Inside The Collapse of Iran's War Machine, the episode envisions a hypothetical strike eliminating the supreme leader and 40 others within 30 seconds, prompting Iranian officials to claim readiness for ground troops despite President Trump's hesitation. Guests Vice Admiral Robert Hayward and Kevin Hermaning recount Operation Eagle Claw's failures and the 1979 revolution's impact on hostages, while the host critiques European leaders like Keir Starmer and Macron over immigration and Sharia courts. The discussion also addresses New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani's wife's pro-Hamas posts and concludes with callers debating U.S. post-liberation control of Iranian oil versus past military abandonments in Afghanistan. [Automatically generated summary]
At hour two, Sean Hannity Show, toll-free, it's 800-941.
Sean, you want to be a part of the program this Friday.
Hard to believe.
I mean, I've been so immersed in every aspect of this war against Iran.
You know, starting on Friday night, I was awake when this began and I didn't go to sleep.
And I was up texting everybody, my friends and senators and congressmen and people in the administration, anybody that would take my text.
And I didn't go to bed until noon that day, called in the Fox and Friends Saturday morning, about 6.30 in the morning.
And it was just that spectacular.
And it has been an incredible success beyond any belief I thought we could have.
I knew this would be a tough operation.
I was nervous in the lead up to this because you just don't know.
There's an unknown factor, especially with a regime as insane as the Iranian regime.
And then when we got the news that the supreme leader and 40 plus others were taken out in the first 30 seconds of this engagement, the special counsel designed to pick the next generation of leadership, 80 some odd people in that case, they were wiped out.
I mean, now we're down to some guy who is now the new Iranian foreign minister that nobody's heard of, saying that they're ready for ground troops if they attack.
By the way, President Trump's been pretty clear, not going to be a ground war.
They don't need to put boots on the ground.
Anyway, here's the new, nobody knows who the hell he is, Iranian foreign minister.
President Trump has not ruled out boots on the ground in Iran.
Are you afraid of a U.S. invasion in your country?
No, we are waiting for them.
You are waiting for the U.S. military to invade the ground troops?
Yes.
Because we are confident that we can confront them, and that would be a big disaster for them.
So you're saying that Iran is ready and willing to take on the U.S. military if there were to be ground troops?
Well, we were ready for this war even more than the previous war.
So you can see the quality of our missiles, how much they are upgraded after the last war, because we learned lots of lessons.
And we are prepared for any other eventuality, even a ground invasion.
Pretty spectacular.
Now, I got to give a lot of props to the U.S. military, our commander-in-chief, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Raising Kane is unbelievable.
Another person that I really admire is Admiral Brad Cooper, CENCOM commander.
He's detailing here the destroyed Iranian ships.
Yeah, we've destroyed pretty much all of them.
It was funny last night.
There was a story about one ship that somehow made it to the shores or close to the shores of Sri Lanka.
And the Iranians on that ship started jumping off the ship and saying, You can keep the ship.
We're out of here.
Just let us give us a place to stay, which was pretty funny.
But here's Admiral Brad Cooper.
Our strikes against the Iranian Navy have intensified.
You may have heard the president say just a little while ago that we have sunk or destroyed 24 ships.
That was true at the moment.
We're now up over 30 ships.
And in just the last few hours, we hit an Iranian drone carrier ship, roughly the size of a World War II aircraft carrier.
And as we speak, it's on fire.
And then the president himself calling on Iranian soldiers to lay down their arms.
And according to some reports now, I've not been able to confirm it myself, but there are a lot of reports that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, they're laying down their arms.
Local police departments are laying down their arms and that they want no part of what is likely to come.
The president offered them immunity if they did so immediately.
Otherwise, they would face certain death.
But here's the president calling on those soldiers to lay down their arms.
I'm once again calling on all members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the military, and the police to lay down their arms.
They're only going to be killed.
And now is the time to stand up for the Iranian people and help take back your country.
You're going to have a chance after all these years to take back your country.
Accept immunity.
We'll give you immunity.
And we'll be giving you really the right side of history because that's what it is.
So you'll be perfectly safe with total immunity or you'll face absolutely guaranteed death.
And I don't want to say that.
One of the most disappointing, if not, it's not surprising to me.
We have been pointing out the utter decline of Europe and chronicling it on this program now for some time.
But the first initial reaction of the prime minister of Great Britain, Kirst Tharmer, was pathetic.
And the same with French President Macron.
It was pathetic.
And the leader of Spain, pathetic.
And these are supposed to be our allies.
But Europe has been experiencing massive, really a massive, precipitous decline.
They have given up, you know, really, you know, standing strong and putting a commitment towards national security and defense of their own countries and their own continent.
They have not done a good job.
They were, you know, hemming and hawing when Donald Trump insisted they more than double their contribution to NATO, but he got them to do it.
And of course, they don't understand the nature of evil in our time.
I never thought in our lifetime that Great Britain would ever end up with 85 or 87 Sharia courts, but it's real.
I didn't think there'd be no go zones where the Islamic community that immigrated from other countries would say that local police and fire departments are not allowed in their community and that they separate themselves.
In other words, you have unfettered immigration without assimilation.
And they've adopted climate alarmism pretty much all across the continent, along with radical socialism.
It is a continent that is in a precipitous decline.
Anyway, joining us now to discuss all of this, the Vice Admiral Robert Hayward of the U.S. Navy.
Also, Kevin Hermaning is with us, a Marine, by the way, held captive 444 days.
He's back with us.
Kevin, it's great to have you back.
Vice Admiral, great to have you back.
Thank you for being with us.
Kevin, you were there in the beginning.
I mean, this is when the Ayatollah came out of exile in France and the revolution began in 1979, and you spent 444 days as a captive.
Kevin's 444-Day Captivity00:11:08
How horrible was that point in your life?
Well, it wasn't easy, but I have to say, some of my colleagues really endured some severe treatment.
I think about our CIA station chief there, 125 days, Sean, in solitary confinement, just worrying every day about his family.
And was he the only one left behind?
And, of course, that was before the days when we learned later that men like William Buckley were tortured and killed by the same regime.
I think about Colonel Charles Scott, who was beaten severely with rubber hoses during his first days of interrogations and having his teeth busted off.
And we can't forget, although they weren't ever held hostage, but let's face it, three Marines and five airmen gave their lives in Operation Eagle Claw trying to rescue us.
That wouldn't have had to happen if they hadn't captured the embassy and held us either.
Well, let me ask you, Vice Admiral Robert Harward, thank you for your service, number one.
Number two, I don't think I've ever been more proud of our military.
I mean, the level of intelligence gathering, the sophisticated precision of our military might has never been on better display than it has been here.
And I'm very grateful to all of those people that understand for future generations' sake that we can't have radical Islamists partnered with weapons of mass destruction that they pledge to use to destroy the U.S. and Israel.
Well, let me start first off by recognizing Kevin.
You know, what he went through epitomizes service.
So just always thank you, please.
I mean, it's got to be hard to be a hostage for 444 days, right, Admiral?
Hell yeah, it's got to be hard, but, you know, that's why people serve.
Unfortunately, sometimes that happens, and you'd have to ask Kevin, but we all can help acknowledge the service he provided to this country of ours and the sacrifice he's made.
So my hat's off to him.
Number two, I think most important, you're damn right.
This is one of the, it's not just our military, our whole government that had the courage to do this.
The Secretary of War, the president, the Secretary of State, all in support.
And then you had a military that could execute this.
I think what you're seeing, just as proud as we are of them, I think other countries are starting to realize what this means to them and the potential.
And that's why you're seeing some of these political leaders change.
They realize how significant and how powerful the millions and millions of people who want to see this through.
And so that's why I think you're seeing some of these shifts in their policy and their positions.
Well, they have been showing nothing but decline and weakness now going on for a long time.
They have not put their priority on national security and defense of their countries and their own continent.
And they have been relying on the United States and even taking advantage of us with tariffs and Donald Trump putting an end to that.
All right, quick break more with Vice Admiral Robert Harward of the U.S. Navy and Kevin Hermaning, a Marine held hostage for 444 days in Iran.
Quick break, right back on the other side.
More of their comments.
Your call's coming up also.
800-941-Sean as we continue.
All right, we continue now with Vice Admiral Robert Harward is with us of the U.S. Navy.
Now, Kevin Hermaning is a Marine.
He was one of the people held hostage for 444 days after the Ayatollah Khomeini came into power in 1979.
Admiral, your background is pretty fascinating to me.
You grew up in Iran.
You graduated from the Tehran American School.
You speak Farsi.
Former Navy SEAL, Vice Admiral, led the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, served as deputy commander of U.S. Central Command and helped stand up, start up the National Counterterrorism Center.
And you were asked by the president to serve as the National Security Advisor.
I mean, your background and life experience is one to envy.
Well, I don't know about any of that, but I will tell you, along with Kevin, we've seen this thing from its very inception.
And like Kevin, we were there before and realized what an amazing country and the people of Iran are.
So we understand exactly why this is so important and how incredible this event is.
And again, because we had the political courage and strength to do that, and then our military could execute.
This is what service is and just leadership.
So it's good to really see how this plays out.
But there's no doubt about it.
This thing is not done until the regime is gone.
And I think everyone realizes that, not just in the U.S., but in our European leaders, because then you bring a change of government that is accountable to its people and can work peacefully with its neighbors and partners in the region.
You know, Kevin, as I look at your story, being held 444 days hostage, you, by the way, you continued in the military.
You completed 13 years in the Marine Corps, Semperfi, sir.
You got multiple honors, including the Prisoner of War Medal, the Defense Notorious Service Medal, the U.S. State Department Award for Valor.
But you were only 20 years old and the youngest of the 444 held hostage.
Not an easy moment for a 20-year-old kid.
Well, Sean, thank you for that.
But seriously, we were just doing our jobs, right?
Marine security guards at our embassies have a unique responsibility.
Yes, we are working for the Department of Defense, but our job is to minimize chaos abroad, right?
We're in a diplomatic mission, which means we are responsible for following the direction, the orders of our ambassadors.
Bruce Langen had sent cables back to the State Department.
They were ignored by Cyrus Vance, our Secretary of State.
And I don't know about the president.
Maybe I never even saw them.
But he said, listen, if you let the Shah of Iran into the country, into the United States, that the embassy could come under siege.
Americans could be held hostage.
Those were the exact language that were in those cables.
And I'm not suggesting we shouldn't have let our longtime ally, the Shah, into the United States, but perhaps we should have downsized or closed our embassy for a time period to see the repercussions that might have resulted.
Nonetheless, I always do I remind the listeners, the audiences before which I speak occasionally of those men who died in the desert and my fellow captives, because 425 days in solitary confinement for Tom Ahern was just horrendous.
I mean, for me, 43 days after a failed escape attempt was nothing as a result, but just to be able to do that.
And I think also the younger you are, the easier it is.
And I'll never forget getting down on my knees in solitary confinement, just praying and asking God to deliver me from those days, right?
I just, you have no idea.
But many of my colleagues had much worse treatment than I did.
Well, thank God everyone got out.
It happened on the day that Ronald Wilson Reagan became the president of our country, January 20th, 1981, a day we'll never forget.
Can't thank you both.
I admire both of you.
Kevin, thank you.
Admiral, thank you.
We appreciate your time.
Thank you for being on the program today, and God bless both of you and your families.
And we really appreciate both of you.
Thank you.
Well, just when you think, it can't get any worse for Zoron, moron, Marxist, Kami Mamdani, it did.
Apparently, his wife liked social media posts that was celebrating Hamas's October 7th massacre of Israelis.
Now, remember, their population well under 10 million.
So that's the equivalent of losing 40,000 Americans in a day.
If America lost 40,000 Americans in a day, what would you want your government to do?
Maybe obliterate the people that killed your fellow citizens?
That's what I'd want them to do.
I don't hide that fact.
Very open about it.
Look at how we reacted after 9-11, 2001.
We lost 2,977 Americans that day.
Anyway, so Zoron, Marxist, Kami Mamdani's wife, according to FoxNews.com, allegedly liked several posts on social media, quote, cheering on Hamas on October 7th with the October 7th massacre of Israelis.
Remember, there was murder and kidnappings and beheadings and rape that all took place.
And these terrorists, they took videos of it.
And I happen to be one of the few people the IDF would show people in the media so they could report accurately on it.
And there were many of my colleagues at Fox that looked at it, and they had to leave in the middle of it because it was that gruesome.
It's not something we can ever show you on TV because you just can't.
These are not images you'll ever get out of your mind.
According to the D.C.-based news outlet Jewish Insider, New York City mayor Zoron Marxist Kami Mamdani spent the mayoral campaign distancing himself from the most radical anti-Israeli elements of the leftist movement.
But an examination of his wife's social media activity reveals that she liked multiple Instagram posts cheering on Hamas on October the 7th, 2023.
And the post liked by his wife, a Syrian-American artiste, unambiguously celebrating the terrorist attack, which, again, 1,200 Israelis, but they have a tiny population.
It's a very small country.
I mean, unbelievable.
And they even, you know, they were killing children for crying out loud and rape and murder and kidnapping all on tape and beheadings.
I got that part.
It doesn't get any sicker than this.
I do not understand why 95% of this country does not vote against this radicalism, which is now the entirety of the Democratic Party.
All right, let's get to our busy phones.
800-941-Sean, our number, if you want to be a part of the program.
John in South Carolina.
John, how are you?
Happy Friday.
Glad you called.
I'm good, Sean.
How are you?
Why Not Help Americans?00:06:21
I'm good, sir.
So is this an opportunity for Trump to squeeze the Russians and the Chinese controlling the streets of with all the oil tankers in and out of there where that's 20% of the world's 100%.
And I would imagine, and the president said that he will have a say in who takes over just like he did in Venezuela, which he has to do.
Otherwise, why do we spend all this risk?
Why do we send all these military assets over there?
And I will predict that at the end of the day, the Iranians will be paying for their own salvation here in the sense that they're going to pay the price, what it costs the U.S. to liberate them.
And I think that Donald Trump insisting on somebody that is going to be friendly towards America is a fair exchange for freedom because that's what the president, we're willing to risk our national treasure, expend a massive amount of military resources, and I think they should pay for that liberation.
Now, that will mean the U.S. will absolutely have a say in their oil production.
It will benefit the people of Iran financially, and it will pay back the United States for the massive billions and billions of dollars that we've had to spend for their freedom.
They asked for our help.
They got it.
And now that we've been successful and that we will be successful, they can pay us back for that.
And I think that's only fair.
Yeah, I agree.
All right, my friend.
Appreciate you.
800-941-Sean, our number, Wayne in Louisiana next, Sean Hannity Show.
What's up, Wayne?
How are you?
Oh, I'm doing great.
How you doing, Mr. Hannity?
I'm good, sir.
What's going on?
Oh, man, I'm just calling from the great state of Louisiana, the home of Senator Kennedy and Steve Scalise.
So, yeah, definitely.
Yeah, I just wanted to thank you for your service to the country and for the time you came to help us out with the flood of 2015, I believe, in Baton Rouge.
They had the big flood, and you and Trump were there, and y'all were handing out food and helping serve.
That was pretty awesome.
You're talking about after Katrina?
No, there was a flood.
I think it was after Trump announced he was running for the first time.
I think you guys were in Baton Rouge.
I don't know if you remember.
But then also there was Katrina, too, as well, which I definitely made it through.
Thank God.
Yeah.
Well, listen, I'm just, I hate the fact that when I see my fellow Americans suffering, you know, we spend all this money abroad to help out other countries when they're in need because that's who we are.
We're Americans.
But the first priority is any American, natural disaster, they need help.
Americans always are there for their fellow Americans.
And I remember seeing this up close and personal after 9-11.
And the amount of love and support from people all across this country was remarkable.
And we had syndicated this radio program the day before 9-11.
And one of our affiliates, first affiliates, was in Los Angeles.
They actually had people drive up and send notes in this big, big, massive mural.
And they signed it and they sent these loving notes to people.
And we ended up, you know, I forgot where we hung it, but we hung it so people would be able to walk along and read it.
And then I remember, you know, companies like local delicatessents and pizza places.
And, you know, I remember Campbell's soup.
I don't know why Campbell's soup comes to mind, but it does.
I like Campbell's soup.
I like Campbell's soup chicken noodle.
And they set up, you know, like 24-hour, 24-hour a day, seven-day a week, you know, free soup for all the first responders and people that would walk by.
They just give free soup to everybody and take care of everybody.
Americans helping Americans.
It's kind of a cool thing.
That's awesome.
Yeah, I just remember also after the big hurricane at the head in North Carolina was two years ago and how they were just basically left abandoned with no help until.
I couldn't believe it.
I kept talking about it.
I'm like, hello, can we help these people out, please?
Yeah, hello, Americans in need.
Get there.
Right.
They were just left abandoned to fend for themselves.
I mean, come on.
Cool.
We've got to take care of our own.
We've got to take care of Americans.
You know, I've never been a conservative against a safety net, but you want to teach people how to fish.
You want to create an opportunity society.
You don't want to create dependency.
And that's the difference in philosophies between conservatism and liberalism.
Right.
And another big thing is when they left the soldiers abandoned in Afghanistan, of course.
That was another thing.
That was so despicable.
Not only did we abandon the soldiers, not only did we abandon, we abandoned our allies.
And these are people we made commitments to that if God forbid the day came that these people would, you know, needed help getting out, we were going to take them with us.
And we not only abandoned them, but we abandoned them and computers with it and billions of dollars in military equipment with it.
And on those computers, they were able to figure out each and every person that had been helping the U.S. in some capacity.
And those people were hunted down and murdered, never to be seen or heard from again.
Great job, Joe Biden.
Right.
And then Minkazi.
That's another one.
What difference does it make, right?
Yeah.
At this point, meanwhile, we have a CIA annex, not one, not two, but three standdown orders.
The annex was about a mile away from where the embassy was.
And then finally, the guys at the CIA Annex put their whole career on the line.
They said, you know what?
You're not telling us to stand down anymore.
Our Americans are screaming for help.
This isn't who we are.
We'll risk our career and we'll go save them.
And they saved a lot of lives as a result.
They didn't save everybody.
They didn't save Ambassador Stevens, but they saved a lot of people.
Final Hour Decisions00:04:01
Listen, Wayne, I could talk to you all day.
We can go through the history of the show at this point.
But God bless you.
Love our friends in Louisiana.
And we hope you have a great weekend, sir.
All right, quick break right back to our busy phones.
Here's our toll-free number.
It's 800-941-Sean, if you want to be a part of the program.
Final hour roundup is next.
You do not want to miss it.
And stay tuned for the final hour free-for-all on the Sean Hannity Show.
All right, let's head back to our busy phones, 800-941-SEAN, if you want to be a part of the program.
All right, let's go to Anne-Marie in Connecticut.
Anne-Marie wants to convince me to do something I don't want to do.
Ann-Marie, how are you?
Good, Sean.
It's an honor to speak to you, longtime listener of your radio and TV shows.
I was listening yesterday, and I think you should go to the correspondence dinner because you are one of the main voices of truth.
You speak for all of us, and I so appreciate it.
But you do know who's in that room, right?
You understand that, all right, there'll be a number of Fox tables, so I'll have friends in the room.
You do know that every other table is the legacy media mob, and that I don't like those people, and they don't like me.
They don't like that I make fun of them.
They don't like that I expose them.
They don't like that I call them out.
And then they bring these, you know, a listers from Hollywood as well with them.
And none of them like Donald Trump.
They treat him like crap.
Why do I want to be in the same room with those people?
I don't want to see those people.
I've never gone my entire career.
And Fox in different years tried to force me to go.
And I'd call on Friday.
I'm feeling well.
I wish I could go, but I can't.
Well, I think because you speak for all of us, and we all appreciate that.
And we'd like to see you there as representative of us, the people that follow you and that we know you speak the truth.
And, you know, everything that Donald Trump has done, we keep saying over and over again is proven to come true.
And I was telling the caller rep there that, you know, I'd be willing to go with you to the correspondence dinner in my own house.
You want to be my date?
You want to go out?
I don't think my fiancé will like that, but I mean.
No, just as just as can you imagine if I brought Linda with me and Linda runs into Humpty Dumpty, fake Jake, fake Jim Acosta, and all these other people in the legacy media mob.
God help us.
I think it'll be fun, and Linda and I can handle it.
We'll be there.
Oh, my gosh.
Qualification is a parish school student newspaper.
So that would be my correspondence qualification.
Well, that gives you more credibility than everyone else for the most part in the room, except for, you know, people like me and Fox people.
I mean, I just don't like these people.
Linda, we have been together to like conventions and debate, presidential debates and all of this stuff together.
Linda, what do the people in the left-wing media really think of me?
You can tell them.
You can tell Anne-Marie.
I mean, I think a big part of their strong feelings for you come from you screaming in the middle of the DNC, Rumbo.
I mean, there is something to that.
I get it.
I've been there.
Gavin's Uncomfortable Encounters00:01:32
I've seen their faces or, you know, there's just moments.
You know, you never.
How about the moment I went up behind Chris Matthews?
James remembers this moment, sweet baby James.
And I put him in like a baby headlock.
And I literally went right into MSDNC's, you know, area where they do their work.
I just walk right in and I see Chris Matthews walk up to me.
You just did it.
What was it at the debate between Joe Biden and Trump where Gavin was giving an interview and you came up behind him?
You're like, hey, what's up?
And I think it was CNN or MS. I don't remember.
No, it was in the shop.
In the shop.
It was a gaggle.
I came up behind him and I tapped him on the shoulder and he finally turns around.
I'm like, Gavin, how are you?
And like, but the whole thing is on camera.
Oh, the whole thing, of course it is.
I mean, I'm not, I'm not assaulting anybody.
I'm just, you know, being me.
I get very charming.
Well, they are.
See, the difference is everybody expects me to act one way, and I just put on a smile and I'm charming.
Hey, how are you?
How's business?
How's everything?
Blah, blah, blah.
And meanwhile, I don't like these people.
I'm not going to sit here and be phony.
I mean, I guess I could say what I want to say about them to their face.
And, you know, I would have no problem if they gave me a reason to.
Oh, you weren't there sensei was with me.
I mean, I have to bring security with me when I go to those events.
I mean, because some of them are so pissed off at me for what I said about them on the air, you know, five years ago.