It Could Happen Here - What's Next for Iran?

Episode Date: March 4, 2026

James talks with Gordayeen about the US and Israel attacking Iran, what this means for people in the country, and what might come next. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Listen to On Purpose with Jay Chetty on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Also Media. Hi, everyone, and welcome to the show. I'm joined today by Gordaeen, who's a journalist from Kurdistan, who's based in Germany, and we're going to discuss the bombing of Iran. How are you, Gordian? Hello, thank you again for inviting me, and yeah, I'm ready to. talk about what's happening in Iran right now. Yeah. Yeah, it's a lot. A lot is happening. I mean, we should begin, I suppose, by if someone happens to have been avoiding the news and has somehow

managed to avoid learning what is happening. Can we give like a small summary of the events that have happened since Friday night, US time? So, yeah, it was early morning around eight, nine in the morning in Iran time that the Israeli army attacked the center of Tehran, where Ali Khamenei's house, which is known as Beiterah Abadi, the leader's house, was located. And apparently the Iranian officials were having a very important meeting there. And following that, there were more attacks across Tehran and other cities. And by night, as the attacks were going, going on, as the strikes were going on,

Beniam and Netanyo came on TV and he said that I have some news, I have some information that confirms that Ali Khamenei is dead, which caused a lot of panic and excitement among the people. And everybody was really excited and they were waiting for this to be confirmed.

And then some people came out and said, no, it's not true, but after some hours, the Iranian state media, the TV channels all started confirming that. So following that, the attacks did not stop. They were still going on. And then the American Army also joined. This is a completely coordinated cooperation between U.S. and Israel. So as they were attacking different IRGC bases and the facilities belonging to the government,

the Iranian government started attacking. the neighboring countries. They attacked UAE, they attacked Qatar, they attacked Bahrain, they attacked Iraq, and they attacked also Iraqi Kurdistan region. And they were just mainly targeting the U.S. bases or facilities belonging to the U.S. But soon after they started attacking civilian buildings, like hotels, like just randomly attacking different directions. And at the same time, they also started sending missiles and drones towards Israel, which majority of them were intercepted. So they've been attacking these neighboring countries since the beginning of this war.

And they have been specifically targeting Iraqi Kurdistan because, first, the U.S. has a lot of big military bases there in Iraq and Iraq-Kutistan region. And at the same time, they are... the Kurdish parties from Iran who are based there, and the regime has been seeing them as one of the major threats since decades. So since the beginning of this whole war, they have been targeting these Kurdish parties a lot. And they also attacked, there is a refugee base that the families of the Kurdish forces basically live there.

They also attacked there. But luckily, nobody was killed or injured, but some buildings were damaged. And they attacked Airbill with drones and missiles several times, which were all mainly intercepted by the U.S. air defense systems because of the remains of the missiles and the drones that were falling down from the sky. Some people were lightly injured or some buildings were damaged. But still, it's a crazy thing to see because previously in the past years, Iran had attacked Erbil several times and also other regions. but the US or the other countries that were there, they didn't really intercepted the drones or the missiles. It's also something new that we're seeing.

It's also important to know that Iran has also attacked Cyprus, like British military bases were targeted there, but the drones or the missiles were sent from Lebanon. What's going on right now is the full-scar war. And I think when you look at it, It's nothing like what we've seen before. If you want to compare it to what happened in Iraq, the U.S. invasion, this is completely different. I think it's even larger than that because Iran is a very big country.

And there are hundreds or maybe thousands of points across the country that have been targeted with heavy bombings inside Tehran, around Tehran. It's also really incredible to know because the amount of intel that you need for this is also. really a lot. I've seen videos, I've seen footage, I've seen reports that some random checkpoints on some remote places, especially in Curtis-on-work targeted. So this is also something that shows that how really coordinated and well-planned this attack and this war is. I want to jump into something else. A lot of people are mainly focused on these major attacks, major developments, like, yeah, they're attacking Dubai, they're attacking Doha. Yeah.

These are all happening. And of course, the civilians, they're also in danger. I think somebody in Doha was killed in the first day. It was just a civilian that was killed by the remains of a missile or a drone. Yeah. And this has made things really hard for the people on the ground. Many people are trapped in the airports, on the borders. So this is something that's happening to the people outside of Iran.

But inside Iran, there is massive bombings. everywhere wherever the IRGC or the intelligence service has a facility. And at the same time, the regime has cut off the internet. Even the normal phone lines barely work. And it's just so hard and almost impossible to get really precise information about what's happening in the cities and the towns around. Just like what happened in the early January, like during the protest, only a few people have access to the internet.

It's very limited. Yeah, they share some videos with channels and like with news agencies, but it's very limited. For example, in my hometown today, some of the major IRGC bases and intelligence facilities that were some of the most important ones in western side of Iran, or as we call it, Iranian Kurdistan or Rochalat, they were all bombed. And I've been trying to contact people to see what happened exactly. I'm sure that there are civilians killed. because the regime also has put all these bases inside the cities, near parks, near hospitals, near just random houses in the city. So a lot of people are possibly killed, but we don't know how many, who are they?

So this is also like not just in my city, in other cities too, it's the same. This is also something that a lot of people are not talking about. But again, this is war and the bombings are. so heavy and they're all being carried out with really advanced weapons and it's just so hard. And when I talk to the people outside of Iran, the people in Europe, like some of my friends, relatives, everybody's worried that what if one of my relatives, what if one of my friends get killed randomly on the street? But because of this, that people are seeing this also on the news, at least I know this from my family because I was able to talk to them to night.

ago. Everybody's staying home. They have enough food for a few weeks and they're just watching the news. They don't go out. They're just trying to stay safe. But at the same time, in major cities like Burmia, for example, the people who have a house outside of the city or in a village or if they have relatives outside of the city, they have moved out because it's generally safer. There are not many IRGC bases or like government buildings or whatever in the villages and smaller towns. So this is also happening and people are trying to

stay safe as much as possible. And yeah, this is something that's going on. And at the same time, when I talk to the people, I mean, I haven't been able to properly talk to anyone because the internet is really bad, but like, I talked to my family and they told me that the food prices are really, really, really high

and it's really hard to buy food now because everybody's panicking and there are shortages. Like there's some items cannot be found. Some like essential items like, I don't know, oil, meat and rice and things like that. It's too hard to find in the market. Yeah. And a lot of people are going to the gas stations to get some gas and to be prepared if something happens. But yeah, so this is also something that's going on and people are worried about that.

what if it's going to get bigger if it's going to scale it? So, like, how are they going to deal with all these shortages? Yeah. There is one more topic that I want to talk about. I also wrote about it a little bit earlier. I published some text. It's the topic of ordinary soldiers. Yeah, explain that to people.

The civilians who are forced into the military service. This is also, like, a very sensitive topic. because there are probably thousands or maybe hundreds of thousands of young men who are about 18 years old that are forced into the military service because it's mandatory in Iran. And they are forced into the service and they are also in these military bases and the military bases are being targeted nonstop. And there is a possibility. I mean, not the possibility.

Of course, it's surreal today. one person, a young man from Kurdistan, was confirmed that he was killed. But I'm sure that there are more because we don't have a proper internet connection. So we cannot like get all the information. But these military bases are being also targeted. And of course, I think a lot of them might get killed or injured. And just from my own family, one of my cousins who is 24, he was also forced into this because he wanted to open a business and like in Iran a lot of people also maybe I should give a little bit context like in Iran if you want to open a business if you want to have a passport or things like that you have to serve in the army and we'll give you that so yeah he was he just

he was listed like I don't know about five months ago or so and then he was in a military base between Tabriz and Urumia and their base was targeted luckily the slid flipping quarters were not targeted. It was just where the commanders were, I think, staying. And I mean, I couldn't talk to him, but he told my cousin, who I called like two days ago, he said that the moment that it was bombed, everybody just ran out. And then everybody went back in and they took all their belongings and backpacks. And they just left the military base and they went home without telling the Weiser or something. And they were not, they're not going to go back. there anyways. So this is also something that I am personally worried about all those young men

who are forced to be in the military bases and they are absolutely not a part of the regime. There are just civilians who are forced into this. So that's also something that I think it's not really discussed because the whole focus right now is just on the major attacks, which place was targeted or like which I don't know commander was killed or things like that. Yeah. Let's take a little break for advertisements and we'll come back because I'd like to discuss more of that like the structure of the Iranian state and who is and it's not like part of it. Hey, I'm Jay Shetty, host of the on-purpose podcast.

I'm joined by Luke Combs, award-winning country music artist and one of the most authentic voices in music today. Luke opens up about success, self-doubt, mental health. and what it really takes to stay true to who you are when your life changes overnight. I hate fame, I hate the word celebrity, I hate those words, they make me uncomfortable. But I think when you get to a certain point,

the fame or the success or the influence, it just accentuates and exacerbates the inherent person that you are. The guy that says he's always going to be there and that will do anything to be there is the only guy that's not there. I'm in Australia when Beau is born. My whole identity is that no, matter what, I'm going to prioritize my wife and my children over my job. I dread the conversation

with my son. What do you think you'd say? Listen to On Purpose with Jay Chetty on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In 2023, a story gripped the UK, evoking horror and disbelief. The nurse who should have been in charge of caring for tiny babies is now the most prolific child killer in modern British history. Everyone thought they knew how it ended. A verdict? A villain. A nurse named Lucy Letby. Lucy Letby has been found guilty.

But what if we didn't get the whole story? The moment you look at the whole picture, the case collapses. I'm Amanda Knox, and in the new podcast, doubt the case of Lucy Lettby, we follow the evidence and hear from the people that lived in. To ask what really happened when the world, decided who Lucy Lettby was. No voicing of any skepticism or doubt. It'll cause so much harm at every single level of the British establishment of this is wrong.

Listen to Doubt, the case of Lucy Lettby on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. China's Ministry of State Security is one of the most mysterious and powerful spy agencies in the world. But in 2017, the FBI got inside. This is Special Agent Regal, Special Agent Bradley Hall. This MSS officer has no idea the U.S. government is on to him. But the FBI has his chats, texts, emails, even his personal diary. Hear how they got it on the Sixth Bureau podcast. I now have several terabytes of an MSS officer, no doubt, no question, of his life.

And that's a unicorn. No one had ever seen anything like that. It was unbelievable. This is a story of the inner workings of the MSS and how one man's ambition and mistakes opened its fault of secrets. Listen to the Sixth Bureau on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I'm Clayton Neckard, and in 2022, I was the lead of ABC's The Bachelor. Unfortunately, it didn't go according to plan. He became the first Bachelor to ever have his first Bachelor to ever have his final rose rejected. The internet turned on him. If I could press a button and rewind it all I would. But what happened to Clayton after the show made even bigger headlines.

It began as a one-night stand and ended in a courtroom, with Clayton at the center of a very strange paternity scandal. The media is here. This case has gone viral. The dating contract. Agree to date me, but I'm also suing you. Please search warrant. This is unlike anything I've ever seen.

before. I'm Stephanie Young. This is Love Trapped. This season, an epic battle of He Said She Said, and the search for accountability in a sea of lies. Listen to Love Trapped on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Okay, we are back. So I think that would be a really good place for us to do some deep dives would be, right, people understand this part of the world through the lens of states, because they understand.

down the world through the lens of states because they have been raised in a state system. But I don't think that it's particularly, it's not useful to see everybody who lives in the Iranian state as part of the Iranian state. It doesn't actually give us a good grasp on reality. So perhaps you could explain, first of all, perhaps explaining the structures of the Iranian state when it comes to like there are pro-regime militias, right? There are the IRGC and then we have like the leadership, many of whom are now dead, some of whom we know, some of whom we think are dead. But then we also have, and I know you and I have spoken about this before, but it's worth explaining again, right? Like, Iran is an ethnically diverse country. So we have people

who are ethnically excluded from power. We also have people within the majority of ethnicity, Persian people who are not pro-racian. So could you perhaps explain like those structures that exist? And then you and I spoke about this a little bit before we were recording, but many of the facilities of the regime's armed forces and repressive forces are right in the middle of town, right, right next to civilian building. So perhaps we could explain the consequences of that for civilians as bombs are falling on these facilities. Yeah, so if I want to explain how the Iranian state system is, I would simply compare it to a full monarchy, but with a different label.

There is king who owns all of the power, and there are the people who are around him that also share some bits of power with him, and there is the army that is in full man of the leader or the people around him. So this is simply something like that, if I want to make it very, very simple. but the Iranian state structure is actually quite complicated. You know, they follow some sort of religious hierarchy that the supreme leader is the representative of God on earth and he is leading the Muslim nation until the Imam Mahdi,

the savior of the world, comes from the skies and saves the world and brings peace. So this is what they actually believe. So the Supreme Leader is actually the person who approves everything. Yeah, there is normal parliament with the representative of the people. But at the same time, there is another type of religious parliament that decides on the interests of the regime, which consists of some high-level clerics or the molars who are on a higher social level. And at the same time, there is also a council of 12 people. Six of them are Mullahs. Six of them are like lawyers and jurists that they are monitoring the, let's say, the whole political process in the government. But whatever happens when you see that, yeah, this is on paper, in theory, this is a system that could possibly work. But all of these organizations or these parts of the regime, or layers of the regime that I mentioned,

all of them, they follow the supreme leader, and whatever they do has to be approved by him. I mean, I'm not talking about, like, I don't know, the things that are decided in the city council or like very low-lil. I'm talking about the national interests or things like that or who's going to be the next president, for example. But basically that parliamentary system

or those councillings are basically non-functional. They're just there for a show. And at the same time, especially in the past decades, the IRGC, it's not only a military force that it's not a militia that follows the leader. It's a whole organized and complicated structure that owns the economy, owns all the institutions in Iran, and controls all of them. We're talking about the oil sector. We're talking about industry. We're talking about agriculture. I mean, almost everything is owned by them.

And IRGC is a network of countless high-level commanders or even, let's say, non-military person that are all working together and they are running the country somehow. And of course, even if the leader is dead, they still have some structures to continue to carry on. And this is how the structure is in Iran. And I think this is what makes Iran very, very different from other states in the Middle East. And it's something that makes Iran also very different from what, for example, if you want to compare it to Saddam Hussein system or in Libya or in Syria, it's very different because the IRGC has been. put its hands and roots everywhere in every institution. We're talking about schools.

We're talking about universities. We're talking about hospitals. We're talking about anything that you can imagine, even in a post office. Like, we were talking about this earlier, so that there is, like, in every governmental institution, from universities to schools and hospitals, IRGC always has a specific office in every facility. It's supposed to recruit people to join the resistance, but in fact, it's just a, it's just an office to observe the people who are working there or the people who are going there for their daily matters. So they have control over everything.

And that's what makes this regime very, very structured and very hard to just topple in two nights. So that's why they are still resisting. They are still fighting back. They are still, even though Israel and America have destroyed majority of their military bases and facilities, but they are still fighting back. This is also important to understand. I think, yeah. Yeah. And like with it being a little bit unclear, like, who is still alive, especially in that top end of the pyramid, right?

Like, we know Hamer now is dead. or we know we're pretty sure he's dead. Iran has announced he's dead. We know that other people within that religious leadership and political leadership structure are dead. We know that they struck the assembly of experts today, which could have removed a good number, more of those religious leaders.

What they did in Venezuela was that they found somebody who was no less repressive but was amenable to doing what they wanted, specifically with resources, specifically with oil. we run the risk of a similar thing happening in Iran, right, of like someone within the IRGC being like, we will do what you need us to do with oil as long as you allow us to continue murdering the Iranian people as much as we wish.

Like that's a real worry. They will find someone who they think they can do business with. That's what they wanted in Venezuela, right? Iran and Venezuela are different. They are both allied, but they're very different countries. Yeah. But that's a real worry for people. Yeah, I think it's also like with Venezuela, it's completely different right now.

Because with Venezuela, America had like a clear person, as you said, that, yeah, he or she is going to be the next leader or whatever. Yeah, Delci Rodriguez. But with Iran, it's not really clear yet. You know, the so-called prince, Pahlavi, he is. He is always on TV, always on his social media saying that I'm going to come back. I'm going to do this and that. But it's not really clear if USA and America have made a deal with him because he doesn't really have that social base that he claims to have.

Yeah. And on the other side, there are the ethnic groups, especially Kurds, Baluchis and Awasi Arabs. They're like better organized compared to other ethnic groups. And then today we just saw that Trump has made phone calls with the Kurdish leaders of these parties. And the other parties in Iraqi Kurdistan, this means something. And so it's not really clear that they're going to have a similar plan like Venezuela or they're going to have something completely different for Iran. We're just waiting to see what's going to happen in the upcoming weeks because it's just a few days that the war is going on. Yeah.

The entire region is in a shock. It's still not clear that how people are going to decide on their future now, because the war is still going on. And it's on a very, very high level. Yeah. So, of course, it's also like, even when I was talking to my family the other day, they were telling me, I mean, most people in Kurdistan,

I would say majority of the people in Kurdistan, And they don't want monarchy back, of course. They don't want another form of dictatorship. And they would say, yeah, we want anyone to be installed, but not this guy. Not this Rosa Pahlavi. We don't want him. Anyone is better than him. Yeah.

So this is also something. And I think probably if they want to install Reza Pahlavi, the ethnic groups will not accept it. And there is going to be more resistance and therefore more wars. Yeah. Let's take another break and we'll talk a little bit about maybe specifically the Kurdish situation, as I know it's of interest to both of us. Hey, I'm Jay Shetty, host of the on-purpose podcast. I'm joined by Luke Combs, award-winning country music artist and one of the most authentic voices in music today.

Luke opens up about success, self-doubt, mental health, and what it really takes to stay true to who you are when your life changes overnight. I hate fame. I hate the word celebrity. I hate those words. be uncomfortable. But I think when you get to a certain point, the fame or the success or the influence, it just accentuates and exacerbates the inherent person that you are. The guy that says he's always going to be there and that will do anything to be there is the only guy that's not

there. I'm in Australia when Bo is born. My whole identity is that no matter what, I'm going to prioritize my wife and my children over my job. I dread the conversation with my son. What do you think you today. Listen to On Purpose with Jay Chetty on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In 2023, a story gripped the UK, evoking horror and disbelief. The nurse who should have been in charge of caring for tiny babies is now the most prolific child killer in modern British history. Everyone thought they knew how it ended.

A verdict, a villain. A nurse named Lucy Ler. Letby. Lucy Letby has been found guilty. But what if we didn't get the whole story? The moment you look at the whole picture, the case collapses. I'm Amanda Knox, and in the new podcast, Doubt the case of Lucy Lettby, we follow the evidence and hear from the people that lived it, to ask what really happened when the world decided

who Lucy Lettby was. No voicing of any skepticism or doubt. It'll cause so much harm at every single level of the British establishment of this is listen to Doubt, the case of Lucy Letby on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. China's Ministry of State Security is one of the most mysterious and powerful spy agencies in the world. But in 2017, the FBI got inside. This is Special Agent Regal, Special Agent Bradley Hall. This MSS officer has no idea the U.S. government is on to him.

But the FBI has his chats, texts, emails, even his personal diary. Hear how they got it on the Sixth Bureau podcast. I now have several terabytes of an MSS officer, no doubt, no question, of his life. And that's the unicorn. No one had ever seen anything like that. It was unbelievable. This is a story of the inner workings of the MSS and how one man's ambition and mistakes opened its vault of secrets.

Listen to the Sixth Bureau on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Clayton Eckerd, and in 2022, I was the lead of ABC's The Bachelor. Unfortunately, it didn't go according to plan. He became the first Bachelor to ever have his final rose rejected. The internet turned on him. If I could press a button and rewind it all I would. But what happened to Clayton after the show? made even bigger headlines.

It began as a one-night stand and ended in a courtroom with Clayton at the center of a very strange paternity scandal. The media is here. This case has gone viral. The dating contract. Agree to date me,

but I'm also suing you. Please search for it. This is unlike anything I've ever seen before. I'm Stephanie Young. This is love trapped. This season, an epic battle of He Said She Said,

and the search for accountability in a sea of lies. Listen to Love Trapped on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We are back. So, yeah, you mentioned this piece, right? There was an article. It was a very poorly written article, I will say. For instance, it seemed to think that Talibani and Basani were Iranian. But nonetheless, the central thrust of it was correct, that Trump has communicated with the KDP

He and the P.U.K. I understand this is like a lot of acronyms coming at people. So maybe we can just say like political parties in Iraqi Kurdistan, southern Kurdistan. But that doesn't necessarily tell us anything. I think it's very easy, again, like there's this American media frame of analysis which sees groups in the Middle East as monolithic, right? The Kurds, as if they are like an entirely homogenous entity with one political interest, which is not the case. But like, for America to fully remove this regime and Israel, it needs either a partner force or to be willing to commit thousands of its own soldiers to fight and know that hundreds of them will die, right, like did in Iraq.

I guess, like, knowing what we know and knowing that there are these groups, right, and maybe it would be good to give people a primer on the Eastern Kurdistan resistance groups and the alliance that they've recently formed. Like, where are they standing right now? I know they released a statement yesterday, but can you explain that a little bit to people? There are several parties across Eastern Kurdistan or, as they say, Iranian Kurdistan, and of course they're very diverse and each of them have a, different ideology. That's very normal.

Yes. What happened in the past few months was that it's also a very great development for our people, at least, because they have been also calling for a form of cooperation between these parties and they finally announced it. Of course, two parties like the Komala and another branch, they did not join it because they had some disagreements. But that is also normal. So the thing is that these parties would definitely work together if the things are going to escalate more. For example, if I want to say about a week ago, the Rizapalavi published a statement and he threatened Kurdish people that if they think about autonomy or I don't know thinking about taking quote-unquote parts of Iran's oil, we're going to use the army against them in the future. it's incredible that the first

Kurdish official who answered to that statement was Abdullah Muhtadi from the Komala who was not a part of the coalition. So that means that even though they have disagreements but they are still trying to work together and help each other,

I have talked to some people in the Kurdish parties. They are fully prepared for anything that could happen in the upcoming weeks or days or even month, I don't know. They're fully prepared And what I know is that they are telling me that they are prepared that the Israeli army and also the American army would bomb or destroy the military bases on the border and also the checkpoints so that it would be easier for them to enter. And probably if it's going to be bigger than that, then maybe they could take over the controls of the cities.

And what's really interesting is that they yesterday, these five parties, the coalition published a statement. And there were several points, but one of the points was that was really interesting for me was that they were calling on people to not damage any public buildings like banks, schools, I don't know, offices. And that means that probably there is a movement that they want to come back and take over all these buildings. and try to control the cities better. So this is also something, and there is a lot of discussion on social media, and people are all saying that, yeah, we are ready that if something happens, we will go in.

And I think right now the situation is really complicated, and we don't know how people can actually enter yet. And you said that, yeah, if there is going to be a force that's ready to sacrifice thousands of its members, I think there are, the Kurds are ready to fight, they have been ready to fight for forever, for decades. Yeah. So this is also like something that the Kurdish people already know

that if we want to get rid of this regime, we have to sacrifice more. For me, it's very painful to say this, but I think our people have to sacrifice a little bit more, more than that they have been sacrificing for over 150 years. and I think maybe they have to sacrifice more. But one point here is that when I see what's happening, when I see that what is being said

that Trump is talking to the Kurdish parties, to the Kurdish organizations about the situation, one thing that I think about is that given the history of at least 15, 16 years of cooperation between America and the Kurds in Rojava in Syria and the fight against ISIS, which was a great opportunity for Kurdish people. But at the end, Trump just let Kurds down and didn't really support them against Turkey, against all these jihadist groups that are supporting Syria.

So the question is that what if we fight against this regime, we destroy the regime? I mean, it's not just us. I have to mention that the other ethnic groups are also ready. But what if all these ethnic groups fight? this regime, they destroyed this regime, and what if Trump just brings someone really bad and someone really useless like Reza Pahlavi or other Iranian figures that of course are not after Kurdish people's interests? What if somebody like that comes in power and then the same situation goes on and then we have to fight that system over and over again? So this is also something

that I also think about it, but we still don't know. Yeah, what will happen. Is America's exact plan. It could be something like Iraqi Kurdistan, which could benefit the ethnic groups a lot. Of course, there's still going to be civil war, probably there's going to be instability,

but at least the ethnic groups might be able to self-determine, you know, like might be able to control their areas and get rid of that Iranian control to some extent. Maybe not fully, but that is also something that could be possible. And of course, there's going to be killing. There's going to be a lot of civilians killed. And we know that already during all these bombings, many civilians are killed.

We don't know how many exactly because there is no internet connection to make sure about the numbers or to investigate that. But of course, all these Iranian government buildings RGC bases, intelligence offices or facilities, they are all located in civilian areas in the cities, in the city centers all over Iran and also Kurdistan. So there's always going to be some civilians who are living there, who are walking around there, and they get killed. So this is also something that's really painful.

But I think our people really have had enough and they were ready for this. and they were, they knew that this is, this was, this was going to happen and yeah. Yeah, yeah. It's, uh, it's such a difficult thing. It's like, it's, what, four, five weeks ago that we saw the STG and groups affiliate, Syrian transitional government and groups affiliated with it, like live streaming them killing and mutilating the remains of captured Kurdish men and women in Derizur, right? Like a place where maybe it wasn't a desire.

to liberate Kurdish people that took the SDF there. It was the battle against ISIS and this idea of brotherhood of peoples, right, that they would liberate the Arab people who lived there. Obviously, that has resulted in these horrible things that we've seen over the last month. And then the thought of like, oh, well, won't you just send 10,000 more of your children to die so you can liberate people in Tehran and then we'll leave you again? Yeah. I was just thinking about like a couple years ago I was in Soleimani.

And I went to the museum, you know, that they have the red security building. And they have, like, a very good history of the unfal, the genocide against the Kurdish people committed by the Ba'athist state. And then they have the 1991 uprising. And then they have a lot of commemoration of the battle against the Islamic State. And, like, for my entire life, like, the Americans have been leaving Kurdish people to die. and then urging them to rise up again. And it's just, I don't know,

it's an incredible, like, revolutionary capacity and capacity for sacrifice, but it's also just very sad that Americans constantly expect Kurdish people to continue to sacrifice and then never fill up their end of the bargain. Yeah, that's unfortunately true. And, yeah, this has been evident

in the past few years as well. Like in Syria, when, when, when, when, America gave the green light to Turkey to invade Rojava and also recently that how they just abandoned Kurds. Of course, they're still saying, no, we didn't abandon Kurds, but they did. And we basically lost almost everything that we had gained in Rojava. And there is also like a threat against Iraqi Kurdistan region right now from Turkey and also from Iraq. And it's just a bitter truth that, yeah, apparently Kurds are not considered as a long-term partner for the U.S. and also the other Western countries.

But like all these horrible things that have been happening to our people in the past 100 years, I mean, a part of it is, of course, the result of the Western countries and colonization from the European countries, Great Britain, Russia and also America. But at the same time, it's really important to not forget that majority of this tragedy that our people are living in is also caused by Turks, Arabs, and Persians. And by that, I just don't mean the state. I also mean the whole structure in the Middle East that has been prosecuting the Kurds. It's been centuries that people are trapped between these powers, the Turks, Persians, and Arabs that are also fighting each other. but then they bring all of their wars inside our homeland, and then our people get killed and displaced and face all the tragedies. So yeah, this is also our situation right now,

and I don't know if it's going to be changed to a better situation, because it's just so unclear that how the superpowers, how the major powers, the original powers are planning for these things and how their interests actually matter. Like, we talked about Rojava if America, if Turkey or NATO and other Arab countries were not backing the new Syrian government, I would call it Syrian Arab government, because that's how they identify themselves. Yeah, it's still the Syrian Arab Republic, even a year and a bit later.

Yeah, if it was only Kurdish forces and the new government, trust me, they would not be able to enter all the territories controlled by SDF because SDF is way more advanced and more powerful than them, like, military-wise. But SDF was left alone and there was so much pressure on SDF from all the Arab countries, Turkey and also Western countries in America. So this whole thing, like maybe this is a little bit unrealistic, but a lot of people ask me that what's going to be next? I think the next is going to be what America and Europe want.

Like, I'm sure that they don't care about what the people in Kurdistan or the people in Iran want. They just want to do whatever they want, whatever that benefits them. And of course, the neighboring countries will also follow from the Arab countries and definitely Turkey. They will follow the plan that benefits them. So the people are trapped between these decisions. if the Iranian structure also remains, probably they would also change the course and then cooperate with America or Israel or NATO or Arab countries only to remain in power and maintain their interests. Yeah, it's a really difficult time. If people are looking to stay informed

on this, right, coverage in the U.S. has been poor, like in the English language. Where would you suggest where can people follow your work and where would you suggest people, people look to stay informed on what's happening? Yeah, I personally don't post a lot. I'm just trying to gather information and like be up-the-date and then share it with other media that are asking me about and other journalists. But there are several pages that I can suggest. One of them is definitely our organization, Hengau Organization for Human Rights. I would also suggest to follow news channels like Rudolph, which they have been working really good on this war. It's a Kurdish TV channel based in Iraqi Kurdistan. I would also suggest to follow the social media pages belonging to the

Kurdish parties like KDPI or Komala, just like their official pages on Twitter or X, for example, they post a lot of really good information. I would also suggest, I think I also suggested in our last talk. There is this person called Vahit Online. He's an independent journalist and he has some really big platforms and he posts a lot of reliable information and videos about the locations and the things that are happening. And I would also suggest to follow some other journalists like Ali Jawan Mardi. He is the manager and supervisor of the Voice of America. He also, like he has several platforms and they post, he posts a lot of updated information about what's happening. But here's also something that I want to warn about. I would suggest people to not

really believe in what they see on TV channels or media like Iran International, Manato TV, BBC Persian, because all these media have turned into a platform to do the propaganda for the monarchists. And they have been posting a lot of fake news. news, a lot of AI generated content, and it's been really damaging the whole course of the, if I want to call it, revolution or the war or whatever, like that's happening inside Iran and Kurdistan. So yeah, these are the things that I can suggest so far. Yeah, there's a great suggestion.

Thank you. Well, thank you very much for joining us today. We'll get this out as soon as possible because I know people are very interested to know more about it. Thanks, Gaudy. Yeah, thanks for inviting me. Until next time. It Could Happen here is a production of Cool Zone Media.

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