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- [00:01]
A
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B
Welcome everyone to redacted on this very busy day. Thank you guys so much for joining us. You've got me solo today. Natalie is off but want to welcome you into the show. Today we are going to look at the truth inside of Iran because there is this massive media blackout, what life is like for the people living in Iran. The damage that's being done to the people of Iran, of course, finally got truth from the Pentagon that yes, in fact the United States did kill all of those little girls at that girl's school. So at least we got some truth there. But what is the situation on the ground with the Iranian military? What is the situation in Israel? Because there's a total blackout with the destruction inside of Israel. What about the American bases that were attacked and to our reporting, almost all destroyed. The US Is pretty much quiet on that piece as well. So we want to deep dive today what exactly is happening inside of Iran. We're joined by a very special guest from Tehran. It's very late there, but for Professor Morandi is going to be joining us here in a moment and we're going to really ask some interesting questions about what life is like and what they are currently dealing with and how does this war end for the Iranian people? We'll get to all of that. But first, you may have seen the conversations happening online lately. Censorship is back. It's happening everywhere. Platforms are controlling narratives, pushing what they want us to see and we need to fight back. I mean, just look at what's happening on X right now. Well, Rumble is the only company that has stood the test of time and deserves our support. They've been challenging big tech censorship and they've introduced something else that protects us from the big banks shutting us down. Banks can cancel accounts, freeze cards. That's why Rumble launched Rumble Wallet, which is a wallet that no one can cancel and one that supporters can actually use to instantly tip creators like our show without any middleman taking any cut of it. So with Rumble Wallet, you control your money. Not a bank, not a government, not even a tech company. Not even Rumble can touch it. It's yours. It's only yours to protect your family and your future. And you can buy and save digital assets like Bitcoin, Tether Gold, and the new usat, which is Tether's US regulated stablecoin. So it's all in one place right there in the wallet. Tether Gold is real gold on the blockchain, backed by physical gold bars. USAT helps keep your money steady against inflation with no banks needed. Rumble Wallet isn't just for buying and saving. It's also letting you support your favorite creators by tipping them with the click of a button. There's no fees when you tip our channel or any other ones. That's right. So support my show and other creators by clicking the tip button on our Rumble channel or go to wallet.rumble.com, download rumble wallet today, open an account, step away from the big banks for good. That's wallet.rumble.com or search rumble Wallet in the App Store. So what is actually happening in Iran? Because the media blackout is absolutely strong. If you turn on mainstream media, they're not going to show you what is happening inside of that country. Although some intrepid reporters have managed to get across the border and show. In fact, a CNN reporter was able to get across the border and report. Remarkable. For cnn. Okay, that's interesting. But Fox News others, no, we're not really seeing unless we see a few clips on video about people in the streets celebrating and honoring the ascension of the new ayatollah. But major media blackouts, of course. And of course we're also not seeing what's happening inside of Israel. But we wanted to go into the heart of Tehran today with Professor Morandi to find out exactly what life is like for the people living there during in the midst of all of this propaganda and continued bombing campaigns on his country and the military response from Iran. Professor, great to have you back on the show.
- [04:55]
C
Thank you very much for having me. It's a great pleasure.
- [04:59]
B
So can you tell me just over the past few days, what has life been like for the people of Iran? What kind of bombing campaigns have you seen heard reported on from the Israeli and American side? And then what has been the response from the Iranian side?
- [05:19]
C
Well, the Israeli regime and the Americans have both been bombing Tehran. And every few hours you can hear airstrikes. Sometimes they're pretty bad and sometimes they're light. And they've been largely targeting civilian infrastructure. There are no bases or anything in particular that they're striking that would have an impact on the war. They have failed to stop Iran from firing missiles and drones. They keep saying that Iran is running out of missiles and drones. And. But that's not what we're seeing. Iran is regularly firing missiles at the Israeli regime and a combination of drones and missiles at U.S. assets in the Persian Gulf. Not just us, not just U.S. bases, but anything that Iran defines as U.S. assets. So. But. But what we're seeing in Tehran is the continued bombing of civilian infrastructure, bombing of apartment blocks, schools, police stations, local police stations, because what they're trying to do is to destroy the fabric of society. And Tehran isn't particularly crowded right now because after the massacre of the children on day one, the government shut schools and universities. So people have left the city. People, they go some. A lot of shops are open. A lot of shops are closed. And every day there are rallies. People. Today they held the funeral for the commanders who were murdered. Very large crowd. And at night, every night, people are on the streets in different parts of Tehran and other cities in solidarity with the armed forces. And it's very interesting, Clayton, They. When they're on the streets, they're attacked. You see airstrikes, you see missiles impact close by. I was at one of those rallies a couple of days ago, and people didn't budge. Women, men. It was quite stunning. They were. They were chanting slogans in defense of the armed forces, the leader in condemnation of the war and the aggression. But when the US and the Israelis would fire their missiles and those missiles would strike near these rallies, it had no impact. The only impact that it would have was that people would chant louder. No stampede. My. I assumed that what they wanted to do was to terrorize people, cause a stampede, have tens, if not hundreds of people killed, but nothing. They just stood there and continued with business as usual.
- [08:25]
B
What are they chanting? What are they saying? Because if you read or hear from, like, the Trump administration or US Media, you know, Iranians are taking to the street. They're thrilled that the United States is bombing them. They're being liberated now. They don't have to wear a hijab anymore. Women are free to, you know, I don't know, listen to whatever music they want, thanks to Trump. Like, that's. That's the Western version of the story. What. What say you?
- [08:56]
C
You know, Clinton, this is 47 years of nonsense about Iran that has accumulated. They've created narrative, a narrative, and there's no way to escape it. If you tell the truth. They call it propaganda. My students in my department, they are extremely fluent in English. Some of them are more fluent than I. They watch movies, they listen to music, they read American politics, they read what they have to say. With regards to Iran, they're far more knowledgeable about the United States than Americans are about Iran. And not just my students in general. In Iran, English is our second language. So I mean, they teach movies at universities, in the arts, in the fine arts department, and in, in our department, literature, they teach Hollywood movies that have, let's say, a certain quality that makes them artistic. So this is all just nonsense. But the issue is that there's a lobby in the United States that is keen, the Israeli lobby, the Zionist lobby, that is keen on always antagonizing Iran. And that Orientalism of old, along with the narratives that existed for decades against Iran, contributes and helps them reinforce these ridiculous narratives. Otherwise, in Iran, we have women pilots, we have women taxi drivers, we have women scientists. I'm a professor at the University of Tehran. I've been a professor for 22 years now. Of those 22 years, 18 of those years, the dean of my faculty has been one woman or another. For 18 of my 22 years at the University of Tehran, my boss has been a woman. But you think from the narrative in the west that like, women are battered or beaten? No. They have their own positions of power. They are academics, they're scientists, they're businesswomen. But we are demonized. We are called extremists. We are. The US Secretary of State says that we are. We have this end of times ideology. We're not the ones who are like the Christian Zionists who are saying that at the end of time, billions of people are going to die. So they attribute their own strange ideology to us. Our problem is that we just want to be independent and that we support groups, organizations, peoples that are under the yoke of empire, whether it's Palestine, whether it's Cuba, whether it's Venezuela or whether it's Southern Africa. This is Iran's sin. Otherwise, there's nothing strange about Iran. You go into a shop, you go down the streets, normal people, normal life. People go. It is a very safe country. People go to parks at midnight and play volleyball. Families have picnics. It's much more safe than it is in the United States and in much of Europe. But how can you combat, how can you deal with the mainstream media? Whether it's the left or the right or the liberals, the mainstream media, they have created a narrative that really complements each other. There's no real difference between Fox News and CNN and MSNBC when it comes to Iran, it is demonized. One may be more sophisticated in its presentation, the other may be more bombastic, but at the end of the day, Iran is evil. Even when Iran is attacked, even when it is acts of war are carried out against it, somehow it is blamed, as we see all the time in Western media, in think tanks. So they bomb Iran, yet Iran is condemned. They slaughter Iranian children, yet Iran is condemned. They even try to blame Iran and try to pretend that it was the Iranians that killed their own people. This is the state of affairs that we're dealing with.
- [13:36]
B
When, after the school was bombed and when America bombed that school and killed all of those little girls, what were Iranians saying about it? Were they surprised that the United States or the Trump administration was trying to spin it to say that Iran would have bombed their own girls? I mean, what was the sentiment from your students or just in the hallways at Tehran University? University of Tehran, just down the street at the cafe, et cetera?
- [14:11]
C
Well, I don't think there's a lot of surprise among young people there. There was a segment of young people, older generations, they know how the world works. When the west was supporting Saddam Hussein, they gave him chemical weapons to use against us. They gave him chemical weapons to massacre people, and yet he was never condemned. Then when Saddam invaded Kuwait, suddenly chemical weapons became an issue. People in Iran, older people, remember this sort of thing. They remember the United States downing an Iranian airliner, then lying and tried to pretend that it was Iran's fault. And only years later did they admit that it was their fault. And they never apologized. So older people do remember all these things, younger people. This is, I think, a key point because I had conversations with three young people in my faculty who contacted me. Two of them I didn't even know. And they said that they were involved in riots. They were not like the terrorists who were gunning down police officers or those who were knifing and killing people. They were just on the streets. I don't know what they did. I didn't ask. I don't want to know. But they were remorseful and they were asking me, what can we do to help? And I said, well, go to so and so or so and so, see if you can help protect the streets or to help the wounded. But the point is that these three young people, two of them were quite emotional, actually. One of them, I mean, anyway, so these people, they had completely turned. They shifted 180 degrees.
- [16:00]
B
Why?
- [16:01]
C
Because they saw these crimes. They saw that the United States slaughtered these little girls, these little kids, and then they were trying to blame Iran for it. And they've been bombing hospitals. They bombed the Red Cross, the main building of the Red Crescent Society. They bombed the emergency services, the National Emergency Services Center. And you have all these double tap attacks. People are seeing it on a daily basis. They see heavy bombing in very crowded neighborhoods in Tehran, and it's happening across the board. They bombed a gymnasium where girls were playing volleyball, and they killed them all. I think 21 people were killed. I'm not sure about the number, but I think it was 21 people. Most of them were the girls playing volleyball, as far as I recall. But, you know, if you watch Western media, it's our fault. And if you watch Western media, Iran is evil, and they are coming to emancipate the Iranian people by killing them.
- [17:09]
B
When you look at the attacks on the oil infrastructure inside of Iran, where the skies were raining oil, it was a black cloud over everything. Just absolutely horrible. Of course, these are attacks, you know, whether it's on water infrastructure, oil infrastructure, really on civilians, but it's their ability to provide for their families and get food in many ways. Like you attack a d, you know, you attack water purification plants. It's really a war crime, actually. Actually, it is a war crime. So these attacks on oil infrastructure, reports are that the United States asked Israel to not do that, and Israel went ahead and did it anyway. And the Trump administration was, for what it's worth, upset about it. You know, what does that matter? They're still working in lockstep with Israel anyway. But reports are this past, in the past week that the United States was upset with Israel for attacking the Iranian oil infrastructure. How devastating was that for Iran? And do you believe that the United States was angry at Israel for making those attacks?
- [18:29]
C
It's hard to say if they were really angry, because when you see how Trump has been reacting to the obvious fact that he murdered those kids and the fact that the, this was carried out on the first day, it was, I think it was like the initial strikes and Iranians hadn't, they had. Nothing had happened for the Iranians to respond. And of course, Iran does not have tomahawks. But so the fact that he was trying to pin the blame on Iran makes Iranians believe that there really isn't much of a case to make that Trump was upset or the, the, his, his people were upset, but no one knows, really. Yeah, but I think, you know, if you, there is a movie that you may have seen the Lord of the Rings along many years ago and Mordor. And every place, the sky is dark. Tehran was like that. They. The fuel depots at the Tehran refinery were attacked and depots in another part of the city simultaneously were attacked. So the whole sky was black and people would cough and everywhere you touched was dirty, was oily, was if you touch your car, if you touch the doorknob on outside. And so imagine like people. I mean, I survived two chemical attacks, so for me, it was a threat just going outside, infants. And of course, this causes cancer. And then it rained and the rain was like. Like if you had a white car, it would be black, it would be like a zebra, black stripes. That's how bad it was on the. If you went to the rooftop of your house, it would be oil. The ground, the floor would be. Would be oily, the roof would be oily. So it was. It was a. It was horrific. And God knows what sort of damage it has caused to people who inhale. And then, of course, we had rain and as I said, and then wind. And after a couple of days, the skies cleared, but the damage was done and the pollution was pushed towards Iran's northeast and then towards Central Asia. So a lot of other people, besides the people of Tehran, I'm sure are going to be affected. It's like a chemical attack.
- [21:16]
B
Yeah, well, I can only imagine.
- [21:19]
C
And a lot of people were. And a lot of people were burned alive, like the poor workers in the, in the refinery and the people with, you know, who are, you know, they were just doing their jobs and then suddenly these explosions happen and they. They're all just burned to death. And then the fire seeps outside into the, into the streets where people's homes are. It was. It was horrific.
- [21:45]
B
I want to ask you about the infrastructure in Iran, what you know of it and how intact it is, and the Iranian military capacity, because we get, again, stories about Iran's military. I also want to get your take on what's happening in the Strait of Hormuz over the past few days, and then also what's happening in Israel, in Iran's response. So I want to get to all of that, but I just want to take a quick break first. Well, the next pandemic, according to the experts, isn't a virus. It's antimicrobial resistance or when antibiotics no longer work. But here's what they're not talking about. The real damage isn't just the resistant bacteria. It's what decades of antibiotic overuse does to your gut. Antibiotics don't just kill the bad bacteria. They wipe out the good ones too. So when your gut microbiome gets thrown off, everything starts to break down. Immune function, metabolism, inflammation, even brain health. You feel foggy. And the most powerful way to rebuild that kind of microbial diversity is through a century old fermented food called kimchi. That's right. Kimchi contains over 900 unique strains of beneficial probiotics that are naturally antimicrobial. Which means it's antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, anti parasitic. Because it's not just killing everything. It's not about just killing everything. It's about restoring balance in your body. That's exactly why Brightcore created Kimchi one. It delivers the full microbial ecosystem of fresh kimchi in convenient daily capsules, cold processed, dried, to deliver all the nutrition of natural fermented kimchi. If you want to strengthen your gut, support your immune system and rebuild microbial diversity the right way, then you need to check them out. All you need to do is go to mybrightcore.com redacted to get 25% off your entire order. That's right. Or for an even better deal, if you want to call our friends at bright core for 50% off, you get 50% off. If you just get on the phone with them, call them 888-404-6312. Get on the phone and actually get 50% off from our friends at Brightcore. All of the things that I just talked about are in the description below. Okay, we're back with Professor Morandi from Tehran, Iran, about what exactly is happening inside of that country again amidst this massive media blackout, that we're not getting to see the truth from where his country stands right now. So, of course, professor, we're hearing that of course things are awful, that the Iranian military is in tatters, that the Iranian air force was destroyed. We spoke with Colonel MacGregor who said, well, Iran really didn't have a massive air force after the Shah anyway, that was. That's kind of a moot point. But the Navy, et cetera, missile infrastructure, that if you listen to the Department of War and the press conferences coming out of the United States Pentagon, the united, the, the Iranian military is in tatters and you guys are set to surrender. What, what, what do you know of the condition of the Iranian.
- [24:52]
C
Well, the air force is intact. And what the Americans and Israelis have been quite often doing is that they've been bombing decoys. And I've posted a couple of the footage that they themselves a couple of videos that they themselves posted online as successful strikes. And I showed that these are not actually real helicopters or jets. So, for example, you'd have an explosion, but you'd see it was clear that the helicopter was a painting on the ground and it didn't move after the explosion. There was no change. So Iran has, especially during the last eight, nine months, been deploying decoys all over the countries, Whether it's planes or helicopters or whether its launchers with missiles, they have a lot of that. The navy, they did strike Iranian naval ships, but the real Iranian naval strength is underground. They have these underground bases full of speedboats that fire missiles surface to sea, sea missiles and sea to surface missiles. And those bases I posted on Twitter or one of those bases, those are all intact. The Iranians have not yet deployed any of those. So Iran's navy, the navy that is, that would be used for a war, an asymmetrical war, or for asymmetrical warfare that is entirely intact. The Iranian air force is not used a lot, but they're mostly in the bases to the east of the country, the northeast of the country, where U.S. access is much more limited. But the missiles and the drones are being fired day and night. And the Americans and the Israeli regime keep saying that they're running out of launchers, they're running, running out of missiles, but they're firing like there's no tomorrow. The numbers may have decreased because they don't need to fire all that many missiles. And on in the first few days, they were using old missiles, very cheap missiles, in order to have the Americans and the, in the Persian Gulf and the Israeli regime use up their air defenses. But after they began, after their defenses were more or less being finished, the Iranians would fire fewer missiles and they would get through. So they don't have to fire large numbers, but they are consistently firing missiles and drones at targets in the Persian Gulf and also at targets in, in, in the Israeli regime. As we speak. Just moments ago, the Iranians fired another volley of missiles both towards, towards the Israeli regime, but also a bit earlier than that to the, at the Persian Gulf.
- [28:02]
B
So let's talk about the Persian Gulf. Let's talk also about the Strait of Hormuz. Of course, the reports over the past few days is that there's some members of the Trump administration who are pushing President Trump and the Pentagon to try to capture or attack, take over the island of Kharg. Excuse me if I'm not pronouncing that correctly. The small island off of the coast of Iran which is responsible for 90% of Iranians oil deployments there to those tankers. Of course, the military analysts that I talked to have said that it would be absolute disaster if the United States tries to do that. So what do you know about the plans to try to take over that island and what do you believe would be the Iranian response to that?
- [28:50]
C
Well, first of all, let's assume that somehow they take that island. What difference is it going to make? The Strait of Hormuz is closed. No oil is going to leave the Strait of Hormuz unless the Iranians agree to it. So in order to open the Strait of Hormuz, they would have to attack the Strait of Hormuz, not the island, the Khark island that you allude to. And Iran has been preparing defenses across the Persian Gulf, both naval and on the shore for decades, ever since the United States invaded Afghanistan and Iraq and called Iran the Axis of evil during the State of the Union address. Bush did so before the war in Iraq. And then Bush would say all options are on the table. And Obama, Obama continue to continued with the same rhetoric. Iran has been preparing itself with the United States because they've always assumed that ultimately the United States at some point is going to attack. So Iranian missile and drone defenses that are directed at the Persian Gulf are much more, are much greater and, and the firepower is much greater than what they've directed towards the Israeli regime. The Israeli regime is targeted by long range missiles. But what the Iranians have for the Persian Gulf are long range missiles, short range missiles, medium range missiles, cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, drones. They have all sorts of weapons. And then of course the navy, the speedboats and all that that are in these underground bases too. So if there's going to be, if the Americans launch an attack on, let's say, to take, to open the Strait of Hormuz, they're going to have warfare and there are going to be lots of dead people. And then all those tankers in the Persian Gulf are going to be destroyed and then the oil and gas installations are going to be destroyed. So what's the use of having the Strait of Hormones open if there's no tankers or if there's no oil and gas working, oil and gas insulation to give oil to those non existent tankers to take out of the Strait of Hormuz? So this is not a scenario that Trump can carry out. And in order to wage a ground war with Iran, he'd have to bring in more troops than he had for, than the United States had for the, the first Iraq war. It's just not. It's just not doable. And Iran is much more powerful than Iraq ever was. It's. I, I think if you want to compare Iran, you'd have to compare to Afghanistan, Vietnam, Iraq, all of these combined, and you still don't have Iran. So. And, and if something happens in the Persian Gulf region, if, if the oil and gas installations are destroyed, that will bring down the global economy. The, the strategic reserves can last for a few weeks, and many countries don't even have strategic reserves. But after that, what are they going to do when the price of oil goes, I don't know, $250. That'll bring about collapse. The global economy is already doing quite poorly, and the U.S. economy, you know, much better than I. So this is not this. This would be a scenario where Trump loses. The only solution is for the United States to back down for compensation be given to Iran by these regimes in the Persian Gulf that allow the United States to have those bases to attack Iran. From there, they have to compensate Iran because they are complicit in the war. And Iran has to have assurances, real assurances, facts on the ground, assurances that there will be no more attacks. Not a piece of paper, because Trump last time around tore up the jcpoa, and we've already had two rounds of negotiations with the United States. And during those negotiations, they kept moving the goalposts, and then ultimately it turned out that they were secretly conspiring to attack us. So negotiations in the traditional sense don't work anymore. We don't trust Trump.
- [33:03]
B
And why would you. Yeah, why would you. Yeah, you show up for peace negotiations or, you know, some sort of a negotiation, and then you're bombed in Qatar. So. Yeah, I don't understand.
- [33:19]
C
Exactly.
- [33:21]
B
So on the professor, so many questions here, but we, you know, hearing from the Western media again over the past week or so that there are. There's an invasion, boots on the ground, Kurds who are, you know, coming in to assist the United States and Israel pouring across the border. This was initially reported. The Western media ran with it. It was all over X. And then of course, that had to be walked back completely, that there was no truth to that whatsoever. So what is the truth right now about any sort of a border invasion by Kurds or otherwise in Iran?
- [34:05]
C
Clayton? If the United States is able to convince these Kurdish terror groups that the west funds and the Israelis fund that are based in northern Iraq, if they convince them to Attack Iran? First of all, they'll be defeated. But then what will happen? The Iranians and the Iraqis will attack the autonomous Kurdish local Kurdish government in northern Iraq and they'll put an end to it. The Iranians already said that if you allow these terrorists to attack us, we will blame you. And they're not powerful. It's a, you know, it's a mafia government controlled by a family, the Barisani family. So no country in the region wants them to be independent. So you will have Iranians and Iraqis together undermine that government, the big semi autonomous Kurdish government in Arabin, not Iran. So, but what the problem is that the Americans are, they're just looking for some way to harm Iran. But what they've done in this 12 day war, they have harmed Iran, but they've harmed their own allies and themselves far more than they've heard Iran. How much, I mean you understand economics, I'm sure much better than I. How much damage, permanent damage has been done to the Emirates, Qatar, the Kuwaitis, the Saudis, the Bahrainis.
- [35:38]
B
Right.
- [35:39]
C
It's never going to go back to normal. It's never going to go back to normal. No one is ever going to go to these countries like they did two weeks ago and live there and feel and put confidence there, put their money there. It's over. And those assets are a part of the American sphere of influence. They're within the American sphere of influence. The money that the Americans get from the oil that they sell, they, they go, A lot of it goes to the U.S. stock Exchange. A lot of it goes to buy weapons that they cannot use. I mean, has a population of 400,000 emirates. Emirates has a population of 1.4 million. I'm talking about passport holders, not the millions of indentured servants or the semi slaves or others who are working there. These are not countries that can buy fighter jets and use them. They just buy them, get kickbacks. Those people of influence in the United States get their, their, get their commission or kickbacks and that's it. Now a lot of the money therefore that that is received from selling oil and gas goes to the United States. It goes to the, the bond market, it goes to the stock exchange, it goes to purchasing weapons. And that is not going to be like it was before. So the United States has shot itself in the foot by engaging in war with Iran. It's not just the military expenses which are enormous because the United States has to bring everything from across the ocean. But it's the indirect costs and of course the price of oil that has gone up and will continue to go up. So it's a foolish war, and. And they're pushing all these countries towards confrontation. And these countries, these tiny countries are all losing out as a result. Go to the UN Security Council and condemn Iran. But the fact is, is that these tiny Arab countries hosted US Bases, and they're complicit in the war. And if they push these Kurdish groups attack Iran, the same is going to happen. They may kill some Iranians, but ultimately the Iranians are going to push them back. The Iraqis are going to hit hard, and that will be the end of the autonomous government in northern Iraq. So ultimately, it will be the United States that loses more than anyone else. The problem, Clayton, is that the United States is not working in its interests. It's working in the interests of the Israeli regime. It is actually sacrificing its interests in its interests, the interests of the American people. It's been doing that for years. If it wasn't for the Israeli regime, we would have an embassy, a US Embassy in Iran, and there would be an Iranian embassy in the US Right now. But Israel.
- [38:29]
B
Yeah, we'll let that happen. Professor, just stick with me here for a few more minutes. I just. I want to ask you a few more questions, if you'd be so kind. I know it's super late there, so thank you for staying awake with us here at Redacted. Really appreciate it. Trying to get this message out again. This is deeply, deeply disturbing and difficult to get, you know, information out to the American people for what's happening inside of Tehran. So just stay right there. We're going to take a quick break, and we'll be right back. All right, men, we need to talk about your health. Because I recently turned 49 years old. Yes. On New Year's and workouts, just don't feel the same. Recovery time hasn't felt the same. It's not something we want to admit as we get a little bit older, but that is the case. Maybe the same workouts we've been doing for a while, you just sort of hit like a brick wall. Like, the next day you're like, oh, my God. Why is my whole. Whole body feel like I just got beat up? Well, I kind of treated this year as a bit of a reset. I've now lost about 10 pounds. I want to feel energized again. And one of the ways that I'm doing that is I'm taking Mars men. It helps my body unlock testosterone so you can feel like yourself again. Because here's what I learned. Your body makes testosterone, but a lot of it gets locked up and can't be used. And there's this protein called SHBG that basically handcuffs your testosterone. Even if your body's making testosterone, sometimes you just can't access it. S H B G actually blocks it. It's kind of crazy. It's like having money in the bank but your debit card doesn't work or you're debanked and you can't get access to it. So if you want stronger physical performance and recovery in the gym and just more natural energy, even as you get a little bit older, you've got to try this. It's not like drinking a cup of coffee where you just have these crashes. No, it's a steadier sense of drive throughout the day. The best part is they'll have 90 day money back guarantee so there's no risk. And it supports healthy T levels, energy and stamina. If you want to feel better in 2026, it includes eight natural clinically dosed ingredients. Tongkat Ali, vitamin D, zinc boron and more. It's made in the US and it's third party tested. So for a limited time our listeners can get 50% off for life plus free shipping and three free gifts at. If you go to this website, Mengotomars.com Mengotomars.com it's the perfect way to kick off the new year strong. That's mengotomars.com for 50% off and three free gifts. And after you purchase, they're going to ask where you heard about them. Please support our show and tell them that you heard about them through redacted. All right, back with Professor Morandi. It's very late in Tehran right now at the University of Tehran. Try to get the information out about what is actually happening there. What is the state of the Iranian economy? What is the state of the Iranian people? Are they being able to go about their normal daily activities, going to school, going shopping, or is everyone sort of under lockdown? You know, you get the idea that, you know, people aren't on the streets at all. What, maybe you can just talk in general, broad strokes, maybe not. In Tehran, which has, as you mentioned mentioned, a lot of people have left the city of Tehran, which is a big target and go on other areas. But is, is life kind of progressing as normal across the country? Yes.
- [41:50]
C
I mean, I'm in Tehran. I never left, so I haven't, I don't have any firsthand experience about what goes on outside of Tehran. But my friends who did leave or my friends who actually live outside of Tehran say that, for example, a lot of the people who live in Tehran went to their hometowns or they went to the north on alongside the Caspian Sea and they had an extended vacation. There have been airstrikes there, too, and missile strikes there, too, but not like in Tehran. But ultimately, people are going to have to come back. For those who stayed in Tehran, it's been, you go, but you have to go about doing your business. But. But there is fear. I mean, for example, my. I have family members, women who are terrified and who are always depressed, or maybe not depressed. Depressed is not the right word, but feeling down. And they're constantly worried about the kids. And then their fear. You can see its impact on the children because the children, their mother, so fearful. And then they don't know what this is about. And then the explosions come and the children are fearful. It, you know, it has a psychological impact. But, but, Clayton, as I, you know, the Iranians who go to the streets at night and during the day under the airstrikes, these very same women who at home, when they're at home with their kids and they're worried and, and they're down, when they're on the streets, they're like lions or lionesses. It's. It's stunning. I witnessed this when I went to one of these rallies, and there are like, I guess 10 or 12 missiles that struck. Really loud explosions one after another. And it wasn't far off from the rally. And the rally was huge. And like, I don't know, maybe the hundreds of thousands. There's a lot of people have left Tehran. No one budged. I had never seen anything like that in my life. I'd never even seen it online or anything. But it does have this impact. And when I'm out, let's say, and there are explosions, they'll call me from home just to see if I'm alive. I mean, Tehran is a huge city and, you know, if a bomb explodes somewhere, it's like New York. It's not as if the whole city is going to be impacted. You may be in the east of Tehran and you may not even hear the explosions in the west of Tehran and vice versa, or the north and the south. It's a very big city. But in any case, life is not normal. People are concerned, but they are confident there is a confidence in Iran that they will persevere. They do feel that they have the upper hand.
- [44:37]
B
When you hear us politicians say that we, that the United States didn't start this war, that Israel didn't start this war, that Iran started this war 47 years ago and we are ending it. That's the, that's the lines from the American politicians. What do the Iranian people think about that when they hear that? What do you think about that?
- [45:01]
C
Well, if we want to look at it that way, the war began with the coup in 1953 that the Americans and the British carried out and they overthrew the Iranian government. And by the way, Clayton, back then in 1953, the very same terminology and, and, and hostile language that you see today in Western media was used against the Prime Minister at that time, Dr. Mossadegh. Then they installed the Shah. For two and a half decades, they created his secret police, tortured people, killed people. Then during the popular revolution, the army gunned down people on a regular basis for months. And on Black Friday in Tehran, a huge number of people were slaughtered by the army. And then the next day the Jimmy Carter called the Shah and gave him his full support. So after the revolution, here I think is the key point. After the revolution, the United States gave the Shah who had carried out all these atrocities, refuge. And the US Embassy was clear that it was working with different groups to bring about a coup and civil war. They're talking to these Kurdish terrorist groups, they're talking to people who are from the army before the revolution, former generals and that sort of people, those sort of people. So it was clear that the US Embassy was involved in undermining this new revolutionary government. And they had given refuge to the Shah, the students who took the US embassy, remember 1953, where the Shah, where the US carried out a coup with the British and reinstalled the Shah. They were afraid that the United States was going to do it again. So what did they do? They preemptively took the US Embassy. That is the context of the embassy takeover. When you look at it from that perspective, it's very different from the way. It's not as if like the Americans were minding their own business. Relations between Iran and the United States were always great. The Americans were handing out free pizzas all the time. And then suddenly these mad people go in, these university students and take these embassy people hostage. That there was fear in Iran that the United States was, and they would probably have done so. You know, that as they say it's attributed to Kissinger, although apparently he never said that, but he said, being an American, I don't know if it's been attributes it to him. But they say that the only, wherever there is an embassy, the reason why there's no coup in the United States is that there's no American Embassy. So the American Embassy in Iran. Yeah, the American Embassy in Iran was seen as a threat. Okay, so they held the hostages. After 444 days, they released them. But it didn't end there. The United States supported Saddam Hussein. The west gave Saddam Hussein chemical weapons. They aided him for eight years. Then the sanctions began. The United States supported ISIS and Al Qaeda. I mean the policies. If you go to an Iranian cemetery, a war cemetery, hundreds of people, I mean almost 200,000, almost 200,000 Iranians were killed in the eight year long war that the west supported. Where the west supported Saddam Hussein. Many died of chemical weapons, including young men like myself. I survived chemical attacks. But how many graveyards in the United States are full of Americans who are slaughtered by Iranians? How many? Like 10,000, 50,000, 100,000? No, no, none.
- [48:55]
B
None.
- [48:55]
C
In fact, this is another interesting thing. The Americans always talk, you know, the elites, ordinary Americans, you know, they're minding their own business. They just hear the propaganda and many of them believe it. But they talk about Lebanon and they say, oh, the embassy or the Marines in Lebanon. The Israelis invaded Lebanon. They took the capital. And then the United States, the French, they put forces there. People in Lebanon wanted foreigners expelled. They attacked the Americans. They were Lebanese. Just like in Iraq, just like in Vietnam, just like in Afghanistan. Whether you like them or not, when you have an eye, if Iran tomorrow invaded, I don't know Turkmenistan, well, the Turkmenistan people would resist. Maybe the Russians will help them, maybe the Chinese will help them, but they're going to resist. They don't want Iranians there. So instead of blaming Iran for what happened in Lebanon, instead of blaming Iran for what happened in Iraq or Afghanistan or the revolution, the United States should, should rethink its policies. If they have decent relations with different countries, we wouldn't be in this situation at all.
- [50:09]
B
Can you talk a little bit about what you know of the attacks and destruction inside of Israel? This, this is the largest black hole right now. The media blackout and prison sentences, by the way, for reportedly for people in Israel talking about any kind of damage or any specifics. And in the United States military, radio silence about the attacks inside of Israel. So to anyone watching Fox News or MSNBC or otherwise, Israel's fine. Nothing has been happening inside of Israel like if you flip on Fox News, and I did the other day while I was at the, when I was at the gymnasium, no coverage of any attacks inside of Israel. So what do you know? Is Israel fine? Has Iran just not struck Israel Israeli targets at all?
- [51:01]
C
Well, from my understanding, the Iranians are saying that the missiles are getting through and that the air defenses are not working and that there's a lot of devastation across Israel. And if we go Back to the 12 Day War, where the Iranians were hammering Tel Aviv and other cities, I have no reason not to believe that this is happening, especially because Israelis have not been able to completely prepare themselves like before with air defenses. And Iranian missiles now are more advanced than they were back then. And the Iranians have built even more advanced missiles. So when during the 12 Day War, the Israeli regime was the side that was seeking a ceasefire and during the last three days, they were being hit very hard, I don't see how it makes sense that it would be not even worse today. But the censorship now in the Israeli regime is far greater than it was eight, nine months ago.
- [52:08]
B
Well, when you hear about the Iron Dome and whether or not, you know, these missiles are getting through, we've heard reports that Iran was using, as you even said, some of the older missiles, the inexpensive missiles. Has Iran really started using some of the more expensive hypersonics and other more advanced technologies? You did mention some of the cluster munitions, but for the most part, have they still been using the inexpensive ammunition?
- [52:37]
C
They are, but they are slowly moving towards more advanced. Not the most advanced, but they're moving towards the more advanced missiles. But the first seven days, or maybe eight days, I'm not quite sure. It was most, most, almost exclusively missiles that were built 15, 16 years ago.
- [53:01]
B
Wow. Well, and I guess lastly, sort of ask you about the American base infrastructure in the Gulf and the relationship with the Gulf countries. Now, given attacks on oil infrastructure in Oman and Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. This, of course, is the great fear is that the massive oil infrastructure and then also the water infrastructure, the desalinization, which could render these countries completely incapacitated. The United Arab Emirates, which rely, of course, I think, exclusively on desalinization. So first to the American bases, do you again, this is another blackout. Even the satellite companies that were responding and providing aerial information about these bases have shut down and blacked out now, so we can't see it. The American bases in the region, have they largely been destroyed?
- [53:57]
C
Yes, very badly damaged and destroyed. And Iran has its means of getting that information and they do publish their own satellite imagery. I don't know why the US Media won't show it, because Iran does publish some of these things. But also Iran has a lot of people on the ground in Palestine. They have a lot of Palestinians and some Israelis that actually spy for Iran, just like there are Iranians who spy for the Israelis and in the Persian Gulf, they have lots of people who are sympathetic to Iran and who I assume assist them in some form or another, or at least there, who are telling others what's exactly happening. But the damage is very extensive. But again, Clayton, the key point is that Iran did not start this war. Oil was going through the Strait of hormones, all of these petrochemical and. And plants and the refineries and the oil and gas installations and the. And the tankers were all functioning. It was the United States and the Israeli regime that launched this war and continue to escalate. And continue to escalate. Iran does not want to see the oil and gas assets destroyed. Iran does not want to see the global economy go down. But the Israeli regime is hell bent on getting its way, which is completely against the interests of the United States and the interests of the world. So, ultimately, if we do have this massive destruction of oil and gas installations and desalination plants, and the global economy will collapse, and the US Economy will collapse, and that will be the end of Trump's presidency, without a doubt. But who is pushing this? It's the Israeli firsters. No one else. It is the Israeli firsters that are pushing us towards. Towards unchartered territory. Because imagine if the global economy, like, if the global economy collapses, what does that mean? Not only will people lose their jobs, I mean, Americans who are so worried, many Americans who are angry about immigration or illegal immigrants or whatever you call them, you'll have millions of people on the move then, more than we've ever seen in human history. In Asia and Africa and Latin America, they'll be going to places that themselves are collapsing. But since these are the traditional areas where people would go to, they'd be going there. The catastrophe would be global. And God forbid the world goes in that direction. But this is where the Israeli regime and the Zionists are pushing things.
- [56:44]
B
Finally, I guess I'll ask you, professor, the off ramp seems like President Trump is backtracking as much as he can over the past week or so. Seems like there's really mixed signals coming out from the Trump administration. Senators who met with President Trump last week, you know, were behind closed doors, deeply troubled that there didn't seem to be any kind of plan at all for this war. What is the end game? Even, I think, last, you know, we heard the other day from Steve Witkoff, who said he doesn't know how this war ends for the Iranian side. How does this war end for the Iranian side?
- [57:27]
C
Well, in Iran, it is widely believed that Wyckoff and Kushner either lied to Trump to start the war, or Trump is lying because Trump said that Witkoff told him that the Iranians told him that they want to build nuclear weapons. It's nonsense. In fact, first of all, there was a mediator. There was. There was the. There was. The Oman's foreign minister mediated between the two sides. He went to Washington right before the United States initiated the war and said that great progress was made. So what he says is the exact opposite of the lies that Wycoff was making, or what. What Trump is attributing to Wyckoff. We don't know. Maybe Trump is just making this up. And Iran, which was official policy, is that it does not want. And according to US Intelligence, it hasn't been pursuing it, and according to the International Atomic Energy Agencies, it hasn't been producing it at the negotiating table. It would tell Witkoff that, yeah, yes, we want to build nuclear weapons. That doesn't make any sense. And as I said, the. The Omani foreign minister was, you know, it was an indirect talk, so he. He would know. So the belief in Tehran is that Witkoff is discredited. If what Trump says is true, Witkoff was lying to push for a war. And of course, we know that Witkoff is a Zionist. We know that Kushner is a Zionist. So. And then if you. In order to have an off ramp, you have to have some sort of credibility. If I have stolen money from you on multiple occasions, are you going to give me a loan? You're not. You're not going to trust me anymore? We negotiated, and then they. They bombed us. So the off ramp is going to. The only way to have it, to have a peace, is for Iran to be compensated by these Arab dictatorships in the region and for the facts on the ground to change so that Iran is reassured that the United States will not do this anymore. These countries in the Persian Gulf region can no longer be a threat to Iran. And the facts on the ground have to be as such, that the Iranians feel that their national security is not threatened for the years to come. Otherwise, how can we have an off ramp where eight months from now, again, Trump makes some outlandish claim about Iran and then starts bombing and obedient media, whether CNN or MSNBC or the Guardian or Breitbart Fox News, they're all going to demonize Iran and no one is going to show any outrage about dead kids or blown up hospitals or murdered mothers.
- [60:23]
B
Professor Morandi, we really appreciate it. Again, we know it's late there in Iran and, you know, very difficult with Internet access and everything else that you're dealing with. So thank you for sharing your side of this with the world, with the American people, so people can watch this and make up their own minds about what facts they're being told and what is being hidden from them right now. Professor, thank you so much.
- [60:53]
C
Thank you, Clayton. It's a great pleasure.
- [60:55]
B
So our thanks to Professor Morandi. Very, very late there for the professor and just, I mean, incredibly eye opening to hear that perspective, particularly the end talking about Kushner and Witkoff and how it's widely known across Iran that they're lying to President Trump to really, I mean, in many ways giving him the benefit of the doubt that he's being lied to. I think that's pretty clear that those people surrounding him are lying to him or keeping information from him. But at the end of the day, the buck stops with the President of the United States and he's getting his news from Fox News and he's surrounded by liars. That's a problem. But very interesting to hear that perspective. So thanks to Professor Mirandi for that. All right. Hey, we have a store if you want to support independent journalism. Visit our redacted store. We've got new merchandise over there right now, like our Don't Tread on Me redacted T shirts, which are hoodies and T shirts. Our Conspiracy Knower T shirts, very popular as well. Our hoodies and mugs, all of it. You can check out stickers, bumper stickers for the back of the car and some great mugs as well. Check everything out. Go over there and see if there's anything you would really like for the family, for yourself. Go to redacted store.com. and our redacted store is built on the backs of Shopify, as you know. So check them out. And the Fed. It's one of my favorite T shirts. I was wearing that the other day and so I was like, I love your shirt. And the Fed, like, yes. All right, so thank you guys so much for joining us. We really appreciate it. And we'll be back here tomorrow at 4:00pm Eastern Time. Have a great night, everyone.
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D
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