1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,840 In a final death pangs of a regime, they are at their most 2 00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:08,080 dangerous and there is a kind of scorched earth policy where the 3 00:00:08,080 --> 00:00:11,360 mullahs are saying if we go and the people of Iran will be left 4 00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:13,480 with a barren wasteland and we're going to kill as many of. 5 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:16,160 You as you think. That's actually happening right 6 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:19,440 now at the same time as they're weakened. 7 00:00:19,480 --> 00:00:22,360 We do have an amazing opportunity here. 8 00:00:22,360 --> 00:00:25,680 So we're now in a situation where if the following 9 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:30,680 diplomatic movements happen, you will see this regime go pretty 10 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:36,520 quickly #1. Hello and welcome to the 11 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:39,480 forecast. Iran is facing its most serious 12 00:00:39,480 --> 00:00:43,080 unrest in years, with protests sweeping the country despite a 13 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:46,880 near total Internet blackout and a deadly response from security 14 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:49,000 forces. Washington is threatening new 15 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:51,200 tariffs. Western governments are debating 16 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:55,120 whether to escalate sanctions and blacklist the IRGC, and the 17 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:58,000 German Chancellor says that he believed the embattled Iranian 18 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:01,000 government is in its final days and weeks. 19 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:03,480 I should also add that Washington is still threatening 20 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:05,880 military action. The stakes, in other words, are 21 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:08,520 rising far beyond Iran's borders. 22 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:12,120 One of the most outspoken voices on what should happen next is 23 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:14,040 the comedian and actor Omid Jalili. 24 00:01:14,120 --> 00:01:17,120 Born in London to Iranian parents, he's been sharply 25 00:01:17,120 --> 00:01:20,640 critical of the regime and vocal about what he believes the 26 00:01:20,640 --> 00:01:23,320 international community must do next. 27 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:25,320 Omid, good to have you on the. Floor to be here, Matt. 28 00:01:25,320 --> 00:01:27,600 Thank you. Let's start first of all about 29 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:30,520 you, if I may, your connection with Iran. 30 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:32,480 You just said your parents were born there. 31 00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:35,720 You know, How Iranian do you, especially in these days? 32 00:01:36,160 --> 00:01:38,800 I feel, I feel very Iranian. When we spoke, we spoke Persian 33 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:40,920 at home. The Iranian heritage was 34 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:42,520 something that was I was very proud of. 35 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:45,520 I went there twice when I was a kid, once when I was three, once 36 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:47,360 when I was 6, and I always felt very proud. 37 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:49,960 I was always talking about there was another kid at school who 38 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:53,720 was Iranian in my class and we spoke Persian loudly and 39 00:01:53,720 --> 00:01:56,400 proudly. And then everything changed 40 00:01:56,400 --> 00:02:00,000 around 1979 and all the images on the BBC and everything was 41 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:01,920 these fundamentalists and crazy people. 42 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:03,760 So we kind of went quiet. I went shy. 43 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:06,600 I suddenly became name Chico from Milan. 44 00:02:07,080 --> 00:02:09,280 I did. I rejected MyHeritage. 45 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:12,000 And of course there was a complication because I come from 46 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:14,440 a persecuted minority. I'm a Baha'i and the Baha'is 47 00:02:14,440 --> 00:02:16,880 were also being slaughtered and executed. 48 00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:20,880 And it was something I was keeping quiet and was living 49 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:24,520 with this very difficult thought that I felt Iranian, but also 50 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:27,720 felt very rejected by other Iranians because of my the 51 00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:29,640 Baha'i faith that was my family's. 52 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:32,520 And how's that changed over the years, and especially at moments 53 00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:33,960 like this? Hugely. 54 00:02:34,280 --> 00:02:36,920 Things have hugely changed, I think as the regime has gone on. 55 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:40,080 People kept quiet. You know, we talked about this, 56 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:44,960 that Bahais were kind of killed and then they were thrown in a 57 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:48,120 ditch and to get the bodies back you had to pay lots of money. 58 00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:50,760 And also the invoice included bullets, the bullets that were 59 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:53,120 used to kill your loved ones. You had to pay for that. 60 00:02:53,440 --> 00:02:55,120 But the Iranian society kept quiet. 61 00:02:55,120 --> 00:02:57,640 They said that's them, that's them, that's not us. 62 00:02:58,120 --> 00:03:02,320 And then as they started really persecuting people of all walks 63 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:05,280 of life, all civilians in Iranian society, people thought 64 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:07,880 this is wrong. And we have to like when, when 65 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:09,760 they, we, we never spoke up for the Bahais. 66 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:12,280 We never spoke up for the Baluchis or or the Jews. 67 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:15,640 So now Iranian society absolutely speaks up for the 68 00:03:15,640 --> 00:03:18,320 Bahais. And we know there's an Internet 69 00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:20,720 blackout at the moment. It's been going on for quite a 70 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:22,880 few days and this is unprecedented 5 days. 71 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:28,040 So what kind of information are you getting from Iran, from 72 00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:29,840 friends and relatives and how you're getting it? 73 00:03:29,920 --> 00:03:34,520 Yeah, we're getting it a little bit through VPN, Starlink, A lot 74 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:36,040 of these things unfortunately in cut now. 75 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:38,600 But a friend of ours unfortunately lost their 76 00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:41,360 brother. And what was shocking was they 77 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:44,040 said that to release the body, you pay the money and you also 78 00:03:44,040 --> 00:03:47,800 have to sign a document that this person was one of the 79 00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:50,440 regime forces killed by one of the protesters. 80 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:51,520 Really. That's extraordinary. 81 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:53,040 Extraordinary. You have to lie about you know 82 00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:54,920 you have. To lie about your otherwise 83 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:57,120 don't get the body so. And pay money. 84 00:03:57,560 --> 00:03:59,840 And I don't think they did. They're now the protesters 85 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:02,440 saying we are not leaving the streets until they go, I mean, 86 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:03,600 and they keep killing the people. 87 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:06,480 When you consider the historical precedent that when you've had 88 00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:09,760 these extraordinary outbursts of rage in the past, and this is 89 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:12,320 bigger than previous ones it seems, but we've had them in the 90 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:16,600 past periodically the regime has prevailed with brutality at the 91 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:19,360 end, yes. And so the big question is could 92 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:21,800 this happen again? Could history repeat itself, 93 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:24,200 however tragic that maybe it? Could, but we have to be very 94 00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:26,160 careful in the West. Are we just going to parrot 95 00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:28,240 regime narratives? I mean this is The whole thing 96 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:30,360 kicked off on the 29th of December. 97 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:33,880 I went on the Guardian website and saw the first piece that the 98 00:04:33,880 --> 00:04:37,560 Guardian put out was an opinion piece by Abbas Arapchi, who's 99 00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:39,720 the Islamic regime foreign minister. 100 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:41,400 And I said, what the hell are you doing, Guardian? 101 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:43,440 What the hell? And then other people were 102 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:46,760 saying, well, this is a reality. You know, that there is a there 103 00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:49,920 is a line they're pushing and they're going to be quite quiet. 104 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:53,480 So will history repeat itself in the sense that will there be 105 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:54,960 another crackdown and we just move on? 106 00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:59,880 We have a real responsibility in the West to not keep parroting 107 00:04:59,880 --> 00:05:03,440 regime narratives and actually do something about it. 108 00:05:03,440 --> 00:05:06,720 And we can very simple actions. Well, we had a story on last 109 00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:09,680 night told by our reporter Poric O'Brien of, you know, two 110 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:12,480 families. In one case, their young 111 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:14,360 daughter was killed. She was shot in the head, 112 00:05:14,840 --> 00:05:18,280 executed on the way home. And in another case, the kid was 113 00:05:18,280 --> 00:05:20,800 arrested, the young man was arrested, and he will face his 114 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:23,040 execution on Wednesday. So that's unbelievable. 115 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:26,000 That's no trial, you know, kangaroo court, you know, the 116 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:27,920 usual stuff. And we've seen this before in 117 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:31,000 Iran. I just wonder, from what you can 118 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:33,480 glean, and we've asked this question to just about everyone, 119 00:05:33,720 --> 00:05:36,920 what's different this time? Apart from the sweep, you know, 120 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:39,920 and the numbers of cities engulfed in this rage, what is 121 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:43,960 different this time? What is very different is a Gen. 122 00:05:43,960 --> 00:05:47,560 Z, the younger generations, I mean, my generation of people 123 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:50,240 who saw the revolution of 79 happened, we just think, OK, 124 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:52,840 we've not that we've checked out like nothing is going to happen. 125 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:56,400 The younger people who were on TikTok and Instagram is open, 126 00:05:56,400 --> 00:05:58,160 you can see and they see freedoms in the West. 127 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:00,560 They don't understand why they don't have the freedoms. 128 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:03,920 So which is very, very upsetting that a lot of those Gen. 129 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:08,400 Z people, you know, Niko Sharkarami and all these young 130 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:10,000 people were killed because they were standing. 131 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:11,440 They were the first people in the front line. 132 00:06:11,880 --> 00:06:14,560 And even now we see the regime as following teenagers home 133 00:06:14,560 --> 00:06:15,920 after and shooting them in the head. 134 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:20,400 So what's different now is also there's never been a figure that 135 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:22,560 the people can get behind. There has to be an opposition 136 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:25,520 leader. One has emerged and his name is 137 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:27,680 Reza Pahlavi, who is the son of the former Shah. 138 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:30,360 And and of course, that rings alarm bells for a lot of people 139 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:33,520 saying, oh, God, is this going to be, it's a legitimate concern 140 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:35,120 that, oh, we're just going to have something worse and all 141 00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:37,160 that. But Reza Pahlavi is someone who 142 00:06:37,160 --> 00:06:40,880 is incredibly educated. Everything he said seems to be 143 00:06:40,880 --> 00:06:42,840 very reasonable. And he's talking about coming 144 00:06:42,840 --> 00:06:45,840 back not to re establish the monarchy, but to help the 145 00:06:45,840 --> 00:06:48,720 country transition into a secular democracy. 146 00:06:48,920 --> 00:06:50,840 I want to talk about him a little bit later, but just, you 147 00:06:50,840 --> 00:06:52,880 know, dwelling on the young people especially, I mean, 148 00:06:53,360 --> 00:06:56,000 what's what's always struck me about Iran, and I've only been 149 00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:58,200 there once, and that was quite a long time ago. 150 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:01,240 It was after 911 when we thought the things, you know, the 151 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:03,560 Americans might attack Iran, you know, somehow. 152 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:06,080 And of course, they had nothing to do with 9/11 whatsoever, 153 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:08,080 which didn't stop them from attacking Iraq. 154 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:11,680 But what really struck me then, and what I've been told by my 155 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:14,880 Iranian friends and colleagues all the time since then, is that 156 00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:17,680 this is a highly educated population. 157 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:21,000 It prides itself on the number of PhDs on the great 158 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:24,040 universities. And although it is a theocratic 159 00:07:24,040 --> 00:07:27,600 regime, it is also very secular in terms of its education. 160 00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:31,080 Yes, it is not beyond the wit of man to imagine that young people 161 00:07:31,080 --> 00:07:34,680 who've been well educated want to share in some of the spoils 162 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:39,400 and luxuries and entertainment and fun and information, you 163 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:42,800 know, and intelligent ecosystem that other young people 164 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:45,280 elsewhere are, you know, are participating in. 165 00:07:45,720 --> 00:07:48,440 And that's what's happening. Except the other government, yet 166 00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:50,760 again, is trying to stop it. That's actually brilliant. 167 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:52,360 I'm so shocked because it was so brilliantly said. 168 00:07:52,360 --> 00:07:54,560 Matt, thank you. And I think that is the the main 169 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:58,200 thing is why Iranians are so offended by people saying, oh, 170 00:07:58,240 --> 00:07:59,760 this is an American LED revolution. 171 00:07:59,760 --> 00:08:01,880 It's an Israeli LED LED revolution. 172 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:05,200 Iranians have agency. They're intelligent, they know 173 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:06,560 history, and they know what they. 174 00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:09,480 Do it's an ancient civilization. It's an ancient civilization, 175 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:12,360 the cradle of civilization that started in, in, in Persia. 176 00:08:12,400 --> 00:08:15,320 We're very proud of King Cyrus. There's some quotes of his on 177 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:17,320 the UN building. So we're, we're very proud of 178 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:19,760 our heritage. I used to joke about the fact 179 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:22,920 that, you know, our civilization brought you language and 180 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:25,280 mathematics. We brought you a federal system 181 00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:28,280 of government running hot and hot and cold water while the 182 00:08:28,280 --> 00:08:31,200 early Britons were running around painting themselves blue 183 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:33,880 and buggering wild boar. And when I did that in Ipswich, 184 00:08:33,880 --> 00:08:35,480 someone shouted out what's wrong with that? 185 00:08:36,400 --> 00:08:38,799 Which kind of said everything, It's Ipswich. 186 00:08:38,799 --> 00:08:42,720 Yeah. So, so for, for, for me, this is 187 00:08:42,720 --> 00:08:45,240 something where we don't want to be patronised. 188 00:08:45,520 --> 00:08:48,200 We don't want we, we don't want to get involved in kind of the 189 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:51,640 culture wars of Britain when it was very clear, you know, the 190 00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:54,120 Iranian people always supported Palestinian rights. 191 00:08:54,400 --> 00:08:57,520 In fact, there was a football match where the Iranian regime 192 00:08:57,520 --> 00:08:59,360 came out and they were flying a Palestinian flag. 193 00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:02,360 And it was quite shocking where the fans were singing stick that 194 00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:04,640 Palestinian flag up your backside. 195 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:07,320 And everyone was saying, why are they saying that? 196 00:09:07,680 --> 00:09:09,680 And it's not that they don't stand with Palestinians. 197 00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:12,440 They know that the Islamic regime is playing lip service 198 00:09:12,440 --> 00:09:14,240 to, they don't care about Palestinian rights. 199 00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:18,120 They only have two focuses. And I think people listening to 200 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:20,200 this podcast need to be very clear on this. 201 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:22,800 And this is not controversial. It's written down. 202 00:09:23,040 --> 00:09:26,240 There are two reasons why they're doing this and people 203 00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:27,720 saying that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. 204 00:09:27,720 --> 00:09:29,480 So we stand with Iran because they're against Israel. 205 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:33,840 Excuse me, Not only does Iran want the destruction of Israel, 206 00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:38,560 but if you look at the IRGC constitution, it is ultimately 207 00:09:38,680 --> 00:09:42,240 to kill all Jews everywhere. So if you're supporting Iran, 208 00:09:42,240 --> 00:09:43,680 that is the narrative you're support. 209 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:47,680 Although the degree to which, for instance, Reza Pahlavi, the 210 00:09:48,200 --> 00:09:52,600 the son of the Le Char supports Israel and is supported by 211 00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:55,720 Israel, you know, is incredibly controversial. 212 00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:58,600 And I've got, you know, Iranian friends have been texting me 213 00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:02,000 saying how dare you put anyone who is, you know, who is 214 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:05,480 associated with Reza Pahlavi, you know, on your program 215 00:10:05,680 --> 00:10:08,320 because this guy is an Israeli stooge. 216 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:11,000 Now, there's absolutely no evidence to suggest that, but 217 00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:15,080 but the fact that the Iranian community, you know, is so 218 00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:18,840 divided amongst itself, yes, about who to support, who not to 219 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:22,080 support. There were 2020 Iranian 220 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:25,920 opposition television channels here out of Los Angeles often 221 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:28,600 called Terangeles because of the Iranian community alone. 222 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:31,760 So there is division in your community whether you like it or 223 00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:33,280 not. That, that, that, that's no 224 00:10:33,280 --> 00:10:35,400 question of that. And you know, the the way 225 00:10:35,400 --> 00:10:38,400 Iranian culture is, we're we're divided in our families and 226 00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:40,600 we're divided whenever we all get together, we start fighting 227 00:10:40,600 --> 00:10:42,120 and start criticizing each other. 228 00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:45,960 But I, I think what the Iranian people are trying to say, 229 00:10:46,360 --> 00:10:47,880 because people get very disturbed because why lots of 230 00:10:47,880 --> 00:10:50,680 Iranians, we stand with Israel and they've got lots of Israeli 231 00:10:50,680 --> 00:10:53,520 flags in their things. A lot, a lot of people like pro 232 00:10:53,520 --> 00:10:56,640 Palestine friends of Iranians saying, look, I can't really be 233 00:10:56,640 --> 00:11:00,720 supporting this if it's in any way supporting Zionism or, or 234 00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:03,680 Israel. So we can't conflate the two. 235 00:11:03,920 --> 00:11:07,120 You know, people are getting killed in Iran, the Palestinians 236 00:11:07,120 --> 00:11:09,840 are being killed in Gaza. What Rezapallaby was was doing 237 00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:13,120 by meeting the, the, the, the Israeli people, I think he's 238 00:11:13,120 --> 00:11:17,240 trying to reflect Iranian society who say Israel, we have 239 00:11:17,240 --> 00:11:21,600 no, as the people, we have no problem with Israelis. 240 00:11:21,640 --> 00:11:24,440 I think that's the very, there's always a difference between the 241 00:11:24,440 --> 00:11:27,640 people and their governments. So what the people of Iran are 242 00:11:27,640 --> 00:11:31,120 saying, we have no problem with Israelis and Israelis also have 243 00:11:31,120 --> 00:11:33,000 no problem with the with the normal Iranian side. 244 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:35,080 So then you've got Donald J Trump. 245 00:11:36,560 --> 00:11:38,920 We should talk about. We should talk about Donald, 246 00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:40,480 right? Donald Trump, the president of 247 00:11:40,480 --> 00:11:43,400 the United States, who is, you know, who's sending out some 248 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:47,040 conflicting messages here. So on one side, he says we're 249 00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:49,040 going to intervene. It's going to be tough. 250 00:11:49,040 --> 00:11:51,280 We're going to pay them. You know, they're going to pay a 251 00:11:51,280 --> 00:11:53,880 heavy price, The regime that is for, you know, using any 252 00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:56,760 violence against peaceful protesters on the streets. 253 00:11:56,760 --> 00:11:58,640 Which they did repeatedly and still didn't do anything. 254 00:11:58,640 --> 00:12:00,600 Right, exactly. So you've got that red line 255 00:12:00,600 --> 00:12:02,480 which seems to have, you know, been crossed and he's done 256 00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:03,800 nothing about it. And then you've got him 257 00:12:03,800 --> 00:12:07,920 threatening just last night, 25% sanctions against any country 258 00:12:07,920 --> 00:12:10,720 that does business with Iran, which would be, for instance, 259 00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:12,920 China and quite a few European countries as well. 260 00:12:13,320 --> 00:12:16,240 So, yeah, as someone who really wants to see change this time 261 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:20,400 around, Omid, what would you like Donald Trump to do and not 262 00:12:20,400 --> 00:12:23,200 to do? The former security minister Tom 263 00:12:23,200 --> 00:12:25,680 Tugenhat was on Andrew Marr and they were talking about this, 264 00:12:25,680 --> 00:12:27,040 where is Trump going to do anything? 265 00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:30,200 And Tom Tugenhat said he's already done something. 266 00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:35,440 He's he's got rid of Maduro and so Trump by cutting off Iran 267 00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:37,920 from Venezuela because they're very deeply connected. 268 00:12:37,920 --> 00:12:41,560 And I think there was an idea that if the regime fell, a lot 269 00:12:41,560 --> 00:12:44,480 of the regime members would flee to Venezuela, where they set up 270 00:12:44,480 --> 00:12:47,400 supermarkets, they've set up all their car manufacturers and 271 00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:49,160 drone factories and missile factories. 272 00:12:49,640 --> 00:12:52,640 By cutting that off, that's also isolated the regime. 273 00:12:52,640 --> 00:12:57,240 So in one sense, even though it's a bit crazy what he's done, 274 00:12:57,400 --> 00:12:59,800 as far as the people of Iran are concerned, well done. 275 00:12:59,920 --> 00:13:03,280 Right. I mean, Iran is not in the same 276 00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:06,760 position it was in even a year ago because we've had the 12 day 277 00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:09,520 war. We had the systematic 278 00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:12,960 destruction by Israel of Iran's proxies in the region. 279 00:13:13,160 --> 00:13:14,920 Severely weakened, right? Severely weakened. 280 00:13:14,920 --> 00:13:16,840 I mean, not total destruction, but severely weakened. 281 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:19,720 Hezbollah's another one, the Assad regime has fallen. 282 00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:22,520 That was a massive ally, very important ally of the of the 283 00:13:22,520 --> 00:13:24,880 ayatollahs. So Iran is in a much weaker 284 00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:29,800 position than it has been perhaps at any stage since 1979, 285 00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:32,560 since the revolution, do you think? 286 00:13:33,360 --> 00:13:36,760 But that makes it more brutal because this is it for them, 287 00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:38,400 right? This is the last chance saloon 288 00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:42,360 for this regime to survive. Or does it mean they're more 289 00:13:42,360 --> 00:13:46,080 likely to fold at some stage? This is a very good question and 290 00:13:46,120 --> 00:13:48,680 it's the the answer's going to be a little bit complex, but 291 00:13:48,680 --> 00:13:51,320 I'll I'll give it a shot. You know, the in a final death 292 00:13:51,320 --> 00:13:55,160 pangs of a regime, they're at their most dangerous. 293 00:13:55,160 --> 00:13:58,520 And there is a kind of what you would call a scorched earth 294 00:13:58,760 --> 00:14:02,080 policy where the mullahs are saying if we go and the people 295 00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:04,440 of Iran would be left with a barren wasteland and we're going 296 00:14:04,440 --> 00:14:06,120 to kill as many of you. As you think that's something 297 00:14:06,120 --> 00:14:07,280 right? Now that that's actually 298 00:14:07,280 --> 00:14:09,880 happening right now in the city of Rasht where they were trying 299 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:12,280 to get the people to open up their shops, so begging them. 300 00:14:12,280 --> 00:14:14,920 And then when they didn't open up, they fire bombed all the 301 00:14:14,920 --> 00:14:17,360 shop, 200 shops. And they said this is what 302 00:14:17,360 --> 00:14:19,360 protesters do to you. So they're they're spinning that 303 00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:23,120 at the same time as they're weakened. 304 00:14:23,200 --> 00:14:26,040 We do have an amazing opportunity here. 305 00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:29,240 The people of Iran were asked 10,000 of them, what do you 306 00:14:29,240 --> 00:14:30,960 actually want? 10,000 people. 307 00:14:30,960 --> 00:14:33,960 And this human rights organization distilled it down 308 00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:38,880 to two specific requests. One, leave us alone politically. 309 00:14:39,160 --> 00:14:40,960 When this regime is gone, we'll deal with us. 310 00:14:40,960 --> 00:14:43,400 What we're going to do politically and #2 what would 311 00:14:43,400 --> 00:14:47,960 really help us is if you put the Islamic Republican Guard Corps, 312 00:14:47,960 --> 00:14:50,760 the IRGC, put them on the terrorist list because there is 313 00:14:50,760 --> 00:14:53,880 a domino effect here. And, and it's a big the, the 314 00:14:53,880 --> 00:14:55,560 British government has not done it. 315 00:14:55,640 --> 00:14:57,480 And there's many reasons for it because maybe you want to keep 316 00:14:57,480 --> 00:14:59,280 the British Embassy open. That brings Intel. 317 00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:01,840 And I think the Americans may have asked the Brits to keep it 318 00:15:01,840 --> 00:15:03,120 open. And that's fair enough. 319 00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:05,480 We get it because. America has no diplomatic 320 00:15:05,480 --> 00:15:06,920 representation. Not hasn't that because they've 321 00:15:06,920 --> 00:15:09,040 put the the. Embassy was seized and you know, 322 00:15:09,400 --> 00:15:10,920 you know, and diplomats take it hostage. 323 00:15:11,040 --> 00:15:12,960 The IGC is on the terrorist desk in America. 324 00:15:12,960 --> 00:15:16,680 So, so we're now in a situation where if the following 325 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:21,640 diplomatic movements happen, you will see this regime go pretty 326 00:15:21,640 --> 00:15:26,080 quickly and as from the request of the reigns #1 for their 327 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:30,160 safety, get the British people, the British Embassy in Tehran, 328 00:15:30,320 --> 00:15:33,320 flown back immediately. Get them out. 329 00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:38,840 Two, close down the embassy and three, freeze the assets and 330 00:15:38,840 --> 00:15:40,920 then then put the IRGC on the terrorist. 331 00:15:40,920 --> 00:15:44,440 Because if you do this, which is very important, the regime gets 332 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:46,120 isolated. There's no more money coming 333 00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:47,880 through. All the people who are in, who 334 00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:51,400 work with them, India, China will have to distance themselves 335 00:15:51,440 --> 00:15:53,520 and the regime will be but. I'm not sure if that's right 336 00:15:53,520 --> 00:15:55,960 there because they're already to some extent isolated. 337 00:15:55,960 --> 00:15:59,440 There are already many sanctions in place and and they have their 338 00:15:59,440 --> 00:16:02,800 friends in Beijing, they have their friends in Moscow, they 339 00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:06,480 have their friends in Pyongyang and that you know that axis of 340 00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:09,520 resistance as they like to call it, it kind of works for them 341 00:16:09,520 --> 00:16:11,120 it. Kind of works but you see as 342 00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:15,880 British people who we believe in human rights, we believe in 343 00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:18,920 standing up for the oppressed and if we don't take these 344 00:16:18,920 --> 00:16:21,920 actions a lot of British people ask me, well, what do we what do 345 00:16:21,920 --> 00:16:23,920 we now this is very. Important about our conscience 346 00:16:23,960 --> 00:16:25,360 or no? No, no, actually changing the 347 00:16:25,360 --> 00:16:26,520 reality. It is about changing the 348 00:16:26,520 --> 00:16:28,880 reality, but it's also about our conscience because people are 349 00:16:28,880 --> 00:16:31,080 asking this question. British friends of mine are 350 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:34,680 saying by not putting the IRGC on the terrorists, it means 351 00:16:34,840 --> 00:16:36,400 we're somehow involved with this regime. 352 00:16:36,560 --> 00:16:39,480 Do we really want to be in business with these people 353 00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:43,000 they've just killed? Reportedly, we don't know for 354 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:44,920 sure. They've just killed 12,000 355 00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:46,720 protesters. Now we come from a generation 356 00:16:46,920 --> 00:16:49,760 where we saw Tiananmen Square, we saw the Berlin Wall come 357 00:16:49,760 --> 00:16:52,920 down, we saw these things happen with our own eyes unfold before 358 00:16:52,920 --> 00:16:57,840 us. 12,000 is if that is true, that's a massive this is the one 359 00:16:57,840 --> 00:16:59,560 of the most amazing stories ever. 360 00:16:59,840 --> 00:17:03,680 But if the Brits don't take any action, and they've been silent 361 00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:06,359 so far, British people are going to say are we? 362 00:17:06,359 --> 00:17:08,520 Complicit. But we know that especially 363 00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:12,520 British involvement with in Iran is an incredibly sensitive 364 00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:15,720 subject because the Brits were involved back in the 1950s with 365 00:17:15,720 --> 00:17:19,520 the removal of Mossadegh, A democratically elected Iranian 366 00:17:19,720 --> 00:17:21,480 Prime Minister. You know stuff. 367 00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:23,760 Right, No, but I think, you know that is so. 368 00:17:24,079 --> 00:17:26,440 If we suddenly say things, this government says things and 369 00:17:26,440 --> 00:17:28,040 stands up there, there will be no. 370 00:17:28,040 --> 00:17:30,440 Finish what you were saying? No, but what You got rid of him 371 00:17:30,440 --> 00:17:33,240 because he had got rid of them. Yeah, this is very important 372 00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:35,960 that people know. All those petroleum companies 373 00:17:35,960 --> 00:17:37,280 came in because you've got oil here. 374 00:17:37,400 --> 00:17:39,120 We can drill it for you because what are you going to give us? 375 00:17:39,120 --> 00:17:42,200 We'll give you a percentage, probably 30-40, maybe 50%. 376 00:17:42,560 --> 00:17:43,720 He was. They were there for a while and 377 00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:46,320 they never gave a single penny. So Mossad there got rid of them. 378 00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:51,440 And then for 60,000 it's all covered in a film called Coup 53 379 00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:54,880 directed by Walter Murch, who did all the Godfather movies. 380 00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:56,480 They, they never gave them pennies. 381 00:17:56,480 --> 00:17:59,280 So Mossad they got rid of them. And then to fire back they, they 382 00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:02,560 spent £60,000 and created a revolution to get rid of Mossad 383 00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:03,800 there. And then they brought the 384 00:18:03,800 --> 00:18:06,440 monarchy back. OK, So what I'm trying to say is 385 00:18:06,440 --> 00:18:09,880 that any kind of foreign meddling in Iran, you know, 386 00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:13,320 especially from the Brits and the Americans, is seen with deep 387 00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:14,920 suspicion by the people. Yes. 388 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:17,440 Understandably. But here's the thing. 389 00:18:18,080 --> 00:18:21,240 Obama has now very clearly said that when there was a green 390 00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:24,000 movement, when NEDA was shot in the head, the green revolution, 391 00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:25,520 the green revolution, that was unbelievable. 392 00:18:25,520 --> 00:18:26,560 And we really thought that was it. 393 00:18:27,040 --> 00:18:29,120 Obama had a chance to do something and he never did. 394 00:18:29,560 --> 00:18:34,320 Instead, he signed the JCOJOCAP deal. 395 00:18:34,320 --> 00:18:35,520 The. Iran nuclear deal. 396 00:18:35,520 --> 00:18:37,800 The Iran nuclear. Enrichment for fewer sanctions. 397 00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:40,320 Yes, exactly. And apparently billions of 398 00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:43,280 dollars were passed to America. And he's now said, I regret that 399 00:18:43,680 --> 00:18:45,240 that was a real chance to get rid of him. 400 00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:47,760 Now we're in a situation going back to Donald Trump. 401 00:18:48,040 --> 00:18:50,520 We're in a situation where he can intervene somehow. 402 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:54,280 We don't know how, but the people on the ground believe 403 00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:58,360 this would be America righting the wrongs of the past. 404 00:18:58,520 --> 00:19:01,120 And, and that is one way, if Donald Trump wants to become a 405 00:19:01,120 --> 00:19:06,160 hero overnight and possibly even get a Peace Prize in 2026, if he 406 00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:09,800 was to wrong to right the wrongs historically of all that 407 00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:11,480 meddling. And by the way, all that 408 00:19:11,480 --> 00:19:15,360 meddling is why we saw Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, that all 409 00:19:15,360 --> 00:19:18,920 that kind of stuff is, is the stuff that is given that makes 410 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:22,640 people worry about Iran right now that he could actually right 411 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:28,000 a lot of those wrongs. So if the Americans were to 412 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:32,360 launch military strikes, right, against Khamenei or against the 413 00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:35,600 Revolutionary Guard installations or whatever, what 414 00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:38,320 makes you think that that would actually work? 415 00:19:39,400 --> 00:19:40,640 That would first. Of all I never said that. 416 00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:41,840 I never said that. What makes? 417 00:19:42,080 --> 00:19:43,320 Well, I mean, but you but you that. 418 00:19:43,320 --> 00:19:45,400 Makes Iranians think that. That makes Iranians think that 419 00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:49,440 because it would if they were during the 12 day war with 420 00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:52,520 Israel, which is very weird. I was very upset, you know, to 421 00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:56,120 see, I mean, quite a few 100 people died and you don't want 422 00:19:56,120 --> 00:19:57,880 to see war. You don't want to see but a lot 423 00:19:57,880 --> 00:20:00,680 of Iranians inside Iran. Were cheering them on. 424 00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:03,280 They kept taking out the heads of the IRGC. 425 00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:06,160 The next person to cover, they took him out. 426 00:20:06,160 --> 00:20:08,320 They killed so many. I even got an e-mail declaring 427 00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:11,600 me the head of the IRGC and I respectfully turned it down 428 00:20:11,600 --> 00:20:13,920 because I wasn't quite happy with their workplace security 429 00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:16,000 arrangements. So that was a little joke I've 430 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:20,120 been doing, but people in Iran were kind of cheering that on 431 00:20:20,120 --> 00:20:23,080 because we know all the oppression comes from the IGC. 432 00:20:23,440 --> 00:20:25,840 Thousands, 100 thousands of people have died in Syria, 433 00:20:25,840 --> 00:20:28,120 100,000 people died in Iran because the IGC. 434 00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:31,800 So when you're killing those people, I'm speaking for the 435 00:20:31,800 --> 00:20:33,440 people of Iran. There's not, I'm not just saying 436 00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:36,360 there's not me, but I'm saying they were kind of cheering it 437 00:20:36,360 --> 00:20:39,400 on. So I'm not saying I'm never 438 00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:42,800 would stand up for war, But if there is some kind of military 439 00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:46,880 action, which would, I would say, neutralize the threat of 440 00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:49,520 the people who are actually killing the people on the ground 441 00:20:49,520 --> 00:20:53,240 right now, young people, young girls, teenagers, if that was to 442 00:20:53,240 --> 00:20:56,280 be stopped somehow, I would think the people of Iran would 443 00:20:56,280 --> 00:20:57,600 be. They wouldn't say no. 444 00:20:57,880 --> 00:21:00,280 And just on the numbers, I mean, again, the numbers are sketchy 445 00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:03,040 because we're not on the ground. I think human rights groups are 446 00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:08,000 saying 2000 roughly have been killed by the authorities in in 447 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:11,360 recent weeks. The numbers of arrest I think is 448 00:21:11,360 --> 00:21:13,880 at about 11,000 or more. But again, we don't know the 449 00:21:13,880 --> 00:21:15,960 exact numbers. Yeah, that is a significant 450 00:21:15,960 --> 00:21:19,080 number of people to mow down in order to stay in power. 451 00:21:19,080 --> 00:21:21,760 Whether it's 12,000 or 2000 even even. 452 00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:24,120 But two or three numbers do not, I mean, let's, you know, we 453 00:21:24,120 --> 00:21:26,040 don't need to exaggerate the numbers because they're bad 454 00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:27,320 enough as it is, right? So. 455 00:21:27,320 --> 00:21:28,360 We agree on that, absolutely. OK. 456 00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:31,800 By the way, they're starting the executions on January the 14th. 457 00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:36,320 I mean, one of the problems, I guess, with any revolution, one 458 00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:39,000 of the challenges is that you do need a unifying figure. 459 00:21:40,040 --> 00:21:44,360 So the Iranian revolution of 7879 had Ayatollah Khomeini 460 00:21:44,360 --> 00:21:47,360 Khomeini, who was based in Paris at the time, as the unifying 461 00:21:47,360 --> 00:21:48,880 figure. They used the network of the 462 00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:51,640 mosques, you know, and of course, the Islamic faith in 463 00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:54,280 order to organize the revolution which worked for them. 464 00:21:55,080 --> 00:21:58,800 What is the unifying figure genuinely now and what is the 465 00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:02,280 unifying structure around which people can organize, you know, 466 00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:05,840 some kind of, you know, successful revolution against 467 00:22:05,840 --> 00:22:07,840 this regime? It's very clear that an 468 00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:10,800 opposition leader is is emerging. 469 00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:14,320 It's Reza Palavi, who's the son of the Shah, and he's someone 470 00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:17,720 who's been directing things from outside the country now. 471 00:22:18,240 --> 00:22:20,800 He's he directing them? He is he just jumping on the 472 00:22:20,800 --> 00:22:23,800 bandwagon? No, he is absolutely directing 473 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:27,640 people what to do to do. He's been speaking through 474 00:22:27,640 --> 00:22:30,800 Tanois in cities and saying, go on to Iran International. 475 00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:34,600 There's a live broadcast, scan your QR codes and join the 476 00:22:34,600 --> 00:22:36,320 people. And it's like saying, you know, 477 00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:39,080 the revolution will be televised with QR codes. 478 00:22:39,280 --> 00:22:42,840 So he, he is, he's directed. Does he want a resurrection of 479 00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:44,560 the monarchy? Does he want to sit on a new 480 00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:46,440 throne? He said he wants to come back 481 00:22:46,440 --> 00:22:49,160 and transition the country to a secular democracy. 482 00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:50,320 Do. You believe him? 483 00:22:52,360 --> 00:22:55,800 Personally, I have to say he's an educated man. 484 00:22:56,640 --> 00:22:59,400 I I can't imagine that he would want to live in Iran. 485 00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:02,920 I can't imagine that he would stay longer than a year, 2 486 00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:04,680 years. But if they're if the people, 487 00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:07,240 because when they're on the ballot get used to it, he might 488 00:23:07,240 --> 00:23:08,760 get used to it. And on the ballot paper, if 489 00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:12,040 people do want to monarchy, they will have to put that down like 490 00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:15,040 a constitutional monarchy that runs longer, a secular 491 00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:17,680 government. Do I believe it like here? 492 00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:19,240 Yeah, exactly. Do I believe him? 493 00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:24,360 I I don't know. I've never met him. 494 00:23:24,560 --> 00:23:26,880 I like the look of him. I like the cut of his jib. 495 00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:28,640 I like everything. He seems very reasonable. 496 00:23:28,960 --> 00:23:30,480 Everything he says is very educated. 497 00:23:30,480 --> 00:23:34,000 He speaks Persian, French and English absolutely fluently. 498 00:23:34,360 --> 00:23:38,240 And whatever he represents, it's a damn sight better than these 499 00:23:38,360 --> 00:23:41,680 people, these regime people with their nonsense. 500 00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:43,840 But they're kind of fundamental. So it's basically people have a 501 00:23:43,840 --> 00:23:45,760 choice. Do you want fundamentalist or do 502 00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:48,080 you want someone who's educated? That seems to be. 503 00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:51,920 The choice but but the but the regime will say do you want us 504 00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:55,000 or do you want to go back to the thing that we removed with 505 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:56,600 another revolution? Yeah. 506 00:23:56,720 --> 00:24:00,640 And I think right now you can hear I, I've gone through maybe 507 00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:06,160 1200 videos, I would say with hand on heart confidence, about 508 00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:10,600 6 or 700 of those videos of the protesters are all calling for 509 00:24:10,600 --> 00:24:12,400 his name and they're actually calling for a monarchy back 510 00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:13,600 which. I'm watching a lot of TV. 511 00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:15,240 I don't. I'm not sleeping. 512 00:24:15,240 --> 00:24:17,520 I haven't had sleep. Yeah, I've not slept for maybe 513 00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:19,600 the last two weeks. I've probably had about 12 hours 514 00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:22,000 sleep. I care not just as an Iranian, 515 00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:25,280 as a human being who's into human rights, this is the most 516 00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:27,320 incredible story unfolding before our very eyes. 517 00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:29,880 And if you really want to be with the people and human 518 00:24:29,880 --> 00:24:31,880 rights, watch what these people are doing. 519 00:24:31,880 --> 00:24:35,640 Because against all odds, I've seen videos of, you know, 520 00:24:35,680 --> 00:24:38,600 security forces with guns shooting at young guys who were 521 00:24:38,600 --> 00:24:41,720 still running forward dropping. But I just think, my God, look 522 00:24:41,720 --> 00:24:44,640 at the Kishka's on these guys. They won't stop. 523 00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:47,560 And that is why it's the most incredible story unfolding on 524 00:24:47,560 --> 00:24:49,560 the planet right now. I mean, as we know with some 525 00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:53,040 revolutions, when they take place, if they overthrow the 526 00:24:53,080 --> 00:24:57,600 existing people in power, what, what sometimes follows is civil 527 00:24:57,600 --> 00:25:00,760 war, chaos, the complete, you know, disintegration of the 528 00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:01,960 country. We saw that in Libya, for 529 00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:03,640 instance. Libya is in the, you know, was 530 00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:07,640 in a very, very bad state after the the removal of Colonel 531 00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:11,320 Gaddafi and his death. Is that something that you are 532 00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:16,160 prepared as a British Iranian to put up with if it if that's the 533 00:25:16,160 --> 00:25:18,080 cost of getting rid of the IT dollars? 534 00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:21,680 I will say this, that is a legitimate fear. 535 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:25,040 And if anyone thinks that or expresses that, that's 536 00:25:25,040 --> 00:25:28,240 absolutely fine. What we, what we won't tolerate 537 00:25:28,240 --> 00:25:30,480 is people saying this is all Israeli LED and American LED. 538 00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:32,880 We don't tolerate that. But that is a legitimate fear. 539 00:25:32,880 --> 00:25:35,800 But as we said before, Iranians have the agency. 540 00:25:36,040 --> 00:25:37,680 And you said to yourself, they're some of the most 541 00:25:37,760 --> 00:25:40,800 educated people. So I think I would like to think 542 00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:43,600 they're learning from history. But it is an it's a real worry, 543 00:25:43,600 --> 00:25:46,960 which is why even if this regime is overthrown, I'll still be 544 00:25:46,960 --> 00:25:48,800 watching to see what's going on because I'm nervous. 545 00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:52,040 I'm worried you don't know if the country will descend into 546 00:25:52,040 --> 00:25:53,160 chaos. You just don't know. 547 00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:57,280 If in three weeks time or a month's time the protests have 548 00:25:57,280 --> 00:25:59,520 died down, it may happen. I'm not saying it will happen, 549 00:25:59,520 --> 00:26:01,880 but it might happen. Are you still going to be 550 00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:03,680 watching every night? You're still going to be, you 551 00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:06,560 know, engaged with the same degree of interest that you are 552 00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:11,320 now. I will I will keep yes, if if 553 00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:14,400 this drags, I'm going to I'm in it for the long haul. 554 00:26:14,440 --> 00:26:18,440 Basically whether even Tom Tugan hat the the Minister for 555 00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:21,000 Security. In the previous government of. 556 00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:24,440 The previous, yeah, even Tom Tugan hat though Minister for 557 00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:26,000 Security of the previous government, he said, look, the 558 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:29,520 regime are gone. Whether it's announced in the 559 00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:33,680 next few days, next week, we wait until Norouz, which is 560 00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:36,840 March 21st or maybe at the end of the year, it's going to 561 00:26:36,840 --> 00:26:39,480 happen. So I'm in it for the long haul. 562 00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:42,520 And it's it's just something I have to, I'm resigned to this. 563 00:26:42,800 --> 00:26:44,320 It's something I can't stop watching. 564 00:26:44,360 --> 00:26:46,760 And then if this regime goes, which we believe is an 565 00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:51,000 inevitability, I'll be keeping an eye and doing what I can to 566 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:53,000 help raise awareness and hopefully they will have some 567 00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:56,160 kind of democracy. It's hard to see how any regime 568 00:26:56,160 --> 00:27:00,240 that governs by coercion more than by consent. 569 00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:02,480 And of course there are some people in Iran who still believe 570 00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:04,200 in the regime because their jobs depend on it. 571 00:27:04,240 --> 00:27:06,920 Whatever. It's hard to see if you're just 572 00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:09,640 governing mainly by coercion, that you can string this out. 573 00:27:09,640 --> 00:27:10,800 It's impossible. And and and you. 574 00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:13,680 Know but it but it could be months, it could be weeks, it 575 00:27:13,680 --> 00:27:15,640 could even be years. And in that time, an awful lot 576 00:27:15,640 --> 00:27:17,960 of stuff could happen. I will say this, which I think 577 00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:20,120 is very, very important. Yes, there are a lot of people 578 00:27:20,120 --> 00:27:23,200 who are ruled by coercion, which is why I've been asked. 579 00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:26,160 I mean, as a member of the Baha'i Faith, we've had a lot of 580 00:27:26,160 --> 00:27:27,760 persecution. From the you know about. 581 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:29,240 This. Yeah, from the mullahs and all 582 00:27:29,240 --> 00:27:31,600 this. But I will say this to the 583 00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:34,520 people of Iran because they're talking about killing mullahs, 584 00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:36,400 the two, about stringing them up from lamp posts. 585 00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:41,480 I honestly believe a lot of those mullahs have to keep quiet 586 00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:45,280 and toe the party line. A lot of them don't believe in 587 00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:48,320 this nonsense. A lot of them could be great 588 00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:50,520 people. So I would ask the people of 589 00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:53,840 Iran don't go around killing and burning mullahs because a lot of 590 00:27:53,840 --> 00:27:55,760 them are probably and we've seen some mullahs come out. 591 00:27:56,160 --> 00:27:57,480 They were saying down with this regime. 592 00:27:57,480 --> 00:27:59,720 This is this is not Islam. And I think it's we've. 593 00:27:59,720 --> 00:28:01,360 Also seen protesters burn mosques. 594 00:28:01,440 --> 00:28:03,120 We see, yeah. But this is very important for 595 00:28:03,120 --> 00:28:05,360 people to know. The people of Iran have no 596 00:28:05,360 --> 00:28:07,520 problem with Islam. We have a problem with 597 00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:11,200 fanaticism and fundamentalism. And all my Muslim friends have 598 00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:13,440 said this is not Islam. They're actually giving a 599 00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:16,800 terrible name to religion. So I'd like to say to the people 600 00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:19,960 of Iran, don't go around randomly. 601 00:28:19,960 --> 00:28:22,080 I think a lot of the mullahs need to be brought to account 602 00:28:22,440 --> 00:28:25,000 but don't kill them because a lot of them have been paying lip 603 00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:28,160 service because if they don't support this regime, they'll be 604 00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:30,920 killed by the regime. One more, I mean, President 605 00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:33,400 Trump has threatened to intervene and he might be the 606 00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:36,200 kind of, you know, the intervention that the people 607 00:28:36,200 --> 00:28:39,560 like you, lots of Iranians are yearning for. 608 00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:43,600 At the same time, President Trump is also on the record with 609 00:28:43,600 --> 00:28:47,080 his actions and his words for tearing up, you know, human 610 00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:49,040 rights agreements. You know, he's just pulled the 611 00:28:49,160 --> 00:28:52,640 US out of 66 bodies, you know, many of them to do with the UN, 612 00:28:52,640 --> 00:28:54,440 many of them to do with human rights. 613 00:28:55,320 --> 00:28:59,080 Are you confident that that he's doing this, you know, for the 614 00:28:59,080 --> 00:29:01,160 sake of the Iranian people? Of course not. 615 00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:05,120 Of course not. At the end of the day, who knows 616 00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:06,920 what's going on? What are the machinations going 617 00:29:06,920 --> 00:29:08,320 on? Maybe there's a deal going on 618 00:29:08,320 --> 00:29:10,760 right now, like, OK, Pallavi, you're going to come in. 619 00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:12,960 What's in it for us? Maybe that's going on. 620 00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:15,240 Nobody knows you. You can't say hand on heart. 621 00:29:15,400 --> 00:29:18,080 Because last time I checked, Iran has a lot of the stuff that 622 00:29:18,080 --> 00:29:19,600 Trump really likes. Oil. 623 00:29:20,040 --> 00:29:21,000 Oil. Yes, exactly like. 624 00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:22,480 Venezuela. Lots of oil, yeah. 625 00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:26,200 No question he is a deal maker. And I think what what Iran, Iran 626 00:29:26,200 --> 00:29:29,120 is a pragmatist realist. We are hoping that if if there 627 00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:32,680 is a deal going on, it'll, it'll end up being for the people of 628 00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:35,840 Iran because at the moment they seem to be expendable. 629 00:29:36,200 --> 00:29:39,280 The people of Iran, like we can talk about Gaza and speak out 630 00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:41,640 for them, but no one really cares about the people of Iran 631 00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:44,560 they're getting. I think they do. 632 00:29:44,600 --> 00:29:45,320 I think. I think. 633 00:29:45,600 --> 00:29:48,400 I like to think people do, you know, but, but with with regards 634 00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:50,720 to your question, does Trump actually believe in the human 635 00:29:50,720 --> 00:29:54,040 rights of the Iranian people? I would say I don't know, I 636 00:29:54,040 --> 00:29:55,000 can't. He says he does. 637 00:29:55,040 --> 00:29:58,560 He says he does. But but we kind of understand if 638 00:29:58,560 --> 00:30:01,320 a deal is in place somehow, vaccinations behind the scenes, 639 00:30:01,320 --> 00:30:03,280 that happens. Hopefully it'll be for the 640 00:30:03,280 --> 00:30:04,600 people of Iran and not against them. 641 00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:06,640 Omid Jalili, we'll leave it there. 642 00:30:06,640 --> 00:30:08,320 Thank you very much indeed for coming on the forecast. 643 00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:10,400 Thank you very much. That's it for the forecast. 644 00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:12,200 I hope you enjoyed it. See you next time.