The Duran Podcast - US and Iran prepare for war as talks continue (Live)

Episode Date: February 19, 2026

US and Iran prepare for war as talks continue (Live)

All right. We are alive with Alexander Bickers in London. Sorry for the delay, everybody, but we're here. We're here and we are alive. Alexander, how are you doing? I'm doing very well. I say that. Of course, the news is getting darker all the time. We have probable war in the Middle East. I saw Axios, somebody said to Axios that it's 90% certain now. I think it's 100% certain. So over the next couple of days, we're going to have a war, another war in the Middle East from the president who assured us that he would never provide, never lead the United States into another big war in the Middle East. It took him a year to go back on his promise. Yeah. The Wall Street Journal is saying it's going to be a week plus operation.

And as we have been saying on this channel for a while now, it's going to be Trump's typical M.O. of decapitation strikes, trying to take out the leadership to trigger a regime change. Absolutely. He's going to try to collapse the government, but it's going to be a big operation, a big air strike operation to try and take out all of the leadership. Yes. Whatever that means. I don't even know how they do that or what that means. Well, indeed. Well, indeed, exactly. I mean, what does it mean, exactly? I don't know. I mean, kill everybody, basically, who is in the government. I mean, that seems to be the only way to achieve that.

Seems to be what it is, but I mean, you know, no one expected the Maduro thing, so who knows? Maybe they have some tricks up there. Well, indeed. Exactly, right. That's possible. That is the thing none of us really knows. Yeah.

Will he do it this weekend or will he do it next weekend? The State of the Union is on the 24th. I was thinking about that. Will he want to start the conflict and then give the State of the Union? Or will he want to give the State of the Union and then start the conflict? I was also thinking that he's going to be starting this war during, well, during the Basca period, but more importantly, during Ramadan as well,

that's not going to play well. I wonder whether he realizes that, whether anybody has pointed that out to him. We're pointing it out to him. Is he watching? Is the Trump team watching? You're going to be doing all of this during not only Basca, but during Ramadan,

that's going to be very bad. It is going to be extremely bad. And on top of that, well, the other big question about starting this, there's still one aircraft carrier short. It's still steaming towards the Arabian Sea. So it may be that he will wait until it arrives. But I don't know. And, you know, with Trump, nothing is ever certain. You could decide to go now.

You could decide to go later. but I'm going to be coming back to what you said about Ramadan and Pasca Easter. I don't think he thinks about these things. I think he even cares and I don't know and I don't think anybody around him is discussing it or pointing it out to him or pointing out what it means in this particular part of the world, the Middle East. And by the way, the Eastern Mediterranean world too. Yeah.

The other big news for today, Alexander, did you see that? Andrew. Andrew of Mountain Mountain. Mountbatten. Let's call it back, whatever his name is. Mountbatten, Windsor. I mean, I don't, I don't.

Let's just call him Andrew. Let's just call him Andrew. The reason they arrested. Is that his last name? Mountbatten Windsor. That's his last name? It's his last name. He was born with that last name?

Yes, yes. The official name of the royal family of Britain is Windsor. Before they became Windsors, they were, I believe, Mountbatten's or, it was something like that. I mean, whatever. But then they changed their name during the First World War to make it sound less German. Because it was originally a German name. Really? Yeah, absolutely.

So they changed it to Windsor. We have this very complicated name now. But let's just call him Andrew, because even I find it awkward. it. They've now taken in the British media to calling him the former Prince, Andrew. The artist formerly known as Prince? The artist formerly known as Prince. Anyway, he's now the Prince formerly known as, well, Andrew formerly known as Prince, whatever. But anyway, he is now, I just call him Andrew. I mean, everybody knows who that is. And it's misconduct of public office again.

Peter Mandelson, who by the way has not yet been arrested, not that I'm aware of, but Peter Mandelson is being investigated for that identical offense, that identical crime, because he gave top secret privileged information out of the government to Epstein and to other people. And it looks as if Andrew was doing the same thing. Is that true? The real name is Saxicober? Zach Goldberg, that's right, Zach Skolberg. Mountbatten is apparently some kind of a translation

of the original meaning of Zakskjord. The Zaks Goldberg Gauter, to be precise, very German. So the reason they got that name was because Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert, was Saks Gawberg Gauter. So she took his surname. So anyway, then, as I said, it was anglicized to Mountbatten, and that wasn't English enough. So they decided to go all the way and make it, and make it Windsor as well. But anyway, we've got this very clunky,

double-barreled name, which is Mountbatten, Windsor. I've never heard anybody use it. And I should say, referring to him by that name is almost insulting. So I just prefer to say Andrew to be on this. We don't want to insult Andrew, too. No, of course not. We absolutely not. Well, man. What happens to him now? I mean, is he, I mean, is he arrested? Is he just being investigated? I mean, is he in prison or what, how do you deal with the arrest of these elites? Well, indeed, good question. I mean, as far as I like to call them elites, but what else were you going to call them? I mean, arrested, arrested is not the same as charged. Charged is when the authorities actually bring. a case against you. So they've arrested him and they are conducting an investigation against him.

Now here I'm going to say something. Arresting him is an incredibly aggressive step because usually nowadays the police don't go out of their way immediately to arrest someone unless they think that they're likely to run away. What they mostly do is they invite you into an interview. And if they'd invited Andrew to an interview, presumably he would have gone. I mean, why wouldn't he?

So going out of the way to arrest him and to search his houses in the way that has been done is an extremely aggressive step and it's clearly intended to, you know, make big news in the media. it's arguably unnecessary. And his lawyers might have something to say about that.

Okay. So we have Iran. We have Andrew. Do you believe the Cuba story with Rubio, that Rubio's engaged in some sort of talks with the leadership in Cuba? You know, it's been vigorously denied, both by the media in the U.S. and by the media in Cuba.

I'm sure that it's true. I'm sure that there are. between the Cubans and the Americans. I mean, it would be extremely strange if there wasn't. Whether this individual, Rao Castro's son, is acting, as has been suggested, you know, on his own, that I don't believe. I am sure he's still in contact with his father

and he's acting as an unofficial representative of the Cuban government. But, I mean, clearly the Cuban's not. are still trying to cut a deal with Trump. And with Ruby, I mean, you know, notice, I mean, it's really Rubio here. Rubio is running this whole operation, just as Ruby ran the Venezuela operation. And so I'm sure that these discussions are taking place. Officially, of course, the Cubans are still looking for other friends. Their foreign minister was in Moscow yesterday.

He met with Putin there, which is unusual. Usually Putin doesn't meet a foreign minister. he usually just only meets, you know, an incoming head of state or prime minister or something of that kind. But this time he met the foreign minister of Cuba. He gave support to Cuba. The Russians have said they want to send oil to Cuba. The Chinese are apparently sending solar panels and rice to Cuba. I still get the sense overall that the Cubans, even though they're talking about these things,

aren't really very enthusiastic about getting help from China or Russia. still want to cut the deal with the United States. And whether or not that's a wise policy, I'm not sure, not because it doesn't make sense for Cuba to have good relations with the United States. But I just don't think they fully realize how utterly implacable these people in Washington now. I mean, this is not an administration, or at least let's say, let's put like this, Marco Rubio is not someone who takes president. So I'm not sure what they think that they're going to achieve through this negotiation. But I'm pretty sure they are negotiating.

And I'm sorry to say this, because I think it's a mistake. I think this is the real dialogue that's taking place, not the one that the Cubans are conducting through Moscow. They're going through the motions of talking to the Russians and to the Chinese, but I think it is the one with the Americans that they're really interested in. Well, I imagine the demands of the United States are going to be the same as the demands of Maduro. Yeah, absolutely. Leave.

Go somewhere, go to China, go to Russia, the leadership of Cuba. And we're taking the island. I imagine it's going to be the same exact demands that they made of Matua. Exactly. The Castro family is. They must all leave and then probably, yes. Yeah. Okay, so we have those stories.

Buenos Aires from Puerto Rico. Buenos days to everybody. And we have Ukraine. The Geneva talks wrapped up. Medinsky went back to the hotel to meet with Omerdof and the other, David. Arrhan.

Behind closed doors, allegedly no American delegates were at this meeting. What do you think that was about? That was extremely interesting. Now, I'm going to suggest that there's two things probably happened. They spoke for quite a long time, by the way, and they spoke in absolute private. The meeting itself, the public part of the meeting, was apparently a total debacle from the American and Ukrainian point of view. I mean, Medinsky came in, and he wasn't giving an inch on anything.

And apparently the Ukrainians were very, very upset about it. Now the big question is, who asked for this meeting? There are two possible reasons for this meeting. Reason one, the Ukrainian delegation is divided. It's been reported by the Economist. It's also been reported now in the Ukrainian media as well, that there is a split that Umarov, Arachamia and co, who are loyal to Zelensky, want to stick to the original Zelensky demand, ceasefire on existing conflict lines,

that kind of thing. Budanov is, of course, much closer to the Americans, wants to do a deal with the Russians as soon as possible. He knows that the situation is becoming desperate and he's prepared to make major concessions. The people that Medinsky spoke with are the high. hardliners, the loyalists to Zelensky, Ummerov and Arachamia. Or Arachamia leads Zelensky's party at the, at the, in the, in the, in the, in the, in the, in the, but Arachamia was also the chief negotiator that Ummerov worked with when Medinsky hammered out the original, you know, the

original Istanbul agreement of 2022. So it could be that what Medinsky wants to do, wanted to do is say, look, call in these people, tell them, look, the writing is on the wall, thinking it's about, you know, standing firm. You've got to accept Istanbul Plus because it's the only gang, the Americans aren't with you. Even Budanov doesn't really want to go along with you. That is one possibility. There is another possibility, and the two are not, by the way, in contradiction with each other, that the Ukrainians themselves, Umerov and Arachamia wanted to make Medinsky understand that they're the people who really talk for Ukraine, not Budanov, who seems to be taking a different line. I've been in negotiations where the other side is split, and that does

sometimes happen that they want to, you know, the one side that feels that one of the people isn't playing ball on their own side. They want to speak to the other side's negotiator and tell him, look, just don't pay any attention to what this guy is saying, you deal with us, we're the people who make the decisions. So it could be that. There are lots of rumours also that Medinsky gave Arachamia and Ummerov a letter or a message

probably some kind of ultimatum if it's true from Putin himself to pass on to Salensky. Yeah, I don't buy the whole Budanov thing, to be honest, that he wants a deal at there or that there's this type of split. I mean, Budanov is representing

the CIA faction of the Zelensky regime. And I imagine that he wants to to wrap up the conventional war so that they can strike some sort of a ceasefire deal or something like that and then they can move out to the dirty war, which Budanov will be, will be running from top to bottom. But this is the split. This is the split. I don't think it's a split for one person wants a deal. Oh, no, absolutely. I agree with that. Exactly. But Zelensky doesn't want that because if that happens, then Budanaf sidelines him. Yeah. Budano's the guy. What Zelensky wants is the war to continue in the same way that it is ongoing now.

Exactly. Because that's what keeps the money flowing. That's what keeps the weapons coming. That's what keeps everybody in Ukraine sweet with him. So, I mean, there is a difference. But it's obviously not about peace. With these people, of course it isn't. Yeah.

It's one side wants to keep the conventional war going, which is what the Europeans really want. and the other guy wants to get the covert 30 war. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. And he'll be the top guy for that. All right.

Is there anything else that we should discuss or should we get to the questions? I think we can go straight to the questions. I think we covered the big news topics. I mean, what I'm going to simply say very quickly is, again, a lot of people, when expected about Geneva, that it was the Russians were going to cave again. I think people need, I've said this. Every time there is a negotiation, people need to stop worrying about that. We've had one negotiation after another, and the Russians never came.

What people don't like is that they negotiate at all. And yes, I can understand why that makes people nervous and uneasy. And you can argue that it's a mistake for the Russians even to negotiate. But don't assume that simply because they turn up to a meeting. that they're going to cave. And in terms of Medinsky, we said that he's a hardliner. He's not going there to cave. If there was an intention to cave, Putin would be sending someone else as his chief negotiator, someone like Dimitriev, for instance. The fact that he's sending Medinsky is a sign that he's taking a hard line. Yeah, I think a lot of the frustration also comes from the fact that

that Russia plays along with the U.S. being the neutral mediator. Oh, absolutely. Okay, I guess they have to do this in order to keep the charade going. Yeah. But that's, I think, something that really bothers people because you're negotiating with Ukraine and the United States is this neutral mediator that is pushing for peace and Trump is the peace president. And everyone knows that that's a complete freaking lie.

Well, at the same time, it's the United States that is keeping the conflict going. The Europeans want to keep the conflict going. There's no doubt about that. Quite. But it's the United States that could pull the plug on this thing anytime it wants. And within a week or two, it's all over. It's game over. Absolutely.

You know, I was really struck by something that Stanislav said to us on the last program that we did with him. That for many people in Russia itself in the army, the Biden period was actually better. Because everything was very straightforward. There were no negotiations. They could just focus on the war. They didn't have to worry about all of these meetings that were taking place and trying to second-guess all was what Putin was up to. And I can understand that. I can understand that the fact that these meetings happen is stressful.

But I think you're absolutely right. It is a charade. I think we saw over the course of this meeting that it is a charade. By the way, the meetings with Iran are also a charade. Just to say, I mean, these negotiations that are taking place with Wick Goff and Kocien. They have no reality to them. They're not being conducted as negotiations. It's incredible that they happen at all. But as somebody said in Ukraine, it was picked up by Deutsche Well, this is just a performance put on for one viewer who was Donald Trump.

That's what they said in Ukraine. Absolutely. Okay, interesting. All right, let's get to the questions. Before we get to the questions, like this video. Also share this video, this live stream. Subscribe to this channel if you are not subscribed. Also go to our individual channels, Alexander McCurris' channel and my channel as well.

YouTube is smashing all three of our channels, Alexander, absolutely smashing us. Absolutely. Very little subscribers. View counts dropping. anyway we'll see how we deal with all of this yes so let's let's get to to the questions and let's start things off with oh and durand shop free shipping all orders over $70 you get free shipping yes for for duran merch so there's a link in the description box down below elza says the u.s. representatives were wearing suits this time probably

they thought that it was enough to change their pajamas to have serious talks. Absolutely. Well, I think that there was so much negative reaction to the incredibly casual dress that they put on, especially at the first meeting, that I think they did realize that they had to wear a suit. But can I just say, I mean, it didn't make any difference. I mean, they apparently played a minimal role in the negotiations with the Russians. The Iranians are furious about this. I mean, the Iranians have complained about it to Reuters of all places.

They say, what on earth is going on? We come up, we come to Geneva for a serious discussion on the eve of a war, and we have the Americans dashing from one meeting to another, obviously not interested or focused in what we're doing. There is still a profound quality of frivolity about this whole business. the United States of America as two negotiators for all of this

for Russia and for Iran for everything actually two guys and one guy we don't even know what the one guy's position is in the government he doesn't have one he doesn't have one he's just the president's son-in-law we don't know what he's

doing and then we have the envoy who has okay zero zero but yes you know he's not a diplomat or zero background in the state department yeah exactly okay uh matthew says will the west seize russian ships right well patrushchev who is putin's aid and who's now in charge of shipping the maritime

industries and overall supervisors the navy says that they absolutely do have a plan to start seizing russian ships he said this made a whole set of very strong comments he said that this is piracy on the seas he says that that Russia will take immediate action to prevent that, that Russian Navy is being deployed to protect Russian ships. And he says that the Russians will respond aggressively this time if anything like that is done, because if they don't, there will be more attacks on Russian ships

and it will eventually lead to an all-out blockade. And he also said that the Russians are in discussion with the other BRIC states, which of course means China, to see about joint protection for the ships, So, I mean, you know, this is what the Russians are saying. They do expect that there will be at some point an attempt to blockade their exposed. We've been saying this for a good six months now. And they should have done something a long time ago.

Yes. Yes. They were patient. Yeah. And they waited and they waited and more ships were seized and not much was done. And now they're getting to the point where they're having to talk about responding to a blockade. Yes. I mean, they have actually made note.

I mean, they have provided naval escorts for some of their merchant ships. They've been doing this for some months now. I suspect they've been also talking to other their trade partners. And by the way, when they're talking about Bricks on this, they mean China. I mean, it has to mean China because that is now the major export destination. That's the major trading partner. And it's, of course, the only Bricks country with a really powerful navy that can match that of the US. Well, look at how Iran did it when Greece seized one of their ships.

Yes. Remember that? About three years ago, I believe it was the Pegasus, I want to say. Yes. And so Greece seized one of Iran's ships. And what did Iran do? They seized two Greek ships. That's right.

And they won a case in Greek court. And Iran won the case in Greek court to release the Iranian ship. Absolutely. Well, so far, if we're talking about Russia, flagged ships, that's also been happening. I mean, very few ships that carry out Russian trade, but I can't think of one, actually, has been impounded indefinitely. I mean, Macro has seized ships. He's had to release them. He's had to release the Grinch. He's saying that he's been paid large, millions of euros by the owner for something or rather, very unclear what. But that ship doesn't

seem to have been doing any trade with Russia at all. It apparently took on cargo from Novorosius, but it wasn't Russian. So anyway, it's strange stories. Yeah. Matthew says, do you think a deal has been worked out in the Middle East between major powers? Will this coming war be theater? No, I don't think so, not for the moment at least. I think that at the moment, the Chinese and the Russians, and all of the indications are, by the way, that at the moment is more the Chinese than the Russians are doing what they can to try to help Iran through this crisis, which is going to last several weeks. It's very, very late in the day. I mean, if preparations had started to be made to counterattacks of this gun five years ago, we would now be in a

completely different position. And I'm sorry to say this, and I repeat this again, the fault for the failure to do this with Iran. Haruko says one more war, deep sigh. From Nikos, the message I got from the Munich summit is that Russia is alone. I disagree with all of Levant's options, except one, the multipolar world is, opinion, sorry, except one, the multipolar world is dead. We are quick to criticize Russia and Putin on Twitter, but at least they are fighting. will go to war with Iran. They are seizing Chinese ships. The U.S. is threatening to destroy Russia.

What does China do? They send an energy package to Ukraine. What does India do? They seize Iran's ships. Meanwhile, Venezuela is a U.S. colony. Cuba is gone and the Philippines are getting missile packages along with Taiwan. Stop excusing China and India. They wanted to help the multipolar world. They would have united behind Russia the same way the West was, for Ukraine, giving them equipment and men. Well, I think China is helping Russia quite a lot, actually. And I never got the sense that the Russians are disappointed with China. I've never had that sense at any level, be it at the level of the highest political leadership,

or, you know, soldiers or commentators or anything of that kind. So I think that Russia is not alone. China is not alone. They have each other and they are a very substantial bloc. India is constantly trying to be friends with everybody with the US. They've cut a deal with the US. They've cut a deal with Europe recently. And they're currently negotiating a free trade zone with the Russians.

they are whether this is a wise policy I'm not sure but there are many different lobbies and people in India who have different perspectives so there is that playing out too I don't think the Russians are alone I don't think the Chinese are alone I think they're both very confident in their own power but obviously they have to deal with this problem and this crisis and it's not surprising if some people are keeping their heads down in the Middle East in the Middle East, it's very striking how all of the big Arab states are going out of their way to talk to the Russians at the present time. Lavrov just gave a big interview to Al-Arabiya, which is basically a Saudi-run operation. And Putin and MBS have spoken quite a lot recently.

So we'll see. Reaper Actual says Trump can either sit down and negotiate based on Iran's terms or shut up and start the war already. War of words don't scare the Iranian people. Well, the Iraq war, maybe not, but I mean, if he probably is going to start a war. I mean, you don't concentrate this level of force in the Middle East unless you have a plan to start a war, or so it seems to me. Zelensky-1 says, in your opinion,

what do you think the probability is of Russia taking Kiev and Odessa and having a referendum, or without, referendum. I think it's highly likely. I'm not going to say it's definitely going to happen. It depends on how things play out, not just on the battlefield, but in the world of politics, if there's a collapse if Zelensky's government falls in Kiev. And by the way, you know, we just had Zaluzni talking about a situation in 2024, which from the look of it sounded like Ukraine was very close to a coup at that point. According to Zillusioni, Yermak and Zelensky

sent the police to raid his command post, I mean, his actual headquarters, whilst he was still Ukraine's overall military commander. And Zalusini threatened them with the army. He said he was going to transfer units, military units, to Kiev. Of course, we only have Zilluzni's account. But probably that looks like we, you know, we actually came quite close at one moment to a coup in the spring of 2024. If anything that Zaluzni is telling us is true.

But if there is a change in Kiev, if suddenly didn't people come up and there's some kind of agreement, which I don't expect, by the way, I really don't expect this. I make this absolutely clear. then I can just about imagine that there might be a situation where Odessa, for example, remains normally under Ukrainian control, but within a federalized Ukraine and with the Russians having some kind of big presence there, something of that kind. But anyway, we will see. Yeah, you look at Zelensky's recent interviews.

The guy looks like shit. Oh, he is awful. And then he ran to Pierce Morgan for. Yeah. And his language, he's language. His language is becoming very foul-mouthed. He's dropping the S-word like I'm doing. All the time, yeah.

Sampreze says, I do not agree that it's certain at all that, as you said before, that Russia will capture Donbass and certainly not Zaporosia City in 2026. It takes time to capture major cities, especially over the Dnieper River. Well, first of all, just to say, Zaporosia is not on the West Bank. of the Dnieper River. It is on the east bank of the Dnieper River. So the problems Zaporosia has, if the Ukrainians are going to defend it, is that they have to send supplies across the river, across the bridges. And the Russians have now rehearsed blocking the bridges. So again, I'm not an expert in these things, but the word I've heard is that it would

not be defendable for very long. It took the Russians roughly two months to capture Marupol in 2022. Marupol is smaller. It's about half the size of Zapporozia. But one could see that it didn't take years about Dombas. I have to say that it looks to me as if the situation is worsening for the Ukrainians every single day and very fast. And we're now very close to the point where the two big remaining cities, Slaviansk and Kramatoosk, are stormed as well. And yes, they are fairly large places, but they're not enormous. Ms. Texas G. says, I know that supposedly it was not unusual for the queen to visit GCHQ, but in 2020, she made a secret visit to MI5, supposedly to thank them for their service.

could it also be that she was being briefed on her favorite son? Very likely. Andrew was her favorite son? He was. He was. She protected him. I mean, notice that he's collapsed, the collapse of his reputation, which began, started to happen before these document dumps.

I mean, they basically started when Virginia Jufri died. just to say um that has happened since her death um clearly this antagonism between the brothers the king uh charles and andrew obviously are not on good terms and um the moment the queen died charles seems to pull the rug underneath him Nikos says on the Russian front, Germany, Poland, and Estonia want to deploy nuclear weapons to their territory. Tomahawks are also back in the conversation. They are doing exercises to take Kaliningrad. Merz opened a Ukrainian drone factory, and Stammer will send a carrier group in the Arctic to seize ships.

Again, you have way too much faith in people. The West's population hates Russia, and they'll go to war with them. It's easier to hate than understand. Well, I mean, if you're talking about Starma and the aircraft carrier, all I would say is that I do hope we've got lots of tugboats because the state of our British aircraft carrier is so dire that, frankly, it's not going to do very much, certainly not in the Arctic, where it is not designed to fight. I mean, the idea of the Royal Navy conducting operations against the Russians in the Arctic is ridiculous. I understand even the United States Navy isn't really designed to fight in this theatre. As for nuclear weapons in central Europe, there are debates about this, but they should be seen as an admission of weakness, not a strength.

It's a sign that the Europeans realise that their conventional forces are simply not up to very much. By the way, there's a big article in the spectator, British newspaper, a magazine, big, everywhere British magazine, which actually talks about this, and actually looks at the true state of the British military and of the French military and of the German military. And it says, you know, all of these militaries are in a dreadful condition. They're in no position to fight the Russians. Britain has about 76 operational fighter jets. Russia has around 600, just saying.

And the others are in an even worse state than that. Only France is a little better. Okay. Sparky says since Israel owns the U.S. Congress, if President Trump doesn't attack Iran, will Congress bypass Trump by declaring war on Iran? No, I don't think so. I think on the contrary, what you will probably find is that if there is opposition within the political system, it is going to come from Congress. Yes, many Congress people are very, very pro-Israel, as we know.

And Israel exercise is huge influence there. But Congress, precisely because it is closer to the American public, and precisely also, because midterms are coming. If Trump backs off, I think many of the world will be the cyber relief, actually. Nico says President Putin is reluctant to annex Ukraine due to his experience in Chechnya, where it took 15 years to pacify them, but he knows there's no other way. Patrushchev is one of Putin's most loyal allies, and he is saying that Russia will send their Navy in response to Stammer's actions.

Putin speaks via him. Well, I think that's either Patrushchev and Putin are indeed very close. Patrushchev was for the many years, over a decade, I believe, Putin's national security advisor. So, I mean, he's very, very close to Putin indeed. and I do think he would not be speaking without Putin's voice. Now, about Ukraine, I will continue to say this. I think when the special military operation began,

it was absolutely not Putin's intention to annex Ukraine. I mean, he said so. He said that on the very first day. He had a meeting with Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan. He said it's in many other places. it was because there was an attack on Dombas being prepared, and he needed to protect Dombas. And the Russians were also very worried that that attack on Dombas

was preparatory to steps to bring Ukraine into NATO. It was a defensive thing. I don't think that the Russians have been thinking about broader annexations in Ukraine until after the defeat of Ukraine's 2023. counter-offensive and until after they saw how utterly intransigent the Europeans have been. So I think this is where the real debate about these things all really started. It started, in other words, in 2024. Nick Mastelovich, thank you for that super sticker.

West Wolf Esquire says there will be no nuke used against Iran unless Israel feels its destruction is inevitable. Doing so would force the US and UN to stop pretending Israel has none. Even the US would then condemn Israel. I agree with that. And I get to say something. I mean, if we get into a situation where nuclear weapons are used, I mean, it would be in a completely different world. And I think that even, what definitely within this administration,

within the American government, they will be extremely, extremely resistant. There will be people who are extremely resistant to agree to that. Even some of the hardliners who want an attack on Iran. Sanjava says, hello, Duran. Hope you are all well. Thank you, Sanjava. Sparky says, wasn't Prince Phillips last name Mount Bitten?

Yes. Yes. And we also had a Lord Mountbatten, who was the head of the British Army. As I said, this is the name they all gave themselves after the, after the, basically the First World War.

Nico says if Putin has moved to this direction, then what Medvedev and military wants is annexation of Ukraine. That won't stop Europe from getting nukes. No, it won't stop Europe from getting nukes. But two things will stop Europe from getting nukes. The first is the United States. I mean, I don't believe the United States want to see European countries acquiring nukes. Back in the 60s, when Britain and France began to acquire nukes,

the American government overall opposed it, and they absolutely vetoed any idea of Germany acquiring yukes at that time. So I think there are still people in the US. who say this is going to lower nuclear threshold, is going to be very difficult to control European nukes. I think there will be opposition from the United States. And given the realities in Europe today, I think if the Americans oppose it, then it won't happen.

The other thing that might prevent Europeans acquiring nukes is opposition from their own countries and populations. There isn't much of that at the moment, but you never know. It may be that in a different global environment, that might change. Just to say. With these leaders in Europe having nuclear weapons, I can't think of anything more dangerous than that.

Oh, no, absolutely. I mean, my God. Well, absolutely. West Wolf says, I am genuinely at a loss how certain people believe China is not supporting Russia. Russia, Sino cooperation has never been stronger. I completely agree. I completely agree.

Sangeva says, I like Alex's version of Andrew's name. Which one? The prince, the artist formerly known as Prince, or the Prince formerly known as Andrew. Sparky says, rather than elites, they are now called the Epstein class. Yeah, that's a devastating name that they're going with, actually. Oh, no, absolutely.

That's going to hurt the Trump administration in the midterm. The Epstein class is what they're calling it. Even Massey is saying that. Yes. Yeah. A substack of Haiti says, substack of Haiti is the real story of greater Israel. Okay, substack of Haiti.

Okay, cool. We'll check out the substack. Thank you for that. West Wolf Esquire says, where is the point where either China decides it is in its own strategic interest or is asked by its Russian friends to cut supply of rare earth to the U.S.? Well, who knows? Who knows?

I mean, who knows? I mean, if there is a crisis over Taiwan, which I think everybody sooner or later expects this going to be, by the way, then I think that will definitely happen, and it will probably happen sometime before as we lead up to that crisis. I could just say this. If there is a long war between Iran and the United States, not just one lasting several weeks, but one which drags on for several months,

I can see the Iranians doing it again. Sorry, the Chinese doing it again. they will say that they're not prepared to provide dual-use technology used in a war against a fellow brick state. I can definitely see that happen. No, Trump is going for the quick knockout, as we've been saying. Absolutely. This is going to take. He's going for about a week.

That's what they're reporting. He wants one week to take out the leadership. We'll see if that is the case. Nico says, Alexander, Russia's debt is rising. I also see videos of Russians complaining about their wages. Dima also says that Russia can't achieve its goals. Well, I mean, I don't agree with him. Bad news for Putin.

Bad news for Putin in Russia then, huh? Absolutely. I mean, I've seen no evidence of this. I mean, economic conditions are stable. There was a very strange article at the financial time is about the fact that the price of cucumber has risen. We've seen an upward blip in, VAT, which has led to an upward blip in inflation.

But inflation actually turned out lower in January than many people had expected. In terms of Russian wages, we have actually seen extremely high wage, real wage growth over the last three years. So yes, maybe things are a little bit tighter now, but that comes after. you know, that doesn't change the fact that people are still altogether much better off than they were four years ago, just saying. And as for debt levels rising, I don't actually see that. In fact, debt levels overall still seem to be falling. You know, what can distort understanding is that, of course, there are different prices of holdings.

things that can go up and down and they give the impression sometimes that debt levels are either a bit up or a bit down. But the reality is we're still getting debt levels of between 15 and 20% of GDP, which relative to that of the West is unbelievably wrong. And Russia still has a healthy current account surplus and a healthy trade surplus. There's no reason to think any of this is going to change. Hey, Nikos, we got your list too, by the way. Thank you. Oh, absolutely. It was brilliant list.

And by the way, just to say something, Nicos, on that list, I think you'd find many, many Russians agree with you, by the way. I think Gorbachev was number one for the worst or I remember? Absolutely. Or was in the top ten? Absolutely. Explain to us someday while you put Stalin and Lenin up first and third. I'm just intrigued.

Yeah. And Putin was in the top ten for best as well. Absolutely. It was a good list. Thank you for that, Nikos. Zelensky Zelensky 1 says Want to thank you both

I spent a lot of time I spent a lot of time In the hospital last year And watch the Duran And your related podcast every day That and drugs made healing bearable We hope you're feeling better Zolensky

I hope you're feeling better Zelensky And thank you for that Zelensky number one Glenn Muse 3159 says here on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, I get my information from the Duran.

Otherwise, I would be in a void. Canadian media is totally fake. Thank you. I am a pensioner. I wish I could give more. Thank you for that. Glenn Muses, we appreciate it. Nico says, Alex, you are complaining about Russia going along with the negotiations.

As I say to Levan, for the sake of your sanity, it's all theater. Don't bother. The trouble is, it's very easy to say. that we shouldn't bother. But we have to. We have to. We can't simply ignore the fact that Russian and Ukrainian negotiators are meeting in Geneva.

I mean, it might be nice to pretend that it's not happening. And we might say, you know, it isn't for real. But we can't just, you know, say this, you know, we can't just pretend it's not taking place. Yeah. Hey, I'm in Cape Breton as well. All right, cool. Got some people watching from Cape Breton. From West Wolf. People forget that Budanov is a soldier, a skilled one. It's completely against his nature to want to continue a losing strategy. Also, yes, he is a Ukraine nationalist to his fingertips, but not a banderite, true believer. Well, I don't know about the second, the last. I've heard he is, by the way, just a second.

But about the point that he's a soldier and that he doesn't want to stick to a losing strategy, I think that's absolutely right. I think that is the major difference between Bhutanath and Zelensky. He says, look, this conventional war that you are fighting, what it's doing is it's grinding us down. We're losing it. And in the process, Ukraine is being destroyed. If you wanted to understand how bad the situation for Ukraine is,

look at the kind of things that Julia Mendel, who was Zelensky's former press spokesman, is writing now. She describes a nation now made up mostly of pensions. From Game of Chairs, 906, Israel will use a false flag attack and a US asset to kick things off. I don't think so. I don't think they bother anymore. even with that. I mean, once upon a time, just a few years ago,

they would have perhaps felt the need to do something like that. But this time, this is what's really so incredible about this, they were preparing to attack Iran. As far as I could see, there's no actual pretext at all. I mean, Trump himself said, just a few months ago, that Iran's nuclear enrichment program had been obliterated. So he's now talking about ballistic missiles, but Iran has had ballistic missiles for years. and years and years. There's never been a reason to attack Iran before. They weren't a reason to attack Iran during his first time.

I mean, there is no actual cause or reason given to attack Iran at this time that makes any kind of sense. And yet, that is what they're going to do. They're not worrying about any reason. And what is incredible is that nobody cares. You know, when they attacked Iraq in 2003, millions of people were protesting. We now have the biggest concentration of military forces

by the United States in the Middle East since then. To start a war with no proximate justification or cause Is a single protest about it taking place anywhere in the United States? Is it taking place anywhere in Europe? No. It's actually a less popular. I mean, it's opinion polls show that opposition to this war in the United States, amongst the American people, is greater than was the case in terms of the war against Iraq.

but no part of the political system, no part of the protest community is interested in mobilizing against it. So they don't need a pretext. They don't need a force for help. They don't need to talk about WMD. They don't need to talk about anything. They could just attack because they can.

Sparky says declaration of war gives the government special powers over industry. Maybe Trump will use those powers to re-industrialize the US. instead of producing F-35 boondongles and doesn't actually attack Iran. But he's not going to declare. He wants an attack that's going to last one week. You're not going to re-industrialize the United States in one way. Just say. Sir, Most game says, does this arrest prevent him, Andrew, from testifying to Congress?

Oh, now there's a good question. Perhaps. Never thought of that. Interesting point. Let me think about that. Let me check out what the position. position there is. You may be right. West Wolf says, A and A, I notice view counts on both your channels have halved.

Is this a deliberate effort by the platform? Did you guys say something naughty about Israel? Who knows? Now they're just not recommending our channels at all to anybody. So if you want to find our videos, you pretty much have to type it in. Yes. Nico says, respect to Stanislav Russian officers interviewed by Konstantin Rostov, have said that due to Western support, they expect the war to last until 2028. Well, I don't know. I mean, you have Russian officers on the front lines. I don't know that they're

necessarily always the best guides to what is happening, just to say. Harry C. Smith says Prince Andrew has been arrested and is in custody. Yes. Yeah, I mean, again, very seriously, keeping somebody in detention is a very seriously. Sanjava says Trump has turned out to be a colossal disappointment for anybody living outside the USA. Yes. Sally Mullah says Ramadan, Keremt to all. Thank you. Haliman Klušchev says, I am convinced Israel is readying to use nuclear.

What do you think? No, I think not for the reason that West Wolf says. But, of course, if the situation is... spirals out of control. If we get into a situation where Israel is being hammered by Iranian missiles, if this goes on for weeks and months and months and months and months, and there is a crisis in Israel, then, of course, demands for doing something like that will grow, though I still think the U.S. will resist them.

Sanjavis says India cannot take decisive decisions like China or Russia. Any movement in trade can affect hundreds of millions of people living in the margins. India is in Russia's orbit but cannot be overt about it for now. I agree, actually. And I think this is a, I mean, I don't want to discuss India in very great detail. But I think that when you look below the surface, yeah, they say, look, we're going to start buying Russian oil. And then they quietly go on buying Russian oil.

They then in the meantime have gained this free trade, this trade agreement with the US and this reduction in tariffs. They do the same with Europe as well. But they have to maneuver. That is the reality that India faces. And if I have to say, I think they're doing it with quite a lot of skill, actually. Ms. Texas G says, explain what would be the scenario if the U.S. does not complete the intended mission

or conversely, what would be the outcome if they do? Imagine the mission being Iran. Yeah, well, I'm going to say this. I mean, it's difficult, if they cannot complete the mission, then the world will see it as a defeat. And it'll be also seen as a defeat for Trump in the United States. It will be the end of his presidency.

So this would be a very big geopolitical event. It would mean that, that the point of American decline will have become undeniable. It will mean that the United States itself went to war in the Middle East and was unsuccessful. So it would be a critical event. If it succeeds, then you could have a whole set of different problems. Because what does success in Iran actually mean? putting King Pachlavi

from place in Tehran I mean that isn't going to happen and his position is not going to be secure and it is not going to be stable the breakup of Iran divisions there civil war conflict to me

that isn't a success it's a whole set of long-term problems and eventually a new political system will emerge in Iran, which will be even more hostile to the United States, probably than the present one. Rain Drop 1276 says, as many people don't know what a good leader looks like, which leader comes to mind to hear from history, which would both of you choose of anyone coming to mind to stand up and say anything

against this madness of the U.S.? Well, you see, the trouble is leaders of the past were leaders who had to deal with the problems that they faced at that time. And it's not always a good idea to just look at leaders and say, you know, this is the leader that we need today. Leaders that impress me in my lifetime, Helmut Schmidt, Charles de Gaulle, who I remember, by the way, I remember him quite well, leaders of the more distant past, Bismarck. I think Bismarck was an exceptional. leader. Others, Alexander I of Russian, doesn't perhaps get the full credit that he deserves,

but I think he was an extremely clever man and he had to man in very complex and difficult circumstances. And I think he came out very much on top. I don't want to sound like I'm praising Joseph Stalin because Stalin carried out, did appalling things. I mean, the terror that he carried out in Russia itself was horrifying. But nobody can deny that his conductive diplomacy and his management of war was extremely skillful, just to say. And as he once said to the British, you do realize that I always know when to stop. So he did have a reverse gear, unlike the people that are running things in Washington today. So, you know, these are leaders that, you know, you can see that they are able to keep control of events and to shape them and to leave their countries more powerful and more

successful than they were when they took over. I don't think there's anybody quite of that stature around today, but the one who most closely approximates it, and we have to say this, is Putin, more so, I think, even than see. Yeah. Either Putin, I would say it's between Putin and, I don't know, maybe Biden. Biden. Biden.

I forgot. I forgot it. When it was Biden, I mean, he was a man. a Napoleonic genius. I'm talking about Hunter. I'm talking about Hunter. Hunter, Biden. Absolutely.

Alexander the Great. I mean, he's the equal of that, man. All right. West Wolf says, Venezuela, Iran, Cuba, Greenland. At what point do the pragmatic Indians determine being America's friend is too dangerous to its national interest? It's a smash between Indian political

and business leaders on the horizon. I think you can already see this, actually. I think that if you follow the Indian media, which is, by the way, very difficult thing to do because it is overwhelmingly focused on internal politics within India itself. But if you follow the Indian media, you can see that from having been extremely pro-American overall,

10, 15 years ago, it's shifting, and it's becoming more critical. From Nikos, you keep blaming Russia, Alex, for trying to, avoid war. It's not Russia's fault that people in the West have become so stupid trying to provoke World War III. Is that a fair criticism of Alex? I've never known him to say that he wants Russia to throw itself into war. I've never heard of talking that way. Just saying, I mean, the Russians are never in a hurry to start wars. They know war altogether too well to ever do something like that.

We have to bring up criticisms of what is happening with Putin and Russia. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, we're not going to pray. We have to analyze it. We have to analyze it. We have to analyze it. And criticism of the way the war is being conducted and of the foreign policy that is being conducted during the war,

criticism like that is fully legitimate and necessary as well. And it helps us. get to a conclusion as well. I mean, when we talk about this stuff, it leads us to some sort of a conclusion as well as to what's happening. Exactly. Arnid says, question to both. Wouldn't it lead to less loss of life and less suffering if the global majority just rolled over and let the neocon psychos have their way? No, it wouldn't. It would lead to a terrible world, one where violence would actually I mean, again, we got some pushback from a few people about Rubio's speech and what we said about it being imperialist. I don't take any of that back.

I mean, praising implicitly European colonial empires, I thought was astonishing. And the way he spoke about European expansionism before the Second World War and all of that, I mean, I found that incredible. I mean, if we all rolled over and let the neocons run us, I mean, it would be centuries of plunder leading to enormous violence and even greater resistance than what we're seeing now. So, I mean, I just don't think that's an option, Frank. Nico says all Russian ships have been returned and the incidents have stopped. If Europe wants World War III, how is this Russia's fault? If provoked, they'll respond. Well, that's what Patrushchev has said.

I mean, the Europeans have tested the Russians here. I mean, there's no doubt about this. And you could argue, and I think you can legitimately argue, that the Russians were taken by surprise, as they always are, by the way. I mean, the Russians never expect that the other side is going to behave so aggressively, because the Russians have the faults

that all rational people suffer from, which is that they can't really, imagine or understand that the other scientists can to behave so irrationally. But as I once remember someone explaining to me, you can take the Russians by surprise, but you can never panic them. And I think that's exactly right. Dark Horse says Cuba, I have a neighbor who doesn't care for his home. I don't sit outside his house with an AK trying to starve his family.

ideologues please be quiet yeah thank for that dark horse cameron says why are you always pessimistic about iran's ability to defend itself good grief persia has been around since the dawn of history i am not i am not if it was a straight conventional war if it was a bombing war i have absolutely no doubt that iran could withstand it i mean iran withstood and not just weeks of bombing but years of bombing in the 1980s during the Iran-Iraq war. What I am less confident or sure about is the stability of the government in Iran. And I don't apologize for this. We've seen repeated evidence that the government is deeply infiltrated. And this extends about years now. And the Iranian government never seems to be able to get on top of this problem.

And when I see that, that does make me worried. Yeah, I agree with you. People need to remember that with Venezuela, no one expected. No one thought it was going to be a kidnapping of Maduro. And the Trump administration, they're really good at this trickery stuff. Yes.

They're really good at this stuff. So, you know, we're thinking, everyone is saying a one-year air campaign, decapitation strikes, most likely that's what's going to happen. Yes. But who knows? Maybe the Trump administration has something else planned. Exactly.

Exactly. Don't be surprised if they have something cooking that has nothing to do with a big strike that lasts a week. Yes. People make the comparison with the Houthis and how the Houthis were also confronted with an enormous U.S. Amada to America. aircraft carriers and they showed the Americans off. They didn't waver, they didn't back down, they absorbed all the American attacks,

and ultimately they came out the winners. But the Qusis were united. There was never any question of the US successfully infiltrating the Houthis. This isn't true about Iran. It is the internal side of Iran that is the problem. the problem. Sparky says make Ukraine Russia again don't leave a rump site called Ukraine, at least it remain a NATO playground, the carpetbaggers money, laundry, and a black rock property. Well, as I pointed out in a recent program, one Russian general, former Russian

general, who's now the chairman of the Defense Committee of the Duma, General Karna Polov, has all but said that. He said that Ukraine's best future is as part of Russia. No other Russian official up to this time of this rank has spoken in this way. Sir Muggeme says in 1939 FDR challenged Bitler to make a pledge to not invade Occupy 31 nations. He responded that he couldn't invade Palestine or Syria as they were currently occupied by Britain and France. No real change in U.S. diplomacy. Well, it was one of the most, it was one of the German leaders, most clever. and I have to say extraordinary manipulative speeches.

And he went through this whole list of countries which FDR said that he was about to attack and talked about how there was no question of Germany attacking any one of them. And he did bring up the question of Palestine and the Palestinian territories and places of this kind. The reality is, and this is, I think we must remember about that speech, which made a big impact at the time, in the event the German leader did,

attack all of those countries. Every one of them, every one of them on that list. Sangeva says Alex's version of Andrew, YouTube does not allow me to send. It has to do with brokeback mountain. Oh, gosh. Got it, Sancheva. Thank you for that. Matthew says, would a Russian response to NATO piracy cause World War III? No, I don't think so. You know, something, the real bluff is by the Europeans. I'm convinced of it. If the Russians, um, forcefully reacted with their fleet, it would be the Europeans who would back down. Empire, we are 0-1, says the Israeli nuclear program is a smokescreen, Israeli F-15, just like the U.S. F-16E, F-15I, just like the U.S. F-15E, were built to carry

USB-61 nukes. I know I built them in the 90s, avionics. Why do you think they're so secretive? Well, good question. I mean, I look, I'm not an expert on the Israeli nuclear program. I do believe that Israel has nuclear weapons. Everybody assumes it. I'm sure that there's been a great deal of technical assistance, if I can put it like that, provided by the United States over the years.

And obviously, they use the same carrier systems, the fighter jets. I am not an expert in these matters. I do believe and I do assume, and I do hope, by the way, that the US has a kill switch on this. In other words, they're able to stop through technical means or whatever it is. The Israelis using these nuclear weapons in a crisis. But, you know, I don't know. And bear in mind, the Americans and the Israelis don't share this information, that information about their program with me.

Ms. Texas G. says to Alexander's point about the Iranians being infiltrated yesterday, there was a simultaneous explosions around Iran, and the government blamed it on gas explosions. Well, there you go. I mean, who knows? Maybe it was. The one that I would really like the explanation of was the death of the former Iranian president, Abraham Reisi, who struck me as a far more effective leader than Bezishgyan. and he died in this very strange helicopter crash. And the Iranian government has never provided, as far as I'm concerned, a remotely satisfactory explanation. Pathetic Albihan says the first weapon fired at Iran will trigger an overwhelming hypersonic response.

Well, yeah, that is what the Iranians say. And, you know, maybe it will be, maybe it will be executed. But don't think that in terms of technology and military capabilities, Iran is on the same level as the United States. It obviously isn't. And I don't think the Iranians themselves claim that it is. They do have some very advanced and effective weapons. I believe that it simply came down to a conventional war, a slugging match between Iran and the United States. Iranians would be able to absorb the blow and they might be able to carry out some very sharp and heavy blows on the Americans in return. That's not where I think the decision in this war is going to be made. Like Alex said, this is an administration that is very good at covert operations

and to trick the trick activities. That's what you have to be prepared for. Exactly. Katia, welcome to the Drang community. Matthew says, will strikes on Iran cause World War III? I don't think so. Of course, there is always that danger if it spirals out of control to the point where nuclear weapons are used. Well, then, of course, as I said, we're in a completely different world. But I would have thought that the priority of all the great powers would be to try to contain this conflict. and to keep it limited to Iran and the Persian Gulf and that particular region.

Nico says my lists were made based purely on Russian opinions and sources, as well as the opinion of Svetlana Vladimirova and my own. Stalin made Russia a superpower. Yes. Okay. No, that's a net. I mean, that's a good answer. Thank you.

Sparky says treaties must be ratified by the US Senate as it stands now. Deals are meaningless to Russia, Iran and everyone else. I don't see the US Senate ratifying any treaties anytime soon. I completely agree with you. And I do ask the question then why people in Russia and Iran and all of these places still go through this motion of negotiating with the United States, given that whatever they agree with the United States, the United States will never be bound by it.

There it is. That is another one of the big mysteries of international relations nowadays. Everybody, and the Chinese as well, everybody, goes through the motions of negotiating with the Americans, even though everybody knows that the Americans are agreement incapable. As the Russians themselves say, there are reasons for this. You can come up with reasons.

But it is one of the great paradoxes of our time. When these times are written about by future historians, it's one of the big topics, it's going to be one of the big topics for discussion. SC, Kippy says, I kept seeing gum trees on Alex's channel. Brits planted them to soak up groundwater and fix swampy areas. Could we just plant these trees in D.C. instead? Good question. Topato Tomato

says instead of Cold War II, I think it's more accurate to say the first Cold War never actually ended and will never end while U.S. Empire stands. I agree, actually. I don't think there's ever been a real end to the Cold War. And Joy Z, welcome to the Duran community. The Syndicate 09 says,

Do you anticipate Iran striking U.S. bases in southern Europe? They have the capability to do it. Will anything be on? the table for Iran? Who knows? The Iranians say everything is on the table. Sparky says, I admit President Trump double-crossing Israel and the U.S. Congress by using a congressional declaration of war to re-industrialize the U.S. instead of attacking Iran, is just a dream. But it's an idea. Well, it's an idea. I don't think he's thinking about it, to be honest. Sir Moussame says the Afghans would tell the U.S. you may have the clocks,

but we have the time. So does Iran still everyone, but China is on Moscow time anyway. Yeah, I agree with that. I agree with your point entirely, but that does depend on Iran. Again, say what you will about the Taliban, but they had their internal divisions. They still do, but they held together. Will Iran be able to hold together in the same way? Perhaps it will.

Probably it will. the experience about Iran has not been positive in this respect up to now. Matrix 2 says Iran is too big. It would require dozens of nukes to defeat it, not just one. Well, I agree with that, but I'm not going to start discussing or planning a nuclear war. That's something I want to avoid at all costs. I think that a nuclear attack on Iran would be a complete catastrophe, not just in terms of whatever damage you've done to Iran and to people living in Iran, but to the entire international system, as we've known. Nico says I can elaborate on the lists, but basically people the West considers as good for them

were terrible for Russia. For example, I think Khrushchev was insane. Yeah, the thing about Khrushchev is that he wasn't particularly popular in the West when he was around. Just saying. where low lender says Trump does not realize how much reputation they can lose in Iran if F-35 turns out to be not as stealthy as claimed allies can cancel all purchases

there's lots of issues I mean as I said if this goes wrong it will be an enormous debacle worse than the Iraq war was much worse yeah Zakaria says is Farage brain dead or is he compromised on Iran. I think that Farage, who comes from the same world as many of the people who dislike and loathe Iran, I think he dislikes and loathe Iran. I do think he should overanalyze this,

actually. Salensky I says, why doesn't Putin meet with leaders of Hungary, Poland and Romania, and agree that each country will take the historic land back that exists inside of Ukraine? I believe Stalin and Khrushchev took the land, but I'm not sure. Putin has floated that possibility. I mean, fairly early on in the war, he gave a hint, a pretty clear hint, that the Hungarians and the Poles should come and take back their territory. But the Hungarians and the polls didn't take him up on that often. Yeah. Game of Chairs says there were rumors that the U.S. was secretly negotiating

with the Iranians for face-saving attack. again well who knows i'd like to believe that the forces deployed argue very strongly against if those four if all those forces were not deployed then i would say that's a possibility but all those forces being deployed yeah yeah um and and the military leaving syria there there's all kinds of signs that's that this thing is going to go down yes so laris jane says stalin killed 20 million of his own people he was much worse than hitler well i i i ought to say and I get to say straight away, and this is again not in any way to justify Stalin, that that figure of 20 million people supposedly killed by Stalin has been completely

rejected by academic scholarship. I mean, it's only a fraction of that. We mustn't get to, I mean, you know, Stalin himself is reputed once to have said, you know, the death of a single individual is a tragedy, the death of the of a million is a statistic. If Stalin's victims are counted in the hundreds of thousands or the low millions, it doesn't make him a good man. West Wolf Esquire says twice in contemporary history has seen Europe truly united. Napoleonic France and NSAID Germany, both invaded Russia. The Russians should take the dysfunctional EU as a win. The Russians talk about this all the time, that the fact that whenever Europe unites itself or is united under some Hegemann or other,

the first thing it does is invades Russia. That seems to be almost axiomatic. Napoleon did it. The Germans, Hitler, did it in the Second World War. Previous leaders have tried to do it. So it's made the Russians very, very wary now about any move towards European unity and integration, which, by the way, 10 years 10 20 years ago they weren't yeah natasha welcome to the dram community camera in 264 says guess you didn't see the streets of iran after the 12 days war iranians always come out united against invaders ignore the expats living abroad i i absolutely did see it and i i on balance think that that will happen but let me repeat again um there may be overwhelming sentiments It may be that 80, 90% of the Iranian people will come together and will support Iran in this kind of crisis.

But we still have to face the fact that within the Iranian government, there do always seem to be these elements that are disloyal, that are accepting funding from the US and from Israel, and are prepared to work on behalf of the Israelis and the Americans. So it may be, for example, that they give it. the Americans and the Israelis precise information about where all the leaders are. Just to say, and given that we're talking about an attempted decapitation strike, think what that means.

Exile, the King of Malta now says, excellent looking channel in chat. Thank you. Thank you. Sparky says, U.S. military is a shadow of a shell of its former self, its hyperbole over substance. There is something in this. I read somewhere, it was actually earlier today, that the fleet that's now assembling close to Iran is in fact the entirety of the deployable Navy. That in reality, the United States may have many warships,

many more warships, but the number of warships it can afford and is able to deploy at any one time. is now a fraction of what it used to be. But it is still an extremely formidable force, a force of two aircraft carriers, two American supercarriers, nuclear submarines, six or eight destroyers, is still a formidable force. Now, again, let me stress, I've just read this.

I don't know, I'm not saying it's true. And it may be that in an all-out war, the United States could put more of its warships to see. But anyway, that is what I read this morning. And why Kareem says, let's say Iran falls, what's next? There is no real opposition to the government and Iranians are proudly ideological. USA is going bankrupt. Well, indeed. I mean, that's an excellent question.

And I do wonder whether there is a plan B or rather, you know, a plan for the next stage beyond the fall of the government in Iran. believe that you're going to get a situation like we saw in Venezuela, where, you know, you get rid of the leader and you put someone else and that's someone else agrees to everything you want. I don't think that's the way Iran works. So I don't know what the follow-up plan is. I'm not sure there is one. Has Venezuela agreed to everything the U.S. wants? Well, that's, I mean, we don't even know. We don't even know what's going on there. That's what Rubio and Trump are trying to say.

Actually, that's a good point because there are other views that say quite the opposite. And that in fact, within Venezuela itself, there is significant pushback and that the government there is trying to do whatever it can to resist American demands at this time. So, you know, it may be that it didn't really work in Venezuela. But to the extent that it appeared to work in Venezuela, I don't think. think that's going to happen in Iran. And Maduro is much different than the Iranian government, the supreme

leader of Iran. Absolutely, absolutely. Who's a religious, who is also a religious figure. During Ramadan. Exactly, during Ramadan. Yeah, it's good to be a disaster. Big idea says, many thanks from Austria for your analysis, A&A. Thank you for that. Arcane,

Ecclectic says, Washington's help has never been helpful. Sure enough. Sir Muzgames says, should Putin give the Trump gang an energy hub in what's left of Ukraine. Let him wet his beak in that perpetual cash machine. So the SMO ends and Putin's dancing in the new White House poll room. I don't know. I don't think that the Russians are really thinking about this. Go on. I just want to ask you, what were your thoughts on the economists saying that there's like a $12 trillion trade agreement that could be made between

the U.S. and Russia? I don't believe this. I think this is all coming out of the discussions between Dimitriyev and Whitgolf. And what these two do is they come up and they say, oh, you know, we've got all these oil reserves in the Arctic and we've got all of this thing there. And wouldn't be wonderful? Wouldn't it be marvellous if the two of us came together and we developed and exploited all of these things and built tunnels under the Bering Straits and all of that? It doesn't look to me remotely like a real genuine economic plan.

And when Peskov was asked about it, that's essentially what he said. He said, yes, these are all ideas. We've always been open to good economic and trade relations with the Americans. But obviously, we have to sort out the problem of Ukraine first. That was what Peskov said. Monty 105-4 says it's true that Stalin was a very case. leader, but the chaotic way he purged the Truscites, basically crippled the Red Army and set up the USSR to suffer so many casualties.

I mean, no way trying to, first of all, I agree with that. And I'm not here to justify Stalin at all. All I am simply saying is that when the war came, he handled the diplomacy with great skill. I mean, people like Churchill, for example, have. written about this and Churchill had to deal with Stalin all the time. So he did understand how to conduct international relations and if you go through the meetings in Tehran and Yalta and Potsdam, I mean you cannot avoid but be impressed by his Stalin's mastery of detail and his ability to run negotiations with the Western powers in that way. I should just say I mean one of the things that

tells you this, shows you this, is that whenever during these wartime conferences, Stalin walked into a room, everybody, including the Western officials present, would stand up, even that they all told themselves all the time that they shouldn't do so. So that gives you a sense of, you know, the extent to which he came to dominate these meetings. And that, um, that, That does speak of a very capable man, maybe a very evil man, undoubtedly a very evil man, a man who did terrible things, a man who killed many people, a man who weakened his country in all sorts of ways. But I'm not talking here about Stalin as, you know,

I'm trying to defend or apologize for Stalin. I would not put him first amongst Russia's leaders, by the way, not remotely. What I am saying is that he was very capable in certain things that he did. Who would you put first? Who would I? I would actually, if I have to say, I think the most effective and successful leader of Russia, which Alexander I don't, I know this is something a person people don't think about very much. but he managed the diplomacy of the Napoleonic wars

with skill even greater than Stalin's. And of course there was no purges, no terror, none of that. Where would you put Putin on the list? Oh, very high. Very, very high. How five? Well, I would put him higher than five. I'd put him in three, four, someplace like that. All right.

Zareel says, read the fourth, turning and you'll understand EU and USA yeah thank you for that Ariel why Jalma says people forget that the supreme leader of Iran is also a grand Ayatollah who can issue religious edicts

what is the response if a fatwa is issued for all out war against the US or if the supreme leader becomes a martyr well I don't even want to begin even start to think about these possibilities and you're absolutely

like he is a religious leader. And the senior Ayyaphtala, who is in fact not Hamanai, it is Al-Sistani in Iraq. He's actually said, you know, if Hamanay is killed, then I'm making it. He will also declare some kind of jihad, apparently. I don't know whether the Americans understand any of this. Sparky says funny how what's old is new. Early readers used UHF instead of the higher frequency microwave like subsequent radars. The latest radars used to detect stealth aircraft use UHF. I've heard that too. I mean, don't expect me to comment about these things because I don't really understand them,

but I've heard exactly the same. Ladoshka gifted five Duran memberships. Thank you for that. Thank you. Matrix says, Farage has been working with monarchists for years. He was with them in January when thousands of Iranian expats were protesting outside Dowding Street. Well, it's exactly the point that I made before. I mean, I don't think he's saying anything that he doesn't believe about Iran, by the way. Sticky Mark says, I remember when TVs were new, never had one until my mother insisted as my kids were deprived. I haven't had one for over 50 years. I get

My news from the Duran. Thanks, last. Thank you. Thank you. Well, you're basically right. I'd barely watch television anymore, to be honest. And in the 60s, you know, I came from an elite family in Athens. But in the 60s, we didn't have television either. I remember when I came to Britain and I was absolutely astonished at this extraordinary thing. Yeah. Harry says Iran is the only country where men and women must both pass a course on contraceptive use before they get a marriage license. I didn't know that. Sir, Muggeem says that the Russians can sit in a meeting with Jared just staring at them and not freak the F-out shows that they are good, real good, the best. They are very good.

I mean, at this sort of thing, they're extremely good. You saw that. You saw that in Geneva. Everybody else was behaving absolutely crazily. The Iranians were there, the Ukrainians. the Americans, the Iranians, unable to conceal their anger. The Russians utterly disciplined, completely silent. Medinsky saying it as it is apparently in the meetings,

going off to meet the Ukrainians. They are very good. Zakaria says, does Trump want to intentionally close the strait of Hormuz to destroy Europe? Increases the industrialization. Does the U.S. despise Europe that much? I don't think so. I mean, I think he does despise Europe, actually, I think he can't stand the Europeans very much, and why would he like them, given how they feel about him? But I think that the idea that he wants Iran to humiliate the United States by basically inflicting a defeat upon it, so that the Straits of Hormuz are closed and in order to intensify American European deindustrialization. there are some leaders in the past who might have thought in that way

but I just don't believe that Trump is one. Leah Levy says, Apodoliak, these two Alexanders are very strong. Can I buy them? Thank you for that. Monti says, setting all he did to a side for a moment, to what extent in your opinion was Stalin's evilness, a case of idealism gone wild?

I think it was. Again, the best book about him, in my opinion, is the one that's been written by Jeff Roberts, in which Jeff Roberts makes the absolutely, I think a correct point that if you need, if you want to understand Stalin and understand why he became what he became and why he did what he did,

then you must go to his ideology. I mean, he believed in his ideology, and that led him to take the actions and to do the things that he did. And the word says, respect from Dublin, Alex and Alexander. Thank you. Thank you for that.

And from Gussili Prada says, Alexander, what do you think about the Gulag archipelago? Is it an accurate record or is it sensationalized? It's not an accurate record. It is sensationalised. It is a work of historical fiction. That's how it should be understood. And it is a great work of historical fiction. But don't treat it as an objective record of the Gulag about which we know an awful lot more today, by the way. And we've learned how it worked. By the way, I have visited the last of the Gulag. camps which still exists which is perm 36 and it is extraordinarily interesting and they have a very good museum there which shows you what the gulag was like including you know buildings that were left over from there and you see the photographs of the gulag camps in the far east on the colima river and they are

still frightening things to see so laris jane says Iran has some of the best engineers, over 50% of graduates are females. That's probably how they learned to shut down Starlink. Iran has exceptionally good engineers. It's got exceptionally good technocrats. I mean, it's certain aspects of the political system, which explain many of the strange inefficiencies, at least what looked to me like inefficiencies. That's, I feel, hold back Iran. The political system is very disorganized, at least I find it very disorganized and very, very fragmented. If there was a clear, strong, central government in Iran that was able to chart and plan things properly, then I think you could see Iran develop very rapidly as a successful country, especially if it were to take advantage

of the opportunities the BRICS provides. It's often forgotten, by the way, that after the Iran-Iraq war, Iran actually experienced a very rapid period of economic growth when an awful lot of infrastructure was built and health outcomes improved drastically, and education levels increased considerably. It is not a country without resources.

It's got great resources. It just doesn't seem to know how to put them all together. Sir Mug's Game says, as the end credits roll, I miss those under 10 grand subs legendary Friday night live stream. I even miss the call-in show. Yeah. Call-in show, yeah. Damir is a new member to the Grand Community.

Emilio Guziarp says, how does Turkey fit into all these dynamics? The Iranians are the police. suspicious of Erdogan and that they are absolutely right to be. Erdogan is in for what he can get. That is what he does with every single crisis. So on the one hand, he's telling the Iranians, you know, I'm your friend.

I'm here, will you? I'm prepared to provide you with your venue for negotiations. At the same time, he said to the Americans, aren't your NATO ally. if you need to use in Chirik, by all means, use it Chirik. So whatever happens, he's going to position himself so that he comes out on top. If the Iranians win, he'll be the Honours broker to negotiate things. If the Americans win, he'll be there to take bits of Iran.

That's what he's all about. All right. User BL4R is a new member to the DRA community. I believe that's one of the gifted Duran memberships. All right, that is everything, Alexander. Let me just do a quick check. And as I'm doing that, your final thoughts. Well, I mean, I know there's some people who still hope there won't be a war.

I'm absolutely sure there will be. We'll see whether it works and whether it does continue for a week or longer and what the Iranians do. I think there are these two uncertainties, whether there is something beyond the plan that the Americans seem to be showing us, whether they have some trick up their sleeve. I'm sure they do.

It's impossible to guess what it is. We'll see whether that works. And the other, I think, again, is, will Iran hold together? Because that's the real key to this. If Iran holds together, then Trump is in trouble. This came in late from last week's live stream, Alexander. We didn't answer it.

The Haki Goli says, why don't MPs raise Stomers, Ukraine? I won't say the rest. Stombers, Ukraine intrigues in Parliament, given speech protected. That is an excellent question. You should ask them. Here, I have to say we miss George Galloway, because he would have done it. But I don't think anybody else in the House of Commons

has the courage to do it. One person does it in Parliament and that is Robert Skidelsky and he does it in the House of Lords where he is apparently the only one. He says, he writes things and on the receiving end of some of these messages. He says, as always, I am a minority of one.

All right, thank you, the hockey goal. for that. And from Sparky, how long will the war last? Oh, about a week, I reckon, famous last words. Well, absolutely, yes. Absolutely, a week. Of course, you know, what was it? Harold Wilson once said, a week is a long time in politics. It can be a very long time. A week would be a very, very long time. But, you know, if it's a week, that it's less than the 12-day war, just so. Okay, we will end it there. Thank you to everyone that joined us on this live stream. Thank you to our moderators as well.

Harry, Zario, and I think that's, I think that was it for the moderators today. Yeah, I think that's it for the moderators today. So thank you to Harry and Zario. Thank you to everyone that sent us questions. Thank you to everyone that watched us on Odyssey, on Rumble and YouTube. and the durand dot locals.com and uh remember to give this video a like remember to share this

live stream and to subscribe to this channel and to also check out alexander's channel alexander mcgurdis and my channel as well all those links in the description box down below and the durand shop free shipping on orders over seventy dollars so check that out as well take care everybody and we'll have videos on our channels coming out later on So check that. Absolutely. Absolutely. Thank you very much.

Take care everybody.