MOHAMMAD MARANDI: THIS WAR WAS SUPPOSED TO BREAK IRAN. IT’S BREAKING ISRAEL INSTEAD

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MOHAMMAD MARANDI: THIS WAR WAS SUPPOSED TO BREAK IRAN. IT’S BREAKING ISRAEL INSTEAD

The Israeli attack on Iran continues. Since Friday, IDF jets and missiles have hit sites across the country, carrying out targeted assassinations of key leaders and hitting buildings and other civilian infrastructure. Iran has retaliated in kind, firing missiles into Israel.

The Trump administration, which knew about the secret Israeli attack from the beginning, appears to be on the brink of fully entering the war on Israel’s side. Thus, the question arises: Are we on the verge of a major new war? And what does all this mean for the rest of the world?

Joining MintCast to discuss this is Seyed Mohammad Marandi, Professor of English Literature and Orientalism at the University of Tehran.

Professor Marandi is currently in Tehran and has survived several days of Israeli attacks. The situation in the capital, he told Mintcast host Mnar Adley, is calm. “Many people have left the city of Tehran because the government has made it sort of like COVID, where people work from home, and a lot of people are on vacation. So a lot of shops are closed. I think that will be the case for the next few days,” he said.

There is, however, a palpable sense of anger at Israel. “People are very angry at the Israeli regime,” he said. “They’re outraged. And there’s a lot of demand in Iran for the government to go much further.”

Some in the West have predicted that the government will fall like a pack of cards. Reza Pahlavi, son of the final shah of Iran, called on the public to rise up and overthrow the current administration – and presumably, crown him monarch. Marandi, however, reports that the attacks have only strengthened public resolve against Israel. “Contrary to Western wishful thinking, there’s more unity in Iran now than I’ve seen probably since the war, when Saddam Hussein invaded the country,” he said.

Marandi revealed that he has had to take several precautionary measures to limit his exposure to danger, including isolating himself from his family and friends. “Security people asked me to put my cellphone aside. And I told them it’s not possible for me because if I don’t have my cellphone, I can’t do interviews and I can’t help,” he told Adley.

The American public certainly does not support Trump’s bellicose threats towards Iran. A new poll finds that only 16% of Americans support the United States militarily involving itself in the current conflict, with 60% opposing the idea. Despite this, Trump is pushing the country towards yet another Middle Eastern war.

For Marandi, the fact that the U.S. was using its negotiations with Iran merely as a decoy to help Israel strike the country has made any future negotiations with Washington extremely difficult. “Everything has changed now,” he said, adding:

Our relationship with the West, with the United States, has changed. Trump, by being deceitful and gloating about it, has basically told the world that you cannot trust the United States in any way or form. Even if they’re speaking with you, they need to be fighting behind your back. And I think that in the future, at the negotiating table, Iran’s expectations will be much higher.”

Marandi also took aim at Western corporate media, calling it a “tool for empire” and for the U.S. war machine, with Piers Morgan, who interviewed Marandi yesterday, being chief among these tools. The British chat show host condemned Iran, claiming it was a backward regime that mistreated women. Marandi offered to host Morgan in Tehran so that he could see the reality, but this offer was rejected.

“Piers Morgan does not care about Iranian women, Iranian people, or Iranian children, just as he never cared about Gaza. When public opinion shifted against the Israeli regime over Gaza, and he felt that it was overwhelming recently, he did a couple of tweets. But that’s not a change of heart,” he said.

Watch the interview now to hear a first-hand account from the eye of the storm.

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Mnar Adley is an award-winning journalist and editor and is the founder and director of MintPress News. She is also president and director of the non-profit media organization Behind the Headlines. Adley also co-hosts the MintCast podcast and is a producer and host of the video series Behind The Headlines. Contact Mnar at mnar@mintpressnews.com or follow her on Twitter at @mnarmuh. https://www.mintpressnews.com/mohammad-marandi-war-breaking-israel-not-iran/290017/