiles I mean after all how is Iran pounding US assets in Kuwait and the Emirates and and Saudi Arabia and uh and Bahrain. They're not they're not firing them from the shores of the Persian Gulf. They're firing them from deep inside Iran where they have all sorts of decoys and underground

tunnels and underground bases. So, they would do the same thing. And uh so if if Trump escalates, the Iranians will escalate. If if they escalate, that means all the infrastructure will be destroyed and then we'll have a global economic uh depression which uh cannot be reversed. I mean right now despite the damage that's being done to the global economy if Iran's demands are met uh and they open the straight of Hormos the the go and the LNG and the fertilizers and the petrochemicals can flow but if the war escalates and all the infrastructure is destroyed

and the ships are destroyed then there's nothing there will be nothing now and what about Iran because would they not then be cutting their own economic throat as well and would they not also be fatal? Well, for Iran, it wouldn't be fatal because Iran has been under sanctions for decades. It's it's much less reliant on these exports than are the other countries in the Persian Gulf region. But of course, it would Iran. It would be catastrophic for the global economy, but it would be terrible for Iran. But for Iran, this is a fight for survival.

For the United States, it's a war of choice that's being carried out as um as Joe Kent said, uh because the Israeli uh the Israelis wanted because the Zionist lobby wanted. So for them, it's a war of choice. But for Iran, if we don't fight this war uh with everything we have, then our survival is no longer assured. I see. Okay. Well, certainly from the survival standpoint, uh, taking lots of losses is going to happen one way or the other. So, let's hope we don't get to that point. It's sort of like it's sort of

like mutual assured destruction, Matt, where they say, well, if you're going to destroy us, then we just we'll destroy you, too. Brad, that's unfortunately there's a logic there which is problematic for literally everyone. Nobody would win in such a scenario. And let's hope that we can avoid that. Now on Sunday before Trump announced that he was uh at least had postponed the the image uh the results of this deadline that he had given on CBS News, US Ambassador Mike Waltz uh US UN ambassador was asked About something you mentioned a second ago and they said

wouldn't it be a war crime if you attacked uh energy infrastructure that was primarily for people? Watch how he gets around it. How do you ensure that this doesn't constitute a war crime which the UN Secretary General said an attack on energy infrastructure could be? How do you make sure this is not mass punishment for innocence? Well, I think you know I would encourage and will encourage the secretary general to point out uh the 20 to 30,000 uh Iranians that the regime massacred at scale the civilian infrastructure that they're attacking. But how do you and

when you but when you have a regime that that has its grips in so much critical infrastructure that's using it to further not only the repression of its own people to attack its neighbors uh and in contravention of UN sanctions to march towards a nuclear weapon then that makes those legitimate targets. So basically he says, "Well, because Iran killed a bunch of people, I can do whatever I want here. But anyway, that doesn't matter because Iran was going to a nuclear weapon. Therefore, every target inside of Iran is now a legal authorized military target." What

do you say? Well, first of all, he's referring to the riots that took place on January the 9th and 8th. And of course, those are fake numbers. 3,117 people died. They all have uh their IDs Are have been announced, but they are the culprits, not Iran. They are the ones who funded the terrorists and tried to carry out a coup in Iran. Um 200 police officers and more than 100 uh volunteers who were protecting the streets were murdered by these terrorists. Um, Israeli Channel 14, which is close to Netanyahu, admitted that the arms were brought

into Iran by foreign intelligence agencies and that led to the deaths of hundreds of police officers. And of course, these terrorists killed ordinary Iranians too. So, uh, the West and Msad carried out this semi coup, this insurrection, and then they blamed the Iranians whereas they are the ones who are responsible. And in the United States, some woman who's turning to the right in her car gets shot in the face and they justify it because they say she didn't turn to the right f, you know, fast enough. So, she was a threat to the police officer.

Hundreds of police officers were killed and more than a couple of thousand ordinary people were murdered because of these people and they have the audacity to blame Iran simply because Western media conforms to the narrative. But in reality, just as in this war, I mean, it's like it's like what Trump said about Iran having took Missiles and firing it them at their own school. These narratives are all dishonest. Iran from 1953 till now is essentially a victim of the United States. And yet the United States is eternally demonizing Iran so that it can do what

the Israeli regime and the Zionist lobby wanted to do. And now it is justifying crimes against humanity. Uh because Iran is evil and we're all evil and our intentions are horrible. Uh but you know, our graveyards are full of dead people because of the United States since 1953. and uh American graveyards are not full because of uh Iran. And right and on that point what what do you say to the nose that says yes well there are some there are there were 600 documented American military that were killed by Iranbacked Shia groups during the Iran

Iraq war especially in the 2005 2006 era and they blame Iran for having provided some of these EFPs and some other kinds of materials that the Shia then used to kill Americans. How do you say to that? Well, let me let me give you an example and I think that would be very helpful. The United States supports terrorist. Sorry, we have Can you see me? I can now. Sorry, we had you froze up there for a second. Okay, so the United States supported terrorist groups and continues to support them uh against Iran. One is the

MEK uh which killed 17,000 Iranians during the 1980s and they fought for Saddam Hussein against the country. They support or Wahhabi groups in in near the border with uh Pakistan. They support separatist groups, terrorist groups in Iraqi Kurdistan which kill people on a regular basis. This is inside Iraq. But in Iraq, the United States illegally occupied the country and the Iraqis were resisting. It's obvious that the Iranians consider the Iraqi resistance against US occupation as legitimate. So there's no reason for the United States to complain about Iran's role. The the problem was the US occupation.

Just like in Lebanon when the United States sent forces to Lebanon and occupied the country as the Israeli regime took the capital. There would be resistance is natural. So the United States is denying everyone agency. All these countries that are under US occupation, they're denied agency and it's all Iran. You know, no one in this region accepts that narrative. But for ordinary Americans, because they're so heavily propagandized, uh I think a lot of them obviously believe in narratives. Even in the day and age where Americans no longer trust the mainstream media, when it comes to

Iran or perhaps China too and Russia as well, maybe not to the degree that of Iran because of Zionism, but um people even though they don't trust the mainstream media, but somehow they do believe all the terrible things that Well, they do. As a matter of fact on on the view a television show here in the United States uh of a lot of uh newsmaker women come on and share different views on different things. They went last weekend and they said well listen they were debating whether we should go to the war. One side said

we shouldn't have gone to war with Iran. The other side said we should and and the one that said we should said well look there's a few things we all agree on. Number one that Iran is trying to kill Americans and they always have since the beginning. Then number two that they're going after a nuclear weapon. I mean we can all agree on that. And then there's one side disagreed that well but we shouldn't gone to war over it. But they do agree on that. That was I guess if you could say that that was

uh uh exploited uh to I guess it was yeah this Sunday also also u by Mike Waltz in a different interview where he's saying that look this is all about the nuclear weapons program and Iran is guilty. Iran has been marching towards an ICBM. They've hidden some of that development under a so-called space program. I don't think anybody expects to see any Iranian astronauts on the moon. Uh but that's what they've been hiding their booster production in contravention of sanctions uh behind for some years. They have uh Developed a re-entry capability with these inter uh

immediate range missiles and all you have to do is marry up the two with a nuclear warhead. So that's it man. I mean Iran is coming. They're going to go after all these European cities, Paris, London, everybody's going to be targeted and pretty soon it's going to be America mushroom cloud. What say you? Yeah, exactly. And it's very orientalist and quite racist because Iran is not planning to go to the moon. I mean, why why wouldn't Iran have ambitions in in in technology and and putting satellites into orbit instead of having to pay the Russians

always huge amounts of money to put Iranian satellites in orbit? Why doesn't Iran do that? Iran makes its own satellites. And Iran also is one of the leading countries in nanotechnology. People can look that up. Iran is it was a couple of years three four years ago like the third or fourth most advanced country in nanotechnology. So Iran in high-tech industries is actually despite the sanctions it does pretty well but uh you know for people like them we're a bunch of camel jockeyies and and that sort of thing. So they fail to understand and comprehend

that uh the Iranian Iran is a very sophisticated society. We have a sophisticated People, a sophisticated state, a sophisticated constitution. But uh if you look at uh you know western media, it's just a bunch of mad mullas, whatever that means. I mean our president is a heart surgeon. Our speaker of parliament uh is a professor at my university. The uh chair of the supreme national security council who was just murdered a few days ago, Dr. Lajani. He is also a professor of western philosophy at my university before he was murdered. I mean I don't think

American leaders have those sort of resumes that Iranians do and they're not mull whatever that is and the leader himself is a high ranking u academic in in religious studies in the seminaries and he's been teaching high ranking students for 20 years but none of that is appreciated. the armed forces. They are generals and uh and and officers who go to universities just like uh in in the United States. But they they use these tropes uh of mad mulla. I mean if you go look at parliament 99% of the MPs are like engineers or social

scientists or physicians. If you look at the cabinet it's the same. You may have like one uh Religious figure in the cabinet, three or four MPs in parliament, but they use these tropes of mad mullas because by repeating them, they make ordinary Americans feel that this is a dangerous place and they're evil people and they they live in a world like they live in the past, whereas uh it's, you know, completely f both have mutual friends who've traveled to Iran repeatedly and is a wonderful place to be and the wonderful people who live here and

Iranians are exceptional. I mean, when the US is firing missiles at demonstrators, you see teenagers, like 16-year-old girls who could be at home doing what teenagers do, standing on the streets, standing their ground, none of them running away. I I posted footage of this as I did see that actually. Yeah, they don't. Yeah, no one you would think we're nearly people would just scatter to the winds. It said no one even slowed down. We That was amazing. I mean, and so when I when people tell me should stop doing interviews because they have they want

to kidnap you and torture and kill you, I say, how can I do such a thing when that 16-year-old girl is standing steadfast on the streets under US missile strikes? So you know these are courageous people sophisticated highly educated but uh the The you know they're caricatured in the west and through that caricature anything is justified and mass murder and slaughter and crimes against humanity are supported and you know legitimized not really legitimized but given some sort of aura of legitimacy. Certainly uh you mentioned about the resumes of of cabinet members uh on the Iranian

side and uh I guess you're implying that maybe it's not so much on the US side. Well, there was something also that happened over the weekend which um I I I just cringed when I saw it and I can I'd be really like to hear your reaction to it because uh talk about kind of underestimating your opponent. Here is uh Scott Bessant, Treasury Secretary, trying to explain to an American media how we have outjujitsued Iran by uh taking sanctions off of some of the oil containers. On Friday, the Treasury Department lifted sanctions on Iranian oil

stored on tankers. A move that would effectively allow Iran to get more than $14 billion of oil revenue. Hold on. Why is the US helping to fund a country that it's currently at war with, Mr. Again, Kristen, that Iranian oil was always going to be sold to the Chinese. It was going to be sold at a discount. So, which which is better, Kristen? The se the which is better? If they were if oil prices spiked to $150 and they were Getting 70% of that or oil prices below 100, it's better to have them where they

are now. And to be clear, we had always planned for this contingency. about 140 million barrels are out on the water. In essence, we are jiu-jitsuing the Iranians. We are using their own oil against them. We are alujitsuing them to the tune of they get $14 billion and they get to sell their oil and we can't. Um, can you explain that to me? It's impossible to explain. You're you're you're asking me to answer a question that a genius would have to find the answer. And it's not just the Iranians. I'm sure they're outwitting the Russians

who are also selling their oil at much higher prices at a time when the United States is in at conflict with the Russians. That and you know they they say that they have contingency plans. They were supposed to win this war like in the first day or two. It was supposed to be over. I mean it was illegal. They carry out mass murder. They murder the leader. I mean, it's basically the law of the jungle now in the world that we live in and they'll come to ru that. But uh they uh it was supposed

to be over. So why is it that now we're into the fourth week? Day and night the Iranians are hammering the Israeli regime. They're destroying US assets. Whenever when the Israelis struck the Iranian gas facilities, Iran struck back much harder at the Kataris and the Saudis and the Amiratis. Uh so What is why is was this the contingency plan? And the Iranians are selling their oil. They've been selling their oil for years now and the the Chinese are buying it. Others are buying it. The Iranians don't have that much oil on the sea. But the

point is that uh you are you know They've created a situation where they're so desperate to bring down the price of oil that they're at least theoretically helping the Iranians export more oil. It doesn't make any sense. But what does I mean if you you you put a number of things that Trump said uh already. He's one day he says we obliterated them. Then he says I'll give you 48 hours to open the straight. Well, if you've obliterated them, then how why would you need to threaten them to force them to open it? And then

he says that we've killed all the leaders, first layer, second layer, third layer, and now he's negotiating. And he said there's no one to talk to. And now he's saying we're talking with the the leadership. It doesn't nothing adds up. And I think in this uh this the Trump regime in this respect is infinitely worse than previous US uh uh administrations. It's just they can say anything that they want. Uh listen, I want to show something on the screen here. Uh and I can't imagine that this is not paid attention to in Thran among the

leaders. This on the Left side of the screen here was uh oil was up somewhere just about $100 uh I guess yesterday and then as soon at 723 this morning when President Trump made that announcement you had this sharp drop uh went all the way down uh a couple of times to 80 $89 initially but you see now it's it's triggered around at 88. It's down quite a bit. That has to motivate President Trump a lot. That's one of the reasons I'm confident that he made this uh so-called decision to delay by 45 days. I'm

sorry, by 5 days. Now, imagine and and I'd like your opinion anyway as to what the Iranian government leaders may be thinking. If Trump's statements that he has postponed this attack by itself caused oil to come down to this level here, what's going to happen in 5 days if he said, "Okay, but now I'm going to go ahead and do it." Because one might imagine it would go up considerably higher than this. And if what you describe happens that the Iranian side says, "Yeah, it's it's a scorched earth deal. It is it is mutually assured

destruction. We're going to make sure not just that this hormuz gets shut down completely, but that no oil can even be produced in the region for some period of time." One would imagine this would go through the roof. Uh how does that influence Iranian decisions? Well, even as you and I are speaking, every minute the the shortage of energy, LNG and or and prochemicals and fertilizer is growing. So we they can manipulate the markets up to a point, but at some Point uh they're going to be facing a crisis. So if we if we say

that 20 million barrels a day are not leaving the Persian Gulf or going through the straight of hormones every day, let's say roughly 20 million, maybe a bit less, but let's say 20 million. Forget the natural, forget the LG and and everything else. So that means in 5 days that's a that's 100 million barrels of oil. That is going to make things even worse. And then so the manipulation can only work for a period of time. I can always say that you know I can pretend that everything is fine but you know things are collapsing

in the background but uh but then if Trump escalates the Iranians are going to escalate too and then then the catastrophe happens because there will be no more oil. So every day the the the the the shortage is growing, but there is hope that if Iran's demands are met so that there won't be any more wars waged against Iran in the future that the markets uh was I cut off? No, no, you're fine. You're good to go. Okay. So the markets will u be able to gradually normalize let's say in a year or two. But

if there if everything is destroyed, then there's no hope for normalization and we're going to have a global economic depression. So now, let me ask you something. I know we're running short on time here. Let's say that President Trump looks at that chart the same way you and I did and said, "I we can't afford this. We can't Afford to have this thing shut down this long. We're going to have to do whatever we do to end it." I think it's pretty clear there. There is no military solution. You can't bring enough firepower in and

open the straits. just not feasible, especially with no ground force to even threaten any kind of an invasion. So, absent that, you're going to have to do something negotiating wise to end this. Now, what what do you would you say if President Trump tries what many are advocating that he do in the West and says you just declare victory like he did with the Houthies in the Red Sea last year, just declare victory and walk away and then everything will be fine. Will the Iranians then say, "Okay, well, we beat you. You left." And each

side has its own narrative, but then the the Gulf can open back up and we can get back to that 20 million barrels a day going through. Uh the Iranians won't open the trade hormones. it won't go back to normal because they have to have asurances that its neighbors will no longer be put uh there will no longer be platforms through which Iran can be attacked because we just went through a war eight nine months ago and we don't want the Trump to rearm himself and prepare himself and carry out another war in six months

or a year from now. So the the Iranians are saying the facts on the ground have to change so that we feel secure. Our allies have to feel feel secure and we have to have reparations and these Arab countries in the Persian Gulf who are complicit in the in the aggression against Iran, They're going to have to pay reparations. So until all these issues are resolved, uh the straight of there won't we won't be going back to normal. So, so even if President Trump tries this uh, you know, this this claim that, "Okay, well, I

just won or they agreed fill in the blank. He makes up something up and just says, "All right, we're finished. We're going to pull all our troops back. We're going to stop attacking. We're going to make sure Israel does the same." You're saying that Iran itself won't stop. Would they still keep on attacking? Well, uh, I know that the straight of hormones will remain closed. And the reason is clear because we already went through a 12-day war and then they just regrouped and did it again. So, if Trump just walks away and then one year

from now, 6 months from now, as Joe Kent said, the Zionists tell him, "Now's the time. They're now falling. They're collapsing." And then he comes back and wages another war. you know, people in Iran will will will tell the government, why did you let this happen? So, the Iranians are going to keep the pressure up until its key demands are made. And that means that Iran's security is assured not by Trump's signature because his signature means nothing to us. We negotiate with him and then he conspires to kill to attack us. He already tore up

one agreement twice. He negotiated with us and then conspired and attacked us. So his signature is worthless and the signature of everyone in the Trump regime is worthless. So the facts on the ground have to change for the Iranians And if those facts if the the facts on the ground change and reparations the issue is resolved and Iran's and its its sovereignty is respected and its allies are not harassed because right now the Israelis they have a ceasefire in Gaza, they have a ceasefire in Lebanon, but they're killing people. They've been killing people every day

for the last, you know, year or two during a ceasefire. All that has to end. It is, it can be resolved. But the United States, Trump can't have his, hey Kate, too. He cannot kill people, murder people, and then just walk away and then expect everyone else to say that's then we're so from a certain perspective, it certainly is logical that the Iranian side would want all of those things. But the the difficulty politically of having any possibility for the United States to accom accommodate any of those things, it's not even the realm of of

possibility at this time. There's no way President Trump would do that. Is the I can only imagine that the Iranian side is well aware that their asks are way too high for anything. Does that imply either that that's negotiable and they can negotiate something down or does it imply that they're saying no, we know that there has to be a lot of pain for a long time on America. So we may have to go like this for a year, possibly even more with keeping the paint on there and only then might the US be willing

to to Compromise, meaning that they could say we're going to endure years of more bombs from the US. Is that which of those things do you think might be the case? Well, Iran is prepared for a long war and they've said that, but I think they believe it's achievable to do it sooner because the Iranians are already imposing facts on the ground. US bases in the Persian Gulf are being destroyed and these countries, these Arab family dictatorships. They're seeing what Iran can do. And when the United States ultimately wants to walk away, we'll still be

here. And so will they if their regime survive. So they're going to have to change the facts on the ground. They can no long Iran will no longer accept them having these bases where Iran can be attacked from. And without these regimes, the United States cannot wage war against Iran. It is using their airspace. It's using their jet fuel. It's using their territory. It's using its own capabilities that they've put in place in these countries to launch the war. So if these regimes redefine their relationship with Iran and the United States to be peaceful and

not to be a place of conspiracy against Iran, that would be a key issue that's resolved and that can be resolved if if if they if they decide to make that decision. and reparations. These regimes have more than enough money to give reparations to the Iranians for all the damage and destruction that they brought about. But they at least on the near term over the weekend there was more reporting at least in Western media that Saudi Arabia and I want to say it was UAE I think are actually actively considering ramping up their support for

the United States and Israel against Iran. So instead of recognizing that it's a cost and and having some kind of negotiated solution, it almost feels like they're moving in the opposite direction to try to say we're going to join the fight to compel uh Iran to back down from their demands. How do you see that? Well, the UAE has a passport holding population of 1,200 300,000. They're in no position to do anything and they're entirely vulnerable. Saudi Arabia has already lost a seven-year genocidal war against Yemen. And Yemen today is much stronger than it was.

And Yemen still hasn't entered the frey. You have the resistance in Iraq. And Yemen in Iraq, it's they're not pushing very hard because the axis of resistance Iran and its allies have not escalated. So Saudi Arabia is not really in a position that it can confront Iran. And the UAE is to be very blunt. It's a joke. And last question I got for you. Uh and I appreciate your time. We'll let you go after this. Uh so far you mentioned the Houthis Ansar al-Islam in Yemen. They have not entered this frey here and and they

were actually a lot more active Especially earlier in the uh the Israeli war against the Palestinian people in Hamas, I'm sorry, in in the Gaza Strip. But they have given warning that they may do so in the in the current time. Now part of the explanation in the west is that well they were so heavily damaged by the US last year and and a bunch of attacks by the Israeli side that they have lost most of their capacity and now they're just going to it's basically a show of force but they really don't have anything.

Another argument says no they're just actually waiting until their influence could be decisive in the war here. What do you say? Yes, they're definitely much stronger than they were last year. They've been rebuilding and they have new technology. Uh but Iran and the Axis of resistance, they want to manage the escalation ladder. I mean, if Iran wanted to destroy all the tankers, it could have done so by now. If it wanted to destroy Saudi oil cap infrastructure and gas infrastructure, it could have done so. But that's not the objective. Iran didn't even start the war.

This is a war of survival for Iran. It's the United States and Israeli regime that are launching this murderous war. The Iranians are managing it. They're retaliating in order to prevent escalation. But if there is escalation, then the Iranians will hit harder. Then you'll have the entry of Yemen. Then you'll have the entry of or a greater Presence of the Iraqi resistance. But it is not the Iranians that want this. It is the Israeli regime in the Zionist lobby as Joe Kent has said so as he's admitted this repeatedly during the last few days and

uh therefore you know Iran wants to have peace. It wants to export its oil. It wants to do trade with its neighbors but its neighbors cannot have bases through which Iran is attacked and that won't be acceptable anymore. So, so given the the hard positions of the Iranian government, the hard positions of the Israeli government, the US government, so far every you can see President Trump just even moments ago uh in a speech still keeps talking maximalist like everything's running in our favor. So, nobody appears at all ready to have a negotiated settlement. Where do

you see this going in the coming, let's just see, keep it narrow, two months for Iran? Again, as I said earlier, this is a fight for their survival. And until they feel that in the coming years, their security is assured and their sovereignty is respected not through a piece of paper, but by through by the reality on the ground, they will continue. and uh Trump. When the econ economic crisis gets worse and worse, Americans and people across the globe are going to increasingly blame Trump across the world are going about this global economic catastrophe And

Americans will blame them. So time is not on their side. It is it is these are dark days but again this is a fight for Iran survival. So it seems to me and I I mean at this time it actually is the final question. This will come down to which side can suffer the longest and keep going on. Is it the Iranian side? Can they suffer because they will be hit and continue to be bombed and attacked in other ways or can the United States afford uh to to suffer economic pain and difficulties and the

Israeli side physical attacks just the same way as Iran is? Uh, how do you see those three people, the three groups, Israelis, Americans, and Iranians, who can suffer the most, do you think? I think the Iranians will definitely outlast them. We when you look at those people on the streets being hit with missiles and staying put and then coming out again and again, their resilience is extraordinary and they are the victims for the global majority. People are rooting for Iran and the United States is just becoming more and more isolated and the Israeli regime which

has already carried out a genocide in Gaza, genocidal, it is going to become increasingly isolated again for Iran. There is no choice. We have to have our security assured in the future. We cannot have a situation where Trump and Netanyahu regroup and attack the country again in Six months using Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Well, that does not uh that does not augur well for any kind of a near-term end. Uh but that seems to be an accurate description of where we are. Listen, really appreciate you taking the time to come out today and uh we

certainly wish you uh safety uh where you are and uh everybody's voice is valid in here. We put all sides of this on there and uh the Iranian side as well, but we wish you uh success and safety. Thank you. It's a great pleasure being on your show. Thank you very much and we appreciate you guys too. Be sure and like and subscribe if you haven't done that on the way out. And we will look forward to seeing you on the next episode of the Daniel Davis Deep Dive. Don't forget to tell your friends, the

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