➡ Gerald Celente talks about how Evan Demarsh interviewed Professor Mohammad Morandi from the University of Tehran about the Iranian nuclear talks. The professor explained that Iran is committed to the negotiations, despite the U.S.’s inconsistent stance on nuclear enrichment. He also mentioned that the Iranian public is becoming less interested in the talks due to the U.S.’s shifting positions. Lastly, he discussed the potential for a U.S. strike on Iran, stating that Iran has prepared for this possibility and has a sophisticated air defense capacity.

➡ The US’s conflict with the Houthis and potential conflict with Iran could lead to significant consequences, as Iran has a strong military and advanced weapons. The US’s past actions have led to a lack of trust from Iran, regardless of whether the president is Biden or Trump. The US has a history of not upholding its agreements, which has caused frustration and anger in Iran. The potential for conflict is further complicated by various pressures on the US president from different groups.

➡ Iran is unwilling to depend on the U.S. for fuel for its power plants, fearing economic crisis and wasted investment if the U.S. blocks fuel purchases. The situation in Gaza is dire, with humanitarian centers being set up but people being killed when they approach. The U.S. and Europe are seen as supporting Israel’s actions, leading to a shift in global public opinion against the West. Despite this, the speaker believes the political establishment of the West is not ready to change policy, but that change will be forced upon them.

Hello, my name is Evan demarsh. It’s my great honor today to be with Professor Mohammad Morandi. He’s from the University of Tehran. Professor, thank you so much for joining me. I know you’ve been busy doing interviews. I appreciate you being on with me. Thank you very much for inviting me. And every time I see you on other shows, you’re always so insightful and you come from such a sober perspective. My first issue I’d like to talk to you about are the developments in the Iranian nuclear talks. Neither side’s willing to bend on some of these issues.

The Trump administration has been very inconsistent. At first Witkoff came out and he said that they would be willing to allow enrichment for Tehran. Then they came out after Netanyahu said that they need the Libyan model, there could be no enrichment. Then the administration changed their tone. Then it looked like they were back to some enrichment would be okay. Now we’re back to zero enrichment, which, which Iran has said from the beginning is a non starter. So where are we? So if both sides are saying we have these red lines on the enrichment, what, what’s the point of any more nuclear talks? The Iranians won’t leave the negotiating table because the Iranians want to make sure that the international community, and most importantly the global south, the non western world, which is on the rise, BRICS member states, among others, that they see Iran as the side that does not want to escalate.

So whether there is a deal or not, the Iranians want to make sure that everyone sees that the problem does not lie in tan. So it would. The Iranians will continue to show up at the negotiating table unless the Americans choose to stay away. Of course, the Iranians are also going to show up because they want to see if a deal is possible. But as you pointed out, the s position has been changing and shifting. And we’ve seen Trump flip flop and Witkoff flip flop regularly and not just on Iran, but also when it comes to Ukraine, when it comes to the trade war with, with, especially with China and of course the genocide in Gaza.

We’ve seen Witkoff, Trump, the US Government, the White House take multiple positions at different times. And that makes it very difficult for the Iranians to negotiate and to have any real hope for a deal. And in fact even I think the discussion in Iran, it probably is that even if we do have a deal, what’s to say that the United States will abide by that deal? What if Trump two days later wakes up in the morning and puts out something on true social saying that he no longer accepts the deal. We see, for example, Witkoff himself negotiated a ceasefire in Gaza and then the genocide renewed.

And Trump said that Palestinians must be ethnically cleansed. Tonight, in Lebanon, the Israeli regime says they’re going to bomb eight apartment blocks. Hundreds of people live in those buildings. The United States and other Western governments are guarantors. They’re not going to do anything about it. So when the United States shifts its position all the time, when it’s not clear if they will abide by the commitments that they themselves have signed onto, and when they allow agreements to be violated in this way, then I think at the moment it’s fair to say that the chances for a deal are very low.

But again, the Iranians will stay at the negotiating table for the reasons that I mentioned. What, right now, how’s the feeling in Iran? Are the people, Is this a big news story? Are people paying attention to the developments? Or is this something that’s been going on for so long, I feel like every year, I mean, Iran is six months from developing a nuclear bomb, and we all need to be prepared for that and react. Is this something that’s just taken in stride by the population that you’ve at least interacted with, or is this a big news story out there? How would you describe it? Yes, we’ve been hearing Netanyahu say for the last 30 years that Iran is weeks away, months away, sometimes a year or two away from making a nuclear weapon.

And the Western media, they will mimic what he says, repeat what he says, and there is no or rarely any critique because the mainstream media works in. In harmony with the broader narratives of the Israeli regime or the US Government. But I would say that in Iran, when Trump first came to power for a second term, there was a lot of discussion among people. But I think every. The more the United States keeps shifting its position, the less people follow the news story like they did, because it’s becoming repetitive and it’s not. Nothing is very credible.

One day he says he threatens Iran, the next day he says something else. Then Witkoff says one thing one day, then he says something on another day. It’s so it’s very difficult for ordinary Iranians to keep up. During the first few weeks it had, it would have an impact on the markets, on the Iranian currency, on the stock market. Nowadays, the impact is less, although if something significant happens, it will have an impact. But posts on Truth, Social or statements by Trump in the White House don’t have the impact that they had three, two months ago.

You mentioned before in previous interviews that Israel doesn’t have the capacity to destroy the nuclear program in Iran, in Iran. And I was curious. That would mean the US Would need to play a role in any kind of strikes. And if the nuclear deal doesn’t get approved or agreed upon, that’s supposed to be what happens. At least that’s what we’ve been being told, that if this doesn’t happen, I’m going to be pushed to do something that I don’t want to do. This is what Trump would be saying and the indication was, and he actually, I think he mentioned bombing these facilities.

Does leadership in Tehran, do they believe that China and Russia, do they think that they would just sit by and watch this kind of development without taking, playing any kind of role or coming to Iran’s aid? Is that something that’s being discussed, do you think, in the upper echelons of power in Tehran or with Moscow, with Beijing, that, you know, if there is a joint attack on our facilities, we’re going to respond in a big way and you guys need to get involved. This is what we’ve been, this is why we’ve been getting closer recently. And do you think that’s something out there or do you think they would just sit idly by, I guess is the question.

Well, I think it’s clear that the Chinese and the Russians, they are sympathetic towards Iran. They have very close relations with Iran. And especially over the last few years, the relationship has been evolving very rapidly. After the war in Ukraine, the Iran Russian relationship has expanded dramatically and it’s been expanding pretty well with China. But after the trade war, I would, I believe it has picked up a lot of speed. So the United States has indeed pushed these countries towards each other and also other countries as well. I think there’s a lot of sympathy for Iran across the globe, especially because of the trade war, because of Gaza.

And today, more or less, I think it’s fair to say that the United States and its allies are the side that’s isolated and that there’s a lot of sympathy and support for Iran. But the Iranians are a very independent people and the, the government and the state is very independent. That’s to a large degree what the revolution was all about in the first place. Decisions are made in Tehran and not abroad. And I think the Iranians have prepared themselves for the possibility for US strike. The Israeli regime itself can’t do much damage to Iran. We saw the strike that it carried out months ago wasn’t very successful.

They fired their missiles very far away from Iranian borders. They were small warheads because air to land missiles are long range missiles, really can’t have large warheads when they’re fired from F16s or F35s. So it would have to be the United States that carries out an attack. And I’m not sure that the United States has the ability, in fact, I don’t think the United States has the ability to destroy Iran’s nuclear program. It can do damage to or and a lot of damage if it succeeds in a strike without having their fighter jets downed, which is quite a possibility because the Iranians have developed a very sophisticated air defense capacity.

And if the Americans want to build. Do you think the US Knows about how sophisticated the Iranian military is? Do you think that the, the US Government, Trump’s people understand the risks of going to war with, with Iran? Because we just saw what happened with the Houthis and that was the Houthis. I mean, we, the, the US Media likes to downplay the threat of the Houthis and they make it seem as though there’s some kind of just, you know, know, flimsy group. Do you think Iran looked at that and learned anything from those strikes between the Houthis and the US Was that a strategic error for the US to even take up the fight against the Houthis? The Iranians knew that the Americans would fail, and they were saying that before the US Began the airstrikes.

And the Iranians know what capabilities and sort of law the Yemeni armed forces has. And we have to keep in mind that according to the, that’s according to American sources, not Iranian sources. I think it’s quite clear that those who should know in the United States know what would happen if the United States struck Iran or attacked Iran. Politicians may ignore reality, but I think there are people in the military who know quite well what the result of an attack would be. I think that the difference between what the Israeli regime did and what the Americans would have to do is the Americans would have to fly over Iran.

And the bases of the Persian Gulf region are not going to be of any use because those Arab family dictatorships that host those bases would be seen as complicit and they would probably pay the ultimate price. So the Americans would either have to fly over the Mediterranean or Diego Garcia. It would be a very difficult operation. And they would have to fly over Iran and over central Iran, and that would put their air defense and that would put their aircraft at risk. And I’m sure the American military knows that Iran has A very sophisticated air defense capability.

And I’m sure they know that Iran has been beefing it up over the past few months. And then there would be the Iranian response, which Iran could strike us based across the region. And the Americans have roughly 50,000 soldiers and they have also non military assets across the region. So it’s not an exchange or it’s not a fight where the US would win. They already lost in Yemen. Iran is infinitely more powerful than Yemen. Its weapons are more, far more advanced and they have, you know, many, many more underground missile and drone bases. It’s not really a sane option.

The only reason why the Americans may be pushed to do, to carry out such an attack would be under pressure from the Zionist lobby, the neocons and the Israeli regime. Otherwise, I don’t think anyone in the White House in the know or anyone in the military in the know would ever think about carrying out such an operation against Iran. Do you think Tehran would prefer dealing with the Biden? You deal with who you have to deal with. I understand that, but do you think they prefer dealing with Biden or Trump? Is Biden more predictable or do you think Trump is this person who could be influenced and have the opinion change and not, as, you know, steady? Who do you think Tehran would prefer to negotiate a deal with? The Biden administration or Trump’s? I don’t think it really makes a difference.

The Iranians negotiated the deal, the jcpoa, the nuclear deal under Obama. And from day one, the Americans violated the deal. And by the time Obama left office, the Iranians were very angry. The Iranian government, the Rouhani administration, they were very angry because they were abiding by their side of the bargain. Yet Obama was not abiding by the most key elements of, of the deal that he was supposed to commit himself to. And then Biden, when he was running for president, he said he’s going to re. He said that he was going to revive the jcpoa, the nuclear deal that Trump tore up.

But when he came to power, he did not do that. He continued with the maximum pressure, sanctions and added more sanctions and more importantly, Biden. Biden presided over the genocide in Gaza, which everyone continues to watch with disgust. And every day we see new images. But most of it happened during Biden’s presidency. So I don’t think there’s really much of a difference in the eyes of the Iranians about Trump or Biden or Obama. None of them are seen as trustworthy. None of them are seen as the sort of figures that would abide by their own commitments.

They see the united, the US Elite see the United States as exceptional. I think that’s part of the problem. The United States feels that it can undermine agreements, it can ignore commitments if it wants, because it is the United States. But everyone else must abide by their commitments. And that’s how the United States has always behaved towards Iran. It’s not just a nuclear deal. Ever since the beginning of the revolution, the Iranians and Americans have negotiated over different issues during different periods. And on every single occasion, it was the Iranians who carried out their side of the deal for their side of the bargain.

Whereas on not, I can say with confidence, the Americans did not carry out their side of the bargain on a single, in a single instance. The my question to you is this, do you Donald Trump, even if he wanted a peace deal with, with Iran, even if he wanted one, he is facing so much pressure. From what I’m reading in news reports, he’s facing pressure from the Christian evangelicals, which are, which are his base and the, the pro Israel lobby in, in the, in the US and in fact, Tucker Carlson, he said in a, in a Twitter post yesterday, I don’t know if you saw this, but another radio host by the name of Mark Levin was evidently recently in the White House trying to talk with Trump.

At least this is according to Carlson’s post. I could never verify this, trying to stir him up for war and a hard, hard line stance with Iran. But that’s not an isolated view. And we have senators in Congress that recently wrote a letter saying that we will not allow, it’s only zero enrichment, we will not allow anything else. So while Trump, he knows who we need to keep happy. I appreciate that. Every politician does, he does find himself in a really challenging spot. Wouldn’t you agree to that? Obviously, you are absolutely correct. Trump was brought to power with the support of very wealthy Zionists who have demands and he has surrounded himself with Zionists and Yokans.

But you know, he claims to be a very powerful president. He claims to be his own man. But I think events over the past four months have shown that that’s not really the case. He said he’s going to end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours. And he really could have, he could have immediately ended it when he came to power. He spoke about it during his candidacy and he won convincingly. He won all the swing states and he got the majority. He could have said that I don’t want to be a part of this war anymore.

It must come to an end and it would have happened. He may have paid a bit of a political price, but now if he wants to do the same thing, I don’t think it’s possible anymore. And he has become more like Biden over the past four months than Trump before election Day or at least before coming to office. I’m not saying that he’s pursuing Biden’s policies yet, but he is. You know, these four months have been wasted because he’s been weak, in my opinion, or, or dishonest or both. You see the same. Yeah, the same you can see with China, for example, the, the tariffs and then he had to back down on that.

And, and we, the, the ceasefire in Gaza was attributed to him. Witkoff arranged the ceasefire on the eve of his presidency and then literally a couple of weeks later, he himself said that the Palestinians must, must be ethnically cleansed. So either he’s dishonest or he’s weak or he’s just influenced by whoever’s the last person to meet him or, or something like that. Or it’s a combination of the three. I really don’t know. I don’t think Trump is stupid. I don’t think it’s possible for a stupid person to get into the White House or to become a leader in any country.

I don’t think a person with a low IQ would be able to become a leader in any country unless by chance or circumstances. But under normal conditions I don’t think that’s possible. But I think that he’s probably is a combination of dishonesty, being weak, but also being easily persuaded to change his opinion. In any case, the Iranians are not going to cross their red lines because enrichment is a, is a sovereign right and Iran is not going to give up its sovereignty. Also, Iran has a policy of being independent and self reliant because of US sanctions.

The Iranians know that if the Americans could, if, let’s say Iran. Iran has one nuclear power plant right now and it wants to develop a few others for. Because we have a shortage of water, so we want desalination plants. But we also, since we consume a lot of fossil fuel, gasoline in Iran is $0.01 a liter. So the Iranians got Iranian. Yeah, the Iranian government wants to bring down consumption. One way of doing that is of course nuclear power plants. But if Iran, you know, building power plants is expensive, but the electricity is cheap. So if Iran invests and pays a lot of money for these power plants and then the Americans prevent Iran from purchasing fuel, that would both bring about an economic crisis.

And also many billions of dollars, or equivalent to many billions dollars would be, would have gone to waste. So the Iranians are not going to risk being dependent on the United States for anything. So they’re not going to give up the fuel cycle. If the Americans want a deal, if they want assurances that the nuclear program in Iran is peaceful, that can be done. There are ways to do that. That’s what the iaea, the International Atomic Energy Agency is for. But if the Americans want to make Iran a country that has, that forfeits its rights, it’s not going to happen, even if it leads to conflict.

I know you have to go very soon. I appreciate your time. I’m with Professor Morandi. Please, everyone watching this, check him out on X. His posts are very meaningful and he really does keep us updated with what’s going on in the Middle east and Gaza. And that’s the last thing I wanted to talk to you briefly about. I know, I know. Our time’s basically at the end. And again, it’s Professor Morandi. Check him out. It’s on X and he’s a great follow. I had a quick question about Gaza, although it really requires no quick answers or no quick resolutions.

What do you see happening right now in Gaza? Obviously, we know these humanitarian distribution centers are being set up and it’s becoming just almost. It’s the saddest thing to watch these starving people approaching these centers and getting shot and killed. And the US Last night also prevented a UN ceasefire bill to show where the government currently stands on that issue. Do you see any kind of shift? Is this going to just keep going for the next year? In the state that we’re in, it’s difficult to say what will happen. I think that Netanyahu will continue this war, this war against children for as long as possible.

And he will continue to carry out the genocide, this holocaust, until. Until he can. Until the last Palestinian. And I think that the Europeans and the Americans will let him do that. The Europeans did not veto the resolution, but they have no problem with Americans vetoing it. And they will continue to work with the Israeli regime. The Germans will continue to assist them with weapons and also by carrying out joint projects, help enrich the Israeli military. But a number of things have happened. One is that global public opinion has turned not just against the Israeli regime, but it’s turned against the entire West.

And even inside the west, many people are not just turning against the war, but they are turning against the political establishment. The view of many young Americans, and that includes many Young Jews as well as many young Europeans has shifted significantly. And when we look at the polls, things are happening today that have never happened before outside of the west, except for India, which is a bit, which is complicated. The world has to turn completely against the Israeli regime. I’ve been to China, I don’t know, maybe for, I don’t, I don’t know exactly a number of times since, since this genocide began.

And I’ve been to multiple cities. I’ve been to maybe six, seven different cities. It’s very clear that, that in China people are hostile towards the Israeli regime. Both my anecdotal experiences tell me that, but also my Chinese friends and scholars and colleagues say the same thing. I have the same experience in Russia and anywhere else that I’ve been to or been invited to during the last 20 months. So the world has turned against not just the Israeli regime, it’s is turned against the West. And that is not good news for the United States that wants to compete with China and which has multiple adversaries to deal with, and a United States which has deep divides, deep divisions at home, not just between Trump and his traditional adversaries, but also now we see among the MAGA movement deepening divisions.

And Musk, of course, is now turning into an opposition of sorts, or his own opposition, I suppose, and that will have its own impact. So Thomas Massey, he’s a congressman too, has stepped up a little bit in opposition. Thomas? Yes, I, but I think that the nature of Massey’s opposition, or Tucker Carlson or Candace Owens, among many others, and many, many young Jews as well, their opposition to the genocide is one thing, but there are other divisions as well, such as with Musk, which is not, doesn’t have to do with this issue in particular, but the divisions in the United States and the problems that the United States has over trade, wars and Ukraine, all of these make, make the issue, make the issue in Palestine much more problematic because brand America has been destroyed.

The West, I think its image has been completely demolished. But in any case, I don’t think the political establishment of the west, despite all this, is prepared to change policy. But I do think that this policy change will be forced upon them. There are many things happening that we do not see during the war. When Saddam Hussein invaded Iran, I was, for a period of time, a military diver. And my experience with water is that often the surface looks very calm, but underneath it’s very different. And I think that in, across our region, where you have so many family dictatorships that are in the American camp and so much anger among people when they see the scenes in Gaza or in Lebanon or in Syria or in Yemen or the West Bank.

I think that the potential for the situation becoming more complicated in the coming years for the United States increases in our region. And I think that the animosity towards the Israeli regime is becoming, it’s gradually becoming virtually almost universal. Almost universal. And I think that will ultimately lead to the end of the Netanyahu regime. And I do believe that in the eyes of so many people across the world, the Israeli regime has become so ugly that I just can’t see the regime lasting much longer. I, I don’t believe that it will, it will die in fire, but I do think that it will probably collapse due to ice, as one poet once upon a time put it.

Well, on that note, Professor Morandi, thank you so much for joining me in the Trends Journal. It was great talking to you and you’re always so insightful, and it really will be a gift to our readers and viewers when they see this. So I appreciate that.
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