despite questioning economic sanctions from the west, the islamic republic has succeeded in developing its aerospace capabilities. iran has put a third homegrown satellite into orbit, and that's a big deal, because sanctions. failed to stop iran's advancement technologically, especially in the aerospace sector, not to mention many other sectors like the military. why is iran been so successful in these advancements? why has the us maximum pressure campaign failed to stop iran despite decades of sanctions? just some of the questions we'll be asking in this edition of the spotlight. our guests for this program are. julia gassam joins us, she's a

journalist and political analyst. also joining us is the commentator. welcome to you both. julie, i'll first start with you. so, we are looking at what's called the nur 3 and i'm looking at the description, an imaging satellite, gone into orbit uh successfully, placed into a 450 km orbit of the earth, with the iwanian cassette satellite carrier, which means menger. and this comes a year and a half to the new two went into orbit that altitude was 500 kms and then uh you also had the new one back in april 20 was the first military wecon satellite launched by iran. tell us why this is significant? well the speed of the progress uh from new one to new three which is the most final and most successful edition of the satellite um is uh definitely a in itself um us played down the

new one lot and that was just only three years ago uh and right now it's a fully capable um imaging satellite that's able to uh really have a full range of uh capturing all of the us's spy activities uh and and bases in the relegally put bases in the region um which is what has uh which is really putting the us its toes um it's uh effectively uh knocked down the mosad and the us is um um monopoly on uh intelligence and on um aspianage and and imaging basically in the region now uh iran is emerging as a uh western agent a power having a home grown capability over intelligence and over satellite imagery um and you know iran was already really beating off the us's base in iraq and around the region before the satellite what can uh this be capable, what

can uh the threats to the us occupation in the region, molsad presence in the region reach uh now that uh that the newer 3 is of successful, this is really worrying uh the us occupation and and israel uh for sure, so much that the us once again it's launching its uh military nuclear capability um pretex uh you know giving as its opposition to uh the the newer three. but of course that's just a pretext to to basically hide the level of anxiety that uh the us occupation and its allies have in in losing its uh monopoly on intelligence gathering and um technology in the region. yeah this that's a very good point. mean if we want to take a look at this uh shabir in terms of uh what the accomplishment really entails um this technology of carriers is only available to 12 countries in fact uh, even though the

countries that produce satellites, but because of this uh technology of the launcher itself, um, they uh, don't have the full cycle of space technology, it tells uh of course what your thoughts are on that, but our guess there from beirout says the us monopoly, i think the us wants to monopolize industries like the aerospace, but probably their uh real is the military industry so that these countries in west asia uh as referred to by us uh become reliant on the us of when it comes to things like military equipment, is is that a correct uh perspective on it or way of looking at it? salam, thank you for having me, and yes, i believe that's a correct uh kind of perspective of having it, i mean if you look at how the united states says pretty much any single technology uh, it can, it looks to monopolize uh this the technology or the field, it looks dominated and it to push other people out of the way and have complete control over it, now what i has done, as you

mentioned with you, 11 other countries, you're on being now, the 12th, is it can stand its own two feet and say yes, we can do this, that presents a very unique threat to the united states, as know the united states has always been trying to put its claws into the region um and now that it has you know a significant resistance not only in the form of you know resistance on the ground but now quite literally resistance in the sky, iran has effectively leveled the playing field here um and this is a concrete step that iran is taking into kind of ensuring that the region itself is not relying on the united states or the west uh in its entirety because is always willing to you know look out for its neighbors uh be a real key regional player uh and unlike the united states which looks to kind of monopolize and exert control over it uh as you as we see here with iran joining for example bricks and the shanghai cooperation council iran is really looking

for you know uh trade and trust based on mutual mutual growth mutual trust mutual respect between nations and so what this presents as a challenge to the united states is that iran can't now partner up with these different uh these different nations, these different states that are looking to you know increase their capacity for for production, not rely so much on the united states and also establishing a key economic relationship that isn't predatory, that isn't to the imf that isn't linked to the world bank, but rather based off mutual trust and cooperation with iran and its allied states. yeah, and since you're in um beirout there, julie, in terms of uh the way that... uh the us has prevented uh or tried to prevent the uh for example transfer of iranian oil to uh to lebanon. what's wrong with iran transferring its aerospace technology to lebanon or its missile technology? i think maybe the us then is very concerned about that because uh obviously one of the things that stands on

this region is the israeli regime and i think that probably one of the driving factors that the us has when it comes to preventing iran from advancing. is that is that right? yeah, by preventing iran from. advancing, you're benting the whole region from advancing. um, no, aside from that we have limited capabilities uh in lebanon uh limited military capacity on itself as a small country. um, the you, our country lebanon has been structurally dependent on the west, economically and on the us militarily, and this is done specifically to ensure that there is no um independence, that's really uh reached a a military level, but als so so that um we're always receiving the end of old stock piles um you know terrible grade equipment uh to keep the country militarily subservience but also within the balance and control of the the west um so that uh

whatever we have is also ensures that there is that constant dependency. now what iran does in bringing over um military technology and oil. goods is it breaks uh that dependency and it um ensures that there's actually um self-sufficiency and some level of sovereignty um with iran allies in the region that can affect the challenge the compor or dependent status that uh like lebanon have been in uh four decades uh thanked there was space uh for doing what it did this major achievements uh, i'd like to get your thoughts, however on how he has said once again, this is shown that threats and sanctions have not afect the determining of our dear young scientists for the progress and excellence of the islamic republic of iran. iran's leadership again said that the west's main worry, in particular the us and

what they're targeting is uh these um minds, the minds of the youth in particular, and scientists. for example and how uh they are the ones that are progressing and advancing uh ivan with and that's what they're what they're targeting. we could talk about the scientist in another question but uh just how uh what you think and whether you agree what's leader has said in terms of these young lines being targeted and of course in this case some point in the aerospace industry. yeah of course no i agree completely i mean i think it's very important to kind of assess exactly uh what he means by targeting because "the west has several different tactics that it deploys in order to ensure that progress is stifled. one of course is the very obvious you know threat of actually murdering right, as we've seen time and time again in the past, you know, whether it's the cia or musad flat out assassinating

nuclear scientists, the west isn't afraid to not only conduct such horrific acts of courdis, i would say, but also it flats it, um, it says very openly that yes we responsible or yes that we we um we killed xy z scientists in order to stop progres in order for example uh fear monger the us public uh into saying these these scientists were developing weapons of mass destruction they were developing nuclear weapons and then i think there's also the process of um using sanctions to target them as well right uh if you lock them out of having a good uh financial life if you draw them into the west itself by promising them oh you'll get you x y z uh degree will be able to give you nice paying job that's a process that we refer to as brain drain where you are taking the best that the that a country has to offer pulling them out of the country stifling the the country's progress and then integrating them into the west and in the west as we're talking about uh just few moments ago, the is laser focused on creating weapons of murder

uh, they pour billions and and billions of dollars as we see into their war machines and into and wars such as the ukraine war for example where we have a looming government shut down happening right now, but the the government is said that will keep money into weapons weapons of war for ukraine, and so again all this to say that those threats are very real, the united states is constantly looking to sink it teeth in. to the scientists into these young minds and try to either pull them out of the country if they can and have them work for the united states for example or just flat and kill them if they can't. yeah, the fact that nuclear scientists have been tely, i'm sure is not new news for you, we know how musad has operated in that regards and we know how they've assassinated number of iranian uh scientists in the nuclear field in particular. now we know that iran is not after nuclear weapons eran even not only israel's intel agencies but also the... us have uh confirmed that ivan is not after weaponization of his nuclear program, but yet

has targeted uh iranian scientist, what are they afraid of? why do they want, why do they want to get rid of iranian scientists? well, this was even uh back in home time he wrote about this, he wrote about how israel is afraid, the zionists are afraid, is afraid of uh an intellectual society, society that works for sovereignty um and an intellectual society that can build capability for economic sovereignty too. um as we as you know known as it's been proven um from years and years worth of international investigations into iran's nuclear program that it's a program of building uh alternative energy, it's a peaceful nuclear program um where iran can uh develop like a um a variety adverse array of um energy capabilities um that could be the foundation

for you future sovereign scientific development and programs but again like um the development that leads to political as well as economic sovereignty is uh angers the us in the west more than uh a military challenge um and that is why scientists are are the target, that's why uh, youth are the target through soft power, um, that's why uh, in the latest siap, it focused lot, like all the the siops from the west uh do, they focus on um undermining iran's cultural and social values, especially targeting youth, targeting women, um, because uh, iran's social uh, iran's social values as a country. are the foundation for its development um and for encouraging development as major um

scientific player today. also iran's missile program has been uh obviously a subject that is not sitting well with the us and israel in turn uh shabir. we know that that has been a thorn uh on the side of the us for quite some time and still is uh i'm i'm trying to understand how it is that the... us which was involved in the iran-iraq war in terms of providing weapons along with other western countries uh where uh missiles and bombs were raining down on iran can expect uh this country not to have its own missile program. they blame iran for weaponizing its missile program to carry nuclear warheads. we just had the other day, the prime minister benjamin netanyahu uh placed a nuclear threats on an international stage by the name the unga at the podium to the entire world saying there be nuclear threat against iran.

should iran be equipped then with missiles, non-nuclear missiles? yeah, um, i think first, first, first and foremost, everything the west says about you know, a country not being, a country shouldn't arm itself, uh, a country shouldn't have these defensive capabilities as pure hypocrisy, because the moment that you know a country would let it guard down, um, the west is going to. take whatever or create whatever man can in order to to invade it right? for example, the example i think of almost immediately is uh khaddafi's libya where khadafi kind of put down his arms. uh and then immediately we saw a nato-back invasion uh that overthrew gaddafi and now libya is a slave state that's suffering from uh infrastructure collapse um and so i think it the the threat of nuclear war against iran um from netanyahu uh is one courice it's two it's fear mongering right um we all know that israel is in a very

desperate situation right now it's it's entering it's almost its 40th straight week of internal protests uh the netanyahu government is not very popular at all, in fact on the global stage, no matter which government, it is that's running uh the occupation, um, the occupation itself is losing any credibility, any credibility it had, and it already had very little credibility to start off with, and so all this to say, i think iran should 100% um have the defensive capabilities, it it thinks it needs in order to protect itself, because the moment i believe that you know a country lets this guard down, against the west, the west will always, always, always look into penetrating other countries into sewing chaos, into ensuring that the western influence is the dominant influence in the region, and we see this now more than ever as the west is willing to actually engage in not only war against russia, but slowly cream towards war against china, it's completely willing to fight a multi from war, and if

countries think for one second that the west wouldn't hesitate to take advantage of where it's guards where it's guard is. now um they would be in for some for root awakening because the west would 100% exploit any situation it can in order to take over and control any other region uh it possibly can. well evan has not actually swayed from his missile program or limited in any shape or form actually has advanced it to the point where it is now from what i'm reading over here um to have the largest uh missile uh stock pile in west. asia and it's the only country to have one that has range of 2,00 kilometers, which obviously reaches israel. julie, my question to you is uh, there was a case where you had the murder general, lieutenant general suleymani that was assassinated by the us, and uh, iran retaliated, and he retaliated by using the fatih 110, family of solid fuel missiles to

the uh us base, the nl assad base. to show not only its strength but to uh give a us a little um rattling of the cage um there could be other instances where iran needs to be equipped and therefore it needs these types of weapons for its defensive posture aside from israel finding iran time and again you also have the us that has that famous saying options all options are on the table so uh has obviously of reason to have these missiles correct absolutely justification and reason. but um oh did you want to say something? no, no, i thought you, i thought you had ended your sentence, go ahead. no, no, no, no, go, i'm just going to continue on the answer. um, yeah, so it has the justification, has reason has the historical precedent. um, any country in iran's position or any country in west asia's position, um,

not only has the right and to develop itself, but any other option is. suicide um for it, especially um put up against uh, how iran is probably one of the most targeted countries by the us in the world, um, and after the assassination of haj qassim sulaymani, this was uh to send, you know, iran was sending message that um, not only should you really think about continuing to attack iran in sowardly ways all of are on the table regionally just across the region um just last week uh you know just a couple ago not even last week uh yemen was celebrating its uh anniversary of its revolution where it's transformed into a sovereign resistance government and administration from the its

comparador government in 2014 um they held a military para also showcasing very advanced weaponry that nobody would have thought um just a couple you know just dozen of years ago um that yemen would be in possession of such advanced missiles and weapons and you know the same across is across the board with iran's allies in the region uh iran's strength and uh justification for uh defending itself goes to all of its allies and all of its countries in the position of uh being in the... cross airs of occupation and imperialist assault, and we can you know expect that capability to grow across the board, israel already knows. it can't challenge uh lebanon militarily uh and lot of us allies in the region uh that have gone for years head to head with resistance access

countries are uh finding that out that uh their capability and their moral is um being diminished uh day after day um so um iran is clearly uh sizing up in this uh in this equation and um it's all you know... due to uh just uh you know the the the will of breaking the sanctions that have been put on it since the revolution in 1979 um and i think uh those sanctions have as he has said many times um facilitated the opportunity to develop a truly sovereign defense program that our region should look to as a model. final question uh based on uh follow up on what just julie said there shabir. why does the us continue down a failed uh road of max pressure campaign? it can't suppress iran's technological advancements and advancements in many other fields. why does it try to

engage? nobody says they're going to call each other and which each merry christmas or happy nourus, nobody wants that. but at the same time engagements if they were to have done that they maybe the world wouldn't be where it's at now where iran, saudi arabia, the region itself is united, there's bricks, there's sco that you want is part of, and the lack of engagement has actually maximum pressure campaign uh shot themselves in the foot uh why does the us continue down this path an under a minute please? yeah an under a minute okay so under a minute okay that's a lot that i'm going to try to crush in here essentially the ideological position of united states is full hajomani of the world it likes it unipolar world and it's willing to fight for it it's willing to fight dirty for it i've seen with assassinations with maximum pressure campaigns pulling out of the jcpoa and now as we're into this new multipolar world that's you know multilateral and and power spear um the united states is not going to want to engage, it knows that if it goes down this route it will lose all influence in in the regions that control currently has control over, and so any pivot

to that sort of thinking is going to endanger the defense ministry that reaks in billions of dollars, any pivot to peace from the united states is going to shut down every single military base, um, all 700 plus of them, and and so the the the bricks will come falling down uh, lasting the... say um, you can't have peace with the united states in its current form because it is a government of warmongers. should we receive the political commentator from chicago, thank you. july khassam, journalist, political analyst from beirot a pleasure. with that we come in for this edition of the news review, i'm sorry, of the spotlight. thanks for tuning in, bye-bye for now. the us said it was going to reconstruct afghanistan and restore security to the

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