IRGC Begins Revenge Phase 2? Iran Sets Israel's Oil Infra On 'Fire', Then Makes Stunning IDF Claim
Hindustan Times
Mar 7, 2026 #Iran #Israel #USA
Iran has escalated its campaign with the 27th wave of Operation “True Promise 4”, unleashing precision missiles and swarms of armed drones that Tehran claims have hit Israel, U.S. bases and key energy hubs across the region. Israeli officials insisted most missiles were intercepted and no injuries were reported despite fragments hitting homes in cities like Lod. Watch the video for more.
Transcript
From now on, anything built in the name
of an enemy similar to these bases,
facilities, and equipment will be
destroyed again and again with crushing
blows.
Iran's latest and most menacing warning
to its enemies has dropped [music] in
spectacular fashion.
Israel may be trying hard to conceal the
true scale of damage to its vital oil
depo, but on the ground, the reality in
Hifur appears far more dire.
As its much hyped defenses appear to
falter under sustained attack, Israel
now stands accused by Iran of taking an
unusual shield.
The IRGC has openly charged that the
Israeli army is using its own civilians
as human shields to protect its
soldiers.
It is not just Israel that is feeling
the heat as American military bases
across the region also come under
intense pressure in the 27th wave.
Bahrain, Kuwait, and Iraq have been
thrust into the line of fire with
Iranian drones and missiles setting
sights ablaze.
Iran has now unleashed the 27th wave of
Operation True Promise 4, combining
precision missile strikes with swarms of
armed drones in a coordinated
multiffront assault. According to an
official IRGC statement, this latest
phase specifically targeted US and
[music] Israeli military positions,
aiming to weaken command hubs and
strategic assets simultaneously.
Iran says it struck an oil refinery in
Israel's Hifer area using Kashar Shika
missiles fitted with cluster bomb
warheads designed to maximize damage
across the sprawling industrial
facility.
While Israeli media insist the incoming
missile landed harmlessly in an open
area, Iranian sources firmly maintain
that the projectile directly hit the
refinery complex and sparked major
damage.
Reports further suggest that Iranian
missiles also struck near the city of
Kadira, which houses Israel's crucial
Orat Rabbine power plant, raising fears
over potential hits on energy [music]
infrastructure.
Additional blasts were reportedly heard
around Jerusalem while air raid sirens
wailed across Tel Aviv, signaling yet
another wave of incoming threats over
Israel's heartland.
The IRGC further alleged that Israeli
authorities were trying to confine
residents to [music] the north and
center of the country, limiting their
movement under the pretext of security.
Tran's forces went even further,
accusing Israel of restricting civilians
in order to use them as human shields,
supposedly to protect high-ranking army
officers and sensitive facilities.
Even Israeli outlets appeared to
acknowledge that Iran had fired cluster
munitions toward Israeli territory,
signaling a dangerous escalation in the
types of weapons being deployed.
However, the Israeli military claimed
that the majority of Iranian missiles
were successfully intercepted by its air
defense systems before they could reach
their targets.
Despite those interceptions, fragments
from one destroyed missile reportedly
fell on a home in the city of Lud,
causing damage and panic among residents
there.
Israeli reports stressed that no
injuries were recorded in this latest
barrage of Iranian attacks, even as
explosions and alerts disrupted daily
life across multiple cities.
Beyond Israel itself, US military bases
stationed in allied Arab countries also
came under heavy fire, signaling Iran's
intent to broaden the pressure on
American forces.
The IRGC said it targeted command units
and weapons warehouses linked to the US
Navy's fifth fleet in Bahrain, striking
at the heart of Washington's maritime
presence in the Gulf.
Iranian drones are also reported to have
hit hotels in Bahrain and Iraq that were
believed to be hosting US military
personnel, expanding the battlefield
into civilian adjacent zones.
Kuwait 2 reported a wave of hostile
drone incursions with at least some
strikes said to have targeted fuel tanks
at its international airport in a brazen
show of reach.
The IRGC has warned that it will keep
launching operations against what it
labels as legitimate targets, vowing
that its campaign will not stop as long
as threats persist.
The Islamic Republic of Iran respects
the interests and sovereignty of its
neighboring countries and has not
carried out any incursions against them.
However, any location from which
aggression against Iran is launched will
be regarded as a legitimate target. Iran
will not compromise with the United
States or the Zionist regime. Countries
that have not provided space and
facilities to the United States and the
Zionist regime have not been and will
not be our target. But all bases that
are the origin of attacks against Iran
will, as before, be heavily targeted on
land, sea, and in space. We explicitly
say that we struck them and destroyed
them as a lesson for anyone who dares to
violate our nation. And know that from
now on, anything built in the name of an
enemy similar to these bases,
facilities, and equipment will be
destroyed again and again with crushing
blows. The Islamic Republic of Iran
strongly welcomes the escort of oil
tankers and the reported presence of
American forces seeking to pass through
the strait of Hormuz and says it is
awaiting them. We advise the Americans
to remember before taking any decision
the burning of the super tanker bridge
ton in 1987 and the oil tankers targeted
more recently. In this battle, entering
the area vertically does not mean you
will leave it the same way. The same
applies to your ships. You may intend to
enter as floating vessels, but they may
sink vertically to the bottom of the
Persian Gulf. And a reminder to the
corrupt island man, US President Donald
Trump, the ground on this war map is in
our hands, and we will continue. Iran's
latest attacks were framed as
retaliation, coming after Israel
reportedly launched strikes on vital oil
infrastructure in and around Tehran. The
Israeli army claimed that its earlier
raids had focused on Iranian fuel
depots, which it alleged were directly
linked to Thran's military logistics and
operations.
Iran's National Oil Refining and
Distribution Company confirmed that key
energy infrastructure came under missile
attack on March 7th, triggering fires
and emergency responses. According to
the company, oil depots in both Tran and
neighboring Albbor's province were
struck by missiles, igniting large fires
as firefighting teams rushed in to bring
the blazes under Control.
[music]
for the good of our nation. Let's work
together and let's truly make America
great again. [cheering]
The fastest news [music] breaks
requested PM saying the plug will have
to speak to Putin and to Zelinski. The
biggest news makers.
The relationship with India is probably
the most important bilateral
relationship the US will have for the
rest of [music] this century.
The capital delivered quite an election
result today.
Expert analysis. The milliondoll
question today is how to stop this
[music] dance of death.
Ground reports.
I'm standing at the crossroad of the
Kuma. Behind me are more than 100
intrigue hearts.
Long form interviews.
Exclusionary politics is reflected
[music] in Manipur case as well. You
don't border because this is a small
estate. Deep dive into [music] burning
issues.
It's often said DRC could be the richest
country in the whole world. [music] It's
because of what sits underneath.
Why exactly did the US topple the
shakers in our government?
HD videos. We [music] don't just break
news, we break it down.
Part 2 Anti-Anti-Nazi Barbarian Hordes are Knocking Down ...
Re: Part 2 Anti-Anti-Nazi Barbarian Hordes are Knocking Down
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Chas Freeman: Iran’s Strategy in the US-Israel War | Why Pezeshkian Halted Strikes on Gulf States
India & Global Left
Premiered Mar 7, 2026 Left take with IGL\
Former US diplomat and China expert Chas W. Freeman Jr. joins us to analyze the rapidly escalating conflict between Iran, Israel, and the United States.
Transcript
Hello and welcome to another episode of India and Global Left. If you are new to the show, please hit that subscribe
button. Also consider becoming a YouTube member, a Patreon or donate small amount given in the link in the description
box. Let me welcome our guest tonight, Ambassador Chess Freeman. Ambassador Freeman is a former American diplomat,
an author and a geopolitical analyst. Ambassador Freeman, welcome back to Indian Global Left.
Thank you, Jodish. Glad to be with you. There's a lot going on. Yeah. Um, we had you on last time. It
was about 10 days if I'm not wrong. And you said that war is inevitable. But
towards the end you also said you wish we could meet and talk about something
else because it's so depressing. But I had to unfortunately I had to send you
another email saying that uh I want to talk to you again. So if you could uh
give us your assessment of what happened in the last 8 days or so in so far as the conflict.
Yeah, let me um describe what I think is happening. Um basically December 29th
there was a meeting between Prime Minister Netanyahu and Donald Trump at Mara Lago uh Donald Trump's club uh in
[clears throat] Florida. uh and at that meeting they agreed uh on an attack on
Iran. Um therefore the negotiations which took place in January and February
were a sham. Uh they were cover again uh for the marshalling of forces to mount
the attack that finally was mounted on February 28th. Um uh the the attack is
in pursuit of Israeli strategy. There is no American strategy. There is an
American campaign plan uh to implement the Israeli strategy. The aim of the
Israeli strategy is uh to devastate Iran
uh to eliminate it as a competitor for influence uh in the in West Asia.
um and thereby facilitate the greater India greater Israel project uh which in
en invisages everything from the Euphrates to the Nile becoming a Jewish
ma managed um state presumably an apartate state as Israel itself is so um
that's the theory um that's the strategy uh it's part of a long-term plan Um,
Prime Minister Netanyahu has openly admitted that he's had this fever dream
of finding an American president willing to do his way for 40 years. And in
Donald Trump, he's found that man. Uh the campaign plan on the US side really
um involves uh a very intensive uh set of strikes on Iran on multiple targets
in Iran um with a view to um destroying Iran's capacity to conduct a war with
with Israel. That campaign plan in my view is failing for the simple reason
that the Iranians have spent 20 years preparing for an air campaign against them.
um when they think they're about to be attacked, they relocate the sensitive materials or equipment uh that might be
destroyed in an attack uh to hiding places. Uh now let me talk about the
Iranian strategy because they do have a strategy. Uh first um point is that u
they are sick and tired of continual provocations, assassinations,
attacks, negotiations that are cover for surprise attacks. Uh and they're going
for broke. Uh they are following a uh a
strategy that will not stop until they reach their objective which is to devastate Israel. In other words, having
received an existential threat from Israel, they now pose an existential threat to Israel. Um, and I
sorry um uh I'm I used to chair a group in
Washington that um called the Committee for the Republic. Uh and they have
awkwardly decided this is the precise moment uh to get me back I guess. Anyway
um you can cut all that out I hope. Um let me go back. So the Iranian strategy
uh in is basically modeled on Muhammad Ali's strategy called rope a dope. that
is take the all the punishment you can [clears throat] u behave if you will like Afghanistan or
or Vietnam uh and b your time hide your capabilities until the other side is
sufficiently exhausted so that you can deliver a knockout punch. Uh and um the
uh here um uh we see uh a familiar pattern from the June war of 2025.
Namely, Iran has begun the war [clears throat] uh by expanding its least advanced
ammunition in an effort to deplete the intercept capability and the defense
capability uh of Israel and the United States. And if the June June war is any
guide, u about 10 or 12 days into this, Israel will in fact have exhausted its
capacity to defend itself. Shortly after that, the US will run out of uh
munitions. Why? Because every inter intercept attempt involves at least two
or three and sometimes as many as a dozen or more interceptors being fired.
Each one very expensive and each one in short supply. So the inventory of
interception capabilities is rapidly depleting. Uh we are beginning, the United States is beginning to
cannibalize systems in South Korea, Tamad,
Patriot, and in Japan um in order to supplement um the dwindling uh uh
logistical support for this war uh in West Asia. Um so Iran has not even begun
to use its hypersonic weaponry which remains underground in storage
waiting for the right moment. Um let me talk about the most important development today which is that
President Peshken of Iran on behalf of the threeman governing council that has
replaced the slain uh supreme leader Ali Kam uh has apologized to the Gulf
Cooperation Council countries uh Kuwait, Bahrain uh Qatar, UAE and uh Oman for
attacks on them. Uh and he's claimed that uh this is this was because Iran
deliberately decentralized its military command after the attack on the on the
supreme leader and that people were conducting unauthorized attacks. Uh that
is not true. uh but it is a very deaf way of uh giving uh an excuse to the
Gulf Arabs uh that they need in order to do to meet the Peskians uh conditions
during the time the the the war opened with on Saturday about 1:00 a.m. with um
an attack on uh the Supreme Leader by the Israeli Air Force. Um
it was immediately responded to by Iran which knocked out um most of the radar
systems and other equipment that the US had deploy deployed to the region. Uh
there is some evidence that all five THAAD radars theater high altitude air
defense radars were destroyed. a $ 1.1 billion dollar radar in Allade in Qatar
was destroyed or severely damaged. Um they not only knocked out the uh eyes
and ears of the United States in the region, but at least one of those installations was aimed at China and
Russia. Uh so the United States has been decisively weakened uh in in in those
terms. Um the American bases became militarily inoperable.
The personnel were evacuated to hotels. Iran then followed up by attacking the
hotels. So um what is going on here is a very deliberate
uh strategy combining diplomacy with force
u to convince the Gulf Arabs that they cannot afford to have American bases on
their territory that far from defending them these bases make them vulnerable to
attack and Iran has gone farther. It has openly threatened to destroy their oil
production and gas production capabilities. It has closed the straight of Hormuz. I'll come back to that. But
um alongside the military attacks uh
although there's no I'm now speculating there must have been a very intense dialogue between the various GCC
capitals um uh Riyad, Abu Dhabi, Doha,
Kuwait and so on um uh and the Iranians um about Iran's terms for calling off
the attack. So they have now called off the attacks on the condition that none
of these bases be used against them. Uh Donald Trump has said this is an Iranian
surrender to the Gulf Arabs. It's not at all. What it is is a ceasefire and it
probably includes now again I'm speculating an undertaking by the Gulf
Arabs not only to prevent American use of these facilities against Iran but
after the war is over which will be determined I think by Iran not by Israel
or the United States uh to remove those bases. So Iran is achieving a long-term
objective that it has had of removing the American military presence from the
Gulf. That's my interpretation of this. Um only time will tell whether that
interpretation is correct or not. Uh but I think AAM's razor the simplest
explanation for what has happened usually is the best suggests that this
is what happened. Um now this Gulf of uh the straight of Harmuz has been closed.
Uh it has been closed um uh by it was not closed by naval uh forces. The
Iranian Navy appears mostly to have been sunk including one Iranian cruiser that
was in was participating in a multinational exercise with India that
was sunk off Sri Lanka by an American submarine despite the fact that I believe the American Navy was also
involved in this multinational exercise. So this was a a war crime, not a uh
unjustified, but it has the effect of legitimizing Iranian globalization of the war. That
is, it need no longer be constrained to the region. It's very dangerous for that
reason. Um now the Gulf, the straight of Hormuz is closed um on the model of the
Houthi closure of the Red Sea. That was the first successful sea blockade
conducted from the land. Uh Iran has spent 20 years preparing the land-based
closure of the straight of Hormuz. Uh and while Donald Trump has directed the
International Development Finance Company Corporation of the United States to to step in to provide insurance now
that insurance is not available from other sources. um they don't have the legal authority or the funds to do that.
So I suspect this is an empty gesture uh although they are in discussion with insurance companies. Uh second he's
ordered the US Navy to escort uh any tankers that are brave enough to try to run the blockade. But I think the US
Navy lacks both the ships uh and the capability to do that against land-based
missiles and artillery which cover the straight from the Iranian uh uh earth.
So um so this is uh u this is not the
short victorious war that Donald Trump imagined. uh he has cited multiple objectives,
some of them self-contradictory. There is no clear explanation for this
war. Uh some say it's to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons, but we
killed the supreme leader who was the only cork in the bottle on that issue.
Everyone else in Iran below him appears to have decided that there must be a nuclear weapon for deterrent purposes.
And look to the example of North Korea, which responded to maximum pressure by
developing a uh a an ICBM with multiple
re-entry vehicles, nuclear and Duke decoys that can strike anywhere in the
United States. That's probably the next stage in Iran. Anyway, Iran now has um
the the obstacle to Iran making a decision to build a nuclear weapon has been removed both because the supreme
leader who opposed it has been murdered and because the fatwa that prevented
Iran from building a nuclear weapon um made an exception when there was an
existential challenge to the Islamic Republic, which there now is um explicitly
A second objective supposedly was to counter Iranian missile capabilities
against Israel. And here there's been a very convoluted argument. Um on the eve
of the Israeli attack backed by the United States, this is an Israeli
American war, not an American Israeli war. I mean the prime mover is Israel
and Iran knows that which is why it is focused on wreaking havoc in Israel and
I'll come to that. Um the um uh this this war um uh before it was started
there were people in Washington arguing that we should encourage the Israelis to go first because then we can argue that
we're responding defensively to a threat of actual Iranian retaliation. Um that
uh convoluted argument found expression in Marco Rubio. Um and then a day later
he had to do 180°ree turn and say no no no because Donald Trump said no, Israel
didn't start this war. I did. Um I take credit for it. Um and so we see American
officials behaving like Soviet apparachics uh in the uh in the Soviet era. uh
turning uh pretzel logics into pretzel-like convolutions and reversing
themselves at a moment's notice quite shamelessly. And one wonders whether the
end result will not be for Mr. Rubio what Molotov the Soviet foreign minister
suffered namely reassignment to a hydroelectric project in outer Mongolia.
Perhaps Mr. Rubio will end up running a lemonade stand in uh Tijuana or perhaps
San Diego. Anyway, um um in the middle of all this, I should add
u the Trump administration is threatening uh the Cuban government with
annihilation. Um so there's a certain consistency here. U the savagery of uh
the newly renamed Department of War is much evidence. Let me turn finally to
the issue of what is happening in in Israel. Uh first uh let us acknowledge
Israeli military and censorship is very effective. Uh it's effective not only
because it is applied strenuously to people in Israel but also because the
Zionisttoriented American media respect it. So when Israel says
something they just dutifully repeat it when that is challenged they say well we
can't verify that. Um so we know very little in the mainstream media about
what is happening in Israel. There is an interesting clip um from
an Indian journalist Braj Moan uh who just posted this on X uh which indicates
what other sources are saying uh namely the interception of incoming Iranian
missiles is failing uh the damage is extensive and I recall that in the June
war 408 buildings [clears throat] were destroyed in Israel. Many Israelis are
still homeless as a result of that. U this now is much worse. Uh and um uh Mr.
Mahan um is quite panicky in his little clip. Um uh and um he clearly has been
uh renewed his uh done puja. He's got a nice red mark on his between his eyes.
Um India uh is in a very poor position.
Uh it has almost no strategic petroleum reserve. I believe there's about 9 and a
half days supply in the Indian strategic petroleum reserve whereas China has 253
days of of strategic petroleum reserve and uh Japan incur quite a bit less but
still far more than India. So it's entirely natural that uh uh the Indian
government has petitioned the United States for a an exemption from the
Russian oil embargo that the United States had imposed and the Russian Federation has offered to resupply India
with oil which it will have to do by the Pacific or around Africa because uh
so Um, India's going to suffer power outages. Um, the one that you just
experienced is probably not related to that. Uh, but um, things are going to
get pretty tough. Second effect is about half the world's fertilizer supply has
just been cut off in the northern hemisphere. This is right in advance of
the planting season. So, we're going to have a food shortage down the road. Um
and if we look at the energy picture, gutter uh has had to stop production of
gas uh both for export and domestically.
I mean, for example, there's a Norwegian aluminum factory in gutter that has had
to shut down uh because no gas is available to power uh it. Um and uh the
land-based facilities u that produce uh liqufied natural gas in gutter have been
uh damaged. We're told it will be uh many weeks, perhaps months before they
can be brought back online. Um, and so, um, we're in a situation where, uh, the
United States and Israel, following Israel, a long-term Israeli ambition,
has started a war, which is not going to be the short victorious war that its u
proponents imagined, but a long war of attrition in which
industrial capacity uh, and inventory of weaponry and defensive equipment will
decide the outcome along with the ability to take punishment. Again,
Muhammad Ali and Rope a do you know I'll take all the punches you give me. I'll
punch you enough to exhaust you and when you are exhausted I will strike you. And
that is the Iranian strategy. And no, of course it may not work but at the moment it appears to be working. And so um I
think uh the mainstream media and the boastful statements of the central
command must be taken not with a a grain of salt but a boulder of salt. Um so uh
this is sort of a summary I think of what is happening uh at least as I see
it and of course I may be wrong because information is in very short supply and
I would point out we're only seven or eight days into uh this uh war. I guess
it's eight um seven and a half eight days now. um we um and it's going to go
on for quite a while and um and uh the um uh I think probably midweek next week
um uh sometime around the 10th of March the 11th or 12th um we will see um
whether I'm correct about um the capacity of the United States and Israel to defend themselves against hypersonic
missiles which is almost non-existent anyway. way uh is uh is essentially
eliminated. Um we're hearing talk out of the Pentagon about um uh about falling
back to um air launched cruise missiles um from that is standing off um hundreds
of miles and firing missiles at targets in Iran. But the assumption there is
that the United States has wiped out Iranian air defenses.
I think it's an open question whether it has or not uh for two reasons. Uh, first
the Iranians given the rope a doe strategy may well
have decided to save those by moving them underground out of the way and not
expending their own self-defense capacity at the opening when [clears throat] Israeli and
American capacities are at their peak. So they may be uh uh these air defense
capabilities may still exist to be brought forward uh when required
um or appropriate. Second um battle damage assessment uh in an air war is
exceedingly difficult. I was reminded of a friend of the NATO American air
campaign against Serbia in the war to u vivbec Serbia and remove Kosovo from it.
Um uh the Serbs had apparently 17 U
launchers for their air defenses. Um and we reported destroying 64 of those 17.
So I mean uh and I remember from my time as ambassador during the Gulf War of 1999
uh that uh uh our air force and the Israeli air force were continuously
announcing the destruction of Iranian Scud launchers uh and then they turned out not to be destroyed. Uh so we've
seen um videos of missiles launching from beneath the sands that is they are
uh they are in silos covered with dirt and a very thin protector between them
and the sky and suddenly they burst forth from an apparent a desert empty
desert. So I don't know um uh whether you know Iran is holding back
appropriate things. I suspect it may be. I want I wanted to ask you a little bit more about uh President Bzkian's
decision or announcement to halt strikes u at the Gulf uh states uh uh
conditional uh conditioned on u that no attacks are coming no further attacks
are were to come from from them again. Um I I wonder what what makes them take
this decision. I mean um of course on one hand as you said it's uh uh it's
it's it's a strategy of uh attacking US and Iran while opening diplomacy to to
the rest of uh the states in the region. But one may also wonder what makes them
hope that the Gulf states are independent enough to take uh uh open friendship or or or or or push the
United States out of the region.
Well, the basic lesson that they're trying to impart, I think has to provide in the name of defending the Gulf States
against Iran or other attackers in fact don't do that. They become they justify
Iranian attacks on these very states. So they are not a source of protection but
of vulnerability and they therefore should be removed. That's the basic lesson Iran has been trying to d draw
draw home. The two other two possible reasons for that I see for the timing of
the uh uh of the ceasefire uh unilateral ceasefire announced by Iran against
these states, not against the United States. Uh Iran has made it clear it's going to continue to attack Israel and
the United States, but it has now exempted the Gulf States um and done so
uh in a um tactful apologetic
manner that maximizes the chances that they will accept the ceasefire. In other
words, Pzeskian says, "We're really sorry. This was all a mistake." Of course it
wasn't a mistake but um he gives them the out of accepting that it was a mistake. So two possibilities one there
were there were agreements reached to diplomacy which is not visible uh between the Gulf states and Iran and the
Gulf states agreed that as they have said publicly they would not allow any American use of their bases against
Iran. And second they probably also agreed that when the war is over those
bases will disappear. So, Iran has achieved its long-standing objective.
That is the most likely possibility. As a secondary consideration,
Iran has expanded mostly drones, very few missiles um on these spaces.
um and uh it may want to just save them for further use against the United
States and Israel having made its point it believes
uh to the Gulf Arabs. So uh I think this is u a very important uh uh development
and I don't think uh it is as Donald Trump suggested an Iranian surrender to
the Gulf Arabs. Yeah, I wasn't surprised about the
announcement itself because uh my reading um in the recent days has been
Iran had been very very cautious even while they were attacking even um their
attacks on hotels. uh they came out unjustified saying that oh we only attacked the hotels because it was US
personnels who had to retreat back to the hotels effectively saying that we are still maintaining that difference or
discrimination between attacking military assets and so I wasn't surprised by that but
right but they did they attacked for example uh the port of Dukam in Oman uh which is a purely Omani
port but it has all storage for than the US Navy draws on and it's a US Navy
anchorage. So Oman which has been the indispensable
neutral mediator in these sham negotiations
uh Oman is I think a gasast at having been used in this fashion twice. Um but
the uh foreign minister um bad alidi has
has uh has been very clear that there was real progress being made
uh in the um in the in the negotiations by the Iranians. They had gone well
beyond the so-called JCPOA or joint comprehensive plan of action.
They had agreed to forego any storage of material that was substantially
enriched. Um and um they had agreed to go back to low levels of enrichment. Um
and uh we've heard Steve Whit um the who of course knows absolutely
he's a real estate um uh manipulator. He's Donald Trump's crony. He knows
nothing about nuclear weapons or Iran or the Arabs or anything else. And nor does
Jared Kushner um who does not have a PhD in nuclear physics last time I looked.
Um no, these people say, well, it's the inherent right wickoff says it's the inherent right of President Trump to
insist that they have no enrichment, but it's the inherent right of of Iran under article 4 of the non-proliferation
treaty to have enrichment. So once again, the United States is in contempt
of international law and making assertions which have no basis at all um
in in uh in law and practice. Um, so I think the Trump administration has
thoroughly discredited itself abroad. Um,
not not only with this unprovoked attack, but
with with Israel, but with the manner in which 65 people at a girl school in
Minab. Normally, one would expect an apology. This was a targeting error. We're really
sorry. No, nothing. Um the the sinking with us by a submarine of an Iranian
cruise ship cruise cruiser that had been engaged in an in essentially diplomatically organized uh
multinational exercise off India. Um you know is another this is like s the
German sinking of the Lucitania in World War I. It discredits the United States and um so uh and uh Secretary of Defense
self-styled Secretary of War Ex Hath's statements could well have been made by
Adolf Hitler. They are um totally savage. He dismisses so-called
international institutions. He says in so-called international law, he said
there should be no rules of engagement or no holds barred.
India & Global Left
Premiered Mar 7, 2026 Left take with IGL\
Former US diplomat and China expert Chas W. Freeman Jr. joins us to analyze the rapidly escalating conflict between Iran, Israel, and the United States.
Transcript
Hello and welcome to another episode of India and Global Left. If you are new to the show, please hit that subscribe
button. Also consider becoming a YouTube member, a Patreon or donate small amount given in the link in the description
box. Let me welcome our guest tonight, Ambassador Chess Freeman. Ambassador Freeman is a former American diplomat,
an author and a geopolitical analyst. Ambassador Freeman, welcome back to Indian Global Left.
Thank you, Jodish. Glad to be with you. There's a lot going on. Yeah. Um, we had you on last time. It
was about 10 days if I'm not wrong. And you said that war is inevitable. But
towards the end you also said you wish we could meet and talk about something
else because it's so depressing. But I had to unfortunately I had to send you
another email saying that uh I want to talk to you again. So if you could uh
give us your assessment of what happened in the last 8 days or so in so far as the conflict.
Yeah, let me um describe what I think is happening. Um basically December 29th
there was a meeting between Prime Minister Netanyahu and Donald Trump at Mara Lago uh Donald Trump's club uh in
[clears throat] Florida. uh and at that meeting they agreed uh on an attack on
Iran. Um therefore the negotiations which took place in January and February
were a sham. Uh they were cover again uh for the marshalling of forces to mount
the attack that finally was mounted on February 28th. Um uh the the attack is
in pursuit of Israeli strategy. There is no American strategy. There is an
American campaign plan uh to implement the Israeli strategy. The aim of the
Israeli strategy is uh to devastate Iran
uh to eliminate it as a competitor for influence uh in the in West Asia.
um and thereby facilitate the greater India greater Israel project uh which in
en invisages everything from the Euphrates to the Nile becoming a Jewish
ma managed um state presumably an apartate state as Israel itself is so um
that's the theory um that's the strategy uh it's part of a long-term plan Um,
Prime Minister Netanyahu has openly admitted that he's had this fever dream
of finding an American president willing to do his way for 40 years. And in
Donald Trump, he's found that man. Uh the campaign plan on the US side really
um involves uh a very intensive uh set of strikes on Iran on multiple targets
in Iran um with a view to um destroying Iran's capacity to conduct a war with
with Israel. That campaign plan in my view is failing for the simple reason
that the Iranians have spent 20 years preparing for an air campaign against them.
um when they think they're about to be attacked, they relocate the sensitive materials or equipment uh that might be
destroyed in an attack uh to hiding places. Uh now let me talk about the
Iranian strategy because they do have a strategy. Uh first um point is that u
they are sick and tired of continual provocations, assassinations,
attacks, negotiations that are cover for surprise attacks. Uh and they're going
for broke. Uh they are following a uh a
strategy that will not stop until they reach their objective which is to devastate Israel. In other words, having
received an existential threat from Israel, they now pose an existential threat to Israel. Um, and I
sorry um uh I'm I used to chair a group in
Washington that um called the Committee for the Republic. Uh and they have
awkwardly decided this is the precise moment uh to get me back I guess. Anyway
um you can cut all that out I hope. Um let me go back. So the Iranian strategy
uh in is basically modeled on Muhammad Ali's strategy called rope a dope. that
is take the all the punishment you can [clears throat] u behave if you will like Afghanistan or
or Vietnam uh and b your time hide your capabilities until the other side is
sufficiently exhausted so that you can deliver a knockout punch. Uh and um the
uh here um uh we see uh a familiar pattern from the June war of 2025.
Namely, Iran has begun the war [clears throat] uh by expanding its least advanced
ammunition in an effort to deplete the intercept capability and the defense
capability uh of Israel and the United States. And if the June June war is any
guide, u about 10 or 12 days into this, Israel will in fact have exhausted its
capacity to defend itself. Shortly after that, the US will run out of uh
munitions. Why? Because every inter intercept attempt involves at least two
or three and sometimes as many as a dozen or more interceptors being fired.
Each one very expensive and each one in short supply. So the inventory of
interception capabilities is rapidly depleting. Uh we are beginning, the United States is beginning to
cannibalize systems in South Korea, Tamad,
Patriot, and in Japan um in order to supplement um the dwindling uh uh
logistical support for this war uh in West Asia. Um so Iran has not even begun
to use its hypersonic weaponry which remains underground in storage
waiting for the right moment. Um let me talk about the most important development today which is that
President Peshken of Iran on behalf of the threeman governing council that has
replaced the slain uh supreme leader Ali Kam uh has apologized to the Gulf
Cooperation Council countries uh Kuwait, Bahrain uh Qatar, UAE and uh Oman for
attacks on them. Uh and he's claimed that uh this is this was because Iran
deliberately decentralized its military command after the attack on the on the
supreme leader and that people were conducting unauthorized attacks. Uh that
is not true. uh but it is a very deaf way of uh giving uh an excuse to the
Gulf Arabs uh that they need in order to do to meet the Peskians uh conditions
during the time the the the war opened with on Saturday about 1:00 a.m. with um
an attack on uh the Supreme Leader by the Israeli Air Force. Um
it was immediately responded to by Iran which knocked out um most of the radar
systems and other equipment that the US had deploy deployed to the region. Uh
there is some evidence that all five THAAD radars theater high altitude air
defense radars were destroyed. a $ 1.1 billion dollar radar in Allade in Qatar
was destroyed or severely damaged. Um they not only knocked out the uh eyes
and ears of the United States in the region, but at least one of those installations was aimed at China and
Russia. Uh so the United States has been decisively weakened uh in in in those
terms. Um the American bases became militarily inoperable.
The personnel were evacuated to hotels. Iran then followed up by attacking the
hotels. So um what is going on here is a very deliberate
uh strategy combining diplomacy with force
u to convince the Gulf Arabs that they cannot afford to have American bases on
their territory that far from defending them these bases make them vulnerable to
attack and Iran has gone farther. It has openly threatened to destroy their oil
production and gas production capabilities. It has closed the straight of Hormuz. I'll come back to that. But
um alongside the military attacks uh
although there's no I'm now speculating there must have been a very intense dialogue between the various GCC
capitals um uh Riyad, Abu Dhabi, Doha,
Kuwait and so on um uh and the Iranians um about Iran's terms for calling off
the attack. So they have now called off the attacks on the condition that none
of these bases be used against them. Uh Donald Trump has said this is an Iranian
surrender to the Gulf Arabs. It's not at all. What it is is a ceasefire and it
probably includes now again I'm speculating an undertaking by the Gulf
Arabs not only to prevent American use of these facilities against Iran but
after the war is over which will be determined I think by Iran not by Israel
or the United States uh to remove those bases. So Iran is achieving a long-term
objective that it has had of removing the American military presence from the
Gulf. That's my interpretation of this. Um only time will tell whether that
interpretation is correct or not. Uh but I think AAM's razor the simplest
explanation for what has happened usually is the best suggests that this
is what happened. Um now this Gulf of uh the straight of Harmuz has been closed.
Uh it has been closed um uh by it was not closed by naval uh forces. The
Iranian Navy appears mostly to have been sunk including one Iranian cruiser that
was in was participating in a multinational exercise with India that
was sunk off Sri Lanka by an American submarine despite the fact that I believe the American Navy was also
involved in this multinational exercise. So this was a a war crime, not a uh
unjustified, but it has the effect of legitimizing Iranian globalization of the war. That
is, it need no longer be constrained to the region. It's very dangerous for that
reason. Um now the Gulf, the straight of Hormuz is closed um on the model of the
Houthi closure of the Red Sea. That was the first successful sea blockade
conducted from the land. Uh Iran has spent 20 years preparing the land-based
closure of the straight of Hormuz. Uh and while Donald Trump has directed the
International Development Finance Company Corporation of the United States to to step in to provide insurance now
that insurance is not available from other sources. um they don't have the legal authority or the funds to do that.
So I suspect this is an empty gesture uh although they are in discussion with insurance companies. Uh second he's
ordered the US Navy to escort uh any tankers that are brave enough to try to run the blockade. But I think the US
Navy lacks both the ships uh and the capability to do that against land-based
missiles and artillery which cover the straight from the Iranian uh uh earth.
So um so this is uh u this is not the
short victorious war that Donald Trump imagined. uh he has cited multiple objectives,
some of them self-contradictory. There is no clear explanation for this
war. Uh some say it's to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons, but we
killed the supreme leader who was the only cork in the bottle on that issue.
Everyone else in Iran below him appears to have decided that there must be a nuclear weapon for deterrent purposes.
And look to the example of North Korea, which responded to maximum pressure by
developing a uh a an ICBM with multiple
re-entry vehicles, nuclear and Duke decoys that can strike anywhere in the
United States. That's probably the next stage in Iran. Anyway, Iran now has um
the the obstacle to Iran making a decision to build a nuclear weapon has been removed both because the supreme
leader who opposed it has been murdered and because the fatwa that prevented
Iran from building a nuclear weapon um made an exception when there was an
existential challenge to the Islamic Republic, which there now is um explicitly
A second objective supposedly was to counter Iranian missile capabilities
against Israel. And here there's been a very convoluted argument. Um on the eve
of the Israeli attack backed by the United States, this is an Israeli
American war, not an American Israeli war. I mean the prime mover is Israel
and Iran knows that which is why it is focused on wreaking havoc in Israel and
I'll come to that. Um the um uh this this war um uh before it was started
there were people in Washington arguing that we should encourage the Israelis to go first because then we can argue that
we're responding defensively to a threat of actual Iranian retaliation. Um that
uh convoluted argument found expression in Marco Rubio. Um and then a day later
he had to do 180°ree turn and say no no no because Donald Trump said no, Israel
didn't start this war. I did. Um I take credit for it. Um and so we see American
officials behaving like Soviet apparachics uh in the uh in the Soviet era. uh
turning uh pretzel logics into pretzel-like convolutions and reversing
themselves at a moment's notice quite shamelessly. And one wonders whether the
end result will not be for Mr. Rubio what Molotov the Soviet foreign minister
suffered namely reassignment to a hydroelectric project in outer Mongolia.
Perhaps Mr. Rubio will end up running a lemonade stand in uh Tijuana or perhaps
San Diego. Anyway, um um in the middle of all this, I should add
u the Trump administration is threatening uh the Cuban government with
annihilation. Um so there's a certain consistency here. U the savagery of uh
the newly renamed Department of War is much evidence. Let me turn finally to
the issue of what is happening in in Israel. Uh first uh let us acknowledge
Israeli military and censorship is very effective. Uh it's effective not only
because it is applied strenuously to people in Israel but also because the
Zionisttoriented American media respect it. So when Israel says
something they just dutifully repeat it when that is challenged they say well we
can't verify that. Um so we know very little in the mainstream media about
what is happening in Israel. There is an interesting clip um from
an Indian journalist Braj Moan uh who just posted this on X uh which indicates
what other sources are saying uh namely the interception of incoming Iranian
missiles is failing uh the damage is extensive and I recall that in the June
war 408 buildings [clears throat] were destroyed in Israel. Many Israelis are
still homeless as a result of that. U this now is much worse. Uh and um uh Mr.
Mahan um is quite panicky in his little clip. Um uh and um he clearly has been
uh renewed his uh done puja. He's got a nice red mark on his between his eyes.
Um India uh is in a very poor position.
Uh it has almost no strategic petroleum reserve. I believe there's about 9 and a
half days supply in the Indian strategic petroleum reserve whereas China has 253
days of of strategic petroleum reserve and uh Japan incur quite a bit less but
still far more than India. So it's entirely natural that uh uh the Indian
government has petitioned the United States for a an exemption from the
Russian oil embargo that the United States had imposed and the Russian Federation has offered to resupply India
with oil which it will have to do by the Pacific or around Africa because uh
so Um, India's going to suffer power outages. Um, the one that you just
experienced is probably not related to that. Uh, but um, things are going to
get pretty tough. Second effect is about half the world's fertilizer supply has
just been cut off in the northern hemisphere. This is right in advance of
the planting season. So, we're going to have a food shortage down the road. Um
and if we look at the energy picture, gutter uh has had to stop production of
gas uh both for export and domestically.
I mean, for example, there's a Norwegian aluminum factory in gutter that has had
to shut down uh because no gas is available to power uh it. Um and uh the
land-based facilities u that produce uh liqufied natural gas in gutter have been
uh damaged. We're told it will be uh many weeks, perhaps months before they
can be brought back online. Um, and so, um, we're in a situation where, uh, the
United States and Israel, following Israel, a long-term Israeli ambition,
has started a war, which is not going to be the short victorious war that its u
proponents imagined, but a long war of attrition in which
industrial capacity uh, and inventory of weaponry and defensive equipment will
decide the outcome along with the ability to take punishment. Again,
Muhammad Ali and Rope a do you know I'll take all the punches you give me. I'll
punch you enough to exhaust you and when you are exhausted I will strike you. And
that is the Iranian strategy. And no, of course it may not work but at the moment it appears to be working. And so um I
think uh the mainstream media and the boastful statements of the central
command must be taken not with a a grain of salt but a boulder of salt. Um so uh
this is sort of a summary I think of what is happening uh at least as I see
it and of course I may be wrong because information is in very short supply and
I would point out we're only seven or eight days into uh this uh war. I guess
it's eight um seven and a half eight days now. um we um and it's going to go
on for quite a while and um and uh the um uh I think probably midweek next week
um uh sometime around the 10th of March the 11th or 12th um we will see um
whether I'm correct about um the capacity of the United States and Israel to defend themselves against hypersonic
missiles which is almost non-existent anyway. way uh is uh is essentially
eliminated. Um we're hearing talk out of the Pentagon about um uh about falling
back to um air launched cruise missiles um from that is standing off um hundreds
of miles and firing missiles at targets in Iran. But the assumption there is
that the United States has wiped out Iranian air defenses.
I think it's an open question whether it has or not uh for two reasons. Uh, first
the Iranians given the rope a doe strategy may well
have decided to save those by moving them underground out of the way and not
expending their own self-defense capacity at the opening when [clears throat] Israeli and
American capacities are at their peak. So they may be uh uh these air defense
capabilities may still exist to be brought forward uh when required
um or appropriate. Second um battle damage assessment uh in an air war is
exceedingly difficult. I was reminded of a friend of the NATO American air
campaign against Serbia in the war to u vivbec Serbia and remove Kosovo from it.
Um uh the Serbs had apparently 17 U
launchers for their air defenses. Um and we reported destroying 64 of those 17.
So I mean uh and I remember from my time as ambassador during the Gulf War of 1999
uh that uh uh our air force and the Israeli air force were continuously
announcing the destruction of Iranian Scud launchers uh and then they turned out not to be destroyed. Uh so we've
seen um videos of missiles launching from beneath the sands that is they are
uh they are in silos covered with dirt and a very thin protector between them
and the sky and suddenly they burst forth from an apparent a desert empty
desert. So I don't know um uh whether you know Iran is holding back
appropriate things. I suspect it may be. I want I wanted to ask you a little bit more about uh President Bzkian's
decision or announcement to halt strikes u at the Gulf uh states uh uh
conditional uh conditioned on u that no attacks are coming no further attacks
are were to come from from them again. Um I I wonder what what makes them take
this decision. I mean um of course on one hand as you said it's uh uh it's
it's it's a strategy of uh attacking US and Iran while opening diplomacy to to
the rest of uh the states in the region. But one may also wonder what makes them
hope that the Gulf states are independent enough to take uh uh open friendship or or or or or push the
United States out of the region.
Well, the basic lesson that they're trying to impart, I think has to provide in the name of defending the Gulf States
against Iran or other attackers in fact don't do that. They become they justify
Iranian attacks on these very states. So they are not a source of protection but
of vulnerability and they therefore should be removed. That's the basic lesson Iran has been trying to d draw
draw home. The two other two possible reasons for that I see for the timing of
the uh uh of the ceasefire uh unilateral ceasefire announced by Iran against
these states, not against the United States. Uh Iran has made it clear it's going to continue to attack Israel and
the United States, but it has now exempted the Gulf States um and done so
uh in a um tactful apologetic
manner that maximizes the chances that they will accept the ceasefire. In other
words, Pzeskian says, "We're really sorry. This was all a mistake." Of course it
wasn't a mistake but um he gives them the out of accepting that it was a mistake. So two possibilities one there
were there were agreements reached to diplomacy which is not visible uh between the Gulf states and Iran and the
Gulf states agreed that as they have said publicly they would not allow any American use of their bases against
Iran. And second they probably also agreed that when the war is over those
bases will disappear. So, Iran has achieved its long-standing objective.
That is the most likely possibility. As a secondary consideration,
Iran has expanded mostly drones, very few missiles um on these spaces.
um and uh it may want to just save them for further use against the United
States and Israel having made its point it believes
uh to the Gulf Arabs. So uh I think this is u a very important uh uh development
and I don't think uh it is as Donald Trump suggested an Iranian surrender to
the Gulf Arabs. Yeah, I wasn't surprised about the
announcement itself because uh my reading um in the recent days has been
Iran had been very very cautious even while they were attacking even um their
attacks on hotels. uh they came out unjustified saying that oh we only attacked the hotels because it was US
personnels who had to retreat back to the hotels effectively saying that we are still maintaining that difference or
discrimination between attacking military assets and so I wasn't surprised by that but
right but they did they attacked for example uh the port of Dukam in Oman uh which is a purely Omani
port but it has all storage for than the US Navy draws on and it's a US Navy
anchorage. So Oman which has been the indispensable
neutral mediator in these sham negotiations
uh Oman is I think a gasast at having been used in this fashion twice. Um but
the uh foreign minister um bad alidi has
has uh has been very clear that there was real progress being made
uh in the um in the in the negotiations by the Iranians. They had gone well
beyond the so-called JCPOA or joint comprehensive plan of action.
They had agreed to forego any storage of material that was substantially
enriched. Um and um they had agreed to go back to low levels of enrichment. Um
and uh we've heard Steve Whit um the who of course knows absolutely
he's a real estate um uh manipulator. He's Donald Trump's crony. He knows
nothing about nuclear weapons or Iran or the Arabs or anything else. And nor does
Jared Kushner um who does not have a PhD in nuclear physics last time I looked.
Um no, these people say, well, it's the inherent right wickoff says it's the inherent right of President Trump to
insist that they have no enrichment, but it's the inherent right of of Iran under article 4 of the non-proliferation
treaty to have enrichment. So once again, the United States is in contempt
of international law and making assertions which have no basis at all um
in in uh in law and practice. Um, so I think the Trump administration has
thoroughly discredited itself abroad. Um,
not not only with this unprovoked attack, but
with with Israel, but with the manner in which 65 people at a girl school in
Minab. Normally, one would expect an apology. This was a targeting error. We're really
sorry. No, nothing. Um the the sinking with us by a submarine of an Iranian
cruise ship cruise cruiser that had been engaged in an in essentially diplomatically organized uh
multinational exercise off India. Um you know is another this is like s the
German sinking of the Lucitania in World War I. It discredits the United States and um so uh and uh Secretary of Defense
self-styled Secretary of War Ex Hath's statements could well have been made by
Adolf Hitler. They are um totally savage. He dismisses so-called
international institutions. He says in so-called international law, he said
there should be no rules of engagement or no holds barred.