Situational Assessment of the Iran War with Lisa Daftari

0:01 Good afternoon and welcome to the Middle East Forums weekly podcast. My name is Lori Regan and on behalf of MEF, I thank you all for joining today and for your continued support of the critically important work that we do. I just wanted to take a moment to share how devastated we all are at the news of the death of Senator Lindsey Graham, one of America's greatest patriots, a staunch supporter of our closest ally, Israel, a friend of the Jewish people more generally, and a stalwart on a strong US foreign policy. We will miss him and his passionate, deeply moral and pro-America and pro-western positions. May his memory be a blessing. This afternoon, I'm very happy to be joined by someone who worked with Senator Graham, Lisa Dvari, who is an award-winning investigative journalist, political analyst, and commentator focusing on foreign policy and frequently appearing on Fox News, Newsmax, CNN, CBS, NBC, and others. Lisa also serves as director and founding editor of the Foreign Desk and is also the host of the highly acclaimed Foreign Desk podcast. She has won a multitude of awards and I encourage you all to follow her important work and analyses. We're also going to share the link to um in in

1:04 the chat to Lisa's column today on Senator Graham's profound impact on American foreign policy. Please do read the article and follow her work. Lisa is joining us this afternoon to share her insights on what exactly is happening in the Islamic Republic of Iran these days and in particular will be helping us understand both the mentality and strategy of those within the Iranian government with whom negotiations towards a final peace deal are being conducted as well as the Iranian people on whom the hopes of implementing regime change rests. So I'm going to spend the first part of the podcast discussing these important issues with Lisa and then we'll open the discussion to the audience questions. If you have one for Lisa, please use the Q&A function at the bottom of your screen and I'll do my best to get to as many submissions as possible. Um, today's podcast is being recorded and will be available for future viewing. So, please do share this far and wide. I'm sure it's going to be a very informative and important discussion. So, welcome Lisa and thank you for joining us this afternoon.

1:58 Thank you. It's a pleasure. Um, I wanted to start by trying to understand exactly who currently is in charge in the Islamic Republic since one day they're signing an MOU promising to open the Strait of Hermuz and the next day they're bombing commercial shipping vessels as they traverse the straight. Um, you I'm not sure if anybody really knows the answer to this, but is it is the country basically a military dictatorship run by the IRGC? And then if so, you know, where are the clerics in all this? or I'm wondering about the tensions between the clerics and the military wing as CBS reported a few days ago that Iranian officials privately told Trump um advisers that they made a mistake in shooting at commercial ships and that the attacks stemmed from an errant sect of hardliners who were trying to undermine negotiations. Um and then also in this context where does Ayatollah um Mushtaba Kame come into all of this as well?

2:52 Great. All great questions. And um it's interesting because when people ask, well, are the hardliners in charge? I mean, which one of them is not a hardliner, right? Uh this is more of their favorite game, which is good cup, bad cup. For the purposes of the West, every single one of them is a hardliner. It doesn't matter who's in charge. It doesn't mean we've had regime change. We have maybe perhaps had personnel change but nobody could be in charge or in the position of power or even serve unless they were cut from the same cloth as hommin and all the [clears throat] rest of them. Now with regards to structure infrastructure of the government and how it has come to be after the February 20th assassination of Kam some are asking if it's much sab I want to rewind before his assassination there was a question a debate a rift fights within themselves about who's going to take over when eventually dies this guy has had nine lies he's been sick many times

3:56 in the hospital but he hasn't he he he wasn't dying natural causes and obviously they were they had to prepare because he was you know in his um upper 80s. So Much Taba was never a favorite to follow in his father's footsteps. He was seen as somebody who is weak. I know there's rumors all over the place that he was perhaps a homosexual and he had all kinds of uh treatments done around the world. We'll leave that aside. The fact is had he been not badly injured, powerful, in a position of reverence and respect, uh he would have already been seen in public. He would have made more statements. Just the other day, I think it was two days ago, he came out with a statement saying he will avenge his father's death. It took him four and a half months to come out with that statement. And where is he? Right? So that's that's my little bit on on Mojaba. For the rest of them, we now have the IRGC controlling. So a military state uh with a deadly ideology. And

5:00 people ask, well, don't you have that in Egypt? Don't you have that in Pakistan with the military state? That their governments are different. You have you have their government and then you have the military supporting the government. This is militia outward. Meaning the militia is at the core of of this. The IRGC is now at the core of this. And then you have the supreme um leader and you have the various circles, the committees as they call them, uh who have to sign off on every little thing. But the the main thing to remember is Sharia law is still at the center of their governance. Their deadly ideology is still at the center of their governance. what our strategic imperative is and I know the the news cycle has lost this and perhaps Donald Trump's focus on the street of Hormuz has lost this narrative but our strategic imperative our reason for getting involved in this war to begin with on February 28th was mainly because of nuclear weapons then secondary becomes their deadly proxies their ballistic missiles their drones and their obviously their their you know um

6:04 spread of of global jihad you know and and and being the number one states sponsor of terrorism around the world. That has all been lost because of of Hormuz. Now, did we not know about Hormuz? Did we not expect this them to take Hormuz? Of course, we did. There is um intel there. If you go to the, you know, Pentagon, I'm sure this is now a lot of this is declassified. They knew about Hormuz being a potential threat uh and and a lever that they would take. It's just that they are so masterful at narrative warfare that they have shifted their narrative to be out about Hormuz. But to get back to your question, we need to focus on the regime being just as deadly as it was uh in February 27th, if not deadlier. Regardless of who's in charge, there are no reformists. There is no uh deli Rodriguez Allah Venezuela scenario to be played out here. They are all carrying the same deadly ideology.

7:01 You can tell by the rhetoric. You can tell by their actions. And the fact that we even gave them this episode of our chance at diplomacy is beyond me, but I'm glad that that chapter seems like it's coming to a close. I'm I mean, I'm assuming that was midterm uh related. Maybe it was Vance related, but I I I am with you on being happy that the past couple 24 hours in particular are showing a a different direction for this. So, Lisa, can you share your thoughts on what you believe is going on in the minds of the powers that be in the Islamic Republic? I mean, look, are, you know, I was I I wanted to ask you, are they playing Trump because that's their motus operende? And and actually Lindsey Graham stated something not too long ago. If you want to negotiate, you better put Iran on a clock or it will never end. So, delay, delay, delay. But, you know, Trump had to re realize this with this ceasefire.

7:51 Um and I I guess putting his motivations and American motivations aside, what are the Iranian negotiators, whether it's foreign minister um Iraqi and and speaker Galabah, what what is everybody thinking about all these provocations that result in further US attacks, did they not fear significant US military reprisals up until a day or two ago? Um, you know, one of the arguments that I've seen is that the hardliners believe that Iran's nuclear program and hardliners, ballistic missiles, proxies, etc. are essential to the regime's survival and therefore they're non-negotiable. Is that correct? Also, absolutely. The very existence of this regime, this is why there there's no deal to be had. Why? because the very existence of this regime, if they stay in power, is equivalent to having deadly weapons, nuclear, ballistic, drones, proxies, etc. So, if they stay in power, that's what we're going to have. The what what Lindsey Graham, may he rest in peace, said and and and he has been right. I mean, he he wasn't an I told

8:54 you so man, but he had every right to be. He said the same thing. This is not a regime that will relinquish its weapons program. It's not a regime that will be reformed or softened. That's not the way it was designed from 1979. But to the same point, they have never been as weak as they have they were in 1979 militarily. So yes, Donald Trump knows all of this. He also knows that they're, as you said, motus operandi is to to play out the clock, get more time. They they've hung in there, right? So I don't think anybody was under the illusion that this was going to be a slam dunk foreign policy move from February 28th that we were going to see the regime collapse within two days. Obviously they have many many uh appendages moving parts right so they have their proxies that are still kicking and breathing uh to some extent. They have China and Russia obviously helping them out technologically and with knowhow and knowledge uh etc to push forward in in in in several ways. uh and they have hung in there and that's exactly what they're hoping to do. You know, many people call this regime suicidal and I

9:57 and I always want to correct that. They're not suicidal in that they want to die by this ideology. They're suicidal in the in the sense that they want to live by this ideology. And if that means raining down missiles on their soil and then, you know, just pr prolonging this war, they will do it. They don't care if Iranians get killed. 30 to 50,000 of them were massacred in wholesale fashion with militaryra weapons in January. So that is that is the the sense with which they they they live. They're not religious by any means. They you can see their children and grandchildren in skimpy bikinis on yachts in Europe and in the west. Um they want to enrich themselves. They want to stay in power. And they've done this for five decades and they hope to do it for five more. We're just going to have more of the same. So many people call this another forever war. Quite the contrary. If you're against forever wars, this is the war to fight to the very end so that we do not have any more forever wars. That we don't need presence in the Middle East. If you sit and connect the dots, all the turmoil we

11:01 see in the Middle East goes right back to Tehran, right back to them funding those proxies and exporting terrorism and wanting from day one when they said death to America and death to Israel. Those weren't slogans. They actually acted upon it. And it wasn't just a revolution inside Iran. They wanted to export that revolution, their brand of Shiite Islam around the world. People went crazy about ISIS, the Islamic State, wanting to have a true caliphate. They are the original ISIS. They are the original Islamic State. ISIS was Sunni. They're Shiite. They wanted to export their brand, their revolution all around the world. And and we've allowed them to to this point. This is the time to do it. And I want to just comment very briefly on what you said about Trump's timeline. I think absolutely. I mean, my two cents that this was a domestic issue. There's a lot of pressure on Donald Trump, whether it comes from the Republicans themselves, from the Democrats, from the moderate Arab states that are being shot at right now. Uh, and of course, we had FIFA here. Bad look if we're involved in in wars while

12:05 the games are going on. I mean, now now we are, but that was kind of, you know, consequential. and then uh obviously midterms. What I'm amazed by and I'm very happy about, knock on wood, is that the markets haven't kneejerked with us going back to these targeted strikes. They have maintained. He has calmed the markets. Gas prices are still down. People want to take their summer vacations and I'm glad that we actually have that calm here. And then for him, the strategy now is strike and see. We want to manage the the escalations so that we can go forward with degradation of the regime without an escalation into a full blown out war again.

12:47 Um those are all really excellent points, Lisa. Thank you. Um so given that things have escalated tremendously over the past 24 hours with and and I believe the blockade has been reinstated by Trump as well. Um, did the Iranians before now, and again, I don't know if the past 24 hours have changed that assessment, but did they believe that they had achieved victory over the US and Israel since the regime had survived um even though the military had been significantly weakened? I mean, they certainly have been acting like they were empowered with lots of leverage over us through the the strait. Um, so what are your thoughts? because they're they are acting or at least they were acting like they don't fear us and even even at Kaman's funeral the IRGC officials that would have been next in line perhaps for assassinations were out and about. It doesn't seem like they fear that. So, so what are your thoughts on all that?

13:34 Right. And they wouldn't have had that funeral over the July 4th weekend uh had they not wanted to deliver some sort of of message to the United States and they after that renewed a new death threat against our president. So uh to your point, they are they've become emboldened. The the rhetoric has become even more uh harsh and threatening towards the United States. What's happening here is that yes, Donald Trump needs this deescalation or needed it uh in in April because of of again the timeline of of domestic pressure and issues going on here and the the Arab world, etc. Uh and he basically was like, "Wink wink, we're going to deescalate." And the regime was like, "Oh, he's trying. That's his narrative.

14:15 let's intercept that narrative and, you know, call this a win for ourselves, call it a victory. Every time Donald Trump came out and said, "Well, we're going to meet on such and such date." And they would say, "No, we're not." You know, or we agreed to X, Y, and Z. And they would say, "No, we didn't." Um, look, narrative warfare is their number one tool. And their favorite weapon of choice is the negotiation table. This is where they believe. They believe they could run circles around the United States because they have in the past under Biden and under President Obama. They didn't have to do a single thing. and the the the the uh bags of cash arrived. Now, why do I think thisou and the deal that was in play was actually, you know, a a false flag by the United States? Because even if we were after a deal, we could have gotten a better bad deal than the bad deal that was on the table, if that makes sense. It was such a bad deal that it made no sense. Uh it wasn't holding them to any of the the things that we started this war for. it wasn't meeting any of our strategic priorities as as as you know as as a country that believes that we just won

15:16 this war, right? Uh and for that reason, I think the regime thought, well, they're stupid enough to think that we're going to go along with their narrative. We don't want to deescalate, right? And that's where the now we we pivot to that very important question with these limited and and targeted strikes. We've hit about 180 targets, I believe, in the last couple of days. uh will the regime now want to escalate or will they go back to oh you know we you know play that cat-and- mouse game again and say no no no no we want to sit down and talk because that fits into Trump's narrative right Trump wants to deescalate to push forward towards the midterm elections and then they they can play into that timeline and what happens in the interim to your point they survive you know time equals survival uh and survival is victory to them all they need to do is survive uh And I think you know that's the dangerous you know that's the dangerous point here um in that you know what will happen at that point will they try to go forward with

16:18 their nuclear you know uh ambitions etc. I've I've advised um and done briefings in Washington in Israel. My my feeling has always been that Israel and the United States, anyone who's looking to challenge the Iran regime should operate with the assumption that they already have the bomb. Um, and I I've said this way before even last year's June war only because the way that they're operating and and again to your point with such confidence in victory uh and even again before we saw June and we saw this war um it you [clears throat] know we've always said they're around the corner from the bomb you know it's a month away it's you know and and I'm not a nuclear scientist by any means but you know if I follow the intel it would lead us to a timeline that has already elapsed right so do they have the bomb Are they close to it? Are they only working on delivery mechanisms etc. We should operate again with the assumption that they have it and work that way.

17:17 Again brings us to that foregone conclusion that if this regime remains they will become a nuclear power. When will they announce their nuclear uh capability? Will it be a silent, you know, capability? Will it be a worldwide announcement? Who knows? But they will become a nuclear state uh if they're not already. But um I think this is our moment and I think Trump has a lot of whack-a-ole to play. He has a lot of skipping around to do because of our domestic timeline and I just don't think that the um that the strategic communications on this has been done well. Obviously the more than half of the news outlets in this country haven't played along. they have been anti-American uh in the sense that this is not a partisan war and they haven't communicated uh why this is a a again a strategic imperative for the United States for our own homeland security.

18:07 We're not doing this for Israel. Uh we're not doing this for uh the Middle East. We're not doing it for the Iranian people. Although all of the above will benefit the Americans will also benefit. The Iran regime has American blood on its hands. It will continue to target Americans. Uh, and this is our most opportune moment to get rid of this threat once and for all instead of passing it on to the next generation. Yeah. Um, again, excellent points. And I I will just add that I wish that the media cared as much about the Iranian people being slaughtered on their streets as they did about the Gazins that were, you know, basically killed by their own government. Um, so I want to make sure that we have time just to talk about the Iranian people and what's going on there. you know that when you looked at that five-day funeral for Ali Kam um it looked like you know I saw reports of millions of people out there mourning hundreds of thousands of people mourning so can you explain you know the dichotomy between what we saw during the funeral which of course they were happy to project across the world and um you know our our understanding that the vast

19:09 majority of Iranians are pro-western um and and want peace and to be relieved from this um horrible regime. So, you know, sadly during the funeral, there were images of not just Trump, but there was an image also of of Senator Graham with um you know, the bullseye on his on his forehead with the shouts of death to America. So, what is going on on the streets with with the images that we saw from the funeral versus what we had seen in January with the people that just want to get rid of this regime?

19:41 Yeah, great question. Let's go best case worst case, right? So, I'll do worst case first. Worst case, let's say there were a million people on the street. I'm not saying there were, but let's say there were 1 million out of 92 million, so about 1% a little more than 1%. I'm not I'm I'm not impressed. Right? If 1% that means 99 or 98% of the people are still against you, I'm still not impressed. Let's say it was AI generated. or let's just say that what they've been doing for years and we I've I've written articles and reports about this for our government and policy institutes as well about how they they they give them free lunch or you can't be absent from work and your work is taking a bus to the funeral or to the the protest or to you name it. It could be Friday's sermon. They try to again create these moments because of narrative warfare.

20:31 This is part of their machine. years ago, I did a piece. I remember I think it was about 10 or 12 years ago, I did a piece about the Iran regime putting more money into their cyber capabilities than they did into their actual military. So, that just goes to show you how much they care about these images, the again the narrative, how they, you know, have millions of bots, how they hack. I've been hacked so many times. Um, you know, I have the local FBI on speed dial. the death threats, the hacking, you know, they're working around the clock to really silence the opposition, whether it's inside Iran or outside Iran. Uh to your point about the threats against our president, Donald Trump just came out two days ago and he gave a directive. If they should assassinate me, this is what you need to do. Uh because, you know, he he has to the threats are so real that he has to um you know, come out with with consequences. Uh, and about Lindsey Graham, the media and there have been other officials inside Iran have come out to take credit for the passing of Lindsey Graham. Now, whether that's true

21:34 or not, you know, all that matters is that they they do want that credit of taking out a major a senator who was quite vocal uh about taking out the regime. They they posted a a picture of all the the the leaders that they want dead, including Lindsey Graham. Trump was on there. BB was on there. Um, you know, the, uh, Saudi leader, Qatari leader, Kuwaiti leader on there. Um, and yeah, they're very proud. Pete Hexath, I believe, was on there as well. So, um, Mark Dubit of FDD was actually also one of them.

22:07 Yes, correct. I remember him posting about that, too. Um, I mean, this is something that, you know, when we do this this work, it comes with it. I I remember, you know, doing work on on Protective Edge on the Israel war and and being told that I was on the Hamas hit list, on the Hezbollah hit list. It it comes, you know, this is this is what they do to frighten. This is this is terrorism, right? They intimidate from from where they're sitting uh to to silence people that are doing this type of work. So, um yes, it's not surprising to me and it's not surprising to me that they did the the funeral as they did. In Islamic law, usually they do funerals, you know, right away. uh the fact that they waited until July 4th again uh to to make a point out of it. The fact that it was a five-day procession, the fact that they had they flew flew in uh hundreds of American influencers uh that you know I mean those are the most idiotic of useful idiots. Um but they exist but they exist and uh this is what you're seeing. And unfortunately we have a whole generation here on the ground that gets their news from Tik Tok from from Instagram and they're actually being

23:10 influenced. this is not something we can just shoe away. Uh you know and they have millions and millions of followers. So um this is real. Their narrative warfare that they have launched on American soil is real. Whether it's at the universities, the K through2 level, on social media, in our labs, in our policy institutes, in in the White House, uh their lobbies in Washington are real. Uh this is something we have to take very very seriously. Um, so I I I want just if we can touch on I don't even know if you have an answer to this, but the status of the protest movement. Um, and and someone had asked a question about whether um the position of the Iranian army, I don't know if they're talking about the IRGC, the Basc, but is there is there anyone in the current power structure that you think would have a chance of siding with the Iranian street at some point? Do you think that perhaps Mossad or even the CIA and others are working with the people on the ground in Iran?

24:09 Um is there is it possible that there's things that are going on that we're just not aware of? Or was it possible also that January's um terrible terrible um murder of tens of thousands of Iranians really quashed the movement for a while um to to some extent, but then you also saw, you know, people who were protesting at their own children's funerals um you know, not letting those deaths of the young young people and the the future and promise of of uh Iranian society to go to waste. and and and allowing them to become you know these martyrs for the movement. Um Mossad and CIA working on the ground always. Um I don't think that has stopped but I do think they have to wait for the right moment. The one tactical error I would say um that I I thought the United States made in June and in this war was um stopping Israel prematurely from going down the list of besiege and IRGC leaders. Because if you

25:13 recall in the first hours of the war when Donald Trump g went to the podium two very very important things that he said number one he said to the Iranian people you know he didn't he didn't say these words but um what he what he kind of wanted to communicate was that we're not really going for regime change but we will go to the point of regime collapse and then we pass the baton on to the Iranian people who will determine their own future. Right? So, we're working our eyes on the goal of regime change, but it won't be the United States that may go, you know, to the to the one yard line. Um, number one. Number two, he said to the officials, now they could be Artesh, which is their general military. It could be Basie, which are usually imported fighters, and they are Palestinian and Iraqi and Pakistani from all over. Few of them are Iranian. And then you have the IRGC who are, you know, we have all types of of of levels, right? different echelons. He said to them, "You have a chance right now to take off your uniform. You have chance to put down your weapons." And that's really meaningful and it shows me that he understands. He understands that

26:15 there are thousands and thousands of these fighters, militia fighters, um people who are carrying the ideology of the regime and fighting for it. Now, it could again it could be at any level. This regime for 47 years fortified itself this way and this way, right? So when you have thousands and thousands of those types of operatives on every street, on every street corner, snipers on top of schools, in school buses, everywhere, when you start eliminating them, you know, in in wholesale fashion, that's when you start seeing defection at scale. That's when you have weapons among the people. You have people with uh pe uh people with military knowhow and military organization among the people. That would have been a pivot.

27:01 that would have been a turning point in in this war that that would have been our boots on the ground where we didn't have to put any uh and I think that's where I wouldn't have stopped Israel so soon. I would have allowed Israel. They had the the names, they had the addresses, they knew every time there was a basie meeting. Every time, you know, a few of them got together, they were they had pinpointed intel on how to get these guys. And once you know they they start looking at each other, they start, you know, becoming skeptical and and questioning each other and becoming paranoid. That's when again you see you start seeing mass affection. That really would have been, I think, a game changer So, we have time for me just to I guess give you a followup on that, which is why isn't Iran going after Israel right now? They're shooting at at Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE.

27:49 Great question. This is it's it's such an important question. It goes to show you how smart they are. Once they start shooting at Israel, Trump can't restrain Israel They just can't, right? Because then it becomes existential and and and and and he wouldn't he wouldn't stop them, right? And and let also let let's kind of get that elephant in the room out of the way too. Uh Israel and the United States even under Obama even under Obama our interests and pol policy a little are are aligned because they have to be.

28:27 Now, there was personality clashes. Absolutely. Uh, you know, Obama, whether it was real or was behind, you know, in front of cameras, there was daylight. Fine. Biden, I think he he wanted to be closer to BB, but he he sort of kind of gave him the wagging finger a few times just because he had to. With Trump, I know they're they're closer, but then he sometimes tries to publicly condemn or restrain or create space. There is there's there's very little daylight between the United States and Israel. Every time that we have seen that behind the scenes there has been a nod there has been a confirmation there has been you know the the desire for both sides to succeed and whether in parallel or uh separately you know if it if if they started firing into Israel Israel would have to finish the job and I and I think it would be great if they Yeah. Well we we will see that there's a lot that uh is going to be you know very surprising some predictable but uh it's be interesting to watch. And about [clears throat] the I guess sorry one moment I just didn't answer about the Iranian people which I just want to get one one thing in. The Iranian people

29:30 have been told to stand down until it is safe for them to come out and do something. And I think at this point they feel as though they're helpless. Um this has been a roller coaster for them obviously. I mean it I've interviewed so many of them. First of all I do want to say so many reached out to me on the passing of Lindsey Graham. They saw him as truly their angel. somebody who was advocating for them and understood them as as a as a as a human rights effort, not just policy. Um, and he saw Can you share what you posted on X? The There was a graffiti that, you know, basically was honoring Lindsey Graham and said, you know, we will always remember you and we, you know, just showing so much respect and thanking him. I I got so many messages. So many people are upset because they feel like he was their true advocate. uh he said so many of the victims names on the Senate floor. He brought their stories to Donald Trump and he had Donald Trump's ear which is very unique for somebody who I mean he was so unique of a man because he understood all the different angles, right? He understood

30:33 the military. He understood the strategic. He understood the policy. He understood Washington and how the Washington machine works. But he also understood the Iranian people, what they wanted. And really he met with Resa Palvi who was the son of the the exiled uh son of the the the Le Sha Iran. Uh they they they are truly upset and they feel as though they lost a huge advocate in Washington and and it's true his shoes will never be filled. But um that's number one. Number two, um they are standing down. They're waiting. But I'll tell you, you know, after when the ceasefire was announced, they were very upset. They wish that Donald Trump didn't start the war to begin with because they felt as though they now unleashed this vengeful regime on onto the people, right? And they would be left with a wounded regime which is much worse than what they had on February 27th. So, um their feeling obviously would be that, you know, if you're not going to finish the job, don't start the job. Um they have all of this destruction to deal with. Obviously, it's going to affect their economy. is going to be worse on them because obviously the regime always passes down

31:36 the burden uh of the sanctions and everything else onto the people onto the main street economy. The economy there is so abysmal but look will they if if the war stops now will the Iranian people eventually come back out out onto the streets? My my feeling is yes because it's just not sustainable. You cannot sustain a massive population majority of 92 million people who understand technology. They are educated. They are savvy. They want freedom. They want a prosperous economy. It's kind of like the Abraham accord nations. And you'll you have a a a population that is even more secular than the Abraham accord nations that is more educated and and wants prosperity even more. They're more hungry for it than those nations. So imagine they want to break out into you know modernity and join you know uh uh the modern world.

32:28 You know they are so against their government. I mean, this is one thing that I don't know if many people are seeing is that they're they're they are so resentful of the pro Palestine movement. Exactly to your point about how the world cared so much about the Palestinians, but not about the Iranians. uh and they were resentful to begin with because their government put money into into Gaza, into Hamas, into the Houthis, into Hezbollah, and not into the main street economy to help basic Iranians get pharmaceuticals and get groceries and get uh just basic basic supplies. So there is that resentment. So you're you're seeing a pivot towards, you know, more towards Israel, towards the the the Jewish people. I mean this is this is all in line with the future of the Middle East which will be a future of the Abraham Accords and the Cyrus Accords and really people who want prosperity and want to break out of these these old uh theocracies, dictatorships etc.

33:26 Thank you so much Lisa. There was so much insightful information for the past half an hour and as one of the viewers uh said in the comment section they he wishes it could go longer. We will certainly have you back at some point in the future. And please everybody follow Lisa, watch for her on television. She's does a lot of interviews. Follow her on X, your foreign desk website. Um, and again, thank you for joining to the audience. Thank you for joining this afternoon as well. Thank you. Thank you for having me. Bye.