While Western narratives focus on conventional metrics, the true foundations of Iran’s regional and global influence remain largely misunderstood. In this video, we analyze the structural sources of power that allow Tehran to navigate geopolitical pressures and secure its strategic autonomy within the shifting BRICS architecture.
Join us for a deep dive with Professor Hanieh Tarkian, an analyst with a PhD in Islamic Sciences, as we break down why mainstream commentary often misses the mark on Iran’s real geopolitical position.
In this video, we explore:
- The "Moral Imperialism" of the West: Why judging non-Western nations through a purely Eurocentric lens creates massive strategic blind spots.
- Geoeconomic Shifts & BRICS: How Iran’s "resistance economy" and membership in BRICS and the SCO are rendering traditional sanctions obsolete.
- Beyond "Proxies": A look inside the Axis of Resistance as a sovereign coalition rather than a simple extension of Tehran.
- The Metaphysical Dimension: How faith, ideology, and the concept of martyrdom provide a form of resilience that military power alone cannot explain.
- Breaking the Media Monopoly: The importance of independent storytelling in a multipolar world.
00:00 - Introduction: The West’s Misconception of Iran
01:30 - Defining "Moral Imperialism"
05:10 - Iran’s Strategic Pivot to Eurasia and BRICS
07:50 - The Truth About the "Axis of Resistance"
11:40 - Faith and the Metaphysical Power of Resistance
17:20 - Breaking the Western Media Monopoly
22:00 - What Iran Hopes to Achieve at the BRICS Summit
Support Think BRICS: If you value independent analysis of the global south, please like this video, subscribe to the channel, and join the conversation in the comments below.
#ThinkBRICS #Iran #Geopolitics #BRICS #MultipolarWorld #GlobalSouth
🌐 https://thinkbrics.world
🌍 @ThinkBRICS_de | @ThinkBRICS_es | @ThinkBRICS_pt
🎥 @ThinkBRICSChronicles | @BRICSbusiness
📰 Newsletter: thinkbrics.substack.com
☕ Support: buymeacoffee.com/ThinkBRICS
✅ Subscribe: youtube.com/@ThinkBRICS?sub_confirmation=1
⚠️ Educational content. Public sources. Not official advice. Verify independently. Fair use.
Join us for a deep dive with Professor Hanieh Tarkian, an analyst with a PhD in Islamic Sciences, as we break down why mainstream commentary often misses the mark on Iran’s real geopolitical position.
In this video, we explore:
- The "Moral Imperialism" of the West: Why judging non-Western nations through a purely Eurocentric lens creates massive strategic blind spots.
- Geoeconomic Shifts & BRICS: How Iran’s "resistance economy" and membership in BRICS and the SCO are rendering traditional sanctions obsolete.
- Beyond "Proxies": A look inside the Axis of Resistance as a sovereign coalition rather than a simple extension of Tehran.
- The Metaphysical Dimension: How faith, ideology, and the concept of martyrdom provide a form of resilience that military power alone cannot explain.
- Breaking the Media Monopoly: The importance of independent storytelling in a multipolar world.
00:00 - Introduction: The West’s Misconception of Iran
01:30 - Defining "Moral Imperialism"
05:10 - Iran’s Strategic Pivot to Eurasia and BRICS
07:50 - The Truth About the "Axis of Resistance"
11:40 - Faith and the Metaphysical Power of Resistance
17:20 - Breaking the Western Media Monopoly
22:00 - What Iran Hopes to Achieve at the BRICS Summit
Support Think BRICS: If you value independent analysis of the global south, please like this video, subscribe to the channel, and join the conversation in the comments below.
#ThinkBRICS #Iran #Geopolitics #BRICS #MultipolarWorld #GlobalSouth
🌐 https://thinkbrics.world
🌍 @ThinkBRICS_de | @ThinkBRICS_es | @ThinkBRICS_pt
🎥 @ThinkBRICSChronicles | @BRICSbusiness
📰 Newsletter: thinkbrics.substack.com
☕ Support: buymeacoffee.com/ThinkBRICS
✅ Subscribe: youtube.com/@ThinkBRICS?sub_confirmation=1
⚠️ Educational content. Public sources. Not official advice. Verify independently. Fair use.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Dear friends, welcome to Thinkbricks. The West doesn't understand Iran. Professor Hania Tarkian
00:08does. She is an Italian-Iranian analyst with a PhD in Islamic sciences, splitting her time between
00:16Roux and Tehran. Hania, welcome to Thinkbricks. Thank you very much for having me and it is an
00:25absolute privilege to be here and I really hope that I will help our listeners to learn more about Iran.
00:39Thank you very much for coming. So, living in Europe, being in Europe, you are exposed
00:46daily to the mainstream Western media narrative regarding Iran and the axis of resistance.
00:53From your unique vantage point between these two worlds, what do you think is the single biggest
01:02blind spot or misconception that the European public holds about Iran's foreign policy and its
01:10regional role? Well, living in Europe, I am, as you said, I am exposed daily to a deeply
01:19and highly distorted media narrative regarding Iran and the regional resistance. I think that the
01:31single biggest blind spot holding back European observers is what I call moral imperialism. The
01:49culture. So, the world is, as you said, is always a joint, democratic democratic paradigm. When
01:56they look at Iran, for example, they immediately dismiss its complex institutional structure with
02:06comfortable colonial labels, like, for example, theocracy or dictatorship. In doing so, they completely
02:16fail to understand that the Islamic Republic of Iran is a unique, exceptional political
02:25system built on both popular sovereignty and traditional spiritual values. It is a republic
02:35because it is rooted in popular will, originally validated by a referendum where over 98% of
02:45the population chose this model. Also, it is Islamic because its legislative and moral framework
02:55is guided by an Islamic school of thought. This blind spot leads to the false assumption
03:10that Iran's foreign policy is only driven by irrational things like Western nations do.
03:25In reality, our strategy, first of all, is defensive. It is focused on national sovereignty, on independence,
03:35and on active resistance to imperialist hegemony. What I think the West struggles to grasp
03:46is that, and it cannot understand, is that Iran standing, for example, with oppressed people
03:54and oppressed nations is not a tactical game, but it is a constitutional and spiritual duty
04:03we feel we have.
04:06Thank you. Western media hyper focuses on Iran's military role in the Middle East, but Tehran's
04:19quietly deepening ties with Venezuela, with Cuba, with some African nations, while also securing
04:29full membership in Shanghai Cooperation Organization, in BRICS also. So, how do these economic and institutional
04:39pillars fit fit into Tehran's broad strategy to circumvent sanctions and build alternative pools of power?
04:51Western analysts are obsessed with military hardware because they lack the intellectual tools to comprehend
05:02the massive geoeconomic and the massive geoeconomic shift taking place in the Global South.
05:09Under the presidency of Ibrahim Raisi, Tehran made a decisive strategic pivot away from an unreliable West to embrace
05:23Eurasian integration and South-South cooperation. This institutional pillar is anchored in what we call
05:35the resistance economy. This doctrine, which was outlined by our martyred supreme leader, is not about autarchy or isolation.
05:49It is about building a highly resilient, diversified domestic economy that reduces vulnerability to external shocks,
06:01particularly by cutting dependency, for example, on oil exports. And adding to this domestic resistance, the full membership
06:14in BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Iran is actively building alternative non-Western networks and
06:27networks of trade, of transit and technology. We are integrating, for example, into China's Belt and Road Initiative, and we
06:39are developing
06:39the international north-south transport corridor with Prussia and India. And this strategy renders Western sections obsolete. When we
06:52establish multi-layered economy alliances based on mutual respect and non-interferences, we do not just circumvent sanctions, we actively
07:06construct the financial and infrastructural foundations of what we want to be a multipolar world order.
07:16Thank you. Another point that Western think tanks constantly use the world proxies to describe the axis of resistance.
07:31And they framing this axis of resistance like a mere, an extension of Tegrán's will. As a scholar of political
07:43sciences, how would you define this network from the inside out?
07:48Yeah, this word use proxy, I think is a lazy Western term designed to deny regional liberation movements. If you
08:04look at the axis of resistance from the inside, it is not a network of clients obeying orders from Tehran.
08:15It is a highly pluralistic sovereign coalition bound together by a shared and also sacred commitment to self-determination and
08:30the total rejection of colonialism.
08:34The core strategic logic that allows this coalition to endure across different cultures like from Shia movements in Lebanon and
08:50Iraq to Sunni resistance in Palestine. And even we see, for example, Marxist forces in Palestine as well.
09:02And even Christian movements in Syria and Iraq which fought against ISIS, for example. So the core logic, the strategic
09:19logic is the principle of anti-imperialist convergence. We do not require ideological or sectarian uniformity.
09:29We recognize that the common enemy is the unilateral, predatory, globalist and imperialist system. And furthermore, our military doctrine is
09:45built on a highly decentralized, asymmetric and deeply indigenous strategy.
09:54Because these movements are organically rooted in their own populations. So they are not proxies of Iran. And so they
10:06cannot be dismantled by, for example, targeting a single common structure.
10:13Decades of maximum pressure. Decades of maximum pressure have only refined our tactical coordination, creating a unified front. And this
10:29unified front is such that when we are attacked on one front is like we are attacked on all the
10:42fronts.
10:42So, honey, honey, thank you. Thank you very much for explaining this in details, because.
10:47This is true that the West narrative describes everything. We may say.
10:53in a very different logic, if we may call that logic.
10:58And when we are talking about, again, Western analysts' focus,
11:06focuses always on some material things, on weapons, on money, on GDP, on economy.
11:19But again, you hold a PhD in Islamic sciences.
11:26From your academic perspective, what does faith and ideology give the resistance
11:36that military power alone cannot explain?
11:39Yes. Well, Western analysts are blind to what we can call
11:47the metaphysical dimension of resistance and what is linked to the faith of people,
11:59because their own worldview is entirely secularized and materialistic.
12:07But in the axis of resistance, spiritual and moral clarity is our ultimate strategic weapon.
12:18Our endurance is linked to the epic of Ashura and the eternal example of Imam Hussain at Karbala.
12:33In the Shia tradition, Imam Hussain is the third Imam, and he was killed by the oppressors of his time.
12:48So he was killed because he was fighting for justice against oppression.
12:56And in our worldview, in our religious and traditional worldview,
13:04martyrdom is not a tragic defeat or a loss.
13:11It is a profound spiritual victory,
13:16victory of the soul over the body, of quality over quantity, and of truth over falsehood.
13:29When a nation's leaders and soldiers, like, for example, General Qasem Soleimani,
13:37or our own supreme leader, Imam Khamenei,
13:42when they are not just military strategists,
13:47but they are also spiritual mystics who do not fear death.
13:54And so when we have this kind of military, political and social leaders,
14:07then the material power of the oppressors can be neutralized.
14:18You cannot threaten people with death when they look at martyrdom as a noble advancement of their spiritual journey.
14:32And this is precisely why the US-led order is experiencing a collapse of moral authority.
14:43The imperialist and the globalist model has reduced the human being to an identity-less,
14:54a highly atomized consumer actively attacking the traditional family, cultural identity, and spiritual values.
15:07By separating politics from morality, the West has normalized double standards.
15:17So we see, for example, that they weep for Ukraine,
15:23but they are actively involved in a genocide in Palestine,
15:30and they justify the bombing of schools in Iran.
15:38But I think now most of the people in the world see this moral decay of the West,
15:46and so they are turning to our traditional identities because they realize that resisting this Western hegemony
16:01and the globalist alienation, it is a battle for all of us, a battle to save the soul of humanity.
16:14Hania, thank you very much for this deepest explanation.
16:19It is not easy to find such kind of explanation in the media outlets global-wide.
16:30We at Think Bricks, we are fighting to break that Western monopoly on global storytelling,
16:39but it is not a secret that Western media controls most of the world's news, of the world's information.
16:47How do we perceive this information?
16:50How important is it for Iran and the Middle East to tell their own stories?
16:56And what can independent media like we do to help?
17:04How can we help?
17:05I think that a kind of narrative which is different from the Western narrative is absolutely vital
17:18because imperialism does not only occupy land.
17:24It first occupies the mind.
17:29For decades, the West has used its media monopoly to wage a psychological hybrid war against sovereign nations like Iran,
17:46like Palestine, like Russia, for example, creating a calculated culture of Islamophobia, Iranophobia, Russia-phobia.
18:02So we have this kind of media weapons they are using to justify their illegal wars, sanctions and their regime
18:19change operations.
18:20And to break this monopoly, independent media must stop acting as mere translators of Western-wide reports.
18:33We must build autonomous, integrated, digital and physical infrastructures of information.
18:41We must speak directly to the hearts of the people
18:47and practically this means bypassing corporate algorithms by using decentralized platforms, launching independent journals
19:04and co-creating cultural forums that allow our authentic traditional voices to be heard directly
19:16without a Western filter.
19:21I think that the truth has a rational power.
19:28When you present the reality even to the Western public, they are tired of mainstream lies.
19:41So when you present the reality, you can see the imperialist narrative collapsing.
19:58You can see it, you can clearly see.
20:01So we have no choice.
20:06We have to be very decisive and determined in trying to do our best to introduce the reality of what
20:22is happening in Europe,
20:26in the Middle East and all over the world.
20:32Thank you very much.
20:32We at Think Brics, we are trying to do our best to spread information, truthful, truthful information about what is
20:40happening around the world from our perspective,
20:43from the Global South's perspective.
20:47And, honey, for our final question, and this couldn't be more timely because the Brics Summit is taking place in
20:57India next month in September from 12th to 13th.
21:02And we think Brics, we are getting ready to go to Delhi to bring our viewers, our subscribers, the hottest
21:14information, the hottest news from the margins of Brics Summit.
21:21And, well, Iran officially joined Brics in January 2024, so it has already participated in a summit in Russia and
21:36in Brazil, so now India.
21:40My question is, what does Tehran hope to achieve at this summit and what outcome you would see as a
21:51real victory for your country?
21:53Yes.
21:55Well, since January, when Iran joined Brics, the strategic calculus of Iran has evolved from seeking mere diplomatic integration
22:18to actively driving the institutional structure of the multipolar world.
22:26For Tehran, Brics is not just a forum, a mere place of diplomatic ties and alliances.
22:41It is a vital geoeconomic shield against Western financial egemony.
22:50And looking at this upcoming summit in India, I think that the single outcome that would signal that Brics is
23:05genuinely solidifying
23:09as a concrete counterweight is the formal implementation of alternative localised payment systems and currency clearing mechanisms.
23:27If Brics successfully establishes a decentralised system that completely bypasses Western control
23:39railists, like for example SWIFT, so allowing members to clear trade in their national currencies under an independent institutional framework,
23:55the unilateral power of the US sanctions is broken forever.
24:02This is very important, not just for Russia, not just for Iran.
24:06It is important for any country which wants to be independent from this US egemony.
24:18And I think that the dollarisation process, it is very important.
24:28I think it is the ultimate test for the multipolar order, and we must achieve it.
24:37But at the same time, we hope to achieve this de-dollarisation, but at the same time, we must be
24:49realistic.
24:50And we know that in all the countries which are involved in Brics, even Iran, even Russia, India, Brazil, all
25:08of them,
25:08there are still unfortunately some lobbies which want to keep the dollar system because they have interest in it.
25:23So it is a very, I think it would be a very hard struggle, the de-dollarisation process, not just
25:34because of the US,
25:38which of course it will try everything to stop the de-dollarisation process, but because unfortunately we also have in
25:49our own countries,
25:52there are still some lobbies which want the dollar system to stay, to be in these economical systems.
26:09I absolutely agree with you about that hidden powers inside every country in Brics, in core Brics members,
26:20new members in Brics, friendly countries, the lobbies that would like to keep the status quo of the dollar hegemony.
26:36So we will see how it will go during the summit.
26:43And of course, the final declaration will show us at what level our governments are now and what we are
26:55supposed to see in the nearest future.
26:58Professor Hani Tarkian, thank you for bringing such a profound, deeply informed perspective to Think Brics.
27:06So we will be watching the India summit closely next month, as I told before.
27:13Think Brics, myself and my team, we are fingers crossed, would like want to go to New Delhi in September.
27:25And we hope to have you back to debrief us afterwards.
27:32So thank you for joining us today. Thank you so much.
27:36Thank you. Thank you also.
27:39Thank you to the public for listening to us.
27:43Thank you very much. Thank you.
27:45See you next time.
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