Democracy Now! Audio - Democracy Now! 2026-04-06 Monday

Episode Date: April 6, 2026

Democracy Now! Monday, April 6, 2026

From New York, this is Democracy Now. Trump's Easter Day message to Iran, quote, open the effing straight, though he used the word, you crazy bastards, or you'll be living in hell, unquote. Those were the words of President Trump, threatening to blow up more civilian infrastructure if the strait of Hormuz is not reopened by Tuesday evening. Iran responded, it would retaliate in kind and said the strait would never be the same.

As the war enters at six weeks, we'll talk to Iranian-American analysts treat a Parsi of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. Then in the second front of the war, Israel's expanded evacuation orders in Lebanon north of the Latani River and continues to bombard the country. Over 1,400 dead in Lebanon. More than 120 of them children, a million have been displaced. Someone who can barely afford their daily bread can't even buy a loaf and then a plane comes and strikes? For what reason? Just because I'm sitting on my land? I will not leave.

This is our land and we will not give it up. We'll speak with human rights watch researcher Ramsey Kais in Beirut. But first to Tel Aviv, where Israeli people. Peace activist Alonle Green was arrested Saturday, along with over a dozen others during an anti-war protest of hundreds of Israelis. Keep opposing and resisting this war. We will continue to oppose this war. Every Israeli must oppose and resist this war against the war in Iran and the war in Lebanon.

We'll speak with the Lonely Green just before he goes to court. All that and more coming up. Welcome to Democracy Now. Democracy Now.org, the War and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman. As the U.S. Israel War on Iran enters its sixth week, President Trump's warning he'll bomb Iranian power plants and bridges by Tuesday if Iran does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Trump's threats, which would constitute war crimes, came in a profanity-laced-truth social post on Easter Sunday, in which the president wrote, quote, Tuesday will be power plant day and bridge day, all wrapped up in one in Iran. There will be nothing like it.

Open the effing straight, you crazy bastards, or you'll be living in hell just watched. Praise be to Allah, President Trump wrote, using the word. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Naval Command said in a social media post overnight, the Strait of Hormuz, quote, will never return to its former state, especially for America and Israel, unquote. Just this morning, Iranian state media is reporting Majid Khadami, the intelligence chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was killed in a joint U.S. Israeli strike. Iran's Fars News Agency also reports the U.S. Israeli coalition struck the South Pars' petrochemical facility linked to the world's largest natural gas field, accounting for 70 to 80 percent of Iran's gas supply. In Israel, an Iranian missile hit a residential building in Haifa, killing at least

four people. Iran's retaliatory tax across the Gulf continue with power, water desalination, and oil plants hit in Kuwait and an oil facility targeted in Bahraim. Separately, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says he's revoked the U.S. residency of the niece and grandniece of the late Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani. Meanwhile, U.S. Navy SEALs on Saturday rescued the Air Force colonel whose F-15E aircraft was shot down over Iran on Friday. It's the first confirmed loss of an American war plane over Iranian territory since the war began. It comes as residents of Mashar are reporting difficulty breathing due to chemical pollution from U.S. and Israeli bombardment of the city's petrochemical factories Saturday. Iran says the strikes on the Mashar Petrochemical zone killed five people and wounded 170 others. On the same day, at least one person was killed in a projectile strike near the Boucher nuclear power plant in southwest Iran.

The U.S.-based human rights activist news agency says over 3,500 people have been killed in Iran since the war erupted, including at least 244 children. This is Karayun Haddad, a resident of Tehran. They threatened the law. Now, the infrastructure they threatened, they first gave a five-day deadline, then a 10-day deadline, meaning there's still no news. They haven't been able to do anything. We defend our country. It's not like we want to abandon our country. Now, it's true that some people are with different coverings.

I myself don't have a complete hijab, but I will never hand over my homeland to a people who are strangers to our country. Israeli strikes across Lebanon Sunday killed at least 39 people as Israeli troops pushed down. deeper into southern Lebanon, Israel's ordered the expansion of its so-called buffer zone from the Latani River to areas north of the Zafrani River, displacing about one-fifth of Lebanon's population. Since Israel launched its war against Hezbollah on March 2nd, more than 1,400 people have been killed in Lebanon, including 126 children. This is Jamas Salim Faran, who's now homeless after Israeli strikes on Tyre left his neighborhood in ruins. Someone who can barely afford their daily bread can't even buy a loaf and then a plane comes and strikes?

For what reason? Just because I'm sitting on my land? I will not leave. This is our land and we will not give it up. In Gaza, an Israeli drone fired two missiles at a group of civilians in Gaza City Sunday, killing four people, according to Palestinian health officials. The Gaza Health Ministry reports Israel's killed more than 700 people since last October, called ceasefire. On Sunday, Palestinians held a funeral in Gaza City for those killed in the Israeli

irstrike. You leave home, and neither you nor your children are safe. Everyone says goodbye to the other before stepping foot outside the house, whether one is going out for errands, school, looking for water, looking for a livelihood. You tell me about a ceasefire, calm, entry of aid, opening markets. All of these are lies, lies, lies, and ink on paper. If there is paper in the first police. Israeli police forcibly dispersed an anti-war protest in Tel Aviv Saturday, arresting 17 people, even after Israel's high court ruled the demonstration could proceed. Hundreds of Israelis gathered to protest the government's war on Iran with the court permitting a rally of more than 600 people.

Police still moved to break up the protests, citing Iranian missile threats and remove protests. from the square. protests also took place in Haifa and Jerusalem. We'll go to Tel Aviv to speak with an organizer of Saturday's anti-war protests in Israel. We'll talk to activists, a lonely green who was arrested will speak to him just before he goes to court. Iranian intelligence agents arrested prominent human rights lawyer Nasrin Satuda at her home in Tehran, her daughter, Raveh Kandan confirmed on Thursday. 64-year-old Satuda is renowned for defending activists, opposition politicians, and women, prosecuted for removing their headscarves and has been imprisoned multiple times.

She was recently sentenced to 33 years in prison and 148 lashes in 2019. She was out on bail for health reasons at the time of her arrest. Her husband, Reza Khanhan. also a well-known activist is currently held in Tehran's Evin prison. The University of Washington has demoted an Iranian-American International Studies Professor after he criticized U.S. Israeli attacks on Iran and condemned Israeli settler colonialism. Ariafani will remain an associate professor at the UW Jackson School of International Studies, but will no longer serve as director of its Middle East Center.

He told the Seattle Times, quote, there's a chilling effect on not just my academic freedom, but that of my colleagues, anyone who dares to speak out against the war and against aggression, he said. In Louisiana, federal immigration agents entered the Fort Polk military base and detained the wife of an army staff sergeant just days after their wedding.

22-year-old Annie Ramos was born in Honduras and brought to the United States as a toddler. In late March, she married 23-year-old Matthew Blank in a ceremony in Houston as Blank prepares for an overseas deployment. In Texas, a lawsuit alleges a three-year-old girl separated from her mother after crossing the U.S. Mexico border was sexually abused in a foster home where she'd been placed by immigration. officials. The girl's father says he tried unsuccessfully for months to be reunited with his daughter. He says he only learned of the abuse after he filed a habeas petition in federal court. In Wisconsin, federal immigration agents jailed the president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee. After accusing him of lying on his green card application, Salasasasur is a Palestinian born 53-year-old who has lived in the United States since 1993.

He became a lawful permanent resident nearly 30 years ago. The U.S. accuses him of failing to disclose a conviction by the Israeli armed forces when he was a teenager living in the occupied West Bank. Sarsur says he never understood the charges the Israeli military presented against him in Hebrew and that he was tortured in Israeli custody. The Muslim Legal Fund of America is representing Sarsur in court. In a statement, the group said, quote, it's difficult to believe that DHS's position now is not rooted in a violation of his First Amendment right

to speak out about the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, unquote. President Trump has proposed cutting tens of millions of dollars, of funding to the Transportation Security Administration, the TSA, while privatizing security screenings at smaller airports. Trump's proposal detailed in the White House's 2027 budget proposal comes as the ongoing partial government shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security is now in its eighth week. The TSA was created in 2001. After private airport security contractors failed to prevent the 9-11 attacks which saw hijackers carry box cutters, mace, and knives through metal detectors.

President Trump is asking Congress for $152 million to reopen Alcatraz as a high-security federal prison. The request appears in the White House's proposed fiscal year, 2027 budget, and will cover the first year of cost to rebuild. the prison. Alcatraz closed in 1963 due to high operating costs and has been a national park since 1972. House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi said, quote, rebuilding Alcatraz into a modern prison is a stupid notion that would be nothing more than a waste of taxpayer dollars and an insult to the intelligence of the American people, she said. Burkina Faso's military ruler is called on people in his nation to reject democratic rule, telling a state broadcaster, quote,

We must tell the truth, democracy isn't for us, unquote. The interim president, Abraham Trawere, seized power in a 2022 military coup, toppling another coup regime that overthrew a democratically elected government just eight months earlier. Troway previously promised Democratic elections in 2024 before extending his rule until 2029. Speaking to reporters last week, he said, quote, wherever Western powers try to establish democracy in the world, it's always accompanied by bloodshed, unquote. A report from Human Rights Watch accuses Burkina Faso's military and its allied militias of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity for participating in violence that's killed more than 1,800 civilians while forcibly displacing tens of thousands. And in Colorado, about 3,800 workers at the world's largest meat processing company are

returning to work following the first major labor strike in the U.S. meatpacking industry. in over 40 years. Members of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 walked off the job in mid-March to protest unfair and dangerous labor conditions at the JBS plant in Greeley. They're looking to address low wages, a lack of personal protective gear and discrimination against the slaughterhouse's majority immigrant workforce. The union agreed to call off the strike after JBS agreed to a new round of contract talks set to resume on Thursday. To see our coverage of JBS, go to DemocracyNow.org. And those are some of the headlines. This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org, the war and peace report. I'm Amy Goodman. We begin today's show in Israel,

where at least 17 people were arrested Saturday, as Israeli police violently cracked down on an anti-war protest in Tel Aviv, where hundreds had gathered condemning the U.S. Israeli war in Iran. The arrest came despite an order by Israel's top court that allowed the demonstration to proceed. Israeli police still moved to break up the protests claiming Iranian missile threats. Protests also took place in Ha'ahat's Jerusalem. Ha'arets reported a missile launched by Yemen's Houthis triggered a siren in Tel Aviv around the time of Saturday's demonstration. But police reportedly refused to take the arrested protesters to an underground bomb shelter. A lonely green, co-director of the Israeli-Palestinian grassroots group standing together,

and an organizer of Saturday's anti-war protest in Tel Aviv was among those taken into custody. He'll join us a minute. But first, this is the video footage of his arrest. Keep opposing and resisting this war. We will continue to oppose this war. Every Israeli must oppose and resist this war. against the war in Iran and the war in Lebanon. It's war that hurts the people of Israel.

It hurts our rights, the dead, the children, the close business. Alonle Green was arrested at the anti-war protest in Tel Aviv and released approximately seven hours later. He joins us now, on Democracy Now. We're speaking to you first, Alonle, because you have to appear in court right after this interview. First of all, explain why. Hundreds of Israelis, not only in Tel Aviv, also in Haifa and Jerusalem, are protesting this past weekend. Why you were out there, why you got arrested. Hi, Amy, thank you so much for having me.

It's actually thousands of Israelis have gone out to the streets this week. And it's a protest that is growing in Israel. People know that this war will not bring us any safety, that this war is only causing harm to the people of the Middle East, to the Lebanese, to the Palestinians, to the Iranians, and also to do Israelis. We pay a price of destroyed families, people that are dying, houses that are being demolished.

It is a reality of war, and this war is a war that was initiated by Trump and Netanyahu, and we resist this war because it's a forever war. Israel is moving from Gaza to Lebanon, to the West Bank, to Iran, and then it goes back to the same front, and they tell us that this is for our security. But in reality, we all pay a price and we all lose from this war. Protesters held up photos, Alani, of children who've been killed in Iran, in Lebanon,

in Israel, in Gaza, and the West Bank. Can you talk about the connections between Israel's war in Iran and attacks on Lebanon as well as Israel's settler violence in the West Bank and the continued killing of Palestinians in Gaza? I think all these different fronts, all these different scenes are merging into one forever war that our government and governments have tried to keep alive in order to stay in power, in order to incite the people in our society against, you know, imagined enemies, they believe that if they will kill people in Gaza and then allow settlers to murder

people in the West Bank and then attack in Iran and attack in Lebanon, the Israeli public will stay silent and that they will think that this is not a time for protesting. But I think the Israeli public is waking up. A lot of people are angry. It's been three years now of constant war. People are tired. people want different realities for their families. People lose their sons and daughters that are sent to kill and get killed in the army.

And I believe that this is also an opportunity for the left wing in Israel to connect the struggle to the interests of the Palestinians, of the Lebanese, of the people of the Middle East, to the interest of the Israeli people. Because the prices that people are paying is not the same price. I know that as an Israeli citizen, I'm not paying the price of a Palestinian. in Gaza or a Palestinian in the West Bank. But the suffering of people in different degrees is still a suffering. And holding the pictures of those children lost their lives in Gaza, in the West Bank, in Lebanon, in Iran, and also in Israel, is a way to show that everyone is losing in a war. The only people that are benefiting something are people like Trump and Netanyahu,

maybe some oil companies that are making a lot of profits from these. wars. Is the anti-war movement in Israel growing? Yeah, it started with a few dozens of people on the first week. And now we are a few thousands of people. In the first week, there were 90% of support among the Israeli Jewish population of the war. And now it declined to 60-something support within five weeks. It's rapidly declining. And I think people understand that it's not like it's not like what the government is trying to sell us. They told us it's going to be a quick war.

We will achieve the democracy or, I don't know, securing the government of Iran falling down. And we see this is not the truth, not only that they're not winning, but also if you claim you fight for the Iran and people, why do you attack their oil? Why do you attack your infrastructure, the economy? Why do you kill so many people in Iran?

you make four million Iranians refugees? I think those lies are slowly, slowly just being stripped away. Are more Israelis refusing to serve in the army? Well, in this war, we didn't see it a case of a refusal, saying that they will not serve in the Iranian war, but you could see a lot of people that are in the reserve army saying that they're not going into Lebanon, they're not going back to Gaza. They're refusing. Our movement called on reserve mix and soldiers to be holding a morality of keeping humans' lives, families, children in Gaza, in the West Bank in Lebanon. I think that we need to remember that it's a tough atmosphere to be an Israeli that is resisting the war. I'm standing here in the court right now. In front of me, there's a group of right-wing mob activists

that came here to arrest me and they're trying to get my attention. People came to my home. We get arrested. It's not easy to do what we do, but we're trying to create the atmosphere of making it possible, making it normal, making it mainstream, to be saying that it's the patriotic team to do, to resist the occupation, to support Israeli Palestinian peace, to support the end of this forever war in Lebanon or Iran or the West Bank. And I think we are gaining and growing. And since you brought this up that you're standing right now in court right before you go in. In fact, this is a separate case than you being arrested this weekend.

And I'm wondering if you can explain what happened last week when you were followed home by a group of right-wing activists and why you are in court today. Yes. One other arm of the state to persecute us and to try and silence us is not only the political. that is being violent and dispressing us in a very aggressive way. It's also organized right-wing groups that is chasing us, finding out our addresses, coming to our homes, attacking us, bringing all of a sudden in the middle of the night of two dozen people behind your apartment store, coming and blocking your car, finding you in the middle of the street.

And this is a reality that is growing. They get the back of the police. They are never being arrested. They're never being, you know, having to pay for their actions. So I'm trying to get a restrained order from court against a few of them. And this is maybe one of the only tools that we have, apart from organizing and protecting ourselves. I also wanted to ask you about what happened on Saturday. When you were arrested, you have the protesters being told that you can't protest,

because of public security. Yet when the sirens went off, you were held in a police bust, and while everyone else ran into shelters, you were not able to go because the police didn't let you out of the bus? We weren't allowed. They claimed that they're arresting us

because we're violating the emergency measurements of the Homefront Command, and we're jeopardizing ourselves. But then we weren't on the police bus. We were arrested. was handcuffed. And then they, you know, we all heard the sirens and we told the police allow us to go to the shelters. We are above the biggest shelter in Tel Aviv. Allow us to go off the bus and get into the shelter. And they said it's your problem. You decided to

protest in the middle of the war. And we started shouting on them and demanding to be protected from a missile that can hit us. And they really refused. Eventually, after the siren ended, we had maybe seconds before a hit. They allowed us to go to a lobby. of a building full of glass windows, which is not a secure situation. They told us to lie on the ground and to be maybe protected. This is a risk of our lives. This is something that is breaking also the law. No one is allowed to prevent you to be in shelter while there's a siren.

And the police is breaking the law in Israel. On Sunday, Knesset member Eman Odeh, chair of the Hadash Tao, wrote on social media, quote, the police's conduct yesterday at the anti-war demonstration alongside a blatant violation of the High Court of Justice ruling is yet further proof that we're in the midst of a historic crossroads. This is an existential struggle for the future here, for freedom of expression, for democratic values, and for the right to live with dignity, security, and equality, and above all, to stop living by the sword and to strive for true peace. I strengthen and stand in solidarity with thousands of citizens who went out yesterday to demonstrate. despite everything, and he stood firm in the face of the fascists. Next week will already be tens of thousands for the more they suppress and silence us, the more we will multiply and the more we will break through. If you can explain, Lonnie, what the Hadash Tal party is, who

Alex Uda is, and what, and his reference to the high court saying you could progress, protest. Imanode is the head of Hadashhtal party in the Knesset, which represent the Palestinian minority in Israel. There are around four political parties that represent the Palestinians in Israel, which comprise 20% of the entire population, the entire citizens of Israel. And he's the leader of the left-wing party among these parties. And he refers to discussion in a hearing in the Supreme Court of Israel asking the question whether it's legal to have the right to demonstrate even though there's war. We come to the Supreme Court and we tell them there's always war in Israel. You say it can last four months, four years. Does it mean that we never have the right to protest against

the war? So we brought it as a constitutional question to the Supreme Court. And the Supreme Court is now in discussion. It will rule on Thursday around the question whether it's still legal and We still have the right to protest even though there are special security and emergency measurements of the Homefront Command in Israel. They said to the police that they are not allowed to distress us until there's a discussion, until there's ruling, but the police acted on the demand of the Minister Benvill, who demanded to see arrests. You know, I confused Eamon Oda's name with Alex Oda, the 41-year-old,

Palestinian American activist and poet who was killed decades ago in 1985 in Los Angeles by a pipe bomb that exploded as he entered his Santa Ana, California office. The FBI classified the bombing of his office. It was the office of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee as a domestic terrorist attack linked to, quote, Jewish extremists. I want to turn to Ofer Kasef as we leave because you have to go into court, a member of the Israeli Knesset, like Eman Oda, with the Hadashta-a coalition. He says he was assaulted by police during the dispersal of Saturday's anti-war protest. This is Oferkasi, speaking out against the war on Democracy Now last month. Those governments, of those imperialists and their partners, is the real reason is simply to do whatever they can in order to achieve their own economic and political interests at the expense of the peoples, including the people of Iran and the people of Israel. Unfortunately, neither of them is really interested in our well-being or in the people of Iran or the United or the American

people in their own welfare and good. And that's the main issue. This is an imperialist, aggression against the Iranian people. It's not against the regime. They want us to believe it's against the regime. It is against the people of Iran eventually. And history proves that. And we, in the anti-occupation, anti-genocide, peace movement in Israel, we know that. It's very difficult now at the moment to take to the streets and to demonstrate because of the missiles

and also because of the limitations posed by the government under the guise of emergency situation. But we know what is at stake. We know that the real interest of the governments are against the interest of the peoples and we do whatever we can in order to protest and to stop this bloodshed. So that was Ofer Kassaf, member of the Israeli Knesset and the leftist, Haddad-Hadhtal party.

He also was at the protest and says he was assaulted. Alon Lee Green, I want to thank you for being with us, co-director of the Israeli-Palestinian grassroots group Standing Together, organizer of Saturday's anti-war protest in Israel, arrested at the anti-war protest in Tel Aviv. He is now in court on another case. This is Democracy Now. When we come back, we go to Trita Parsi to talk about the war by Israel and the United States on Iran. Treata Parsi is Executive Vice President of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.

Stay with us. Roses and Thorns by Ameth Ali-Azlan. This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org, the War and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman. As the U.S. Israeli war in Iran enters its sixth week, President Trump has threatened to bomb Iran's power plants and bridges unless the Strait of Hormuz is reopened by Tuesday. Trump's attacks on civilian infrastructure would constitute war crimes under international law. In a profanity-laced truth-social post on Easter Sunday, Trump wrote, quote, Tuesday will be power plant day and bridge day, all wrapped up in one in Iran.

There will be nothing like it, three exclamation points. Open the effing straight, you crazy bastards, or you'll be living in hell, just watch, praise be to Allah, the president wrote. he used the actual word. Iranian officials warned with retaliating with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Naval Command, saying in a post on X, the Strait of Hormuz, quote, will never return to its former state, especially for America, and Israel, unquote. Earlier this morning, Iranian media reported explosions after an Israeli attack on the South Pars petrochemical complex in the city of Asulia. The South Pars is one of the world's largest natural gas reserves shared between Iran and Qatar on the Persian Gulf.

South Pars accounts for about 70 to 80 percent of Iran's gas supply. A separate U.S. Israeli strike also targeted South Pars facilities in Iran last month. Meanwhile, Iranian state media reported today that Majid Khademi, intelligence chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was killed in a joint U.S. Israeli strike. For more, we go to Washington, D.C., where we're joined by Trita Parsy, Vice President of the Quincyon Institute for Responsible Statecraft, author of several books, including losing an enemy, Obama, Iran, and the triumph of diplomacy. We're certainly not seeing any triumph of diplomacy right now, Trita Parsi. If you can talk about President Trump's expletive-laced Easter Day message to Iran. What we're seeing here is a repeat of previous threats and deadlines,

but now, of course, with far greater tone of desperation from Trump. He has issued threats of this kind several times before. He hasn't fully acted on them, back down, recognizing that he doesn't have escalation dominance. He cannot escalate his way out of this conflict because if he goes after the power plants on a large scale, the Ivanias will do the same to the infrastructure in the GCC and Israel, and the situation will become much worse, particularly in terms of all prices shooting up. nevertheless he is increasingly desperate because he's realizing he cannot just end the war by walking away he has to have some sort of a negotiated settlement but the negotiated settlement will be very different from the one that he first had in mind

because the realities on the ground are such that he is not in a dominant position he cannot dictate terms and as a result now he's trying to issue these ultimatums in the hope that the iranians will surrender but there's no sign whatsoever that the Iranians are in the mood of a surrender or even accepting his deadline, the Iranians are not going to accept a ceasefire that puts them in the same position as Lebanon and Gaza have been put in when they have agreed to cease fire by the United States and Israel, which have turned out to be just temporary pauses in order for the United States or Israel to be able to regroup, rearm and then relaunch attacks. And this is clearly frustrating Trump because he's realizing he's not in that position of dominance

that he thought he would be. If you could talk about the significance of South Pars right now owned the north part run by Qatar, the South Iran, and of course it is a major source of energy for Iran, like 70 to 80 percent of its energy threatening to blow that up as well as bridges. So South Korea is a very important field for the Iranians. It's shared. A gas field is shared with Qatar, although Qataris are extracting, much more gas out of it because the Iranians don't have the technology given all of the sanctions that have been imposed in Iran for a significant amount of time. Asa Al-Aid is another place nearby that is now being attacked currently by the Israelis

that is critical for Iran's domestic energy consumption. And we have seen that when those fields or facilities have been struck in the past, the Iranians have retaliated. It was when the Israelis attacked South Park last time that the Iranians struck at these gas facilities inside of Qatar that set those back three to five years. It's very important to understand the difference here in the sense that we have an oil problem right now because a lot of tankers are being stuck in the Persian Gulf. They cannot transit through, but the oil is still being extracted out of the ground. The infrastructure of oil has not been targeted on a large scale.

If Trump escalates, then those will likely be targeted. And then you don't only have a bottleneck problem. you also have a production problem. The bottleneck problem can be resolved relatively quickly and oil prices can go down. But if you have a production problem, that means that the production will not go up for quite some time. And that will create a much longer term problem on the oil markets. And that would be much, much worse than the current situation.

So the Iranians have a lot of different ways that they can escalate matters further. Trump is aware of this, of course. This is part of the reason why he hasn't acted on a lot of his threats. but he seems to be getting increasingly desperate and he may actually take steps that will be absolutely devastating for the global economy and for his own presidency. If you can respond to the Guardian just said Iran confirms its received ceasefire plan but says U.S. isn't ready for peace.

The U.S. Iran, a group of regional mediators discuss the terms for a potential 45-day ceasefire that could lead to a permanent end to the war. And then you have Ali Abunima tweeting a few. hours ago, U.S. is trying with Iran the same approaches with Gaza, phased agreements which the Americans in Israel will break in vague future arrangements to be hammered out in an indeterminate future. Your response. Ali is absolutely right. This is the concern and the fear on the Iranian side, that any type of a ceasefire would be to the benefit of the United States and Israel. They would not end the war. It would just be a

tactical pause. In the meantime, Iranians would be giving up a lot of their leverage, for instance, to control over the straits. So I don't see any chance of that succeeding at all unless it is coupled with not this type of a phase approach, but there is actually a full agreement that includes sanctions, relief, and other measures. Now, the Iranian position, I think, in some ways have evolved, frankly hardened. The straits is not necessarily a tool they will use for negotiations to end the war, but rather something that they will use after the war, control of it in order to establish this mechanism in which countries will have to pay transit fees to go through the straits. And they will use that to restore economic relations with a lot

of countries in the world that they used to have economic relations with, but who have essentially stopped dealing with Iran economically because of U.S. pressure. All of those countries nevertheless need access to the straits. And the Iranians are essentially planning to use their control of the to reestablish those economic relations rather than as a leverage to end the war. Your response to President Trump telling Fox News, the U.S., quote, sent a lot of guns to the Iranian protesters. We sent guns through the Kurds. I think the Kurds kept them, unquote. So here's a very important revelation. We saw that during the protest in December and January, that there were some things that were very, very different from the past. We saw that there

were elements within the protest movement or acting underneath the protest movement that used massive amount of violence, both against civilian infrastructure, mosque, banks, etc., fire stations, but also against government forces. That's why a lot of government forces were killed, which we have simply not seen before. These were armed elements. They operated in a rather professional and systematic way. And a lot of protests that I spoke to some of the protests who were out they're genuinely protesting against the policies of the government, saw these forces and were quite stunned because they had never seen anything like that before. Now we have the revelation, which a lot of people suspected,

but we have it from the horse's mouth saying that the US actually was providing weapons to the Kurds and other armed elements inside the country. This, I think, shows that the image we had originally, that this was just peaceful protesters clamped down by the government, was perhaps a bit simplistic. They were overwhelmingly peaceful protesters, but within them or underneath them, there were other elements that were using the protests

to essentially start a violent conflict and uprising. That was clamped down together with a lot of peaceful protesters. The Iranian government seemed to have not made much of a distinction between the two and killed several thousand people. But it was a very different scenario from what you had in 2009, for instance, in which the protest movement was not only peaceful, but also ensure that it was not hijacked by violent elements. This time around, it seems like that was not a full possibility. This is Iranian Farm Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Vaghi, responding to Trump's threat to attack civilian infrastructure

if the new deadline for Iran to open the strait of Hormuz is not met. Any such attack? Our armed forces have made it clear that in case Iran's infrastructure, is attacked, we would react in kind. They would, our armed forces, would target any similar infrastructure that is owned or in any way or manner related to the United States or contributes to their act of aggression against Iran. This is not something that we will do it voluntarily or

by willful decision, this is something that is as part of our defense measures against their illegal act. So that was the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, if you can respond to what he said, Trude Parsi. So this is a continuation of what we've seen in the past, that the Iranians will retaliate in kind, but they will target the facilities that they have within their that are mainly in the GCC states, which then will be putting not only the GCC states in a terrible, terrible situation, but the entire global economy.

We've seen that Iranians have targeted American bases and other facilities, some of them civilian facilities in those countries. We have now also seen emerging evidence that many of these countries, territory and airspace, was used by the United States to attack Iran. Now whether those countries started allowing them to be used after Dvanias started attacking them or whether those attacks were taking place from the outset or whether those attacks from their airspace or territory is being conducted without the approval of these governments is unclear at this point. But the fact that the territory is being used in several cases, Qatar, sorry, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, UAE, at this point is not quite clear. evidence has emerged of that. And that's a very negative and dangerous development,

particularly if it eventually leads to the Saudis and the Emirates fully joining in on the war. That will be, again, we've already seen this conflict spread, but that will be a major, major escalation. We'll make it much more difficult to be able to bring this war to an end. Can you talk about Iranian intelligence agents arresting the prominent human rights lawyer Nasrin Satuda at her home, according to her daughter? She's 16. 64 years old, Satoa renowned for defending activists, opposition politicians and women prosecuted for removing their headscarves. Are you concerned about the possibility that if in prison, who knows by what side, could also be bombed, which has been, which of course is where so many dissidents are held? We saw that in the June ward that the Israelis did strike out the prison, whether they've been.

whether they did so because they believed that that actually would be a beneficial act that would bring people out in the streets or protesting or put them on the side of being opposed to the repression of the Iranian government is unclear. But it really did backfire on the Israelis whether they would do it again remains to be seen. So far they're being focused more on attacking pharmaceutical factories and also universities. But I think an important point that we're seeing here is that the Islamic Republic is being changed, but it is being changed in a much more hawkish direction. This is a direct consequence of this war that was illegally launched by Israel and the United States. It was also highly predictable that under these circumstances, the Iranian government would likely become more repressive and have more restrictions on the political space in the country. we've seen that pattern before. So rather than this being some sort of an effort that would bring about democracy in Iran,

as some people apparently have thought, the track record was already very clear that the most likely outcome would be that we would see the most repressive and hawkish version of the Islamic Republic coming out of this war. Tell us also, if you're able to communicate with people in Iran, the state imposed near total internet shutdown. now the longest nationwide blackout on record of any country? It is very challenging, but I've managed to get through to quite a few people. It is not the same type of a blackout that we saw on January 8th till a couple of days

in which the Iranians really shut down everything, Jam Starlink and everything else. It's not that level, but it is nevertheless extremely restrictive. And I don't see any likelihood of that opening. up as long as the war continues to go on. Finally, are you concerned the U.S. or Israel would use a nuclear bomb against Iran? So I've had conversations here in Washington, and I have been quite taken back by seeing that a lot of former officials are very candid that this is an option on the table. It comes out of the fact that Trump appears to be increasingly desperate. He could end up going on bombing Iran for another two weeks, trying to achieve some major.

a spectacle and then just walk away knowing that he doesn't have the ability or the patience for the real diplomacy that is needed, doesn't have the willingness to give compromises. So he may just escalate it in a spectacular way and then walk away leaving the straits in the control of the Iranians. And that could potentially include the use of a nuclear weapon. The fact that that actually is being discussed or is being contemplated and discussed by former officials as an option that Trump is looking at, or

Israelis are looking at, is telling us about how badly this war is going, how desperate the situation is becoming, and how tremendously, tremendously dangerous this would be for the entire world. As one former official told me, this would make the United States the absolutely most hated country in the world if it uses a nuclear weapon as a way of just demonstrating its military superiority. Treda Parsi, thanks so much for being with us. Executive Vice President, the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. A number of books, he's written, including losing an enemy, Obama run, and the triumph of diplomacy. Coming up, Israel has expanded evacuation orders in southern Lebanon and continues to bombard the country, a million displaced, over

1,400 dead, over 125 of them children. We'll go to Beirut. Stay with us. We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes. We who believe in freedom. We love a song, We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes. Sweet Honey in the Rock performing at the 2025 Peace Bowl. This is Democracy Now. Democracy Now.org, the war and peace report. I'm Amy Goodman.

Israeli strikes across Lebanon on Sunday, killed at least 15 people as Israeli troops pushed deeper into southern Lebanon. Israel's ordered the expansion of its so-called buffer zone from the Latani River to areas north of the Zahrani River, displacing about one-fifth of Lebanon's population. Israel continues to bomb bridges across the Latani, isolating the southern region of Lebanon. Since Israel launched its war against Hezbollah on March 2nd, more than 1,400 people have been killed in Lebanon, including at least 126 children. This is Jamas Saleem Faran, now homeless after Israeli strikes on tire left his neighborhood in ruins. Someone who can barely afford their daily bread can't even buy a loaf and then a plane comes in strikes? For what reason? Just because I'm sitting on my land?

I will not leave. This is our land and we will not give it up. Beirut was pounded with air strikes Friday as Israel claimed it was targeting militant infrastructure for more we go to Lebanon's capital to speak with Ramsey Kais, the Lebanon researcher for Human Rights Watch. Ramsey, you're back from the south of Lebanon. Israel's expanding a so-called buffer zone from the Latani River to the Zahrani River. Can you talk about the significance in what you saw and overall what's happening in Lebanon? Thanks, Amy, and thanks for having me. As you noted, it's been over a month since the escalation

between Israel and Hezbollah and so far, there's been over 1,460 people. people that have been killed in Lebanon. This includes over now 130 children after yesterday's attacks, 54 medical workers. And Israeli military has ordered nearly 15% of Lebanon's territory to be evacuated through displacement orders that they've issued as early as March 4 to the area of South Littani River and then expanded that on March 12. But they have repeatedly reissued those same statements, essentially ordering people to be, to, to, to, leave those areas. And not only that statements that have been issued by Israeli military officials and government officials, such as the defense ministers, have signaled an intent to commit more atrocities.

They, you know, Israel Katz, Israel's minister of defense have said that he and Netanyahu have ordered the acceleration of destruction of homes along Lebanon's border, that they have, that they will be preventing hundreds of thousands of Shiaa residents from returning to their homes south of the Littani River and that they could conduct as well strikes that could target civilians. This was mentioned in displacement ordered issued for the southern suburbs of Beir between March 11 and 15. More recently, bridges across the Littani River have been struck. The most of the bridges have been struck. I was in the city of Sur or TIR last week.

And residents, municipality officials, health workers, and hospital officials told us that essentially there's one lifeline left into the city and other areas south of the Littani that tens of thousands of people who remain south of the Littani River, despite these displacement orders, depend on it for humanitarian supplies, going into those areas for medical supplies, for supplies needed for hospitals. And so with this signaled intent by the Israeli military officials to occupy the area of South of Latani River to prevent people from returning, we are seeing humanitarian catastrophe unfold. And should the last bridge, the Qasmia Bridge, you know, be struck as well. We're talking about tens of thousands of people being severed not only from the rest of the country, but from access to, to supplies, humanitarian supplies, medical supplies that they need for their own survival. And Israel's claims that it's targeting militant infrastructure that it is fighting Hezbollah? So the Israeli military has claimed that it has bombed the bridges because they are being used by Hezbollah,

but there are also claims that they have, you know, striking health care workers because those vehicles are being used by Hezbollah. I think what we're seeing in this war with particularly the large number of civilians being killed, health workers and journalists. There are many patterns that we've documented before. This is a war, again, that's been ongoing since October 2023, and over the past two and a half years, we've documented repeated, apparently deliberate attacks on civilians. This includes journalists, it includes medical workers, it includes peacekeeping forces. We've documented a previously widespread use of white phosphorus, including unlawfully overpopulated residential areas. and the targeting of civilian objects,

such as financial institutions and others. And what we're seeing now is what appears to be a continuation of that same pattern. But what's different, I think, this time around, is that there's a new brazenness in the statements issued by Israel and military where they are simply stating that they intend to commit more war crimes. They are stating that we will be preventing people, hundreds of thousands of people from returning to their homes, that we will be destroying homes along the Lebanon border

in order to establish a buffer zone. That, you know, we will not hesitate to strike anyone who is near Hezbollah facilities or equipment, which is a different tone that I think from what we've seen on the last war and, you know, perhaps a reflection of just the state of impunity for any violations that have been committed in Lebanon as Amla-A-A-Zah for the last two and a half years with no accountability whatsoever for violations of the law.

of war. Human rights watch has also written that Israel's displacement of civilians in Lebanon is a possible war crime. Ramsey. Indeed. And, you know, the statements that have been issued by the Israeli military signal that, you know, the displacement of civilians is not necessarily tied to their protection. They've specifically singled out Shiaa residents from the, you know, from the area of Littani, saying that they will prevent their return in order until the establishment, until the The safety of Israel's northern residence is guaranteed, and under international humanitarian law force displacement is prohibited. And people should be allowed to return to their homes as soon as the hostility sees or as soon as the conditions for their displacement cease to exist. But what we're seeing instead is that the return of people, and particularly of Shiaa residents in southern Lebanon, is being tied to some vague, undefined safety standard in northern Israel.

Ramsey, Keis, I want to thank you so much for being with us. Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch speaking to us from Beirut just back from southern Lebanon. Thank you so much. We'll link to Human Rights Watch's reports. And that does it for our show. Democracy Now currently accepting applications for Development Associates, support our fundraising team. Go to DemocracyNow.org. And Democracy Now, the film about it as we celebrate 30 years is opening at the IFC theater here in New York on Thursday. It's called Steal the Story, please. I'll be doing the Q&A after the film with the film's directors, Coral Deal and Tia Lesson, on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday. It's also opening at the Jacob Burns Theater and at Huntington where I'll be doing the Q&A's there on Sunday and Tuesday.

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with Mike Perfina, Augusta Masair, Rhodes, Nermaine, Maria Tarasana, Nicole Salazar, Sarah Nasser, Tarina, Adora, Sam Alcoff. I'm Amy Goodman. Thanks so much for joining us.