Democracy Now! Audio - Democracy Now! 2026-03-09 Monday

Episode Date: March 9, 2026

Headlines for March 09, 2026; Iran Picks New Supreme Leader; Toxic Black Rain Falls After Israeli Strikes on Iranian Oil Depots; “Racist Regime”: Iranian Israeli Editor Orly Noy on Israel Denying Bomb Shelter Access to Palestinians; “Trump Has Been Anointed by Jesus” to Wage War on Iran: U.S. Commanders Accused of Promoting Holy War

This is democracy now. But we don't want to come back every five years or every ten years and do this, so we want to pick a president. Trump claims he should be able to pick Iran's next leader. Iran's top clerics have defiantly selected Much to Bahamani to succeed his slain father as Iran's next supreme leader. We'll look at the state of the war and its impact across the globe, with Iranian-American analysts, Humman Magic. the Iranian-Israeli journalist, Urly Noi in Jerusalem, an Amnesty International Secretary General Agnes Kallemar.

Right now we're calling for all diplomatic efforts to be multiplied so that civilians are protected and the attacks are seized. We'll also look at how U.S. military commanders have been framing the attack on Iran as a holy war with one commander telling troops Trump has been anointed by Jesus to wage war on Iran. All that and more coming up. Welcome to Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org, the War and Peace Report.

I'm Amy Goodman. The United States and Israel are continuing to drop bombs and missiles across Iran with hundreds of attacks reported in the last 24 hours alone. In Tehran, there were reports of massive explosions earlier today. After Israeli attacks on fuel depots caused fires to burn for hours spawning a thick cloud of toxic smoke over the city of 10 million people, as it rained oil rain. Many residents complain they had trouble breathing as black raindrops full of toxic chemicals fell across Tehran. Officials warned the precipitation contains toxic hydrocarbon compounds as well as sulfur and nitrogen. oxygen oxides. The Iranian Red Crescent Society reports 10,000 civilian structures have been damaged

across Iran and U.S. and Israeli strikes, including homes, schools, and almost three dozen medical facilities. Among the dead are 175 people, the majority children, mainly girls, killed when bombs struck a school in the southern city of Minab on the first day of the U.S. Israeli attacks. On Saturday, President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth denied the U.S. was responsible for the bombing of the girls' school. They spoke to reporters aboard Air Force One. Did the United States bomb a girls' elementary school in southern Iran on the first day of the war and kill 175 people? Based on what I've seen, that was done by Iran. Is that true, Mr. Higgsath?

It was Iran. We did that? We're certainly investigating. Still investigating. But the only side that targets, civility. is Iran. We think it was done by Iran. But in New York Times investigation found direct video evidence contradicting Trump's claims.

The video shows a U.S. tomahawk missile damaged the school at the same time as a U.S. attack on an adjacent naval base operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Meanwhile, top officials in Iran have pledged allegiance to much to Bahamini as a U.S. attack. the country's new Supreme Leader after the U.S. Israeli coalition killed his father, Ayatollah Ali Hamani, in a February 28th air strike. Hamini's ascension to Supreme Leader came after President Trump warned, if he, quote, doesn't get approval from us, he's not going to last long, unquote. Trump said last week he would choose a great and acceptable leader after Iran's unconditional

surrender. In Iran, Iran's president, Massoud Pezeshkian, on Sunday, ruled out any capitulation to the U.S. and Israel. America and Israel, who without any hesitation, kill 168 innocent children, feel no shame for killing these children. They feel no shame for massacring 50,000 to 60,000 people in Gaza. And then they want to say that we in Iran want to kill people. We stand against those who attack our country with full force and will respond with full force. In Washington, the state departments declared the U.S. War of Choice Against Iran an emergency, allowing the Trump administration to bypass congressional approval to sell more than 20,000 bombs to Israel.

The weapons are valued at nearly $660 million. Meanwhile, Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has declined to say whether he'll block additional funding for the Pentagon's war against Iran, telling NBC's meet the press, quote, we'll walk that bridge when we come to it. Iran's military continues to launch missiles in one-way attack drones at Israel, as well as U.S. military bases across the Middle East and the countries that are. hosts them. Earlier today, Iranian strikes killed two people in Israel, seriously wounding a third. Elsewhere, Iranian strikes have destroyed radar, communications, and air defense systems in Qatar, the UAE, Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. The attacks continued even after Iran's

precedent issued an apology for Iranian strikes on Gulf states and said Iran would not strike targets in the region. In Iraq, fires broke out in buildings belonging to U.S. corporations Halliburton and KBR after an Iranian drone attack in Basra targeted a compound housing workers of foreign oil companies. Saudi Arabia reported its first deaths from Iran's attacks, reporting a strike on a residential area that killed two people. Bahrain's government reports an Iranian drone attack damaged a water desalination plant and injured three people. Roughly 100 million people across the Gulf region rely on desalination plants for their drinking water. Elsewhere Bahrain's state-owned Bapco Energy's company has declared force major, declaring

it can no longer honor its contracts after an Iranian attacks at its only oil refinery on fire. Meanwhile, police in Norway are investigating an explosion at the U.S. Embassy in Oslo, early Sunday morning, as a potential act of terrorism. No suspects have been identified in what appeared to be an intentional explosion that caused minor damage and no injuries. Lebanon's health ministry reports more than half a million people have been displaced in the week since Israel resumed full-scale attacks on Lebanon with forced displacement. orders affecting hundreds of thousands of people. So far, Israel's assault has killed 394 people in Lebanon, including 83 children, 42 women, and nine rescue workers. Meanwhile, human rights watch warns, Israel's military has once again used white phosphorus munitions in residential areas in southern Lebanon, a violation of international humanitarian law. In the occupied West Bank,

Palestinians held a funeral Sunday for three Palestinians killed after Israeli settlers attack them near the village of Kirbat Abu Farah. Two Palestinians were shot dead by settlers during the overnight attack early Sunday. Then a third Palestinian suffocated to death as Israeli soldiers fired tear gas at crowds that gathered to confront the attackers. The killings bring the death toll from settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank to six in just the past week. Israel's continuing to attack the Gaza Strip in violation of the U.S. brokered ceasefire agreement and agreed to in October. On Sunday, Israeli tank shells hit tent encampment, housing, displaced families in the western New Sadat area, killing at least three people, including two girls, while wounding 10 others, including children.

Another strike in western Gaza City killed three men, including 31-year-old paramedic Alder Rahman, Nye Hamduna. This follows an Israeli drone attack on Saturday that killed a father and his daughter in Central Khan Yunus. Gaza's health ministry reports about 640 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fires since the ceasefire was supposed to have taken effect 150 days ago. The Pentagon reports another member of the U.S. military has died in combat the seventh since President Trump and Israel launched a full-scale military assault on Iran. late last month. The Associated Press reports the service member was an army soldier who died of injury sustained during an Iranian attack on U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia on March 1st.

Sankham also reports an eighth service member has died in Kuwait due to what officials called a health-related incident. On Saturday, President Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Higgsath attended a dignified transfer ceremony at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for six army members killed by Iranian attacks on Kuwait. The price of oil has surged past $110 per barrel as Iran continues to attack fossil fuel facilities across the Middle East while bringing tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to a standstill. It's the biggest spike in oil prices since the early months of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with some analysts warning oil could hit $150 per barrel within weeks. The Wall Street

Journal is calling this the most severe shock to energy markets since the 1970s. The U.S. economy lost 92,000 jobs in February with the unemployment rate ticking up to 4.4 percent, according to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Economists were predicting employers had actually added 50,000 jobs last month, but job losses in February resulted in the second largest decline in monthly job creation since the COVID pandemic. Tens of thousands of women around the world marked international Women's Day by demonstrating against gender-based violence and calling for an end to the U.S. Israeli war on Iran. Here in the U.S. protesters gathered at Zorro Ranch in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where the late convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein,

abused and trafficked underage girls and young women. Protesters gathered outside Trump Tower here in New York, calling it the Belief Survivors' demonstration. In France, 73-year-old rape survivor, Giselle Pelocotte, led a march calling for an end to sexual violence. In Brazil, protesters expressed outrage over the gang rape of a 17-year-old girl in Rio to Giro earlier this year. In Peru, thousands of women marched in the capital Lima demanding government action against gender-based violence.

For women's day, what we're calling on all peasant and indigenous women is that we can't give up. We know life circumstances are very hard because climate change has devastated everything in Peru. Cities are disappearing. So what we have to do, as our grandmothers, grandfathers and ancestors always taught us is rise up from the dust with our native seeds. We'll keep guaranteeing life and peace, guaranteeing food sovereignty. Be strong, comrades. The U.S. and Ecuador announced Friday. They carried out a joint operation to bomb a drug traffickers training camp in northeast Ecuador near the Colombian border. The camp belonged to the commandos de la Frontera, a Colombian crime group made up of former members of the

FARC. Meanwhile, the Pentagon says it killed six men. in an attack on what it called a drug smuggling vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Once again, the Pentagon provided no evidence the ship had been involved in ferrying drugs, though it posted video on social media showing an attack on a civilian vessel. The latest killing brings the Pentagon's claim death toll and similar attacks to at least 157. President Trump gathered leaders from 12 Latin American countries at his golf club near Miami, over the weekend at the inaugural summit of what Trump is calling the shield of the Americas. Attendees included right-wing leaders, Naibu Kelle of El Salvador, Javier Millet, of Argentina,

the leftist leaders of three of Latin America's biggest economies, Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia, were not invited. At the summit, Trump vowed to go after drug cartels and blasted foreign influence in the region, particularly Chinese economic and political interests. The summit comes just two months after the U.S. abducted. Venezuela's former President Nicolas Maduro and his wife. In Nepal, 35-year-old former rapper, Belendra Shah, is set to become the country's next prime minister after his party secured a landslide victory in parliamentary elections. It's the first election since youth protesters toppled the former government. Shah is the former mayor of Kathmandu.

He was a leader of the Gen Z-led protest movement, which was sparked by a ban on social media and driven by a lack of economic opportunity. And civil rights leaders and former U.S. presidents paid their respects to the Reverend Jesse Jackson at his funeral in Chicago Friday. Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Bill Clinton attended the memorial service of the House of Hope on Chicago's Southside. Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton, and Gavin Newsom were also in attendance. And those are some of the headlines. This is Democracy Now. Democracy Now.org, the Warren Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman. The U.S. Israeli war on Iran has entered its 10th day.

On Sunday, Iran's assembly of experts selected Mujah Khomey to succeed his slain father to become Iran's third supreme leader. His father, the 86-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khomeini, was assassinated in a joint U.S. Israeli airstrike at the start of the war 10 days ago. Iran selected Moshtaba Khomeini in defiance of President Trump. who's repeatedly claimed he can choose Iran's next leader. On Sunday, Trump told ABC News, quote, if he doesn't get approval from us, he's not going to last long, unquote.

Last week, Israel said the next Supreme Leader would be a, quote, unequivocal target for elimination, unquote. In other developments, Israel bombed over two dozen Iranian fuel depots on Saturday. Thick, black smoke engulfed Iran with toxic black rain falling from the sky. A spokesperson from Iran's foreign ministry described the attacks as, quote, nothing less than intentional chemical warfare against the Iranian citizens, unquote. Meanwhile, Iranian drones reportedly hit a major oil refinery in Bahrain overnight as Iran continues to retaliate by striking Israel as well as U.S. allies in the Gulf. For more, we begin today's show with two guests. Anyas Kalamar is

Secretary General of Amnesty International. She's joining us in studio. And Human Majid, an Iranian-American analyst, an author and NBC News contributor, served as an advisor to former Iranian President Mohamed Khatami. Majid's new book is titled, Minister Without Portfolio, Memoir of a Reluctant Exile. His recent piece for The Intercept is headlined, The Regime Change President who won't or can't actually change any regimes. We welcome you both to Democracy Now. Thank you so much for being here. I want to start with Human Majid. If you can talk about the selection of the new Supreme Leader of

Iran after the Supreme Leader Ali Khomeini was assassinated, who made the selection, the message it sent, and overall what is happening in the Gulf right now with Israel and the United States attacking Iran and Iran retaliating across the Gulf and on Israel. Well, good morning, Amy. I think it's what you said in terms of the Supreme Leader, the Assembly of Expert, which is this body of Ayatollahs in Iran, who are elected by the people, actually, who chose Mostab al-Khamenei as the new Supreme Leader.

It was a majority vote. I believe it was a direct, basically, reaction against Donald Trump, who had actually name-checked Mojtabha as someone that shouldn't be the new Supreme Leader. So I think it was a defiant choice, really, more than anything else. Certainly the IRGC has a lot of influence among those Ayatollahs at the Assembly of Experts. Certainly they would have been in an approval sort of situation

with who was going to come out as the new Supreme Leader. and Mosh Tabo has very close connections to, has built very close connections to the top leadership of the IRGC, the Revolutionary Guards, over the years that he was in his father's office. Yeah, it was both predictable and surprising. Predictable in the sense that for a couple of years, people have talked about him ascending to that role if his father went, if and when his father died,

and it was going to be anywhere in the next four or five years because his father had suffered from cancer. He was not well. and he was 86 years old, as you pointed out. But here there was this question of wartime, and whether they would immediately choose a new Supreme Leader or because of the war, they would wait, the threats against the body of the new Supreme Leader by Israel

and the United States, indirect by the United States, direct by Israel. But I think here they just made the determination, the Ayatollahs and the IRGC, I would add, made the determination that it would be the best way to project strength and defiance after, you know, nine days of war, eight to nine days of war, brutal war, that Iran is still standing. I mean, you know, you've got, talk about regime change. You've got killing one Khomeini and replacing him with another Khomeini. So it's hardly regime change in the United States,

if the United States was indeed even going for regime. change in Iran. And in terms of, you know, attacking. Yeah, go ahead. Can you explain who he is? Is he known widely to the Iranian people? What he represents? Well, he represents the most hard line of the hardliners in Iran to the Iranian people.

He is known. He's widely known because even though he's been secretive, doesn't appear in public, doesn't give interviews, rarely, I should say, appears in public, only at rallies for, like, the anniversary of the revolution. But he, it was considered sort of the closest aid to his father, the most influential of Chaminet's sons, even though he's not the oldest. He's the second oldest of Chaminet's sons. But considered to be the most influential in Chaminet's outlook on politics, but also

closest in terms of his relationship with the Revolutionary Guards, the senior leadership of the Revolutionary Guards. Everybody in Iran knows that. Everyone in Iran knew Mosh Tabah, knew that he was a potentially, as I said, for the last couple of years, at least, been talked about as a successor, even though he's not qualified from a, was not qualified from a religious standpoint to be the supreme religious leader, as well as the supreme political leader in Iran. But it was always talked about. And I think one of the things that is a little bit surprising is that Khomeini himself had rejected having one of his sons be. the supreme leader because they revolted against the monarchy. And the hereditary passing down of, you know, power to hereditary power is something that the revolution was against.

Again, the war changed everything. If there hadn't been a war and if Hamini had died of natural causes, it's less likely. At least Iranians seem to believe that it's much less likely that he would have been chosen as a new supreme leader. And then overall, what's happening? And senior Iranian officials reportedly upset with the Iranian president, Pazekian's Saturday apology to neighboring Gulf nations for attacking them. And then you had a member of the interim leadership council dismissing those remarks, saying evidence from Iran's armed forces shows the geography of some countries in the region is openly and covertly. at the disposal of the enemy, the heavy attacks on these targets will continue. Is this indicating a split in the Iranian leadership?

And of course, after Peschakian's apology, you have, among other places, the Bahrain-Bapko plant attacked. Yeah, no, it's not a fracture at all. First of all, the apology, the word apology is stronger in English than it is in Farsi. There's an element of, you know, regret more than apology and also to try to soothe the break in relations that have sort of occurred between the Gulf countries. But what he actually said, what Pezesh Guyan said, and he's one member of the three-person council that until Mostabbao was elected was performing the duties of the Supreme Leader. And what he really was referring to, according to Iran and himself, the Iranian state media and himself, was referring to attacks, regretting attacks, or apologizing for attacks on non-military assets, non-U.S. military assets in the region. But then he went on to say that U.S. bases are a fair game.

I mean, the strategy in Iran, when you talk about Bahrain, you talk about desalination plans and just Iran striking out, not just at Israel or at U.S. bases even, but everywhere in the region, Iran said this. I don't know why anybody is really surprised. They said this after the 12-day war in June of 2025. They said, you know, next time, no more Mr. Nice Guy. And they're just doing that no more Mr. Nice Guy. They warned the Gulf countries. They warned everybody in the region. They warned the United States quite openly. It was written about many times that if the U.S. and Israel attacked the next time they wouldn't show restraint, they wouldn't agree to a ceasefire. it would be an all-out war, which is sort of why, if you think about it, the Gulf countries were pressing President Trump to not attack Iran because they were worried that Iran would do exactly

what they said they would do. And I think they're seeing this war as existential, and they didn't see the 12-day war in June as existential. And as an existential war, they will do everything to survive. And everything means attacking anybody and everybody in the region. who has any relationship with the U.S. or with Israel, causing oil, as you pointed out, to go over $100 a barrel, causing pain, economic pain in America at the gas pump, economic pain for the Emirates, which rely on tourism, rely on all sorts of economic people buying property there. It's an exile haven. The Monaco of the Middle East is now in danger of not being safe. place anymore. Not just now, even after the war ends, it's always going to be under potential

threat from Iran, assuming that the regime survives. And so I don't know why anybody's surprised, including the White House. I mean, they certainly knew this. Perhaps they thought that Iran wouldn't be able to retaliate the way they have been, but let's not forget. This is a regime that has been in power for almost half a century. Its tentacles are deep. It has a lot of very loyal people in the highest positions of power, and you can eliminate, as Israel did, on that first day, striking the Supreme Leader and some 40-plus top military leaders, that they can be replaced. They have many, many more, and that Iran has this capacity to use drones, missiles, and cause pain in the region,

not just against American soldiers, because when you look at it, It's really sad that for Americans, it's very sad that eight American servicemen have died so far and potentially more will die. But that's not the point for Iran. The point is to make it painful economically and in many other ways for the United States and for Israel to continue the war. And same thing goes with Israel. The missiles are getting through. Not all of them, but they're getting through. Enough missiles are getting through to cause death and destruction in Israel as well.

At some point, I think Iran is making the bet, again, after the 12-day war back in June, that both Israel and the United States will tire of this war and will want to stop it. I want to bring Agaqlomard into this conversation, Secretary General of Amnesty International. Before that, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Summary or Arbitrary Executions. Can you start off by responding to this war of choice, Israel and the U.S. first. attacking Iran. And now Israel is saying that the next leader that Iran has chosen, supreme leader, is a legitimate target of assassination. The whole issue of what's happening with international law today. Well, I mean, clearly the attacks are unlawful. The retaliation as well from Iran are probably unlawful as well. And civilians,

are paying the highest price. The targeting of state representative in the context of a war and aggression of aggression will be unlawful under international law. And I wanted to ask you on this day after International Women's Day about this issue of the attack on the girls' school, Among the dead in Iran are 175 people at least, most of them girls, killed when bombs struck a school in the southern city of Minab on the first day of the U.S. Israeli attacks. On Saturday, President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Higsette denied the U.S. is responsible for bombing the girls' school. They spoke to reporters aboard Air Force One. Did the United States bomb a girls' elementary school in southern Iran on the first day of the war? kill 175 people. Based on what I've seen, that was done by Iran.

Is that true? Mr. Hegsef? It was Iran who did that? We're certainly investigating. But the only side that targets civilians is Iran. We think it was done. We think it was done by Iran. Very interesting response. Trump says done by Iran. Hegsef is more carefully. He says there's an investigation going on. And the only side, the target civilians, he says, is Iran. He does not deny. There is, among other news outlets in New York Times investigation, which found direct video evidence contradicting Trump's claims. The video shows a U.S. Tomahawk missile damage the school at the same time as a U.S.

attack on an adjacent naval base. Anyes Kalmar, if you can respond to this. Look, there is little question that the school was targeted by the U.S. Our own investigation thus far is pointing to the U.S. You mentioned the New York Times. Human Rights Watch has reached similar conclusion. Let's recall that 150 children were killed in this attack. This is an absolute violation of of international law. This is why we have international law. This is why we have normative guardrails to protect against war of aggressions and to protect against attacks of civilians, because we know that in context such as that happening right now, civilians are going to pay the highest price. They are paying the highest price in Iran. They already did throughout a number of years,

targeted by their own government. The Palestinians are paying the highest price right now. People in the Gulf countries are paying the highest price and Lebanese people are paying the highest price. So it is maybe meant at a war for a change of regime with a big question mark, but it is a war against people. It is a war against civilians, against children's, against adults going about their business.

It is targeting civilian infrastructures. People, civilians are paying the highest price of what's happening right now, and we should not forget it. Are you calling for the attack on the girls' primary school that result in the deaths of it well over 100,000, we think, children, mainly girls, to be investigated as a war crime? Absolutely. It has to be independently investigated as a war crime.

But what's happened to international law these days? What does any of this mean? Look, I think it still means a lot, otherwise we will not talk about it. We still have those guardrails. We still hold on to them. And we believe that at some point, the monitoring, the documentations will help deliver truth and justice. So it is very commonplace right now to say, oh, there is no more international law. and international law is ineffective.

This is not true. International law is here to protect people. And then when it doesn't, there should be instruments to hold people to account. Now, does it happen overnight? No. Does it happen even a month after the fact? No, but it does happen. It does happen.

And this is why Donald Trump and Netanyahu and Putin are so eager to go after the international. International Criminal Court because they know that it delivers at some point. It may be in 10 years, but it delivers. Look at who is now behind the judge in the Hague. Rodrigo Duterte, I am sure you at some point have reported on the unbelievable level of violence that this man waged against his own people. And you're talking about the former president of the Philippines, the thousands who have died there. I investigated him as a UN special reporter.

I never, you know, even when you call for justice, you never really think that he could be in the Hague in front of ICC judges. And yet, he is. So this is why we have international law. In 2025, we have a number of European countries that came together to set up a tribunal for the crime of aggression of Russia against Ukraine. Why? Because we still believe in international law. And we believe that international law must be applied to every. to every country independently of their power. So let it be very clear.

Right now, it's being violated right, left and center by all parties to the conflict, but there will be reckoning. There will be reckoning. Whom I imagine before we go, your book is titled Minister Without Portfolio, Memoir of a Reluctant Exile. You write about being the son of a high-ranking diplomat in pre-revolutionary Iran. which means under the Shah, and how your life suddenly changed after Ayatollah Khomeini's revolution in 1979. Why do you call yourself a reluctant exile and what you envision for the future of Iran?

Well, reluctant because I was studying in university here when the revolution happened, had every intention of going to Iran to, to, you know, follow in my... father's footsteps, if you will, and join the foreign ministry. This was during the Shah's time, become a diplomat, hopefully rise to ambassad somewhere at some point in my life. I didn't want to be an exile. I didn't want to live in America for the rest of my life, which is what has happened. But I also couldn't go back to Iran, so I was reluctant in that sense. When I said I couldn't go back to Iran, my father lost his job. It was a very dangerous time for people who were associated with the previous regime. I would have had to serve in the military, potentially,

if I didn't get into trouble otherwise. So there were reasons that I couldn't really go back to Iran in those early days of the revolution. And so, you know, one thing leads to another, and, you know, you think it's going to be a lot of Iranian exiles thought it was going to be a year, two years before things settled down, or the regime collapsed and went back to being a democracy of sorts or constitutional monarchy, not back to, but become a constitutional monarchy. And of course, that never happened. And so, you know, 47 years later, I'm here. What happens for the future of Iran, it's really hard to say. Right now, people in Iran are not rising up against the government, the way that Donald Trump has asked them to, the way that

there hasn't been any real. There was some celebration when Khomeini was killed, was assassinated by people who held him responsible for the brutal crackdown in January of the protesters. But those celebrations have stopped, at least stopped inside Iran. People are now worried. As you pointed out, Amy, infrastructure is being bombed. It's, you know, a war, a full-on war on Iran on the country, which means on the people. The toxic rain from yesterday, Saturday and Sunday in Tehran, black rain. from the soot and from the oil refineries being blown up.

I mean, this is going to have long-lasting health effects. The Iranian government has told people to not go outside unless they're with a N95 mask. I don't know how many people have N95 masks in Iran. And just, you know, in general, Iran is going to be pummeled. Appears that Iran is going to be pummeled, and it's just going to make the population even more miserable than they already are, for them to be able to run. rise up and take control of the government is just a pipe dream. I mean, how are they supposed to do that when they're being killed or are running away from missiles almost on a daily basis?

Predicting the future is impossible for Iran. I believe at this point it seems to be that the Iranian regime is relatively stable despite what's happening in terms of being in power and that the Iranian people have no real ability to bring about change at this point. the longer term future, I think Iran is going to be changed forever after this war. And very quickly, as you were, your father was an official under the Shah, well known for his brutal Savak secret police. I just came from Savannah, Georgia, where they were showing the film Co-53, for people to understand that in 1953, the U.S. overtly and covertly overthrew the democratically elected leader of Iran, Mohamed Mossadegh. Many say, together with Britain on behalf of BP,

British Petroleum, that would lead to the Shah being installed. And now his son, Reza Palavi, is leading a movement to be the next, what he calls interim leader of Iran. Your thoughts on that, since you, too, in your family, are directly connected to this. He's the son of the Shah. He's the son of the Shah. He's the son of the Shah, correct. And he has spent the last 45 years, at least, being relatively ineffective in being an opposition leader to the regime. In the last two years, certainly in three years since the Masa Amini protests, he has emerged as a potential for a lot of Iranians, a potential leader to take power. Again, there's a nostalgia for the time of the Shah where there were a lot of social freedoms, even though there were no political freedoms. And I think a lot of Iranians who are now, and let's not forget, this is 50 years ago,

a lot of the Iranians who support him now weren't even born at the time of the Shah. So they have no idea what Sabak was, or they might not have heard of it, but they have no idea what the Iranian system was under the Shah. He has not really been able to put together any organization on the ground in Iran. He's been dismissed by most people as most analysts and experts and intellectuals. agencies, Western intelligence agencies, as a potential leader. He certainly wants to be a leader. He certainly sounds like he wants to be king. But it's a very unlikely proposition right now. His support inside Iran. Yeah.

We have to leave it there. But I want to thank you for being with us. Humman Majid is an Iranian-American analyst whose new book is titled Minister Without Portfolio, Memoir of a Reluctant Egregant exile. Agnes Kalamar will continue with us, Secretary General of Amnesty International, as we go to Jerusalem to speak with the Iranian-Israeli journalist, or Illinois. Stay with us. Mazel by Emil Mathluthi, a Tunisian musician performing in our Democracy Now studio. This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org. I'm Amy Goodman. As we continue our coverage of the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran, we go now to Jerusalem, where we're joined by the Iranian. Israeli journalist and activist, Illinois.

Earlier today, Israel launched a wave of new strikes targeting Iran and Lebanon. Meanwhile, retaliatory Iranian missile attacks hit Central Israel. The Jerusalem Post reports the strikes killed two people seriously wounding a third. In a recent article, our guest, Orlyneux, wrote, quote, only eight months ago following the ceasefire with Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that in the 12 days of Operation rising lion, we achieved a historic victory which will stand for generations. It turns out this historic victory did not last even a single year, let alone generations,

Orlyneux writes. She is the editor of the Hebrew language news site, Local Call, and the chair of Betzelam's executive board, Batsalom, the Israeli Human Rights Group. Orly, Illinois, if you can respond to what's happening now on the ground, the attacks by Iran in response to Israel and U.S. U.S. strike on Iran? Hi, Amy. Thank you so much for having me. Yes, I mean, I think it was well expected that as the war continues, there will be

escalation also in the price that the Israeli society will need to pay for this completely lawless, unnecessary criminal war that Israel and the United States awaited. against Iran. Strangely enough, this still does not translate into any substantial opposition to the war among the Israeli society. The Israeli society is well known for its almost automatic support of any war, no matter how senseless it is. And we see it once again, not only by the supporters of Netanyahu and his government,

but also by the entire Zionist Jewish opposition, by the Israeli mainstream media, of course, and by the public. And let me point out, you are Jewish. You were raised in Iran. You live in Israel. In your recent piece, it's headlined, we are at war, therefore we are. As you describe what you call the ritual erasure of political dissent in Israel right now, noting Israeli opposition leaders have eagerly and reflexively rallied behind Netanyahu in support of war. Yes, in some cases, they are even more extreme in their terminology than Netanyahu himself.

Only a couple of days ago, the head of the opposition, Yail Lapid, tweeted. that this war cannot end with anything less than the complete destruction of all the Iranian infrastructure, etc., etc. And this is the man whose sole political goal right now should be, and as declared to be, replacing Netanyahu, or at least bringing Netanyahu down in the next elections. It is astonishing the fact that Lapid as Yeirgolan, as Bennett, and the other heads of the Jewish coalition do not understand that by supporting without question this very strange and unnecessary war, they're not just committing a moral crime, but also making it for themselves incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to replace Netanyahu in the next

elections, because he's just gaining more and more popularity with each war, with each unnecessary war that he wages upon neighboring countries and countries in the region. And a significance of attacking Lebanon again and intensifying boots on the ground in Lebanon on Israel's part. Yeah, we are, I mean, the, look, we've seen it happening in the two and a half years of the

ongoing genocide in Gaza and we see it yet again now. Whenever the public, locally and internationally, attention is drawn, if it's to Gaza or to Iran, Israel is making really extreme

changes on the ground. Now it's in Lebanon, which is being conquered, or at least part of it, with troops on the ground in the West Bank. I think it's really important to speak about what's going on these days in the West Bank, with Palestinians being simply executed by settlers with the support of the Israeli army. And it just goes by without any serious repercussions, without any serious, you know, nothing. It's just now it's not just ethnic cleansing. They're executing Palestinians in the West Bank.

And you don't hear the world speaking about it. You don't, because again, Israel is using the fact that the public attention is someplace else right now. I wanted to bring Agnes Kalamard back into this conversation around what's happening in the occupied territories in the West Bank and in Gaza. Monday marks, that's today, five months. since the so-called ceasefire. But as you say, Israel has maintained its genocide against Palestinians in Gaza by continuing to deliberately inflict conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction. And as an organization, Amnesty International, if you could comment on Israel's deregistration of 37 international aid groups coming into effect last week. And

what that means. Well, it's part of the continuing genocide. The infliction of measures and policies meant to bring about the physical destruction of Palestinians means curtailing and controlling humanitarian aid. Right now, as a result of the attacks against Iran, The Rafa crossing has been closed, so it's coming on top of the deregistration of the 37 humanitarian organization, which means that the humanitarian condition that was already pretty bad after five months of so-called ceasefire is worsening. The control over humanitarian organization is very clear. It is meant to control those who dare speak. of those who are on the ground and are witnesses to the ongoing genocide.

They are being replaced by lackeys, I will say, so far pretty incompetent ones, according to their past record. And it is all part of the blockade that is being imposed in terms of people's movement, in terms of food, in terms of medicine, and in terms of information. On the issue of blockade, I want to end with or Illinois, talking about a blockade of information. We hear inside Israel, the, you know, bomb shelters that Palestinians who are speaking Arabic are told not to come in by other Israelis and, of course, the lack of protection on the

West Bank, bomb shelters at all. If you could comment on that on the blockade of information, military censorship in Israel, relatively little coming out about the damage from the Iranian attacks, Orly. Yes, well, I mean, this is when you have a regime that is fundamentally based on the foundations of racism and supremacy, you shouldn't be surprised to find that these notions of racism and supremacy are being expressed also in, or maybe. even particularly in times of war. It is true that it's not that Palestinians, in many cases, are not being allowed into public shelters against the law,

needless to say, by the public. The more fundamental problem is that the Palestinian neighborhoods, and towns and cities in many cases are lacking the fundamental, you know, needs. for protection, no shelters. Here in Jerusalem, the Palestinian neighborhoods, even though being annexed and supposedly are part of the state of Israel, as far as Israel is concerned,

the Jewish neighborhoods are well protected by shelters, the palate, you cannot find a single, almost single shelter in the Palestinian neighborhood. And it goes to the extent that they are now waiting for the schools to open because the schools are the only places in East Jerusalem that actually do have shelters. So right now, it would be safer for a Palestinian family to send their children to school in the middle of the wartime than having them stay at home where they do not have any shelters. This is the meaning of a supremacist racist regime. Orly, I want to thank you for being with us, Iranian-Israeli, political activist, editor of the Hebrew language.

news site Local Call, also chair of the board of Betsalam, the Israeli Human Rights Group. We'll link to your latest piece for 972 headlined, we are at war, therefore we are. And Agnes Kalamar, Secretary General of Amnesty International, I'd like to continue the conversation after the broadcast with you will post online at DemocracyNow.org on this weekend of International Women's Day and talk particularly about one woman who just recently died returning to Iraq, Yanar Muhammad. Coming up, U.S. military commanders have been framing the attack on Iran as a holy war with one commander telling troops that Trump has been anointed by Jesus to wage war in in Iran. Back in 15 seconds.

Mazel by M.M.F. Luthi. This is Democracy Now. Democracy Now.org. The War and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman. As the U.S. Israeli war on Iran, rages on. U.S. military commanders have reportedly been invoking extremist Christian rhetoric about biblical end times selling the conflict to American troops as a holy war. The watchdog military religious freedom foundation says it's been inundated with more than 200 complaints from members across all branches of the U.S. military regarding these comments. One combat unit commander reportedly said the war is part of God's divine plan. And that, quote, Trump has been anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon

and mark his return to Earth, unquote. For more, we go to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where we're joined by Mikey Weinstein, founder and president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. In this last five minutes, we have, Mikey, if you can talk about the complaints you've received and who are these commanders who are saying this is a holy war? Yes, Amy. So, you know, our foundation, our main purpose is to protect the wall, separate church and state, and the technologically most lethal organization ever created by our species, which is the U.S. military. As soon as the war began last Saturday, a week ago this

past Saturday, we started getting inundated by calls for members of the military, indicating that supervisors and commanders across the branches, both in the Conis, which is the continental United States and internationally, were invoking the fact that This was great news. They were gleeful. They were joyful. They were euphoric because this was a signal that pursuant to the Christian eschatological aspects of the end times in the book of Revelation, that all of this was serving as, if you will, an accelerant or lubricant to bring their version of weaponized Jesus back, which I will also make it clear includes a metric of a 200 mile long river, four and a half feet deep, Amy, filled with nothing but the human blood of those that their version of Jesus is slaughtered at the Battle of Armageddon. So we were getting 15, 20, 25 calls a day, the first several days we were out there.

We finally broke this story with journalist Jonathan Larson, and then it went viral. And so what we were reporting now is that we have over 200 complaints and that we have, you know, 50 different installations. But it's terrifying when you try to put a, you know, a theological perspective from Christian extremism with what's happening right now, particularly having listened to your whole show today. I'm reminded of the second inaugural speech by Abraham Lincoln when he chastised both sides in the Civil War for trying to say that God was on their side, which exacerbated the violence, the bloodshed, the injuries, and the death. Last month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth invited the controversial Christian nationalist pastor Doug Wilson to lead the Pentagon's prayer service. Wilson's opposed Muslims holding public office and does not believe women should be allowed to vote. vote. Can you talk about Heggseth's tenure as head of the defense, what Trump calls the

War Department, and what concerns you most about his conflation of church and state? I was warned by your producers not to cuss. So I will refer to Hegset as a piece of feces, as opposed to the regular word. He's viewed by senior leadership as a bully and a poser. He is nothing but a Christian nationalist lackey. You forgot to mention, or I'll mention a Doug Wilson also believes that the Civil War was justified biblically. And of course, that a lot of slave owners, he reminds everybody, had a really nice relationship, you know, with their slaves, the same way they did with their living room furniture. He's incredible, he believes that the Jews killed Jesus. Muslims have no right to participate in government.

And if you're LGBTQIA plus, you probably don't have a right to live. The bottom line is, Hegset has created a template that the only approved member of the U.S. military is to be straight, white Christian nationalist and male. So why is anybody surprised that with that template going down in a hierarchical organization, tribal, adversarial, communal, and ritualistic like the U.S. military, that you have subordinate commanders, all of whom are trying to get promoted, that are following the exact same thing? We saw this happen before when the Israeli defense forces moved into Gaza and started attacking the Palestinians. We had, in a much smaller way, we had commanders saying, well, this is also sparking the Battle of Armageddon. But whenever you attach an extremist aspect of any religious faith to that machinery, Amy, of the faith responsible for war, we do not end up with little creeks, streams, ponds, or lakes, Amy. We end up with one thing. Oceans and oceans of blood, like the color of my shirt. We have 20 seconds. What risks do service members face for reporting religious comments made by U.S. commanders? If they do that officially, they become essentially what we call a tarantula on a wedding cake. Amy, you and I have been to lots of

of weddings. Tarantulas on wedding cakes? That doesn't bode well for the tarantula or the wedding cake. Mikey Weinstein, founder and president of Military Religious Freedom Foundation, speaking to us from Albuquerque, New Mexico. And that does it for our show. Democ produced with Mike Burke, Dina Guster, Messiah Rhodes, Maria Tarcena. I'm Amy Goodman. This is Democracy Now.