Judging Freedom - Prof. Mohammad Marandi : Trump Threatens War Crimes; Iran Ready for Him

Episode Date: July 23, 2026

Prof. Mohammad Marandi : Trump Threatens War Crimes; Iran Ready for HimSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Undeclared wars are commonplace. Pragically, our government engages in preemptive war, otherwise known as aggression, with no complaints from the American people. Sadly, we have become accustomed to living with the illegitimate use of force by government. To develop a truly free society, the issue of initiating force must be understood and rejected. What if sometimes to love your country you had to alter or abolish the government? the government? What if Jefferson was right? What if that government is best, which governs least? What if it is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong? What if it is better to perish fighting for freedom than to live as a slave? What if freedom's greatest hour of danger is now?

Hi, everyone. Judge Andrew Napolitano here for judging freedom. Today is Thursday, July 23rd, 2006, my dear friend Professor Muhammad Mirandi joins us from Tehran, Iran. Professor Mirandi, a pleasure, no matter how hard the times are. It's a pleasure to chat with you. Are the Americans targeting civilian structures in and around Tehran again? Well, thank you for inviting me, Judge. It's always a pleasure being on your show. I missed your show during the last couple of weeks. Not Tehran. Actually, I'm a bit surprised because Sentcom claimed that they bombed a couple of places around Tehran,

but I have not heard anyone say anything about any airstrikes here. There was a drone that was down a couple of nights ago at like 4 a.m. or so, and I woke up with the A.R.craft fire. but there were no airstrikes. But there have been strikes on different areas last night. Unfortunately, the United States bombed the border between Iran and Iraq and murder to pilgrims. I don't know why they did that. I just going to ask you what, what conceivable military purpose is served by bombing that border and killing pilgrims?

I don't know. And there were lots of people when you look at the... the footage because right now we are near what is called Arbaeen. It is the 40th day after the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Holy Prophet, and where he fought in Karbalah against the oppressor of his era on behalf of and on behalf of the oppressed. And as you know, in Islam and in particular Shia Islam, he is revered. And the Iran biggest event of the year is the anniversary of his march with them and then the 40th day after is also a big occasion where people go to Iraq and so there are lots of crowds on the border when this airstrike took place but in my opinion a lot

of what the united states is doing is is meaningless over over the last 12 days what does iran think well let me restate that uh mohammed what does the government think the government think the purpose of these bombings is? I don't know. I'm not sure there is a unified view of what the Americans are up to. I think the very fact that there isn't a unified view probably indicates that Americans really don't know what they're doing. I don't think they have a strategy.

Probably at the very beginning, they believe their own propaganda that Iran is, is a house of cards and that the regime is unpopular as they say and that it's about to implode and it's corrupt and people would cheer on the Americans if they came in and installed a puppet. And of course, that was completely wrong and it was the exact opposite. And so since then, I think the Trump and his people have just been trying to throw things at Iran in the hope that something will will happen in Tehran. But it's going to fail. And right now, the price of oil is going up very rapidly. We've seen the war expand to the Red Sea. Foolishly, the Saudis went and bombed San Ah International Airport in Yemen as an Iranian passenger plane was

about to land, enraging Iran, and of course carrying out an active war against Yemen. So that gave the Yemenis an excuse to enter the fray and to demand the lifting of the siege that has been imposed on the country for years. So the Americans have already fought a war against Yemen. They failed. They're fighting a war against Iran and they're failing. And now they want to do what, to fight against Iran and Yemen together? Because from what I'm hearing, from what I've heard, the United States pushed the Saudis to bomb the international airport in San Ah in Yemen. Crazy. I'm going to play a clip from Secretary Rubio yesterday.

There are many clips like this, but this is an example of what American officials are saying about the current state of affairs. Chris, cut number 12. I think, you know, guys, I saw Arachi, their foreign minister, who the other day, say or something about their policies, an eye for an eye. The president's policy is ahead for an eye. I mean, honestly, that's what it's going to be. I mean, they will pay a very heavy price for the things they're doing. They're already paying a very heavy price. You guys don't know it because you don't cover it. You're not in Iran. You're not in the street. They don't have a free media. But they're going to continue to pay a very heavy price. Their industrial base has been decimated.

Their defense industrial base has been decimated. They're losing launchers. They're losing radars every single night. Has the defense industrial base, which I guess means manufacturing, been decimated? Well, I mean, his anger aside, I think he needs to see a doctor. It's obvious that he's very angry. He also spoke about the Lego guys and how, you know, and then he said, I never watched them, but it was obviously he's been watching them. And he's very angry, I think, about the Lego videos. Sadly, no one gets angry about me, but the Lego guys are much more effective than people like me, I suppose. But not seriously. Conveying the truth, but effective it conveying the sense.

They are, I mean, you know, these are, this is the younger generation. And this is, you know, the U.S. government was always betting on younger people turning against the regime, as they love to call it. And this is what they get. But in any case. If you listen to Secretary Rubio, it sounds as though in his own mind, Iran started the war rather than the U.S. started the war. Of course. I mean, Hacks has said that we started the war 47 years ago. So, but, you know, Judge, the thing is that, okay, they've destroyed our industrial base.

Great. They've destroyed our military industrial base. Fantastic. then why are all these missiles and drones still flying across the Persian Gulf striking U.S. assets and Jordan and Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and everywhere else and it's all nonstop? Either the Iranians have, you know, they're just, they have something up their sleeves. They have their real industrial base is untouched or the Iranians are getting it from somewhere. But there's no other way to describe the current situation. The Iranians are hitting U.S. forces very hard.

And from my understanding, the Iranians are hitting harder than the United States is hitting Iran. But there's no accountability for these people. I mean, if you go back to the footage during the first couple of days of the war, the first week or two of the war, they were saying they've destroyed this, they've destroyed their bases, they've destroyed the underground bases. There are no more missiles left. there are no more drones left. They're running out of ammunition. And it's been almost five months now, I guess. And we still see them, Iranians, firing all these drones and missiles 24 hours a day. You mentioned Secretary Heggseth. Now, this clip is on the long side, but it shows him at its worst. It also shows a very patient, very articulate, very young Senator John Assov, patient. trying to get the truth at Epistopete.

But you'll see the American government's attitude in the wrote one-liners that the Secretary of Defense of calls himself the Secretary of War continues to repeat under oath. Chris, cut number nine. On day 14 of this conflict, Mr. Secretary, day 14, nearly five months ago, you stated that Iran's military had been, quote, destroyed and, quote, made combat in. effective that was on day 14 of the war. Was that an accurate statement? They didn't have a Navy any longer. It was completely sunk. Their missiles were buried underneath a lot of their underground facilities and their defense industrial base has been

almost completely destroyed. On day 14 of this conflict in the second week of the conflict, you stated that Iran's military had been, quote, destroyed and, quote, made combat ineffective. Was that an accurate statement? Yes or no? Iran's ability to challenge the United States of America at the level of which we're capable of. That's not what I asked you, Mr. Secretary. You said on day 14 Iran's military had been, quote, destroyed and, quote, made combat ineffective. Yes or no, was that an accurate statement? What the American military has done to the Iranian military is a historic military defeat.

And they're ineffective in that context. Three weeks after you'd already said Iran's military was destroyed and combat ineffective, You said, quote, Operation Epic Fury was a historic and overwhelming victory. You said Iran's military had been rendered, quote, combat ineffective for years to come. And you stated, we had, quote, achieved every single objective. Were those accurate statements? It certainly was on behalf of the men and women in uniform a historic military victory over Iran. Mr. Secretary, you stated four months ago that Iran's military had been rendered, quote, combat ineffective military.

for years to come. Has Iran's military been for the last four months combat ineffective? It's been set back not just years, but likely decades. Mr. Secretary, you stated we had, quote, achieved every single objective. Was that an accurate statement four months ago? The main objective of this was to ensure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon. Early in the conflict on day three, Mr. Secretary, early in the conflict, day three, you said one of those core objectives was to, quote, destroy the missile threat. And as as you restated on day five, to quote, obliterate Iran's missiles and drones.

Those were clearly and repeatedly stated core objectives of the campaign, which four months ago you declared had been completed victoriously with every single objective achieved. Were those objectives achieved four months ago? No one ever stated that every single missile was gone. You stated on March 8th, day nine of the war on 60 minutes, you assured the American people of Iranians surrender. Does that remain your prediction?

Ultimately, Iran will never have a nuclear weapon to threaten the United States of America. That has been the objective, and it remains so. So just to review, you will not answer whether your statement made on the 14th day of the war that Iran's military had been, quote, destroyed and made combat ineffective was a truthful statement to the American people as you sit here and ask for 10 civilians more for the conflict. The senator's time has... That's historic and effective military campaign against the largest state sponsor of Just to get to his last statement, the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world is the United States of America.

But anyway, what did you think about all that? Come on, Judge. I mean, that was our position. You're trying to erode our status as the number one state sponsor of terrorism, and I really feel offended. You can have second place, but first place is ours. Please. I mean, come on. I mean, but this is almost absurd the administration's lack of intellectual honesty.

Well, you know, Judge, the thing is that these people, what actually surprises me more. But let me just stop you for a second. This is the Lego little Marco. But go ahead. You can continue answering. Yeah, this is my competition, Judge. I can't beat them. I want to be like the guy who Marco Rubio attacks,

but these are the guy he gets angry with. I don't know what to do. But their stuff is really good. Max, Max, you're our mutual friend. He did an interview with a young man who runs this organization, this company that does these legions. Anyway, what surprises, yeah, just one thing is, what surprises me most is not the ineffectiveness of the U.S. armed forces against Iran.

What surprises me is their lack of intelligence, because if, you know, they thought Iran would collapse last year in the 12th day war, then they thought Iran would collapse in this 40 days of hot war, the Ramadan war, and they thought Iran's military. missiles and drones were would finish. I mean, that's what they were saying, and it didn't happen. So either they were lying or they really don't have intelligence. And I personally think that probably they don't have intelligence.

And I think that says a lot. It says, you know, because they also, I know that when the Israeli regime went and told them, look, if we launched this war, it'll be over in two days, let's murder the leader. and it will be finished. And a lot of people apparently from the reporting didn't believe it. But the narrative in the think tank, in think tank land and the narrative in the wheat media, whether it's Fox News or CNN or, I mean, the journalist, the Western Journalists, the legacy media journalists that I've been dealing for years, that's what they've

been effectively saying all these years. It's not as if what Netanyahu and his Musad chief. were saying was like some obscure opinion. Whenever these journalists would talk to me, they'd say your regime is unpopular. If they wanted to insult me, they'd call me a mouthpiece or something like that. But at the end of the day,

it was that Iran cannot last. Iran is going to fall. Iran, you know, this regime will not be around for very long. I remember a well-known American journalist in 2009 said that you're the mouthpiece, of a dying regime. It was Farid Zakarian, CNN. Well, I mean, it's been a pretty long death.

I mean, you know, so it's not, you know, I think they really don't get it. They believe their own propaganda, and I guess the intelligence agencies, to a degree, also think that if they don't think it's absolutely correct, they sort of believe that, yeah, Russ, more or less, this regime, as they love to call it, it can't last. Are negotiations going on between the United States and Iran through the Pakistanis, or is that completely shut down?

No. Right now, the Iranians are not interested at all. They have said that the Americans have to act. And ultimately, when the Americans come back to the negotiating table, the Iranian demands are going to be more than what we saw in the MOU. It's going to have to include Yemen. No doubt the siege on Yemen will have to come to an end. The siege on Yemen is just as barbaric as the siege on Gaza almost. I won't say just as much. What they did to Gaza is unprecedented in world history because it was done in front of cameras. But the siege on Yemen was and continues to be barbaric.

And the Iranians will make sure that Yemen comes out of this, and the people of Yemen come out of this in a better position. I'm sure that the Iranians are going to be tougher on Gaza too, on the issue of Gaza. So at the moment they're not interested. Are the Pakistanis attempting to regenerate negotiations? In other words, do the Pakistanis speak to foreign? Minister Arachi, do they, as far as you know, speak to Whitkoff, Kushner, Vance? I'm sure they do. And I've actually spoken to someone pretty high up yesterday.

And he told me that he should be speaking with them. Our position is clear. Our demands are clear. We have nothing to say. And we will continue with this war. If the Americans want this to end, they know what to do. So, you know, it's not just a Pakistanis, a number of other countries are trying to do something because they know that if this war continues and if Trump carries out his threats, then we're going to have a global economic depression. Here's a truth social post from President Trump two days ago. I'll read it aloud. From this point forward, time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship, not hits, shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, whether it be missile, rocket, drone, or any other device or weapon.

The United States will bomb and destroy, now in caps, one bridge or power plant, now back to regular print, including those located next to or in the capital city of Tehran. Thank you for your attention to this matter, President Donald J. Trump. Has he been carrying this out? Not yet. Last, this was from yesterday and last night Iran did hit another ship in the Strait of Hormos. Iran has said that ships that do not get permission from the authority that governs the Strait of Hormos, they will be punished. So last night the Americans and the Saudis, the Emirates, the Bahrainis, all of these countries are cooperating with Americans. They tried to get three ships through. Iran struck one and the other two retreated.

The Iranians have said very clearly, in accordance with the MOU, the only way for ships to come and go is through the Iranian designated corridor. And the Iranians have been warning the Americans and during the MOU, during the period when the MOU was supposed to be functioning, but the Americans ignored it. So so far we haven't seen the American, that Trump carry out his threat. But the Iranians have said, I mean, the Iranians have made multiple statements since yesterday, since this tweet, since this truth social post, and that if the United States does this, then the Iranians are going to strike very hard at critical infrastructure across the Persian Gulf

region because all of those countries are partners in crime against the Iranian people. Chris has put up on the screen. I won't bother reading it. It's too long, but anybody can look it up. 0.5 of the MOU, which makes it very clear that Iran's control is in charge of the street. This is a document signed by President Trump at the Palace of Versailles in Paris. What do the Iranians think of Trump's signature on a document? Worthless.

And they were expecting this judge. And I think you and I and others were probably all of us. were expecting this to happen. From day one, he refrained from abiding by his commitments, except for lifting the siege, and that was only because he wanted the oil to flow. Because he was saying there's only four weeks left. Except for that, he violated all of his commitments. He did not release Iran stolen funds. He did not force the Israeli regime to leave Lebanon and respect Lebanese sovereignty. He continued to threaten Iranian leaders, and the Iranian people, another violation of the deal.

He expanded the sanctions regime. That was another violation. He, after just a few days of lifting the sanctions on the Iranian oil exports, he reimposed those sanctions, yet another violation. And then this Article 5, which you posted, that is another violation. And then when the Iranians, after a lot of patience, I mean, for a couple of weeks, the Iranians did more or less nothing. And then they threatened to punish those ships.

But the Saudis and Americans and the Marathis and the Kuwaitis insisted. So Iran struck them in accordance with Article 5. And then the Americans bombed Iran another violation, and they reimposed the siege. And thanks to reimposing the siege, now oil on paper is $100 a barrel. It's gone almost $20 up in the last few days. In the two weeks that I was off, gasoline in northwest New Jersey went up a dollar a gallon. I've never seen it go up that much in that short period of time. It went from, now, these numbers are ridiculous, 3-999, effectively $4 a gallon to $4.99, $9.99, $5 a gallon in two weeks.

You don't want me to tell you the price of gasoline in Iran. I do. What is it? I think it's something like a cent a liter. It's like a cent and a half a liter. So that would be like five, six cents a gallon. Wow. Wow. Last question before we.

I didn't mean, I didn't want to be mean about it, Judge. No, you're not being mean. You're letting us understand what's going on. Tell that to Marco Rubio. He makes it sound like there are gas lines miles long in Tehran. Yesterday, the radical fanatic, one of several, members of Prime Minister Netanyahu's cabinet, Belizier Smotrich, made a public statement that Israel is happy to have the U.S. do its bombing and killing for it. Is that true, or might there be another reason behind this, might the Israelis be so dangerously low on fuel?

that they can't do the bombing and killing they want the U.S. to do? Well, I don't know if they're short on fuel. Unfortunately, Turkey and the Republic of Azerbaijan provide them with most of the fuel, the oil at least that they need. But I'm sure that they are in lots of trouble. I mean, first of all, the Iranians are destroying all the radar systems in the Persian Gulf region, in Jordan, in Western Saudi Arabia. in northern Iraq.

So in future, it will be much easier for Iran to fire, to hit the Israeli regime with missiles, but also with drones. And so what is happening now? I mean, Iran is focusing on the Strait of Hormoz because the battle is over the Strait of Hormoz. But the Iranians also, they know that the internal situation in the regime is very, very unstable. And some are saying it can lead to internal strife, meaning civil war of sorts. I don't know personally, I'm not an expert, but when I read the material from Conflicts Forum, the translations of the Hebrew media does seem very bad. And so the Iranians right now, they don't, they want just the Israeli regime,

they're infighting to continue until the elections. And if Iran strikes the Israeli regime now, they will, it could change the dynamics of the internal situation. So the Iranians think that, well, why they're at each other's throats? them continue. But if the Israeli regime strikes Iran, then Iran will hit back very hard. And that will probably be very bad for Netanyahu, because the Iranians have said that they will strike much harder this time round than last time. Here's the Ayatollah. Now that the American enemy is seeking to escalate the conflict

thereby incurring even heavier costs and further humiliation, it should know that the noble nation of Iran and the resistance front have unforgettable left. in store for it. Key phrase in my view and the resistance front, Muhammad. Well, Judge Yemen is already putting pressure on the Saudis. They've hit two tankers in the Red Sea. And Judge, the resistance in Iraq, which people are not talking about that much, they, from what I've been told by informed people, their numbers are greater than Hezbollah and all of its reserves. reserves and that's like well over 100,000 people and so and they are very well armed they're not surrounded if the Iraqi resistance enters the battle if Yemen

fully enters the battle who's going to stand up against this axis I mean is Kuwait going to stand up against them is Saudi Arabia I mean the Saudis are completely dependent on their oil now that they can export from the Red Sea of the Persian Gulf, you know, what are they going to do? It's a desert. And the same is true with these other regimes. And if Iran just strikes there, if the United States carries out these threats and Iran retaliates, these regimes will all collapse. So the United States is creating a situation, which is going to bring about a catastrophic defeat for it. So in my opinion, things are going to go downhill. But if Trump acts, if Trump does what he's threatening to

do, I think the collapse will be very swift. But at the end of the day, the Iranians and the axis of resistance, they are the dominant power in West Asia. Chris, can you put that back up? This is the Washington Post poll from last week. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Trump is handling Iran? Approve 29%. By the way, I don't know anybody among the 29, but I'm going to accept that this is accurate. Disapproved 69%. I mean, these numbers are. Nixonian in their depth, their strength of disapproval. Wow. Muhammad, we'll let you go. Thank you very much. I'm happy you're well and your family as well. And thank you for all the information you give us. Be safe, be well. And we'll look forward to

seeing you next week, my dear friend. God be with you, Judge. Thank you for having me. And also with you. Thank you. Coming up later today, if you're watching us live in 30 minutes from Sweden, Professor Glenn Beeson. And this afternoon at 2 o'clock Eastern, Colonel Larry Wilkerson, at 3 o'clock Eastern Colonel Douglas McGregor, Judge Lepa for Judging Freedom.