Speaker 1: Media. It's been more than a month since the US
Speaker 1: in Israel began raining down bombs in Iran. We've covered
Speaker 1: the weekly developments every week on Executive Disorder, but I
Speaker 1: decided that it was high time made a full episode
Speaker 1: to get people up to speed with the USA's Latst
Speaker 1: aggression and the IDF opening up another front and its
Speaker 1: multi front war against the people of the Middle East. Normally,
Speaker 1: one would expect a major war with a major power
Speaker 1: like this, which has fundamentally destabilized the region, a ground
Speaker 1: world trade to a halt, caused massive inflation, to have
Speaker 1: some kind of very clearly defined set of goals. That
Speaker 1: is not the case here. We have seen various justifications,
Speaker 1: but the most common one seems to be that Iran
Speaker 1: is just weeks from creating a nuclear bomb. This is
Speaker 1: a claim that specifically Benjaminett and Yahoo has been making
Speaker 1: for almost the entire time I have been alive. Here
Speaker 1: he is saying something similar a decade ago.
Speaker 2: The foremost sponsor of global terrorism could be weeks away
Speaker 2: from having enough and rich uranium for an entire arsenal
Speaker 2: of nuclear weapons.
Speaker 1: His claim was fanciful then, and it remains even more
Speaker 1: so now after twenty twenty five, Operation Midnight Hammer saw
Speaker 1: the USA and Israel attempt to bomb nuclear facilities. Indeed,
Speaker 1: the White House itself publishes statement on the twenty fifth
Speaker 1: of June following Operation Midnight Hammer, in which they quoted
Speaker 1: the Israel Atomic Energy Commission saying, quote, we assessed that
Speaker 1: the American strikes and around nuclear facilities, combined with the
Speaker 1: Israeli strikes on other elements of Iran's military nuclear program,
Speaker 1: has set back Iran's ability to develop nuclear weapons by
Speaker 1: many years. The achievement can continue indefinitely if Iran does
Speaker 1: not get access to nuclear material. It also include a
Speaker 1: quotation from Pete Hegseth, as Secretary of Defense, saying quote,
Speaker 1: based on everything we have seen, and I've seen it all,
Speaker 1: our bombing campaign abliterated Iran's ability to create nuclear weapons
Speaker 1: that was less a year ago. It seems unlikely that
Speaker 1: they destroyed much or any of the uranium that was stockpiled,
Speaker 1: but they certainly would have delayed plans to enrich that
Speaker 1: uranium or to build into a bomb. Nonetheless, on the
Speaker 1: twenty eighth of February this year, a massive campaign of
Speaker 1: air strikes, high mars Ber arches and ballistic mistile attacks
Speaker 1: on Iran began under the codename Operation Epic Fury. The
Speaker 1: acronym OEF will be familiar to many as the same
Speaker 1: one used by the USA for more than a decade
Speaker 1: of war in Afghanistan and other parts of the world
Speaker 1: during what it called the Global War on Terror. On
Speaker 1: the day I'm writing this, it's exactly twenty three years
Speaker 1: since United States marines tore down the statue of Saddam
Speaker 1: Hussein that stood outside the seventeenth of Ramada Mosque in
Speaker 1: Ferdo Square in Baghdad, removed his regime from power. Since then,
Speaker 1: for my entire adult life and much of my childhood,
Speaker 1: the USA has been dropping bombs on the Middle East.
Speaker 1: This month, the temper and ferocity of the aerial bombardment
Speaker 1: took a step to a temper we haven't seen since
Speaker 1: perhaps the peak of the Coalition war against the Islamic State,
Speaker 1: or perhaps even the shock and or bombing campaign of
Speaker 1: March two thousand and three. And I want to go
Speaker 1: back to that campaign to explain exactly how we got
Speaker 1: to this one. The chokan Or campaign was based on
Speaker 1: a doctrine called rapid dominance that sought to establish a
Speaker 1: post Cold War military ethos the United States. The theorist
Speaker 1: behind it named Alman and Wade explicitly outlined that to
Speaker 1: work the shock and or bombing campaign had to achieve
Speaker 1: a level of national shock like that of the dropping
Speaker 1: of the atomic bombs on Japan, and that power and
Speaker 1: other civilian infrastructure might well be targeted. In an interview
Speaker 1: in February two thousand and three, Olmand said, quote, what
Speaker 1: we want to do is create in the mind of
Speaker 1: the Iraqi leadership and their soldiers this shock and owe
Speaker 1: so they're intimidated, made to feel so impotent, so helpless,
Speaker 1: that they have no choice but to do what we
Speaker 1: want them to do. So the smartest thing to say
Speaker 1: is this is hopeless. We quit. The US attempted to
Speaker 1: pummel their adversary so hard in two thousand and three
Speaker 1: that it would demoralized troops and lead to a rapid
Speaker 1: victory through the use and display of overwhelming force in
Speaker 1: Iraq twenty three years ago. It sort of worked. The
Speaker 1: regime crumbled in less than a month, the USA got
Speaker 1: its quote unquote victory, and by the first of May
Speaker 1: of that year, George W. Bush had landed on the USS.
Speaker 1: Abraham Lincoln off San Diego and given a speech in
Speaker 1: front of a large banner that read mission accomplished. Twenty
Speaker 1: three years later, the Lincoln is in the Middle East
Speaker 1: and bombs are once again raining down on Iran and Iraq,
Speaker 1: while one way drones and missiles Iran slam into targets
Speaker 1: all over the region. In Iraq, twenty three years later,
Speaker 1: the United States embassy is once again being attacked, the
Speaker 1: US journalist was kidnapped, and the State Department it's telling
Speaker 1: citizens to avoid the region. The US bombing campaign in
Speaker 1: Iran this year dwarfs to two thousand and three Shock
Speaker 1: and All campaign, with the first day of Operation Epic
Speaker 1: Fury being almost twice the scale of the two thousand
Speaker 1: and three bombardment. However, they do have several things in common.
Speaker 1: Just like the bombardment of Iraq. Even twenty three years later,
Speaker 1: the US and Israeli air war showed us that there
Speaker 1: is no such thing as a precision bombing campaign on
Speaker 1: this scale. On the very first day of the war,
Speaker 1: the twenty eighth of February twenty twenty six, a missile
Speaker 1: slammed into a girl's elementary school in Minab, then another,
Speaker 1: and then another when the dust settled, more than one
Speaker 1: hundred and seventy five people have been killed, mostly schoolgirls
Speaker 1: between the age of seven and twelve years old. The
Speaker 1: school was located near an Iranian Revolutionary Guard base, but
Speaker 1: the school building itself had not been part of a
Speaker 1: military facility for a decade. And yet, despite targeting technology
Speaker 1: that allowed three missiles to scream across a continent hit
Speaker 1: a relatively small target in quick succession, apparently the US
Speaker 1: military had not been able to ascertain, or did not
Speaker 1: care to ascertain, that the result of their strike was
Speaker 1: the death of as many as one hundred school children.
Speaker 1: The fact that I am reporting this forty odd days
Speaker 1: into the war suggests that despite an even larger scale
Speaker 1: campaign than the USA deployed in two thousand and three,
Speaker 1: despite the killing of little girls, the Iranian state has
Speaker 1: not said this is hopeless, we quit as allman hoppy might.
Speaker 1: Iran Supreme leader Ali Hamani was assassinated in initial attacks.
Speaker 1: The power has since passed on to his son. Iran
Speaker 1: remains very much in the fight despite the massive display
Speaker 1: of force by the US and Israel. Instead of quitting
Speaker 1: and giving up, they have been sending ballistic missiles and
Speaker 1: one way drones into targets throughout the Gulf States, Israel,
Speaker 1: and southern Kurdistan. This is in part because the United
Speaker 1: States and Israel had no clear shared plan for this war.
Speaker 1: In two thousand and three, the US aimed to remove
Speaker 1: Saddam Pasin, and it did that. It made a massive
Speaker 1: cock up of everything it did after that. But this
Speaker 1: time we have two belligerent nations with very distinct goals
Speaker 1: who share a common interest in bombing the people of Iran. Israel,
Speaker 1: which by some accounts hit more targets in the USA
Speaker 1: early on in the war, is fighting to totally cripple
Speaker 1: the Iranian state in a no holds barred, no laws
Speaker 1: of war respected, campaign that has seen it bomb factories,
Speaker 1: oil infrastructure, most horrifically of all desalination plants. The goal
Speaker 1: for Israel is to make it impossible for Iran to recover.
Speaker 1: It seems, to leave the region mired in poverty and
Speaker 1: resource constraint, and make sure that no Iranian state, be
Speaker 1: it this one or a different one, can ever be
Speaker 1: a threat to Israel. Again. It has assassinated many of
Speaker 1: the figures who have the ability to negotiate for peace,
Speaker 1: and the recenc use fire seems to be something that
Speaker 1: Israel does not feel itself to be beholden to. For
Speaker 1: the US, the goal seems to be to use something
Speaker 1: similar to shock and or to force Iran into conceding
Speaker 1: its position and allowing the USA some access to its
Speaker 1: significant petrochemical resources. Perhaps emboldened by its success in Venezuela,
Speaker 1: the US might be expecting a similar client state relationship here. However,
Speaker 1: this has not been the outcome. Over the weekend of
Speaker 1: the eleventh and twelfth of April, jd Vance, Jared Kushner,
Speaker 1: and Steve Witcoff flew to Pakistan as part of a
Speaker 1: Pakistani broke and ceasefire to engage in peace talks with Iran.
Speaker 1: Before these peace talks, we saw both the US in
Speaker 1: Iran circlating very different bases for negotiation, with Iran demanding
Speaker 1: tolls for ships passing near its coastline, an end to sanctions,
Speaker 1: and the removal of US forces from the region. The
Speaker 1: US demanded an end to the nuclear program in Iran,
Speaker 1: and at one point the President proposed a joint US
Speaker 1: Iranian toll on ships passing through the Straight of Horn Moose.
Speaker 1: Straight of Horn Moose is one of the areas where
Speaker 1: there has been significant disagreement, and so I want to
Speaker 1: explain a little bit about what the Strait of horn
Speaker 1: Moose is for listeners who are not familiar. Geographically, the
Speaker 1: strait connects the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Verman,
Speaker 1: thus the open Ocean. It's just about thirty nine plumes
Speaker 1: is wide across its narrows point, with about a quarter
Speaker 1: of the worlds liquefied natural gas and seaborne oil passing
Speaker 1: through the strait. Because of its geographical location, Asia and
Speaker 1: Europe are especially reliant on these energy products. Many of
Speaker 1: the Golf states will have no maritime export routes without
Speaker 1: transitting the Strate. In response to the United States and
Speaker 1: Israel's bombing campaign, Iran effectively closed the straight so a
Speaker 1: combination of missile threats, claimed mining, very high frequency radio
Speaker 1: broadcasts warning ships of the two previously mentioned threats, and
Speaker 1: uncrude surface vessel attacks that blew up and damaged vessels,
Speaker 1: including oil tankers in the Persian Gulf. At the time
Speaker 1: of writing, Iran is threatening ships transiting the Strait, and
Speaker 1: the US is attempting to blockade all ships that aim
Speaker 1: to go to Iran. Iran has previously allowed some ships
Speaker 1: a right to pass safely if they pay a toll
Speaker 1: payable encrypto currency or Chinese Ian. Some ships appear to
Speaker 1: have certainly transited the Strait, but many more have not,
Speaker 1: and this presents a serious issue for global trade. Luckily,
Speaker 1: the problems with global trade have not affected our advertisers,
Speaker 1: so here are some goods and services that will probably
Speaker 1: cost more than they did a few weeks ago. The
Speaker 1: United States has a lack of capacity when it comes
Speaker 1: to mind sweeping. Many of the ships it does have
Speaker 1: which can do that, but not currently very close to
Speaker 1: the straitform moves. On the twelfth of April, it did
Speaker 1: send two destroyers into the strait normally to begin mind
Speaker 1: clearing operations, but these aren't really a sort of ships
Speaker 1: that would do that so much as they would work
Speaker 1: alongside the ships that do that to provide them with security.
Speaker 1: There is currently a safe lane through the strait that
Speaker 1: Iran seems to be sending ships through, but it's a
Speaker 1: little unclear to what extent, if at all, the strait
Speaker 1: is mind and what kind of minds were used. Naval
Speaker 1: minds can vary. They can be pretty simple, contact fuse minds,
Speaker 1: like the ones you might have seen in the Mind
Speaker 1: Sweeper computer game or bottom Mine, triggered by a number
Speaker 1: of mechanisms. Clearing a body of water this large would
Speaker 1: take a significant amount of time. Stopping transits through the
Speaker 1: Strait was not iran only response to the attacks. They
Speaker 1: have launched a massive fuselade of one way drones and
Speaker 1: missiles at targets across the region. Their Shahed drones one
Speaker 1: of the most significant military innovations of the last decade.
Speaker 1: They're cheap one way drones that can do tremendous damage
Speaker 1: at a very low cost. If you've ever heard of
Speaker 1: Shahed drone, you won't forget what they sound like. It's
Speaker 1: like a lawnmow flying over you. These drones have been
Speaker 1: so successful that the US has cloned captured drones to
Speaker 1: make its own one way drones, which it calls Lucas drones,
Speaker 1: and Iran has licensed production to Russia, which uses them
Speaker 1: in massive numbers against Ukraine. These drones have provided a
Speaker 1: cheap and relatively easy to launch platform for Iran strikes,
Speaker 1: which is focused on US allies, Israel, and Bushure Kurdis
Speaker 1: dan Bashur meaning Southern or Iraqi Kurdistan has taken a
Speaker 1: particularly heavy toll. Much as this has been due to
Speaker 1: reporting in the early days of the conflict, which began
Speaker 1: with notorious fact check evader Barak Raved much as it's
Speaker 1: reporting heavily and play or outright said that Kurdish ground
Speaker 1: forces were repairing an assault into Iran. Raved's piece, which
Speaker 1: reported that Trump had spoken to two major Curtis leaders,
Speaker 1: was particularly shocking because it erroneously conflated Iraqi Kurds with
Speaker 1: Iranian Kurds, those from Eastern Kurdistan and Rojalad. It's true
Speaker 1: that the majority of anti regime Kurdish armed groups from
Speaker 1: Iran retain bases in Iraq, but it's extremely unlikely that
Speaker 1: the KDP in the p UK, the major actors in
Speaker 1: Iraqi Kurdistan, will be storming the border into Roja Lat
Speaker 1: anytime in the near future. However, I have spoken to
Speaker 1: several of the Rojlati armed groups who are part of
Speaker 1: the alliance of political forces of Iranian Kurdistan. The groups
Speaker 1: involved in a Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan or the PDKI,
Speaker 1: the Free Life Party of Kurdistan PJAK, the Kurdistan Freedom
Speaker 1: Party PAK, two of the Komala parties and hubbut or
Speaker 1: the organization of the Iranian Kurdistan struggle. The alliance predates
Speaker 1: the United States and Israeli campaign came around and earlier
Speaker 1: this year Arash Saleh I spoke him for the PDKI
Speaker 1: told me quote at this point, the whole coalition is
Speaker 1: built upon some type of self rule, instide Iranian Kurdistan
Speaker 1: as the main demand for all of them, and that
Speaker 1: as a main demand for all the Kurdish people in
Speaker 1: Iranian Kurdistan. This unity of groups is a positive step
Speaker 1: and it represents a real opportunity for the liberation of
Speaker 1: the people of Roja. But none of these parties are
Speaker 1: willing to be the spearhead of an American and Israeli
Speaker 1: offensive without guarantees that they will receive support for their
Speaker 1: own goals, which are very different to those of the
Speaker 1: USA and Israel. In more recent weeks, President Trump has
Speaker 1: insinuated and Fox News has claimed that he said this,
Speaker 1: but haven't seen any recording of it, that the United
Speaker 1: States sent weapons to Iranian protesters through Kurdish groups, but
Speaker 1: that the Kurdish groups kept them instead of giving them
Speaker 1: to the protesters. Here's the clip of Trump implying this
Speaker 1: and you'll have to forgive me for the jrringly awkward
Speaker 1: light jazz background music here.
Speaker 3: They don't have guns.
Speaker 2: You know. We said some guns.
Speaker 3: But the group that were supposed to give which I said,
Speaker 3: what happened to my people? I said it. I called
Speaker 3: it exactly. We said guns, a lot of guns. They
Speaker 3: were supposed to go to. The people said they could
Speaker 3: fight back against these ducks. You know what happened. The
Speaker 3: people that they sent them to kept them because they said,
Speaker 3: what a beautiful gun. I think I'll keep it. So
Speaker 3: I'm very upset with a certain group of people, and
Speaker 3: they're going to pay a big price for that. But
Speaker 3: the Iranian people who will fight back as soon as
Speaker 3: they know they're not going to be shot and as
Speaker 3: soon as they can get weapons.
Speaker 1: The Kurdish groups I've spoken to have denied this and
Speaker 1: it's not really logistically feasible. Humno Kno's Bandy, a member
Speaker 1: of the General Command of the Kurdistan National Army, which
Speaker 1: is the peshmerger associated with the Kurdistan Freedom Party or PAK,
Speaker 1: said that quote Donald Trump's message is unclear to us.
Speaker 1: What is there is that we as our army have
Speaker 1: in no way received weapons from the US or any
Speaker 1: other country, not even a single bullet. And the PAK
Speaker 1: confirmed that statement to me this morning. At the time
Speaker 1: you're hearing this, that will be yesterday morning. I checked
Speaker 1: in with them. Then transiting the mountains to that part
Speaker 1: of Kurdistan and then smuggling weapons all the way to Tehran.
Speaker 1: It's not what they do and it will be very
Speaker 1: hard for them to do it. Also, at the time
Speaker 1: of the large anti regime protestin around in January, we
Speaker 1: saw groups, notably the PAK the Kurdistan Freedom Party using
Speaker 1: weapons that really don't appear to be US supplied, like
Speaker 1: pumpact and shotguns. Nonetheless, this rumor, combined with the fact
Speaker 1: that Trump really did call Iraqi Kurdish leaders at the
Speaker 1: start of the conflict, presumably to ask for support, has
Speaker 1: led to a rax Kurdistan region been targeted a great deal.
Speaker 1: These drone and rockets rights have not just hit military targets,
Speaker 1: but also the refugee camps where the families displaced from
Speaker 1: Roger Laut live and many other civilian targets in major
Speaker 1: Kurdish cities. To quote a PDKI a statement quote, since
Speaker 1: the beginning of the war with the United States in Israel.
Speaker 1: The Islamic Republican of Run has so far targeted the
Speaker 1: family camps, medical centers, and educational facilities of the Democratic
Speaker 1: Party of Iranian Kurdistan with more than one hundred and
Speaker 1: ten missiles inferance. These tags have continued even during the
Speaker 1: ceasefire between Iran and the United States. But it's not
Speaker 1: just Iraqi Kurdistan being bombed. In fact, i Rak has
Speaker 1: a distinction of being the only country bomb by both
Speaker 1: sides in the conflict. This is in part this is
Speaker 1: Popular Mobilization Forces, sometimes referred to by the Arabic name
Speaker 1: hashtal Shabi in Iraq, have strong ties to Iran. The
Speaker 1: Popular Mobilization Forces or PMF if you're not familiar, were
Speaker 1: formed in twenty fourteen and fought against Islamic State in Iraq,
Speaker 1: but some factions within the PMF r als are now
Speaker 1: listed to terrorist groups themselves by the United States. I
Speaker 1: want to resist doing the rather purel Sunni Shia kurd
Speaker 1: analysis here because I don't think it explains the whole situation,
Speaker 1: and it's far too often seized upon by commentators seeking
Speaker 1: to oversimplify things. Many Kurds are Sunni, for example, but
Speaker 1: some are Shia. Some Curds are Christian or Jewish who
Speaker 1: have no religious beliefs. There are other groups in the
Speaker 1: region who are not Muslim or Christian. I think it's
Speaker 1: unnecessarily reductionist, but nonetheless it is worth noting that the
Speaker 1: PMF are mostly Shia, as is the ratiome in Iran.
Speaker 1: The PMF have been using drones, rockets and mortars to
Speaker 1: attack both the US bases and those of the Kurdish
Speaker 1: Pesh Merger, who they see as tied to the US.
Speaker 1: On the telegram channels, PMF groups have shown successful at
Speaker 1: tanks of what used to be Camp Victory near the
Speaker 1: Baghdad airport and against the US embassy facilities. While we
Speaker 1: can talk to Rogularti groups and see PMF statements on telegram,
Speaker 1: getting information on the conflict from inside Iran that's not
Speaker 1: regime propaganda is very hard. An Internet blackout by the
Speaker 1: Iranian government has lasted more than a month. The information
Speaker 1: that we see coming out of Iran is either state
Speaker 1: sanctioned or from people going to the border with Iraq
Speaker 1: to get cell phone to signal, or from people using
Speaker 1: satellite internet devices like Starling's. Iran has been actively hunting
Speaker 1: people using starlings and further militarizing the Kurdistan region near
Speaker 1: the Iraqi border where people might get cell phone signal.
Speaker 1: Zenni Arbazizi and siavan Amini, a Kurdish couple, were arrested
Speaker 1: on the seventh of March this year and they have
Speaker 1: been detained ever since for the crime of using a starling.
Speaker 1: This repressive capability is not unusual or unique ter Iranian Kurdistan.
Speaker 1: I think we need to understand the structure of the
Speaker 1: Iranian state to understand why it will be very hard
Speaker 1: for the United States to achieve regime change simply with
Speaker 1: an air campaign. Iran has a conventional army known as
Speaker 1: the Arteesh. It also has the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps,
Speaker 1: better known by the initials IRGC, which has a specific
Speaker 1: remit of protecting the Islamic Republic. Within the IRGC, people
Speaker 1: may have heard of the Kutz Force. The Kutzforce sort
Speaker 1: of acts like around CIA and green Berets combined by
Speaker 1: assisting other actors, mainly nonstate actors in the region like
Speaker 1: Husbola for example. Then there's also the Busiege, which is
Speaker 1: an element of the IGC but is a paramilitary auxiliary
Speaker 1: force with as many as half a million members available
Speaker 1: for immediate call up and many more in reserve. The
Speaker 1: busiege are in theory directly loyal to the Supreme Leader,
Speaker 1: and they have participated in the significant oppression of the population. Combined,
Speaker 1: these forces represent a massive apparatus for state violence that
Speaker 1: is dispersed among the civilian population. Recent reports say they
Speaker 1: are even garrising schools and other civilian buildings. While the
Speaker 1: United States may, for example, have destroyed Iran's conventional navy
Speaker 1: its big gray boats with the Iranian flag on them,
Speaker 1: it has not and cannot destroy all the small civilian
Speaker 1: craft that these groups could easily use to harass shipping
Speaker 1: or even plant sea mines, nor can destroy the men
Speaker 1: any one way surface drone to Iran has along its coastline.
Speaker 1: If you're not familiar with these, think of a remote
Speaker 1: control boat that explodes when it hits its target. Israel
Speaker 1: has killed many ILGC figures, but many more LGC units
Speaker 1: and besiegis remain untouched. Are willing to turn their weapons
Speaker 1: on any potential uprising in the country. With this in mind,
Speaker 1: let's talk a little bit more about those peace negotiations
Speaker 1: that happened last weekend in Pakistan, and particularly let's talk
Speaker 1: about the composition of Iran's delegation. Amongst Iran's negotiators was
Speaker 1: Mohammed Jaffiri Sahra Rud, who participate in the murder of
Speaker 1: doctor Abdul Rahman Ghassemlu during negotiations between the PDKI and
Speaker 1: Iran in nineteen eighty nine. Doctor Gasemlu had been a
Speaker 1: notable Kurdish leader for some time, was sentenced to death
Speaker 1: by the Iranian regime and then kill when he came
Speaker 1: to the negotiating table. In a statement sent to me,
Speaker 1: the pak said the composition of the Iranian delegation, largely
Speaker 1: made up of military and security figures, clearly indicates that
Speaker 1: the primary objective was not to advance a genuine diplomatic process,
Speaker 1: but rather to manage the situation in line with strategic goals.
Speaker 1: It Ran seemed to achievely see negotiations as a way
Speaker 1: to buy time. It's been able to dig out many
Speaker 1: of its missiles which were buried but not destroyed by
Speaker 1: its strikes, and in this pause it can shore up
Speaker 1: its pasture against domestic dissenters as well. It does not seem,
Speaker 1: in short to be acting in the way the sharkan
Speaker 1: or doctrine might suggest and hope that it would. Indeed,
Speaker 1: in recent weeks, it's been able to mobilize civilians to
Speaker 1: go two power plants in the hope that their presence
Speaker 1: will prevent bombing of those facilities. Despite this, and despite
Speaker 1: it being a violation of various international treaties, some of
Speaker 1: which Israel is not signed up to, Israel has continued
Speaker 1: to hit power plants, oil infrastructure, and bridges despite the
Speaker 1: civilian costs. It certainly seems that after a weekend of
Speaker 1: negotiating face to face in Pakistan, the United States was
Speaker 1: not able to get what it wanted out of the negotiations.
Speaker 1: They have chosen not to accept our terms. Vice President J. D.
Speaker 1: Vahn said, here's him talking about the negotiations at a
Speaker 1: press conference on Sunday morning local time.
Speaker 4: But the simple fact is that we need to see
Speaker 4: an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear
Speaker 4: weapon and they will not seek the tools that would
Speaker 4: enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon. That is
Speaker 4: the core goal of the President of the United States,
Speaker 4: and that's what we've tried to achieve through these negotiations. Again,
Speaker 4: their nuclear programs such as it is the enrichment facilities
Speaker 4: that they had before they've been destroyed. But the simple
Speaker 4: question is, do we see a fundamental commitment of will
Speaker 4: for the Iranians not to develop a nuclear weapon, not
Speaker 4: just now, not just two years from now, but for
Speaker 4: the long term. We haven't seen that yet. We hope
Speaker 4: that we will.
Speaker 1: Trump, however, has been talking about a more diverse range
Speaker 1: of goals than advance. Let's hear talking about ending quote
Speaker 1: forty seven years of extortion, corruption, and death. In one truth,
Speaker 1: this suggests regime change, which Trump then went on to
Speaker 1: falsely claim he has already achieved, saying in a truth quote, However,
Speaker 1: now that we have complete and total regime change, where different, smarter,
Speaker 1: and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen.
Speaker 1: Who knows. This was instantly in the very same truth
Speaker 1: in which Trump said, quote, A whole civilization will die tonight,
Speaker 1: never to be brought back again. I don't want that
Speaker 1: to happen, but it probably will. This was part of
Speaker 1: a threat which he hoped to result in Iran reopening
Speaker 1: the Strait of Horn moves. Trump also posted on Easter
Speaker 1: Sunday quote open the fucking strait, you crazy bastards, or
Speaker 1: you'll be living in hell. Obviously, this statement seems odds
Speaker 1: with any idea of liberating the Iranian people, and when
Speaker 1: it comes from the guy with the nuclear arsenal, it
Speaker 1: sounds like a threat of genocide. While Trump has not
Speaker 1: launched any nuclear weapons in Iran, this does not mean
Speaker 1: that the death toll has not been heavy. To a
Speaker 1: report by human rights organization HENGOR, at least seven six
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty people have been killed during the US
Speaker 1: and Israeli bombing, including one thousand and thirty civilians. Iran
Speaker 1: has also continued attacking its own population. Despite the massive
Speaker 1: scale of the killing, Iran has not ceased, for example,
Speaker 1: executing political prisoners. HENGOR estimates that at least one hundred and
Speaker 1: sixty political prisoners have been killed in the first quarter
Speaker 1: of this year. United States troops have been killed as well,
Speaker 1: thirteen of them according to the Military Times. Hundreds more
Speaker 1: have been wounded. Survivors of one deadly drone attack on
Speaker 1: a US facility in Q eight have disputed official accounts
Speaker 1: of the attack, saying their facility did have vertical blast
Speaker 1: barriers but no overhead protection against the kind of drones
Speaker 1: that killed six of their colleagues, and the kind of
Speaker 1: drones they could reasonably expect to be attacked by, given
Speaker 1: that Iran has been using these very same drones for
Speaker 1: a long time in Syria and other parts of the
Speaker 1: Middle East. To quote CBS who interviewed one of them
Speaker 1: on condition of anonymity, quote, painting a picture that one
Speaker 1: squeaks through is a falsehood. I want people to know
Speaker 1: the unit. And then there's ellipses here where they've removed
Speaker 1: part of the quotation was unrepaired to provide any defense
Speaker 1: for itself. It was not a fortified position. So where
Speaker 1: are we now? While the US government continues to edit
Speaker 1: supercuts of bombs hitting buildings and vehicles to music ladies
Speaker 1: does not have permission to use, families in the United
Speaker 1: States in Iran are both burying their loved ones. Despite
Speaker 1: the ceasefire the US in Iran are theoretically held to.
Speaker 1: There has been no cease fire for the Kurds who
Speaker 1: are still being bombed, no ceasefire for Lebanon, whereas where
Speaker 1: it's still carrying out a massive bombing campaign. And on
Speaker 1: day two of the USA's blockade of Iranian ports, traffic
Speaker 1: through the Strait of Hormos remains in the single digit
Speaker 1: numbers of ships. We have not achieved, and it seems
Speaker 1: that we likely will not achieve liberation for the people
Speaker 1: of Iran. In fact, it may be the case that
Speaker 1: the regime moves closer to the eye GC becomes more hardline,
Speaker 1: more repressive, more violent. Just like in Caracas, the only
Speaker 1: thing the US seems interested in liberating is oil. Around
Speaker 1: nuclear threat remains like Schrodinga's cat I, once terrible and
Speaker 1: non existent, destroyed last year in the justification for thousands
Speaker 1: of deaths this year, as always, our solidarity should be
Speaker 1: with people and not with states. We can perfectly coherently
Speaker 1: hold that the people of Rowan do not deserve to
Speaker 1: be killed by the US or their own government, and
Speaker 1: that what we want for them should be what we
Speaker 1: want for ourselves, peace, freedom, and a beautiful life. It
Speaker 1: could Happen Here is a production of cool Zone Media.
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