Let’s jump right in, Mr. Shahabi, and give us your thoughts on the recent comments coming from the Iranian president. President Raisi said that there will be a strong response to any possible bullying against Tehran.

Saeed al-Shehabi: Thank you very much. The situation in the Middle East generally is very tense at this moment because of the Israeli aggression on Gaza, the killing, the maiming. And of course, its extraterritorial attacks on other countries, on Syria, on some parts of Iraq.

So all this has put Israel in the limelight of the crisis. It seems to me that the Israelis believe that they can only survive in an atmosphere of war. So as long as there is war, they will survive. If there is peace, they cannot survive. So they are threatening to strike and supported by America. But America also, American involvement in the region is destabilizing the region….

Mr. Kevin Barrett, the Iranian President said that the adversaries and enemies, in his own words to the Islamic Republic, used to resort to language of threat against Iran, even stating on multiple occasions that the military option was on the table, but he also said that they’re not seeking a confrontation with the Islamic Republic. Do you think that the United States was ever at a point where it was contemplating any form of military action against Iran, most notably recently?

Kevin Barrett: Well, I think the American side is undoubtedly contemplating some form of escalation in its relatively low level back-and-forth—it’s not a war, but there has definitely been pressure put on the American occupation of the region by various Axis of Resistance groups. In the wake of the (Tower 22) attack that killed three American servicemen and wounded a lot more, the Americans were probably doomed to escalate to some extent. But then the question became: Would they try an actual attack within Iran’s borders, and how big would it be if they did? This would of course threaten to escalate into a regional war, because obviously Iran would retaliate, as President Raisi made clear. Or will they continue with the tit-for-tat exchanges with various resistance groups?

The Americans are operating illegally in Iraq. The Iraqi parliament has voted to expel the US and the US hasn’t left, so it is an illegal occupying power. And it’s an even more blatantly illegal occupying power in Syria. The recent attacks on Americans (at Tower 22 in Jordan) happened right next to the Syrian border. And one could argue that Jordan is also occupied and that decisions for Jordan are made from within the gigantic American embassy compound there.

So the US occupation of the region, which is not popular in the region, especially now that the Zionist genocide of Palestine has gone into high gear, has led to the situation where the local resistance groups are much more likely to want to target American shipping in the Red Sea, American occupying forces in Iraq and Syria, and put pressure on the Americans.

The thought would be that perhaps the U.S. would dial back its support for the genocide of Gaza. And so in this confrontation, the Axis of Resistance is on the side of enforcing international law and the judgment of the World Court that just found probable cause that Israel is engaged in genocide in Gaza. Whereas the Americans are genocidal global outlaws.

I don’t think the Americans want to escalate the war in the region (especially) in this situation in which they are the outlaws and are hated by the vast majority of people in the region.

The Iranian President said that Iran’s military might poses no threat to the West Asian region and that regional countries can rely on Iran’s military power. Is he once again hinting to comments the Iranian President specifically has made in the past stating that, listen, we can take care of security in our region, ourselves, regional countries, and basically foreign forces, they need to pack up their bags and leave?

Saeed al-Shehabi: Look, number one, the security of the Persian Gulf should be left to the people of the region. It shouldn’t be secured through the presence of international or western or American and British warships there. If the security of that important place is left to the people, then the likelihood of flare-up of tension and wars will be much less. This is number one.

Number two, the Iranians are known for their tit-for-tat policy. I still remember what happened I think in 1986 in a meeting in Switzerland when some Kurdish people were there and they had attacked some Iranian installations and the Iranians went also and attacked them. All in all, the Iranians will not keep quiet if they are subjected to an attack. And this is what the Iranian president said, that Iran will not remain silent if it is attacked.

Number three, the various groups that are working within the region, mostly they are independent. They are left to their own decisions. They take their own decisions. If the Americans, as my colleague said, choose to attack Iran, then that will be a declaration of war, which is not going to benefit anyone.

And Israel is not going to benefit from war because its hated policy in Gaza has exposed a lot of shortcomings and inhumane treatment to the extent that they wanted to impose, and they did impose, some form of preventing food and medicine. So I think the situation is very tense and I hope that it will pass without major incidents.

Kevin Barrett, one last question for you before we wrap up this segment. With all the years of the U.S. and its allies basically trying to exert their hegemony in the region, a point has now been reached where the people of the region are quite unified in their demand that the U.S. and foreign forces should leave the region. How important and significant is this point that the region has reached right now?

Kevin Barrett: It’s critically important. It’s also important to underline that it’s not only the people of the region that want the American imperialists to leave. It’s even the governments in Iraq and Syria—well obviously Syria, which has been on the outs with the U.S. for quite some time—but even in Iraq, which was invaded, occupied, and put under heavy American pressure all of these years, the Iraqi Parliament voted to expel American forces. And the Americans refused to leave.

So I think the American empire is already getting very shaky with its loss in Afghanistan, its impending loss in Ukraine, and now its totally doomed support for the genocide of Gaza. And it would be very wise for the US to think about how to withdraw from the region and from its role as the supposed unipolar world empire, and start minding its own business and taking care of its own people and its own infrastructure.