Hi everyone. Right below you could check out all of our links. We have links to the TrendsJournal. I would I would really recommend everyone going there. trenjournal.com and and subscribing. We really do give history before it happens. So go to trenjournal.com. It's down below. Just click the link. Also, please check out our Substack page. We have a Substack that's a supplement to the trendsjournal. That's on a different total account. So please go to trendsinthenews.substack.com. That link is also below. Please do what you can to support us and keep our mission going. Professor Mirandi, thank you for joining the Trends Journal. I I appreciate it. >> Thank you very much for inviting me, Edmund. It's always a pleasure. >> The first question I had for you today, Professor, um was an article out in the New York Times on Saturday citing um sources that said both Iran and the Israel leaders in these countries think that another round two of the war is all but certain. Does it despite Trump saying that they completely annihilated the Iranian nuclear program and that problem solved? Does that do do those reports surprise you, professor, or do you think that this this was a foregone conclusion and months in advance? >> Well, nothing that comes from legacy media is taken too seriously in Iran. And obviously if there's going to be a war, the decision will be made by the aggressors, the Americans and the Israeli regime. We now know that Marco Rubio was lying, that the United States had nothing to do with the Israeli attack and war against Iran because Trump said the exact opposite. So it just goes to show that the US Secretary of State and more importantly the US National Security Adviser is dishonest. he lies and uh that means that the United States has no credibility. But also Trump's admission means that Iranians will be demanding uh reparations. Uh a thousand people were murdered. Uh tens of children if not hundreds, I don't know the number. Uh and women were murdered. Trump has the blood of all of them on their hands. So, so and the US political regime has blood on its hands. So, they are answerable for those murders. It was after all an unprovoked war of aggression carried out as the Iranians were negotiating with the United States. So, it doesn't really matter what the New York Times says or what any other legacy media journal or newspaper outlet says. What is important is that the Iranians are preparing themselves for war. The best way to prevent further aggression is to be prepared for aggression. And that's what Iran is doing. Uh the Israeli regime gave it its best shot. They it was an allout assault, a blitz Greek attack uh similar to you know the the Zionists are very similar to the Nazis in every in every way. So this blitz creek attack in it they use all their capabilities and so now the Iranians know their abilities. The Iranians know what um needs to be fixed, what needs to be improved, what shortcomings exist in their defense capabilities. And of course the Iranian offensive cap capabilities showed themselves to be very effective and what they're now doing is moving to make them more effective. So, if there is another war, it'll be worse for the Israeli regime than last time around, without a doubt. And uh I think it's fair to say that another war would not be an interest of the Israeli regime, but the Iranians know that Netanyahu works for his own interests and for his own political survival. And therefore, what's in his interest may not be in the interest of the regime or in the interest of Washington. Obviously, none of this is in the in the interest of Washington. So, the Iranians are preparing themselves. >> The uh the last attack, we saw missiles, ballistic missiles get through the air defenses with Israel, and that's with the US's help. I know the US burned through a ton of missiles. I don't know where I read it, but there was an Iranian military leader who said that the last time Iran launched 500 missiles over a 12 day span. This time they would launch um 2,000 missiles within an hour span. Now, I know before any kind of war like heats up, there's rhetoric like that. Do you see this being would would this be a catastrophic mistake for Israel to go forward with this kind another round of war? And and I if you do, why would they? Is it is it a suicidal mentality on Netanyahu's part? If they know that this could happen, why would they are they are they pressing their luck in hope that there's some kind of um uprising in Iran if there's another? Like what what do you think the mindset Israel can't be naive to that, right? Well, the Israeli regime, the Trump regime, both of them miscalculated. They base their information on these so-called Iran experts. Some of them are Iranians who are in the United States or perhaps Iranians in Iran who are on the payroll. And of course, if you're going to remain on the payroll, you have to say what they want to hear. And then, of course, there are these Iran experts who never set foot in Iran. and they'll say what needs to be said that Iran will collapse. Iran is a house of cards. Iran that's has that has always been the narrative. Well, the day 12-day war has shown the exact opposite. And if there's another war imposed against Iran, I think it's fair to say that the public response will be the same. People will rally behind the armed forces and the government, the administration and the state. There's no doubt about that. That's exactly what happened last time. That's exactly what will happen next time. In fact, people are much more confident this time around because they're no longer afraid of war because they've experienced it. Just like the so-called snapback mechanism of the nuclear deal. Before the Europeans tried to use it, there was some fear in Iran. The markets uh were worried. But then after they used it, that was their final card by the way. Then the markets went back to normal and people discovered that there really wasn't all that much that the Europeans could do and that it they it really didn't have the effect that the Americans and the Europeans were claiming. So the Iranians are much more confident now. Last time around they fired 500 or so missiles because they were learning about the Israeli defenses and the Iranians did not fire any of their most advanced missiles and uh they did not fire in huge quantities because they were playing with the Israeli air defenses and the American air defenses and the air defenses of the collective west and also Turkey. Turkey and the countries in the Persian Gulf, they all were helping with radar stations uh that the Americans control on their territory. All of them were partners in in this uh in the defense of the Israeli regime. So, the Iranians learned everything that they need to know without having to use uh their key missiles or their real capabilities. The Americans know that. Netanyahu knows that. What Netanyahu is hoping is that he'll be able to launch a war and then have the Americans fight his war for him. But the problem is that Iran's real capabilities are not directed towards the Israeli regime. They're directed towards the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean and the United States because the Iranians have been preparing themselves for two or three decades for a US attack. And therefore their investment, all of their underground bases, their missiles and drones, they're directed towards the Persian Gulf. These long range missiles that target the Israeli regime. This is just a small portion, a small part of Iran's uh offensive capabilities. So >> I'm sorry. So would that >> So if the United States >> Yeah. If the United States did attack If there was war with the United States, that would be the end of oil and gas exports from the Persian Gulf and that would mean a global economic collapse. The reason being that the United States has bases in all the countries in the Persian Gulf and all of them will be partners in crime and if there's a war between Iran and the United States, Iran is not going to pull its punches. >> Would that then draw in the Persian Gulf countries to the war? If Iran attacked, let's say, energy infrastructure um across the Persian Gulf, um would that draw in would that um expand the war for Iran? Like hypothetically, >> if the United States attacked Iran in a big way, if this was a war between Iran and the United States, as I said, Iran will pull no punches. Mhm. >> And all those countries that have bases, they're all they will all be complicit. When Iran strikes those those regimes for being complicit, >> it will not be like what you see in Tel Aviv. There will be short range, medium, medium range missiles, drones swarming these tiny regimes. They will collapse. They won't last more than a few hours or a few days. >> The Emirates or Qatar or Kuwait or Bahrain, none of them will sur none of them will survive. These are family dictatorships. Many of them have 80% 85% uh of their population consisting of foreigners. They won't survive. So the smart thing to do is for the United States to beware because they will bring down the global economy and they will bring down uh the US economy. They thei US economy will not be spared. No one wants such a situation. The only people who want this are in Telipe. We we say this in the trends journal all the time that any kind of wide war with Iran would just smash the oil market and it would send us into an utter economic collapse um in equity markets and all everything. Um I wanted to get your opinion on this. There was a there was a former diplomat, I forget his name, who who gave an interview and he said he believes that what Netanyahu has in mind is Netanyahu would like to continue keeping the IDF focused on southern Lebanon. Okay. And under the opaces of annihilating um Hezbollah and of course blaming Beirut for not taking out these Hezbollah structures justify their daily attacks in southern Lebanon. Um so Netanyahu according to this person, I'm sorry I don't remember his name. Um Netanyahu wants to do that and he wants to get the US to be the ones to face off with um Iran. Do you see that as Netanyahu's, of course, no one can get into Netanyahu's head. Do you see that that's a practical assumption if you're an analyst that that could be what Netanyahu has in mind? Well, the problem that Netanyahu has is that he has uh concluded that since he and his ally Erdogan have been able to destroy Syria and turn Syria into a US proxy that Hezbollah will be isolated and cornered. That's not the case. Hezbollah has been preparing itself for another war for the last uh year and uh the Israeli regime is going to be facing a much tougher opponent. Syria is a broken country. It is fragmented into small pieces. A lot of the needs of Hezbollah apparently go through Syria. So Ashara who is a proxy of the United States does not have control. The country is so broken that it is apparently more it is easier now for Hezbollah to work through Syria than it was under President Assad because the country is just being controlled by gangs and you know mafia groups and they're just out to get money and it's so impoverished that for a little bit of money you can do almost anything. This is what Erdogan through his treachery has brought upon the Syrian people. And S Hassan Nasah was predicting this since 2011, 12, 13 that if these ISIS and al-Qaeda terrorists gain uh access to Damascus that uh they will do exactly what uh we're seeing today. But uh Hezbollah is prepared. And also in addition to that, the reason why the United States and the Israeli regime cannot do anything about uh Hezbollah through the government is that the majority of the people of Lebanon support Hezbollah. In the elections, the recent local elections, Hezbollah and its allies won those elections. And uh according to polls carried out by Western institutions, the uh a significant majority of the Lebanese support the resistance. So it's obvious that it's not going to work. And also Iran will not allow Hezbollah to be defeated. So Hezbollah today is much stronger. It knows the Israeli regime's weaknesses and strengths. It has been preparing itself. Hezbollah today is much stronger politically than it was last year because the Israeli regime has violated the ceasefire on a daily basis and it's been murdering Lebanese citizens. And people across Lebanon are rallying behind the resistance. They see that the Israeli regime uh is not an entity that can be trusted or an entity that recognizes ceasefires. That strengthens Hezbollah's hand politically. But Iran will not allow Hezbollah to be defeated. So at the end of the day, Netanyahu, whether he attacks Iran or whether he attacks Lebanon, he's going to weaken the Israeli regime. Now there are some who are looking forward to a battle between the Israeli regime and Hezbollah like Erdogan or the Israeli regime in Iran because Erdogan thinks that uh the more the resistance the axis of resistance uh fights the Israeli regime the more influence he can gain in Syria in Iraq in uh in Armenia and Azarbaijan. But he's miscalculating too because he is being exposed across the Islamic world for what he truly is and that is an ally of the empire and an ally of Netanyahu. He has been giving Netanyahu oil to carry out the genocide for over two years now. So this is not going to work for for Turkey. >> Sorry if you noticed a little cut off. That's because we lost internet connection, but we're back. So, we were talking about Lebanon and Israel and Iran and and Turkey and how all this plays into one big uh um interesting geopolitical um confusion at the moment. Um so professor if you could indulge me about what what you were just saying about Erdigan and what he views how he views Hezbollah and what he sees the Hezbollah fight with Israel and how that benefits him. Yes. Erdog the one he has been trying to undermine the access of resistance for 1015 years at the behest of the United States and uh in coordination with the Israeli regime and so has Qatar and other uh US proxies in the Persian Gulf region. That's what uh Operation Timber Sycamore was all about. And uh since 2011, they've been supporting ISIS and al-Qaeda. And now Golani, who is a former co-founder of ISIS and the leader of al-Qaeda in Syria, he is now um Trump's proxy. This was expected from day one. Say Hassan predicted. >> I'm sorry. Is he ISIS or was he HPS? Is that the same? Isn't is what isn't that is isn't that al-Qaeda? Is there is there a different uh is there a difference there? >> Well, ISIS before it was ISIS, it was the Islamic State of Iraq. And then they sent him to Syria to set up their branch in that country, Al-Qaeda, called the Nusra front. Then when the Islamic State of Iraq became ISIS, they had differences and he split away. and al-Qaeda's central command, let's call it, supported him and not ISIS. And that's why ISIS broke away. That's when ISIS broke away from al-Qaeda. So he was a founding he was a co-founder of ISIS. He was their man in a member of al-Qaeda. He was their man in Syria. And then when the split took place, he became the al-Qaeda man in Syria. Later on, he's separated from al-Qaeda, but with al-Qaeda consent. It was done uh in order for him to be able to rebrand himself, which he did over the years. So, the point is that uh you know, Qatar and and Erdogan, they've never been sincere in their support for the Palestinian people. After all, they're sending oil and gas to the oil to the Israeli regime. uh oil from uh the Republic of Azaraban and Central Asia. Uh they've been fueling the genocide for well over two years now. Uh so but what he would like to see uh is that the axis of resistance weakened and so that he could have more influence in Syria, in northern Iraq, in uh in the caucuses. He wants to create his own mini empire, his own own mini Ottoman Empire. But what is in reality what has happened is that Erdogan has become completely discredited. People now see what the objective was in Syria. They see that Giulani who pretended to be his support of the Palestinian people. They all saw him in his little love fest with Petraeus or playing basketball with the commander of Sentcom or going >> Yeah. going into the White House through the back door and sitting like a an obedient school child in front of the headmaster uh in the White House and then getting some cologne from Trump so that the stench of all this could be uh managed somehow. But uh the so the these policies have discredited but the but on the other hand access of resistance has shown itself to be very resilient. Hezbollah today is much more prepared. Uh and the Yemeni armed forces they are building up their capabilities and so is Iran. And the elections in Iraq admund did not go well for the United States and the Israeli regime. The turnout was very high. contrary to their expectations. The people who won the election were not the people that the United States wanted. You're going to see a strong government in Iraq which has good relations with the Axis of resistance. This is all bad news for Netanyahu. But again, Netanyahu is not pursuing the interest of the United States and he's not even pursuing the interests of the Israeli regime. He's pursuing the interests of Netanyahu. It's interesting because you mentioned um Eric Trump was recently at a Turning Point USA conference in I think it was Alabama and you saw Eric Trump, Trump's son, being questioned by these young conservatives in the audience and one asked about why did you decide after saying that you didn't have to go to war with Iran, why did you end up bombing Iran on behalf of Israel? Why did your father at least? And Eric Trump, it was interesting to see him because he really didn't have an answer to that question. And he said, "Well, you know, they they chant death to America in in the streets of Iran." And that was that was the answer. And it just felt like such a flimsy answer. I I really do I I I feel like the the narrative is almost changing in the United States. Um you know, clearly as an American, I'm not happy someone chanting death to America. Clearly. Um but answers like that are just so um generic and it's not what the question was about. If if you are a country being oppressed by certain people, um there's clearly some justification for taking some anger and chanting some ch I mean it's just a human reaction um to I think a lot of people see it that way and a lot of people are starting to see it that way. So, I think the narrative is changing in the US and there's that there's definitely a shift and I wanted to get off that point quickly. I wanted to get your um opinion about the Epstein files that's becoming like kind of a slow leak here in the United States. >> It's okay if I could first >> oh comment on what I just said. Okay. Yeah. You know, Edmund, death to America is like Yankee go home. In those countries where the United States gets involved, murders people, slaughters people, uses chemical weapons or helps its allies use chemical weapons. Like Saddam Hussein when he was the US ally, the West gave him chemical weapons, the military intelligence to use it, and the political cover to get away with it. The United States in installed the Sha through a coup, helped create a an infamous and sinister secret police called the Savak. And then when the Sha was gunning down people on the streets during the revolution, the US supported the Sha. And the US president said, "We give you our full support." This history leads people to be antagonistic towards the United States government. And death to America does not mean death to the American people. Just like Yankee go home doesn't mean that Americans who are passport holders who are in somewhere in Latin America that they should leave the country. They're talking about the state. But if Trump was truly American first, which he is not, if his son was truly American first, which he is not, then there would be no hostility between Iran and the United States. If the United States was to decide to pull back from these wars and these uh military bases that have surrounded Iran were emptied, Iran's relations with the United States would change fundamentally. If the United States would stop supporting the genocide in Gaza, the relationship was would change fundamentally. Look at the Iranian Russian relationship. When the Russians left Afghanistan, when the Soviet Union left Afghanistan, the relationship between Iran and the Soviet Union began to evolve and there were no longer chance of death to the Soviet Union. And then of course when the Soviet Union collapsed and we had the Russian Federation, their policies changed fundamentally towards Iran. And now look at the relationship. It's very good. So if Trump was truly America first, the issue of chance during protest rallies, whether it's Yankee go home or death to the death to America, that would all be resolved. They know this. But their problem is that they are not American first. But their bigger problem is that Americans have figured out that they're not America first. just as that young man showed to everyone. >> The um so to the point with the Iran and and the and the risks there, um what do you see as far as uh the potential um political catastrophe that Trump could potentially face if he goes to war with Iran? I mean, we're we're we're bombing ships in the uh Caribbean boat, drug boats. Um, we're now we're trying we might be getting involved in Nigeria. We we fought the Houthis earlier in the year. Um, like this I I do you think Trump understands the political risks of getting involved in another war? And would Israel would they ever go do it alone without the US help? Well, if the Israeli regime were to carry out a war with Iran without US support, they would be defeated in 48 hours. But the real question is why is the United States becoming so reckless and dangerous? And why is it that under the Trump regime, the United States has become so aggressive and wararmongering across the world, whether it's in Nigeria or whether it's in Venezuela, where they're killing Christians. Uh it's it's it's really interesting. On the one hand, he is supporting ISIS and al-Qaeda in Syria who kill Christians. He's killing Christians himself, innocent people in boats in the Caribbean. And then he's worried about Christians in Nigeria. Whereas in Nigeria, the killing is being carried out partially by these extremist groups that are Wahhabi and Salafi Teitis just like ISIS and al-Qaeda and Syria. Well, who's funding them? US proxies are funding them. He has proxies, oil and gas rich proxies in the Persian Gulf. They're funding these extremists. So the Trump knows this or his people definitely know this. So why is Trump behaving like a madman? I think a lot of it has to do with uh what the Colombian president has said >> and that is >> the uh the revelations that we're now seeing that are coming out about >> the Epstein files >> about the child uh child abuse and the and the uh abuse against young girls that have been carried out for years by people associated and affiliated to Epstein. Associ people who are associated with Epstein are all among the most famous people in the United States from both parties. But Trump is somehow it would seem if we take the Colombian president's uh analysis seriously which I think we should Trump has is in deep troubles for either he himself or people close to him uh or people who have a hold over him they are in deep trouble and that is why I think uh these he's behaving in this at least one reason why he's behaving in such a dangerous fashion and uh threatening uh countries across the world. Escalation uh in Africa, in Asia, and in the Americas. >> I I I I have one one last question, a two-part question. Uh Professor Morandi, we we'll leave your Twitter handle um in in our uh information box on YouTube u for everyone to check out. Um two two questions. Um, I'll try to tie them together. Um, I I just wanted some clarification. If if you read at least Western outlets, you would think that Hezbollah was completely smashed during the war. You had that pager attack that was just uh, you know, it's a very famous attack that went went down showing vulnerabilities at least according to Western reports with Hezbollah. Um, so can you just describe how they're stronger now? That's the first question. And then the ne the last one is the previous time that we spoke once I called I said the supreme leader in Iran and you said that that's not that's that's western propaganda calling someone a supreme leader. Um and I was fascinated by that and I forgot what you said. If you could just if we could return to that quickly and why when people read supreme leader that's some western propaganda at work. So those are two things if we could leave on those two notes. How explain to me how Hezbl is in a stronger position and then explain to me why supreme leader why when the western media calls him the supreme leader I I told um that's propaganda. Well, a friend of mine actually said uh that um this translation has also been used in Iran and is also used in Iran and that shows how western narratives are so influential that even the country itself uses their language. Supreme leader is not a term used in Persian. Uh it's not in the constitution. He his role is defined in the constitution but the language used supreme leader is sort of it's sort of very similar it is identical to the language used for north the north Korean leader. So whenever they say supreme leader, the first thing that comes to my mind is some terrible despot who will kill anyone to maintain power. And uh because that's the narrative on North Korea and I think that term is used intentionally to create that sort of image. Whereas there's no doubt that in Iran there's more freedom of expression than any country in this region. Any country in this region. Once upon a time I I would have said perhaps there's one or two exceptions but now no Iran is the mo and now I would say that in Europe and North America where you cannot protest against genocide I would say that Iran today is more open than in the west and if you look if you now with AI people can do this if they go to Persian media websites they'll see that the the the political debates that take place among uh politicians in Iran and political activists are very very uh aggressive uh and uh the government is attacked state the state policy attacked uh the armed forces are criticized there's much more openness than people in the west imagine uh when you know they hear Iran about Iran from western legacy media and then going to your first question western legacy media is always depicting Iran and the resistance as weak and collapsing and the west as strong as and gaining the upper hand just like with Russia Russia was lo you know the ruble was supposed to become rubble well you know that didn't play out very well and in the case of Iran even though they were hoping that the Israeli regime their genocidal allies would win the war against Iran and even though theyried tried to depict it as winning the war. Everyone knows that the regime lost. Just like the United States when they were bombing Yemen and they waged war against Yemen, it was Trump who capitulated. He had to back down. Yemen didn't back down. In Gaza, the Israeli regime, if if they could have if if Netanyahu could have finished the job, as Trump kept saying, there wouldn't have been no fake peace plan put forward by Trump. It was because Netanyao failed after two years. He carried out a holocaust but he failed to take Gaza. And the same is true in Lebanon. In the war, the Israeli regime gained nothing. It was only after the ceasefire where Western governments were guarantors that the Israeli regime was able to take territory inside the country because the Lebanese government was incapable or unwilling to protect the country's territory. But Hezbollah, as long as they were fighting the Israeli regime, the regime was unable to take a single town during the war. And Hezbollah today is redefining its military capabilities so that it will be able to deal with the new reality and the new technologies in a way in which it could hit the Israeli regime very hard. So they have used the experiences that they gained in war, but also they are looking at what's going on in Ukraine, what went on in the Red Sea, what went on in Gaza, what went what happened between Iran and the Israeli regime, and they're preparing themselves for uh the next war, which will be a war of technology. Now again I have to stress that Hezbollah today is strong and the Israeli regime is tired and it has lost its legitimacy in the eyes of the world. Even in the United States, people are waking up to the reality of this genocidal regime. So another war in Lebanon will create greater hostility towards the regime. And as I said, the Iranians under no circumstances will it allow will it allow allow the Israeli regime to gain the upper hand in Lebanon. >> Professor Morandi, thank you for joining the Trends Journal as always. Um, I love talking to you. I love picking your brain about what's going on in the Middle East. I I appreciate you joining me. >> Thank you, Edmund. It's always a pleasure and uh I'm honored to be on your