Tehran University’s Foad Izadi says the U.S. and its allies want to balkanize Iran and take its oil and gas. They succeeded in a 1953 coup, he argues, but they will fail in 2026.
What’s striking here is not just Izadi’s claims, but how familiar the playbook sounds. From Iran in 1953 to Libya in 2011, the language of “humanitarian concern” and “popular unrest” has repeatedly been paired with sanctions, covert action, and military threats aimed at regime change and resource control. That doesn’t mean Iran’s government is above criticism—but it does mean Western narratives deserve serious scrutiny, especially when they come from the same actors openly threatening to “wipe” an entire country off the map. When information is tightly controlled on all sides, the most dangerous mistake is mistaking propaganda for consensus and war rhetoric for inevitability.
Its not just the playbook, its the character of the states who are so "concerned" for the people of Iran (or Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, etc). Its the same people who have committed or enabled over a dozen genocides in the past 60 years and up until today.
Isn't strange they care so much about the Iranian people?
Nah, violence only begets more of the same. I wouldn't mind seeing Trump and Netanyahu have to share the same prison cell for the rest of their lives, though. That would bring peace to me.
Don’t forget Joe Biden. He also belongs in that prison cell with Netanyahu and Trump. Don’t forget that in last 15 months of Joe Biden’s presidency, he sent about $20 Billion worth of weapons to Israel to help with their Genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza.
Mr. Scahill: I've been a reader and follower of your work since your time at DemocracryNow! and loved your book Dirty Wars, which is still as relevant and essential to understand the conflict in Somalia as was when you wrote it. Your reporting only grows more incisive and profound. Thank you for the light you bring to this subject; I've always admired the Persians and had immense respect for their culture. I wish them (and the rest of the world) the best in confronting our dangerous and yet clownish empire, whose idiot-in-chief bounces from one delusion to the next.
Great and informative information. Thanks for this objective look at what is going on inside Iran and I was happy to know that sanctions have a better chance to be ignored by the world, now, bringing humanitarian and economic relief to to the people of Iran. Now to get USA off Cuba as a target for unjustified economic santions.Humaniarian Sanctions and food sactions should never be a part of foreign policy to any nation, anywhere.
thank you to both jeremy scahill and prof. izadi, for this extensive interview!
i wish i could be as optimistic as prof izadi. iranians deserve the bright future he paints for them. while they have been suffering for decades under external pressure - regime change operations, the iraq war, sanctions, threats of all kinds, and due to the internal oppression by merciless mullah regimes. arbitrary detentions, executions, lack of freedom, police shootings, too, alas. high-level corruption, mismanagement, especially obvious where water shortages have long reached life-threatening levels ... *)
am i alone in assuming that if iran did not have a nuclear program, its fate would have been sealed long ago? [prof. izadi mentions libya's example several times.]
may the iranian people finally obtain the life and the freedom they have been struggling for for far too long. !زنده باد مردم ایران
___________________________
*) some mullah(s) even claimed that the zayandeh river dried up bc women, improperly dressed, sat by its banks and took photographs. [my goodness.]
Is the UN authorizing an investigation to obtain credible evidence of foreign and domestic factors and actors in the recent Iranian protests/riots/incipient civil war?
I appreciate your effort here, and it's clear what the US and Israel are up to. But when he refused to address your questions about the state killings, I tuned out. I would like to have some real information about how many of those killed were by the state and who were they? Maybe we won't know for years.
Thank you so much for having Professor Izadi on. Unlike others, I don't mind that DSN had that "protester" on for an interview, but I think when everyone sees both sides, they'll be able to see the truth.
What’s striking here is not just Izadi’s claims, but how familiar the playbook sounds. From Iran in 1953 to Libya in 2011, the language of “humanitarian concern” and “popular unrest” has repeatedly been paired with sanctions, covert action, and military threats aimed at regime change and resource control. That doesn’t mean Iran’s government is above criticism—but it does mean Western narratives deserve serious scrutiny, especially when they come from the same actors openly threatening to “wipe” an entire country off the map. When information is tightly controlled on all sides, the most dangerous mistake is mistaking propaganda for consensus and war rhetoric for inevitability.
Its not just the playbook, its the character of the states who are so "concerned" for the people of Iran (or Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, etc). Its the same people who have committed or enabled over a dozen genocides in the past 60 years and up until today.
Isn't strange they care so much about the Iranian people?
Thank you for this report !
Everybody talks about taking this guy that guy out but nobody mentions taking out Netanyahu and
his thugs..That would really bring peace. Israel is the real problem in the Middle East.
Nah, violence only begets more of the same. I wouldn't mind seeing Trump and Netanyahu have to share the same prison cell for the rest of their lives, though. That would bring peace to me.
Don’t forget Joe Biden. He also belongs in that prison cell with Netanyahu and Trump. Don’t forget that in last 15 months of Joe Biden’s presidency, he sent about $20 Billion worth of weapons to Israel to help with their Genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza.
I like the begets!! very biblical..a good region for that.
Mr. Scahill: I've been a reader and follower of your work since your time at DemocracryNow! and loved your book Dirty Wars, which is still as relevant and essential to understand the conflict in Somalia as was when you wrote it. Your reporting only grows more incisive and profound. Thank you for the light you bring to this subject; I've always admired the Persians and had immense respect for their culture. I wish them (and the rest of the world) the best in confronting our dangerous and yet clownish empire, whose idiot-in-chief bounces from one delusion to the next.
Thank you, Drop Site. Other important stories are evolving, but this one seems to get the least attention, and it's arguably the most important.
Great and informative information. Thanks for this objective look at what is going on inside Iran and I was happy to know that sanctions have a better chance to be ignored by the world, now, bringing humanitarian and economic relief to to the people of Iran. Now to get USA off Cuba as a target for unjustified economic santions.Humaniarian Sanctions and food sactions should never be a part of foreign policy to any nation, anywhere.
Well said as usual ❤️
Glad Drop Site News managed to interview an expert living in Iran.
Thanks Jeremy. Very informative.
thank you to both jeremy scahill and prof. izadi, for this extensive interview!
i wish i could be as optimistic as prof izadi. iranians deserve the bright future he paints for them. while they have been suffering for decades under external pressure - regime change operations, the iraq war, sanctions, threats of all kinds, and due to the internal oppression by merciless mullah regimes. arbitrary detentions, executions, lack of freedom, police shootings, too, alas. high-level corruption, mismanagement, especially obvious where water shortages have long reached life-threatening levels ... *)
am i alone in assuming that if iran did not have a nuclear program, its fate would have been sealed long ago? [prof. izadi mentions libya's example several times.]
may the iranian people finally obtain the life and the freedom they have been struggling for for far too long. !زنده باد مردم ایران
___________________________
*) some mullah(s) even claimed that the zayandeh river dried up bc women, improperly dressed, sat by its banks and took photographs. [my goodness.]
Is the UN authorizing an investigation to obtain credible evidence of foreign and domestic factors and actors in the recent Iranian protests/riots/incipient civil war?
Naive commentary
Naive: maybe. Completely propagandistic: yes.
I appreciate your effort here, and it's clear what the US and Israel are up to. But when he refused to address your questions about the state killings, I tuned out. I would like to have some real information about how many of those killed were by the state and who were they? Maybe we won't know for years.
At last. Some intelligent, independent opinions based on facts. Nice to hear some hope for Iran's future. Thank you both!
Thank you so much for having Professor Izadi on. Unlike others, I don't mind that DSN had that "protester" on for an interview, but I think when everyone sees both sides, they'll be able to see the truth.
From what I’ve been reading the Mossad is patting its shoulders for how well they did in Iran.