00:00Your starting point here is that this war started on February 28th for regime change or regime
00:04surrender. We're now more than four months later, and the U.S. is in a worse position politically
00:10than it was when it was in talks two days before the war. The Strait of Hormuz is under Iranian
00:16control. That's why we have these escalating clashes as the U.S. tries to get ships out on
00:21an alternative route, the Omani route. The memorandum of understanding that Donald Trump
00:26signed up to gives Iran management of the Strait of Hormuz. Now, whether it charges tolls or fees is
00:32a different question, but they get to manage the strait. The nuclear issue, which was supposedly
00:37the key issue for America, has been relegated to a secondary issue. In addition, the Americans have
00:42signed up for the Iranians receiving potentially hundreds of billions of dollars if there is a
00:47lasting ceasefire. So the whole idea that the regime is on its knees and begging is absolute false at
00:54this point. They feel like they've held out against this war. And there's one other thing
00:57that I think is important because, you know, this misleading propaganda doesn't help. The regime is
01:02nasty. It's repressive. It's killed friends of mine in Iran. It killed thousands of people back in
01:08January. But it is quite rational. It knows what it's doing. And the fundamental here that I wish the
01:14Trump people would accept is they made two miscalculations at the end of March that they can't
01:18remedy. First, they never planned for Iran taking over the Strait of Hormuz. And secondly, they never
01:25planned for Iran's retaliation on Gulf states. And both of those have not only meant that Iran's
01:31regime has survived. It has, for example, angered some Gulf states and it's jeopardized the American
01:37position in the Middle East. This has been I don't think this war is legal. I don't think it should
01:41have been fought. But having been fought, it has been botched. And we need to accept that and be
01:46realistic as we go forward.
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