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The big question hanging over the world right now is whether Trump, the guy who campaigned against endless wars, especially in the Middle East, is about to launch another endless war in the Middle East, assembling the largest military deployment there since the Iraq War and threatening to bomb Iran.
There have been indirect talks in Geneva between the US and Iran, but the Trump Administration is still talking as if it wants to go to war because it sounds a lot like the Bush Administration when they were making the case to go to war with Iraq.
Just this week, Trump’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff claimed, without evidence, that Iran is a week away from having enough uranium for a nuclear weapon. Which means the WMD hoax is back in full swing.
To understand all this, we spoke with Iranian journalist Ali Alizadeh, host of the excellent YouTube show Jedaal.
Useful Idiots: There has just been a third round of indirect talks held between the US and Iran in Geneva. Based on what you’ve heard so far, what is your assessment of these talks?
Ali Alizadeh: Americans have claimed they don’t want Iran to ever reach nuclear weapons, and Iranians have provided something which can give them such guarantee.
But then if you just listen to the Americans, just before the two sides were supposed to sit at the negotiation table, it seems that they are cheating. Vance talked about the fact that the president has all the options on the table, and again threatened Iran militarily. Marco Rubio suddenly said Iran’s missiles and navy are a threat to the peace and security of America.
Since when has Iran’s navy has been a threat? Iran has a navy in its own waters, which is called the Persian Gulf, and it’s been called that since 2,500 years ago.
And then your navy and your aircraft carriers have come from 15,000 kilometers away to their land. So how can the Iranian Navy be a threat to your security? And so they are constantly adding pressure and trying to squeeze other things into the negotiation, which in my opinion can sabotage the deal.
Useful Idiots: Do you think there’s a chance of an actual deal being reached?
Ali Alizadeh: If Iran and America were sitting at a negotiation table, I think Iran could have given Trump something which was stronger than the JCPOA and would send him home happy so he could sell it to his people that he did something better than Obama.
But is Iran negotiating with the United States? Or is it negotiating with Israel? Who is Steve Witkoff? Who is Jared Kushner? Because it seems that Israel has a completely different agenda, which is constantly pushing Trump. And now Trump, I think because of his lack of expertise in diplomacy and politics, despite what he thinks of himself, has badly cornered himself.
Useful Idiots: You spoke about how you think that Trump miscalculated the strength of the Iranian government and how he’s actually strengthened the government, because the actions of the United States and the actions of Israel, flaunting the role of foreign intervention in people’s faces, has actually rallied the masses around the government. Can you talk more about that?
Subscribe to watch our full interview with Ali Alizadeh on what actual Iranians want to change about their government, Nancy Pelosi’s murderous threat to working-class Iranians, and an update on the Geneva talks from an Iranian official.
Plus, don’t miss our weekly recap of the craziest moments in corporate media, the Friday Free-for-All: Let’s talk about the Democrats who gave Trump a standing ovation for bombing Iran
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