Democracy Now! Monday, March 2, 2026

0:00From New York, this is Democracy Now. The United States and its partners have launched Operation Epic Fury, one of the largest most complex, most overwhelming military offensives. The world has ever seen nobody seen anything like it. Conflict spreading across the Middle East after the U.S. and Israel launched an unprovoked war on Iran, an assassinated Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Alehamanay. At least 550 people have been killed in Iran since Saturday. President Trump says the war could continue for weeks. Israel is retaliated by striking Israel as well as U.S. allies across the Middle East. Israel's mobilized 100,000 reservists as it threatens to reinvade Lebanon.

1:06Israeli strikes on Lebanon have already killed at least 31 people. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is calling for peace in the region. The military action carries the risk of igniting a chain of events that no one can control in the most volatile region of the world. Let me be clear, there is no viable alternative to the peaceful settlement of international disputes. Lasting peace can only be achieved through peaceful means, including genuine dialogue and negotiations. We'll speak to two Iranian-American professors, one who was on death row in Iran for years. We'll get a report from Israel and look at how the U.S.-Israeli attack violates international law. All that and more coming up. Welcome to DemocracyNowDemocracyNow.org, the War and Peace Report.

2:08I'm Amy Kudman. The Iranian Red Crescent Society says more than 550 people have been killed since the U.S. and Israel launched a full-scale military assault on Iran early Saturday. The unprovoked attack prompted Iran to launch missiles across the Middle East, targeting Israel and Gulf Arab nations. The joint U.S. and Israeli war on Iran began with a daytime assault on high security compound of Ali Hamanai, Iran's 86-year-old Supreme Leader. Ali was killed in the attack, along with his daughter and grandchild and with Iran's defense minister, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the chief of staff of Iran's armed forces, senior intelligence officials, and other Iranian leaders. Scores of civilians have also been killed in southern Iran, a missile struck a girl's elementary school in the city of Minab, killing at least 165 people, nearly 100 others were injured. The video of the aftermath shows rescuers searching through twisted concrete and rubble strewn

3:14with textbooks and backpacks as screams are heard in the background. As we entered the school, we saw the body of a teacher that had been cut in half. And as you can see, we're still clearing the debris, and even now, body parts are still coming out. Another strike, 18 people, most of them children were killed in the mayor in southern Iran, when a missile struck residences in a gymnasium, about 100 people were wounded in that attack. In a video message, President Trump called for a regime change and urged Iranians to take over their government. On Sunday, Trump confirmed reports that three U.S. service members had been killed, a toll that since risen to five. Trump said there would likely be more injuries and deaths ahead, and an operation he said could last for weeks. For almost 50 years, these wicked extremists have been attacking the United States while chanting the slogan, death to America or death to Israel or both.

4:17They are the world's number one state sponsor of terror. We are the world's greatest and most powerful nation, so we can do something about what they do. President Trump launched the attacks without congressional approval. It came shortly after Omani mediators held a breakthrough in indirect talks between the U.S. and Iran and Geneva when Iran agreed to zero stockpiling of uranium as a guarantee that it would not pursue a nuclear weapon. Iran's foreign minister Abbas Arakchi condemned the U.S. for abandoning diplomacy. Contrary to Americans that they record is very bad and very negative. And this is the second time that we negotiated with Americans and they decided to attack us right in the middle of negotiation. In Israel, an Iranian ballistic missile struck a residential district of Bay Chamesh on Sunday, killing nine people and wounding 27 others. Another strike killed a woman in Tel Aviv.

5:18Other Iranian missiles were intercepted by Israeli defenses, including one that crashed onto a street in Jerusalem, injuring several people. Iran also launched retaliatory strikes against all Gulf Arab nations that host U.S. military bases with the exception of a man, Bahrain, Qatar. The United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia all were struck. One person was killed in Abu Dhabi. Another person killed in Kuwait where a Defense Ministry official reported three U.S. F-15 fighter jets were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses. And Saudi Arabian oil refinery caught fire after it was struck by debris from an Iranian missile, closing a facility that processes over half a million barrels of crude oil a day. Shipping through the strait of Hamluz has effectively come to a halt due to the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran. Oil prices have surged to a 52-week high.

6:19With many analysts predicting they could soon top $100 a barrel. Hundreds of thousands of travelers have been stranded as all flights through some of the world's busiest international airports have been grounded. Stock markets across Asia open sharply lower on fears the attack on Iran will slow the global economy. Lebanon's health ministry says at least 31 people have been killed and nearly 150 wounded since Israel launched renewed air strikes on baydut sub-urbs and other parts of Lebanon on Sunday. Tens of thousands of residents of southern and eastern Lebanon were seen fleeing their homes after Israel ordered people in nearly 50 villages to evacuate ahead of a planned bombing campaign. Israel's military says it's renewed war on Lebanon comes in response to missiles and drones fired by his bala. In retaliation for the assassination of Ayatollah Alehamanee, there were his bala's first

7:19major violations of a ceasefire that took effect in November 2024. During that time, the United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, documented more than 15,000 ceasefire violations committed by Israel. Officials in the United Kingdom say an Iranian drone struck a British air base in Cyprus overnight, causing limited damage and no casualties. Iran's attack came after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, said he'd agreed to the Pentagon's request to use British military bases for what Starmer called defensive strikes on Iranian missile sites. Separately, France said it was sending two warships to the Red Sea to join a European naval mission. Meanwhile, Germany's Foreign Minister denied reports that Berlin was seriously considering joining the war against Iran, in Spain. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez condemned the U.S. Israeli strikes as a breach of international

8:21law. It is possible to be against a hateful regime, as Spanish society as a whole is against the Iranian regime, and at the same time be against an unjustified, dangerous military intervention that's outside international law. Berlin must be against a war that was started without the authorization of the United States Congress or the United Nations Security Council. Unsaturday, Russia and China requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, where China's foreign minister called for an immediate ceasefire and the resumption of talks. Russia condemned the U.S. Israeli attacks as another unprovoked act of armed aggression. Today, U.S. First Lady Melania Trump is residing over a U.N. Security Council meeting titled Children, Technology and Education and Conflict. It's the first time a spouse of a world leader has chaired such a session and comes just

9:22days after U.S. Israeli strikes killed scores of Iranian school children. The White House says top Trump administration officials will brief both chambers of Congress Tuesday about the U.S. strikes in Iran. President Trump launched the attacks without congressional authorization, which is required under Article I, Section A, to the Constitution. Unsaturday, Democratic Congressmember Rokhana of California and Republican Congressmember Thomas Massey of Kentucky demanded swift action on a war power's resolution that would reign in Trump's attack unless Congress approves military action. This comes as top Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries are under fire from anti-war groups who note they oppose Trump's attack on Iran on procedural grounds rather than opposition to war. A Reuters' Ipsos poll conducted over the weekend found only one in four U.S. residents approved the U.S. strikes on Iran.

10:26In Pakistan, at least 24 people were killed Sunday. His angry protest over the U.S. Israeli attacks on Iran were met with violence. In Karachi security guards at the U.S. consulate fired on demonstrators who breached the outer wall, killing 10 people, at least 14 were killed in northern Pakistan, where demonstrators vandalized several buildings and set fire to United Nations regional offices. Meanwhile, Pakistan escalated its war in Afghanistan, Taliban, Afghanistan's Taliban over the weekend, with an attempted strike on Bagram Air Base, the former U.S. military base north of Kabul. Hundreds of soldiers and scores of civilians have been killed in cross-border fighting since Pakistan announced a state of open war with Afghanistan last week. In Texas, at least two people were killed and 14 wounded early Sunday during a mass shooting at a bar in a busy nightlife district in Austin.

11:26This marked the 58th mass shooting in the United States so far this year, according to the gun violence archive. The FBI is investigating the shooting as a possible act of terrorism after the suspect reportedly wore a shirt with an Iranian flag design and a hoodie with the words property of Allah printed on it. The suspect was identified as 53-year-old in the Aga, the Agni, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Senegal. He was fatally shot by police. Trump's Republican allies have manipulated the shooting to perpetuate anti-immigrant hate speech and policies, but have again refused to call for stricter gun reform laws. At least, the identities of the victims have not been made public, at least three of those hospitalized were in critical condition. Cuban President Miguel de Ascanal has condemned the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran, saying quote, the Excruble Act constitutes an unscrupulous violation of all norms of international

12:28law and human dignity. His remarks came as President Trump continued his threats against Cuba. On Friday, Trump said the United States may launch a so-called friendly takeover of the island. Former President Bill Clinton denied having any knowledge of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's crimes during a six-hour closed-door deposition Friday in front of the House Oversight Committee. Clinton's sworn testimony marked the first time a former U.S. President has been compelled to testify before Congress. He's also the most high-profile figure to respond to questioning following the release of the Epstein files. This is part of Clinton's opening statement, which he shared on social media. I saw nothing and I did nothing wrong. If someone who grew up in a home with domestic violence, not only would I not have flown

13:31on his plane if I had any inkling of what he was doing, I would have turned him in myself and let the call for justice for his crimes, not the sweetheart deal we got. Former President Clinton's testimony came one day after his wife, former Secretary State Hillary Clinton, told the committee she didn't know Epstein. Bill Clinton flew on Epstein's private jet a number of times in the early 2000s. He also appears in a photo with Epstein and a woman whose identity was redacted sitting in a hot tub. Clinton adamantly denied knowing the woman in his congressional testimony. And a North Dakota judge just said he will order Greenpeace to pay damages estimated at $345 million, a move that could potentially bankrupt the environmental group. Last year, a jury sided with energy transfer, the corporation behind the Dakota Access Pipeline, a closely watched trial and lawsuit by the Texas Space Pipeline Company, which accused

14:31Greenpeace of orchestrating criminal behavior by training and providing funds to the indigenous led protests at Standing Rock between 2016 and 17. Greenpeace argued the lawsuit was part of a conspicuous attempt by corporations to destroy the right to free speech. Last March, democracy now spoke to Deepa Padmanaba, senior legal adviser for Greenpeace, USA. What's really important to know is that this case is not just an obvious and blatant erasure of indigenous leadership, of indigenous resistance, but this case is also so much bigger than just Greenpeace. It is an attack on the broader movement and all of our First Amendment rights to free speech in peaceful protest. Judge James Guyon previously cut the jury award nearly in half from more than $670 million to about $345 million Greenpeace could appeal to the North Dakota Supreme Court. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now, democracynow.org, the Warren Peace Report.

15:36I may make a good minute. The U.S. and Israeli war on Iran has entered its third day, according to the Iranian Red Cross and Society. More than 550 people have been killed in Iran since Saturday. The dead include Iran's 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ali Hamani, who is assassinated in an air strike targeting his compound. A number of other top Iranian officials have been killed, including Iran's Defense Minister, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the chief of staff of Iran's Armed Forces. Iran says in Israeli air strike, on a girl's elementary school in the city of Manab, killed 165 people, mostly girls. Nearly a hundred others were injured. Iran is retaliated by launching missiles targeting Israel as well as U.S. allies, including the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Cyprus, where an Iranian drone hit a British air base. In Saudi Arabia, the country's largest or refinery was forced to halt work after an Iranian

16:40drone attack. Israel is now threatening to re-invade Lebanon. After Israel and his Bullah exchange rocket fire on Sunday, at least 31 people have been killed in Lebanon. Israeli authorities say 10 people have died in Israel since Iran began launching retaliatory strikes. President Trump launched the attack on Iran without congressional approval or the backing of the U.N. security council. In a video message Sunday, Trump again pushed for regime change in Iran. I once again urge the revolutionary guard, the Iranian military and police, to lay down your arms and receive full immunity or face certain death. It will be certain death, won't be pretty. I call upon all Iranian patriots who yearn for freedom to seize this moment, to be brave, be bold, be heroic, and take back your country. America is with you. I made a promise to you, and I fulfilled that promise.

17:44The rest will be up to you, but we'll be there to help. During his remarks, President Trump also confirmed three U.S. soldiers had been killed. And he said there would likely be more. U.S. Central Command announced today that a fourth U.S. service member has been killed. Earlier today, three U.S. fighter jets were shot down over Kuwait, and what send-com has described as a, quote, a parent-friendly fire incident. Unquote. All six air crew ejected safely, the U.S. and Israeli attack on Iran's Saturday, came a day after the U.S. and Iran held indirect negotiations in Iran. Following the talks, Iran's Foreign Minister said, quote, a peace deal is within our reach. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqqi spoke to Al Jazeera Sunday. Well, Iran has been always open to diplomacy, and I think we have a very good record of that. Contrary to Americans that they record is very bad and very negative.

18:47You know, this is the second time that we negotiated with Americans, and they decided to attack us right in the middle of negotiation. Well, if their goal is to change the regime, that is a mission impossible. You know, the demise of the leader doesn't mean that, you know, regime change, or the change of the political system in Iran. No, we have a very, very established political system. We have a very rich constitution, and based on that, all, you know, state institutions are in place. They are doing their job, their function. Furthermore, we're joined by two guests in Philadelphia, Golnar Nikpov, is associate professor of modern Iranian history at Dartmouth College, author of the incarcerated modern prisons and public life in Iran. And here in New York, Beirut Isgamari, Tiberizi, is a fellow at the center for place culture

19:48and politics at the CUNY graduate center. He was previously professor and chair of the Department of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University. He served several books, including Islam and dissent and post-revolutionary Iran, a memoir about his years on death row in Avin prison called Remembering Akbar, inside the Iranian Revolution. And his latest book, Just Out This Year, The Long War on Iran, New Events Old Questions. We welcome you both to Democracy Now. Professor Ghamari, let's begin with you. You were on death row in the Avin prison in Iran for what, more than three years. You are now observing what has taken place this weekend. There was a big piece on you in Haarats and Israel a few days ago that talked about your warning about taking out Khameini and this possible strike that we're seeing today, respond

20:49to what has taken place over the weekend. This was, first of all, thank you for having me here. I think one of the most important lessons that we are learning here is that these attacks are causing, it's much suffering for Iranian people and it's destroying the space in which Iranians were struggling for social justice and civil liberties. This is exactly the opposite of what Iranians wished and this destruction is causing a tremendous harm to Iranian people. As we're speaking, Defense Secretary Hegseth is holding a press conference at the Pentagon. He in the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Cain. Armed forces are hitting Iran, Hegseth said surgically, overwhelmingly and unapologetically

21:54and then he went on to attack the media. Can you talk about the significance while the opening shots were against a girl's school in southern Iran? But now between Israel and the U.S. hundreds of attacks on Iran and other places in Iran. Yes, the first wave of attacks happened at the Office of the Supreme Leader, which caused him and the top echelon of Iranian military and defense apparatus to die and I think that was a moment that Ayatollah Khamenei who decided to remain in his office and remained defiant to American threats and it was very clear that he cared about his own legacy rather than trying to run away or hide in any bunker.

22:57Many of his advisors told him that it's not safe to be in his office and the story that I've been reading in Iranian press is that he refused to leave his office and he said that if 90 million of Iranians have shelters to go to, I would go to shelter after them. But he remained in his office and became a martyr for his revolution. Which is very interesting. We were talking on Saturday in a special broadcast. We did with your colleague, Professor Ervan Abrahamian, who said this is an 86 year old man who is dying of cancer and now he has been murdered. That's right. And he always remained defiant. I mean, people who believe in his mission, believe in his ideas now are celebrating the fact that he remained up to the last moment of his life remained defiant and he wanted to follow the path of Yahya Sinwar of Hamas and that kind of legacy is very, very important

24:02for him and his followers. And we saw that hundreds of thousands of people in Tehran and cities around the country and in the region poured into the streets and mourning his death. So you've been imprisoned at the notorious event in prison on death row. This was in the 1980s and yet you worn against the toppling of this regime. Why? Because I think that in the past 40 years or so, there were so many important events happening inside Iranian society. Iranian society, a decade after decade, showed that they are capable of transforming their own society. Issues of social justice remained very prominent in Iranian society. And women were very, very active in changing the conditions of their own life inside the country and Iranian labor movement was very strong.

25:05Iranian students always were very strong. And I thought that at this moment toppling the government without having a clear alternative only would damage those struggles that people have struggled to maintain throughout these past 40 years would diminish. And I am very pessimistic about the possibility of a regime changing Iran without having a clear idea of what is going to replace it. Let's go to Professor Golnar Nikpoor of Dartmouth. If you can respond to what has taken place over this weekend, what is happening around right now that you are hearing, you are the author of the incarcerated modern prisons in public life in Iran, and who the leadership possibly is, President Trump, soon after the

26:06hundreds of attacks were taking place on Iran, and then Iran retaliating throughout the Gulf and against Israel as well, President Trump said to the Atlantic magazine that he was willing to talk again. Yes, first of all, thank you so much for having me, Amy, I appreciate it, a great deal. The situation in Iran, as you've noted, is quite dire right now, the, there have been innumerable military attacks across the country, over 550 reported killed so far. As, as mentioned, the, a great deal of the upper echelon of the leadership has been wiped out, including now former Supreme Leader, having been killed, Ali Hominay, a three person leadership council has been created to manage the day-to-day affairs of the state as it

27:12decides on a new leader, and that includes current President Massoud Pizestion, important conservative cleric, Ayatollah Ali Reza, Arafi, and Kholam Hussein Moseni, Ejoyi, who is chief justice of the country. It's also quite clear that Ali Ladijani has been incredibly important in managing the day-to-day affairs of the country, so the leadership structure that remains is trying to promote an idea of stability, promote the idea that there is an internal systematic effort to replace those who have been already killed with the next in line, and to sort of stabilize the system both actually and in its presentation. So that's the situation that we're in internally in the country, but it's quite a devastating attack on the infrastructure

28:17of the country, both in terms of the state infrastructure and civilian infrastructure. We've already gotten reports of hospitals being hit, and as you mentioned, the sort of opening salvo, and the most devastating attack launch so far, was against a girl school in southern Iran in Minab, where well over 100 people have been killed mostly children. So yes, I very much agree with Professor Ayatabizzi that this is a situation that creates a code red internally in the country, wherein we're not seeing something like protests on the streets, because people are concerned with avoiding the sure death of bombs falling. And I had reports yesterday from some contacts in Iran that people are using old bunkers or old facilities that they had used during the Iranian Iraq War to shelter in Tehran

29:22from the bombardment, but everyone is as far as I can tell, using makeshift sort of efforts to stay out of harm's way. Of course, the internet has been cut by the Iranian government again, which means that there is a trickle rather than a flood of information and that there is a great deal of misinformation that people are being subjected to from malign actors on the internet. So one of the things that we have been trying to do is get a sense of what is really happening in the country, and I'll conclude by just saying that one of my own concerns, and I'm sure that this is something that Behruz-Wit echo as well, having had this experience himself in the 1980s, but as a scholar of prisons and prisoners, I'm quite worried about what the situation is inside of Iran's prisons. There were some reports from political prisoners in the country saying that there was limited access to food. This is a captive

30:22population, so if bombs are falling, they are captive to where they are, and they are also going to be sort of privy to whatever the authorities in Iran choose to do as well, including any sort of retaliation that they may choose to undertake. So that's something I'm keeping my eye on right now. There hasn't been any specific news out of prisons beyond some worry about food being limited, but there is a concern about this population. I wanted to ask Professor Behruz-Gamari about this comment of the reporter Jonathan Karl, who said President Trump told me tonight, the US had identified possible candidates to take over Iran, but they were killed in the initial attack. Trump told me Jonathan Karl said the attack was so successful, it knocked out most of the candidates. It's not going to be anybody we were thinking of because they're all dead. Second or third place is dead, he said. So I wanted to go

31:26through who some of the possible candidates are, and maybe you could elaborate. You've got Mojda Bahramani, who is the son of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Hamine, who is killed. You've got Ali Reza Arafi, director of Iran's religious seminaries, Mohammed Madi, Mayor Bakery, ultra-hardline cleric, and among others, also Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of Ayatollah Khomeini, who died before Khomeini. Yes, I don't think that the Iranian state is any rush to appoint a successor to Ayatollah Hamine at this point. They have a council. Because they're concerned you would be killed. Yes, and also it would be a rushed decision, and that decision has to be made by the assembly of experts, and they have to find time for a

32:27meeting of the assembly of experts to appoint the successor of Ayatollah Hamine. And I think that the council that my colleague Gulnar just mentioned is appointed there to take care of the leadership issues at this point, and so far they are able to maintain a succession of leadership at the very highest levels, and I don't believe that any of these candidates that you name are going to be one of those candidates that are going to replace Ayatollah Hamine. The most important person that people talk about is the person, the clerics from the Supreme Court, Gordian's council, Ayatollah Arafi, who is a religious leader, not much of a political

33:32actor, but very respected in the seminaries. So at this point people are mostly talking about him, but that's yet to be seen that how this transfer of power would happen. But I do not think that they are in a rush to appoint a successor to Ayatollah Hamine, because the structure of leadership is in place, and they were expecting this for a long time, and they are going to take their time before announcing any successor to Hamine. Whether or not the Trump administration is in conversation with people inside the Iranian political power, this sort of Venezuela model, we don't know their own speculation whether or not they are talking about the two people about the possible successor who would be friendly to American interests in the region, but at this point these are all the speculations. What about the president, the current Iranian president,

34:34Pazashkin, who is believed to be a lot? Yes, but he is not going to be appointed as the Supreme Leader. The Supreme Leader needs to be coming from the ranks of the clergy. So he is not going to be appointed in that position. The person who is very important at this point, as Gordian mentioned, is Ali Larijani, who is the head of the National Security Council, and he's been very, very active, and he's pretty much in charge of the affairs at this point, with consultation with the Council of Leadership that is in place right now. What about Reza Palavi, the son of the Shah known for his brutal rule through his secret police, the Savak? Reza Palavi basically is an Israeli-American project, and in recent months he's been gaining support inside. He is in the US,

35:36he lives in Maryland, but he's traveling trying to gain support from American politicians and the US Congress and some Europeans, and he has a significant support among Iranian diaspora. But this has been a project in the making for many years, and millions and millions of dollars have been poured into making Reza Palavi an alternative to the Islamic Republic. Whether or not he can emerge as the real alternative we don't know, but I doubt it. Professor Golnar Nick, for you, wrote a piece for Jacobin last year, the fail son and the flag, explain. Yes, in that piece, I essentially argued, as Behrouz just did so ably, that Reza Palavi is fundamentally an Israeli-American

36:38project, as he just said. He has been the sort of hope of the neo-monarchist movement for many years, and indeed decades, but has never been able to build organizational support, institutional support within Iran. That doesn't mean that he doesn't have supporters, of course. Largely in the diaspora, he's an important political figure in the diaspora, maybe the important political figure, and presumably some supporters in the country as well, but no institutional kind of entrenchment, right? No organization or political party or council that can be imagined as having state-like functions and stepping in to fill a power vacuum, to bring Reza Palavi, who himself in an interview, just not very long ago, said that he can't even imagine moving back to Iran full-time because

37:43his life is in the United States. He said this on a right-wing podcast in the US a couple of years ago, and this is a figure that just does not have connections, organic connections to political movements in the country. So for him to emerge, either as a transitional leader, which is what he says that he wants to be, or as a long-term leader, would need, in my view, significant military investment on the part of outside powers to prop up his rule, boots on the ground, because there is a military, strong military apparatus and institutional apparatus in Iran of the IRGC, the revolutionary guards, and Reza Palavi doesn't have a kind of comparable institutional support in the country. So to imagine bringing him to power would need a great deal of military support. This is what he has been essentially sort of on the vaccine advocating for, but has, to my knowledge, not managed

38:47to quite convince the Trump administration, before that last bit. Let me ask you a question, because we begin to wrap up about Iran retaliating by sending drones to Israel by going after the Gulf States, one after another, and the significance of this, where you think they would want not to alienate these Gulf States. But now, if you can explain the attacks on Saudi Arabia, on UAE, on Qatar, on Bahrain, now, apparently on Cyprus, there's a British base on Cyprus. Iran is primarily targeting the US bases in these countries, and many of these missiles are targeting Iran from the Saudi soil, from the UAE, from Kuwait, and Iran has forewarned them that they should not allow the US to launch his attack from their soil. And it's the case that obviously,

39:54when they start attacking, there are damages that happens outside the American bases. But primarily that's the objective to attack American bases in these countries. And they also want to expand the war. And I had to lock on me last week, mentioned that if the reason attack on Iran is going to be a regional war, and this regional war, they want to make sure that they create an expansive war that it is felt by the entire region and globally, because then they are going to disrupt the flow of oil. They are going to show Europeans, primarily, that they cannot sit on the sidelines without taking a position against this illegal act of aggression. We just got news that the wife of the Supreme Leader Ali Hamani has also succumbed to her injury. She has died. We know that also killed in that attack, aside from the close to 50

40:59commanders, was Hamani's daughter and also grandchild. Your final thoughts. Again, your professor here in the United States now, but you were imprisoned at Avime Prison. You were undethrough what's going to happen now and why you feel so strongly that you are deep, that though you are deep critic of this regime, that this war on Iran is wrong. Because I think I can't find any reason to celebrate the assassination of the Iranian Supreme Leader, because I think it's part of a package. It's a package because the assassination of the Iranian Supreme Leader is also part of the killing of Iranian school children. It's also part of the killing of Iranian innocent people. It's also part of the attack on Iranian hospitals. These are not separate issues. I think that for that very reason,

42:07I don't think there is any reason to celebrate the demise of Iranian leader because it's happening in the hands of what I call the king of genocide and someone in the US who is so deeply in trouble with the American legal system with the Epstein files. As many people say that this is Epstein war and I think that we should not be sort of fools to think that this is in any shape or form is done on behalf of Iranian people. This is done on behalf of American and primarily on behalf of Israeli interests. And I think Americans should ask themselves that why exactly are we attacking Iran without any kind of provocation? This is a war that is not in the interests of the United States and is only full fields and realizes the desires of regime

43:12in Israel that is promoting forever wars in the region. I want to thank you both for being with us. Behrouz-Ghamari, Tabrizi, fellow at the Center for Place Culture and Politics at the CUNY Graduate Center. It's late to spoke. The long war in Iran, new events, old questions. He's previously Professor and Chair of the Department of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton, where he directed the Center for Iran and Persian Gulf Studies was imprisoned at Evian prison in the 1980s, on death row there. And Gulnar-Nikpur, Associate Professor of Modern Iranian History at Dartmouth College, author of the incarcerated Modern Prisons and Public Life in Iran. This is democracy now. When we come back, we go to Tel Aviv and also look at Europe and how it's responding right now to the U.S. Israeli attack on Iran. Stay with us.

44:31Do you believe in his sweet sensation? Do you believe in second chance? Do you believe in rapture being? Do you believe in rapture by thirst and more, performing at Smith College in 2005? This is Democracy Now, Democracy Now.org. I'm Amy Goodman as we continue to look at the U.S. Israeli war on Iran. Israel's mobilized 100,000 reservists as it threatens to re-invade Lebanon. Lebanon's health ministry says at least 31 people have been killed nearly 150 wounded since Israel launched renewed air strikes and they did suburbs and other parts of Lebanon on Sunday. Tens of thousands of residents of southern and eastern Lebanon were seen fleeing their homes

45:35after Israel ordered people in nearly 50 villages to evacuate. Israel's military says it's renewed war on Lebanon comes in response to missiles and drones fired by Hisbola in retaliation for the assassination of Ayatollah Alehamanee. They were Hisbola's first major violations of a ceasefire that took effect in November 2024. During that time, the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, documented more than 15,000 ceasefire violations committed by Israel. Israeli police say nine people were killed after an Iranian missile attack on the central city of Bitjamesh. Another strike killed a woman in Tel Aviv. This is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking Sunday. We are in a campaign in which we are bringing the full force of the IDF, as never before, to ensure our existence and our future. But we are also bringing into this campaign the assistance of the United States, my friend, U.S. President Donald Trump and the U.S.

46:40military, and this combination of forces enables us to do what I have long hoped to do for 40 years to strike the terror regime decisively. That is what I promised, and that is what we will do. We're joined right now by Ori Goldberg, Israeli political analyst, scholar in Tel Aviv, written extensively on Iran, Israel, and the relationship between religion and politics in the Middle East. Ori, thanks so much for being with us again. You were there for our special broadcast on Saturday. Can you talk about the response on the ground right now in Israel to the Israeli U.S. attack on Iran, and then the response by Iran? Well, as far as the Israeli general population goes, there is a broad embrace of this attack. In fact, the consensus, which so far during the protests against the Netanyahu government has been shushed and actively repressed, is now surfacing with full strength. That is the alliance

47:44between the Israeli liberals and the Israeli right, the settlers, the religious elements in the government. They all seem to agree broadly and deeply that this war is inevitable, that it must be carried out right now, and that Israel has absolutely no choice. And of course, the this war will only end with a real top claim of the regime in Tehran, a campaign that can and should last as long as it takes, which is something our prime minister has said repeatedly over the last few days. The, again, the population is resigned to this war. It supports it. It doesn't appear to be jubilant. Nobody is accepting Netanyahu's boasts like they did after the idea of mobilized and invaded Gaza following the events of October 2023. But there's a sense that this has to be done, and we're doing what has to be done.

48:45And what about the call for 100,000 Israeli reservists for the possible re-invasion of Lebanon? Well, the Israeli government mobilizes reservists with great ease, certainly now in the entire countries that are shut down. It might have been a little more difficult had the country been in full working mode, but it most certainly is not. Most Israelis are shutling between shelters and taking care of kids who are home from school as the educational system is not working either. Mobilizing 100,000 reservists, as I said, is not that difficult. Will Israel invade Lebanon? Particularly when we hear that the Lebanese prime minister has officially declared that the government of Lebanon forbids his ballad from operating in any sort of military capacity from Lebanese territory. I doubt very much that we will see another invasion of Lebanon. Israel so far seems quite pleased to be attacking, bombing, killing, and destroying from the air just as is the case with the United States in Iran. How many times have you been sent into shelter, Ori? On

49:50Saturday, I think it was, we're up to 12 by the time we spoke at about one o'clock in the afternoon. Yes, and then I think we got to about 20, but it hasn't really improved. The frequency has somewhat lessened, but we can get one sheltering order in place, then have it rescinded after 10 minutes, and then after two minutes have it on again, classically overcompensation for the beginning of the Gaza quote unquote war, when the IDF and the Israeli state were caught completely unprepared. Now the powers that be here seem to have reached the decision that it's better to send the entire country into shelters than to have even one unnecessary casualty. Can you talk about the negotiations that were happening in Geneva around Iran's nuclear program, this happening in the midst of them as they were planning to continue this week?

50:54This is something that you've looked at continually. I'm not going to go off on a speculative tangent. I cannot corroborate this completely or positively, but to the best of my understanding, this was not the result of an operation meant to misdirect Iranian attention or meant to secure reasons for a preventive attack. If it was, then this isn't a preventive attack. If this has been planned for months and years, then there's no doubt that there's nothing preventive or legal about it. What I gather is that there was some convergence of intelligence. There was a realization that Iran's senior leadership was going to meet in the somewhat unprecedented fashion in Tehran. This is the sort of tactical intelligence at which Israel excels. Israelis brought this to the attention of the United States. The forces were already in place because, again, moving forces is easier than sending them into

51:57an actual war. Same case for the United States as it is for Israel. The forces were already in place and all that was needed was the spark of that particular meeting where Israel and the United States believed that they could assassinate the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic. They succeeded in everything that has happened since pretty much. Ever since the opening shock and awe enhanced, as it were, has, I think, been learning and working in motion. Targets have been identified for months and years. There's no doubt that's the case. But any kind of coherent, consequent logic that would be apparent in such a program, any kind of final goal, any kind of vision as to what regime change might actually include, that does not seem to be a part of either the Israeli or the American working plan in Iran at the moment. And in fact, President Trump could declare victory whenever he so chooses. He's

53:00already assassinated the Supreme Leader. Israel could declare victory whenever it so chooses. But Israel over the past two and a half years has become exceedingly greedy. It doesn't want to commit itself to anything. It actually, I think, that what Israel is fighting for is the right to be able to go off on such attacks whenever it wants, wherever it wants, for as long as it wants. So don't expect Israel to come to a political realization that this might end. Again, the population supports Prime Minister Netanyahu. The opposition has officially disbanded itself and declared that there were no coalition or opposition now, just the united people of Israel. So don't look to Israel for any kind of political statement. Ori Goldberg, I want to thank you for being with us. This is really political Aniston Scholar in Tel Aviv. When we come back, we go to war crimes prosecutor Reed Brody. Stay with us.

54:16Hope musician Michael Hurley, hog of the forsaken. This is democracy now. I'm Amy Goodman. The United States and Israel are facing global condemnation for launching unilateral attacks on Iran without seeking approval of the UN Security Council. We go now to France where we're joined by Reed Brody. Long time war crimes prosecutor member of the International Commission of Juris Author of To Catch a dictator. Reed, if you can respond to what has taken place, the US Israeli attacks on Iran and then Iran retaliating by sending missiles and drones throughout the Gulf and against Israel. Sure, Amy. I mean, look, whatever you think of the theocratic dictatorship in Iran, these attacks by the US and Israel are a clear violation of the foundational principle

55:21of the post war legal order, which is the non-use of force. So the UN Charter is not ambiguous. Article two section four prohibits the use of force against the territorial integrity or the political independence of any state. And there are only two exceptions. One, if the security council authorizes it, which obviously nobody saw here, or self-defense. And that means self-defense in response to an actual or an imminent armed attack. And here there was no, it's obvious there was no such imminent attack. President Trump even said last year that he had obliterated Iran's nuclear capacity as you've reported both sides that just concluded the most intensive round of nuclear talks. So there was no immediate threat here. And so President Trump has presumptively committed the crime, the international crime of aggression, as he did in Venezuela. And just

56:26as Vladimir Putin did in Ukraine. And at the Noranburg trials, the supreme international crime was considered to be aggression, crimes against peace. It's also important to remember that under U.S. law, as you've reported, the Constitution gives Congress not the president the power to the clear war. And this is not some quaint historical debate. The framers were very cognizant that executives, that king start war. And the war is the most consequential decision that a nation can take. And it should not be left to a single person's judgment. The framers had seen the alternative, the royal prerogative of bringing a war. And that was precisely the kind of tyranny they wanted to avoid, that one person on a whim or for whatever. I mean, obviously they had,

57:28I don't think the founders ever imagined that they would have a president who would launch a war because he was dropping in the polls or because he wanted to divert from the Epstein files or because he didn't get the Nobel Peace Prize. But, you know, it is a foundational principle here that the president cannot just declare a decide to go to a war. He can do it in an emergency. And that's why the Constitution says it doesn't say that only the Congress can make war because they allow the president in the case of an emergency. But not to declare war and keep a war going. We have 10 seconds. President Trump now told the Atlantic magazine they want to talk and I've agreed to talk. So I'll be talking to them. As the US and Israel strikes around hundreds of times. And apparently the Pentagon, the president is saying this will go on for weeks. Well, you know, I mean, we're shifting, I mean, this shows that there was, there was no plan here.

58:30The whole reason, I mean, one of the main reasons to have, you know, this constitutional provision is so that a war can be deliberated. So you understand what a war is about. You go to the people, you go to the Congress, you deliberate, and you decide as a nation there should be a war or there shouldn't be. Reed Brody War crimes prosecutor member of the International Commission of Juris. That does it for our show. I'm Amy Goodman. Thanks so much for joining us.