Judging Freedom - Prof. Mohammad Marandi : FROM TEHRAN: Should Iran Trust Trump?

Episode Date: May 28, 2026

Prof. Mohammad Marandi : FROM TEHRAN: Should Iran Trust Trump?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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What if freedom's greatest hour of danger is now? Hi, everyone, Judge Andrew Napolitano here for judging freedom. Today is Thursday, May 28, 2006. My dear friend, Professor Muhammad Mirandi, joins us from Tehran, Iran, for his weekly chat. Muhammad, a pleasure, my dear friend. Thank you, as always, for taking the time and having the courage to chat with us. Thank you, Judge. Thank you very much for inviting me.

Of course. Before we get to specifics, and there is some breaking news and light of allegations made by President Trump yesterday, life in Tehran today. What's it like? Sorry, Judge. Can you hear me now? Okay, yes. Life in Tehran today. What is it like, Muhammad? It's normal.

School is, the school year is almost over. And my universities are going to be in person from this week. The economy is, of course, difficult. People are waiting to see what is going to happen with the United States. And but we heard about the clashes last night. People still go on the streets at night in support of the armed forces and the state institutions.

Nothing really big. President Trump said yesterday, in a nationally televised, cabinet meeting that Iran is suffering from inflation at a rate of 250% and that its economy was in freefall. Now, when President Trump says things like that, most people assume he's exaggerating. Is this an exaggeration? And if so, is there inflation and what is the rough number? And is the economy in free fall? It's definitely not 250%. And it's not. It's not. And it's not. in free fall but there is high inflation i don't know what the rate of inflation is but it must be

pretty high nothing near those numbers and the government the economy is not in free fall either but i'm sure uh the economy has contracted since the war began but it's stable but the point really is judged that the iranians believe that they can outlast trump easily they believe that the economic crisis that Trump has unleashed upon the world will start hitting the United States very hard in June and in July to become really unbearable for Americans. And the Iranians believe that they can wait because ordinary Iranians know that this was imposed upon them. That gives them an extra sense of resilience and,

And resistance is heightened as a result. And as I've said before, resistance is a part of Iran's religious culture. It's very strong among Iranians. And that's what's helped Iran survive the last 47 years, or this would help the resistance in Lebanon survive 47 years. I think that the Iranians feel that they'll just, If Trump attacks, they will be able to repeat what happened during the 39 days of fighting. And if the siege war warfare continues, Iran will be able to outlast Trump there as well.

Can ordinary Iranians buy enough food to feed their families, buy enough fuel to power their cars and either heat or air condition their homes, or have they had to impose some sort of self-rassioning? Well, inflation is high with regards to many things, but there are a couple of things that are actually very cheap. Gasoline, and I don't want to give anyone a heart attack in the United States, but gasoline is about one cent a liter. That's like four cents. One penny a liter? Yes, that's the price of gasoline in Iran. Let's say five cents a gallon. Wow.

So no one is going to have a problem buying gasoline. Electricity in Iran is also very heavily subsidized and like gasoline. So these are not the costs that are going to hurt ordinary Iranians in a big way. What does hurt is inflation for food. But of course, because gasoline and energy is so cheap, even that inflation is... All right. It seems like... There we go.

Yes, sorry. Sorry about that. No, it's not your fault. Okay, I get the picture on inflation. The president's exaggerations are gross, of course. But he says these things for a political purpose. Are negotiations ongoing between... the United States and Iran either directly or through the Pakistanis?

Not directly, but through the Pakistanis, there were negotiations. And a few days ago, as we all know, we were close to an agreement, although there's always been a lot of skepticism, because the Iranians knew that as soon as we'd get close, the Zionists would do whatever possible to wreck the agreement. And that seems to be a lot of skepticism. And that seems, to be exactly what happened after it became clear that Trump would be forced to give significant concessions the backlash in the United States and then Israel began. The Israelis again began carpet bombing Lebanon like they did after the end of the first ceasefire when the first ceasefire was announced in order to wreck that ceasefire.

And again, they're doing it to wreck any agreement. So after Trump's statements yesterday, I think that the chances for an agreement anytime soon are very, very small. I want to go back to gasoline because apparently when you told us what it costs in American money and American denomination, that is, gallons instead of leaders, we had the internet glitch. So what does gasoline cost today in Tehran? in American money and buy gallons?

It would be something between five cents a gallon. And if you want more than a certain amount per month, it would be about 10 cents a gallon. I mean, this is just unimaginable to Americans, five or 10 cents a gallon. Is this what it normally has been, or has this changed since the onset of the war in February? No, this is how it's always been.

And electricity is also heavily subsidized in Iran. These are not necessarily good policies. I mean, many believe that, as including myself, that these subsidies should be removed and then given directly to the lower classes. Because a lot of very wealthy people benefit from these very low prices. But in any case... We keep losing you, Muhammad. Okay, everyone has access. All right.

You back with us, Muhammad? Can I change my connection to see if he'll get any better? I'm sorry for... Sure, go ahead. Change your connection as quickly as you can, and I will talk while you're changing the connection. So we're speaking with Professor Muhammad Mirandi from Tehran, and obviously we're having some difficulty with the Internet connection.

There you are. You back? my dear friend. This is a different connection. I hope it's better, and I apologize to everyone. Oh, you don't have to apologize at all. Why did the chief Pakistani mediator, if you know, who's the head of the army, the field marshal, I forget his name, feel the need to fly to Beijing and report to President Xi of China

on the status of the negotiations? I think it's a sign of the times, Judge. It's, it's, you know, when you look at Trump's trip to Beijing and the body language, Trump's praise for President Xi and President Xi's, the lack of any similar response, I think it all indicated and was clear to the world that the United States is in decline and China's on the rise. And the Pakistanis have a very close relationship with China. And as China rises, I think that the leadership in Pakistan want to be in very close contact with them with regards to anything that has to do with the United States. Tell me what you think of this. It's one of the wilder and crazier things that President Trump has said. recently in which he threatened to destroy an American ally. Chris cut number two.

The straight's going to be open to everybody. It's international waters. Nobody's going to control it. We're going to watch over it. We'll watch over it, but nobody's going to control it. That's part of the negotiation that we have. They would like to control it. Nobody's going to control it's international waters and Oman will behave just like everybody else or we'll have to blow them up. They understand that. They'll be fine. How would the people in Oman react when the president says they'll behave like everybody else or we'll have to blow them up? I can't remember an American president in the modern era threatening to destroy an American ally. I'm sure they're not very happy, but I feel sorry for them because it's not really in Oman's hands.

This is an Iranian decision. These are not international waters, by the way. These are not even international waters. by American standards. By American standards, it's 12 and a half miles out. Exactly. So this is the territorial waters between Iran and Oman. And the Iranians are telling the Omanis that, look, we're going to do this,

whether you like it or not. And the Omanis are saying, yeah, sure, whatever you say. So they're not actively involved, but they're not going to do anything against Iran. And it's, of course, to their benefit. So they'll just step back and reap the benefits, but they're not going, they don't have to do anything for the America, for Trump to blow them up or not to blow them up. But I just think that this is another indication of how the United States is collapsing as the empire, because the U.S. president is basically lashing out at everyone and threatening these countries in the Persian Gulf,

the other five countries, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait, the saying in Turkey that you have to join the United. the Abraham Accords, you know, basically dictating terms, this is all going to cause a create incentive for countries to tilt away from the United States. Even though these countries are U.S. proxies and they are very obedient to the United States, but it does have an impact. And the world is changing much more swiftly than what we saw before. Will Iran accept any deal with the United States that fails adequately to restrain Israel, to prevent it from genocide in Gaza, conquering the West Bank, invading and conquering Lebanon? Not a chance in the world. No. The Iranians will rather have no deal. And the judge, A lot of Iranians don't even want to deal.

The Iranians are negotiating, but there are lots of people who say, we don't need a deal. Let's wait them out. Let's wait until the economic catastrophe hits the U.S., and then we will negotiate under different circumstances. Everyone knows that it's going to get more difficult for Iran, too. There's no doubt about that. But they are very confident that time is not on the side of Trump, for a host of different reasons. So even as Iran is negotiating, and we saw Trump basically wrecked the agreement yesterday, there's no sense of urgency here.

Many are happy, and the others say, well, we tried. But Iran is not going to give any extra concessions. The belief here is that as time goes by, Trump will have to give. more concessions. If Trump brings the American military home, what will the Israelis do? Judge, the Israeli regime, the only reason why it can carry out genocide is because of Western support and in particular U.S. support, whether it's Gaza, whether it's Lebanon. And what is happening to the global economy and the U.S. economy in particular is devastating.

And I think we don't appreciate really what's happening, most people, including myself. Economists, those in the know, are saying that right now the inflation that we see is just the symptom. And the reality is something much, much worse. And it's already hitting Africa and Latin America in Asian countries which are more vulnerable and which do not have strategic reserves. But U.S. strategic reserves, European strategic reserves, they're all running out. And when they finish, then it's going to be catastrophic. So the United States ultimately, whether it likes it or not, whether it stays or whether it retreats, it is going to be in roughly. relative terms of diminished power.

The empire is going to be diminished. I'm not saying the United States is going to fall apart or the United States is going to be a third world country. But in relative terms, it's going to be – Iran, on the other hand, its control over the straight of Homo's is a game changer. And I think Trump and Netanyahu, if they knew what they had done, they would. would jump off of a cliff. They'd jump off a clip for what they've done. I don't think they quite understand the way in which the balance of power has shifted.

So the Israeli regime, which is completely bound to the West, completely dependent on the United States, even though it has enormous influence over the United States, but it is completely bound to it and independent on it. So as the United States diminishes and as Iran rises, that means Iran's allies are on the rise, And that means the Israeli regime, it diminishes too. And there's also another factor.

One is that the world now despises the regime for the genocide, the ongoing genocide. And also the world is going to blame Netanyahu Zionism, Trump, for the economic catastrophe. So the support that the regime gets is going to be diminished. The world hates the regime. This is not good for Israel at all. I think, I believe that this is the beginning of the end. Now, I'm not speaking in days or weeks or months or even like two, three, four years. But I think that the Zionist project has been fatally wounded.

Is Iran militarily stronger today, May 28, than it was when the war started on February 28? No doubt. militarily, Iran is significantly stronger today than it was three months ago. Economically speaking, it is significantly weaker than what it was three months ago. But that's not that important. The Iranians know that they can manage. But if the United States chooses to launch another war, it's going to end much worse than last time round.

And this time round also, Iran's allies are going to escalate very swiftly. The Red Sea is going to be a no-go zone. And that will crash global economies. One thing, Judge, that I should add here, and that is that the Iranians do not actually want the price of oil right now to go up. They like it where it is. Trump keeps talking down the price of oil. And but Iran does not want demand destruction, a term that I recently learned.

I didn't put it. So Iran does not want demand destruction. So the more Trump manipulates and the more strategic reserves that are being spent, that's better for Iran. Because Iran knows that the as demand continues to remain high, and as the US is spending all its reserves, that is going to make it much more vulnerable, more swiftly to Iran. And since Iran isn't exporting all that much oil as we speak, because of the siege, on the Persian Gulf, the lower prices, even though the prices that we see are not the real prices,

the real prices are like $130, $14040 per barrel, no less as we speak. But in any case, the Iranians are satisfied. They do not want to see at this stage demand to be reduced. Last question. Do the Iranians trust President Trump? They trust him to be the most effective person to destroy the U.S. Empire. And the Iranians believe that Netanyahu and Trump are actually doing wonders to destroy the image of Zionism and to expose it for what it really is. And, you know, Judge, for 47 years,

this is something that I know personally quite well. Iran has always been antagonized. Across the world, the Western narratives have through books, through media, through movies, through television. Iran has been demonized. And people have always, wherever I've gone, had many questions about Iran. But Trump and Netanyahu, especially during the last, during this period of genocide in Gaza, and as the world saw that Iran was the only major player that stood up for the Palestinians, and Iran stood up to the Americans and Israelis during the 12-day war and the 39-day war, and they saw how the Iranian people were, you know, with the government, with the state, contrary to Western media narratives, Iran's image across the world has evolved dramatically.

And so Trump has and Netanyahu succeeded in exposing Zionism for what it is. And they've changed the way in which the world sees Iran. I once introduced a book to you on your show, Going to Tehran by Flint and Hylia Lever. I really advise people to read that alongside Alasor Crook's book, Resistance, to get a better idea of the reality of Iran. I think now is the time for people to better understand Iran, because I think in the years ahead, Iran is going to be a much more important player and actor on the world stage.

And I think that ordinary Americans, if they begin to better understand the country, in future, post-Trump, post- Netanyahu, I think there will hopefully be opportunities for the two people to move closer to each other. Professor Muhammad Miranda, always a pleasure. Thank you for your courage and your intellectual honesty, my dear friend. Be well. We'll talk to you again soon. Thank you, Judge. Thank you for your courage, your intellectual honesty, and God be with you.

Thank you. Coming up later today at 9.15 this morning, the Golden Boy, about 45 minutes from now, if you're watching us live, Max Blumenthal, at 11 this morning. Pepe Escobar at 2.15 this afternoon. Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson and the cleanup hitter at three o'clock, Colonel Douglas McGregor. Judge Napolitano for judging freedom.