Kourosh Ziabari – Mark Glenn is an American journalist and radio host based in Washington D.C. He runs the Ugly Truth radio show which features interviews with political activists, journalists, academicians and informed people who talk about the most important political developments of the world, and especially the Middle East. The Ugly Truth radio show has some co-hosts such as the Palestinian journalist Sammi Ibrahem.
Mark Glenn is a staunch supporter of Iran and has dedicated many of his radio programs to the Iran affairs, including Iranian culture, lifestyle and civilization, the media propaganda campaign of the United States and Israel on Iran, the war threats of the same countries against Iran and the terrorist operations of MKO, Jundallah and Mossad. He has expressively condemned the Mossad-directed assassination of Iran’s nuclear scientists, is opposed to sanctions and military intervention in Iran and believes that Iran is the only country in the world which has fought and won a real, genuine revolution.
What follows is the complete text of our interview with Mark Glenn in which we have talked about the anti-Iranian sanctions, standoff over Iran’s nuclear program, the U.S. Congressmen’s efforts to remove the list of Mujaheedin-e-Khalq from the State Departments’ list of foreign terrorist organization and the lopsided, biased coverage of Iran news in the U.S. media as well as a number of other issues.
Q: Dear Mark; over the past 30 years, the United States has punished Iran with economic sanctions, media propaganda, assassinations, bombings and a proxy war (by Saddam Hussein) simply because the Iranians didn’t want to be ruled by a Washington-installed tyrant. How should Iran resist these lethal pressures? After all, the United States is a major economic and military superpower and it has the means to confront Iran mightily. What’s your idea? Is Iran capable of withstanding the pressures?
A: The only thing Iran can do is what Iran is doing, which is to wage a media war against this oppressive agenda and rip the veil off the face of the United States for the whole world to see. By standing strong and standing tall and exposing these crimes for what they are, Iran’s standing in the world is increased immeasurably, while the standing of the United States declines. The regular pronouncements by the Iranian government to the Iranian people, encouraging them to remain diligent is very important as well in frustrating the enemy’s attempt to divide the Iranian people, thus leaving open the likelihood for outside meddling like we see taking place against Syria.
Q: What’s your analysis of the unilateral U.S. and EU sanctions against Iran? Will they finally bring Iran to its knees and achieve their goal which is sabotaging Iran’s economy? It said that the EU’s oil embargo against Iran has had dire consequences for the European economy and will result in an uncontrollable hike in the oil prices. What’s your idea?
A: As I have said before in various outlets, Russia is the wild card in all of this and to a certain extent as well, China. If they stand firm against the Israeli/Western block against Iran, then Iran can pull through. They can help Iran out in the areas where the sanctions are designed to hurt, such as economy, banking, etc. Let us hope and pray that Russia and China stand and do the right thing, because they must realize that the same forces that are intent upon destroying Iran are also out to subjugate/destroy them as well.
Q: What do you think about Iran’s nuclear program? The United States and its allies demand that Iran should halt its uranium enrichment activities. Are these demands legal and logical? Iranians complain that the United States allows Israel to get away with possessing 200 nuclear warheads. Isn’t this a case of double standards?
A: Israel, the US and other western countries are not ‘worried’ about Iran’s ‘nuclear’ program. The ‘nuclear’ program is just an excuse to wage war on Iran through various means, including sanctions and assassinations. If Iran had no nuclear program, these countries would make the claim that Iran is financing international terrorism through the export and sale of Pistachio nuts.
What is at issue here is that Iran refuses to be a slave to the 2-headed beast of Israeli/western financial and political interests. She is the only country in the Middle East to have fought and won a real revolution, not like the false ones we have seen over the course of the last year.
The only way that Israel and the west can maintain their hegemony over the region is to keep the countries in the Middle East divided, confused, and backwards. Iran, despite being a non-Arab country and despite being Shiite, nevertheless offers to the other countries in the Middle east a model to follow, and this is what frightens Israel and the US more than anything, in that it threatens to undo the black magic Israel and the US use in keeping these countries divided, confused, and backwards.
Q: The American and European politicians say that the sanctions are aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring dual-use technology which may be used in its nuclear program. They also say that the sanctions are planned to make Iran unable to get access to technologies to facilitate its ballistic missile program. However, the Iranian people complain that the sanctions also include a ban on aircrafts, medicine, foodstuff, medical equipments and other things which are vital to their daily life. In your view, how are the sanctions affecting ordinary Iranians’ daily life?
A: well, as you indicated, they are designed to affect the average Iranian in his/her daily life, which is exactly what Washington wants. The goal here is to cause so much public anger and frustration that it makes revolution/overthrow of the present regime an easier task. When wives and mothers don’t have the basics to feed their families, fathers and husbands become angry, and it is the men of any society where the real bulk of any revolution comes, and this is exactly what the US/Israel are trying to achieve.
Q: The United States and its European allies claim that they have isolated Iran politically and economically. Do you agree with them? Has Iran become a reclusive and secluded country?
A: Economically, they have certainly succeeded in making things difficult for Iran. However Iran, knowing how to play the media game, has done a good job in reaching out to the Islamic world where she has many sympathizers. Although the various governments in the Middle East that are pawns to the West may deal with Iran in a cold manner, the people on the street however support her and look to her as a role model for their own countries.
Q: In your radio shows, you have regularly talked of the attempts made by certain elements in the U.S. administration and Congress to remove the name of MKO from the list of terrorist organizations. This is of course an anti-Iranian gambit. Will they succeed in delisting MKO as the European Union did in 2009? What will be its consequences?
A: At this point, given the amount of money being thrown at it, the importance of some of the people advocating for it and the political pressure being brought to bear, it is difficult to conclude that the MeK/MKO won’t be de-listed. Let us remember that in Washington, what Israel wants, Israel gets.
The consequences will be terrible. These are after all highly trained terrorists who have no value for human life. What I foresee is Israel using the members of this group in carrying out terrorist operations not just against Iranians, but also within the United States and elsewhere in order to further the cause of going to war against Iran.
Q Hawkish voices in the U.S. Congress and some of the intransigent think tanks such the Council on Foreign Relations and Foreign Policy Initiative are calling for a military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities. Do you believe that such an attack will take place? What will be the implications of a probable U.S. or Israeli war on Iran for the region and the world?
A: again, the wild card in all of this is Russia and China. Right now they alone possess the ability to prevent any military actions against Iran, due to their political, economic and military strength. Short of their intervention however, I am sad to say that given the criminal nature of the West that is controlled by Israeli interests, something will happen.
Q: Few American people have reliable information about Iran’s civilization, culture and its ancient past. What they know is limited to the lopsided coverage of the mainstream media of Iran’s affairs. How is it possible to acquaint the American public with the realities of Iran, while the mainstream media don’t give a fair and balanced coverage to Iran?
A: As an American, it pains me greatly to say this, but it is a fact nonetheless—Americans are the most misinformed people on the planet, and they like it that way. They are more interested in making money and spending money on their petty distractions than they are interested in understanding the mechanics of how their government works vis-à-vis foreign relations. If they are not interested in their own government and nation, then we can just imagine how uninterested they are in others.
My personal position/prediction is that America is going to find out the hard way. Once her country has been destroyed through centuries of Zionist-engineered war that has resulted in further conflict with countries such as Russia, China or Pakistan, only then will the American people take an interest in things, but not before.
Q: And finally, what do you think about the media campaign headed by the U.S. and its European allies against Syria? Is the long-term goal the domination of Iran after eliminating one of Iran’s important allies in the region?
A: It is about removing a long-time ally to Iran but it is also about pushing Russia out of the Middle East permanently. Syria is the last bastion of Russian influence in the region and Israel and the US want her out permanently, a process that began during the 1967 war with what became known as Operation Cyanide and Israel’s attack on the USS Liberty.
Again, the black magic which Israel uses in maintaining her dominance in the region is to keep the countries there divided, confused, and backwards. Any country and any leader therefore that does not conform to this mold must be removed, and certainly Syria meets this criterion in that regard.