00:00And to keep analysing all the information that comes from the Middle East, we have a
00:05special guest from Canada at this moment, journalist and political analyst, Arnold August.
00:10Hi Arnold, welcome to From the South.
00:13Thank you very much, it's great to be in touch with you Alejandra.
00:17Although Israel, the United States and Iran have agreed to a ceasefire, it is still very
00:22soon to consider the conflict truly over, given the underlying tensions, is that your
00:27opinion?
00:28Yes, of course, Iran agreed, but we have to underline, in my view, that it was Israel,
00:40which was the country that offered to have a ceasefire, because they were losing very badly
00:46against Iran.
00:47Now, in terms of the current situation, to answer your question further, it's very difficult
00:53to analyse how this truce or whatever ceasefire will go through, because Trump, as you know,
01:02within one minute he could have three or four different views.
01:06just like today, he reiterated his position that the United States obliterated the nuclear
01:16areas of Iran.
01:18And a few hours later, under questioning from reporters in The Hague, where he is there,
01:23to take part in the NATO summit there, he said, well, we do not completely destroy it.
01:33You know, it may take some while, a while, and we have to do further investigation.
01:37At the same time, after saying that, we have to do further investigation.
01:41He also goes after the media, Washington
01:44Post, CNN, saying that they are not faithful to the United States.
01:48They do not respect the brave army or soldiers or air force that went all the way from the
01:54United States to Iran to bomb that country.
01:57So, it's very conflicting statements coming out of Trump's mouth, as usual.
02:02Now, even Israel has said earlier today, they did not say that they succeeded in obliterating
02:10those targets.
02:11They say that we have more investigation has to be done.
02:15When they talk about more investigation has to be done, in the back of my head,
02:19I'm always concerned about the following.
02:21When they say more investigation has to be done, does that mean that the Israel is
02:26planning to send troops on the ground or United States troops on the ground to check the facilities
02:33in Iran?
02:34I don't know.
02:34But today, the Israeli IDF said that they have forces in Iran monitoring the situation.
02:43So, one has to be careful when they're evaluating whether they obliterated or not.
02:48It leaves the door open for further, perhaps, I'm wrong, I hope I'm wrong, perhaps further
02:54incursions by Israel in Iran to try to, you know, set what they say, set the record straight,
03:02especially when we know, if I'll just conclude on that.
03:05As I mentioned to the other host, Louis, about five days ago, in that interview with Telly Sur,
03:13I said the issue for Israel and the United States was not, and was not at the time,
03:20the nuclear issue.
03:22It was regime change.
03:23And just yesterday, the Washington Post confirmed what I said.
03:28They said that this was being planned.
03:30The attack against Iran that took place a couple of days ago, this was being planned
03:35a long time ago, before the controversy of enrichment of uranium is taking place.
03:43So, the overall goal for the United States and Israel, irrespective of negotiation,
03:49is regime change in Iran.
03:52In my view, one cannot take our mind off that specific objective of the United States and Israel.
04:01And to what extent was Israel's military campaign and this premeditated plan you mentioned
04:06against Iran dependent on U.S. support?
04:09And could social operation have even occurred without U.S. backing?
04:15Well, just to, you know, I'll just give you a quote from Joe Biden, supposed to be the moderate
04:20in U.S., right?
04:21He's not, but he said if Israel, this is when he was a senator, if Israel did not exist,
04:27we would have to invent it.
04:28That goes a long way to say, illustrate in a very open way that Israel is an instrument of the U.S.,
04:37in my view, to advance its geopolitical goals in the Middle East and West Asia.
04:42So, Israel is doing the work for the United States.
04:47I don't believe that Israel controls the United States.
04:50I think the United States controls Israel.
04:52Of course, they may have some contradictions with regards to Netanyahu on the one hand and
04:59Donald Trump on the other, but the overall geopolitical goal remains the same.
05:04And so, you know, the answer to your question is very simple.
05:09Israel would not exist without the support of the United States.
05:12And this was shown, you know, Israel, you know, attacked Iran, okay?
05:18And this, they successfully brought the United States into the war because Israel knew very well
05:24by attacking Iran, they will not be able to finish the job.
05:29Israel needed the United States to so-called finish the job, which they didn't, by the way,
05:33but this is what they had in mind.
05:35They needed the United States.
05:36So, this shows once again that Israel is the instrument of the United States.
05:42I mean, you know, in my view, I mean, I think we're going through a historic situation, Alejandra.
05:49The United States said, you know, they don't like,
05:53United States and Israel said they don't like Iran because Iran goes, Iranians go on the street
05:58and shout, death to America, death to Israel.
06:02That was about a week ago.
06:04Well, I got news for Mr. Trump and Mr. Netanyahu.
06:08The Iranians went out on the street against, once again, not only in Tehran, but other cities in Iran,
06:15just a couple of days ago after Israel was forced to concede and ask for a ceasefire.
06:23And they were shouting slogans amongst other, death to America, death to Israel.
06:28So, I think, in my view, the most important thing in this whole scenario that is for sure
06:34is that Israel lost that war regarding Iran.
06:38One has to keep in mind, Alejandro, that the success of the Iranian missiles against Israel resulted,
06:45guess how much it resulted in terms of damage just in the last week or two?
06:49$1.3 billion.
06:52That's a lot of money.
06:53And cities like Haifa, which are very important for the Israeli economic, political and cyber
07:01strategy, is almost completely obliterated.
07:05And Tel Aviv is also in rebels.
07:08So, no one can hide the fact that Israel was the one who attacked.
07:18Iran defended itself and did so very well.
07:20They actually defeated Israel on the battlefield.
07:25And Israel had to beg for mercy for a ceasefire.
07:31And going back to an idea that you mentioned earlier,
07:35while the United States is attributing the end of the hostilities to its intervention and its
07:40targeted strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, Iranian officials and even Israel are acknowledging
07:46that the impact was minimal.
07:49Can such external military actions realistically
07:52halt Iran's nuclear program in the long term and also Iran's determination to self-defense?
07:59Well, I think that, you know, I'm not a scientist, you know, a nuclear scientist at all.
08:04But I would like to say the following that, you know, Iran, Israel and the United States can bomb the
08:11Iranian facilities, but they cannot bomb and obliterate the Iranian mine, which has a civilization of
08:195,000 years scientific and other aspects of civilization.
08:25Irrespective of what happens materially, in my view, the Iranians will be able to recuperate themselves.
08:32And if they need to, and I think they have to go on to enrich uranium to defend themselves.
08:38I don't think they have any other choice. Like why is the United States not attacking North Korea now?
08:45Because they have nuclear weapons.
08:46And what happened with Libya, Muhammad Gaddafi?
08:49When he had nuclear weapons, they did not dare to attack him.
08:53But once they did away with the nuclear weapons,
08:56they invaded and assassinated him and took over the country.
09:00That is, I think, in my view, it's very hard to accept because the issue of nuclear weapons
09:05is a very, you know, controversial issue.
09:09But in my view, Iran has no other alternative but to develop in its own way, with its own scientific
09:17knowledge and know-how, nuclear weapons to defend themselves against the United States.
09:23And of course, one has to say, they talk about nuclear weapons.
09:26But which are the countries that have nuclear weapons in the Middle East?
09:29It's Israel. It's supported by which country?
09:32The United States, the only country in history that used atomic bombs in the world
09:40towards the end of World War II.
09:42So that is the heart of the problem.
09:44The United States and Israel, they are the ones that have nuclear weapons.
09:47And while, on the other hand, Iran is building very close ties with other countries,
09:52I could not help but notice, I was very satisfied, I don't know if you noticed that,
09:57but the Pakistani parliament issued an important statement in defense of Iran.
10:03Now, Pakistan has nuclear weapons. So it's not that easy for the United States and Israel
10:09to maintain their monopoly over nuclear weapons. But we will see what happens in the future.
10:15No one hopes for nuclear war. But at the same time, everyone hopes, in my view,
10:19that Iran has the right to defend itself, its sovereignty, and I'm sure they will do so.
10:25Thank you very much for your time, Arnold, here with us from the South.
10:30It's always a pleasure. Thank you for having me.
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