Goldie Ghamari - NewsMax Iran Interview with Rita Cosby - April 18, 2026

00:00:00.000 Day 50 of the war with Iran. President Trump says the U.S. blockade on the Strait of Hormuz

00:00:11.120 will remain in place, causing Iran to close the strait yet again. Lots of details today.

00:00:18.060 Well, here to comment, former IDF Special Operations Commander Doran Campbell. There

00:00:23.320 he is. Also, Iranian-born human rights activist Goldie Qumari and Naval Explosive Ordinance

00:00:31.280 Disposal Officer Tom Sauer. It's so great to have all of you guys. Tom, let's get to

00:00:38.240 you, because President Trump saying that his naval blockade on the Strait of Hormuz is

00:00:43.440 in full force until a deal is reached. And now we just heard in the last few hours that

00:00:47.680 Iran is responding by saying that they are closing the strait again, that they control the

00:00:54.500 strait. Who's in control here, Tom? And how could they take over the strait with all the U.S.

00:01:01.360 naval assets in that area? That's a great question. And I think what it's really coming

00:01:07.620 down to now is that there really isn't anyone that's truly in control of Iran. Keep in mind,

00:01:12.700 we killed a very large number of their leadership, and we've taken out their command and control.

00:01:18.900 So it does seem like there are multiple factions within the IRGC and within the existing Iranian

00:01:25.480 government. Keep in mind that one of the reasons why, you know, a lot of people talk about regime

00:01:30.720 change, but I feel that there are too many different warring factions for any one person

00:01:34.620 to be controlled. So we don't really know who we're dealing with, and that is going to be a

00:01:38.520 challenge for us. Goldie, what are you hearing also from Iran? I mean, this is a big development

00:01:43.660 if indeed they're taking back the strait. Yeah, absolutely. So Tom is absolutely correct there.

00:01:51.660 The Islamic regime right now, it's separated into at least three different factions. They're all 1.00

00:01:56.400 fighting with one another. So the Qalibaf camp, the one that initially made this agreement, 0.65

00:02:01.660 they're currently in conflict with other factions within the IRGC who want to continue attacking

00:02:07.760 the Americans and who want to close the Strait of Hormuz. So the Islamic regime is in a state 0.93

00:02:13.800 of chaos right now, and it's slowly collapsing on the inside. Well, let's hope so. You know, 1.00

00:02:18.920 meantime, President Trump, I want to play. This is what he said aboard Air Force One last night.

00:02:23.660 Watch. I don't know. Maybe not. Maybe I won't extend it. But the blockade is going to remain.

00:02:32.960 But maybe I won't extend it. So you have a blockade and unfortunately we'll have to start

00:02:38.840 dropping bombs again. That's a pretty strong statement. So, Doran, how soon could we expect

00:02:45.600 to see bombs maybe dropping again? What should President Trump do, especially in light of this

00:02:51.080 new news today, Doran? Two options. First of all, just to remind the audience, we've already

00:02:56.880 accomplished a tactical objective. We've eradicated the Iran military. Now there's negotiation 0.99

00:03:03.160 in order to get to some deal and bring our forces home. If that doesn't work, then we're basically

00:03:10.120 going to view that as a timeout that we've taken and then full force forward. We'll know in a few

00:03:14.940 days. By the way, to your prior question, the U.S. is in control of the Straits, but it's not

00:03:19.760 complete control. The Iranians don't have a navy. They can bother some of the ships there, and

00:03:25.700 everybody's trying to get a little bit of leverage in whatever is left of the negotiation.

00:03:30.440 Yeah, it's sort of the last licks, if you will, last opportunity. Do you believe that

00:03:35.840 also, Goldie, do you believe that this is sort of just last moments and maybe blustering by Iran's

00:03:43.120 part? Absolutely. You know, ultimately, you can't negotiate with terrorists. And President Trump is 0.72

00:03:49.840 showing that to the world because he's trying to convince them to surrender. I mean, he's absolutely

00:03:54.880 correct. All the leaders are dead. They have no Navy. They have no Air Force. All they have is

00:03:59.340 some ships here and there shooting at ships that are trying to go through. So I think President

00:04:05.920 Trump is making it very clear why he needs to go in and just completely obliterate them. And I think

00:04:11.220 that's what we're going to see, because ultimately, you cannot negotiate with terrorists. You cannot

00:04:16.000 trust them. And President Trump has said that after 47 years of the Islamic regime 1.00

00:04:20.460 bullying people around. He's going to put a stop to it. And Tom, before we go, I want to get your 0.99

00:04:26.780 take on also the nuclear material because President Trump said yesterday that Iran agreed to hand it

00:04:32.700 over, but now Iran is saying they aren't giving it up. This was Trump's red line. I think it's

00:04:37.940 many people in the world's red line. What needs to be done? How could we get that?

00:04:43.480 Well, one thing that's interesting is I actually spent a good part of my career dealing with

00:04:47.140 weapons of mass destruction. And for what it's worth, if it makes anyone feel better,

00:04:51.180 there are units and organizations within the United States military that deal specifically

00:04:56.240 with this issue, with underground facilities, all of that, and how to take it. Now,

00:05:01.600 keep in mind, though, is although we don't want to do boots on the ground, if there has to be a

00:05:04.980 special, you know, special operation to get it, there might be. And there are thousands of marines

00:05:09.280 and airborne paratroopers who will be really upset if they don't get to kill anyone this year.

00:05:14.240 Oh, wow. Okay. So, Doran, I got to get your response to that, especially in light of the fact 0.60

00:05:19.600 that President Trump was saying that the material is essentially dust, that it sort of, you know,

00:05:27.020 enriched uranium dust because of the B-2 bombers that came in in June. So how do we get it, Doran?

00:05:34.280 Well, I don't have the intel regarding the material, but in order to get the material in

00:05:38.120 an unfriendly way, that's a serious operation. You need to control the area,

00:05:42.200 defended people that need to go in. We don't know under how many layers of land that material is.

00:05:48.580 Serious operation with a lot of ground forces. Hopefully, we don't need to do that.

00:05:53.360 Yeah, let's hope not. And let's hope peace discussions get back on track and get back

00:05:59.420 on track soon. All of you, thank you very much. Doran, Goldie, and Tom,

00:06:03.980 really appreciate it. Thank you, guys. Thank you, Rita. Thank you.

Goldie Ghamari - April 19, 2026

NewsMax Iran Interview with Rita Cosby - April 18, 2026

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