- 12 minutes ago
In an exclusive interview with India Today, Iranian scholar Prof. Seyed Mohammad Marandi talked about the escalating conflict between the United States and Iran, the Strait of Hormuz crisis and more.
Category
đź—ž
NewsTranscript
00:14This is an exclusive conversation with a renowned scholar, Professor Muhammad Marandi.
00:20We are here in Tehran and he has been talking about the situation over here,
00:25but also what Iran's position is.
00:27Things are getting tough, Professor Marandi, when it comes to negotiations not going anywhere.
00:33Both sides having taken a very, very tough and a hard position.
00:37Where do you see it headed?
00:39There's a proposal that's up in the air because there is no workable solution, it seems, right now.
00:48Well, the Iranians believe that they have the upper hand.
00:52And the Americans and their Israeli regime allies and their regional proxies,
01:01they imagined that during the 12-day war, Iran would collapse.
01:06It was evident to us, it was clear to us that no such thing would happen.
01:10But that was what they believed.
01:14And then after the war, instead of learning from their foolish miscalculations,
01:21they prepared themselves for a much bigger war.
01:23And now the Israeli regime plays a very small role because the American firepower is immensely greater.
01:29Even though Israeli firepower is American, it's not theirs.
01:32But in any case, so the Americans came in and they thought again that this time round they'll defeat Iran
01:39within a couple of days.
01:41And again, we knew that wasn't going to happen.
01:46But apparently many believed otherwise outside of Iran.
01:52And after a few days, the Americans saw that, again, it's not going well.
01:58And the Iranians are doing them great harm.
02:02Ultimately, they were the ones who had to, they came to Iran and started seeking a ceasefire.
02:09And Iran ultimately gave a 10-point plan.
02:12After 39 days, the Americans accepted that to be the framework for negotiations.
02:18That's basically an admission of defeat.
02:22But instead of learning, again, they went and said, now what do we do?
02:27Let's violate the ceasefire agreement and let's impose a siege on Iranian ports.
02:36But that's not working either.
02:39Because the catastrophe that is unfolding for the global economy is happening very rapidly.
02:48And the world economy doesn't feel that they have to make these sacrifices.
02:56They don't even believe in the war.
02:58In fact, across the world, people are supporting Iran.
03:02So the Iranian people will be able to manage the siege, even though it's going to be tough.
03:08The war was tough.
03:09War is war.
03:11Time is not on the side of Trump.
03:13The world is going to increasingly look to the United States and say,
03:17the Zionists, the Americans, the Netanyahu, Trump, they're the ones who are creating this misery for us.
03:24And for whom?
03:25For the Israeli regime that's carried out a genocide.
03:29So the point is that we can wait.
03:34We can outwait.
03:36For how long?
03:36For as long as it takes.
03:38Really, because I ask you this is because now Trump says Iran is desperate for a deal.
03:43That's his latest post.
03:44He's been saying this for a while.
03:45He's also said that there would be consequences.
03:48Again, he's said this for a while.
03:50But in terms of who can sustain the war longer, I have been saying this is unsustainable for America and
03:58the global economy.
03:59But how sustainable is it for Iran?
04:03The Iranians will definitely outlast the Americans.
04:08We are fighting a war for our survival.
04:11During the 12-day war, we outlasted them.
04:14During the 39-day war, which continues, we outlasted them.
04:21Did we suffer?
04:23Of course we did.
04:24You can visit different sites or factories that they've destroyed.
04:30They've destroyed pharmaceutical factories.
04:32They've destroyed hospitals.
04:33They've destroyed businesses, private businesses, apartment blocks.
04:37They've slaughtered many people.
04:39Obviously, we've suffered.
04:40They've destroyed petrochemical plants or other plants linked to the country's industry.
04:50But we still outlasted them.
04:53And during this period, the global economic crisis began to get worse and worse and worse.
05:02So we were patient.
05:04We knew that what they were doing was bringing about a catastrophe.
05:07So our objective was to wait them out.
05:12And we're continuing to do that.
05:14They may launch another attack.
05:15It's quite possible that as we speak, they are preparing for a major assault on the country.
05:21What's your reading on why Iran launched those attacks recently against the UAE?
05:27And will that lead to an escalation?
05:31Well, there are a couple of things.
05:33First, the Americans launched an operation against Iran, which failed.
05:37I mean, I don't know if you watched Hegseth, but it was very humorous to watch him.
05:42He says the Strait of Hormuz is open, so hopefully we'll see hundreds of ships going through the next few
05:49days.
05:50What they want to do is keep it closed for Iran, but open for those five countries that helped Americans
05:55wage war against Iran.
05:56Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the Emirates, and Saudi Arabia.
06:00And Iran won't accept that.
06:02The Strait of Hormuz, by the way, has never been closed.
06:05As you know, Indian ships have passed through after negotiating with Iran.
06:10Russian ships, Chinese ships.
06:12Until the U.S. blockade.
06:14Until the U.S. blockade.
06:15So the Americans have intensified the global crisis through this foolish blockade of theirs.
06:22But at the end of the day, the reason why Iran is showing anger towards the Emirati regime
06:32is that they are hosting new American troops, troops that have been brought in for a potential ground invasion.
06:43And, of course, they are hosting U.S. aircraft and drones, large numbers of drones.
06:53And they are a base for the Americans to carry out another assault against Iran.
06:57So they are participants in the 39 days of military conflict.
07:03And now they are assisting the Americans to prepare themselves for another assault on Iran.
07:10So they are partners in this war.
07:12Professor Marandi, you're saying something very important and critical.
07:15Are you saying that America is actually preparing itself for a ground invasion against Iran?
07:25Yes. Yes.
07:26For a potential ground invasion.
07:28Not an invasion where they can capture like Esfahan or anything like that.
07:33But they are thinking of potentially taking islands and carrying out aggression on the mainland.
07:43Perhaps carry out an operation deep inside Iran, like the attempted operation that failed near Esfahan.
07:53But the Iranians are prepared for that as well.
07:57And the Iranians would actually prefer that the Americans launch a ground invasion.
08:02Because that's our strong point.
08:04So the Iranians would like the Americans to take territory.
08:07And then the Iranians pound them on the islands or on the mainland or wherever it is they are.
08:15Because...
08:15With what?
08:16Trump says he's decimated your army.
08:20Trump says he's decimated your navy.
08:22Your air force with what?
08:24I think after 39 days we saw that nothing was decimated.
08:29And it wasn't Iran that sought the ceasefire.
08:34Remember, let's forget the 12-day war.
08:37At the beginning of the 39 days of fighting.
08:41Because the war hasn't stopped.
08:42I'm saying that for 39 days, I'm not saying it was a 39-day war.
08:45It is ongoing.
08:48But at the beginning, Trump, like in the 12-day war, said unconditional surrender.
08:54That didn't go as planned.
08:58And then he began to say, and Hegseth began to show charts that on day 3, 4, 5, 6, look
09:07that the missile, they're running out of missiles, they're running out of drones, it's almost over.
09:13However, the war went on and the Iranians were firing more missiles and more drones and sometimes
09:21better missiles and sometimes better drones.
09:25And after a month, Americans saw that this is not going to end at all.
09:31The Iranians are going to hit us and pound us and destroy their assets in the Persian Gulf
09:36region and destroy the, wreck the Israeli economy and the global economy, thanks to the United
09:43States, is in crisis.
09:47From, I don't know the exact dates, but like from a few days after the war began, the Americans
09:53began sending messages to Iran.
09:55And the Iranians ignored them.
09:56The Iranians didn't respond to any of them.
09:59Until they, like, I'm not good at dates, but 30-something, the Americans sent a 15-point
10:08plan, a proposal, and the Iranians rejected that.
10:12That was the first time the Iranians showed any response, but they rejected it.
10:17They said, finally, it's our constitution and don't even think about it.
10:20Then the Iranians sent their own 10-point plan, and Trump accepted it as the framework for
10:28negotiations.
10:28That was a big defeat.
10:30So if we have no air defenses, if we have no navy, if we have no air force, if we
10:36have
10:36no missile force, if we don't have anything, why did he accept our 10-point plan?
10:43He was in trouble.
10:45When Iran, and Iran has been in a position of advantage, when you have advantage, why
10:52not use that for the negotiations?
10:56Because they did go all the way to Islamabad.
10:59The Iranians did not turn up.
11:01They did not want to.
11:03And then you have another round of back-channel talks that are happening.
11:08This is advantage Iran.
11:10Why is Iran not capitalizing on that advantage?
11:13Iran didn't want to, what exactly?
11:16To engage them in direct talks.
11:19Why?
11:20Well, because they...
11:21Isn't this your opportunity?
11:23Well, again, this is exactly, this is a very good question.
11:29After the, first of all, I have to go back to the 12-day war.
11:32In the 12-day war, again, they thought they were going to win.
11:35Ultimately, after seven days, even though it was a blitzkrieg attack on their behalf, they
11:40started seeking a ceasefire, and Steve Bannon said that, basically, Netanyahu is begging
11:48for a ceasefire.
11:50And after 12 days, Iran accepted a halt in hostilities.
11:55Many asked the same question back then.
11:57Why didn't you continue?
11:58You were winning the war.
11:58The Iranians saw that during those 12 days, there were certain things that they had to
12:03do.
12:04They had to prepare themselves for a bigger war.
12:08And the experience of that 12-day war was very important.
12:11Because they knew, ultimately, that the Israeli regime was weak.
12:15And they couldn't last 12 days.
12:17So, next time around, it'll be the Americans.
12:20So, the Iranians accepted, and then they've been preparing themselves for a larger war ever
12:24since.
12:25And we saw that in this war, the 39 days of fighting, the Iranians performed exceptionally
12:31well, even better than the 12-day war.
12:34Why?
12:34Because they learned from that experience.
12:37Now, this ceasefire, it served a number of purposes for us.
12:42True, the Americans would regroup, and the Zionists would regroup and rearm.
12:47No doubt.
12:48But, the Iranians were going to do the same thing.
12:51And we needed to learn from the experience of that 39-day war, and prepare ourselves for
12:57the days ahead.
12:59But also, there's another important element, and that is the very fact that Trump accepted
13:04our 10-point plan.
13:06That was a symbolic moment.
13:09That was a defeat for the United States.
13:11We didn't want to let that pass.
13:13If we had just rejected it and moved on, that moment wouldn't have been registered in history.
13:20If you recall, after he accepted, he was being attacked left and right across the United
13:25States, that after all this war, now you're accepting this?
13:29This is a capitulation.
13:30We wanted that.
13:32The pressure is building on them to make a move to end this.
13:36We don't want war.
13:37We did not start the war.
13:38At no point did we initiate escalation.
13:42We only responded to escalation.
13:43Like when they struck our gas field in the south, we then struck gas fields on the other
13:50side of the Persian Gulf.
13:52But at the end of the day, this for us is a fight for survival.
13:57For them, this is a war of choice for the Zionist regime, for Netanyahu.
14:03And I think that the United States is paying an extraordinary price, and they're forcing
14:08the world to pay a price.
14:10And Americans.
14:11And ordinary Americans.
14:13Professor Marandi, before I go to the Strait of Hormuz, why is the nuclear conversation
14:19now out of the negotiating table?
14:22It was a part of the negotiating table, even if it meant that Iran says that we should have
14:28this is our inalienable right.
14:31But now it's out of the table.
14:32Why?
14:33Well, because when we went to Islamabad, first of all, there was supposed to be a ceasefire.
14:43And the Americans were violating the ceasefire.
14:47Netanyahu started carpet bombing Lebanon, carpet bombing Beirut, even neighborhoods which
14:52were not sympathetic to the resistance, just slaughtering people.
14:57Why?
14:58Because he wanted to wreck the ceasefire.
15:00And then Trump went and supported Netanyahu and said, well, Lebanon is not a part of the
15:05ceasefire.
15:06Whereas the Pakistanis admitted they were open about it.
15:09Yes, this was a part of the ceasefire.
15:13So if Pakistan was lying, then the Americans should say, well, they're not going to mediate
15:16anymore.
15:17They couldn't say that because it was clear that that was a part of the deal.
15:19So when the Americans violated the ceasefire and the Israelis were violating the ceasefire
15:28and then we went to Islamabad and the delegation or the negotiators saw that the Americans were
15:39constantly talking about the nuclear program.
15:48Before coming to Iran, I had interviewed Dmitry Peskov, President Putin's aide and spokesperson.
15:57And he said that Russia has offered to keep the enriched uranium, Iran is a friend, and America rejected
16:05that offer long ago, but that offer is still open.
16:09Should it come to enriched uranium above 60 percent leaving the country, would Russia
16:16be the host of Iranian enriched uranium?
16:19No enriched uranium, no enriched uranium is leaving the country.
16:24Even if it's buried way below bond?
16:27Nothing is leaving the country.
16:29Secretary of War Hexert says that the blackmail of Iran has to stop when it comes to the Strait
16:37of Hormuz.
16:37Your response?
16:39He closed the Strait of Hormuz.
16:42He caused this global crisis.
16:44But Iran is never again going to allow the Persian Gulf to be a place to launch wars against
16:53the country.
16:54And those five countries that joined the United States in assaulting the country and murdering
16:59so many Iranians, they have to pay reparations.
17:02So for now, the Strait of Hormuz will be controlled by Iran so that the United States will not be
17:06able to move back and forth with its naval ships.
17:10Will Iran demand that they also do away with the U.S. bases?
17:15I think that's ultimately going to happen.
17:18I think the Americans have come to the recognition and so have these regimes that these bases are
17:23useless.
17:23We've destroyed all of them.
17:25I'm sure the Americans are not going to openly say we're going to retreat, but gradually these
17:32bases are meaningless now.
17:36And for the Iranians, there will be ships that pass through will have to pay a price.
17:43Now, some ships may pay less, you know, friendly countries that didn't take part in the war.
17:49But those countries that took part in the war, that killed Iranians, that helped kill Iranians,
17:54they are going to have to compensate for the crimes that they've carried out.
17:58Things have changed in terms of power structure.
18:01President Trump says that we don't know who's in control of Iran, that there's absolute confusion
18:07and chaos in the country.
18:09Who's in control of Iran, Professor Marandi?
18:12Well, if Iran was like that, then that tells a lot about the United States.
18:16If they cannot defeat a country that is in chaos, then they are not a superpower at all.
18:23But it's clear who's in power.
18:25We have a constitution.
18:27We have a leader.
18:28We have a president.
18:29We have a head of a judiciary.
18:31We have a parliament.
18:32We have a speaker of parliament.
18:34We have the armed forces.
18:35We have the Supreme National Security Council.
18:39The Supreme National Security Council, where the heads of the three branches of government
18:43are members, the president is head of that council.
18:46It's in the constitution.
18:47Anyone can read it.
18:49The armed forces have representatives.
18:51The cabinet has representatives.
18:53On issues that are related to what's being discussed.
18:55So foreign policy, obviously the foreign minister would be there.
19:00The leader has two representatives.
19:02They make decisions on strategic issues.
19:05When it comes to negotiating with the United States, the Supreme National Security Council
19:09has appointed the speaker of parliament.
19:11The leader, the Supreme National Security Council.
19:14When the Supreme National Security Council makes that decision, the leader, if he gives his approval,
19:19then that's it.
19:19So the person in charge is Dr. Ghalibov.
19:24So where's the ambiguity?
19:27Now, if we want to talk about chaos, I think we can talk about the fact that so many generals
19:34in the United States have been fired, that the Secretary of Navy has been fired, that Joe Kent
19:42quit, that so many people from MAGA are splitting away, including Tucker Carlson, who I mentioned earlier,
19:53Candace Owens, and the list goes on.
19:54And, of course, the Democrats are increasingly turning against Trump more aggressively.
20:03And popular opinion is very much against the war.
20:07So is it chaos in Iran or is it chaos in the United States?
20:13When we were negotiating in Islamabad, the speaker of parliament, he had a mandate, he had spoken
20:21with the leader, he had spoken with the Supreme National Security Council, he knew exactly what
20:28he was going to do.
20:29He went and negotiated.
20:33Vance, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, he was surrounded by two Israeli assets or two Israeli...
20:40Kushner and Witkoff.
20:42Kushner and Witkoff, because there are three people on the Iranian side.
20:46Dr. Ghalibov, who is an associate professor at my university, the University of Tehran.
20:50One, the foreign minister, Dr. Arakji, another, you know, he teaches at the foreign ministry
20:58university as well.
21:01And Dr. Boghary, who teaches at a different university.
21:06And then on this side, there was Vance, Witkoff, and Kushner, two real estate people, and Vance.
21:15Vance was constantly making phone calls.
21:19Throughout the day, he made, I think, roughly a dozen phone calls.
21:25So he had no authority.
21:26And one of the phone calls was to Netanyahu.
21:29And Netanyahu said that Vance reported to me.
21:32Like, he reported to them?
21:35Like, the Vice President of the United States reports to this puny colony alongside the Mediterranean?
21:43Anyway, but he made a dozen phone calls.
21:46So who is the side, which side doesn't have authority?
21:49So which side is in chaos and which side doesn't have authority?
21:52It's the United States, if one is going to go down that, you know, down that path.
21:57If one wants to speak of chaos.
21:59I'm not saying the United States is in chaos.
22:01But I'm saying if we want to speak of chaos, then that looks more like chaos than Iran does.
22:06How do you see this end?
22:08What is it that Iran wants for this to really come to an end?
22:14Iran wants the United States to stop threatening our region, to stop supporting genocide,
22:25to respect the rights of the Palestinian people, the Lebanese people.
22:31And we want it to treat our people in our region with respect.
22:36And we, of course, demand compensation.
22:38Now, where that compensation comes from is another matter.
22:41Is there a number?
22:43Not that I know of.
22:45No.
22:45But every day that this goes on...
22:46Runs it to billions?
22:47This day, of course.
22:49But each day that goes by, it's going to increase.
22:53Moshtaba Khamenei, the new supreme leader.
22:56What's the acceptability of the new supreme leader within the country?
23:00There are many analysts across the world who say that with this change,
23:05what Trump has actually done is taken Iran a bit back from where it was moving.
23:10When you saw more reforms come in, you had more reformists as leaders who are stepping in.
23:17Are you moving back?
23:20Iran was never moving back or forward.
23:24In terms of rights, even women's rights.
23:26No, Iran has always been...
23:29A lot of what has been happening in Iran has been founded in Western attempts to undermine the country.
23:37So the riots that we saw a few months ago,
23:40Western intelligence agencies went, tried to create unrest.
23:45When that unrest happened, it was peaceful.
23:48I was in Tehran.
23:49Two days of protests, economic protests.
23:52Police didn't arrest a single person.
23:57And then the government also said,
24:01you're right, and the currency is an issue that we have to deal with.
24:05And then from day three, suddenly we saw violent people coming in.
24:10They were organized from before.
24:13And just like the so-called women's life freedom movement, which was also a fake movement.
24:18Professor Marandi, I'd just like to end with what I read something very recently,
24:24which is if every war was not named after the country that has been attacked,
24:30then most of the wars would be called the U.S. war.
24:34On that note, thank you so much for joining us.
24:37Thank you very much for having me.
Comments