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Netanyahu CLOSES Israel's Borders As Trump Strikes Iran w/ Larry Wilkerson & Dennis Fritz
Revolutionary Change
Jun 22, 2025 #netanyahu #iranwar #irannews

Trump has officially completed a strike on Iran, continuing to be Israel's puppet to start a new World War. Netanyahu at the same time has closed Israel's borders, stopping Israeli's from leaving the country as Iran begins its counter assault. Peter Hager is joined by Larry Wilkerson & Dennis Fritz to discuss.



Transcript

The reports I'm receiving from Israel
and Netanyahu is trying desperately I
mean desperately to keep these reports
from coming out israel's being pounded
they're being pounded right now and
they're using up their weaponry um our
weaponry which is kind of dangerous for
us they're firing four five six missiles
at every single missile that Iran sends
in and Rome is smart they sent in the
first missiles as more or less decoys
and they saturated the Israeli air
defenses uh which include ours uh
cruisers in the Mediterranean and other
things that we're giving them they
saturated them and they fired all their
missiles and they continue to fire their
missiles iran is not running out now
they're using even more competent
missiles even better missiles they used
one just uh yesterday that's not too
much different from the archnic that
Putin used it's a hyper velocity missile
it cannot be shot down by any air
defense system be an accident if you
shot it down it's so fast so he's hiding
all this he's also hiding the fact that
a lot of Israelis who have the money are
going to the coast and getting a yacht
or a small craft and unasking the
country they're leaving because he's
forbidden them to leave um this is not
going all that well for Israel and
that's another pressure I'm worried
about because if it gets to the point
where BBE tells Trump we're going to
collapse
he doesn't have any choice he thinks
he's going to go in in for penny in for
a pound
well I believe and Dennis please u but I
do believe that
I mean a lot of times presidents
throughout history u it doesn't happen
very often but there are times where a
commander-in-chief really holds all the
cards uh Trump has the ability to make a
couple of moves here that can basically
completely decimate or outright destroy
the state of Israel and with it the
Israel lobby and their strangle hold
over our country um I don't know if he
has it in him i mean granted I think he
would probably be lined up as a martyr
in many ways if he did because I think
they would come after him with
everything they've got but things are
getting very precarious right now with
the state of Israel especially with the
lockdown uh refusing to allow their
citizenry to leave uh that's a sign of
what was essentially happening and has
been happening to the Palestinians oh
now the Israelis are probably looking at
a similar fate uh if they're not careful
because Iran is not going to let up
they've had enough it's pretty obvious
that they've had enough
peter I will tell you if you look back
I've been saying for over a year I'm on
record saying this that if Israel
decided to attack Iran they will regret
it why because Iran have as we all know
ballistic missiles powerful ballistic
missiles and very accurate ballistic
missiles and every time they say they
retaliate they we did think about
Solumani when you assassinated him they
said they would retaliate and they did
on basis where we had troops in Iraq
when Israel first attacked they
retaliated and so I knew they would
retaliate again this time more forceful
and guess what as Larry mentioned
they're being hit more than what is
being said and in fact uh the Israelis
are restricting what the media can see
the only reason they showed the hospital
because they want sympathy discounting
all the hospitals they bombed in a in uh
Gaza but now they want sympathy for from
us you know in the world oh they hit a
hospital which really from what I'm told
you know it was just an offshoot because
they were going after military targets
near the hospital let me just mention
one other thing as well how did we get
here which Larry knows because he played
some role in this you know we had
something called the joint comprehensive
plan of action JCPOA which was working
iran was abiding by guess what we broke
that President Trump they were uh
limited in the amount of of of
enrichment they were abiding by it now
have they up the antie and increased
that enrichment yes but think about it
too they want leverage as well to bring
us back to the table so I think a lot of
we got to think about that too
politically they were probably looking
for leverage okay if we increase it to
this point increase it to this point but
I've never heard anybody there may be
some hardliners in in Iran but I never
had the the leadership say "Hey we want
a nuclear weapon." They've been saying
they don't want it the Ayatollah the
last word has said "We want no nuclear
weapon it's all for peaceful means." And
so now why do I tell you all that Peter
none of this WMD is not Iraq was not
about WMD nuclear weapons not about
nuclear weapons it is about control
imperialistic opportunities to control
the Middle East on behalf of Israel and
probably on behalf of us as Larry would
say because he seems to think and you
know he got me somewhat convinced we we
are the drivers of this well if we're
not the drivers we're absolutely
complicit
and here's the here's the kicker I think
now that we all all be worried about we
can talk all day long about Tulsi and
Trump and we're looking at a situation
where it could become near existential
for Israel's survival as a state
that means Trump is going in and that
means we wind up ultimately because
bombing is not going to do it you don't
bomb a country as big as Iran with
90,000 people and do anything but make
them homework make them angry make them
ready to fight you and start hitting
your facilities in Bahrain at Alcaded in
Saudi Arabia all over the map aloud uh
in Yeah iraq um so and then the poll
will shift in America the poll will
shift and we they'll be killing US
people so the poll will shift and we're
in we're in this war and I'm telling you
if you didn't like Iraq Wow you will
hate Iran because Peter it'll be
trillions of dollars we'll have to go to
a draft because you're not going to get
rid of them unless you invade i've been
saying it Colonel i've been saying it i
People think it's not that it's not
serious i'm telling you if there is any
inkling that Trump is going to blink and
he's going to give in
there's going to be a draft in this
country it's going to happen because
there will be no way i'll tell you the
first thing that's going to happen and
it'll happen within the first couple of
first few months we all know what it was
like i mean I went to Ruters i saw the
ROTC out in full force when I was there
leading up to the invasion and obviously
post the invasion there will be such an
intense recruitment to get people into
the military there will be promises
financial promises and Dennis you're in
you're in Maryland they are going to go
into the toughest neighborhoods in
Baltimore and Talzin and places like
that and they are going to try to bring
people in the most dire of circumstances
and say "Hey you want out of this
poverty come join the military we'll get
you out of here." Peter let me comment
on that
that have may have worked on me you know
I'll be honest i didn't join the
military out of patriotism i joined the
military based on what you just said
necessity now now let me tell you this
now the young people of today are more
critical thinkings i watch social media
as I tell folks I don't know how to post
but I'm a Tik Tok nut and all the young
folks are on Tik Tok right now putting
out hey I'm not going they putting jokes
i'm not going to fight your war they're
a lot smarter than we are they're not uh
more uh we were more obliging we listen
to our parents that joined the military
you know it's out of patriotism you know
these young folks I'm telling you you
thought when people so-called running to
Canada to avoid the draft these young
folks are telling you right now just get
out there on TikTok we are not going we
are not going and they're telling us
that and guess what people like my
myself and Larry I'm telling you right
now I came from a military family Fort
Bragg Fort Liberty down Fort Bragg and
um and my dad retired from the army i
went into the Air Force spent 28 years i
would not tell anybody to join
absolutely not because we've been used
as pawns in these foreign policies now
you start talking about a draft where in
my opinion that may be a good thing
because that may stop everything because
of fact I'm telling you right now these
kids are not going to go their parents
not going to let them go and I'm gonna
tell them I'm gonna be out there saying
you shouldn't go because this is not
about the security of our nation
absolutely not that new leader up there
in Canada will have a million new
citizens 18 to 24 years old male and
female you take that to the bank Peter
i've been watching and talking to the
young folks
ban on Israelis flying out raises legal
red flags with many needing to leave and
this is from the Times of Israel this
isn't from some you know progressive
liberal rag this is from inside the
heart of it all watchdog group says
cabinet resolution establishing
exceptions
committee to grant some citizens
permission to depart may violate
constitutional right well gee gentlemen
i wonder who is going to be granted
leave from the state of Israel could it
be the very wealthy people that will
just bribe the government so they can
end up in you know Miami or something
like that because that's generally how
this works broad government restrictions
against flying out of the country in the
wake of Israel's attack against Iran
just that first sentence alone in lie of
they attacking another country you can't
now leave not the hey we were uh
unprovoked and attacked oh we can't go
anywhere now no that's not how this
works so the UN so the attack on Iran
last Friday facing tough legal questions
has apparently large numbers of Israeli
citizens you know it's okay when you're
committing genocide on the Palestinian
people when the boomerang comes back in
your direction and isn't so pretty a
cosmopolitan nation like Israel they
don't stand they they don't stand any
chance of doing anything it's all the
dirty work that supposedly we're going
to do on their behalf but thankfully the
nation's waking up to that reality and
so of course seeking to leave the
country for various reasons there's only
one reason they're trying to leave are
currently being prevented from doing so
although small numbers of foreign
citizens and Israelis have been able to
leave through sea and land borders
Israeli citizens have not been able to
buy plane tickets out of Israel
apparently due to concerns for aviation
security during the ongoing conflict
with Iran one private attorney who is
preparing a petition to the High Court
of Justice has received requests for
help from dozens of Israelis who need to
leave the country for a variety of
reasons including some who simply live
abroad
of course uh with their families but
have been stranded in Israel since the
beginning of Operation Rising Lion more
like Operation Cowardly Lion against
Iran meanwhile the movement for quality
government has demanded that the
government explain a cabinet resolution
it passed on Wednesday conditioning
flying out of the country on approval by
a government-ledd exceptions committee
this is a very dire situation gentlemen
and I don't know what Netanyahu hopes to
accomplish but I'm also of the mind as
I'm sure you both are that he's not even
in Israel right now he's running this
from afar and having all of his lap dogs
like Gavier and Smotrich do his bidding
because they're all nuts um how do you
see this unfolding how are how are they
going to be able to prevent the people
from leaving when Tel Aviv is getting
absolutely bombarded at this i actually
heard him say today and it made my blood
curdle he said with some emotion which
he's he can manufacture at the drop of a
pin it's they're killing civilians
they're killing civilians referring to
Iran i I couldn't believe I was hearing
it but it's him it's him that's the sort
of thing he does um they've been Oh even
Well even better uh how about him
complaining about the fact that he was
supposed to be going to Miami for his
son's wedding wedding we've got We've
got to postpone the wedding and that's
terrible we don't Why is his son in
Miami as you talked about before Peter
why is his son in Miami oh be Well
because because it's
Oh my god let me tell you that's one of
the reasons why W was Schultz uh is
still in Congress because she has a
tremendous amount of support from the is
the Israel adjacent network that resides
in Southeast Florida particularly in the
Fort Lauderdale and Miami areas that's
where they are and that's where a lot of
them have relocated to including to
where Jen lives they're as she likes to
point out they're all in her Pilates
classes now they're all showing up they
This is honestly this this just another
version of Cuba that's Peter we all know
now that uh BB Netanyahu cares nothing
about anyone almost like Trump but
himself so you think about this uh you
know for a moment all the destruction
that's happening in Israel right now the
only time you saw him out as I alluded
again when you talk about oh they're
killing civilians when he went to that
hospital he knows how to do
disinformation oh they're killing
civilians but getting that he killed so
many civilians in Gaza as Larry
mentioned oh they're destroying
hospitals where does he show up at at
that particular hospital and so he can
care less about his people and I'm being
quite serious about that because we know
that now it's all about him now and his
survivability
great
well the watchdog group said the
resolution was especially problematic in
light of the explicit constitutional
right to leave and enter the country
laid down in basic law human dignity and
freedom as well as previous high court
rulings determine the right to be
fundamental in a democratic country
transportation Minister Mirie Regv said
Thursday night that Israel was preparing
to operate outgoing departure flights
starting Monday to help to can you
imagine what that airport in Tel Aviv is
going to be like on Monday to help
tourist diplomats and Israelis leave the
country subject to the approval of the
ex exceptions committee now I could tell
you guys and we have seen this before
and we know how this is going to go down
whoever is bribing the most are the ones
who are going to leave

UN Nuclear Agency Embarrasses USA On Fordow Damage; Trump's Envoy Seen Doing This…| Iran| Israel
by Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
Hindustan Times
Jun 22, 2025 #US #RafaelGrossi #IAEA

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, issued a stark warning at the UN Security Council on Sunday, stating that the global nuclear nonproliferation regime is "on the line" following a series of US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.



Transcript

And I now give the floor to Mr rafael
Mariano Grossi.

[Rafael Grossi] Thank you very much Madame President i
would like to thank the secretary
general for his permanent
uh support to the IEA uh myself in the
discharge of my duties i also like to uh
thank the assistant secretary general
for his intervention right now
I have convened
a special session of the board of
governors of the IAEA tomorrow morning
in Vienna to cons to continue the
consideration of this issue that this
body
has started um today or has continued
today rather
secretary General Madame President dear
permanent representatives colleagues
the nuclear non-proliferation regime
that has underpinned
international security for more than
half a century is on the line
the dramatic events in Iran have become
even more serious with last night's
bombardments and the potential widening
of a conflict
we have a window of opportunity to
return to dialogue and diplomacy
if that window
closes
violence and destruction could reach
unthinkable levels and the global
non-proliferation regime as we know it
could crumble and fall
iran Israel Israel Iran the Middle East
need peace and there is a path for
diplomacy
we must return as the secretary general
just said to the negotiating table and
allow the IAEA inspectors
the guardians of the NPT to go back to
Iran's nuclear sites and account for the
stockpiles of uranium including most
importantly the 40
400 kilograms
of enriched uranium at 60% any
agreement
ladies and gentlemen any arrangement
will have as a pre-requisite
the establishment of the facts on the
ground
this can be done only through IEA
inspections
iiea inspectors are in Iran
and they must do their job this will
require a cessation of hostilities so
that Iran can let the teams into the
sides under the necessary safety and
security conditions
any
special measures by Iran to protect its
nuclear materials and equipment
can be done in accordance with Iran's
safeguards obligations with the agency
this is possible
madame President
based on the information available to
the IEA let me update you on what has
occurred at Iran's nuclear sites since I
last addressed this council three days
ago
craters are visible at the fordo site
Iran's main location for enriching
uranium at 60%
indicating the use by the United States
of America of ground penetrating
munitions
this is consistent
with statements from the United States
at this time
at this time no one including the IEA is
in a position to assess the underground
damage at Fordo
at the Esfahan nuclear site additional
buildings were hit overnight
with the US confirming their use of
cruise missiles
affected buildings include some related
to uranium conversion process
also at this site entrances to tunnels
used for the storage of enriched
material appear to have been hit
at the Natan's enrichment site the fuel
enrichment plant has been hit again with
the US confirming that it used ground
penetrating munitions
iran has informed the IAEA
there has been no increase in offsite
radiation levels at the three sides
the situation at all other sites in Iran
remains as I described them to you
three days ago
we continue to monitor the situation and
encourage the Iranian regulator to
maintain its indispensable
contact with the IEA's incident and
emergency center
madame President
the IAEA has consistently
underlined as stated in general
conference resolutions that armed
attacks on nuclear facilities should
never take place and could result in
radioactive releases with great
consequences within and beyond the
boundaries of the state of the state
sorry which has been attacked
i therefore
again call on maximum restraint military
escalation
threatens lives and delays a diplomatic
solution for the long-term assurance
that Iran does not acquire a nuclear
weapon
it also threatens the the global
non-proliferation regime
as I stated three days ago and before I
am ready to travel immediately and to
engage with all relevant parties to help
ensure
the protection of nuclear facilities and
the continued peaceful uses of nuclear
technology in accordance with the AY's
mandate
with your support
with your support the IEA can deploy
nuclear safety and security experts to
Iran immediately in addition to our
safeguards inspectors wherever they are
needed
madame President
there is arguably no more important and
universally supported endeavor than
ensuring that we use the enormous power
of the atom for good rather than
destruction
let us not allow the window to close on
diplomacy let us not allow the
non-proliferation regime to fail
irrespective of individual positions and
views
one thing is certain and this is the
simple truth we will not be safer if
there are more nuclear weapons in more
states around the world
the IEA is ready to do its part to bring
this military confrontation to an end
thank you very much i thank Mr grossi

Iran's FM Slams U.S. 'Betrayal' in Nuclear Strike, Warns of Consequences- Rejects Western Diplomacy
Times Now World
Jun 22, 2025 #tnworld #timesnowworld #worldnews

In a fiery press conference following U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi vehemently condemned the attack as a "brutal" violation of the UN Charter and international law, accusing the U.S. of colluding with Israel to undermine Iran's sovereignty and betray ongoing diplomatic efforts, including recent talks in Geneva. He called for urgent UN and IAEA action, warned of severe global consequences for the non-proliferation regime, and reserved Iran's right to self-defense, hinting at unspecified retaliatory options while expressing skepticism about Western diplomacy. Araghchi highlighted regional support, particularly from Turkey, and strategic coordination with Russia and China, while emphasizing Iran's resilience and unity. News reports, including from Reuters and Al Jazeera, note Iran's cautious stance on escalating via the Strait of Hormuz, with Araghchi assuring Italy of open merchant shipping, though hardliners advocate stronger measures, reflecting Iran's delicate balance between retaliation and diplomacy.

John Mearsheimer EXPOSES Israel Lobby's Push For Iran War
by Krystal and Saagar
Breaking Points
Jun 23, 2025 Breaking Points
Krystal and Saagar are joined by John Mearsheimer to discuss the latest on Israel and Iran.

John Mearsheimer: https://www.mearsheimer.com/



Transcript

very excited now to be joined by
Professor John Mirshimer of the
University of Chicago one of my personal
heroes sir thank you very much for
joining us again my pleasure to be here
absolutely all right so uh let's get
into it professor you've long warned
about the circumstances around this now
we have the situation where the United
States has struck Iranian nuclear
facilities we want to get your reaction
specifically to the way that Israel has
dragged the United States into this
situation something you've warned about
for quite some time here we're going to
play a little bit from Prime Minister
Netanyahu we're gonna get your reaction
let's take a listen

[Netanyahu] Congratulations
President Trump your bold decision to
target Iran's nuclear facilities with
the awesome and righteous might of the
United States will change history in
Operation Rising Lion Israel has done
truly amazing things but in tonight's
action against Iran's nuclear facilities
America has been truly unsurpassed
it has done what no other country on
earth could do history will record that
President Trump acted to deny the
world's most dangerous regime the
world's most dangerous weapons his
leadership today has created a pivot of
history that can help lead the Middle
East and beyond to a future of
prosperity and peace
president Trump and I often say peace
through strength
first comes strength then comes peace.

professor what do you make of BB's
comments there and where things go from
here

[John Mearsheimer] Well I actually think he's
delusional uh I think the argument that
we have solved the nuclear problem uh
with Iran is wrong and if anything it's
more likely than ever that Iran will get
nuclear weapons almost everybody I know
argues that if Iran wants nuclear
weapons uh there's nothing you can do to
prevent them from getting nuclear
weapons uh they have so much knowhow;
they have so much capability; and even
if we were to destroy uh all of the
existing facilities they could rebuild
them underneath a bigger mountain and
eventually nuclear weapons and
furthermore when you attack them like
this you give them greater incentive
than ever to actually go get nuclear
weapons watching what's been happening
one says to oneself why didn't they get
nuclear weapons earlier this wouldn't
have happened if they had nuclear
deterrent so I would argue that first of
all we did not get all of their nuclear
infrastructure we did not destroy all of
their nuclear capability secondly even
if we did they can rebuild it and third
they now have a greater incentive than
ever to get nuclear weapons so we have
not solved the nuclear problem by doing
this

um professor what is your
understanding of the pressures that were
brought to bear that led us to this
point of being directly engaged in what
you know Trump is now saying on truth
social may well be a regime change war

[John Mearsheimer] Yeah well just quickly to talk about
regime change is changing the objective
here. Trump initially said that this
was simply about taking out Iran's
nuclear capability he probably now
realizes that we have not done that
cannot do that so now we're talking
about regime change on the assumption
that if we put in a new regime
that those new Iranian leaders are not
going to want nuclear weapons this too
is delusional what Iranian in his or her
right mind doesn't want a nuclear
deterrent at this point in time?
Furthermore we're not going to get
regime change in all likelihood if you
look at what's happening inside Iran
what's happening and what the
historical record always says happens in
these cases that the people are coming
together to support the regime there's a
rally around the flag effect so I think
this is not going to work to cause
regime change any more than it's going
to work to eliminate the nuclear
capability.

Now with regard to your
question about the influence of Israel
and the lobby on the United States the
influence of the lobby in the United
States is awesome. There's just no
question about that. This is a war for
Israel, basically the Israel Firsters
Trump the American Firsters and it's
hardly surprising we've seen it many
times and we'll undoubtedly see it many
times moving forward.

Professor you know
one of the things you've always warned
about as well is about this realignment
not only with Iran but also with the
other powers we could put this here up
on the screen a reaction from Dimmitri
Medvidev the former president of Russia
he says here, "What have the Americans
accomplished with their nighttime
strikes on these nuclear sites in Iran?
Critical infrastructure appears to only
been affected sustained only minor
damage." He says Iran's political regime
has survived and in all likelihood has come
out even stronger the people are
rallying around the country's spiritual
leadership but the most important line
was a number of countries are ready to
supply Iran with their own nuclear
warheads what do you make of this
warning from the Russians and what the
you know follow-on effects of this will
be throughout the world you know the
destruction perhaps of the non-proliferation
treaty the incentive for states
opposed to the United States and to the
West to pursue a nuclear weapons program

[John Mearsheimer] Well there are a number of different
issues here first of all I don't think
that there's any country with nuclear
weapons that would give nuclear
warheads
to Iran i think the only
possibility is Pakistan and I don't
think that that's in the cards i could
be wrong but I don't think that's in the
cards i think the greater danger as I
said before is that Iran will develop
its own nuclear weapons uh. With regard
to the NPT
and the nuclear proliferation regime
that we've established over the years
which has been so effective I think this
is a hammer blow to that regime i think
almost everybody agrees about that point
uh the fact is that the message from
what has happened in Iran is that you
should have nuclear weapons because that
is they are the ultimate deterrent and
that's the only way you can ensure that
Israel and the United States won't uh do
a tag team attack on you uh just look at
Kim Jong-un in North Korea he developed
nuclear weapons he's sitting uh he's
sitting happily in uh Pyongyang because
he knows we're not going to attack him
because he has nuclear weapons if you
look at what happened in Libya what
happened in Syria uh what's now
happening in um Ukraine and uh what's
happening uh in Iran it's quite clear
that you want to have nuclear weapons
they are the ultimate deterrent so I
think this has done great damage to the
nuclear proliferation regime.

With regard to our reputation around the world I
mean the United States is correctly seen
as a rogue state even in East Asia today
allies like Japan and South Korea are
basically condemning us for what we've
done i mean what can you say about the
United States? i mean first of all the
duplicitous diplomacy here and then this
idea that we have the right just to run
around the world attacking countries
whenever we see fit.
Furthermore let's not lose sight of the
fact that the United States is
supporting the Israeli genocide in Gaza
This is much worse than anything
that's happening to the Iranians there's
a genocide taking place the Israelis are
executing it and we're complicit in this
complicit in this. I mean I think
America's reputation is in tatters sure
we're the most powerful state on the
planet and countries have to be very
careful in their criticism of us but I
think almost everybody outside of
Israel and the United States and a few
European leaders understands that the
United States is basically out of
control.

Let's talk a little bit more
about Gaza and how this fits in this
picture. I can put E3 up on the screen
which is just you know the latest
article in the ongoing hell and ongoing
genocide that is being perpetrated
inside of Gaza. This is from Haaretz which
is an Israeli newspaper says as living
space in Gaza shrinks remaining pockets
endure hellish conditions nearly 2
million people crammed now into less
than 18% of Gaza this is all of course
getting now much less attention
because now the world is focused on this
war with Iran. You know the war the
Israeli initial strikes of course done
with our support were launched at a time
when there was increasing public and
global discontent with the
continuation of this genocide i mean do
you see those two things as linked in
terms of what led to this particular
timing?

[John Mearsheimer] Yes. I think that the Israelis
have always understood that the best
chance for cleansing Gaza and the West
Bank was in the context of a big war.
October 7th of course provided
the pretext for bombing Gaza and
starting the genocide and there's no
question in my mind that the Israelis
understood that if they started a war
against Iran the focus would be on Iran
especially if they brought the Americans
in and that would leave them free to
ramp up the genocide and possibly drive
the Palestinians out of Gaza. I mean it's
very clear that that is their goal and
then the question you have to ask
yourself is given that goal, what is the
best way for them to achieve that end.
And it's quite clear to me that
starting a major war with Iran goes a
long way towards helping them cleanse
Gaza.

Sir what do you think that how does
this fit again you know kind of
returning to the global picture we could
put the next one here up on the screen
which is about this recently completed
Iranian Chinese freight line now
nobody's claiming you know that this
would be able to replace the Straits of
Hormuz, but if there is a larger US
military intervention, what will that
lead to you know in terms of US power
that's able to project in East Asia and
elsewhere along with our reputation what
is the logical conclusion that
adversarial states would want to make
after further US involvement here in the
Middle East.

[John Mearsheimer] Well look there's no question that
American policy makers believe that the
principal threat that the United States
faces today is from China. China is
widely seen as a peer competitor and the
United States has been interested in
pivoting to Asia since 2011 when Hillary
Clinton who was then Secretary of State
said "We're going to pivot to Asia." But
we cannot pivot to Asia in any
meaningful way in large part because of
the Ukraine war, and what's going on in
the Middle East. And if you look at all
the naval and air assets that we have in
the Middle East now that should be in
East Asia you see that we have greatly
weakened our strategic situation in
East Asia and we are in a poor position
at this point in time for purposes of
containing China this is not in our
interest, and of course this shows you
what an albatross Israel is around their
neck. So there's no doubt that in
terms of basic American grand strategy,
this is not good. And if you
hypothesize a situation where we're
stuck in the Middle East for you know
months on end, this is an even worse
situation.

With regard to our reputation,
I think our reputation has been badly
damaged. I think there's no question
about that. And I think it will only get
worse. And by the way, one thing we
haven't talked about is what the
consequences will be for Donald
Trump on the home front? I mean Trump
is betting that this is sort of a
one-and-done operation: we went in, we did
the dirty work, we solved the problem,
and now we can celebrate, have a victory
parade or what have you. I don't think
this is the way this one's going to play
out. I don't think the Iranians are going
to roll over and play dead. I think we're
probably going to have to launch further
operations against Iran, military
operations, that is down the road. And
there's no evidence that this one is
going to be settled quickly. And as I
said before, I think the Iranians, if
anything, are going to get nuclear
weapons, and they're going to continue
down the nuclear road. And Trump is
going to have egg on his face. It's not
going to be a great victory; people are
going to question why we did this. And
so I think he's going to have problems
on the home front as a result of all
this.

I totally agree. Professor how do
you separate out the influence of the
Israel lobby and the genuine ideological
belief among many uh American elite
political leaders that endless support
for Israel does directly serve you know
the interest of American empire like for
example I think Joe Biden was a very
sincere ideological Zionist who was
ideologically committed to supporting
Israel come hell or high water how do
you separate those two things out?

[John Mearsheimer] Well it is somewhat difficult to
separate them out but the key point to
remember is that any policy maker or any
politician or aspiring politician who
criticizes Israel will find out very
quickly that that person has the
lobby's gun sites on him or her the
lobby will go to great lengths to
destroy that person's career and make
sure that he or she never gets elected
to office yeah we'll figure this out
very quickly and they also understand
that if you support Israel hook line and
sinker you'll get big-time support from
the lobby uh someone like Lindsey Graham
or Tom Cotton they benefit enormously uh
from making arguments that the lobby
finds in Israel's interest if you're
a general in the American military and
you're thinking about what you're going
to do after you retire you understand
full well that if you criticize Israel
it'll be very hard to find a job once
you retire and you at the same time you
understand that if you support Israel if
you back it uh and you push the American
military to do things that are said to
be in Israel's interest uh your job
prospects once you retire will be much
better i could go on and on about this
but Israel lobby has enormous influence
in the United States there is no case in
the historical record that even comes
close to this every time do you think
that grip is loosening at all we were
just talking about the New York City
mayoral race um Andrew Cuomo and Zoron
Mandani and he's you know been supporter
of BDS um you know calls it a genocide
in Palestine uh this is Zoron and Andrew
Cuomo is you know very much the the Apac
backed candidate and I don't know who's
going to win but he's certainly giving
Cuomo a run for his money you also have
a number of vocal critics in Congress
who have now survived that Apac
onslaught um people like Rashida Talib
people like on the right Thomas Massie
so do you think that some of that
influence is beginning to crack in this
age?

[John Mearsheimer] Well two points one is that there's no
question that the lobby is in deep
trouble and Israel is in deep trouble
when you talk about the public at large
the word is now out thanks to
shows like yours and all sorts of other
alternative media sites the fact is
that the word is out that Israel
is committing a genocide that Israel is
a strategic liability that Israel drags
us into wars like this and so forth and
so on. The problem is that the Israeli
lobby or the Israel lobby is still
deadly effective at the policy level,
they have a lock on American policy
makers and people like Thomas Massie and
others are small in number there
just are not many people at the policy level who
are willing to contest the Israelis so
what has to happen here is that the
public opinion has to translate into
a change at the policy level and I think
the only place where that's possible is
in the Democratic party it doesn't look
like it's at all possible in the
Republican party but if you look at the
polls and you look at how young
Democrats and this includes by the way
many young American Jews who are deeply
deeply disaffected by what's happening
here for good moral and strategic
reasons uh but I think that's the hope
yeah you know sir on a personal level
you know I read your book in 2008 the
Israel lobby huge influential huge hugely
influential we I read a lot about
realism and restraint and I learned so
much from you just through your pages is
it surreal to watch the neocons again
get a victory i didn't think it would
happen i I know I've seen the
popularization of your work from that
time to today we have this broad
restraint community and I and I feel
like it's all completely failed you know
just to watch it all happen again to see
Lindsey Graham to see Fox News Mark
Levvin what is it like for you having
lived through this twice now to watch
the uh you know the the war drums beat
the same people who were wrong
previously get to claim a victory lap it
it just seems so surreal to me yeah it
does seem surreal uh I mean sometimes as
you would expect I'm guilty of wishful
thinking and I want to believe that uh
the lobby's power will be curbed and uh
we will do the right thing both
strategically and morally but it happens
it it turns out very quickly that uh
that is wishful thinking and you realize
that the lobby is as powerful as ever
and uh this is all to say that I think
moving forward over the next couple
months and even over the next couple
years uh the lobby will have a lock on
American policy and they will push us to
do things in the Middle East uh that are
not in our interest i don't see Donald
Trump contesting the lobby uh in any
meaningful way he's a guy who likes to
talk tough but ultimately he's not very
tough and when it comes to Israel just
look at what he did in his first term
and what he's done since taking office
in his second term and there is no
reason to think uh that he's going to
contest Israel in any meaningful way
professor my last question for you here
is under the Obama administration the
Israel lobby did take one significant
blow which was the successful
negotiation of the JCPOA you know what
do you think that created the conditions
that made that um that deal possible
even you know BB Netanyahu came here and
preached to Congress you had you know a
robust debate a huge propaganda effort
to try to kill that deal and it was able
to ultimately go through so what do you
think created that possibility well I
think that Obama fully understood that
the lobby was powerful but nevertheless
its policies
uh were not good for the United States i
think he understood uh that Israel is an
albatross around their neck he would
never say that publicly but I'm I'm
fully confident that uh he understood
that and he understood that getting a
deal with Iran made sense and he worked
overtime uh to fashion a deal and he had
the benefit that he had uh a number of
European countries the French the
British and the Germans plus the
Russians plus the Chinese on his side uh
and he was able to barely push through
uh the JCPOA the nuclear agreement with
Iran but he took tremendous heat along
the way from the Israelis and from the
lobby and then when Trump came to power
in 2017 January 2017 he made it clear uh
that he was going to do away with the
JCPOA and of course in 2018 the summer
of 2018 he walked away from it uh and
then you want to remember that when we
started uh when we started uh dealing
with this issue again when the Trump
administration started dealing with this
issue again a few months ago Steve Whit
and Trump himself were talking about
working out a deal that looked like the
JCPOA mhm the lobby then moved in
unsurprisingly and the lobby made it
clear to Witoff and to Trump that there
was not going to be a deal like the
JCPOA
and Witoff and Trump both did 180° turn
said the Iranians cannot have any
nuclear enrichment at all which was
allowed in the original JCPOA
and the Iranians said that was
unacceptable and here we are today so
what is the bottom line the bottom line
is that uh common sense won a victory uh
during the Obama period but that was
quickly o overturned that victory was
quickly overturned by Trump uh and then
it looked like Trump might uh uh win uh
a victory for common sense uh this time
and it was quickly overturned by the
lobby so you see the power of the lobby
at every turn it's almost impossible uh
for a president to have any maneuver
room when it comes to dealing with
issues that are dear to Israel's heart
there you go well sir thank you very
much for joining us we always appreciate
your voice and uh we hope to see you
again soon thank you very much thank you
professor you're welcome hey if you like
that video hit the like button or leave
a comment below it really helps get the
show to more people and if you'd like to
get the full show ad free and in your
inbox every morning you can sign up at
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As Living Space in Gaza Shrinks, Remaining Pockets Endure Hellish Conditions. 'They moved the garbage piles and set up tents between them': Nearly two million people are crammed into less than 18 percent of Gaza, as Israel's expanding no-go zones fuel disease outbreaks, overcrowding, and growing hardship – especially for women and girls
by Nir Hasson
Jun 20, 2025
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/202 ... 37d25f0000


Tents housing displaced Gazans. Credit: Dawoud Abu Alkas / Reuters

Every few days, the IDF Arabic Spokesman, Avichay Adraee, issues an evacuation order to Gaza residents. The wording is almost always identical: "The IDF is operating with great force to destroy terror organizations. For your safety's sake, evacuate immediately." A map marking forbidden areas in red accompanies the announcement.

This is precisely where frequent changes are made: a darker shade of red marking the new forbidden area. It gets added to all the other, constantly expanding, red areas. The evacuation order has no expiration date. Areas that the army marked red never become clear again.

Even a quick peek at the maps reveals that the permitted area for two million residents is shrinking. The forbidden areas already constitute 82 percent of the Gaza Strip, stuffing them into the remaining 18 percent. Since Israel violated the cease-fire three months ago, 680,000 people have been forced to leave their homes, including 242,000 in just the past month.


A child bathes in a tub outside of a tent in Gaza City, in May. Credit: Jehad Alshrafi / AP

The result is growing population density in the evacuee camps, a decline in living conditions, the spread of infectious diseases, loss of privacy and worsening mental stress – particularly among women and girls.

It has become much more crowded since Operation Gideon's Chariots began," Gazan journalist Eman Hillis told Haaretz, "The entire north was evacuated to Gaza City. Even within the city, the dangerous areas expanded from Shujaiyeh to new areas, like Tufah, Zaytun and the Old City."

"Even areas considered safe were evacuated, and residents are setting up tents anywhere they can," Hillis added. "There's an open field in the city that the municipality used for months as a garbage dump. People couldn't find free space, so they moved the garbage piles and set up tents between them. It's a very, very sad place. People even put up tents in the middle of the street, but the municipality negotiated with them to move."

Territory is shrinking

The overcrowding is visible even from space. Tent encampments, like in Khan Yunis, Gaza City and other places, were destroyed and evacuated. Tents have popped up in every available space in the remaining areas outside the red zone, mainly in Muwasi in southern Gaza and in western Gaza City. There, tents were put up along the beach, on the piers stretching into the sea, between the ruins, on sidewalks and roads and within garbage dumps. Thousands of other displaced people are crowding within schools and public buildings amid worsening conditions.

The crowdedness is also palpable in the Damour camp for displaced persons, which the Damour for Community Development organization established with the support of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies. The camp has 4,000 registered residents, but the people running services for the camp estimate that another 20,000 displaced people have arrived. They built tents in the alleys and around the compound.


Shrinking Gaza territory. Source: UN Cluster for Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM), as of June 17.

The camp, which was also supposed to provide basic education for children and a community kitchen, is struggling to function. So, children there, like children elsewhere in Gaza, haven't gone to school for nearly two years. "We're currently in survival mode," said Barak Talmor, who managed the Arava Institute's Jumpstarting Hope in Gaza program.

And there's another difficulty. Anyone who manages to get their hands on food will have a hard time finding a place to assemble a meal. The tents don't have enough space to cook, and most things are done at their entrances. The lucky ones cook on a fire they built from wood fragments or cardboard. Others are forced to burn plastic, causing foul and hazardous smells that pollute the atmosphere.

Victoria Rose, a British physician who volunteered until recently at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, said that many of the injured patients she treated included children who were injured in the displaced persons camps, many of them suffering burns from fire or boiling water.

One toilet per 200 people

The overcrowding makes daily life in Gaza insufferable, even regarding the most basic needs. Although several tent camps have proper public bathrooms, most residents are forced to rely on improvised toilets built over cesspools or jerry-rigged collection devices. Consequently, a pungent stench develops, and privacy is hard to maintain.

In some tent areas, there is only one toilet per 10 families. Most are separated only by a sheet of cloth or plastic that doesn't offer sufficient privacy. There is approximately one toilet per 200 people in the displaced persons camp that the Arava Institute and Damour organization built. The World Health Organization recommends a ratio of no more than 20 people per toilet.

Women and girls suffer the most from the overcrowding. A UN report warned recently that many Gazan women avoid drinking water, so they won't need to pee. Many women avoid walking to a bathroom or shower, lest strange men see them. Moreover, women are taking measures to stop their monthly period because they lack hygienic products. The UN also reported that nursing women have stopped breastfeeding because they have no privacy to do so. Hundreds of thousands of women in Gaza are dealing with emotional distress stemming from a lack of privacy and basic hygiene.


Gazans prepare food at a tent encampment, in Muwasi, in April.Credit: Abdel Kareem Hana / AP

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights collected accounts indicating that women fear going to the bathroom during the day due to feelings of shame. They also fear going at night because of the packs of dogs wandering among the tents. "Gaza is a conservative society," Hillis said. "When you live in a tent and people see you, it's challenging for women. They need to always wear a hijab."

S., a 38-year-old Gazan, told the center: "I found myself cramped inside a tiny tent with my brother-in-law's family. We're on top of each other, with no space, no privacy, no sleep, not an ounce of dignity. I never remove my hijab and clothes, day or night, like I'm holding onto my last thread of modesty. Sometimes, I wait 10 days to shower. I'm suffering from lice and constantly feel disgusted with myself.

Another woman, Riham, described how three families were living together in a classroom that measures 8 square meters. A cloth screen separates the families.

"I'm forced to sleep fully dressed, always on the edge, scared of any movement around me. I hold my blanket, looking for a shred of security among strangers," Riham said. "The only thing separating us, the cloth, doesn't afford privacy. I'm always worried I could be exposed."


Tents housing displaced Gazans, in Gaza City, in May.Credit: Mahmoud Issa / Reuters

Tortuous nights

Fleas, mosquitoes, mice, rats and parasitic worms all thrive in the conditions created in the Gazan camps. If that weren't enough, bombings destroyed the sewage system. The facilities that are still operating are partially shut down due to fuel shortages. The Israel Air Force also destroyed engineering equipment that the municipalities used in Gaza to clear away debris and garbage. Today, the authorities have limited capabilities to act – another factor contributing to the growth of pests. "Biologists could write entire research papers on the insects growing here," the Arava Institute's Talmor says.

Moreover, water is collecting amid the ruins and tens, providing ideal sites for mosquitoes. However, Israel doesn't allow the introduction of chemicals that could treat the danger or sewage system equipment to prevent the creation of pools. Consequently, they cause residents constant suffering. "The nights are torturous. Everyone is scratching themselves and covering themselves up from head to toe, one Gazan told the Palestinian Information Center. "But then it's too hot and they remove something, and then the mosquitoes ambush them, and that's how it is all night."

"Pools are found everywhere possible near the tents because people use water, and these pools attract mosquitoes," Hillis confirmed. "It's become a serious problem in Gaza. The rodents also get in everywhere in the tent and can ruin the food. People often find worms crawling around the tent or ants crawling on the mattress. The sand is also very bothersome, especially when there's wind. The displaced people eat bread with sand."

Seyed Abbas Araghchi
Foreign Minister, Islamic Republic of Iran
June 4, 2025-June 22, 2025
https://x.com/araghchi

Seyed Abbas Araghchi
@araghchi
Jun 4
There is a reason why only a few nations master the ability to fuel nuclear reactors. Apart from significant financial resources and political vision, it requires a solid industrial base and a technological-academic complex that can produce necessary human resources and know-how.

Iran has paid dearly for these capabilities, and there is no scenario in which we will give up on the patriots who made our dream come true.

To reiterate:

No enrichment, no deal.
No nuclear weapons, we have a deal.

Seyed Abbas Araghchi
@araghchi
Jun 6
After years of good cooperation with the IAEA—resulting in a resolution which shut down malign claims of a "possible military dimension" (PMD) to Iran's peaceful nuclear program—my country is once again accused of "non-compliance".

E3: The five permanent members of the Security Council: United States, France, Britain, China, Russia

JCPOA:The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as the Iran nuclear deal

IAEA: International Atomic Energy Agency

Instead of engaging in good faith, the E3 is opting for malign action against Iran at the IAEA Board of Governors. When the E3 engaged in the same foul conduct back in 2005, the outcome in many ways was the true birth of uranium enrichment in Iran. Has the E3 truly learned nothing in the past two decades?

Falsely accusing Iran of violating safeguards—based on shoddy and politicized reporting—is clearly designed to produce a crisis.

Mark my words as Europe ponders another major strategic mistake: Iran will react strongly against any violation of its rights. Blame lies solely and fully with irresponsible actors who stop at nothing to gain relevance.

Seyed Abbas Araghchi
@araghchi
Jun 11
President Trump entered office saying that Iran should not have nuclear weapons. That is actually in line with our own doctrine and could become the main foundation for a deal.

As we resume talks on Sunday, it is clear that an agreement that can ensure the continued peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program is within reach—and could be achieved rapidly.

That mutually beneficial outcome relies on the continuation of Iran's enrichment program, under the full supervision of the IAEA, and the effective termination of sanctions.

Seyed Abbas Araghchi
@araghchi
Jun 11
The E3 have had SEVEN YEARS to implement their JCPOA commitments. They have utterly failed, either by design or ineptitude.

Instead of displaying remorse or a desire to facilitate diplomacy, the E3 is today promoting confrontation through the absurd demand that Iran must be punished for exercising its right under the JCPOA to respond to non-performance by counterparts.

As I have warned: Another major strategic mistake by the E3 will compel Iran to react STRONGLY. Blame will lie solely and FULLY with malign actors who shatter their own relevance.

Seyed Abbas Araghchi
@araghchi
Jun 16
Benjamin Netanyahu is a wanted war criminal. He is also a con man who has duped successive U.S. Presidents into fighting his own wars for almost three decades.

By all indications, the purpose of Netanyahu's criminal attack on Iran—killing hundreds of innocent civilians, including women and children—is to scuttle a DEAL between Iran and the U.S., which we were on the right path to achieve. He is playing yet another American President, and ever more American taxpayers, for absolute fools.

Our powerful Armed Forces are making clear to the world that the war criminals hiding in shelters in Tel Aviv will not go unpunished for their crimes. We will continue to pummel the cowards for as long as needed to make sure that they are no longer firing at our people.

If President Trump is genuine about diplomacy and interested in stopping this war, next steps are consequential. Israel must halt its aggression, and absent a total cessation of military aggression against us, our responses will continue. It takes one phone call from Washington to muzzle someone like Netanyahu. That may pave the way for a return to diplomacy.

Conversely, getting the U.S. mired in the Mother of Forever Wars will destroy any prospect for a negotiated solution, with dangerous, unpredictable and likely UNFATHOMABLE consequences for regional security and the global economy.

Let us not forget: Iran did NOT begin this war and has no interest in perpetuating bloodshed. But we will proudly fight to the last drop of blood to protect our land, our people, our dignity and our achievements.

Video: Netanyahu duping U.S. Congress into the disaster in Iraq, 2002.

Seyed Abbas Araghchi
@araghchi
By now, the whole world should know that:

(1) Iran solely acts in self-defense. Even in the face of the most outrageous aggression against our people, Iran has so far only retaliated against the Israeli regime and not those who are aiding and abetting it. Just like Netanyahu manufactured this war to destroy diplomacy, the world should be highly alarmed about increasing attempts by the failing Israeli regime to get others to bail it out and to expand the flames to the region and beyond.

(2) Iran has proven in action what it has always publicly committed itself to: we have never sought and will never seek nuclear weapons. If otherwise, what better pretext could we possibly need for developing those inhuman weapons than the current aggression by the region's only nuclear-armed regime?

(3) Iran will continue to exercise its right to self-defense, with pride and bravery, and we will make the aggressor regret and pay for its grave error.

(4) With the exception of the illegitimate, genocidal and occupying Israeli regime, we remain committed to diplomacy. As before, we are serious and forward-looking in our outlook.

Seyed Abbas Araghchi
@araghchi
Jun 19
Earlier today, our powerful Armed Forces accurately eliminated an Israeli Military Command, Control & Intelligence HQ and another vital target.

The blast wave caused superficial damage to a small section of the nearby, and largely evacuated, Soroka Military Hospital. The facility is mainly used to treat Israeli soldiers engaged in the Genocide in Gaza 25 miles away, where Israel has destroyed or damaged 94% of Palestinian hospitals.

It is the Israeli regime and not Iran that initiated all this bloodshed, and it is Israeli war criminals and not Iranians who are targeting hospitals and civilians. Hundreds of innocent Iranians have been murdered in cold blood since Israel launched its illegal war against the Iranian people last week.

We call on Israelis to heed our evacuation orders before strikes and to avoid proximity to military and intelligence sites. Our powerful Armed Forces will continue to pummel the criminals who target our people until they cease and pay for their criminal aggression against our nation.

Seyed Abbas Araghchi
@araghchi
The Arak Heavy Water Reactor—a facility under comprehensive IAEA safeguards and under construction in strict accordance with the technical specifications agreed upon in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to eliminate any proliferation risk—was bombed yesterday in broad daylight by the Israeli regime.

As the Security Council convenes today, it is imperative that it upholds and enforces its own Resolution 487-adopted unanimously in response to the Israeli regime's 1981 attack on Iraq’s nuclear facility.

The language in that resolution is unambiguous: any military attack on nuclear facilities is an assault on the entire IAEA safeguards regime and ultimately the NPT. It applies not only to past actions but also to future conduct, setting a clear legal standard against the use or threat of force targeting safeguarded nuclear installations.

If the Council now fails to act, it must explain to the international community why its legal principles apply only selectively on such a crucial matter. It will also hold ultimate responsibility, along with the Israeli regime, should the global nonproliferation regime one day collapse.

1. Strongly condemns the military attack by Israel in clear violation of the Charter of the United Nations and the norms of international conduct;

2. Calls upon Israel to refrain in the future from any such acts or threats thereof;

3. Further considers that the said attack constitutes a serious threat to the entire safeguards regime of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is the foundation of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons;

Seyed Abbas Araghchi
@araghchi
Iran is deeply grateful for the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation's (OIC) expression of full and unequivocal support in the face of the Israeli regime’s aggression.

While the West has turned a blind eye to Israel's atrocities—not just against Iran, but against Muslims across the region—there is unprecedented outrage and a groundswell of solidarity in the Islamic world. The West, having totally lost its moral compass, should take note.

1:21 PM · Jun 21, 2025

Seyed Abbas Araghchi
@araghchi
The United States, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, has committed a grave violation of the UN Charter, international law and the NPT by attacking Iran's peaceful nuclear installations.

The events this morning are outrageous and will have everlasting consequences. Each and every member of the UN must be alarmed over this extremely dangerous, lawless and criminal behavior.

In accordance with the UN Charter and its provisions allowing a legitimate response in self-defense, Iran reserves all options to defend its sovereignty, interest, and people.

10:11 PM · Jun 21, 2025

Seyed Abbas Araghchi
@araghchi
Last week, we were in negotiations with the US when Israel decided to blow up that diplomacy.

This week, we held talks with the E3/EU when the US decided to blow up that diplomacy.

What conclusion would you draw?

To Britain and the EU High Rep, it is Iran which must "return" to the table. But how can Iran return to something it never left, let alone blew up?
2:29 AM · Jun 22, 2025

Scott Ritter: What We Now Know.
by Judge Napolitano
Judging Freedom
Streamed live 93 minutes ago
6/23/25



Transcript

Hi everyone Judge Andrew Napolitano here
for Judging Freedom today is Monday June
23rd 2025 scott Ritter joins us now
scott again thank you for yesterday's uh
segment which has reached over 755,000
people the last time I looked a little
while ago what do we know about the uh
Iranian uh strikes uh on the uh American
base in Qatar did it happen or is this
just the Western media feeding us what
the CIA wants us to hear no I think it
happened the Iranian president issued a
statement together with the Iranian
Revolutionary Guard Command the Supreme
Leader has uh weighed in on this um so
Iran you know did retaliate it appears
that it was a very limited scope
retaliation they fired six missiles some
have um read into the Iranian statements
to say that this
maverick
including Maverick Maverick's read into
the Iranian statements as well um to to
believe that um you know this is
symbolic a missile for a bomber kind of
thing um some uh some reports say that
these were older missiles not the newer
uh Fatah missiles which means that uh
they were basically set up to fail um
and even if they hit their targets and
there's some reporting that three of
these missiles did strike the air base
um the Americans have been given an
enormous amount of advanced notice and
had uh evacuated to uh bunkers and
shelters um and there were no casualties
which then the supreme leader has come
out afterwards and said um we we harm no
one but no one will uh you know play us
as a fool or something of that nature um
so this was Iran symbolically striking
back at what was in effect a symbolic
American strike against Iran um no
casualties hitting empty facilities and
according to the news Donald Trump has
said he will not retaliate so we may
have the makings of a grand bargain in
play i mean it's a very fluid situation
very volatile situation but um it
doesn't appear either the United States
or Iran is is going for blood going for
the throat they appear to be looking for
an off-ramp and I'll just leave it to
this the fact that the Iranian attack
came after foreign minister met with
Russian President uh Putin where clearly
this was discussed and the Russians
green lit this i don't think the
Russians would have green lit any action
that would have led to an escalation of
the violence and such i think what we're
seeing is a lot of behind the scenes
action taking place a lot of
behind-the-scenes diplomacy but in order
for diplomacy to work um the the
situation on the ground needs to
stabilize and I think this tit for tat
strike no casualties no blood um you
know might be part of this stabilization
effort do we now know with certainty
that the United States uh bombings on
Saturday evening and Sunday morning
served no legitimate military purpose
we can say that with all certainty um
even the US government has had to admit
together with the Israelis that they
have not um you know the the thing that
everybody was worried about is that 60%
enriched uranium and the advanced
centrifuge cascades that could be used to
step that up to weapons grade uranium um
these have not been destroyed we don't
even know where they are right now so in
many cases we're worse off today than we
were before the military action took
place because at least when the military
action took place we knew where this
material was and we were had it
monitored by IAEA inspectors iran I
think today earlier the parliament um
severed relations with the international
atomic energy agency that doesn't mean
that Iran has stepped away from the MPT
but what they've said is that as
currently structured they cannot do
business with the IAEA inspectors so you
know we um
we we we know that we've we we've only
made the situation worse which is
another reason why I think the president
may be inclined to a grand bargain
because a grand bargain that brought
about a cessation of a of the conflict
but brought the Iranian uh nuclear
material under control of a a new IEA
inspection regime um maybe combined with
a deal that caps Iranian enrichment at
3.75% which would be a victory for Iran
um you know this
I think this is the logical outcome of
the military failure because we clearly
couldn't get rid of this material or
these centrifuges with military action
we don't know where they are today and
the only way we bring them under control
is either to strategically defeat Iran
and occupy Iran which just isn't in the
books at this juncture or to cut a deal
that uh brings an end to the conflict
and brings Iran's nuclear program back
under the monitoring of international
inspectors so Secretary of Defense Hegseth
calling this brilliant and
President Trump saying we totally uh
obliterated their nuclear facilities
this is hogwash
it is unless you know and I'm not giving
Trump credit here but unless his entire
you know plan was to you know carry out
an action against Iran which was so
demonstrabably useless but to disguise
it with his rhetoric um you know hoping
for the Iranians to strike back because
remember the Iranians are guilty of the
same thing we are going to destroy the
American base with fire and brimstone
rain hell down on on the infidels da d
six missiles three of which were shot
down so both sides are guilty of extreme
rhetoric in delivering um you know very
minor um strikes and one has to wonder
if this wasn't um you know I'm not
saying it was pre-planned but remember
Trump has done this before he
assassinated Kasamsulammani and then
wrote out an Iranian ballistic missile
attack against al-Assad air base in Iraq
um only to declare the the issue
resolved and so Trump may have initiated
something in hopes that the Iranians
responded similarly so that there could
be uh an end to this conflict i don't
know i can't get inside the brain of
this man is the United States foreign
policy subordinated to the wishes of
Benjamin Netanyahu
well gosh you might think that so if you
listen to the spokesperson of the U of
the of the Department of State Tammy
Bruce who uh said "America is the
greatest nation in the world after
Israel." Um that was shocking to me that
she said this and insult uh we're the
greatest nation in the world after no
one if you want to make that statement
but um to deliberately for a a a senior
State Department spokesperson to make
that statement um subordinating the
United States of Israel speaks volumes
about where we are as a nation as a
people today here she is saying that
scott the the pride of being able to be
here and do work that facilitates uh
making things better for people uh and
in the greatest country on earth next to
Israel in the greatest country on earth
next to Israel
um it is uh it's an honor to be able to
make a difference and to be able to
speak in this regard uh with an
administration that I love so much
she said that in an interview with a
reporter while she was I don't know if
the Secretary of State was there but she
was at NATO headquarters
yeah it's an embarrassment to the United
States of America and in under any
circumstance she should be relieved for
incompetence um you don't subordinate
the United States to any nation let
alone Israel um you know we would never
say the United States is the greatest
nation in the world except for Great
Britain um you know we like the great we
like the British we have a special
relationship with them we don't
subordinate ourselves to them we don't
subordinate ourselves to France to
anybody uh and yet she has come out and
said this because apparently we are
subordinated to Israel
you could make the argument that every
major Middle Eastern war in which we've
engaged uh in the past 20 years has been
at the instigation of Benjamin Netanyahu
you could make that argument indeed I
think it would hold up in report even
i mean Scott the Israeli donor class we
know has an ironclad grip on the
Congress now it apparently has an
ironclad uh grip on the White House
well I mean it was problematic in the
extreme when um then candidate Trump
took $100 million from Marian Aden we
know the agenda that was attached to
that $und00 million um you know Marco
Rubio was supposed to be vice president
that $100 million was supposed to buy
that trump said "No I'm not doing that."
But he gave Marco Rubio uh the Secretary
of State position and today I just want
to remind people that when Marco Rubio
stood behind the president as he
announced uh the military action against
uh Iran he wasn't just the secretary of
state he was the national security
adviser he's currently dualheaded which
is constitutionally problematic um and
and and yet he is literally a de facto
tool of Israel marco Rubio is carrying
the water for Benjamin Netanyahu and he
is the secretary of state national
security adviser the same can be said
for Pete Edith um he's also carrying the
water he is a longtime Christian Zionist
uh you know these are things that in the
old days to express the opinions that
they had you couldn't have gotten a
security clearance you know Israel
hasn't always had this grip on the
United States there was a time that if
you were considered to be too close to
Israel you didn't get a security
clearance you didn't get to hold high
positions today apparently is a
prerequisite for selection to high
office because Trump has surrounded
himself almost exclusively with people
who have taken significant Israeli money
and have um basically
given voice to their pro-Israeli
sentiments here's Marco Rubio making a
fool of himself yesterday this is about
a little over a minute long the essence
of it is forget about the intel cut
number two weaponization ambitions
are you saying there that the United
States did not see intelligence that the
Supreme Leader had ordered weaponization
that's irrelevant i think that question
being asked in the media all that's an
irrelevant question that is the key
point in US intelligence assessments you
know that yes it was that the political
decision i know that better than you
know that and I know that that's not the
case but I'm asking you whether the
order was given and the people who say
that it doesn't matter if the order was
given they have everything they need to
build nuclear weapons why would you bury
Why would you bury things in a mountain
300 ft under the ground why would you
bury six Why do they have 60% enriched
uranium you don't need 60% enriched uran
the only countries in the world that
have uranium at 60% are countries that
have nuclear weapons because they can
quickly make it 90 they have all the
elements they have Why are they Why do
they have a space program is Iran going
to go to the moon no they're trying to
build an ICBS
that's a question that's a question of
intent and you know in the intelligence
assessment that it was that Iran wanted
to be a threshold state intelligence
assessment says I'm talking the
intelligence ass March assessment and
that's why I was asking you if you know
something more from that's also an
inaccurate representation of it that's
an accurate representation of it that's
not how intelligence is read that's not
how intelligence is used here's what the
whole world knows forget about
intelligence
forget about intelligence there you go
sorry you had to listen to all of that
to get to the key part at the end does
Marco Rubio know what he's talking about
well unfortunately
uh Rubio has a very valid point the 60%
enriched uranium um has no uh purpose
other than positioning Iran as a
threshold state iran did this or for
negotiate or for negotiating purposes
right well I mean to when you position
yourself as a threshold state Iran says
that's for negotiating purposes but what
it does is open the door for people like
Marco Rubio um to say "Oh you're just
one step away from a nuclear weapon that
we can't allow you to have therefore
this represents an imminent threat."
This is why I've always been critical of
the Iranians for doing this my criticism
dates back to October of last year when
I wrote an article published in
Consortium News that said exactly this
that Iran's uh program which has 60%
enriched uranium and other aspects
declared by the Iranians makes them a
threshold nuclear weapons state and
that's unacceptable and it leaves open
the possibility of of military
preemptive attack which would be
justifiable be to be honest because Iran
has no legitimate reason to have 60%
enriching but the Iranians did enter
into negot negotiations prior to this
what we now know thanks to Marco Rubio
is that the decision to strike Iran was
made on March 7th it was April 14th I
believe that the United States began
negotiations with the Iranians uh that
led to draft agreements that would have
capped enrichment at 3.75% disposed of
the 60% resolved all of the issues that
Marco Rubio speaks of but that Marco
Rubio didn't care so he should also say
"I don't care about diplomacy." And here
he is the secretary of state because
basically he allowed diplomacy to use as
a front to create a subtrafuge that um
set the Iranians up for this surprise
attack the Iranians did everything they
needed to do to un unravel the disaster
they had made in enriching uranium 60%
they were ready to give it all up to
sign a treaty uh to to cap the whole
thing but Marco Rubio wasn't interested
in the facts he wasn't interested in
intent he had made a decision on the
behalf of Israel that he wanted to go to
war and that was the outcome he sought
how badly uh has Israel been battered by
Iran since its uh surprise attack in the
middle of June well it's very difficult
to say with certainty because Israel has
put a a media blackout on you know on
the strikes what has leaked out you know
the bits and pieces have leaked out show
that Iran is striking targets of um of
critical importance to Israel in
addition to the Ashdod power generation
plant which if it's totally knocked out
is literally lights out for Israel um
they've struck military facilities now
for for the first time um inflicting
harm on the Israeli military and um you
know these missiles are reaching their
targets they are striking they are doing
damage um you know the the Israelis
themselves you're starting to hear you
know talk inside Israeli channels that
this is not a sustainable conflict that
Israel will have a hard time going on
for another week which is why what came
out of the news today that Israel is
pressuring the United States to bring an
end to this conflict by the end of the
week and that's that's sort of ironic
having dragged the United States into
this war israel's in such a dire
situation that they're pressuring the
United States please end this we need
this to be over by the end of the week
we can't take much more of this so let
me get this straight the United States
was moving forward with negotiations
uh with Iran on the nuclear enrichment
issue benjamin Netanyahu disrupted those
negotiations by his surprise attack uh
on Iran now he wants then he talks the
United States into a meaningless PR
bombing that cost a hund00 million
dollars of a couple of mountains in Iran
now he wants the United States to get
him out of the war that he started in
order to disrupt the negotiations do I
have that right yes sir except let's
let's make it uh upfront we don't want
to give the United States the the the
facade of innocence it wasn't that
Benjamin Netanyahu disrupted the
negotiations benjamin Netanyahu working
with Marco Ruby and others
used the negotiations as subtrafuge to
set Iran up so the United States was
part of Benjamin Netanyahu surprise
attack
wow russia China Pakistan what are they
thinking
well right now the three of them
yesterday was a very interesting day in
the Security Council of the United
Nations as Russia China and Pakistan uh
came together to sponsor um a resolution
that would call for an immediate
ceasefire now yesterday in yesterday's
environment uh that seemed to be
politically impossible to pull off given
the fact that the United States just
struck Iran and it was clear that Iran
was going to have to have some sort of
retaliation in the current context where
you know the emptiness of both the
American attack and Iran's response and
the fact now that Trump isn't going to
respond uh and Israel is screaming for
American intervention to bring it into
this conflict and even Iran is saying
you know we we could we could see you
know the light at the end of the tunnel
here um we're we're in strange territory
where Russia and China together with
Pakistan may sponsor a security council
resolution ution calling for a ceasefire
and the United States vote in favor of
it um you know that hasn't happened yet
but we're now in you know the realm of
the possibility so you know whether it
was by accident on purpose combination
of both uh there is a window of
opportunity for diplomacy here um I just
hope that everybody's wise enough to
take it i think the Russians and the
Chinese are ready i think the Iranians
would be willing it's up to the United
States and Israel in what we're willing
to accept in terms of a compromise on
Iran's nuclear program um and that
that'll make or break any potential
ceasefire and what happens if Netanyahu
comes begging for a ceasefire and what
happens uh if he accepts a uh compromise
on uranium enrichment and how does he
justify and explain the destruction of
his country's infrastructure and economy
and what becomes of him when this ends
well these are all good questions if I
were Benjamin Netanyahu
I would um spin this as a as as a you
know tragic but necessary victory for
Israel um I would say that there was no
chance that we would ever destroy the
totality of Iran's nuclear program that
it's impossible to do so but that the
the damage we have inflicted on the
nuclear infrastructure has set Iran back
two to four years and because of this we
have compelled the Iranians to surrender
those aspects of their program that were
most problematic to Israel and the
United States and that this new nuclear
deal because it's backed by the weight
of the United States is a deal Israel
can accept but it never would have
happened without the decisive leadership
of Benjamin Netanyahu that's the kind of
BS spin that I'd put on it
but in reality he's probably finished in
terms of political career and his
personal freedom i there may be a
compromise yet over his personal freedom
meaning that uh you know there might be
a deal where he steps down um agrees to
a slap on the wrist um and and there
won't be a full prosecution i think
Israel's in in interested in just
getting past this nightmare but he is at
real legal risk he has several cases
open against him uh and as soon as he
stops being the prime minister and have
the protection of the prime ministership
then he is susceptible to being arrested
and um in charge put on trial um and and
he knows that uh you know no matter what
Israel is going to wake up to the fact
that this was an unnecessary war and
when the final tally comes in about the
damage done I think there will be a real
political price to be paid not just by
Benjamin Netanyahu but everybody who
pushed this war on Israel this was a war
of choice israel had not been attacked
the United States had a diplomatic
solution to the problem of Iran's
nuclear program but Benjamin Netanyahu
made a decision to take Israel to war
now Israel's paid a very very steep
price we don't know what the final price
tag will be and we don't know what the
uh true extent of the political damage
that has been done will be until this
war is over and the dust settles but I
am safe to say that I don't think this
ends well for Benjamin Netanyahu
did Donald Trump risk initiating World
War II by uh what he ordered on Saturday
night
i believe so um
I I don't believe this grand bargain
that we're whispering about um came was
was even on the table when Trump made
that attack meaning if it if it was it
was in his head you know it was some
sort of Donald Trump trick play um but I
don't think it had been briefed to the
Russians i don't think it had been
briefed to the Chinese and I don't think
it had been briefed to the Iranians and
so by carrying out such a precipitous
action without a guarantee of what the
outcome would be um that means that
rather than have the Iranians behave you
know rationally and fire six for six and
not seek to kill anybody what if Iran
had just fired a huge massive
retaliation against all of the air bases
what if the attack against Aluade uh
started off with 50 missiles that uh
caused the United States and and gutter
to expend the totality of their
ballistic missile defenses and then
followed up with say 20 precision guided
missiles that took out not the empty
hangers but the bunkers where Americans
were hiding in and suddenly we have
hundreds maybe thousands of dead and
wounded Americans now the United States
has to retaliate you know this is the
danger of playing stupid games of this
nature especially willing this is what
Trump was willing to risk
i I I agree this is this is an
extraordinarily dangerous
situ what if what if he went straight to
Hormuz what if they had attacked oil
infrastructure you know in the region
and now we have a um now we have a a
diplomatic crisis um you know an
economic collapse of the world um you
know so this is everything that Donald
Trump put at risk with this precipitous
irresponsible action the fact that we
may come out of this you know would be
I'll be thankful but you know what we're
going to get is what we would have
gotten through negotiations without any
of this war right and that's what's
being overlooked here is even if there
is a grand bargain the bargain we're
getting is is one that comes with a
heavy price tag we could have done this
just through diplomacy had Donald Trump
had a different secretary of state other
than Israeli first Marco Rubio
scott Ritter thank you my dear friend
thank you for yesterday thank you for
today thank you for the emails thank you
for the uh substacks thank you for all
the work you do we may need you again
this week which will be a first but God
bless you my friend all the best okay
thank you very much of course and coming
up at 4:30 today if you're watching us
live that's six minutes from now from
Moscow Pepe Escobar Judge Napolitano for
judging freedom
[Music]
[Music]

Iran's foreign minister says if Israel stops attacks, 'we have no intention to continue response'
Edited by Jake Lapham in Washington DC and Helen Sullivan
Live Reporting
bbc.com
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cn7ze4vmk2pt

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
Jun 23, 2025, 1:52 PM

Iran has officially responded to our Obliteration of their Nuclear Facilities with a very weak response, which we expected, and have very effectively countered. There have been 14 missiles fired — 13 were knocked down, and 1 was “set free,” because it was headed in a nonthreatening direction. I am pleased to report that NO Americans were harmed, and hardly any damage was done. Most importantly, they’ve gotten it all out of their “system,” and there will, hopefully, be no further HATE. I want to thank Iran for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost, and nobody to be injured. Perhaps Iran can now proceed to Peace and Harmony in the Region, and I will enthusiastically encourage Israel to do the same. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
Jun 23, 2025, 4:02 PM

CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE! It has been fully agreed by and between Israel and Iran that there will be a Complete and Total CEASEFIRE (in approximately 6 hours from now, when Israel and Iran have wound down and completed their in progress, final missions!), for 12 hours, at which point the War will be considered, ENDED! Officially, Iran will start the CEASEFIRE and, upon the 12th Hour, Israel will start the CEASEFIRE and, upon the 24th Hour, an Official END to THE 12 DAY WAR will be saluted by the World. During each CEASEFIRE, the other side will remain PEACEFUL and RESPECTFUL. On the assumption that everything works as it should, which it will, I would like to congratulate both Countries, Israel and Iran, on having the Stamina, Courage, and Intelligence to end, what should be called, “THE 12 DAY WAR.” This is a War that could have gone on for years, and destroyed the entire Middle East, but it didn’t, and never will! God bless Israel, God bless Iran, God bless the Middle East, God bless the United States of America, and GOD BLESS THE WORLD!

DONALD J. TRUMP,
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

https://x.com/araghchi
Seyed Abbas Araghchi
@araghchi
22m
As Iran has repeatedly made clear: Israel launched war on Iran, not the other way around.

As of now, there is NO "agreement" on any ceasefire or cessation of military operations. However, provided that the Israeli regime stops its illegal aggression against the Iranian people no later than 4 am Tehran time [already passed], we have no intention to continue our response afterwards.

The final decision on the cessation of our military operations will be made later.

Seyed Abbas Araghchi
@araghchi
26m
The military operations of our powerful Armed Forces to punish Israel for its aggression continued until the very last minute, at 4am.[????]

Together with all Iranians, I thank our brave Armed Forces who remain ready to defend our dear country until their last drop of blood, and who responded to any attack by the enemy until the very last minute.

18:58

Breaking

Iran's foreign minister, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, has just posted on X saying that if Israel stops its "illegal aggression" now, Iran has "no intention to continue our response afterwards".

Araghchi said Israel must stop by 4am local time, which has just passed:

"As Iran has repeatedly made clear: Israel launched war on Iran, not the other way around.

"As of now, there is NO "agreement" on any ceasefire or cessation of military operations. However, provided that the Israeli regime stops its illegal aggression against the Iranian people no later than 4 am Tehran time, we have no intention to continue our response afterwards.

"The final decision on the cessation of our military operations will be made later."

***

What we do and don't know about a potential ceasefire
Edited by Jake Lapham in Washington DC and Helen Sullivan
Live Reporting
BBC.com
published at 19:08

In the last few hours, US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire between Iran and Israel – but neither side confirmed it publicly at the time.

Then a short while ago, Iran gave what appears to be a conditional agreement. We have yet to hear from Israel.

So things remain uncertain.

Here is a recap of what we do and don't know:

What we know

• Around 20:00 local time in Qatar (18:00BST), Iran launched strikes targeting a US base in Qatar - no casualties were reported
• Several hours later, US President Donald Trump announced an Iran-Israel ceasefire on social media, saying both sides would stop all attacks within 24 hours
• Strikes are continuing between Iran and Israel, with reports of explosions in Tehran
• Iran's foreign minister says if Israel stops its attacks by 04:00am local time, it won't fire back. It is currently just after 4:30 in Tehran.

What we don't know

• Israel hasn't officially responded to claims that both sides will stop fighting within the next 24 hours

Rubio's Spokeswoman Sparks MAGA Anger Over US-Israel Comments [MIGA: MAKE ISRAEL GREAT AGAIN]
by Chloe Mayer
Newsweek
Published Jun 23, 2025 at 10:09 AM EDT
Updated Jun 23, 2025 at 11:37 AM EDT
https://www.newsweek.com/tammy-bruce-st ... ry-2089283

[Colonel Douglas McGregor] You've got to go back to the Republican National Convention. And during the Republican National Convention there was a giant Israeli flag on the wall, and there was a placard above the flag that said "ISRAEL FIRST." And then a gentleman walked out to the podium, ostensibly representing the Israel lobby, and tried to lead cheers for ISRAEL FIRST. Well, the response was tepid to say the least. But the people that voted for Donald Trump didn't understand what they were listening to. The signal was unambiguous and clear: you were voting for ISRAEL FIRST, and that's what you got for a cabinet; that's what you got for a government.

-- INTERVIEW: The war is just beginning, says Col Douglas Macgregor, by George Galloway

MIGA: Make Israel Great Again


Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
June 22, 2025

It’s not politically correct to use the term, “Regime Change,” but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!

Secretary of State Marco Rubio's spokeswoman angered President Donald Trump's "America First" following by appearing to suggest the United States sits "next to Israel" in terms of being the best country in the world.

Tammy Bruce made the quip during an appearance last month on the Israeli TV show i24 News.

Her comments on May 8 passed unremarked at the time, but resurfaced online on Sunday, when internet chatter was busy in the wake of America's show of support for Israel with an attack on Iran. Several of Bruce's critics declared themselves online to be supporters of the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement and called for her to be fired.

But Bruce told Newsweek: "My work obviously speaks for itself, which is a reflection of my love for the United States, as I said in that interview, the greatest country on Earth. The assertion by certain anonymous users online is a typically out-of-context and absurd effort to create fake news for clicks and to smear."

Why It Matters

The clip has been shared numerous times on X, formerly Twitter. One video, which also shows Bruce's comments before and after her Israel remark, was shared by independent journalist Ken Klippenstein in a post that went viral, with more than 5 million views, over 5,500 shares, and nearly 1,600 comments as of press time.

[x]
Ken Klippenstein @kenklippenstein

Trump's State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce says America is "the greatest country on earth next to Israel"

4:29 PM · Jun 22, 2025

Israel is currently embroiled in a military conflict with Iran, after launching a strike against the country's nuclear facilities earlier this month, amid fears that Tehran was working toward creating nuclear weapons.

Trump waded into the clash when he approved a U.S. strike on Iran's nuclear facilities over the weekend, with Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian later vowing the U.S. "must receive a response for their aggression."

At home, Trump needs to keep his MAGA supporters on side, while squaring his decision to attack Iran with his pre-election promise that the U.S. would not become involved in any more foreign wars.

What To Know

Bruce, who previously hosted Get Tammy Bruce on Fox Nation and worked as a contributor to Fox News, was one of several Fox presenters appointed to roles in Trump's second administration.

She granted her sit-down interview with i24 News in early May, but the clip of her remarks about which country is "the best" has only begun going viral since the weekend.

During the interview, Bruce discussed her relationship with Judaism, U.S. foreign policy, and the Trump presidency with political journalist Mike Wagenheim. She told him she was "sadly not" Jewish, despite media reports that had suggested otherwise. She added that after the 2023 attack by the Palestinian terror group Hamas against Israel, she bought a Star of David necklace to wear on the air to show her affinity with the Jewish people.

Later, an apparently throwaway comment about which country is the best subsequently enraged some MAGA supporters.

She was discussing her experience on the job since she assumed the role. "The pride of being able to be here [in the State Department] and do work that facilitates making things better for people, and in the greatest country on Earth," she said—adding immediately, "next to Israel!" She delivered the line with a smile to her interviewer.

She continued: "And it's an honor to be able to make a difference and to be able to speak in this regard with an administration that I love so much and that I feel genuinely represented by, it's a real honor."

What People Are Saying

As the clip went viral online overnight on Sunday, thousands of people took to X to share their views. Some were MAGA supporters furious that Bruce had placed America "next to Israel" in her ranking, with many suggesting she should lose her job.

An X user, whose profile describes himself as a "MAGA man," said: "I'm sorry but she needs to be relieved of her duties effective immediately."

Political Commentator "Gunther Eagleman," real name David J. Freeman, who describes himself on X as "America First - MAGA - Unfiltered," wrote: "America is the best country. Point blank. I'd tag Tammy Bruce but she has me blocked."

Another X user, who said in their profile that they were "inspired by Trump and firmly MAGA and MAHA," wrote: "Tammy Bruce just said America is the greatest country on earth NEXT TO ISRAEL. WTH IS GOING ON??? She should be fired on the spot for this. Her allegiance is not to America. WOW."

However, other people said that Bruce's words had been misinterpreted, with one arguing that her words "next to Israel" were a grammatical clause following her previous comment about "[doing] work that facilitates making things better for people."

An X user, whose profile says they are an engineer and a mathematician who believes "leftism is a cult," replied to Klippenstein's post: "There's a comma missing. She's calling the UNITED STATES, the greatest country on Earth, (COMMA) (WORKING) next to Israel. YOU ARE TWISTING WHAT SHE SAID." He added: "And it's entirely possible she was also humoring her interviewer with a tongue-in-cheek comment. Either one or the other is likely. Tammy is 100% American."

Another X user, whose profile says they are a "fun loving thought criminal," said: "We stand with our allies. what's wrong with that?"

A third, whose profile says she is a wife and mom, said: "It sounds to me like she's saying it in a friendly, complimentary tone - meant to make a listener feel warm and proud - that is not to be taken literally. I don't believe Tammy Bruce actually believes Israel is greater than her own United States. The more probable explanation is the one I've given, in my opinion."

What Happens Next

It remains to be seen whether MAGA supporters will accept Bruce's account or continue to target her online.

In the meantime, Trump and his administration will try to take their supporters with them as they join forces with Israel against Iran.

Update 6/23/25, 11:37 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from Tammy Bruce.

******************************

The ‘Make Israel Great Again’ movement will likely do the opposite
by Amy Neustein
opinion contributor
The Hill
02/06/24 9:30 AM ET
https://thehill.com/opinion/internation ... -opposite/

-- Netanyahu Ministers Join Thousands of Israelis in 'Resettle Gaza' Conference Calling for Palestinians' Transfer. 'We need to find a legal way to voluntarily emigrate [Palestinians],' said Israel's far-right national security minister, before a Likud lawmaker explained that in war, 'voluntary is a state you impose [on someone] until they give their consent'; conference blasted by Israeli opposition head: 'it undermines a potential deal and endangers IDF soldiers', by Nir Hasson and Rachel Fink, Haaretz.com, Jan. 28, 2024

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an interim ruling late last week, urging Israel to prevent genocide, increase humanitarian aid to Gaza and, perhaps most significantly, punish any verbal incitement to genocide. Yet, just 48 hours after that ruling, a major conference took place in Jerusalem that placed Israel’s posture before the world court in jeopardy.

Twelve cabinet ministers and 15 Knesset members, along with rabbis and thousands of settlement activists, packed the auditorium at the Jerusalem International Congress Center, the largest convention hall in the Middle East. Titled, “Conference for the Victory of Israel — Settlement Brings Security: Returning to the Gaza Strip and Northern Samaria,” the far-right ideologues were found slinging “MIGA,” or Make Israel Great Again, mantras in complete oblivion to the ICJ’s provisional ruling in their ongoing inquest into the alleged genocidal conduct of Israel’s counteroffensive to the Oct. 7 massacre.

Rabbi Uzi Sharbag, a former leader of the terrorist Jewish Underground movement of the 1980s, gave the opening statement. Far-right ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir, who reportedly mocked the ICJ’s ruling by tweeting, “Hague – Schmage,” and far-right Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich served as keynote speakers.

Ha’aretz reported that conference attendees were presented with maps of future Jewish settlements, the stages of preparation in the construction, building and renaming of towns in Gaza and other materials. The speakers called upon decision-makers to “acknowledge that a war victory can only be claimed through the Jewish resettling of the Gaza Strip.”

Smotrich — himself a native of a settlement community — declared that the children whose families had been forced out of Gaza during the disengagement of the settlements in 2005 are compelled to return as settlers.

“We are rising, we have a nation of lions [and many children] are returning there as combat fighters. We must make sure they return there as settlers to protect the people of Israel.” National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir echoed these sentiments, adding that “we need to find a legal way to voluntarily emigrate Palestinians.”

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, went even further, “suggesting that the emigration need not be voluntary during wartime,” as reported in The Times of Israel.

Juxtaposed to the glitz and grandeur of the far-right’s event taking place at the largest coliseum in the Middle East, that same day, three United States servicemembers lost their lives at the U.S. military base in Jordan as the overt signs of a broader escalation would become increasingly difficult to ignore.

Also, on that day, rain came down heavily in Gaza, plunging temperatures to near freezing, while fuel, food, water and medicine remained scarce. Yet, the news trickling back to the refugees, huddling in tents not knowing where they would find their next morsel of food, was the effort to expel them from Gaza: Forever extinguishing their culture, history and lives on the strip.

Israeli opposition head Yair Lapid denounced the conference, declaring that the government of Israel “reaches a new low tonight.”

Let’s think for a moment, what does that mean? In the United States, we saw a country divided by MAGA rhetoric. We sat through lengthy congressional hearings that replayed the shameful events of Jan. 6 when a riot broke out at the nation’s capital because a former president refused to yield to the newly elected leader. Injury and death ensued for police officers trying to maintain the unruly demonstrators that day.

For Israel, I’m afraid, MIGA will have worse consequences than MAGA had in the U.S.

This is because Talmudic dictates are premised on the sanctity of language. We are taught to guard our tongues against evil because words can harm as much as a bullet. In truth, Aharon Barak, Israel’s ad hoc judge before the International Court of Justice knew the importance of holding one’s tongue when he voted against the State of Israel in two provisional measures aimed at preventing the incitement of violence.

Barak said he voted in favor of the provisional measures to punish incitement to genocide “in the hope that the measures will help decrease tensions and discourage damaging rhetoric.” What we see from his vote is that guarding one’s language takes precedence over anything else. This is so because language is enduring while actions are transient.

MAGA rhetoric has seeded discord in American life. Antisemitism, Islamophobia, racism, misogyny and homophobia are on the rise. We have widespread hostility where there should be love for one’s neighbor.

Should the far-right in Israel, egged on by the Jewish extremists in the U.S., risk MIGA rhetoric that will turn Israel into a society of hateful citizens in need of censure by a world court?

Amy Neustein, Ph.D. is the author/editor of 16 academic books. She is working on “Moral Schisms: When Institutions Defy Jewish Law,” to be published by Oxford University Press.


*************************

Scott Ritter : What We Now Know.
by Judge Napolitano
Judging Freedom
Streamed live 93 minutes ago



Transcript

[Judge Napolitano] Hi everyone Judge Andrew Napolitano here
for Judging Freedom today is Monday June
23rd 2025 scott Ritter joins us now
scott again thank you for yesterday's uh
segment which has reached over 755,000
people the last time I looked a little
while ago what do we know about the uh
Iranian uh strikes uh on the uh American
base in Qatar did it happen or is this
just the Western media feeding us what
the CIA wants us to hear no I think it
happened the Iranian president issued a
statement together with the Iranian
Revolutionary Guard Command the Supreme
Leader has uh weighed in on this um so
Iran you know did retaliate it appears
that it was a very limited scope
retaliation they fired six missiles some
have um read into the Iranian statements
to say that this
maverick
including Maverick Maverick's read into
the Iranian statements as well um to to
believe that um you know this is
symbolic a missile for a bomber kind of
thing um some uh some reports say that
these were older missiles not the newer
uh Fatah missiles which means that uh
they were basically set up to fail um
and even if they hit their targets and
there's some reporting that three of
these missiles did strike the air base
um the Americans have been given an
enormous amount of advanced notice and
had uh evacuated to uh bunkers and
shelters um and there were no casualties
which then the supreme leader has come
out afterwards and said um we we harm no
one but no one will uh you know play us
as a fool or something of that nature um
so this was Iran symbolically striking
back at what was in effect a symbolic
American strike against Iran um no
casualties hitting empty facilities and
according to the news Donald Trump has
said he will not retaliate so we may
have the makings of a grand bargain in
play i mean it's a very fluid situation
very volatile situation but um it
doesn't appear either the United States
or Iran is is going for blood going for
the throat they appear to be looking for
an off-ramp and I'll just leave it to
this the fact that the Iranian attack
came after foreign minister met with
Russian President uh Putin where clearly
this was discussed and the Russians
green lit this i don't think the
Russians would have green lit any action
that would have led to an escalation of
the violence and such i think what we're
seeing is a lot of behind the scenes
action taking place a lot of
behind-the-scenes diplomacy but in order
for diplomacy to work um the the
situation on the ground needs to
stabilize and I think this tit fortat
strike no casualties no blood um you
know might be part of this stabilization
effort do we now know with certainty
that the United States uh bombings on
Saturday evening and Sunday morning
served no legitimate military purpose
we can say that with all certainty um
even the US government has had to admit
together with the Israelis that they
have not um you know the the thing that
everybody was worried about is that 60%
enriched uranium and the advanced
centuge cascades that could be used to
step that up to weapons grade uranium um
these have not been destroyed we don't
even know where they are right now so in
many cases we're worse off today than we
were before the military action took
place because at least when the military
action took place we knew where this
material was and we were had it
monitored by IAEA inspectors iran I
think today earlier the parliament um
severed relations with the international
atomic energy agency that doesn't mean
that Iran has stepped away from the MPT
but what they've said is that as
currently structured they cannot do
business with the IAEA inspectors so you
know we um
we we we know that we've we we've only
made the situation worse which is
another reason why I think the president
may be inclined to a grand bargain
because a grand bargain that brought
about a cessation of a of the conflict
but brought the Iranian uh nuclear
material under control of a a new IEA
inspection regime um maybe combined with
a deal that caps Iranian enrichment at
3.75% which would be a victory for Iran
um you know this
I think this is the logical outcome of
the military failure because we clearly
couldn't get rid of this material or
these centrifuges with military action
we don't know where they are today and
the only way we bring them under control
is either to strategically defeat Iran
and occupy Iran which just isn't in the
books at this juncture or to cut a deal
that uh brings an end to the conflict
and brings Iran's nuclear program back
under the monitoring of international
inspectors so Secretary of Defense Heg
Seth calling this brilliant and
President Trump saying we totally uh
obliterated their nuclear facilities
this is hogwash
it is unless you know and I'm not giving
Trump credit here but unless his entire
you know plan was to you know carry out
an action against Iran which was so
demonstrabably useless but to disguise
it with his rhetoric um you know hoping
for the Iranians to strike back because
remember the Iranians are guilty of the
same thing we are going to destroy the
American base with fire and brimstone
rain hell down on on the infidels da d
six missiles three of which were shot
down so both sides are guilty of extreme
rhetoric in delivering um you know very
minor um strikes and one has to wonder
if this wasn't um you know I'm not
saying it was pre-planned but remember
Trump has done this before he
assassinated Kasamsulammani and then
wrote out an Iranian ballistic missile
attack against al-Assad air base in Iraq
um only to declare the the issue
resolved and so Trump may have initiated
something in hopes that the Iranians
responded similarly so that there could
be uh an end to this conflict i don't
know i can't get inside the brain of
this man.

[Judge Napolitano]Is the United States foreign
policy subordinated to the wishes of
Benjamin Netanyahu?
well gosh you might think that so if you
listen to the spokesperson of the U of
the of the Department of State Tammy
Bruce who uh said "America is the
greatest nation in the world after
Israel."

[Scott Ritter]Um that was shocking to me that
she said this and an insult. we're the
greatest nation in the world after no
one if you want to make that statement
but um to deliberately for a a a senior
State Department spokesperson to make
that statement um subordinating the
United States of Israel speaks volumes
about where we are as a nation as a
people today.

[Judge Napolitano] Here she is saying that
scott the the pride of being able to be
here and do work that facilitates uh
making things better for people uh and
in the greatest country on earth next to
Israel in the greatest country on earth
next to Israel
um it is uh it's an honor to be able to
make a difference and to be able to
speak in this regard uh with an
administration that I love so much
she said that in an interview with a
reporter while she was I don't know if
the Secretary of State was there but she
was at NATO headquarters.

[Scott Ritter] Yeah it's an embarrassment to the United
States of America and in under any
circumstance she should be relieved for
incompetence um you don't subordinate
the United States to any nation let
alone Israel um you know we would never
say the United States is the greatest
nation in the world except for Great
Britain um you know we like the great we
like the British we have a special
relationship with them we don't
subordinate ourselves to them we don't
subordinate ourselves to France to
anybody uh and yet she has come out and
said this because apparently we are
subordinated to Israel
you could make the argument that every
major Middle Eastern war in which we've
engaged uh in the past 20 years has been
at the instigation of Benjamin Netanyahu

[Scott Ritter] You could make that argument indeed I
think it would hold up in report even in Court.

[Judge Napolitano] I mean Scott the Israeli donor class we
know has an ironclad grip on the
Congress now it apparently has an
ironclad uh grip on the White House
well I mean it was problematic in the
extreme when um then candidate Trump
took $100 million from Marian Aden we
know the agenda that was attached to
that $und00 million um you know Marco
Rubio was supposed to be vice president
that $100 million was supposed to buy
that trump said "No I'm not doing that."
But he gave Marco Rubio uh the Secretary
of State position and today I just want
to remind people that when Marco Rubio
stood behind the president as he
announced uh the military action against
uh Iran he wasn't just the secretary of
state he was the national security
adviser he's currently dualheaded which
is constitutionally problematic um and
and and yet he is literally a de facto
tool of Israel marco Rubio is carrying
the water for Benjamin Netanyahu and he
is the secretary of state national
security adviser the same can be said
for Pete Edith um he's also carrying the
water he is a longtime Christian Zionist
uh you know these are things that in the
old days to express the opinions that
they had you couldn't have gotten a
security clearance you know Israel
hasn't always had this grip on the
United States there was a time that if
you were considered to be too close to
Israel you didn't get a security
clearance you didn't get to hold high
positions today apparently is a
prerequisite for selection to high
office because Trump has surrounded
himself almost exclusively with people
who have taken significant Israeli money
and have um basically
given voice to their pro-Israeli
sentiments here's Marco Rubio making a
fool of himself yesterday this is about
a little over a minute long the essence
of it is forget about the intel cut
number two weaponization ambitions
are you saying there that the United
States did not see intelligence that the
Supreme Leader had ordered weaponization
that's irrelevant i think that question
being asked in the media all that's an
irrelevant question that is the key
point in US intelligence assessments you
know that yes it was that the political
decision i know that better than you
know that and I know that that's not the
case but I'm asking you whether the
order was given and the people who say
that it doesn't matter if the order was
given they have everything they need to
build nuclear weapons why would you bury
Why would you bury things in a mountain
300 ft under the ground why would you
bury six Why do they have 60% enriched
uranium you don't need 60% enriched uran
the only countries in the world that
have uranium at 60% are countries that
have nuclear weapons because they can
quickly make it 90 they have all the
elements they have Why are they Why do
they have a space program is Iran going
to go to the moon no they're trying to
build an ICBS
that's a question that's a question of
intent and you know in the intelligence
assessment that it was that Iran wanted
to be a threshold state intelligence
assessment says I'm talking the
intelligence ass March assessment and
that's why I was asking you if you know
something more from that's also an
inaccurate representation of it that's
an accurate representation of it that's
not how intelligence is read that's not
how intelligence is used here's what the
whole world knows forget about
intelligence
forget about intelligence there you go
sorry you had to listen to all of that
to get to the key part at the end does
Marco Rubio know what he's talking about
well unfortunately
uh Rubio has a very valid point the 60%
enriched uranium um has no uh purpose
other than positioning Iran as a
threshold state iran did this or for
negotiate or for negotiating purposes
right well I mean to when you position
yourself as a threshold state Iran says
that's for negotiating purposes but what
it does is open the door for people like
Marco Rubio um to say "Oh you're just
one step away from a nuclear weapon that
we can't allow you to have therefore
this represents an imminent threat."
This is why I've always been critical of
the Iranians for doing this my criticism
dates back to October of last year when
I wrote an article published in
Consortium News that said exactly this
that Iran's uh program which has 60%
enriched uranium and other aspects
declared by the Iranians makes them a
threshold nuclear weapons state and
that's unacceptable and it leaves open
the possibility of of military
preemptive attack which would be
justifiable be to be honest because Iran
has no legitimate reason to have 60%
enriching but the Iranians did enter
into negot negotiations prior to this
what we now know thanks to Marco Rubio
is that the decision to strike Iran was
made on March 7th it was April 14th I
believe that the United States began
negotiations with the Iranians uh that
led to draft agreements that would have
capped enrichment at 3.75% disposed of
the 60% resolved all of the issues that
Marco Rubio speaks of but that Marco
Rubio didn't care so he should also say
"I don't care about diplomacy." And here
he is the secretary of state because
basically he allowed diplomacy to use as
a front to create a subtrafuge that um
set the Iranians up for this surprise
attack the Iranians did everything they
needed to do to un unravel the disaster
they had made in enriching uranium 60%
they were ready to give it all up to
sign a treaty uh to to cap the whole
thing but Marco Rubio wasn't interested
in the facts he wasn't interested in
intent he had made a decision on the
behalf of Israel that he wanted to go to
war and that was the outcome he sought
how badly uh has Israel been battered by
Iran since its uh surprise attack in the
middle of June well it's very difficult
to say with certainty because Israel has
put a a media blackout on you know on
the strikes what has leaked out you know
the bits and pieces have leaked out show
that Iran is striking targets of um of
critical importance to Israel in
addition to the Ashdod power generation
plant which if it's totally knocked out
is literally lights out for Israel um
they've struck military facilities now
for for the first time um inflicting
harm on the Israeli military and um you
know these missiles are reaching their
targets they are striking they are doing
damage um you know the the Israelis
themselves you're starting to hear you
know talk inside Israeli channels that
this is not a sustainable conflict that
Israel will have a hard time going on
for another week which is why what came
out of the news today that Israel is
pressuring the United States to bring an
end to this conflict by the end of the
week and that's that's sort of ironic
having dragged the United States into
this war israel's in such a dire
situation that they're pressuring the
United States please end this we need
this to be over by the end of the week
we can't take much more of this so let
me get this straight the United States
was moving forward with negotiations
uh with Iran on the nuclear enrichment
issue benjamin Netanyahu disrupted those
negotiations by his surprise attack uh
on Iran now he wants then he talks the
United States into a meaningless PR
bombing that cost a hund00 million
dollars of a couple of mountains in Iran
now he wants the United States to get
him out of the war that he started in
order to disrupt the negotiations do I
have that right yes sir except let's
let's make it uh upfront we don't want
to give the United States the the the
facade of innocence it wasn't that
Benjamin Netanyahu disrupted the
negotiations benjamin Netanyahu working
with Marco Ruby and others
used the negotiations as subtrafuge to
set Iran up so the United States was
part of Benjamin Netanyahu surprise
attack
wow russia China Pakistan what are they
thinking
well right now the three of them
yesterday was a very interesting day in
the Security Council of the United
Nations as Russia China and Pakistan uh
came together to sponsor um a resolution
that would call for an immediate
ceasefire now yesterday in yesterday's
environment uh that seemed to be
politically impossible to pull off given
the fact that the United States just
struck Iran and it was clear that Iran
was going to have to have some sort of
retaliation in the current context where
you know the emptiness of both the
American attack and Iran's response and
the fact now that Trump isn't going to
respond uh and Israel is screaming for
American intervention to bring it into
this conflict and even Iran is saying
you know we we could we could see you
know the light at the end of the tunnel
here um we're we're in strange territory
where Russia and China together with
Pakistan may sponsor a security council
resolution ution calling for a ceasefire
and the United States vote in favor of
it um you know that hasn't happened yet
but we're now in you know the realm of
the possibility so you know whether it
was by accident on purpose combination
of both uh there is a window of
opportunity for diplomacy here um I just
hope that everybody's wise enough to
take it i think the Russians and the
Chinese are ready i think the Iranians
would be willing it's up to the United
States and Israel in what we're willing
to accept in terms of a compromise on
Iran's nuclear program um and that
that'll make or break any potential
ceasefire and what happens if Netanyahu
comes begging for a ceasefire and what
happens uh if he accepts a uh compromise
on uranium enrichment and how does he
justify and explain the destruction of
his country's infrastructure and economy
and what becomes of him when this ends
well these are all good questions if I
were Benjamin Netanyahu
I would um spin this as a as as a you
know tragic but necessary victory for
Israel um I would say that there was no
chance that we would ever destroy the
totality of Iran's nuclear program that
it's impossible to do so but that the
the damage we have inflicted on the
nuclear infrastructure has set Iran back
two to four years and because of this we
have compelled the Iranians to surrender
those aspects of their program that were
most problematic to Israel and the
United States and that this new nuclear
deal because it's backed by the weight
of the United States is a deal Israel
can accept but it never would have
happened without the decisive leadership
of Benjamin Netanyahu that's the kind of
BS spin that I'd put on it
but in reality he's probably finished in
terms of political career and his
personal freedom i there may be a
compromise yet over his personal freedom
meaning that uh you know there might be
a deal where he steps down um agrees to
a slap on the wrist um and and there
won't be a full prosecution i think
Israel's in in interested in just
getting past this nightmare but he is at
real legal risk he has several cases
open against him uh and as soon as he
stops being the prime minister and have
the protection of the prime ministership
then he is susceptible to being arrested
and um in charge put on trial um and and
he knows that uh you know no matter what
Israel is going to wake up to the fact
that this was an unnecessary war and
when the final tally comes in about the
damage done I think there will be a real
political price to be paid not just by
Benjamin Netanyahu but everybody who
pushed this war on Israel this was a war
of choice israel had not been attacked
the United States had a diplomatic
solution to the problem of Iran's
nuclear program but Benjamin Netanyahu
made a decision to take Israel to war
now Israel's paid a very very steep
price we don't know what the final price
tag will be and we don't know what the
uh true extent of the political damage
that has been done will be until this
war is over and the dust settles but I
am safe to say that I don't think this
ends well for Benjamin Netanyahu
did Donald Trump risk initiating World
War II by uh what he ordered on Saturday
night
i believe so um
I I don't believe this grand bargain
that we're whispering about um came was
was even on the table when Trump made
that attack meaning if it if it was it
was in his head you know it was some
sort of Donald Trump trick play um but I
don't think it had been briefed to the
Russians i don't think it had been
briefed to the Chinese and I don't think
it had been briefed to the Iranians and
so by carrying out such a precipitous
action without a guarantee of what the
outcome would be um that means that
rather than have the Iranians behave you
know rationally and fire six for six and
not seek to kill anybody what if Iran
had just fired a huge massive
retaliation against all of the air bases
what if the attack against Aluade uh
started off with 50 missiles that uh
caused the United States and and gutter
to expend the totality of their
ballistic missile defenses and then
followed up with say 20 precision guided
missiles that took out not the empty
hangers but the bunkers where Americans
were hiding in and suddenly we have
hundreds maybe thousands of dead and
wounded Americans now the United States
has to retaliate you know this is the
danger of playing stupid games of this
nature especially willing this is what
Trump was willing to risk
i I I agree this is this is an
extraordinarily dangerous
situ what if what if he went straight to
Hormuz what if they had attacked oil
infrastructure you know in the region
and now we have a um now we have a a
diplomatic crisis um you know an
economic collapse of the world um you
know so this is everything that Donald
Trump put at risk with this precipitous
irresponsible action the fact that we
may come out of this you know would be
I'll be thankful but you know what we're
going to get is what we would have
gotten through negotiations without any
of this war right and that's what's
being overlooked here is even if there
is a grand bargain the bargain we're
getting is is one that comes with a
heavy price tag we could have done this
just through diplomacy had Donald Trump
had a different secretary of state other
than Israeli first Marco Rubio
scott Ritter thank you my dear friend
thank you for yesterday thank you for
today thank you for the emails thank you
for the uh substacks thank you for all
the work you do we may need you again
this week which will be a first but God
bless you my friend all the best okay
thank you very much of course and coming
up at 4:30 today if you're watching us
live that's six minutes from now from
Moscow Pepe Escobar Judge Npalitano for
judging freedom
[Music]
[Music]

Why Is NO ONE Talking About This?!
by Scott Ritter & ŞAHİN Kamera
Jun 23, 2025

Former U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter said he would be willing to fight and die in a war against Iraq, as long as the United States played by international rules and attacked only after a fair inspection process revealed Baghdad had resumed production of biological, chemical, or nuclear weapons.

“If inspectors find biological, chemical, nuclear weapons, we have every right to treat Iraq as a pariah nation, Saddam Hussein as a rogue leader,” Ritter said during a stop at the Kennedy School of Government. “If he has weapons today, I believe Saddam Hussein presents a clear and present danger and should be dealt with harshly.”

Ritter, who worked as a chief United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq from 1991 to 1998, has written a book and filmed a documentary on the problem of Iraqi arms. He has emerged as a chief critic of the Bush administration’s Iraq policy and of its calls for the ouster of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Ritter said the current U.S. policy does not play fair with Iraq. Setting a policy of regime change before seeing the result of renewed U.N. inspections taints the process. Calling the previous inspection process a “corrupt police force” because of undue U.S. influence, he urged the new inspectors to do their jobs as fairly and professionally as possible....

-- Former weapons inspector: Iraqi arms “gone” as of 1998, by Alvin Powell, Harvard Gazette, September 24, 2002

Transcript

[ŞAHİN Kamera] Well I mean what did we expect? The United States, in violation of international law in violation of every norm and standard, in violation of its own principles and values, carried out an attack against Iran, a sovereign state. There is no declaration of war between the United States and Iran. The president did not go to Congress and seek permission for this. And there is no cognizable justification under international law for the American strike. The United States hasn't even tried to make such an effort. So the United States carries out an illegal act of aggression, and you expect Iran, who has warned the United States over and over again, "Don't do this or we will strike back," to just sit there and take it? So Iran is doing what it promised to do. I'm frankly surprised at the scope and scale of the Iranian response. Based upon news information , I had thought that maybe they would have done six missiles for six bombs. But  it looks like they're going you know a broader scope and scale which now means that Iran is seeking to act on its promise to drive the United States out of the Middle East I don't know if they'll be successful in that i don't know what the American retaliation is my understanding is Donald Trump's meeting with his national security team right now and Donald Trump has promised a massive retaliation so you know here we are america's at war led by a president who promised not to get us in this kind of war a president who condemned other presidents for dangerously you know leading us down a path of potential aggression with Iran and now he's doing it and you know we don't know where this is going to end you know is Iran going to shut down the strait of Hormuz saw the president's social media posting don't do it he said as if anybody cares anymore what this man thinks so you know enjoy enjoy gas while you have it ladies and gentlemen go out and fill up your tanks because uh maybe by the end of the day a there won't be any gas and b the price will be through the roof we don't know but this is a very dangerous situation this isn't fun and games this isn't a computer game this is about a president who has taken a nation to war for no reason whatsoever so do you think the do you think Iran is So there's two two potential scenarios right here iran is responding because it has to respond if it doesn't respond it seems weak to its population to the world that's one argent the other one is Iran wants to involve the US in a complete all-out war where do you think Iran's strategy is heading to at the moment well first of all Iran didn't want to respond because if Iran wanted to respond Iran would have launched a preemptive strike the United States  indicted itself with the president's own words in the aftermath of the Israeli strike where he used the royal we and then he went out and bragged about how the United States and Israel had been planning this all along so legally speaking Iran had every right to lash out against America in the region but it didn't because it's not looking for a broader fight with the United States but now it's been given no choice and the other thing that people need to understand is that there has been a debate raging inside the Iranian government between the hardliners and more moderate elements led by the president and his foreign minister the hardliners are winning out now this it appears that this attack is a signal that Iran is now committed to action that will cause the United States ultimately to withdraw from the Middle East i'm not saying they'll be successful but it it appears that Iran has initiated action that would reflect that they have a strategy that you know is is defined by that that outcome there's reports that three impacts have already been reported in in the Qatar base of aloud would the US respond to this so do you think that Iran telegraphed those plans in advance for the US for the US preps similar to what they did during the Salami retaliation or do you think that was a surprise because it doesn't seem a surprise so was it US intelligence that allowed them to know in advance to shut down the airspace and be on alert and put out that alert earlier in the day as I think it was a shelter in place alert that was put out for citizens in Qatar or was that Iran in advance telling the US so then the US does not retaliate after this you know a lot of speculation that would have to go into answering that I don't believe Iran is in the business of causing American casualties if they were then this attack would have been done in a different fashion this is a well telegraphed attack as you know as you've indicated through intelligence reports etc and so I I think this is an attack that's designed to send a a signal to the United States and maybe Iran is doing this so that they can repeat what happened with the you know Kasimsulammani assassination followed by the Iranian ballistic missile attack against al-Assad which sort of brought that episode to a close i think President Trump hopefully is being briefed on what the consequences of an American retaliation would be first of all we don't have sufficient forces in the region to do a meaningful retaliation you know we we we could go strike targets but what targets are we striking and all this would do is the Iranians have been preparing for this very conflict for 20 years they have a plan we don't so we'd be playing into their hands so they would continue to bombard bases with missiles and we would continue to be punching holes in the ground in in Iran so hopefully the president and and in the meantime energy security around the world goes through the roof because Iran will shut down the straight or moves and perhaps strike oil production facilities in the region if the United States were to strike Iranian oil production facilities and that now we're looking at a global energy crisis which will detrimentally impact the United States as well so I'm hopeful that the president is being briefed that this is a u a one of American retaliation and if the United States just lets this lie then you know it can be considered to be a trade-off you know you hit us we hit you but the key is casualties if Iran causes significant American casualties it'll be impossible for a president not to respond so let's take a look at the things that have been struck if the Iranians gave the United States sufficient warning to shelter in place if the Iranians are striking empty hangar facilities that might be a signal that they're just making a demonstrative move that they have to make let's remind everybody real quick here that the United States sent six B2 bombers over Iran to bomb three nuclear facilities that were under full monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency up until recently i think Iran just terminated their relationship with the IEA and the United States also fired 30 cruise missiles and there was no justification for any of these actions so Iran has every right under international law to retaliate and I think that's the right that Iran is exercising right now no I agree with you I think what really matters is the intention i think from what I see right now I think the America's intention is not to be involved in a in a long war i think that would be very unpopular for Trump domestically already saw a bit of a split within the MAGA base prior to American America's attack so that that would be my guess on the US and when it looks when you look at Iran Iran has avoided hitting American bases until it's being forced to at the moment so I'd say the same thing about Iran iran's been hit hard by Israel and I'd love to get your take on it in a bit but Iran does not want to to get a new enemy in this war I think they they're struggling as it is against Israel so hopefully that's right but as you said there could be unintended consequences so unintended outcomes if if Iran does cause severe casualties at the Qatari base then obviously Trump will have no choice but to respond with a heavy hand and that could escalate further and further I want to take a step towards the step back towards the straight of Hormuz i mean this is probably the the biggest wild card that we have because if that gets disrupted or shut down by Iran that would obviously the Iranian economy but they've been pushed into a corner that would severely impact the global economy now why I think this is unlikely is because Iran's biggest supporter which is China i think they're supporting Iran even more than Russia right now which is busy in Ukraine they wouldn't like the Strait of Hormuz closed they've got about I think it's about anywhere from 15 to 30 40% of their oil goes through the straight of Hormuz so they'll be hit hard and Russia benefits if this trade holds is closed because Russia's oil prices going up will help Russia and then China will have to depend on Russia so considering those circumstances do you think that Iran could be forced to shut down the trade of Hormuz or are we getting closer to an end of the war the nuclear facilities have been hit the US bombed them as they needed to to be able to destroy them that we're going to debate that later on netanyahu mentioned Prime Minister Netanyahu did say that the the the end of the war could be days away not only in Iran but also in Gaza which could be a big relief but he said this before so there's kind of two possibilities here things escalate significant damage to the US base straight hormones gets disrupted or this is it iran retaliates and the war slowly winds down well first of all we need to understand that Iran has been operating within the four corners of international law assiduously and I think that surprises many people who have been speaking about Iran as a rogue nation etc and so when you speak of the shutting down the straight of Hormuz uh Iran would have to have legal justification to do that for Iran to preemptively shut down the straight of Hormuz would be a violation of international law so I think there has to be a cause and effect activity taking place so that things would have to happen for Iran to shut down the Strait of Hormuz that haven't happened yet the other thing I think we need to understand is that the Iranians have been engaged in significant diplomacy with both Russia and China and Pakistan by the way I believe in the security council today Russia China Pakistan have put forward a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire that was done with the approval of Iran and so diplomacy is in the air the other thing that's curious is that this attack comes after the foreign minister went to Moscow and met with Vladimir Putin I can guarantee you the Iranians said we have to retaliate and Vladimir Putin apparently did not raise meaningful object objections to it and if we're looking at a potential vector for Iranian intentions to be sent to the United States we may have to look no further than Russia meaning that having briefed Putin on the plans Putin and Aragi discussed potential outcomes if the Iranians said "Look we have no choice but to strike back and strike back hard especially if we're going to dampen the our door in the IRGC for more military action." There's many in the IRGC that want to go all the way that that say this is the moment let's finish this now we're committed the president of Iran and his foreign minister aren't cut from that same piece of cloth so it seems to me that an argent can be made that Iran did telegraph this attack and that the vector for that would might have been Russia Iran also knows that the chi Chinese don't want to straight shut the chi China has come out and said we're not in favor of this this is not what we want this would be very disruptive to the world economy so there's a chance here a window of opportunity that if the United States rides out these attacks and says "Okay tit for tat you know we we're we're done with this." you know Israel today announced to Iran formally that they're ready to stop this war right now iran responded back "It is not yet time meaning there's more that Iran surprising." Yeah that that's that response surprised me it's not that's not surprising to me Iran is resetting the deterrence standard when this war ends Israel will have to understand that it can never again strike Iran or the response will be disproportionate right now Israel believes that that's sort of a trade-off that they got rid of a nuclear program that's debatable and you know and they can they can live with that but from the Iranian perspective it is Israel had the audacity to attack us and that can never happen again israel has to understand that the price they will pay is overwhelmingly in disfavor of Israel and I don't know if Iran has made that point yet so I I you know I I see the window open for conflict but I also see if Iran can solve the American conundrum meaning how do we get out of this without expanding the conflict with the United States that you first close down close the door with America then you can shut down the conflict with Israel and the world may be get able to breathe a sigh of relief because the the worst outcome would be shutting down the straight or shutting down oil production and the horrific economic consequences so look we're in a very dangerous period of time a lot of whatifs and a lot of speculation going on but if you go off of past behavior there is a possibility indeed a probability that what we're seeing right now is a tragic act of theater and all sides are looking for an off-ramp out of this conflict because I don't think anybody benefits from taking this to the next level yeah an update for you Scott is Qatar said there's been no reports of deaths or injuries so that removes off the table the possibility of unintended consequences from the attack that's number one number two is Iran said they've launched the same number of missiles as the US launched towards the exactly the same amount of bombs that the US launched towards the third i think you read it at the bottom as well that's the second symbol exactly very very symbolic exactly what you'd expect from a tit for tat attack which shows that it's not escalating but that that kind of is contradicted by Iran's response to Israel's formal request for an or at least beginning to discuss an end to the war so you think Iran would want this war to continue to be able to inflict more damage to Israel to ensure Israel does not attack Iran in the future 100% iran can't afford to stop this conflict now because then they wouldn't have reset deterrence israel needs to basically plead for this war to end and part of the plea will be I believe Israel backing down on zero enrichment and maybe even concessions about Gaza but you know this can't be seen as Israel attacking Iran and winning by saying "Oh we destroyed the Iranian nuclear program." Which they haven't they haven't even come close but  you know perception creates its own reality and as long as the minds of the Israeli leadership and the Israeli people that in the long term this this this attack was beneficial for Israeli security then Iran runs the risk of Israel making decision again to attack i think what the Iranians want to do is put that marker on the table you will never attack us again because this is the price you pay israel hasn't paid that price yet so you think that Israel has not done enough or Israel and the US have not done enough to essentially destroy Iran's nuclear capabilities they haven't destroyed anything at all they've blown up some empty facilities all of Iran's enriched urani is secure and hidden sites that we don't know where it is the US admits you think is is Oh wow really well the US government has admitted we don't know where Iran's enriched urani is all of the centrifuges that Iran needs to step that up to nuclear weapons grade are secure in facilities we don't know anything about most of the technology that's sensitive and related to the conversion of urani hexaflloride into a metal which is required to make a bomb is out of that facility isan facility that was bombed and safeguarded all of the sensitive production equipment is safeguarded it didn't get touched it's all been evacuated so all we blew up Israel and the United States are empty facilities or facilities with equipment that Iran doesn't view as a for instance in Natans there's large numbers of uh centrifuge cascades but these are the IR1s the old centrifuges that Iran's going to be replacing out anyways or IR2s Iran doesn't care about them iran cares about the IR6s and the IR8s those have been evacuated and so they haven't done anything to the Iranian program this Israeli statement that we've pushed the Iranian program back two or three years is absurd in the extreme because all Iran has to do is pour concrete and their nuclear program is right back and running well but but do you think Israel despite their intelligence capabilities that they proved on day one of the war despite that despite being able to you know having essentially control over Tan's airspace they still wouldn't know where that those trucks with the enriched urani went to wouldn't it be easy kind of to track those trucks and track their destination as well be able to bp that as well nothing's easy in the intelligence business it all it all requires a lot of hard work and people willing to put their lives on the line especially with that kind of intelligence but look as somebody who spent many years tracking weapons of mass destruction programs that have been broken down into their you know their little components and and hidden it's not as easy as you think it's takes it's a lot of hard work and it requires you know boots on the ground now Israel has shown that it has a significant MSAD run intelligence network so anything's possible but I I think the you know I think the Iranians have got if Israel knew where the enriched urani was they would have struck it already they would have bombed it i guarantee so the fact that the enriched urani continues to be safeguarded means Israel hasn't a clue now that doesn't mean that Israel through its intelligence can't find out where it is and I I trust you know having worked with Israeli intelligence for four years I can tell you that that's one of their number one priorities but just because you want to collect something doesn't mean that you automatically get to collect it and if Israel changes its its strategic policy regarding Iran from no enrichment which means you have to account for all of Iran's urani hexaflloride to limited enrichment 3.75% and the IAA re-engages on those terms then this enriched urani in excess of 3.75% will be turned over and disposed of and that's that's the best path out of here the best path out of here is is one based upon reason and logic that gives Iran its rights under article four the nuclear non-proliferation treaty as opposed to this artificial imposition of an Iranon clause which is an insult to Iran makes no sense from a non-proliferation standpoint and has gotten us to this point where we are today nations at war and the potential of an expansion of the conflict that would destroy the global economy is it really worth it one more question I see here in the comments can Iran close the trade of Hormuz only focusing on American and and and American ships and ships of American allies European ships or any Israeli ships as well i mean any anything's possible there there was a while where the the Hoodi in Yemensa was allowing certain ships to go through the Babaland Debb Straits and sinking other ships or attacking other ships so in theory this is this is possible but then you're not achieving the if Iran shuts the straight or moves it's to create a energy crisis in the United States and Europe to punish the people responsible for this situation and so I I I mean it is possible it's complicated and it would be difficult to do in a in a state of full-scale conflict i think if you're going to shut the straight horses it has to be a complete closure nothing gets through but again it's pure speculation anything's possible in war yeah because that would make more sense that wouldn't hurt their ally China that would benefit Russia because oil prices skyrocket and that would hurt the US inflation hurt Europe because a lot of European oil goes through the Strait of Hormuz as well yeah there are reports by the way according to the New York Times that Qatar did inform the US of the attack in advance to minimize casualties which is what we've discussed earlier a tit for tat attack more symbolic and Iran does not want to escalate this into a regional conflict or a war with the US let me just say something real quick about the Strait of hormuz if I might remember conflict is a two-way street uh if Iran closes the Strait of hormuz and and limits it to just you know allies of the United States United States the United States isn't going to take that sitting down and so there will be American military retaliation on the Iranian assets closing it which means the Strait of hormuz is a combat zone and nobody's going to be going through that combat zone Lloyds of London will not allow any of its insured ships to be running through the Strait of Hormuz at a time when the United States is carrying out active military operations against the Iranians in that region So I just wanted to throw that in there too i I just think it's a pipe dream to talk about limited closure because there will be an American response to reopen the straight could this could this represent the end of US involvement in this war is this it first of all we we have a president who is not programmed to to run away or retreat so if this was the end of the war it's going to have to be couched it's going to have to be a politicized end meaning that the United States is going to have to be able to say that they accomplished something through their action this president will not allow u a scenario to evolve that says America got beat and so you know the answer is you know we know Trump wants to disengage from the Middle East we know this with absolute certainty because he has said so uh his priority is the Pacific his priority is China and the last thing he needs right now is a you know an open-ended conflict with Iran that requires hundreds of thousands of American troops to be committed to possible ground action in Iran he doesn't need that he doesn't want that so I do believe that if this is handled properly and it's going to require a lot of maturity on the part of everybody involved and that's a very difficult thing to to to guarantee that the United States could in the aftermath of this declare that it has achieved stability in the region for instance let's say we get a compromised nuclear deal out of Iran that caps at 3.75% you know gets rid of 60% enriched urani has American inspectors participating in IEA inspections the president can say "We now are can rest easy at night there will never again be an Iranian nuclear program a nuclear weapons program and I get all the credit." See as long as he can say "I get all the credit i'm the greatest man in the world my hands are bigger than you." then he will be able to withdraw from the region but unless he can say that if this comes out as he got beat or he got outfoxed then unfortunately I think this president stays committed to to military involvement in the region do you think strategically Iran could position it in a way that allows Trump to get credit for it but at the expense of Israel so they continue to strike Israel they don't strike US targets which is what we're seeing right now as soon as the US struck the nuclear facilities Iran immediately responded they could have struck US bases immediately they're ready for it they've done it before but they immediately struck Israel so it seems that Iran wants Israel to pay for this war and they have been relatively understanding to America's involvement which means there could be a path for Trump to declare some sort of victory with this i think so i think look the Iranians are far more pragmatic and realistic than many people give them credit to you know we we sit here and talk about the Iranians as if they're a bunch of raving fanatics and death to America and all this stuff first of all it's a total misunderstanding of what death to America means i mean put yourself in the Iranian shoes talk about 1953 in Mossad talk about the Sha talk about Savak a CIA trained secret police talk about the records that the Iranians found when they took over the embassy implicating the United States with Savak and the torture and murder of Iranians and now you understand the genesis of death to America but I've been to Iran i was there during Ahmed Denhad's regime which was not known for its pro-American tendencies and the Iranian people are warm friendly they don't hate Americans at all just the opposite they want to learn to they want to have good relations with the United States if once you understand the reality of Iran the sophistication of the Iranians everything you just said is possible these are very sophisticated players when it comes to geopolitics they're very sharp and keen negotiators who are able to operate on a bunch of different levels at once so that they can achieve what they want to achieve but give credit where you know maybe they don't want to give credit but they understand the political need to give credit to the United States look at how they look at how they negotiated look at the way that they responded you remember the letter that Trump sent to Kam and then Kam's response and initially everybody went well that there goes negotiations six rounds later Ali Shamani is telling people "We're ready to sign a treaty." Because remember the the Iranian argent about nuclear weapons was we have a fatwa we have a fatwa and therefore we can't have it well nobody believes the fatwa anymore because the Iranians said it could be overturned in an instant so the Iranians have come back and said "We're willing to sign a treaty a binding treaty under international law registered in the United Nations a treaty that says we will forever you know not have nuclear weapons." And there would be in that treaty there would be verification steps no one saw that up there the Iranians are willing to do that willing to cap at 3.75% speaking of a multilateral uh urani you know fuel bank that allows them to use their excessive centrifuge the Iranians are willing to do all of this which shows the flexibility and the reality that they approach problem solving so I'm fully confident that the Iranian government if given the chance because remember they can't back down we attack them they have to respond but if we can bring an end to this retaliatory cycle the Iranians I believe are sophisticated enough to to work with the United States and other nations in the region to come up with a an acceptable deal that that that brings an end to this conflict but a key aspect of that is Israel israel started this war with their surprise attack against Iran and according to the Iranian calculations Israel must never be allowed to think they can get away with that again and so that's an important element of all this how much longer the United States is willing to sit back and let Israel get pounded is another question but I I I want to say this to your audience who are saying "Well isn't Iran being pounded why aren't the Iranians in danger of collapsing?" They've been preparing for this very scenario for 20 plus years 20 plus years Iran has been preparing for just this they are operating on a game plan that they have they have 57 different military districts each one of which have been equipped to fight independently of the other for two years and this war just begun so Iran's ready to ride this thing out this is the this is the journey to the apocalypse if that's the direction the United States wants to take it the Iranians of course don't want that end but they're going to make Israel pay i don't think Israel gets away from this starting this war lightly what the price is of course is negotiable but I don't think the idea of a let's just bring this thing to an end because Israel's upset that doesn't fly anymore israel is have to pay a price that's acceptable to the Iranians for carrying out the crime of u launching a surprise attack against Iran that didn't just attack nuclear facilities which is sort of a symbol of Iranian sovereignty but there's also a decapitation strike against very senior leaders loved leaders beloved leaders of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Committee could you imagine how Americans would feel if overnight we lost the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff we lost the joint chiefs of staff we lost u major military commanders we lost the director FBI and and then a week and a half later people go "Ah forget it yeah let's just bring this thing to an end." You think the Americans would go "Yeah you're right we're just going to forget about it." The damage done to Iran in terms of their sovereign interests and in terms of just the insult to Iran is incalculable and so Israel is not going to get off lightly for this what about the threat to Ali Khame the Supreme Leader's life so Trump has hinted that he could be struck nathaniel has hinted that could be struck do you think that could strike him is that just psychological warfare to scare him so he does not escalate the war so he tries he accepts some sort of agreement and ends it early that or is that a real possibility on the table right now because there's also reports that we haven't heard from him for three days and some people are saying that he is in hiding not speaking through any electronics fearing for his life well I mean wouldn't you fear for your life if the president United States indicated that you might have a target on your head wouldn't you fear for your life if as some reports out of Iran are true his residence and his bunker have been struck by Israel so I don't think it's a theoretical hit on him i think Israel has actively tried to kill him and now you have the president of the United States making the same statement but again this literally it shows the ignorance of people about Iran as Khoumeni said I'm 90 years old i'm already dead  and don't mourn my loss the assembly of experts has already picked a successor and if they kill that person there's a successor that the the Islamic Republic isn't one man it's not a dictatorship it's a a a constitutional republic overlaid with a theocracy it's one that's been around for many decades it's solidified its you know that that the infrastructure u in inside Iran it's not going to be done away with overnight so the notion that you can kill and somehow cause the system to collapse is a fallacy it's a flawed notion and but if you do that that again changes the dynamic of this conflict I would say the worst thing in the world you can do is kill a 90-year-old man if you want regime change in Iran then make peace with Iran wait till Hamen dies see who they replace him with and then work with the system to moderate policies etc plus Iran is a member of bricks and bricks is you know includes Russia China India other nations that the United States has diplomatic relations with a Iran becomes self-moderating by joining BRICS because BRICS is not you know a a form of radicalism it's a form of multilateral pragmatism and so the best thing you can do is have Iran join BRICS and through that association you'll see their policies moderate because BRICS can't function with an out-of-control radical rogue nation bricks will function when everybody plays by the same set of rules and so again if I were advising the president of the United States I'd say let's bring this conflict to an end and let's encourage Iran to join bricks and let's work with bricks to keep Iranian behavior moderated talking about bricks what about China and Russia's role in this so Russia's busy in Ukraine russia's correct me if you disagree but Russia's historically not been there for Iran they've supported them you know financially in some ways they've worked a lot together militarily but in 2024 when Israel struck Iran Russia didn't support it much they haven't supplied them with much weapons with the Ukraine war and it seems that this war in some way benefits Russia because it distracts the US away from Ukraine and it risks oil prices increasing which benefits Russia's economy so does that mean Russia won't be there for Iran if this war continues and what about China?

[Scott Ritter] I think China strategically benefits more if Iran wins this war or ends up in a better place after this war. Iran is a very close ally to China but also supplies a lot of oil to China and they've got the belt and road initiative there where do these two powerhouses come in. To answer that question I guess I have to throw out sort of a rhetorical question in response which is if you're a parent and you have a child that is prone to misbehaving do you want to deal with that child when the child is relaxed and comfortable in their situation, or do you want to deal with that child in the midst of a temper tantrum, because something has been taken away from that child? The answer is you want to deal with a relaxed child. The United States is a child on the world today because we're led by a man-child. I mean, just listen to his rhetoric, I know this is getting way political, but this man speaks like no other president. He speaks like no other leader. It's childish in the way he speaks. Exaggerations, the whole thing. And so nations treat him like a child. And so they don't want him to be having a temper tantrum when they have to deal with him. So I think what both Russia and China want is for the United States to calm down, and it's easier to deal with the United States when they are calmed down. But if you're talking about dealing with America in the South Pacific, where it's very tense over Taiwan, and America gets beat in the Middle East, or gets involved in a war, that makes this man-child angry. Now you have a child who's throwing a temper tantrum. And the chance of something good coming out of that diminishes greatly. So I don't think Russia or China is looking for the United States to be defeated, or humiliated in this. I think what they want from the United States is predictability. I've been told this by the former ambassador to the United States Anatoli. The number one thing Russia wants out of the United States is predictability, because with predictability you can formulate policies that can be implemented. If that predictability is attached to a policy that's hostile to Russia, at least it's predictable. If it's attached to a policy that's friendly to Russia it's predictable. But what the Russians don't want is the United States jumping back between the two, because it's impossible at that point in time to formulate policy, not only about US-Russian relations, but about Russia's relationship with the world, which will likewise be affected by an America all over the map. So the best way to have predictability for the United States is to bring an end to the conflicts that involve the United States, to bring an end to the Ukrainian conflict, to bring an end to this Israeli Iranian conflict. But they're not going to do that by surrendering to the United States. Anybody involved in a conflict won't consider conflict termination unless they get what they wanted out of this conflict, especially if you're winning right now. Russia's winning. By any definition of the word, Russia is winning the war in Ukraine. So Russia expects certain outcomes. And there's nothing the United States can do right now to reverse that strategic trajectory of a Russian victory. And right now, between Iran and Israel, we haven't shown an ability, neither us nor Israel, to stop the Iranian missile attacks against Israel. The pain will still come. And so it's unrealistic to say "Hey, Iran,, stop short of your objectives." So I think the goal of Russian Chinese diplomacy right now is to bring the conflict in the Middle East to as rapid a closure as possible, doing the minimum harm to the United States, so that when America does whatever it's going to do in terms of withdrawal, partial withdrawal, etc., it does it rationally, as a calm child as opposed to irrationally as a child throwing a temper tantrum.

In our last interview when Iran was responding to Israel's attack you talked that Iran needs to attack with you know a few waves up to a thousand about 2,000 missiles for this to be you know a proportionate respond or a significant response to to show strength so far Iran has fired about 500 550 ballistic missiles and 1,000 drones i think none of those nulls made it they've caused damage in Israel a lot of them have landed but it hasn't been the attack that you said you would have expected back in that first interview how does that compare to your expectations do you think Iran has been weakened significantly which is the way I see it or do you think this is strategic from Iranian side because Israel does claim they've struck over 60% I think now or 40 50 60% and that was a few days ago of launches of missile launches in Iran and their stock bars have been depleted they still have about 1,00,500 there is an argument that Iran is trying to not deplete their stockpiles to be able to prolong this war and there's kind of a battle between the the stockpiles of Israeli anti-missile defense systems and Iranian missiles kind of competing and who outlasts the other?

[Scott Ritter] Well first of all let's talk about the the interceptors versus the ballistic missile calculation. Right now Israel has sufficient interceptors. They fire a whole bunch of them when the Iranian missiles come in. And yet the Iranian missiles penetrate the defenses, and strike Israel, and do significant damage. So the idea that Iran has to wait until Israel runs out of interceptors until it does the damage it needs is a fallacy, and so I don't even talk about Israel running out of interceptors. You know the Iranians have run a more sustained conflict, but they're 500 missiles into what I believe will ultimately be a 1,000 missile barrage. It's not all at once, but Iran's not willing to stop this war right now because they haven't done the damage that they believe is necessary to punish Israel. And so we could be looking at another week and a half of conflict where they'll fire that additional 500 missiles. Many of these missiles will be of a more advanced capability than the missiles they fired early on, which were 20-year-old models. These will be the more modern hypersonic maneuvering, with separating warheads, multiple warheads cluster munitions, some of which they've already fired, and they will just rip Israel apart.

Let me let's back this up. I fought in the Gulf War. One of the things that I did was I got involved in the Scud hunting, hunting down Iraqi Scud missiles. And I remember early on in the war receiving the battle damage assessment, and about a week and a half in, the US Air Force said "We've killed 64 Iraqi Scud missile launchers." The Iraqis only had 19. So beware of numbers. Beware of numbers. Especially in war they get exaggerated. Things are being struck that are decoys, that aren't what they think they are, etc. I wouldn't trust the Israeli numbers at all, because you're in the middle of a war where the fog of war exists. And having done battle damage assessment in a combat environment, I can tell you right now that the data isn't perfect. I would also say that the Iranians have prepared for this very conflict. And the notion that Iran would allow a scheme of operations to unfold that within a week and a half has 40 to 60% of their launchers destroyed is absurd in the extreme. The Iranians are some of the best professionals in the world at what they do. They've been planning this for for 20 years. So I would be careful in embracing Israeli data, because I was part of an American data set that was just 100% wrong across the board about battle damage assessment during the Gulf War.

Headlines
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow!
Jun 24, 2025
https://www.democracynow.org/2025/6/24/headlines

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
5 h.
Jun 24, 2025

Now that we have made PEACE abroad, we must finish the job here at home by passing “THE GREAT, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL,” and getting the Bill to my desk, ASAP. It will be a Historic Present for THE GREAT PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, as we begin the Celebration of our Country’s 250th Birthday. We are finally entering our Golden Age, which will bring unprecedented Safety, Security, and Prosperity for ALL of our Citizens. To my friends in the Senate, lock yourself in a room if you must, don’t go home, and GET THE DEAL DONE THIS WEEK. Work with the House so they can pick it up, and pass it, IMMEDIATELY. NO ONE GOES ON VACATION UNTIL IT’S DONE. Everyone, most importantly the American People, will be much better off thanks to our work together. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
Jun 24, 2025

China can now continue to purchase Oil from Iran. Hopefully, they will be purchasing plenty from the U.S., also. It was my Great Honor to make this happen!

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
6h
Jun 24, 2025

Heading to NATO where, at worst, it will be a much calmer period than what I just went through with Israel and Iran. I look forward to seeing all of my very good European friends, and others. Hopefully, much will be accomplished!

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
Jun 24, 2025, 5:34 AM

IRAN WILL NEVER REBUILD THEIR NUCLEAR FACILITIES!

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
Jun 24, 2025, 5:28 AM

ISRAEL is not going to attack Iran. All planes will turn around and head home, while doing a friendly “Plane Wave” to Iran. Nobody will be hurt, the Ceasefire is in effect! Thank you for your attention to this matter! DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
Jun 24, 2025, 4:50 AM

ISRAEL. DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS. IF YOU DO IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION. BRING YOUR PILOTS HOME, NOW! DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
Jun 23, 2025, 11:08 PM

THE CEASEFIRE IS NOW IN EFFECT. PLEASE DO NOT VIOLATE IT! DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
Jun 23, 2025, 9:47 PM

We couldn’t have made today’s “deal” without the talent and courage of our great B-2 pilots, and all of those associated with that operation. In a certain and very ironic way, that perfect “hit,” late in the evening, brought everyone together, and the deal was made!!!

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
Jun 23, 2025, 8:18 PM

Israel & Iran came to me, almost simultaneously, and said, “PEACE!” I knew the time was NOW. The World, and the Middle East, are the real WINNERS! Both Nations will see tremendous LOVE, PEACE, AND PROSPERITY in their futures. They have so much to gain, and yet, so much to lose if they stray from the road of RIGHTEOUSNESS & TRUTH. The future for Israel & Iran is UNLIMITED, & filled with great PROMISE. GOD BLESS YOU BOTH!

Trump Lashes Out After Israel Violates Fragile Truce with Iran
Jun 24, 2025

President Trump has lashed out at Israel after its defense minister ordered “intense strikes” on Tehran, just hours after a fragile ceasefire appeared to take shape. Iranian media also recently reported two explosions were heard in Tehran. Iran denied accusations by Israel that it violated the US and Qatar-brokered truce. President Trump spoke earlier today, after posting on social media for Israel to, “Bring your pilots home, now!”

President Donald Trump: “Israel, as soon as we made the deal they came out and they dropped a load of bombs the likes of which I’ve never seen before. The biggest load we’ve ever seen. I’m not happy with Israel. …We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the fuck they’re doing.”

Trump first announced a ceasefire on social media Monday, in the wake of an Iranian missile attack on the largest US base in the Middle East, in Qatar. Qatar condemned the strike as a “flagrant violation of Qatar’s sovereignty”. This followed the U.S. dropping bombs on 3 Iranian nuclear facilities Sunday, and a week and a half of fighting between Israel and Iran after Israel launched an initial unprovoked attack.

European countries have largely rallied behind the U.S. On Monday NATO’s chief asserted Trump’s offensive strike did not violate international law.

Nuclear Watchdog Warns of “Significant Damage” to Iran’s Fordow Site After U.S. Bombing
Jun 24, 2025

The International Atomic Energy Agency, warned of likely “very significant damage” at Iran’s Fordow nuclear enrichment site after the U.S. bombing. Israel also struck the site Monday. This comes as the Iranian parliament has taken steps to suspend cooperation with the IAEA demanding the UN nuclear watchdog provide “guarantees of professional conduct”. On Monday, Iran vowed to defend itself against any ongoing Israeli and U.S. attacks.

Ismail Baghaee: “The military aggression of the Zionist regime against the Islamic Republic of Iran has been carried out with coordination, collaboration, and support from the United States. …It is truly incomprehensible how you can describe an act of aggression, a crime, and a blatant violation of the law as something admirable.”

We’ll have the latest on Iran after headlines with Trita Parsi.

Israel Kills More Palestinians at “Aid” Sites as Blockade Starves Another Child to Death
Jun 24, 2025

In Gaza, Israeli forces have killed 71 Palestinians since dawn today, including at least 50 people who were waiting to receive aid. Among the dead are at least 27 people killed in an Israeli strike on civilians waiting for food in central Gaza, an attack that also wounded dozens and turned a relief site into what one Palestinian official called an “open field of death.”

Separately the Wafa news agency reports another Palestinian child has died of malnutrition in Gaza. Three-year-old Hassan Barbakh died earlier today after suffering kidney and liver damage amid soaring blood acid levels due to acute malnutrition. The boy’s brother also previously died of hunger; their family had urgently appealed to transfer the children abroad for treatment but Israeli authorities denied their requests.

Meanwhile the United Nations Children’s Agency UNICEF warns Gaza is on the brink of a “man-made drought” with children at risk of dying from thirst unless Israel ends its blockade. The U.N. warns just 40% of Gaza’s water treatment facilities remain functional due to fuel shortages.

Danish Shipping Giant Maersk to Divest from Firms Linked to Israeli Settlements
Jun 24, 2025

The Danish shipping giant Maersk will divest from companies linked to Israel’s illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank after a sustained pressure campaign by activists, led by the Palestinian Youth Movement. The group said, “this sends a clear message: compliance with international law and basic human rights is not optional. Doing business with Israel’s illegal settlements is no longer viable.” The group is calling for Maersk to next stop transporting F-35 fighter jet parts that are used by Israel’s military in its genocide in Gaza.

UK Government Uses Anti-Terrorism Law to Ban the Protest Group Palestine Action
Jun 24, 2025

The British government has moved to ban the direct action group Palestine Action under the country’s terrorism laws after activists breached the UK’s largest airforce base on Friday and damaged two military jets. Previous actions have included spray painting Trump’s Scotland golf course and disruptions targeting the arms manufacturer Elbit Systems which supplies Israel with weapons. Palestine Action members have been arrested and jailed for their protests. On Monday, police cracked down on protesters who’d gathered in London to decry the government’s persecution of the group, arresting several people. Max Geller is a member of Palestine Action.

Max Geller: “Palestine Action exposed not only a security liability at one of the air force bases, but indeed the RAF’s continued role in this genocide on Palestine. Within 12 hours the government decided to take the unprecedented step of banning a domestic protest movement.”

Supreme Court Will Allow Trump to Transfer Immigrants to Third Countries, At Least for Now
Jun 24, 2025

In a 6-3 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed President Trump to resume the hasty transfer of immigrants to third countries, lifting a lower court order that ruled immigrants have the right to challenge their removal. The case stems from the Trump administration’s attempt last month to send eight individuals — mostly from Latin American and Asian countries — to South Sudan. But their plane was diverted to a U.S. military base in Djibouti after a judge intervened. The court’s three liberal justices issued a scathing dissent, accusing their right-wing colleagues of “rewarding lawlessness”. Justice Sonia Sotomayor warned the ruling puts “thousands [at] risk of torture or death”.

Lawyers and Advocates Warn of ICE “Disappearances” Amid Ongoing Raids
Jun 24, 2025

As nationwide ICE raids rip through communities, activists are warning immigrants who are taken into federal custody are effectively being disappeared, with lawyers and relatives unable to locate detainees in public government records. Advocates in the Los Angeles area say they’ve received thousands of calls reporting missing people following ICE arrests, as officials reportedly fail to log people’s information in the agency’s detainee locator database. ICE has reportedly lost track of immigrants in its custody as it also repeatedly transfers people from one ICE jail to another.

In more news from Los Angeles, photojournalist Anthony Orendorff was released from jail without charges Monday following his arrest last week while documenting an ICE raid.

ICE Separates Mother from Breastfeeding Baby After Arrest at Routine Green Card Appointment
Jun 24, 2025

A Marine Corps veteran is pleading for his wife’s release from ICE detention after officers arrested her during a routine green card appointment in May. Adrian Clouatre’s wife, Paola Clouatre, is being held at an ICE jail in Monroe, Louisiana, separated from her nearly 2-year-old child and 3-month-old baby, whom Paola was still breastfeeding when she was taken by ICE. Paola was brought to the U.S. from Mexico as a child by her mom to seek asylum. She had begun the green card process in 2024 after she married Adrian, a U.S. citizen.

“Alligator Alcatraz”: Florida Plans to Build $450 Million Immigration Prison in Everglades
Jun 24, 2025

In more immigration news, Florida is building an immigrant jail that officials have nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz,” with plans to turn an isolated airfield in the Everglades into a mass detention tent camp. The facility will cost some $450 million a year to operate, with an option for Florida to request a partial federal reimbursement from FEMA. Florida’s attorney general and Trump ally, James Uthmeier, has said the state won’t invest much in security, as the facility is surrounded by alligators and pythons.

Senate Confirms Rodney Scott as CBP Chief, Despite Role in Cover-Up of 2010 Killing
Jun 24, 2025

The U.S. Senate has confirmed Rodney Scott as head of Customs and Border Protection. This despite mounting accusations that Scott attempted to cover-up and obstruct the criminal investigation into the fatal beating of Anastasio Hernández Rojas in 2010. Rojas, a Mexican father, was crossing the southern border in an attempt to return to San Diego, where he had lived for 25 years, to reunite with his wife and five children after being deported. He was stopped by border agents, who brutally beat and tasered him, while he was handcuffed, until Rojas died from heart failure. His death was later ruled a homicide.

Indigenous Groups Warn Against More Border Wall Construction in Arizona
Jun 24, 2025

This comes as CBP has awarded more than $309 million to a North Dakota-based company to build 27 more miles of border wall along Arizona’s border with Mexico. Environmental groups and Indigenous communities in the borderlands have long opposed further wall construction in the Sonoran Desert as they warn of ecological disasters; while activists say the barrier will continue to force migrants to cross through more remote and dangerous areas of the desert where thousands have died attempting to reach the United States.

Attack on Hospital in Sudan Kills More Than 40 People
Jun 24, 2025
In Sudan, the World Health Organization says over 40 people were killed in a weekend attack on a hospital near the front line between the Sudanese army and the rival paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces. It’s not clear who ordered the attack which left five health care workers and six children among the dead; but at least one human rights group said a Sudanese army drone was responsible. Fighting between Sudan’s rival military factions since April 2023 has spawned the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with over 12 million people displaced both internally and across borders.

Six Die in Clashes Between Bolivian Police, Supporters of Former President Evo Morales
Jun 24, 2025

In Bolivia, at least six people have been killed and hundreds more injured amid clashes between police and supporters of former president Evo Morales. Morales’ backers have been blockading roads and highways across Bolivia since early June to protest a supreme court ruling that barred Morales from seeking a fourth term in elections set for August 17th. The court cited Bolivia’s two-term presidential limit. This comes as Morales faces an arrest warrant for statutory rape, after prosecutors accused him of fathering a child with a 15-year-old girl in 2016. Morales’ lawyers have called the charges politically-motivated; meanwhile his supporters say they won’t end their protests any time soon.

Ernesto Coaquira: “Do you think that by capturing Evo [Morales] or killing him, these people will lift the blockade? No, it will not be lifted. Because the majority of the population today feels represented by Evo.”

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul Plans New Nuclear Plant to Replace Indian Point
Jun 24, 2025

New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Monday said she would authorize the construction of a new nuclear power plant to replace the Indian Point nuclear power station, which was permanently shut down in 2021 following decades of anti-nuclear protests. Hochul said several communities had offered to host the plant, but she has yet to make a decision.

Family of Queens Teen Shot Dead by Police Sues NYPD and New York City
Jun 24, 2025

The family of Win Rozario — a 19-year-old Bangladeshi teen from Queens who was killed by police officers last year — has filed a lawsuit against two New York City Police officers and the City of New York. In March 2024, Rozario called 911 asking for help during a mental health crisis, but two NYPD officers instead tasered Rozario and shot him at least four times within minutes of entering his family’s home. Police body-camera footage showed Rozario was standing on the other side of the kitchen when he was attacked, as his mother desperately tried to shield him. The officers responsible were placed on 'desk duty' after Rozario’s killing and have faced no criminal charges.

Final Poll Shows Mamdani With an Edge Over Cuomo as New Yorkers Hold Mayoral Primary
Jun 24, 2025

New York City voters are braving record high temperatures today to cast ballots in the closely watched mayoral primary. On Monday, a final independent poll showed progressive Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani edging out disgraced former governor Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic ranked choice election. If no candidate receives at least 50% of the initial vote, as predicted, New Yorkers aren’t expected to have the final result until July 1st or later. We’ll have more on the NYC race for mayor later in the broadcast and we’ll speak with candidate Zohran Mamdani.

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F-Bombs and Real Bombs: Trita Parsi on Shaky Iran Ceasefire & Trump’s Anger at Netanyahu
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow!
Jun 24, 2025
https://www.democracynow.org/2025/6/24/ ... transcript



U.S. President Donald Trump is touting a ceasefire deal between Israel and Iran, despite what he said were violations of the deal by both sides shortly after he announced it. Trump said he was especially angry with Israel and urged the country to stand down as he faces mounting criticism over the prospect of another U.S. war in the Middle East. “Part of the reason why Trump also was quite eager to get to a ceasefire, why he’s so frustrated with what the Israelis are doing right now, is precisely because he’s very much aware of the strain that all of this has caused within his own support base,” says political analyst Trita Parsi. Parsi says the breakdown of the global Non-Proliferation Treaty on nuclear weapons could lead to dangerous consequences, as countries like Iran see incentive to build their own nuclear deterrence.

Transcript

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman.

I’m Amy Goodman in New York joined by Democracy Now!’s Juan González in Chicago. Hi, Juan.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Hi, Amy. And welcome to all of our listeners and viewers across the country and around the world.

AMY GOODMAN: Israel’s Defense Minister has ordered intense strikes on Tehran just hours after President Trump announced a fragile ceasefire. Iran denied the accusations that it violated the U.S.-and-Qatar-brokered truce. President Trump spoke to reporters on the White House lawn before leaving for the NATO Summit in the Hague this morning. He expressed extreme frustration with both countries but especially Israel.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Israel, as soon as we made the deal, they came out, and they dropped a load of bombs the likes of which I’ve never seen before, the biggest load that we’ve seen. I’m not happy with Israel. When I say, “Okay, now you have 12 hours,” you don’t go out in the first hour and just drop everything you have on them. So, I’m not happy with them. I’m not happy with Iran either. But I’m really unhappy if Israel’s going out this morning because of one rocket that didn’t land that was shot, perhaps by mistake, that didn’t land. I’m not happy about that. We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the [bleep] they’re doing. Do you understand that?

AMY GOODMAN: F-bombs and real bombs. President Trump also posted on social media, quote, “Israel, do not drop those bombs. If you do, it is a major violation. Bring your pilots home now,” unquote. President Trump first announced the ceasefire on social media Monday in the wake of an Iranian missile attack on the largest U.S. base in the Middle East, in Qatar. Qatar condemned the strike as a, quote, “Flagrant violation of Qatar’s sovereignty.”

Iran gave advanced notice before the strike, and there were no injuries reported. This retaliatory strike followed the U.S. dropping bombs on three Iranian nuclear facilities Sunday and 12 days of fighting between Israel and Iran after Israel launched an initial unprovoked attack. For more, we’re joined by Trita Parsi in Washington D.C. He’s the Executive Vice President of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, author of several books, including Losing an Enemy: Obama, Iran, and the Triumph of Diplomacy. Welcome back to Democracy Now!. Trita, so much has happened in the last two weeks, but let’s talk about the last hours. If you can talk about Israel’s attack on Iran, Iran’s retaliation, then U.S. dropping these bombs, the significance of this and then supposedly a fragile ceasefire in effect.

TRITA PARSI: I think Trump is discovering the very core of the problem, and I think we can see his frustration here. And the core of the problem, at the end of the day, is that Israel does not want peace. Israel wants to continue this war. Israel wants only unilateral ceasefires in which it is allowed to continue to bomb the countries in question. That’s exactly what it has done in Gaza, that’s what it has done in Lebanon, and they wanted the same thing here. And they wanted to make sure that the United States could not keep itself out of the war that Israel unnecessarily started. I think there’s a part of Trump that he genuinely wants to get to a deal. I think the manner and the pathways to that that he’s choosing are the wrong ones. But I think he was genuine about getting the ceasefire, staying out of this. We have seen the revolt that has taken place in large parts of his own base. And now, he’s discovering that the Israelis, at the end of the day, wanted to drag him to this point in order to keep him in the war, not allow him to get out of the war or not allowing a peace or a ceasefire to break out.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Trita, I wanted to ask you, we’ve had the reports in the U.S. media that Iran warned the United States before launching its counterstrike on the U.S. base, but only – there’s been a report by Amwaj.media, which is an operation out of Qatar that covers Iran, and Iraq, and the Arabian Peninsula. And they claim that the United States warned Iran before the attacks on the nuclear facilities, and as a result, Iran was able to remove most of its enriched uranium, and that there were no casualties on the Iranian side in those attacks. Have you heard anything differently, or do you put much credence in this report?

TRITA PARSI: I do strongly believe this report. Amwaj has proven itself to be one of the absolute top news sites in order that understand what is going on in Iran, and their sources have been completely impeccable. But I also think that this is actually in – this is in line with past patterns as well, in which both sides, every once in a while, when they want to do something, but they don’t want it to be too escalatory, they don’t want the situation to get out of control, have given each other direct or indirect warnings. In this case, clearly, the Iranians telegraphed very clearly what they wanted to do. The Qataris knew about it long beforehand.

But it was also a way for the Iranians to do something that went beyond what they did after Qasem Soleimani was killed by Trump in 2020, in which they struck U.S. bases in Iraq. This time, they struck it in a GCC country, making it quite different from what it was in 2020, but at the same time, it was nevertheless done in such a way that there would be no casualties, providing the U.S. with no reason to escalate further, rather give both themselves and the United States an exit ramp out of this, which Trump clearly took very quickly, moving towards a ceasefire that he had to impose on the Israelis. And we’re seeing now how unhappy the Israelis are about that.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And you said that the current escalation is not about nuclear proliferation. What do you think is the motivation, especially for Israel?

TRITA PARSI: Well, from the Israeli standpoint, for more than three decades now, this has not been about a nuclear issue, it’s been about domination in the region, the geopolitical rivalry that they have with Iran, significant fear that they have that if the United States and Iran were to negotiate, if they were to strike a deal, reduce their tensions, Iran would end up not necessarily becoming a friend of the United States, but tensions between the U.S. and Iran would reduce significantly without it necessarily reducing Israeli-Iranian tensions, which then would leave the Israelis in a position of abandonment, as they call it. And they would face Iran without having this type of automatic support of the United States.

This is long in the making. If the Israeli concern truly was nonproliferation, then they would have supported Obama’s Iran deal, the JCPOA, because it did close off all patterns for Iran to build a nuclear weapon. But Israel’s preference was and remains an Iran that may have a nuclear weapon, but that is isolated, is at conflict with the United States, whose economy being crushed than an Iran that does not have nuclear weapons but has improved ties with the U.S., is trading with the rest of the world, is rehabilitated into the international community, and as a result, can challenge Israel’s position in the region and its aim for military hegemony, even though it does not have nuclear weapons.

AMY GOODMAN: Trita, I wanted to get your comment on Vice President J. D. Vance. He appeared on Fox News yesterday to tout the long-term effectiveness of U.S. airstrikes on Iran.

VICE PRESIDENT J. D. VANCE: Our hope is that the lesson that the Iranians have learned here is, “Look, we can fly a bunker-buster bomb from Missouri to Iran, completely undetected without landing once on the ground, and we can destroy whatever nuclear capacity you build up.” I think that lesson is what’s going to teach them not to build the nuclear capacity.

AMY GOODMAN: So, that was the Vice President. And if you could elaborate further on why you’re arguing that this U.S. attack on Iran has destabilized the world to, as you say, nuclear countries, nuclear bomb countries, both the United States and Israel, attacking a non-nuclear country, Iran, what it says to other non-nuclear countries around the world, who gets attacked, and who doesn’t?

TRITA PARSI: I think the Vice President’s point is not one that needed to be made. I don’t think the Iranians under any circumstance were under the illusion that the United States did not have the capability of bombing that facility. Whether the U.S. has the capability of truly destroying it or not remains to be seen because we still have not the final report of what type of damage was done here. I fear that the conclusion the Iranians will draw, which goes to your second point–and not just Iran, many other countries as well–is that you had here two nuclear-equipped countries attacking a non-nuclear state in the midst of negotiations, despite the fact that none of the nuclear-equipped countries have been attacked by the non-nuclear state.

Israel was not attacked by Iran, Israel initiated this conflict. The United States certainly was not attacked by Iran, it initiated this round of attacks. There is no basis for claiming this to be self-defense, even anticipatory self-defense. What this then says to a lot of other countries, not just in the region but throughout the world, is that you are completely unsafe vis-a-vis nuclear powers. And if you want to have some sort of an ability to deter nuclear powers from attacking you, you may have to become a nuclear power yourself. So, I think this was a major blow to the nonproliferation treaty, similar to the manner in which many people in Washington argue that Russia’s invasion, illegal invasion, of Ukraine was a blow to the nonproliferation treaty, since Ukraine actually hosted nuclear weapons before the breakup of the Soviet Union.

So, if that is the case in the Russian-Ukrainian case, it certainly is the case also in the Israeli-U.S.-Iranian case. So, I think that even though in the short run, some limitations may have been put, the Iranian program may have been delayed, I fear that this is going to dramatically motivate the Iranians to build a nuclear deterrence, and it will do so as well for other countries in the region, particularly Turkey and Saudi Arabia, and then, of course, beyond the region as well.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Trita, what do you make of the reported divisions within the MAGA base over what is happening in Iran? Clearly, President Trump’s scoffing at Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence, assessment that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and also Tucker Carlson and other key voices of the MAGA movement criticizing what’s going on?

TRITA PARSI: The whole movement toward some form of either confrontation with Iran, as we now have seen by the United States, but also the endorsement and the support that was provided by the United States to Israel’s war of aggression on Iran are things that I think has put a tremendous amount of strain within the MAGA movement and within the Republican Party. The only element of the Republican Party that really generally has supported this is the more hawkish neoconservative base, which only has a base in Washington. There’s no constituency for that outside of Washington. The rest of the United States much more falls into the “America-first” base of Trump support.

And within that, you can see some very clear strains because many of these individuals have truly adopted the view that the United States should stay out of these unnecessary wars, that the United States oftentimes is being dragged into these conflicts by some of its allies. And for some time, many of the folks on the right could manage to hold that view but make an exception for Israel. But over the last year or so, I think it’s become clear that that cognitive dissonance no longer was sustainable. Because if you make an exception for Israel, mindful of the fact that it is the country most likely to drag the U.S. into another war in the Middle East, at least, then you have kind of negated the principle as a whole. And I think we have seen that cognitive dissonance break down with individuals like Tucker Carlson and others going out long before this, really criticizing the role of Israel in terms of pushing the U.S. into wars.

And now this has happened, we see clearly how betrayed much of that base feels. Now, I think many of them, of course, want to get back into Trump’s good graces, but not without making sure that the U.S. doesn’t get dragged into this war. And I think part of the reason why Trump was quite eager to get to a ceasefire, why he’s so frustrated with what the Israelis are doing right now, is because he’s very much aware of the strain that all of this has caused within his own support base.

AMY GOODMAN: And Trita Parsi, want to thank you for being with us. Executive Vice President of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, author of several books, including Losing an Enemy: Obama, Iran, and the Triumph of Diplomacy. Al Jazeera, by the way, is reporting Palestinian Authority has demanded a ceasefire deal announced in the Iran-Israel war be widened to include the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

Next up, it’s primary day here in New York. Will Democratic Socialist State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani beat former governor Andrew Cuomo in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary? Mamdani will join us from the campaign trail as people go out to vote today. Stay with us.

[break]

AMY GOODMAN: “Black Spartacus Heart Attack Machine,” by Tom Morello, in our Democracy Now! studio.