Skip to main content

tv   SPOTLIGHT  PRESSTV  January 4, 2024 1:02pm-1:31pm IRST

1:02 pm
welcome to the debate, i'm kaviy. in iran people have marked the fourth assassination anniversary of the anti-terror commander lieutenant general qasim sulaimani. and while this honorable event was taking place, horrible terrorist incident has occurred here in the islamic republic, claiming the lives of many iranians were paying omage to him. why did this terrorist incident take place at of this time? was it to use iran's interior minister words detract iranians love and honor for the anti-terror icon, qasim sulaymani. also, in terms. of uh this
1:03 pm
incident, terrorist incident was it to use means to detract from the way that iranians were paying respect to him. this edition of the spotlight we will look at the legacy of this prominent figure in iran's history, which revitalized the access of resistance in the region a basis for the courageous fight the resistance fighters are waiting against the israeli regime forces in the gaza strep, and this is while iran's president has said me that the resistance groups will make israel pay heavy price for its terrorist act. first let me introduce our guests for this edition of the spotlight. say mohammed marandi, university professor and political analyst that joins us from tehran, also joining us to say mustaphash political analysts from tehran. welcome to you both. my condolences obviously go out on this uh sad occasion that was uh meant to uh honor the late lieutenant general sulaymani. but uh obviously an
1:04 pm
analysis needs to be uh put into the picture and if you could put things into context for us, first i think it's worth remembering uh and i'll start with you sayid mohammed marandi uh the reasoning that was given back when uh the targeted assassination took place by the us ontenant general sulaymani, the former secretary of state mike pompeo saying that uh there was an imminent attack uh that he had planned uh which we understand obviously is false premise maybe recount to us why that type of thinking went into play uh as the basis for what was said at the time was the assassination of uh sulaymani? well, if an imminent attack was about to take place, the last place where he would be would be in baghdad, obviously that's nonsense, and we also recall that the iraqi prime minister at that time, he said, very specifically that
1:05 pm
general suleymani came to iraq to visit me because he had received a letter from the saudi crown prince and they wanted to discuss raproshma, so after midnight general sulaimani when he arrived in baghdad from damascus, he was leaving the airport with his colleagues and with abu maahdial mohandis who was leading the fight against isis in iraq, the iraqi commander. and he was to meet the prime minister at 8 am if i'm not mistaken in the morning hours later and that's when the americans killed him and obviously the americans had information about the intention of general sonemani to meet the prime minister and to discuss the peace and raproachma with saudi arabia because the americans are everywhere in iraq and therefore that's that's all nonsense, the
1:06 pm
americans wanted revenge because they had been humiliated by the resistance whether in syria where the americans had supported extremist groups, they supported isis, that supported al-qaed, one example is the email uh from february the 12th, 2012 from jake sullivan to um hillary clinton who was the secretary of state at that time and jake sullivan who is now the national national security advisor of biden, in that email, and you can everyone can find this online, he said al-qaeda is on our side in syria, this is early 2012, and we know that later on isis, which was a part of al-qaeda, broke away from al-qaeda, so they were supporting these extremist groups, the defeat of isis, the defeat of al-qaeda was something that angered the united states, it angered trump.
1:07 pm
uh both their defeat ins here in iraq and it and the americans were angry that it created a bond, a strong bond between the iranian people and the iraqi people, and they they got the... revenge, but in my opinion, the americans miscalculated, because uh, it mobilized the iranian nation, millions of people came to the streets to commemorate in tehran alone, to commemorate the the marturdom of general sulaymani. now, this is point that i'd like to take up with you, sayid, the fact that you have uh, i believe one of our guests actually said this, which i'm going to ask you, that uh, "this terrorist incident that has now taken place in the islamic republic, um, he said that uh, the us and israel actually fear uh, haj qasam sulaimani's death even more now that he's dead than alive, because the legacy that he left behind, and what he stood for in terms
1:08 pm
the anti-uh terror icon is inspiration for for example, resistance groups to continue this fight that they're having in terms of the imperialist powers like the..." us and therefore that aspect of it is what stands out right now, do you think that that is valid perspective and what what this represents in this case? thanks for having me and hello to, well that's true actually, qasim sulaymani was a unique commander when he before he they marted him, he had already... old friends in force as well as in lebanon that he had planned of the future of the resistance against the americans and israelies for the next years to come and
1:09 pm
that's true. it's no secret everyone knows that general sulaymani you provided logistical backup and everything to the resistant groups inc. including hamas and others all across the region, and i do believe not much, but all of the things that we see these days is the product of qasim sulaymani, and he is even more frightening to the americans and israelies these days, even more than before, the kind of a strategy that he started over 20 years ago, some 20 something years ago, still continues, let's remember that back... 2001 the united states invaded afghanistan, later after a couple of years they invaded iraq, and they were on both sides of iran. 38 original us bases, they all incirculed iran, threatening iran,
1:10 pm
it was then the qasim sulaymani started his mobilization paradigm or or formula based on what we had already experienced during the war, iraq imposed war on iran uh in the 1980s and then he embraced success everywhere that he went after this paradigm and formula in afghanistan, iraq and all across the region. now after 20 years where are the americans uh on those days they were incircling us and we were inside the borders, now our influence and regional might and power has admedly expanded to the mediter. but where are the americans? they are, they have been fading away in this region, now they have threatened even one of the iranian allies isbullah to step back from engaging in the war in the israeli war against gaza, but they stayed
1:11 pm
unintimidated and they uh, you know, started attacks on israel, they also sent their warships to the red sea to threat and the yemen nation and yemen's army uh, but so they failed and as you can see yemen continues attacks on on you know israely bound ships and they have stayed on thetur so as you can see these are the products these these groups and allies they they are products the efforts made by haj qasim sulaymani the the respectable market and marty general and also uh in response to your question uh yes uh we could still see uhmani in on the scene pretty well and very much clearly. okay let's look at what has occurred today in terms of the terrorist incident muhammad marandi if we
1:12 pm
were to take a look at the three incidents that uh have taken placeed razi musavi uh the irani military advisor in syria. have what happened in bay roots um in terms of senior hamas leader uh sal ari and then you have what's happened today in the islamic republic why do you think this uh occurred of course uh no matter who uh has analyzed this has pointed the finger at israel being behind it, but what do you think in terms of the timing of it uh today and after these two uh targeted assassinations? i'm sorry, we don't have your audio, sorry about that, okay, now we have you, go ahead, the fact that this terror attack today occurred immediately after the terror attack. operation either alone or before it makes people think that it was
1:13 pm
probably the israelis that carried out this in bayrut and the terror attack in damascus with ally like isis because the israelis and isis cooperated in the dirty war in syria isis was they had bases alongside the golan heights for years they are injured uh "militants were treated in israeli hospitals whenever the syrian army would try to attack isis, israeli air force and artillery would support isis, so there is a strong relationship between the two, they tried to bring down the syrian government along with nato regimes and regional allies of nato to break the resistance and create gap between iran and its friends and god" the west bank and they failed, so it is quite possible that
1:14 pm
the israeli regime was behind this, and the reason obviously would be that the israelis are angry, they've lost the war in gaza, they've lost the military war in gaza, they've lost the intelligence war in gaza, and they've destroyed their credibility across the world, and they've destroyed the credibility of the collective west by through this... genocide through this holocaust, so this has been a catastrophic defeat for the regime, so they are angry, but on the other hand, netanyahu wants to expand the war, because if the war and he wants to continue the war, because if the war ends, he will be put on trial and he will probably go to jail, so the longer the war, the better it is for netanyahu, the longer the genocide continues, the better it is for netanyahu. allies as well, so he has incentive to continue the war and also to spread the war, because he's
1:15 pm
losing, and that is how he can, he can, he hopes that the americans could be brought into the battlefield, which i think is obviously very detrimental to the interest of the united states, because this is not libya, we're not talking about iraq, a broken iraq under saddam hussein a sanctioned iraq, we're talking about ne work of resistance that goes from the red sea to the mediterranean to the hindu kush, it is an enormous alliance and the resistance block or their resistance access, and if there's confrontation obviously with iran, it's not a battle that the americans can win because iran could destroy all the facilities in the persian gulf, those countries, if the americans attack... iran, all those countries that have military bases, american military bases would be hostile, would be considered as hostile,
1:16 pm
so their oil and gas installations would be fair gain, and in addition to that, the that would create a global economic meltdown, sure, and that would be enormous loss to the united states, so i don't think that the americans, i have no doubt that the americans don't want the war to be to expand, but netanyahu has vested interest. and expanding the conflict. all right, well since you mentioned the vast area that the resistance groups cover, i i think it's only appropriate that i ask you, about what iran's leader has said, and you can expand on this further for us, how uhymani was instrumental reviving the resistance front in the region in the areas that i guess they just mentioned, how did was he able to do that? as i said earlier, um... when americans attacked afghanistan and iraq, um, the resistance actually moved to second
1:17 pm
stage when you know qasim sulaymani started mobilizing uh groups and all across the region, especially in and in a region when we were uh under threat by the united states actually, and the other... muslim nations were also under threat, they were being threatened, they were invaded by the united states and it was clear that the us wanted to, you know, push seven count. trees it all across the region into chaos in compliance with its greater middle east plan, so this mobilization that was you know modeled on iran's mobilization during the iraqian post war started and it expanded and it could uh reak havick on americans everywhere, now it's
1:18 pm
doing the same to the israelis and americans everywhere and as dr. marind said they know the dire costs of any kind of hostile action against iran, they realized in washington, though netanyahu is very much desperate to keep himself in power because he knows the aftermates uh if the war goes on and without expansion, even if we don't see a cease fire many believe now that in about four five months even if the gaza war continues, netanyahu. will be you know uh uh brought down from power and that would be the end of his career, not just that, but also he will be putting put behind bars because of his corruption cases and his failure, you now his greatest sin, not not his sin, but guilt uh and flaw of the israeli army and security
1:19 pm
apparatus as well as netanyahu's you know uh uh guilt and and shortcoming. is that the the the israeli defense doctrine was shattered in the first six hours that hammas went to went on attacking them and they lost all the principles of their military doctrine and they found themselves surprised and shattered, so these are all the products, mean what hamas did, what isbullah is doing, what yemen's army is doing. "these are all the products of the model of the move that that that that was started by martin sulaimani and his efforts and paradigm. okay, um, so still trying to figure out the uh reasoning that is given when it comes to the genocidal war itself morandi, are we looking
1:20 pm
at israel uh, seeing this as an existential threat if they don't succeed there in the gaza strip?" " uh, or is it because they're losing there, they realize it, and therefore they are trying to open up the war in different fronts, like i mentioned about the assassination of sal almas leader and sayid razi musabi, and of course now, what has happened to the islamic republic? i think there are two layers here, one is sheer anger and emotions, the israelis are very... upset, very angry, they're openly talking about genocide, and they are repeating it day after day. you see mps speaking about genocide, major military commanders, speaking about genocide, government ministers, the israeli president spoke of genocide, the prime minister netanyahu, the defense minister,
1:21 pm
this is the genicidal intend is usually something that even the... most evil of regimes hide from the international community, but in the case of israel, out of sheer despare and anger, they've been saying it day after day, and this is highly detrimental because they're admitting to the world what they're doing, but and they are extremely angry towards the iranians because the capabilities of hamas in gaza, the tunnels, the what hamas and its allies, the islamic jihad? and others have have have been able to help them defeat the israeli regime, so there is an emotional component to this in their terror attacks, whether it's against hamas officials in lebanon or the iranian general in syria or potentially that if the israelis were indeed behind it, the terror attack in kerman, the second layer is, as you
1:22 pm
pointed out, israelies have lost the war and... and this the the aura of israeli invincibility is gone, it it took its first blow in 2000 when it retreated from lebanon, then the defeat in 2006 was second blow, but this was decisive blow, especially since ansarullah, the yemen armed forces blocked israels in the south, hesgol drew half of its army to the north and hamas and has destroyed its credibility across the globe, it's shown itself to be genocidal both in language and words, but in also in action, so the israelis are in a very bad situation,
1:23 pm
they're in a very painful and difficult situation, and they need, or at least netanyahu, both for his okay, selfish interest as mr. khush kish brightly pointed out, but also they need the americans to come in to save the day, and "that is not going to help the israelis and this proves that the israeli regime, not only is it detrimental to the interest of the west, it's very existence, but also it shows that the israeli regime is willing sacrifice its western allies for its own selfish interest. that's the key question here, then so what do you think, mustafa kh, when is that red line going to be crossed? we're looking at three different incidents now, almost back to back, if israel is to continue down this path, are we looking a massive?" retaliation uh, what are we looking at? all the resistance fronts, some iran to be included or not, how do you see this? we're israel to continue down the path that it is. how much time are you going
1:24 pm
to give me about that? just keep it short, i'm sorry, we're almost reaching the end of the program. okay, so let let me, let me put it in a nutshell. um, okay, first of all, let add something to my earlier response that general when he's he did this mobilization program and planning for the muslim world, for the muslim, the oppressed muslim nations, um, he had, you know, very good principle that he established, he we in iran, we never look at these allies as proxiposis, that's our difference with others, with the americans and israelies, because they use them as you know, some proxy forces, some terrorists that they hire, but we in iran look at these groups as well as the states like iraq and syria as our allies, the difference comes in this that we do not try
1:25 pm
to feed them with fish, but we teach them to catch fish, this is a difference, different because we look at them as allies, equal allies on equal footing. now uh, in response to your questions, definitely i agree with the mara and that... "this is you know somehow masterminded by israel or conducted by israel and this could have been israel or this could have been some terrorist group like json or isis who have been master i mean the plot has been masterminded and done by the israelis definitely there is no doubt about that and i do agree" that netanyahu because of his failures uh and this war, he wants escalate the tensions to the region, he wants to bring in the us and he wants to bring the nato and, but definitely they will
1:26 pm
receive a response. iran is shown on multiple cases according to the israelis, whenever they have done something wrong like assassinating doctorzade, the jerusalem post reported that the father of their aerospace program, avihar even was killed. at the heart of israel few months later when they uh conduct a sabotage attack at nathan's two times, their main ballistic missile factory offer went into the air and experienced explosion, when they started attacking uh iranian ships, they said that their own ships more than the number, mean greater number became under attack, so there are different ways that iran will definitely provide a response uh... okay, i'm sorry, i will just fresh out of time, i do apologize, i do apologize for that, say mustapha, political
1:27 pm
analyst, sorry, we're just fresh out of time, sayid muhammed marandi, thank you, university professor and political analys, both from tehran, with that we come to an end for this edition of the spotlight, from the team, it's goodbye. when the palestinians were dealing with israeli atrocities, arab betrayal, and several other issues. iran's islamic revolution in 1979 was inspirational for the palestinian resistance factions to pursue their cause in a different way. but besides iran's unwavering support for the... palestinians efforts by legendary man has gone down in the history of the resistance movement. general qassum sulaimani.
1:28 pm
صالح عاروريه وبيزنا عزم واصرار الله اكبر الله
1:29 pm
يابا.
1:30 pm