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Over 40 million Iranians came out for the funeral of their martyred Leader. Meanwhile, the cowardly narcissist murderer Trump is literally as well as figuratively defecating himself, whimpering fearfully as Israel feeds him stories about Iranians wanting to kill him. Well, guess what: they do! They want revenge for the 160 schoolgirls of Minab as well as the other murders. But the Iranian people aren’t alone. The whole world, and a likely plurality of Americans, would wildly celebrate should anything untoward happen to Trump.

Iran, in stark contrast, stands courageously united behind its Islamic Republican leadership.

This interview was broadcast live around 9:30 pm Tehran time Friday, July 10.

Transcript:

Marzieh Hashemi (Anchor): Thanks so much for staying with us right here at Press TV. Of course, throughout this week we have been covering the various processions of the martyred leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Khamenei, from Tehran, then to Qom, and to Iraq to Najaf and Karbala, and of course yesterday to Mashhad. By this morning, we can say that it took time for millions and millions of people to turn out. We are looking at over 15 million, and some reports say over 43 million people participated in this funeral across both countries. It is an unbelievable event and a transforming situation taking place in the region.

I’d like to welcome my guests to this part of the program: joining us from Morocco is Kevin Barrett, editor of Veterans Today, and here in the studio with me is my colleague, Maryam. Thanks to both of you for being with me. I’ll start us off with Kevin. What are your overarching thoughts about the number of people that turned out for the various processions? What type of message does it send, considering this is the man that the U.S. said did not have any support and was a dictator?

Kevin Barrett: Yes, this was the biggest funeral in human history and one of the very biggest gatherings of people. It sent a very, very powerful message. It completely annihilated and obliterated the Western propaganda that has been going on for years, claiming that the leadership in Iran in general, and the late martyred Supreme Leader in particular, didn’t have any support. People now can see for themselves that there has really been no political leadership in history that has had this kind of backing.

When someone like Trump—whose poll numbers are ridiculously low and falling all the time as he blunders into another forever war—sees this, it triggers intense cognitive dissonance. This was the most obviously immoral as well as strategically stupid war in American history, which is saying a lot. Then Trump himself, and the Americans, see this kind of turnout and think, “Wait a minute, I thought he didn’t have any support. I thought nobody liked him.”

There’s just this huge cognitive dissonance that’s slapping awake everybody in the West who has been subjected to all of this propaganda over the years and decades. It’s very inspiring as well because there’s a spiritual dimension to this principled resistance—a resistance to aggression, to imperialism, and to genocide.

Marzieh Hashemi: The message overall that was sent, as Kevin ended his thoughts, is a sign of resistance to imperialism. I’m going to talk about that aspect because we know even inside of Iraq, the United States has continually tried to manipulate Iraqi politics to make sure that it’s more aggressive towards Iran, or anti-Iran. Despite all of what they have been trying to do, we saw millions and millions of people turning out throughout the country, especially in the cities of Karbala and Najaf. Maryam, what are your thoughts about that and the message overall that this sends?

Maryam Azarchehr: Despite everything the U.S. has tried, the numbers are reported to be 43 million and higher, and that’s not even taking into consideration everybody else who held a symbolic funeral. We know that in addition to the funeral processions that involved the martyred bodies of our leader and his family members, there were symbolic processions elsewhere because it couldn’t be arranged for the leader’s body to go to those places as well.

We had various funeral processions in the Beqaa Valley where a lot of people showed up for the martyred leader, and this was immediately after his martyrdom. If you take that into consideration, along with gatherings in Pakistan, and even in Germany where a few hundred turned out—and we know how the fascist regimes of those countries operate, seeing how they beat up protesters when they were protesting against the genocide in Gaza—the numbers are even greater than what we know.

By itself, this seems to be not only the biggest funeral procession in history, but also perhaps the biggest human gathering in history. That’s really something, especially as you and our guest mentioned, since the whole propaganda narrative has been that this guy does not have supporters. The whole excuse the U.S. constantly uses for interfering in the politics of different countries, and for overthrowing democratically elected leaders, is that they don’t have democracy and the people are under pressure.

This turnout very much exposes the lie that has been spread about Iran, about our martyred leader Khamenei, and about the position of leadership. Every one of those individuals who participated clearly accepted and cared for Imam Khamenei himself, coming out to those massive processions in extremely high temperatures up to 100 degrees. In Europe, people die in much lower temperatures. Everyone who participated demonstrated that they have accepted the position of leadership and the jurisprudence of an Islamic scholar.

The U.S. has said for a very long time that the Islamic Republic is not legitimate. Of course, they know that we have presidential elections, a parliament, and that people vote in all kinds of elections in this country and actually have a lot of say. What they try to use to criticize Iran is the claim that the leadership is in place for a long time—unless, of course, there’s mismanagement or Islamic misconduct on the side of the leader, which was not the case.

With what actually happened during those massive rallies in support of the leader of the Islamic Revolution, it was very much a referendum for the Islamic Republic of Iran, proving its legitimacy once again. The same Islamic Republic that had come to power by the vote of about 98% of Iranians demonstrated, after the martyrdom of Sayyid Ali Khamenei, that millions are still supporting the leadership. That is major, and in many ways, it shows the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic.

Marzieh Hashemi: That’s a very interesting point to make because we know the enemies of the Islamic Republic continually say it’s time for another referendum to be held. As Maryam said, these indeed were the biggest referendums that could have ever been held.

Now back to you, Kevin. I see the Palestinian flag behind you and I want to touch on that. When we talk about the failing narrative that’s taking place, we go back to October of 2023, the beginning of this latest round of genocide in Gaza and the Palestinian territories in general. We see the continued support that the Islamic Republic of Iran has shown and given to the Palestinians, which continued right up until last night with this burial, once again breaking the narrative. Do you think that the world will ever go back to pre-October 7, 2023, in terms of not understanding who the main culprits of these massacres are?

Kevin Barrett: Yeah, I think you’re onto something, Marwa. And I think you’re right that the October 7th, 2023 raid—the brilliant Al-Aqsa Storm, the Tufan Al-Aqsa raid by the coalition of Palestinian resistance groups—really changed history. I think they were courageous and willing to endure the suffering and martyrdom that came because they saw that this was the only way to create a situation in which the Zionist entity would take off its mask and reveal its true genocidal nature, stripping it of all legitimacy.

For those of us who’ve been paying attention, we all knew that it didn’t have any legitimacy before that and that it was indeed committing genocide from the very first massacres. There were terrorist massacres even decades before the Nakba of 1948. The world really was hypnotized and put to sleep by the propaganda apparatus throughout all those decades, and it was awakened by the Al-Aqsa Storm operation.

Of course, the narrative battle about that operation is still going on. The propaganda media keeps trying to tell us about terrible Hamas and resistance atrocities, whereas people who seek the truth discover that wasn’t the case. The resistance was very principled, targeting the Israeli military and taking civilian hostages as a fallback measure. These propaganda stories of atrocities are lies; in fact, it was the Israeli defense forces that massacred the vast majority of civilians.

Look at the story of what happened to those kibbutzes. Everyone inside was killed, and all the cars at the music festival were flattened by helicopter gunships. Hamas didn’t have those kinds of weapons. Everybody interested in the truth has started to get that information now that it’s available. Even people who aren’t seeing that level of truth about October 7th are seeing that this is a brutal genocide. Tens of thousands of children have been deliberately murdered. As we saw in a headline by CNN just last week, Israel is deliberately killing children in a genocide—”Genocide, says UN.” That was the headline on CNN.

When it reaches that point, the world is forced to see what’s really going on. It’s been readjusted back towards a real, honest understanding of what’s happening in Occupied Palestine. The world changed that day, and it’s not going back anytime soon. The Islamic Republic of Iran is harvesting tremendous legitimacy based on its principled opposition to genocide.

Marzieh Hashemi:: Indeed. With what Kevin just said about the Islamic Republic, we want to look at that aspect. When we talk about the issue of Palestine, we know its importance dates back to the very initiation of the Islamic Republic of Iran. From a political perspective, we have seen how the leader of the revolution continued to support the Palestinian cause and resistance to oppression in general, prioritizing it at a time when many inside the country and elsewhere would have thought other things should take priority. I want to talk about who he was from a strategic perspective and how effective his decisions were.

Maryam Azarchehr: Standing with the oppressed, especially our Muslim brothers and sisters, is part of the very fabric of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Without that, in many ways, the Islamic Republic would cease to exist because that ideology is our core identity. The people who seek justice and truth support us because of that ideology. It’s not as though we’re a hegemonic power; we have a fraction of the military budget of the U.S.

Very soon after the victory of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Imam Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, immediately separated our path from the Israeli regime. Under the Western-backed puppet regime of the Shah, Iran was actually the second Muslim-majority country to recognize the Israeli occupation as a country. Imagine how different it was when Iran shut down the Israeli embassy and gave that embassy to Palestine. At a time when Iran was an up-and-coming new revolution, it was very difficult. Even then, Imam Khomeini didn’t suggest bypassing difficult issues to slowly build up. Islamically, standing against oppression is the exact identity with which the Islamic Republic gained victory and amassed support.

Islamically, we are not permitted to see the oppression of Muslim brothers and sisters and do absolutely nothing about it—let alone act like the Persian Gulf regimes that support the Zionist regime. We are not allowed to hear the cry of Muslims for help and do nothing. On the other hand, the Israeli regime could have been characterized in a lot of different ways, but Imam Khomeini called it a cancerous tumor. That was the best way to describe it because he noted that if the Israeli regime is not confined and targeted, it will not suffice with Palestine; it will take over more and more land.

Now they are openly talking about the map of “Greater Israel” and saying Lebanon is theirs, while moving to occupy Lebanon, Syria, and other countries. Where they haven’t occupied, they have completely infiltrated the governance. Even in European countries, we have seen crackdowns on people rallying against the genocide in Gaza because of the influence of the Israeli regime.

Our ideology is the very reason behind our power and ability to stand for some 50 years against every weapon the U.S. regime—the biggest hegemonic power—has thrown our way, from military aggression to coups, to the most difficult economic warfare. If we did not target the Israeli regime and protect the region, they would come after the whole region, which we see now more clearly than ever before.

Marzieh Hashemi: Indeed. Kevin, looking back throughout the decades, we know there has been an extreme demonization of the Islamic Republic of Iran. I want to look at that aspect in the Muslim world and beyond because even many Muslims were quite skeptical of Iran and bought into the propaganda. Do you think that has transitioned, given Iran’s very obvious support of the Palestinian cause and the sacrifices Iran has made? Has that message broken through?

Kevin Barrett: Yes, I think that the world has shifted profoundly in a pro-Iran direction in terms of global public opinion in general, and Islamic world public opinion in particular. I can see that not only by following the discussion online but also here in Morocco. Talking with cab drivers, sitting in cafes, watching the World Cup, and chatting, there’s been a real change.

I think Moroccans were being successfully brainwashed against the Islamic Republic of Iran, increasingly so, right up until Tufan Al-Aqsa. We started to see a shift that has become profound in the wake of this war. Nobody can deny that this Zionist-American war on Iran, and the murder of Iran’s leaders—including their holy religious leaders—is shocking to everyone. It’s just naked, obvious aggression.

It’s clear to everyone that this is being done in great part because Iran is standing against the genocide in Gaza. You can’t miss that, no matter how much your government leans on media outlets to try to temper the discussion and obfuscate. Unfortunately, that happens in many countries, including Arab and Muslim countries, but they can’t hide it. People see right through it.

I’ve noticed a huge shift—a huge pro-Iran shift here in Morocco and across the world in the discussions among Sunni Muslim countries, and then beyond into the non-Muslim world as well. Iran is somehow winning this public relations battle despite being outspent by hundreds or thousands to one.

Marzieh Hashemi: Now, we have about one minute left. I want to look at the way the Leader chose to stay in his home and office, completely unmoved by the threats. How much of that do you think played a role in working up the masses?

Maryam Azarchehr: First of all, let me clarify one point. It is very wise for any leader to protect themselves when they are being targeted in order to be able to continue leading their people. What was different this time was that the leadership, and in fact the whole system, knew that the U.S. was going to bomb everywhere. It wasn’t as though only the leader was being targeted; we saw how they targeted children, schools, and everywhere else.

Under these conditions, the Leader essentially said that since they are going to target everyone, he should not benefit from any special security conditions that are inaccessible to the rest of the 90 million population. That was why he chose not to go into hiding, though I believe he was still careful with security.

On the other hand, as you mentioned, there has been a lot of propaganda by Israeli-funded or U.S.-funded Farsi-speaking media telling Iranians that their leader is in hiding, or that he escaped to Venezuela or Russia. His choice to stay completely disproved those lies.

Marzieh Hashemi: That brings us to the end of this segment. I want to thank my guest in Morocco, Kevin Barrett, and my colleague here in the studio with me, Maryam. Thank you to our viewers for staying with us. I’ll be back in just a few minutes with the news bulletin. Please stay tuned.