Former State Department Special Advisor for Iran and Polaris National Security Executive Director Gabriel Narona joins Betsy and Amanda to discuss the Iran sanctions and the impact on the peace process. Plus, a look at the latest in the Ukraine and Taiwan crisis.
00:00:00.000You know, it's it's weird. I don't know. I mean, I don't know how to feel. I know how to feel about this Israel thing. I don't know what to what to hope for with our country.
00:00:14.760I mean, we can't send them armaments. We can't only because we've already sent everything we have over to Ukraine. You know, they can buy them, I suppose, and we can make more. But we're already so far behind in our stash.
00:00:30.620I mean, if if you were China, in the minute the United States would get involved in one of these two conflicts, wouldn't you take Taiwan? What we're going to fight in Ukraine, in Israel and Taiwan? No, no, no, no. Elections have such consequences. This is the most pain for it. Yeah. This is the most consequential election of my life.
00:00:58.660We don't have the armaments. We can't hit the numbers of recruitment. We don't have the oil, the fuel. We don't have the money to replenish it. We have. We got nothing. It's amazing how fast this thing has has gone down.
00:01:14.480I think the next election might be our last. So hurry, figure out who to vote for. Our podcast today brought to you by Relief Factor. Relief Factor is a great way to lose the pain that you might have if your pain is caused by inflammation. And most pain is.
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00:02:07.500The accusation is that Iran's posture, excuse me, that the U.S., your administration's posture towards Iran has helped contribute to this. I want to get you, give you a chance to respond.
00:02:32.720Well, there are two things here. First, with regard to the funds that you mentioned that were released to or were made available to Iran for humanitarian purposes as part of getting Americans back or being held and detained in Iran.
00:02:50.820Let's be very clear about this. And it's deeply unfortunate that some are playing politics when so many lives have been lost and Israel remains under attack.
00:02:58.220The facts are these. No U.S. taxpayer dollars were involved. These were Iranian resources that Iran had accumulated for the sale of its oil that were stuck in a bank in South Korea.
00:03:10.440They have had from day one under our law, under our sanctions, the right to use these monies for humanitarian purposes.
00:03:16.040Okay, so now they've gone from, no, that $6 billion was not, uh-uh. Now it is, but that wasn't U.S. taxpayer dollars. That $6 billion, that wasn't, that's what he's saying there.
00:03:31.600That the $6 billion was held in a foreign bank, the United States held it back, we released it to them, but that was their money to do with what they want.
00:03:43.140So we didn't directly contribute to the murder and rape of these citizens?
00:03:47.480Oh, wow, that's wonderful. What a wonderful policy.
00:03:50.600Yeah, so, uh, former State Department Special Advisor for Iran and Polaris National Security Executive Director is Gabriel Narona, and he is, uh, with us now.
00:04:04.040Is, uh, Gabriel, is that, is that what he was saying there?
00:04:07.500He is actually claiming that when we give $6 billion to terrorists, it all gets used for food and medicine.
00:04:15.600And let me tell you, I would like to sell that guy a bridge, uh, because if he believes that, it's, it's simply, you know, I've, I've, I've worked on Iran's budget for five years.
00:04:37.520So it is ridiculous to think that they would not pull from another, you get $6 billion, great, pull from another account, exactly what you said.
00:04:48.620Is there any doubt in your mind that, uh, that $6 billion gift, uh, from the Biden administration, uh, uh, spurred this on or helped this go through?
00:05:03.580You know, one thing that's really interesting is the Wall Street Journal has reported that in August, Iran started planning and ultimately approved these attacks.
00:05:13.440August is exactly when the Biden administration announced that they were going to give Iran the $6 billion.
00:05:19.600Um, I, I don't think that is a coincidence.
00:05:22.440And here's why, because Iran has been looking for currency stability.
00:05:27.060They've been looking for financial stability and they didn't, haven't had that recently.
00:05:32.160Their economy has been up and down, but this infusion of cash gave them the confidence that they could say, Hey, we know that we can backfill our bank accounts.
00:05:41.060Um, and so these decisions are not made in a vacuum.
00:05:44.500Um, they are made after you look at all the factors and you say, you know what, we've gotten everything that we want from the U S now.
00:05:51.160Um, now we can go in and carry out these attacks and we don't have to worry about annoying the United States.
00:05:57.160Um, so absolutely, um, this is connected.
00:06:00.460Um, and frankly, it's really interesting that the Biden administration is going out on TV actively saying, Hey, uh, this is all, this is all nonsense.
00:06:11.980And it's really because their Iran policy has failed.
00:06:15.040They're trying to cover up for the fact that, uh, they have given billions and billions of dollars away, not just the 6 billion, but tens of billions of dollars through oil sales.
00:06:26.180Um, they are now, Iran is exporting, uh, 2 million barrels of oil per day at something like $85 a barrel.
00:06:35.360That is an enormous amount of money that goes straight to the IRGC, which is Iran's terror arm.
00:06:41.000Um, Republicans, and even some Democrats have been criticizing them for this.
00:06:45.940Um, and so they feel this administration feels extremely, uh, vulnerable on this.
00:06:50.460And so they're going on TV and saying, Nope, Iran had nothing to do with this.
00:06:54.440How, how close to a nuclear weapon are they?
00:07:02.420They are about 10 days away from having the fissile material for a bomb.
00:07:06.960That's all that uranium at a highly enriched level, but they aren't still quite a ways away from actually being able to take that uranium and make it a functioning bomb that can explode.
00:07:17.060That's more like nine months, maybe a year away.
00:07:19.820Um, so we should be, we should be concerned, but we don't have to worry that something's about to explode tomorrow.
00:07:26.200So Iran has, we suspect they haven't admitted it yet.
00:07:32.460Um, but they, we suspect them, uh, of being involved according to the wall street journal.
00:07:38.480They were, um, they have said that if Israel puts boots on the ground in Gaza, they will get involved.
00:07:54.320You know, when I was working for secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, we had a pretty clear policy.
00:07:59.420We said to Iran, if you or any of your proxies like Hamas or Hezbollah touch a hair on the head of an American citizen, we will hold you Iran responsible for that.
00:08:10.760Um, now what we've seen is these attacks have killed nine Americans.
00:08:15.000Uh, now I am not saying there should be U S boots on the ground anywhere, but we can do something to Iran that makes them pay for, for what they did and makes clear to them.
00:08:51.780We would have told them to, you know, what, um, the idea that after 700 of your daughters and sons are massacred after your grandparents are massacred in their homes,
00:09:02.340that we should deescalate or have restraint that, that is incredible statement to me.
00:09:10.460And so, um, no, Israel deserves to have its defense.
00:09:14.840They deserve to defend themselves as long as it takes.
00:09:49.700And, and I think, you know what, if there's one thing that the last century taught us, it's that we should believe dictators when they tell us that they're going to do something.
00:09:58.140When they tell us their plans and intentions, we should take them at face value.
00:10:02.700And, and so one thing I've heard a lot in the last two days is a lot of people who were supportive of the two state solution,
00:10:09.920simply coming around and saying, you know what, I just don't believe in that anymore.
00:10:13.640I just don't see how that's possible after they've done something like this.
00:10:43.400I think that there's plenty of people in Washington that would love to disagree with you on that.
00:10:49.600There's plenty of people in Washington that are, uh, I think this administration has a lot of them in the internal machine that are not fans of Israel and, uh, will not want to, will not want to help them.
00:11:08.540And that's, you know, one, one evidence for that is, uh, the first tweet that came out of the Biden administration is the state department's office of Palestinian affairs.
00:11:17.400Um, and again, right after Israelis had been massacred, they were calling for restraint and deescalation.
00:11:24.640Um, look, I, I worked with a lot of diplomats.
00:11:27.500There's a lot of really fine Americans there.
00:11:29.400There's also a lot of, uh, of rot in that system where they don't understand, um, they don't have moral clarity on these issues.
00:11:37.560And it's really unfortunate that we see that.
00:11:40.120Um, and I think Israel is perhaps their major blind spot of anywhere in the world.
00:11:45.580Um, having this sort of intellectual both sides is that both sides are at fault.
00:11:53.020Um, no, one side here is, is going in and killing 260 young people at music festivals.
00:12:03.800Um, there's nothing civilized about it.
00:12:06.720Um, and they, and they shouldn't be treated, um, like normal combatants because they're not.
00:12:12.460So do you think they've shot their wad here?
00:12:14.540Is this, is this it or are there more things you think coming?
00:12:19.640What I'm really concerned about is the Northern front, uh, of Hezbollah starting to, uh, make inroads.
00:12:28.680Uh, what we've just seen is Israel's reported that, um, operatives have infiltrated the Northern border.
00:12:34.500They're urging Israeli civilians to stay inside their homes, to lock their doors.
00:12:39.720Um, Israel's military is, is gearing up for a fight.
00:12:43.280I hope, and we should all hope and pray that nothing happens there.
00:12:47.320Um, but there's a really significant possibility that this turns into a multi-front war, um, kind of like we saw 50 years ago in the Yom Kippur War.
00:12:58.220Um, if that happens, it is an existential threat for the state of Israel.
00:13:02.480Um, it's one I believe it will win, um, but it will be extremely painful, uh, and costly in human lives.
00:20:26.860And anyone who says that they will go for a two-state solution doesn't understand the history and also doesn't understand the religiosity of this problem.
00:20:38.760So, Hitler confirmed that the struggle against the Jewish homeland in Palestine would be part of the struggle against the Jews.
00:20:48.240And he said, quote, he would continue the struggle until the complete destruction of the Jewish communist European empire.
00:20:57.720And when the German army was in proximity to the Arab world, Germany would issue an assurance to the Arab world that the hour of liberation was at hand.
00:21:08.480It would then be Al-Husani's responsibility to unleash Arab action that he had prepared.
00:21:15.840The Fuhrer stated that Germany would not intervene in any eternal Arab matters and that only the only German goal at the time would be the annihilation of Jews.
00:23:48.580I don't think I can get the light to shine in it bright enough.
00:23:51.640But it's where they, where this hat was made that's important.
00:23:56.640This particular hat was made in Dachau by the Jews.
00:24:02.060So while they were interned and being brutalized and killed, they were also forced to make the Muslim hat, the fez, that the SS officers from the Arab descent would wear.
00:24:25.760Some people say that it was his idea to have the death camps.
00:24:32.660But more likely it was Himmler talking to him about the death camps because he wanted to build them all over the Middle East.
00:24:43.380When the war was over with Germany, then Germany would help them build death camps for Jews all over the Middle East and get rid of them there.
00:24:52.540When they say, we are, for instance, this is the great day of the greatest battle to end the last occupation on Earth.
00:25:10.460That is the Hamas commander over the weekend.
00:25:13.480This is the day of the greatest battle to end the last occupation on Earth.
00:25:23.540When they speak like that, you have to take them seriously and know what they're talking about.
00:25:32.980There is a battle called Al-Mamahat Al-Kubra, and I'm sure I'm saying that right.
00:25:40.540It is a great battle, one of the greatest battles, to end the last occupation on Earth.
00:25:50.820It is an end times battle, according to Muslim eschatology.
00:33:39.160And this will never end unless there's regime change in Iran.
00:33:44.840And the first step that should be taken is for the United States and Israel, together with the fleet that is now approaching the eastern Mediterranean,
00:35:28.060So, Alan, I hate to say it, but I think that America is, you're right, we're in a moral crisis right now.
00:35:45.180How you can watch this and not be just horrified at what you saw.
00:35:51.460But I believe, now Stu said it would take a few days or maybe even a week or so, but I believe as soon as that number becomes more people killed in Palestine than they slaughtered in Israel,
00:36:09.780I think people are going to immediately say, OK, OK, that's enough.
00:36:50.120But don't call for a ceasefire while there are 100 Israelis and some Americans and some people from other countries, Brits and other countries that are being held hostage.
00:37:00.640These are young women, babies, Holocaust survivors, people my age.
00:37:07.140I wish I were young enough to go to Israel and fight for them, because this is an existential battle, not only for the survival of the nation state of the Jewish people,
00:37:16.240but for the survival of democratic Western Judeo-Christian values, which are at stake here.
00:37:23.960You know, the head, Muah, recently said Israel's first, but they're not the last.
00:37:30.640Christianity is being attacked all over the Middle East by radical Muslims who will not rest until every Jew and every Christian is dead or converted.
00:37:42.460So, you know, this is this is this is a fight for for the survival of everything that we believe in.
00:37:51.300And America and Israel not only must stand together, but all Americans must stand together.
00:37:57.640Barack Obama has to get up and make a statement.
00:38:00.260Yeah, he's going to lose some friends among the Hamas people.
00:38:02.700But the squad, the squad, the evil squad must stand up in support of American and Israeli values.
00:38:38.660You know, we're the big Satan, according to the students at the the at the City University of New York, paid for by me and you, by taxpayer money, federal and state money.
00:38:50.240These are students and faculty and deans that are calling for the destruction of Israel.
00:38:56.240You know, the faculty at City University of New York, the faculty of the law school unanimously voted for a boycott against Israel.
00:39:06.360That's the faculty of of a major law school in New York City.
00:39:11.700I mean, we are in a crisis of of unknown dimensions and and we have to we have to fight back with all of our moral force.
00:39:21.000We have the majority, but we are silent.
00:39:23.420It's it's the the the hundreds of students at these major universities that are speaking out the thousands and tens of thousands who support the United States and support Israel.
00:39:35.040Now, let's remember here, this was as much an attack on the United States as it was in Israel.
00:39:39.580The Israelis are the victims directly.
00:39:42.660But this was an attempt to try to destroy efforts by the United States to bring about peace between the Saudis, the United States and Israel.
00:39:52.100And so this is a direct attack on the United States.
00:39:54.900I will tell you, Ellen, I am I am with you on everything you you say on this.
00:40:01.420Israel is our closest and our best ally, I believe the there's all kinds of biblical reasons to support Israel and stand on their side.
00:40:12.860But I am so concerned that our military has been so degraded.
00:40:21.240We we are we've used seven years of our missiles and sent them over to Ukraine.
00:40:29.260It'll take us seven years to be able to manufacture them and get them back online.
00:40:34.840And now we're now $6 billion to the terrorist regime of Tehran.
00:40:41.320First of all, there should immediately be a lawsuit brought by relatives of the victims of this terror, particularly Americans.
00:40:49.900There are many Americans who were killed and captured lawsuits brought to freeze the $6 billion and use it to compensate the victims of the Iranian hostilities.
00:41:01.220There's no reason why they should be able to get one penny.
00:41:04.500And Secretary of State Blinken, who does he think he's fooling when he says, oh, this money isn't going to weapons.
00:41:10.260It's going to to food. Iran's a rich country.
00:41:14.460They don't need our money to get them food and medicine.
00:41:17.720They can afford that. Just divert a little bit of it away from their terrorism and toward toward really humanitarian issues.
00:41:25.780So not a single penny should be allowed to be unfrozen and given to Iran.
00:41:31.360And we have to stop that. Lawsuits should be brought, and I would be happy to cooperate in any such lawsuit to freeze that money and make sure not a penny of it goes to support further terrorist acts.
00:41:43.320When you pay $6 billion to release an American hostage, what you're simply doing is raising the price for hostage taking, and there'll be more hostage taking.
00:41:55.560That's been in the history. I wrote a book many years ago called Why Terrorism Works, and the answer was very simple because we pay for it.
00:42:03.900We reward it, and Iran is the winner here. They're sitting there in Tehran, and they're gloating, and they're laughing while Israelis and Palestinian mothers and children are suffering.
00:42:14.620They don't care. Not a single Iranian has been killed in this. They're the winners, and we can't allow them to be the winners.
00:42:22.040I have an article in today's New York Post saying that the only answer is to hold Iran completely responsible for this and treat them as if they were the ones who came to that art festival and raped and murdered innocent people.
00:42:38.320This is one of the reasons, though, that I haven't voted for a Democrat, especially recently.
00:42:44.820The whole Iranian bill that they passed and that Donald Trump brought back, I mean, they've lost their mind on Middle East politics, in my opinion.