Judging Freedom - Judge Andrew Napolitano - Professor Mohammad Marandi : LIVE FROM TEHRAN: Iran Prepared and Not Intimidated
Aired: 2026-05-06
Duration: 28:20


=== Undeclared Wars and Aggression (15:17) ===

[00:00:01]  Undeclared wars are commonplace.
[00:00:04]  Tragically, our government engages in preemptive war, otherwise known as aggression, with no complaints from the American people.
[00:00:12]  Sadly, we have become accustomed to living with the illegitimate use of force by government.
[00:00:18]  To develop a truly free society, the issue of initiating force must be understood and rejected.
[00:00:26]  What if sometimes to love your country, you had to alter or abolish the government?
[00:00:30]  What if Jefferson was right?
[00:00:33]  What if that government is best which governs least?
[00:00:37]  What if it is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong?
[00:00:41]  What if it is better to perish fighting for freedom than to live as a slave?
[00:00:46]  What if freedom's greatest hour of danger is now?
[00:01:01]  Hi, everyone.
[00:01:01]  Judge Andrew Napolitano here for Judging Freedom.
[00:01:05]  Today is Wednesday, May 6, 2026.
[00:01:09]  My dear friend, Professor Mohamed Morandi, joins us from Tehran, Iran.
[00:01:14]  Professor Morandi, it's a pleasure.
[00:01:16]  Welcome here.
[00:01:17]  Let me start by asking you about life in Tehran today with the bombing stop, but President Trump seeming to threaten to resume it almost every day.
[00:01:32]  Well, thank you very much for having me, Judge.
[00:01:35]  It's always a great honor.
[00:01:38]  Life is normal.
[00:01:40]  People are very much used to Trump's threats.
[00:01:45]  One day he says he'll obliterate the country.
[00:01:48]  Another day he says he'll send us back to the Stone Age.
[00:01:52]  Another day he'll say he'll wipe out our civilization.
[00:01:58]  So nothing is new when he makes new threats.
[00:02:06]  I think it's pretty clear that Iranians are expecting another assault on the country, quite possibly in the coming hours or days.
[00:02:20]  The Axios piece obviously was an attempt to manipulate the markets.
[00:02:29]  People here believe that people close to Trump or Witkoff or Kushner have made A lot of money over the last few hours.
[00:02:38]  But the story, of course, is not true.
[00:02:40]  The Iranians are not going to negotiate their nuclear rights.
[00:02:48]  And at the moment, the Iranians have been clear that they are first going to negotiate the ceasefire and then they'll negotiate the 10 point plan that was agreed upon by Trump himself.
[00:03:05]  So it's going to be so people know that and they know that.
[00:03:10]  Trump demands some sort of victory, and here no one is in the mood to give him that sort of victory.
[00:03:17]  So that means that there will probably be more airstrikes, more missile strikes, perhaps troops launched against the Iranians.
[00:03:27]  We hear that there are large numbers of troops in Kuwait and in the Emirates, that there are fighter jets in Qatar, in Saudi Arabia, and the Emirates too.
[00:03:39]  So, since people follow the news very closely for obvious reasons, I think no one would be surprised to hear airstrikes or hear the sound of bombs at any time.
[00:03:52]  The president said as recently as last night whether because it's true, whether because he's convinced himself it's true, or whether because, as you've intimated, he wants to manipulate the market, which is shameless but apparently goes on, that a deal is near.
[00:04:11]  Are the Iranians negotiating with the United States as we speak, either directly or indirectly?
[00:04:18]  That he could make a statement like a deal is near?
[00:04:22]  No, not directly.
[00:04:24]  What Axios says is not true.
[00:04:26]  But indirectly, if one means that, if you mean that, do messages go back and forth?
[00:04:33]  Yes, they continue to go back and forth through Pakistan.
[00:04:37]  This is sheer speculation on my behalf, but possibly, you know, after the foreign minister went to Russia, perhaps the Russians. want to play a role or the Chinese may want to have some sort of role.
[00:04:54]  But the mediator is still Pakistan.
[00:04:56]  And so the messages that go back and forth do go through Pakistan for the time being.
[00:05:03]  Would there be any basis for Trump to say, would there be any truthful basis for Trump to say that a deal is near?
[00:05:15]  Well, that would depend on him.
[00:05:18]  But so far, There is no sign of a deal.
[00:05:23]  Of course, a deal can mean different things.
[00:05:27]  If it is a resumption of the ceasefire, that is more plausible.
[00:05:34]  The ceasefire was agreed upon almost immediately after the fighting stopped, after the U.S. aggression ended, or at least the violence ended.
[00:05:46]  And the United States was agreed to have a regional ceasefire that would include Gaza.
[00:05:53]  And Lebanon in particular, because Israelis were severely bombing civilian targets there.
[00:05:59]  But Netanyahu refrained from doing that.
[00:06:03]  You recall that he suddenly went and carpet bombed cities and murdered hundreds of people, even in neighborhoods that weren't sympathetic to the resistance, just to crash the ceasefire.
[00:06:16]  And he was successful.
[00:06:18]  And then after 10 days or so, when he finally was forced to accept the ceasefire, he didn't allow killing people.
[00:06:27]  Then it was Trump who refused to end the siege on Iranian ports, which was also another violation.
[00:06:35]  So, if Trump ends the siege on Iranian ports and Netanyahu stops killing kids, then the Iranians would be able to allow ships that are from those five countries Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and the Emirates, who assisted with the assault on Iran, to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
[00:06:55]  At the moment, Iran has not.
[00:06:57]  Iran at no point shut the Strait of Hormuz.
[00:07:00]  Ships that are from countries friendly to Iran always pass through.
[00:07:03]  But these five countries, because of the role that they played in the massacres and in the slaughter, their ships were restricted.
[00:07:10]  But in accordance with this ceasefire, significant numbers were supposed to go through.
[00:07:15]  So that can easily happen if Trump makes a decision to lift the siege and to force Netanyahu to stop murdering Lebanese citizens.
[00:07:26]  But right now, the.
[00:07:28]  Deciding factor of which ships go through is the Iranian government.
[00:07:34]  It's not the U.S. Navy.
[00:07:35]  Am I correct?
[00:07:40]  The Iranians control.
[00:07:45]  Can you hear me, Judge?
[00:07:46]  Yes, yes, Mohammed.
[00:07:47]  Okay.
[00:07:49]  The Iranians, if I understood your question correctly, and I apologize, but the internet connection since the war began is not as good as it used to be.
[00:07:57]  The Iranians control the strait.
[00:07:59]  And I think the.
[00:08:01]  Operation that Trump tried to carry out has proven that.
[00:08:08]  He failed to force any ships to go through, and the US Navy had to ultimately retreat.
[00:08:16]  And Trump pretended that the Pakistani government had something to do with ending the operation.
[00:08:23]  But what Trump wanted to do was to let these ships that belong to, that are linked to the five countries that.
[00:08:32]  Worked with him to bomb Iran, but to blockade Iranian ports at the same time.
[00:08:38]  And the Iranians, it's either everyone who is allowed to use the Strait of Hormuz and to have shipping and for ships to move freely throughout the seas, or things will remain as they are.
[00:08:57]  But the Iranians are in control.
[00:08:58]  I think the failed operation has proven that.
[00:09:01]  Why would the Iranians negotiate with Israeli agents?
[00:09:09]  Witkoff, Kushner, and now this new fellow, Nick Stewart.
[00:09:16]  Well, that's Trump, and it's his decision, but he only makes things worse for himself because the Iranians know that Witkoff is his priority is the Israeli regime and not the United States.
[00:09:32]  And the same is true with Kushner and also this new person who's been added.
[00:09:38]  And that's only going to make negotiations more difficult for the United States.
[00:09:41]  If the United States wants a solution, they would put someone or a group of people who were reasonable and rational, or at least whose allegiances were to the United States and only to the United States.
[00:09:54]  That would make it much more easy for the Iranians to sit down and negotiate with these people.
[00:10:00]  But that's Trump.
[00:10:01]  And ultimately, when he sends someone on behalf of himself as the president of the United States, then either you have to ignore them or you have to sit down and see if anything.
[00:10:13]  But when Trump makes these.
[00:10:21]  Iranians become outraged.
[00:10:25]  When Trump puts forward people who are constantly insulting Iran, or even the Secretary of State, Rubio, he's no different, who badmouth people, who insult and degrade others, that is not going to help the United States at the negotiating table.
[00:10:42]  It does the exact opposite.
[00:10:44]  Because, Judge, I hope one day you can come to Iran.
[00:10:48]  People in Iran are very, very political.
[00:10:52]  Everyone follows the news.
[00:10:55]  When I get in a taxi, when I get in a car, everyone knows what's going on.
[00:10:59]  When I mean everyone, I mean, you know, in general.
[00:11:02]  They know more or less what's happening.
[00:11:06]  And so when the United States insults the people of Iran, when the US president insults, when a Zionist represents them, that makes people more opposed.
[00:11:20]  To any sort of agreement with the United States.
[00:11:23]  You were present in Islamabad, I guess it's a couple of weeks ago now, when the Iranians arrived with a lot of technical materials, technical backup, experts on geography and on nuclear physics.
[00:11:42]  The Americans arrived with a much smaller, thinner entourage, but it was headed by the vice president of the United States, who you told us famously couldn't answer simple yes or no questions and kept calling.
[00:11:55]  His boss in Washington for instructions was, and now the vice president doesn't seem to be involved at all.
[00:12:03]  Was he there just for window dressing?
[00:12:07]  I don't know what was behind the choice and why he was sent, but it was clear that he did not have the authority to make decisions.
[00:12:20]  The Iranians knew that he was constantly making phone calls, whereas the Iranian delegation didn't make.
[00:12:25]  Any phone calls, as far as I know.
[00:12:28]  And also, even not only did the Iranians have a technical team with the delegation, with the different expertise that was necessary, including high ranking officials like the head of the central bank, but also the Iranian team itself was more experienced.
[00:12:49]  Dr. Ghalibov is an associate professor at my university, the speaker of parliament.
[00:12:56]  He had the delegation, but the two men to his left and right, one was.
[00:13:01]  The foreign minister, Dr. Arauchi, and the other was the deputy head of the Supreme National Security Council, another academic, and also someone who was in charge of the nuclear file, too, and who was previously a deputy foreign minister.
[00:13:18]  So the Iranian side had much more experience at the negotiating table than the Iranian side.
[00:13:25]  And then the Iranians had a team of experts backing them up.
[00:13:30]  And as you point out, the Americans didn't have much going on there either.
[00:13:34]  How would you interpret such negotiations?
[00:13:37]  I think you'd probably say they're not very serious.
[00:13:41]  You can add to this the insulting language used by Prime Minister Netanyahu, who referred to Vice President Vance as, quote, reporting to me, close quote.
[00:13:56]  Now, I don't know if that reporting occurred during the negotiations or on the flight back home, according to Prime Minister Netanyahu, who was on the flight.
[00:14:05]  Back home.
[00:14:07]  Yesterday.
[00:14:08]  Netanyahu also said, excuse me for interrupting, Netanyahu also said that other senior American officials report to me every day.
[00:14:17]  So he could have spoken to other officials who report to him and told them what to tell the vice president.
[00:14:28]  And I'm sure the Iranians see through all of this.
[00:14:31]  They know the true loyalty of Witkoff, Kushner, and this fellow.
[00:14:36]  Nick Stewart.
[00:14:37]  They even know the true loyalty of Marco Rubio.
[00:14:39]  Yesterday, the Secretary of State, who's also the President's National Security Advisor, held a long news conference.
[00:14:46]  It was a Trumpian in its length.
[00:14:48]  It went on for about 90 minutes, and it was in the White House press room, the same place from which the President often speaks.
[00:14:57]  This is a little irritating to watch and listen to, so you'll forgive me, but I would like your thoughts on it.
[00:15:06]  Secretary Rubio yesterday saying, The war is over.
[00:15:10]  So, are they now just going to say, we won, we're going home?
[00:15:13]  But before you comment, here he is yesterday, Chris, number 19.

=== Iran Rejects Ceasefire Route (05:58) ===

[00:15:18]  Operation Epic Fury is concluded.
[00:15:21]  We achieved the objectives of that operation.
[00:15:23]  I'm not going to, you know, we're not cheering for an additional situation to occur.
[00:15:29]  We would prefer the path of peace.
[00:15:30]  What the president would prefer is a deal.
[00:15:32]  He would prefer to sit down, work out a memorandum of understanding for future negotiations that touches on all the key topics that have to be addressed, a full opening of the straits so the world can get back to normal.
[00:15:42]  And he preferred that that be negotiated through the route that Steve and Jared have been working and that all of us have been supporting.
[00:15:47]  That's the route he prefers.
[00:15:48]  That is so far not the route that Iran has chosen.
[00:15:51]  And so the result has been that the United States has to do something about the fact that we're the only nation on earth that can do anything to open up a lane within the Straits of Hormuz to get product and to rescue these people that are trapped in there.
[00:16:01]  And that's what we're undergoing now.
[00:16:03]  What that may lead to in the future is speculative.
[00:16:05]  I'm not going to speculate about what it would take or what it would do.
[00:16:07]  But look, the message to Iran, these guys are facing real catastrophic.
[00:16:13]  Destruction to their economy, generational destruction to their economy, generational destruction to the wealth of their country, imposed on themselves by the actions that they're taking.
[00:16:22]  They should check themselves before they wreck themselves in the direction that they're going.
[00:16:26]  This is so typical, Rubio esque.
[00:16:29]  So, is Iran facing real catastrophic destruction to its economy, generational destruction to the wealth of the country?
[00:16:39]  What is he talking about?
[00:16:44]  The problem is that they've been saying this ever since I was a teenager.
[00:16:50]  And the narrative that Iran is collapsing is falling apart.
[00:16:54]  Part, it's the regime, as they love to say, is hatred, it's despised, it's unpopular.
[00:17:00]  Young people hate it.
[00:17:02]  They've been saying that ever since I was young.
[00:17:04]  And the narrative just goes on and on.
[00:17:09]  And of course, Western mainstream media repeats it.
[00:17:13]  And therefore, people, elites in the West, they simply can't see beyond elites close to the state, can't see beyond their own rhetoric.
[00:17:27]  And they get trapped in these narratives, and it doesn't serve the interests of the American people, and it doesn't even serve their interests.
[00:17:36]  The reality is that Iran has been under pressure sanctions for decades, and now a war has been imposed on Iran.
[00:17:45]  It's not as if Iran launched a strike on the White House and killed the U.S. president or destroyed the U.S. cities.
[00:17:54]  It's the United States and the Israeli regime.
[00:17:57]  With their regional proxies that have launched this war.
[00:18:01]  And now they expect, after having failed against the Iranian people and to win the war, now they want to achieve at the negotiating table what they could not achieve on the battlefield.
[00:18:16]  The Iranians are saying our sovereignty must be respected, reparations must be made.
[00:18:24]  3,400 or so Iranians were slaughtered, including many little.
[00:18:29]  Schoolgirls, the Iranians have to have assurances that the United States won't suddenly attack the country again tomorrow.
[00:18:40]  But for people like Rubio, these are unacceptable demands because he is speaking on behalf of an empire.
[00:18:51]  Does the government of Iran expect another attack from the United States and Israel of the The ferocity of the attacks that began two months ago?
[00:19:06]  Yes, they've been anticipating an attack for quite a while now.
[00:19:12]  I think maybe a week or two.
[00:19:15]  I can't remember the first night, the first day when I recall people saying that something may be imminent, but they're expecting something in the coming hours or coming days.
[00:19:28]  It's not for certain, but they haven't brought all these troops and all this equipment.
[00:19:34]  And all this firepower to the region for nothing.
[00:19:39]  They've spent many, many tens of billions of dollars, and the weather is getting bad in the Arabian Peninsula.
[00:19:48]  It's going to get hot very fast.
[00:19:51]  There is a reason why they brought it there.
[00:19:56]  You don't spend so much money just to love another country or to create fear in another country.
[00:20:04]  You bring it to use it.
[00:20:05]  So the expectation is that there will be an.
[00:20:13]  Based on the 10 point plan.
[00:20:28]  Well, we missed a little bit of what you said right before you said the 10 point plan, Mohammed, because the internet was getting fuzzy.
[00:20:39]  Might you repeat what you just said?
[00:20:42]  Yes, sure.
[00:20:44]  What I was saying was that, and I apologize for the internet, that the Iranians, Trump cannot get at the negotiating table what he could not get on the battlefield.
[00:20:57]  What Iran says that.
[00:21:00]  Must happen is the ceasefire that was already agreed upon be implemented.
[00:21:05]  If the ceasefire that was agreed upon had been implemented, the global crisis today would not be nearly as bad as it is.

=== Long War Risks Global Depression (06:23) ===

[00:21:17]  All Trump had to do was to tell Netanyahu to stop slaughtering Lebanese civilians.
[00:21:24]  But that, of course, is not something that he wants to do.
[00:21:29]  And then the other thing is to end the siege on Iranian ports.
[00:21:33]  If the Secretary of State is so worried about the Iranian economy, all he has to do is say, Netanyahu, stop killing kids, we'll stop the siege on the Iranian ports, and then the ships will start going through.
[00:21:49]  It's quite simple.
[00:21:50]  But what he really wants is for Netanyahu to be able to kill kids, to starve Iranians by besieging their ports if he could, and then to have those ships go through.
[00:22:03]  Well, obviously, that's not going to happen.
[00:22:07]  What will the Iranians do if the United States and Israel attack?
[00:22:14]  Will Iran's response against American assets based in the Gulf states and against Israel be more ferocious than the last time?
[00:22:28]  Yes, that is my understanding.
[00:22:30]  It will be far more ferocious, as you put it.
[00:22:35]  I think Iran will strike the Israeli regime very hard.
[00:22:38]  Iran will also strike the five countries in the Persian Gulf very hard because of their role in this aggression.
[00:22:48]  And I think that if that happens, Judge, we are already on the road to a world, a major world economic recession.
[00:22:57]  And if this continues, we'll probably move closer and closer towards a Great Depression.
[00:23:04]  But if there is another war, especially if it lasts, More than a couple of days because there are different scenarios.
[00:23:15]  If there's a long war, then I think a global, major global economic depression is assured.
[00:23:24]  I think that will be inevitable.
[00:23:28]  If it is a short war where Trump comes in and murders a few hundred people and destroys parts of Iranian infrastructure and Iran strikes back, And retaliates, then it will get worse than what we're expecting now for the global economy.
[00:23:51]  But it won't be as bad as if it's a long war.
[00:23:53]  So, the Iranians are expecting two different scenarios.
[00:23:57]  One is that there will be a long war, and the other is that there will be a short war.
[00:24:03]  But once the short war begins, it's very difficult to stop it because the Iranians are not going to pull any punches.
[00:24:10]  And when U.S. assets are being destroyed and when the Israeli regime is being humiliated, then of course, Trump wants to have the final punch and to be seen as the victor.
[00:24:22]  And that's not going to happen.
[00:24:24]  The markets are going to go.
[00:24:27]  The price of oil will go through the roof, commodities will go through the roof, and he'll just become more and more erratic and foolish.
[00:24:37]  And so it's easy to imagine how a short war could end up being a long war.
[00:24:44]  In the past week to 10 days, Iranian Foreign Minister Arachi has met with President Putin personally in St. Petersburg, and he met with his Chinese counterpart in Beijing.
[00:25:00]  What is Foreign Minister Arachi telling them and what is he hoping to receive from them?
[00:25:08]  Well, the statements that came out of both Moscow and Beijing are very positive.
[00:25:15]  And the trip to Moscow went very well.
[00:25:19]  And from what we are hearing from the foreign minister in Beijing, he seemed to be very pleased about the trip there as well.
[00:25:29]  The Chinese and the Russians have both given their full support to Iran.
[00:25:36]  The Chinese have told the foreign minister that Iran's status in the world has been enhanced as a result of the war because of the way in which Iran has conducted itself and the way in which Iran has successfully defended itself.
[00:25:50]  So, and this is something that I think some of our mutual friends on your show have alluded to and have said openly that despite the harm that has been done to Iran, Iran today is much more powerful.
[00:26:06]  Than what it was two, three months ago.
[00:26:09]  And I think it's fair to say that if there is further war, it is going to get worse for the United States and its allies, and Iran's position will be enhanced even further.
[00:26:22]  And the very fact that Iran has decided to take control of the Strait of Homos is, I think, symbolic of the catastrophe of the policy imposed by Netanyahu and Trump on Iran.
[00:26:42]  I'm seeking out the Iranians to shift their policy.
[00:26:51]  In my opinion, it's the most important outcome of this war, aside from the fact that the entire globe, without exaggeration, the entire globe has tilted away from the United States and the Israeli regime, and they're sympathizing with Iran.
[00:27:12]  I met a number of Indian journalists over the past few days.
[00:27:17]  And even in India, which two and a half years ago, much of the public supported the Israeli regime in the United States, these journalists have been telling me that things have changed in India.
[00:27:35]  So when they lose India, imagine how it is elsewhere.

=== Farewell to Professor Morandi (00:39) ===

[00:27:41]  Professor Mohammed Morandi, thank you very much, my dear friend.
[00:27:45]  Thanks for your courage and your intellectual honesty, and Godspeed to you and your family and to your countrymen.
[00:27:53]  Thank you.
[00:27:54]  Thank you, Judge.
[00:27:55]  It's always a great pleasure.
[00:27:56]  And I hope to see you soon and God be with you and all your loved ones.
[00:28:00]  Thank you.
[00:28:01]  All the best to you.
[00:28:02]  Thank you so much.
[00:28:03]  Coming up later today, if you're watching us live in 33 minutes, Professor Glenn Deason at 11 o'clock this morning, at 2 this afternoon.
[00:28:12]  He's somewhere in China.
[00:28:14]  We'll find him, Pepe Escobar, at 3 this afternoon, the great Phil Giraldi.
[00:28:19]  Judge Napolitano for Judging Freedom.