# BREAKING: IRAN CANCEL U.S NEGOTIATIONS IN SWITZERLAND w/ ECONOMIST PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg7nHnVHl1Y

[00:00] coming out right now.
[00:04] Iran has cancelled their meeting in Switzerland.
[00:07] They are saying that Israel has not conformed to the demands of theou.
[00:14] The first section being that there would be complete cization of hostilities in Lebanon.
[00:20] So Iran has cancelled that meeting in Switzerland.
[00:23] What is the type of leverage that's going to be used?
[00:25] Will that affectuate any change when it comes to the Israelis?
[00:27] We're going to be speaking about that.
[00:31] We're also going to be speaking about theou.
[00:33] Theou has obviously and was confirmed to be released yesterday.
[00:38] Iran has going to have their assets fro unfrozen.
[00:40] Iran's going to have sanction relief.
[00:43] Iran's going to have um the control over the straight of Armoose.
[00:49] And so we had the perfect person to join us which is Paul Craig Roberts, former US assistant secretary of the treasury for economic policy.
[00:56] He is an economist and a author
[01:01] and he's also a former subcandid subc cabinet office.
[01:05] He held the former he held a position in the subc cabinet uh in the United States of America's federal government.
[01:13] So very interested and important and looking forward to the economic conversation that we're going to also have in addition to the geopolitics.
[01:19] Paul, thank you so much for taking your time out to join us.
[01:24] How are you?
[01:27] I'm just fine.
[01:29] I'm very pleased to join you.
[01:30] Very kind of you.
[01:32] Paul, we just got some breaking news.
[01:33] It was literally 5 minutes before you came on that the Iranians are saying they will not be going to the meeting in Switzerland until Israel stops all hostilities in Lebanon.
[01:44] What's your thoughts on this move?
[01:48] Well, I predicted that.
[01:50] I thought that would happen.
[01:53] The Iranians are going to see if President Trump is
[02:02] capable of forcing Israel to comply with the memorandum of understanding.
[02:11] The only reason the Iranians signed that memorandum uh Wednesday evening digitally was to um see if Trump would be able to force Israeli compliance.
[02:25] And that's what Iran is now testing.
[02:33] They're going to see if Trump can get a hold of [clears throat] Netanya by the throat and tell him he has to comply or the uh relationship Israel has enjoyed with the United States uh providing diplomatic cover for its war crimes, its genocide, uh providing it with weapons endless billions of dollars.
[03:02] Uh that
[03:05] that is all threatened if Israel prevents a resolution of the situation in the Middle East.
[03:14] So Iran is testing that and we will see who is the strongest, President Trump or Israel.
[03:25] and it's extremely powerful Israel lobby inside the United States which of course includes the entire United States Congress.
[03:46] Paul, I'm not uh I was just talking to my audience before you came on.
[03:48] I'm not too sure about the legitimacy of this claimed split.
[03:53] And what I mean by that is I mean I agree in terms of Israel is continuing its attack on Lebanon but if you look at the volume of attack it has subsided quite a bit since the agreement
[04:07] and I've spoke to many people on the ground in Lebanon and they hold the view that actually Israel struggling quite badly on the ground and they will only be able to last a couple of weeks.
[04:17] And so I guess I'm positing this possibility to you and I want to hear your thoughts that could this be that the Israelis were struggling.
[04:23] They only had one or two weeks left.
[04:25] There is the Israeli army chief and various others who also conform to this possibility that they were struggling.
[04:30] Also Trump was struggling and I'm going to speak to you about that in the economic aspect of it.
[04:36] And so this became a unanimous agreed decision between the two.
[04:39] and now and they're just plain to the public that there is some kind of disagreement and they forced Israel out.
[04:45] That's kind of something I want to posit to you, but I want to hear your thoughts on that.
[04:52] Well, anything of course uh is possible.
[04:56] But both the Israeli prime minister, the Israeli war minister, the Israeli minister for national security and the Israeli finance minister all
[05:10] stated very recently, unequivocally
[05:14] that they had no intention whatsoever
[05:18] of stopping their attacks on Lebanon
[05:24] and certainly none
[05:26] for withdrawing their occupation of Lebanese territories.
[05:33] They said that Lebanon or the territories that Israel occupies are essential to Israeli defense.
[05:44] Of course, they're not essential to Israeli defense.
[05:51] They are essential to the growth of a greater Israel.
[05:55] Clearly, the Israeli Zionist government intends to start gobbling up Lebanon bit by bit, just as they gobbled up Palestine over 79 years.
[06:16] Iran is in Israel's way.
[06:22] Because Iran supplies the resistance movement in Lebanon, Hezbollah.
[06:29] And Iran supplies the resistance movement in Yemen, the Houthis.
[06:36] So Iran is scheduled uh to be removed by Israel.
[06:44] And Israel thought that it had achieved this objective when it convinced uh [snorts] the US President Donald Trump to attack Iran a second time, but the second time in a more fundamental and broader way that was supposed to result in the collapse of the Iranian state.
[07:13] It didn't.
[07:16] And Trump, seeing that he has no viable military solution, wants out because he faces a midterm election.
[07:32] And although the American people are prejudiced against Iran, they don't support the war and they increasingly do not support Israel.
[07:51] So, President Trump is concerned that the midterm elections this fall, this autumn, may give the Congress to the Democrats, in which case he faces impeachment and possibly this time conviction.
[08:17] And so Trump wants out of this mess.
[08:22] Israel wants the war to continue,
[08:27] particularly with Americans help because Israel cannot continue it by itself.
[08:36] And so the benefit to Iran is that Israel at this moment and Trump at this moment have different interest.
[08:53] And I think it's very clever of the Iranians to test the struggle between Trump and Netanyahu.
[09:04] We're going to find out which is the most powerful and that decision will determine
[09:17] what happens with regard to future conflict with Iran.
[09:25] Great point.
[09:25] Uh now another question I wanted to speak to you about was we spoke about how Trump possibly wanted to get out of this war because of risks of impeachment.
[09:36] He could lose the House and the Senate in the midterms.
[09:41] That being said, he said yesterday and this is why I want wanted to speak to you about as well in addition to many of the other things we're speaking about.
[09:49] But he said yesterday he said we were running out of um we meaning the United States of America were running out of oil reserves.
[09:55] There was only a month supply of oil left in the United States.
[10:01] How much of an energy crisis was there in the United States of America?
[10:05] A possible financial crisis.
[10:07] He also mentioned that this we were US and the world was going towards a going towards a route that would take them towards a financial depression.
[10:17] So, taking those two things
[10:19] into consideration, what's your thoughts about how those affectuated his decision-m?
[10:25] All right.
[10:25] First, I will say that these are Trump's excuses for making an agreement instead of continuing to bomb Iran.
[10:43] These are excuses that I'm doing this not for the Iranians, which the Israel lobby accuses him of doing.
[10:54] I'm doing this for Americans and our allies and the whole world because with the straits of Hormuz close, energy flows reduce, the price of oil goes up, the price of oil enters every product, all prices in the world rise.
[11:14] This is a terrible thing.
[11:14] and me, Donald Trump, I'm preventing that by
[11:22] dealing with Iran trying to arise at peace.
[11:26] So that's the main reason for what he says.
[11:29] Now you ask me, how valid are the claims?
[11:35] Well, if the Australian Hormos stays closed and the world is deprived of about 20% of oil flows, uh by this fall, by this autumn, by October,
[11:59] [clears throat] world inflation will be worse.
[12:01] And a lot of people in particularly uh in the third world but even in the United States are already pressed that the cost of things rises faster than their income.
[12:16] And so it is a a serious problem if
[12:26] We believe that voters actually have any influence over government.
[12:35] From my long experience in Washington, I think the influence that voters have in a democracy is minimal.
[12:47] The influence comes from the powerful organized interests that supply the campaign contributions that elect the members of the government.
[13:01] That's where the power is and that power is not in the hands of the people.
[13:09] So I think that uh whereas there is a threat if oil flows remain uh restricted for a long period of time that the consequences uh could be a problem for governments.
[13:32] But I don't think that's what's in play with Trump.
[13:34] I think Trump is under attack for being lenient to Iranian terrorists and he's having to show that that's not the case, that he's trying to uh save uh the world from hardships that can be avoided.
[13:59] So that's [clears throat] my my response to your question.
[14:05] Fair enough.
[14:05] I understand what you're saying.
[14:07] Now we saw theou come out and financially it was very beneficial for Iran.
[14:14] You had a scenario where they will have the assets unfrozen.
[14:19] There is going to be a pathway to all sanctions being removed.
[14:22] There is going to be a situation where they're going to have control over the straight of Haramoose and for the first 60 days they're not
[14:33] able to charge at all.
[14:35] But after the 60 days, the docu document seems to suggest that they will be able to do so.
[14:41] From an financial economic perspective, how much of an impact will this have on Iran's economy?
[14:46] How much of an impact will it have on Iran developing as a Middle Eastern power?
[14:50] How much of an impact will it have for Iran to possibly move towards becoming a world power?
[14:58] Well, this will certainly be favorable to Iran, but it'll also be favorable to peace in the Middle East.
[15:08] uh because it strengthens Iran relative to Israel.
[15:16] what what the U Arab community indeed the entire Muslim community including the Turks and the Pakistanis and the Iranians have ignored for a century
[15:34] is the Zionist agenda of greater Israel.
[15:39] The entire Muslim world acts like it's never heard of the Zionist agenda of greater Israel.
[15:47] Israel claims the entirety of the Middle East as its territory.
[15:56] Originally the claim was limited.
[15:56] Israel existed from the Nile to the Euphrates that is uh the eastern part of of Egypt uh and the western part of Iraq.
[16:11] So that meant Syria, uh, Lebanon, Lebanon, Jordan, parts of Iraq and parts of Egypt.
[16:21] But in the last year, uh, two of the Israeli ministers have modified the definition of greater Israel.
[16:32] It now
[16:35] extends from the Nile to Pakistan.
[16:41] And last February, just a few months ago,
[16:45] the former Israeli Prime Minister Bennett, also an avowed Zionist, was in the United States to speak to the annual meeting of the American Jewish Organizations, that is the Israel lobby.
[17:09] and he told the lobby, this is a direct quote, that Turkey is the next Iran.
[17:23] Now at the time, this was last February, he expected the planned attack from Trump and Net Naou on Iran would succeed and and Iran would
[17:39] be history.
[17:42] and he was giving the message to the American Jewish lobby
[17:47] to start demonizing Turkey
[17:51] to set them up as Iran's replacement as a terrorist state
[17:57] and to get the propaganda going so the American public would accept Turkey as the new terrorist state that could be safely attacked by Israel with the aid of the United States.
[18:21] So that was in that was planned that was ready to go.
[18:24] So you can see the Israelis have an agenda
[18:31] of taking the entirety of the Middle East, even the non-Arab elements such as the
[18:39] Persians in Iran and the Turks and Turkey.
[18:46] So this agenda has never received attention from anyone.
[18:56] The Western world ignores it.
[18:59] The Arab world has ignored it.
[19:01] And the consequence is Libya's gone.
[19:04] Iraq's gone.
[19:09] Syria's gone.
[19:09] Israel has US at war with Iran is trying to keep them at war with Iran.
[19:17] Israel is starting to devour Lebanon in little bit little bites little bites at a time.
[19:27] The same way they ate up Palestine over 79 years.
[19:32] So this is the real problem.
[19:35] This is the real challenge.
[19:38] And it's not recognized.
[19:38] No one addresses it.
[19:40] Nope.
[19:40] Not even the Iranians have said, "What is this about great Israel?
[19:47] Do you mean you own all this territory where there are all of these independent countries?
[19:55] H how can you make this claim?
[19:57] Nobody's asked them that.
[20:00] No one in the US Congress has ever asked, "Hey, what is this claim that Israel owns the entirety of the Middle East?"
[20:16] Maybe it's because the claim seems so absurd that no one can take it seriously, but the Zionists do.
[20:26] The Israelis take it seriously.
[20:30] And therefore they have an agenda that no one else has an agenda.
[20:36] So this gives them the upper hand and this upper hand is greatly
[20:41] strengthened
[20:43] by the power they exercise over the
[20:46] United States.
[20:48] So, we're now going to see whether
[20:51] Donald Trump's ego
[20:54] is sufficient
[20:57] to stand up to Israel's power over the
[21:01] United States.
[21:03] That's what's in play
[21:06] and it's the outcome of this test that
[21:10] will determine
[21:12] what next happens.
[21:15] >> What's your thoughts on this? um and a
[21:18] tour that JD Vance has been on
[21:21] culminating essentially in today where
[21:23] he's been very aggressive in his
[21:26] admonishment of Israel and the Israeli
[21:29] lobby. For example, he said the
[21:30] following quote, "What does bother me is
[21:33] that you see people in BB's cabinet who
[21:35] have come out who have come out and
[21:38] attacked the deal and in some ways very
[21:41] personally attacked the president. My
[21:43] message to them is Donald J. Trump is
[21:46] the only head in head of state in the
[21:49] entire world who is sympathetic to the
[21:53] nation of Israel at this moment in time.
[21:56] He also continued and said, "If I was in
[21:59] the cabinet of the Israeli government, I
[22:02] might not be attacking the only powerful
[22:04] ally that I have left that I have left.
[22:08] Twothirds of the defensive weapons that
[22:10] have protected your homeland have been
[22:13] built by American hands and paid for by
[22:17] American tax dollars. The problem for
[22:20] Israel is not Donald J. Trump. And
[22:22] anybody in Israel who thinks their
[22:24] biggest problem is the president of the
[22:27] United States of America needs to wake
[22:29] up and smell the reality of the
[22:31] situation that situation that country is
[22:34] in. He also talked about how Israel is
[22:38] very weak. A country of 9 million
[22:40] people. They cannot do anything when it
[22:42] comes to military action or have
[22:45] effectuate any kind of impact or change.
[22:46] What's your thoughts on JD Vance and the
[22:49] statements he's been making over the
[22:50] last couple of days?
[22:53] >> Yes. Well, I think the answer to the
[22:55] question is fairly simple. JD Vance is
[22:59] the vice president and the likely
[23:02] candidate for president to succeed Trump
[23:06] and therefore he has to protect the
[23:08] Trump regime.
[23:11] If uh President Trump and the regime is
[23:14] discredited
[23:16] then Vance's uh chances of succeeding
[23:20] Trump are extremely poor. So he will
[23:24] clearly u defend Trump against any and
[23:29] all accusations.
[23:32] So the fact that some of the things he
[23:34] said about Israel are true,
[23:39] but that's not the reason he said them.
[23:42] He didn't say them to express truth. He
[23:45] said them to protect
[23:49] uh the Trump regime because he hopes to
[23:52] be the next one.
[23:55] Now
[23:58] I myself have said that Israel is weak.
[24:02] It's a tiny tiny place.
[24:05] It's likely that if the Iranians
[24:09] uh were more determined
[24:12] to recognize that they had an enemy they
[24:16] had to destroy.
[24:18] They would attack Deona
[24:21] with their hypersonic missiles
[24:24] and the
[24:26] nuclear explosion or the release of the
[24:30] nuclear
[24:32] uh
[24:33] fumes,
[24:35] whatever they call, it would wipe Israel
[24:38] out.
[24:40] It wouldn't be there.
[24:43] So, but they don't do it.
[24:46] And so Israel has a strength
[24:51] uh that seems to be based into 79 years
[24:57] of getting away with everything
[25:01] including the theft of Palestine. If you
[25:04] look at the map in 1947,
[25:08] uh Israel is a tiny little speck
[25:12] on the territory of Palestine. You look
[25:15] at it today and Palestine's a tiny
[25:18] little speck
[25:20] on the map of Israel.
[25:22] >> Yeah. So
[25:24] a country that has that kind of success
[25:27] has confidence
[25:31] and the Israelis have massive confidence
[25:35] in their agenda,
[25:37] particularly as they have proclaimed it
[25:41] openly decade after decade, holding up
[25:45] maps of greater Israel for the Arabs to
[25:48] see. And they don't see it.
[25:54] So um
[25:57] the is Israelis may end up a victim of
[26:01] their confidence
[26:04] but for the moment they have it
[26:07] and they are confident as the Israeli
[26:11] newspapers
[26:12] uh headlines today said
[26:16] Netanyahu will rely on the Republicans
[26:21] senators
[26:23] to control Donald Trump for Israel.
[26:29] Well, that's likely to work.
[26:35] And so what Iran is testing is
[26:40] who's the strongest, Israel or Trump?
[26:43] Can Israel break up this memorandum of
[26:48] uh understanding
[26:51] uh by not submitting to Trump's pressure
[26:55] to comply?
[26:58] And it seems from what you reported at
[27:01] the beginning of our meeting
[27:04] that
[27:06] the Iranians have concluded Israel is
[27:09] not complying and so they're not either.
[27:14] So, I thought the Iranians would give it
[27:17] a longer test.
[27:19] I thought they would give it three, four
[27:22] days, maybe even a week.
[27:26] Uh, but um, apparently not.
[27:31] Or apparently they decided to increase
[27:34] the pressure on Trump.
[27:38] Maybe they said, "Well, we're not
[27:40] complying because Israel isn't." In
[27:42] order that Trump understands
[27:46] that he's on the spot, he has to make
[27:51] Israel comply
[27:53] or
[27:55] the deal is off and he hasn't any way
[27:58] out and he hasn't any way to explain to
[28:01] the American people about what a great
[28:03] peacemaker he is and he doesn't want the
[28:06] war either. So,
[28:09] we'll see. I I don't really think at
[28:13] this point that the Iranians are pulling
[28:17] out. They're just telling Trump that to
[28:20] see if he is capable of doing anything
[28:24] to make Israel comply.
[28:27] And we'll know that uh I think in a few
[28:31] days.
[28:33] And as I said earlier in our discussion
[28:36] uh that'll tell us uh how events will
[28:39] unfold.
[28:42] >> Um so one thing I've been saying to my
[28:44] audience is that this is and could be a
[28:49] trap for Iran. And what I mean by that
[28:51] is if you look at the Israelis, they've
[28:54] been when it looks to when it was comes
[28:57] to Lebanon, they've been increasing
[28:58] their attacks slowly on Lebanon. And so
[29:02] if you don't respond, you fall into a
[29:04] trap where then you need some big event
[29:07] in order to respond. And currently my
[29:10] position was that this is the key
[29:11] leverage point. up until Friday, you
[29:14] have this well publicized meeting in
[29:17] Switzerland, which according to my good
[29:20] friend Larry Johnson was moved because
[29:22] of some threats by the Israelis where
[29:25] they were possibly trying to assassinate
[29:27] the Iranian negotiators. But that being
[29:31] said, this is the key leverage point.
[29:33] We're now in Wednesday, I believe. And
[29:35] so, you have political leverage as per
[29:37] the meeting on Friday, which they've
[29:39] used, and you also have military
[29:41] leverage. And it's always better to try
[29:42] and use your political leverage first
[29:45] before moving to your military leverage,
[29:47] which is obviously hitting Israel with
[29:49] missiles. And so I do think that it was
[29:53] a good move. I think it was a smart
[29:55] move. I believe it was the right
[29:57] decision to make in order to use that
[29:59] leverage right now. What's your thoughts
[30:00] on this?
[30:04] Well,
[30:05] my own thoughts is that um
[30:10] the outcome is in Iran's hands, not
[30:14] Trump's and not netus.
[30:18] And if Iran sticks to its 14 points and
[30:22] it sticks to the reaffirmation
[30:27] that the Iranian president made when he
[30:29] signed the memorandum of understanding,
[30:32] the affirmation that they were loyal to
[30:37] their Lebanese allies and would not
[30:39] betray them,
[30:41] then the outcome is up to Iran or Iran's
[30:45] decisions. It will depend on what Iran
[30:48] decides
[30:50] and not on what
[30:54] Net Na or Trump decide. You have to
[30:58] remember
[30:59] the the original ceasefire, not the
[31:02] memorandum of understanding, but the
[31:04] original ceasefire that stopped the war
[31:07] that Iran was clearly winning
[31:11] came from Israel and Trump, not from
[31:14] Iran.
[31:17] I [snorts] think it was a mistake
[31:20] for Iran
[31:22] to agree to the ceasefire. I think they
[31:24] should have continued, destroyed Israel,
[31:28] and dictated the terms of peace.
[31:34] But they didn't.
[31:36] Possibly because of Putin
[31:41] leaning on the Iranians, saying, "Make
[31:43] peace. Make peace.
[31:45] something bad will happen. I don't know.
[31:49] But I suspect that just from looking at
[31:51] the way Putin has conducted a fiveday
[31:55] war now in the fifth year.
[31:59] >> Yeah, exactly.
[32:01] >> So
[32:04] the way I see it then, it's what does
[32:07] Iran make of what Trump does, of what
[32:11] Israel says or does?
[32:15] It's up to them.
[32:17] Uh
[32:19] I don't think the Iranians have come
[32:22] around
[32:23] to the recognition
[32:26] that the Zionist agenda of greater
[32:28] Israel means Iran cannot exist.
[32:34] It cannot exist.
[32:36] And so for Iran, the conflict with
[32:39] Israel is existential. It's nothing that
[32:42] can be resolved in a peace negotiation
[32:46] unless the Israeli government
[32:51] renounces the agenda of greater Israel.
[32:56] And what can make them do that? Nothing
[32:58] but a dreadful defeat.
[33:03] And yet when Iran had the opportunity
[33:08] to deliver Israel a dreadful defeat,
[33:12] it stopped and walked away. The
[33:15] Americans were helpless.
[33:18] All of their radar and air bases and
[33:20] naval bases in the Middle East were
[33:23] inoperable.
[33:25] The mighty American fleet had to be kept
[33:29] out of the range of Iranian missiles.
[33:34] It was in Iran's hands
[33:38] and they gave up the victory for a
[33:41] ceasefire that they didn't ask for. They
[33:44] had no need for a ceasefire.
[33:48] So this was a strategic blunder by the
[33:52] Iranian government.
[33:54] I think they realized it at least in
[33:58] part.
[33:59] And so, but I still think they're in the
[34:02] driver's seat.
[34:04] There's [clears throat] no possibility
[34:05] of the United States invading Iran with
[34:08] a land army. Iran is the size of Western
[34:12] Europe.
[34:14] There are 90 million people.
[34:18] >> Israel can hardly deal with a Lebanese
[34:21] militia.
[34:23] How's it going to deal with an Iranian
[34:25] army?
[34:27] There's no possibility.
[34:32] The Iron Dome is uh easily penetrated by
[34:37] the Israelis or by the Iranians.
[34:40] Uh so it's really up to Iran. What is
[34:44] what does Iran really realize?
[34:47] Do they understand that the agenda of
[34:49] greater Israel means they cannot exist?
[34:55] No. Arab or Muslim country in the Middle
[34:58] East can exist. Not even Turkey.
[35:00] Remember, Turkey is the next Iran.
[35:03] That's what Bennett told the American
[35:07] uh Jewish lobby last February.
[35:11] So, and the the latest uh map of greater
[35:16] Israel includes Saudi Arabia, all of it.
[35:21] So, when are the Arabs going to wake up?
[35:24] ever.
[35:27] >> Well,
[35:28] >> I don't think the Arabs or the Muslims
[35:30] are going to wake up. They're asleep.
[35:31] They're in slumber right now. Paul, um
[35:34] just in terms of what you said, um and
[35:36] this is it's always tough to, you know,
[35:38] fight these battles because there isn't
[35:40] much support. I agree with you. But in
[35:42] terms of um what you mentioned, I
[35:45] totally agree with you. I think they
[35:46] should never have agreed to the
[35:47] ceasefire. I think it was a mistake.
[35:50] From my understanding, there were two
[35:51] key reasons. But then I think I agree
[35:54] with you. So even though they these are
[35:55] the two excuses they give, I think that
[35:57] despite that being the case, you had
[35:59] them on the knees, you had your boot, as
[36:01] I said to Scott, you had the boot on the
[36:03] neck of Israel and America, you don't
[36:05] let it up. But their excuse is twofold.
[36:07] So the first one is apparently they were
[36:09] in terms of, you know, the missiles are
[36:11] underground. There was a bottleneck
[36:13] issue where they were struggling to get
[36:15] gas into those different uh areas un
[36:19] into these underground cities in order
[36:21] to launch the missiles fuel. And the
[36:24] other thing was allegedly it was the
[36:27] Chinese who essentially pressured Iran
[36:30] then and even with thisou I'm also of
[36:34] the understanding that even thisou it
[36:37] was the Chinese who pressured Iran to
[36:39] agree to it cuz there was a couple of
[36:41] key points that Iran still did not agree
[36:43] to in this. The first was the 60 days
[36:45] without it all. And the second one was
[36:47] that they felt that some of the language
[36:50] in some of the points was a bit too
[36:53] vague. Um but it was under Chinese
[36:55] pressure where apparently the Chinese
[36:57] said to them, "Look, sign the document.
[36:59] You've got our backing. We'll make sure
[37:00] that you, you know, things go well for
[37:02] you." So that's my understanding, but
[37:03] what's what's your thoughts on that?
[37:06] >> Well, I think you I think you're correct
[37:09] in identifying the Chinese. I chose to
[37:14] speak about Putin because we have the
[37:17] obvious way he's failed to handle the
[37:20] Ukrainian situation.
[37:23] Um, the Chinese of course probably know
[37:26] nothing about the Middle East
[37:29] and their main concern is they get the
[37:32] oil and they don't want any disruptions
[37:36] uh from uh oil flow uh flows not getting
[37:43] there that would cause uh trouble within
[37:46] the country. uh the the Chinese uh
[37:50] Communist Party which is no longer
[37:52] communist.
[37:53] >> Yeah.
[37:54] >> Keeps the name. Uh
[37:57] >> they're as communist as the Americans
[37:59] are capitalist.
[38:00] >> Yeah. [laughter]
[38:01] It it's very much concerned about uh the
[38:05] people being happy and satisfied and not
[38:08] troubled and disruptions of oil flows
[38:13] could make them unhappy and and
[38:16] troubled. And so that's the way that's
[38:20] the only way the Chinese thinking about
[38:22] it. We don't want any domestic problems
[38:25] from some disruption in energy flows. So
[38:29] you go make peace Iran. you they're not
[38:33] thinking strategically about this and uh
[38:37] [clears throat]
[38:38] and so I think you're right though I did
[38:39] see that today uh the Chinese government
[38:43] said that uh they uh they stand with the
[38:49] Iranians.
[38:51] Now I don't know what it means. Putin's
[38:54] always standing with everybody but he
[38:56] never does anything. [laughter]
[38:58] So, I don't I don't know what the
[39:02] Chinese said means anything or not, but
[39:06] I think you're right that the Chinese
[39:08] were looking at this and saying we got a
[39:10] lot to lose. There'll be unhappiness at
[39:14] home if the oil flows are are messed up.
[39:18] And so, we'll lean on Iran.
[39:22] Or they could have leaned on Israel.
[39:27] >> Yeah, exactly. Well, they could have
[39:28] leaned on the United States,
[39:30] but they didn't.
[39:32] So, they went to what they regarded as
[39:35] the weakest party. I think they're
[39:38] wrong. I don't think Iran's the weakest
[39:40] party.
[39:42] I agree. Um, guys, make sure you like
[39:45] this video and retweet. Let's try and
[39:47] get as many people in here as possible.
[39:50] Now, one of the other things I wanted to
[39:52] talk to you about was um this um $300
[39:57] billion allegedly that the United States
[40:00] is going to give Iran. Now, there are
[40:02] different hypotheses in terms of what
[40:05] this could mean. Some believe this is
[40:07] coming from US taxpayers. Trump denies
[40:10] this. Others believe this coming from US
[40:13] corporations.
[40:14] Others believe it's coming from Gulf
[40:16] State um investment fund.
[40:20] Where is this money coming from? What is
[40:23] the implications of this 300 billion? By
[40:25] the way, I'm someone who thinks that if
[40:27] this is coming from US corporations,
[40:30] this is essentially Iran selling out
[40:32] because you can't sell your country to
[40:34] corporate American interests and
[40:36] basically have Trump Tower in Thran. But
[40:38] what's uh what's your thoughts on what
[40:39] this 300 billion means?
[40:42] Okay, according to uh President Trump,
[40:46] the 300 billion comes from none of those
[40:50] sources. It comes from the Gulf uh state
[40:54] oil sheet,
[40:57] Oman, Qatar, the United Arab
[41:02] Republics, [laughter]
[41:04] uh
[41:04] >> kingdoms. This is money they give to
[41:09] Iran as reparations
[41:13] for the damage inflicted on Iran by the
[41:18] American Israeli attack which the Gulf
[41:22] states supported by having American air
[41:26] and naval bases on their territories.
[41:30] So the source of the money is the oil
[41:34] shikums in the Persian Gulf. And
[41:37] according to Trump,
[41:40] this money takes the place of Iranian
[41:45] tolls
[41:47] on passage through the straight of
[41:50] Hormos. So this is how Trump claims
[41:55] also that he is keeping the straight
[41:58] open and free of tolls.
[42:03] No, no American is paying the to is
[42:06] paying this 300 billion. It's the
[42:10] Persian Gulf oil sheets.
[42:14] So that's the source according to Trump
[42:16] of the 300 billion. Now, uh, Trump is
[42:22] accused in the United States of giving
[42:25] Iran $300 billion,
[42:28] but that's untrue. You may remember
[42:32] Obama was when he made a deal with Iran,
[42:38] uh, was accused of giving Iran hundreds
[42:41] of billions of dollars. Um, where that
[42:45] was from, I don't remember. Possibly
[42:48] it was um thought to be u a product of
[42:53] removing sanctions which I don't think
[42:56] were actually removed but I can't
[42:58] remember.
[43:00] So that's the way I would answer your
[43:03] question Solomon. It it it's not
[43:06] American money that is going to Iran.
[43:10] >> Fair enough. So, it is going to be
[43:11] possibly Gulf State money, possibly
[43:14] based on reparations or investment. For
[43:17] me, it does matter what it is. If it's
[43:19] investment, again, major problems. If
[43:21] it's reparations,
[43:21] >> it's just talk.
[43:23] >> Mhm.
[43:23] >> It's talk. It's
[43:26] Trump's in a mess and he has to have all
[43:30] kinds of ways of getting out of it.
[43:34] And um
[43:36] so I wouldn't get too carried away by
[43:40] what the president of the United States
[43:42] says. The question is what is he going
[43:44] to do?
[43:46] Iran has him locked
[43:49] in a potential conflict with Israel.
[43:56] I think the Iranians are betting
[43:59] that the outcome of this conflict will
[44:03] inform Iran what to do.
[44:08] And I think the Iranians are waiting on
[44:11] the result of the conflict which
[44:17] they
[44:18] created when they signed the memorandum
[44:23] of understanding. despite Israel's
[44:27] rejection of it.
[44:30] See, I always wondered why did they sign
[44:32] the damn memorandum when Israel has
[44:34] already said go to hell. We're not going
[44:36] to pay attention to it.
[44:38] >> Why sign it? Because it puts Trump in
[44:41] conflict with Israel.
[44:44] So, this was the first smart move by the
[44:49] Iranian government. The first thing they
[44:51] did that was smart.
[44:54] >> It was It was extremely smart.
[44:57] >> Yeah. And we got to see what happens
[45:01] if it may be Trump simply lacks the
[45:05] power
[45:06] >> to engage in conflict with Israel. The
[45:10] the the world doesn't understand how
[45:14] powerful
[45:15] the Israel lobby is in the United
[45:17] States. For example, the Israel lobby
[45:21] has been able to reach into the
[45:24] legislatures
[45:26] of, I think, 38 of the American states.
[45:32] That's 25 would be half. They've been
[45:36] able to reach into 38 state
[45:38] legislatores, including Republican
[45:41] states like Texas and Florida,
[45:45] and have the legislaturators pass
[45:48] legislation
[45:50] that if an American criticizes Israel,
[45:53] it cannot work for the state government.
[45:56] It cannot have a contract to supply
[46:00] goods and services to the state
[46:03] government. and the governors have
[46:05] signed the laws.
[46:08] This is unbelievable
[46:10] power. We're not talking about the
[46:13] Congress in Washington, but the state
[46:15] legislatures.
[46:17] The Israelis have proved their ability
[46:20] to reach inside the tenure decisions of
[46:25] American universities
[46:28] and determine
[46:30] who the university is allowed to keep.
[46:36] Even Catholic universities,
[46:42] they have succeeded in establishing that
[46:47] students in American universities
[46:50] who demonstrate in favor of Palestine
[46:54] are expelled from the school.
[46:58] And if there are foreign students here
[47:00] on valid visas, they are deported from
[47:03] the country. See, you can't even
[47:06] criticize Israel.
[47:08] I can do it because I'm independent.
[47:11] If I had an employer, there would be
[47:13] pressure on my employer to fire me.
[47:20] If my wife was alive working, there'd be
[47:24] pressure on her employer to fire her. If
[47:28] I had a kid applying to Harvard, he'd be
[47:31] rejected.
[47:34] This is the power of the Israel lobby.
[47:39] We now have American conservatives
[47:43] running around saying if you don't love
[47:46] Israel, you can't be an American.
[47:54] So you can see why that use confident.
[48:05] We'll soon we'll soon know because I
[48:08] don't see right now there may be a way
[48:12] Trump may come up with a way. I don't
[48:14] see quite how Trump is going to get out
[48:18] of this situation that the Iranians have
[48:22] put him in by signing the memorandum.
[48:27] How can he not try to make Israel comply
[48:34] with the requirement
[48:36] of the memorandum because that's the
[48:39] terms Iran signed it on.
[48:42] Israel's compliance. So if he doesn't
[48:45] even try,
[48:48] how can he turn around and blame the
[48:50] failure on the Iranians?
[48:55] If he can't blame the failure on the
[48:57] Iranians, how can he justify renewing
[49:00] the war?
[49:03] As if he could. I actually do not think
[49:06] the United States is capable of renewing
[49:09] the war.
[49:11] I don't believe that they're capable of
[49:13] it.
[49:17] Perhaps [clears throat] they are for
[49:20] 2 3 weeks.
[49:24] So that's the uh situation. I I hope
[49:30] I've been clear and that everyone can
[49:34] understand what is really
[49:37] uh the facts. uh the western media is a
[49:41] total failure in explaining any of this.
[49:45] They they have no comprehension
[49:48] whatsoever.
[49:50] And since the western media still for
[49:54] reasons that I can't understand
[49:56] influences the world media,
[50:00] it may well be the entire world doesn't
[50:02] understand what the situation is.
[50:07] Well, I've tried to explain it, Solomon.
[50:10] I
[50:12] I hope I did a clear job. And
[50:15] >> you did indeed. I And I totally agree
[50:18] with what you're saying. If you look at
[50:19] the level of control that they have,
[50:21] whether it's, as you mentioned, I I gave
[50:24] up millions of dollar contract because
[50:26] of my position on being against Israel
[50:29] before October the 7th. I had a very
[50:31] lucrative deal and then I had to stand
[50:34] up and speak against a lot of the
[50:35] propaganda that was occurring straight
[50:37] after that day because I was seeing and
[50:40] viewing that they were attempting to
[50:42] manufacture consent in order to commit a
[50:44] genocide in Gaza. So you we're speaking
[50:47] to someone who's being impacted in the
[50:49] millions of dollars but so I totally
[50:51] agree with you and if you look at it
[50:53] this is an attack on you know what makes
[50:54] like I'm I'm of society because it
[50:57] develops ideas and thoughts they're not
[50:59] put in a small box and [snorts] so when
[51:01] you see the direct attack on free speech
[51:03] in the United States of America cuz I
[51:04] spend my audience is actually all
[51:06] largely American and um I spend 50% of
[51:09] my time largely in America and then 50%
[51:11] in the UK but in both countries you see
[51:12] the same thing an attack on free speech
[51:15] you look at UK people put these mass
[51:17] arrests that occur in UK due to social
[51:20] media posts. What they won't tell you is
[51:22] the vast majority of those posts are if
[51:24] someone speaks out against Israel. There
[51:27] is the complete control over US
[51:29] government, complete control over the UK
[51:31] government. Social media influences are
[51:33] completely controlling the UK. At least
[51:34] with the US, there is some glimmers of
[51:37] certain people willing to have
[51:38] conversations about this such as
[51:39] yourself, Tucker Carlson, um, Candace
[51:43] Owens, and all these big people who are
[51:45] speaking about this, but it's completely
[51:47] controlled and occupied and you don't
[51:49] have these ideas and the ideas that are
[51:52] being pushed are basically an antithesis
[51:55] to what makes, I believe, Western
[51:57] society great. But what's your thoughts
[51:59] on this?
[52:01] >> Yes, it's extraordinary. your you what
[52:04] you've brought out is that Israel is so
[52:07] powerful it can even repeal the first
[52:11] amendment of the United States
[52:14] Constitution.
[52:15] In fact, there's an effort in the United
[52:18] States Congress to do precisely that
[52:23] >> and is supported by Donald Trump.
[52:27] >> Well, he's issued a number of executive
[52:28] orders in order to do that. if anybody
[52:31] he's got a who is going to be very pro
[52:34] who was going to basically
[52:37] search for people who are anti-semitic
[52:39] and to basically destroy as per what you
[52:41] said their careers there's this new bill
[52:43] that they've got section 224 which
[52:46] merges the Israeli government with the
[52:49] sorry Israeli so Israeli military
[52:51] Israeli and American technology drones
[52:54] and missiles and we know that technology
[52:57] that that ability those skills all come
[52:59] from the US. The Israelis are just going
[53:01] to leech off it and take the secrets of
[53:03] the United States.
[53:05] >> Yes. The integration of the Israeli and
[53:08] the American militaries.
[53:11] Yeah. their control is uh becoming
[53:14] complete and um let's hope that Trump's
[53:18] ego is so great that he won't bend
[53:25] and that we have a break in Israel's
[53:29] supremacy over the United States.
[53:33] Uh let's hope let's hope also that uh
[53:37] the Middle Eastern states
[53:40] uh uh realize the implications of the
[53:45] Zionist agenda of greater Israel.
[53:48] If they don't realize that they have no
[53:50] chance whatsoever of survival.
[53:54] >> Totally agree with you. Let's hope so.
[53:56] But let's see what happens. But Paul,
[53:58] thank you so much for taking your time
[54:00] out to join us. really appreciate your
[54:02] thoughts. First time I've spoken to you
[54:04] and really valued our conversation.
[54:06] Where can people find you if they want
[54:08] to see more of your work and more of the
[54:10] things that you're producing?
[54:12] >> Uh, it's very simple. I avoid social
[54:14] media. Uh, my website is
[54:19] www.paulcragroberts.org.
[54:26] Very simple. Uh there's an enormous
[54:30] amount of material there
[54:33] and um I stand by all of it. I haven't
[54:37] had to go back and
[54:39] and delete any of it. [laughter]
[54:42] >> That's great.
[54:45] >> Brilliant. Thank you so much for taking
[54:47] your time out to join us. Appreciate
[54:49] your uh openness in this conversation
[54:51] and thank you so much for taking your
[54:52] time out. It was really valuable.
[54:54] Well, thank you for the opportunity to
[54:56] speak with you and I hope I have the
[54:58] pleasure again.
[54:59] >> It would be our honor and privilege.
[55:01] Thank you so much.
[55:04] >> Thank you. That was Paul uh Craig
[55:06] Roberts. Do give him a follow. What a
[55:08] legend. What a legend. Really enjoyed
[55:12] that conversation. Guys, make sure you
[55:14] like this video. Make sure you share
[55:16] this video and subscribe to the channel
[55:19] and have your notifications on. Let's
[55:22] try and get as many people in here as
[55:24] possible. I'm so glad I had him on. He
[55:25] was He was awesome. I liked him.
[55:27] [snorts] Um, now next we're going to
[55:29] have like this video. By the way, guys,
[55:31] next we're going to have on David Payne.
[55:34] So, I'm going to put it uh if someone
[55:36] can get it before me. Let me see. But
[55:38] we're going to have him on next. We have
[55:40] got a statement from the leader of Iran,
[55:43] Much the Baham. I am going to go through
[55:45] that with him as well as many of the
[55:48] other things that he wants to relay
[55:50] about this deal which he believes is a
[55:52] total and complete victory by Iran. Uh
[55:58] so that is there. So I've pinned it.
[56:01] Let's go across there. I'll be starting
[56:02] that in about 3 minutes. So in terms of
[56:05] this video, it's linked. So I appreciate
[56:07] you guys joining in. I appreciate you
[56:09] guys listening. And I'll see you on the
[56:12] link in a couple of minutes.