Professor Mohammad Marandi argues that the U.S. engages in illegitimate preemptive war, predicting a probable hot conflict between Iran and Israel driven by the Zionist lobby despite Tehran's strengthened high-tech missile capabilities. He asserts that Western strategic goals have already failed, citing Robert Kagan, while characterizing Netanyahu's UAE trip as a diplomatic disaster that bolsters Iran's hand. Marandi refutes claims about Pakistan's mediation reliability, noting the U.S. violated the nuclear agreement first by imposing maximum pressure sanctions, and challenges narratives of Iranian extremism by highlighting the safety of Americans in Tehran. Ultimately, he suggests the Strait of Hormuz blockade will harm the U.S. economy more than Iran's, urging listeners to read works by Clinton, Hillary Lebert, and Alistair Bannerman on the Islamic Revolution. [Automatically generated summary]
Transcriber: CohereLabs/cohere-transcribe-03-2026, WAV2VEC2_ASR_BASE_960H, sat-12l-sm, script v26.04.01, and large-v3-turbo
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Undeclared Wars and Regime Change00:14:36
Undeclared wars are commonplace.
Tragically, our government engages in preemptive war, otherwise known as aggression, with no complaints from the American people.
Sadly, we have become accustomed to living with the illegitimate use of force by government.
To develop a truly free society, the issue of initiating force must be understood and rejected.
What if sometimes, to love your country, you had to alter or abolish the government?
What if Jefferson was right?
What if that government is best which governs least?
What if it is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong?
What if it is better to perish fighting for freedom than to live as a slave?
What if freedom's greatest hour of danger is now?
Hi, everyone.
Judge Andrew Napolitano here for Judging Freedom.
Today is Thursday, March 14, 2026.
My dear friend, Professor Mohamed Mirandi, joins us from Tehran, Iran.
And we are delighted to be able to chat with him.
Mohamed, my dear friend, how are you?
You look well.
You seem happy.
Is life returning to normal?
Hi, Judge.
Thank you very much for inviting me.
It's always a great pleasure.
Life is normal for now, as long as there's no war.
But obviously, There are economic difficulties that people will have to tolerate for the time being.
Right.
Is the war still on?
It's difficult to say.
I think that logically speaking, we shouldn't have the war continue because the United States has too many trouble, too many difficulties, too many problems.
I think that it would also harm the summit between Trump and Trump.
President Xi in China.
But since the Israelis have huge influence and the Zionist lobby is very powerful in the United States, the belief here is that we could be moving towards a hot war in the near future.
So if it was basically between Iran and the United States, I think there would be no chance of war.
But because of the Netanyahu factor and so on, I think that the chance of war is not low.
I'm going to ask you to predict the future.
What happens if Trump disregards the Zionist lobby, enters into some long term ceasefire, even a peace treaty with Tehran?
Netanyahu cannot take on Iran alone, can he?
No, without a doubt, he would be badly defeated.
The Iranians are today, as we speak, militarily speaking, stronger than they were at the beginning of the war.
Not economically, not, you know, Iran has had factories bombed, schools bombed, infrastructure bombed.
And of course, the siege has, it takes its toll, not the way in which the Americans want.
And the harm that it's doing to the global economy is, I think, significantly more for a host of reasons.
But militarily speaking, Iran is stronger today.
During the war, it used its old weapons during the first few weeks.
Then it Throughout the war and after the war, they were building new high tech missiles and drones.
And even the estimates that have been leaked by the CIA to newspapers, that I think underestimates Iran's real power.
So when we had the war between the Israeli regime, when the Israeli regime assaulted Iran, the 12 day war, Iran, although it was caught off guard, it won that war.
It was Netanyahu after eight days or so.
Was seeking a ceasefire.
So, if the Israeli regime again attacks Iran today, it is far more prepared than it was back then.
So, I don't think the Israeli regime could do anything on its own.
It would be on the losing end.
But if Trump moved in the right direction, I think it would be, I think the whole situation in the region would change.
I once, I think, mentioned a book, Going to Tehran by Clinton and Hillary Leverett.
They were, it was a very good book written about a decade ago.
And they, throughout, were predicting that if the United States and Iran don't move towards rapprochement, then this would happen.
Something like this would happen.
It could have been very different from where we are.
The war is not in the interest of Iran or the United States.
Right, right, right.
I'm going to guess that you're aware of this article in The Atlantic by Robert Kagan, one of the leading, maybe the leading neocons in the United States.
It's a very, very damning piece.
In which he argues, checkmate in Iran, Washington cannot reverse or control its defeat.
Is Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth the only people on the planet who fail to recognize that the U.S. and Israel have been defeated?
I don't think they're the only people, but I think there are very few people who really believe that the United States has not been defeated.
This was clear from years ago, before Corona, that if the United States went down this path, these would be the results.
And whenever we would speak out, Western think tankers or journalists would insult us or call me a mouthpiece or a propagandist.
But I think it was clear that the results would be completely different from their expectations.
Their expectations were and are based.
All right, we're having a little internet problem.
I'm not sure if you're aware of it, Professor Mirandi, but are you back?
No, okay.
So I was asking Professor Mirandi.
Yeah, now you're back.
Okay.
You were talking about.
The whole world, except for a couple of diehard Trumpians, I'll be charitable in just characterizing them.
Surely the whole diplomatic community recognizes the failure of the United States and Israel.
They haven't achieved any of their goals.
And I think the, and you can tell me your thoughts, the article by Robert Kagan, the husband of Victoria Nuland, The principal advisor to Vice President Dick Cheney when he was alive and in office.
This is very, very telling.
It's condemning of Trump, but it is also lamenting his failure.
I mean, but Kagan is not changing what he wants to happen.
He's just being realistic about what has happened.
Which is a good sign.
At least it shows that those who are deeply ideological, these Zionists whose priorities are the Israeli regime over everything else on this planet, That even many of them have recognized the truth, something that they should have known before, and something that we've been saying for years.
I always believed that the result of such a war would be what we've seen.
But whenever I'd say it in the West, they'd call me a propagandist or a regime mouthpiece.
But the reality is that these people, in general, because they're so ideological, they believe in certain narratives and those assumptions that come from those narratives that Iran is unpopular, the regime is imploding.
The people hate the regime.
They keep using the regime also to imply that it's abnormal and unstable and it will not last.
And that it will not last.
So, if it's not going to last, all we have to do is give it a push.
And so, all their assumptions are based on wishful thinking about Iran.
And since it was based on wishful thinking, when it came to reality, when they had to actually implement those policies, they hit a brick wall.
And now, I think the results of this war are going to be felt far beyond the region, as he in his article also implied.
In East Asia, are Americans going to, are the Koreans or the Japanese or others, are they going to?
Collaborate with the United States against China, for example, the way after what they've seen in the Persian Gulf or with Iran, when they see that the United States is not nearly as powerful as it claims to be or as it was perceived to be, I think you're going to see East Asia, Latin America, Africa, across the world, I think we're going to see gradual changes.
Right, right.
What is your understanding of Prime Minister Netanyahu's now revealed secret trip to the United Arab Emirates?
You know, Judge, there's something I would like to say as a good example, but it's not appropriate.
But it's sort of like a man or woman going and meeting someone who has a horrible reputation and has a secret.
Relationship with someone who has a terrible relationship.
And then it comes out.
And then people figure out that he's seeing this person or that she's seeing that person.
This is poison for the United Arab Emirates.
And when the Israeli regime revealed this, first of all, it showed that they had complete disregard for the Abu Zabi regime and Mohammed bin Zayed because it was a completely selfish statement.
Because then the Emirates denied everything.
But it's too late.
So, people across the region and across the world who are hostile towards the Israeli regime are now going to look at the Emirates, even though they knew that a strong relationship existed.
But what has been revealed makes the Emirates look far worse.
And that strengthens Iran's hand, that strengthens the hand of Iran's allies as well.
So, I think it was a real disaster for them.
What was Netanyahu trying to accomplish?
I'm not an expert.
You have people on your show who I'd like to hear their views and your view as well.
But I personally think it has more to do with the elections and to make himself look successful in bringing about change in the region to the benefit of the regime because he's failed in Gaza.
Right now, Hezbollah is really causing huge problems for him in Lebanon.
The war in Iran didn't go well.
Nothing is looking good for Netanyahu.
So, if he has some big diplomatic success, and by exposing the fact that Abu Zabi is there, the Israeli troops are there, and that the Mossad is there, and there's an alliance and they meet in secret during war, that may be good for him.
But for Abu Zab, for Mohammed bin Zayed, as I said, that's poison.
Right, right, right.
Negotiations still going on between the United States and Iran via Pakistan or any kind of an intermediary?
Right now, there is no news on that front.
And since I was with the delegation, as you know, last time, it's clear that there are no signs of any movement.
Iranians feel comfortable where they are.
They also believe that the summit between the Chinese and American leaders went pretty well for Iran, and that the statements that came out clearly show that Trump didn't get anything.
From the Chinese.
But that was already clear from the Iranian foreign minister's trip to China before this trip.
So, right now, the Iranians are waiting.
The Americans have imposed this siege.
It is devastating the global economy.
Every day, things are going to get worse.
And the Iranians are saying, well, we had a ceasefire.
You agreed to it.
Stop the slaughtering of Gaza and Lebanon.
Stop the siege on our ports.
And those ships that we agreed could leave the Through the Strait of Hormuz from the Persian Gulf, they can leave.
Well, what is the status of the Gulf of Hormuz now?
Our mutual friend, Pepe Escobar, who's on right after you, is telling us and will say on air, I think, that Iranians are moving a lot of oil over land.
But what is the status of the water?
Is the United States still conducting a blockade 500 or 600 miles away?
Is Iran still deciding what ships get through the very narrow area that's deep enough for them to go through?
Mediating Between US and Iran00:11:48
Is Iran still collecting a handsome toll, which it was not collecting before the war?
Well, the Iranians have said, and they are determined, that they will control the Strait of Hormuz from now on, and that's not going to change.
And Oman is cooperating.
With Iran in this regard.
So, any ship that passes through is going to have to meet Iranian conditions, whatever they may be.
Now, some countries may have special relationships with Iran, some other countries may not have those special relationships.
So, there could be different standards for different countries, but ultimately, Iran will keep control.
Iran is definitely exporting oil.
The siege, I think, is complicated.
I haven't heard any new news of the U.S. boarding Iranian ships or bombing Iranian ships, which they did a number of times in the past few weeks.
But without a doubt, it's going to become more difficult for Iran.
There's no doubt about that.
The war caused damage, war is no joke.
And the siege is intended to harm Iranians.
Now, how much it harms Iranians and how fast, that's a different issue.
But we have to remember two things.
One is that Iran, during Trump's first term, was exporting almost no oil.
I've never had a government job.
Well, my university is a state owned university, but I mean in government.
But for a year or two, for a couple of years, I was as a volunteer in charge of the China file on behalf of Dr. Larijani, who was martyred a few weeks ago.
He was the.
Chair of the Supreme National Security Council.
Back then, he was the Speaker of Parliament and he was in charge of the Chinese relationship.
So I was in charge of that file on a volunteer basis because I liked him a lot.
And we were not exporting any oil, literally, at the height of the maximum pressure campaign of Trump, except for a small amount of oil, which we weren't getting money for.
It was a debt that we had to China for projects that they carried out in Iran.
So Iran has lived with being under siege for decades.
It's not fun.
It's not easy, but it's something that Iran can manage.
On the other hand, the crisis that is growing across the world, and we're not really seeing the reality of that crisis.
It's like the patient where we see that the patient has a temperature, a fever, but the real problem is much greater.
The world economy is moving towards crisis.
And the world economy and countries across the world that have never experienced sanctions and siege.
They're going to face catastrophic consequences pretty soon.
So, in my opinion, this siege is going to hit Trump much harder and much faster than it's going directly and indirectly than it's going to hit Iran.
And I think ultimately the United States will have, just like during the hot war, the 39 day war that the United States had to concede, they began with unconditional surrender and ended accepting Iran's 10 point plan as the basis for negotiations.
I think that this war, this sort of trade, this siege warfare will end with the same, that the Iranians will have the upper hand.
Wow.
Just to add a little levity to our conversation, because his statements are so ridiculous, here is a frustrated Senator Lindsey Graham.
Sorry to do this to you.
Trying to interrogate the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Secretary of Defense, about the role of Pakistan in all of this.
Watch this.
Pakistan.
Are you aware of reports that Pakistan are allowing their bases to be used to park Iranian aircraft, General Kane?
Sir, I've seen one report on that.
Well, is it accurate?
Sir, I think based on the variety of classification, Let me just say, do you agree if it is accurate, that is sort of inconsistent with being a peace mediator?
Sir, I wouldn't want to comment on that based on the ongoing negotiations in Pakistan.
Secretary Hexton, if the mediator is allowing reconnaissance aircraft of Iran to be parked in Pakistani air bases, do you think that's consistent with being a fair mediator?
Again, I wouldn't want to get in the middle of these negotiations.
I want to get in the middle of these negotiations.
I don't trust Pakistan as far as I can throw them.
If they actually do have Iranian aircraft parked in Pakistan bases to protect Iranian military assets, that tells me we should be looking maybe for somebody else to mediate.
No wonder this damn thing is going nowhere.
I swear, Judge, I have tears in my eyes.
You know, I love Pakistan.
And when we were there, people treated us as heroes in the hotel, on the streets, in the media center.
I mean, not knowing us as individuals, just knowing that we came from Iran.
But Iran didn't choose Pakistan as the mediator.
It was the United States.
They sent their messages through there first.
So if anything to complain about, they should condemn themselves.
But the problem, actually, he said something else that you also put that you showed on another one of your shows, where he said that Iran violated the agreement by enriching it 60%.
The Iranians never violated the nuclear agreement.
It was Trump who tore up the nuclear agreement.
And then the Europeans, all of them, began violating the agreement in obedience and obeyed Trump.
And then Iran, as a result, gradually over two years, it took two years for Iran to stop implementing its side of the bargain under maximum pressure sanctions.
People like me were saying we should immediately just throw the agreement out the window.
But the Iranians showed patience.
It was the right thing to do, I think.
And it took two years for them to stop implementing the deal.
And so the Iranians only enriched uranium at 60% well after the Americans left and the Europeans defied their obligations.
So it's truly a one sided street.
It's always been U.S. aggression, U.S. violations, U.S. sieges.
But when you look at U.S. media or Western media, Iran is always the bad actor.
Wow.
You were born in the United States of America, as we all know.
Are there many Americans in Tehran now?
And if there are, how do they interact in society given what the U.S. is trying to do for Israel?
You know, there are Americans who live in Iran and they live normal lives.
Many of them are American Iranians and they have no problem whatsoever.
I mean, our mutual friend, Max, Max Blumenthal, he's been to Iran.
He's been to synagogues.
He's visited synagogues in Tehran and Esfahan.
He's an American, an American Jew.
And I don't think he's ever felt uncomfortable in Iran.
I don't know, as far as I recall.
Or, for example, Flint and Hillary Lebert, who wrote that book, they came to Iran three times.
And Hillary is Jewish.
And she worked in the White House.
And she was always very popular among students.
She gave lectures, both of them gave lectures.
She gave lectures, she went to different institutions, they went shopping.
They were very popular, and no one ever said anything about the American people or showed hostility towards them.
So these are myths that the Zionist lobby creates in order to create hostility.
Between the United States and Iranians.
As you know, Jesus for us is, especially for the Shia, infallible.
And I think that if Jesus was insulted in front of an Iranian, the reaction would be much more harsh than if Jesus was insulted in front of a Zionist Christian.
I have no doubt about that.
I mean, you, you do not insult Jesus or, uh, or, uh, Lady Mary or any of the promosis or so the, the, the similarities and the, the commonalities that exist are enormous.
But all we are seeing for, for 47 some years now is hatred, hostility.
And then judge, the most extraordinary thing is that the, the Islam that the West, Western intelligence agencies, the Islam that they promote, Wahhabism and Salafism and ISIS and Al Qaeda and Boko Haram and all these crazy groups.
They promote them.
And then, or they supported the Taliban in the 1990s to take Afghanistan.
Now, today the Taliban is somewhat different, but back then when they were pushing, they were helping the Taliban in Afghanistan and they were carrying out mass slaughters, the Americans, that ideology that they were promoting themselves, They attribute it to us.
They say that this is Iran.
Those extremist groups do not represent Islam.
They've been supported by the West and their regional proxies.
Yet they try to make Western society, American society, think that we are like ISIS, that we are like Al Qaeda, we are like Boko Haram.
And the biggest enemies of these groups are Iran.
They hate Iran and Hezbollah more than anyone else.
They will never attack Israel.
But they will always try to attack Iran or the resistance or Iran's allies.
So, you know, the warped understanding of Iran in the United States is something that it will take years to rectify.
Mohammed, this is a fascinating conversation.
Every conversation we have is fascinating, and each one is better than its predecessor, and this is no exception to that.
Thank you, my dear friend, for your intellectual honesty, your personal courage, and your.
A Conversation Worth Reading00:01:15
Clarity of thought and expression.
All my best to you and your family and all your students, and we'll talk to you again next week, my dear friend.
Thank you, Judge.
It's a great pleasure and a great honor.
Just one small thing.
Our mutual friend, Alistair, who's been a friend of mine for 20 years, he has a book.
It's an old book, but it's still very much worth reading called Resistance The Essence of the Islamic Revolution, or something like that.
I read it a long time ago.
It is also.
Good book for people to read.
I've already spoken about going to Tehran, but his book is a very good book and he never talks about it.
But I think it's for those who are interested, it's something worth reading.
All right.
If Alistair wrote it, it is definitely worth reading.
And if you love it, it's definitely worth reading.
Professor, thank you, my dear friend.
All the best to you.
Thank you, Judge.
Great pleasure.
Bye bye.
Coming up this morning, if you're watching us live in 33 minutes at 10 o'clock, From Beijing.
Maybe he's in Shanghai.
Maybe he's in Beijing, but we'll find him Pepe Escobar.
And at two this afternoon, Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson.