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Michael Oren Former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. & Author

Understanding Iran's Strategy Against Israel and the United States

Aired on 77 WABC 7:26

Audio via Spreaker for 77 WABC

Transcript

Automated transcript · uncorrected

Speaker 1 Calling in from Israel. Right now, we have the former is real the ambassador.

Speaker 2 We have Michael Orrin and he is an American Israeli and he was the ambassador for four years. And Michael, mister ambassador, give us an update what the heck is going on, because a lot of the American people this Thursday night don’t understand it.

Speaker 3 Well, maybe it’s not easy to make it’s not easy to make edit taiales of this, but in general, the United Slation around have signed this Memorandum Understanding which is simply proving to be inapplicable, okay, and that the Rinans are violating it pretty much on a daily basis, and then the United States is responding to that. The big

question is will the situation escalate into a renewal of full scale war between the United States and an Iran? And if that happens, then Israel will also go on a full scale war footing It’s interesting that the Iranians, and responding to America’s counter strikes to their initial offenses, have been sending missiles that American bases in Kuwait, Bahlane

of the Middle Eastern countries, but they haven’t dared to fire a rocket or a missile at Israel yet because they know if they do, we’re gonna we’re gonna respond in a massive way.

Speaker 1 I think you’re right.

Speaker 2 I mean, but Israel is tough, tough, tough, But I guess President Trump is tough. But uh, I think and tell me if I’m wrong, because you’re an American, you’re an Israeli ambassador, that President Trump doesn’t want to do damage to the infrastructure because we’re gonna have to pay for it afterwards.

Speaker 3 Uh.

Speaker 1 And he wants to just.

Speaker 2 Make them tough, you know, hit them hard enough that they have some common sense. But it looks like these Raelies have no the the Iranians have no common sense. That the people that don’t have common sense, and Iran a running things.

Speaker 3 I wouldn’t call it common sense, not common sense. It’s a Middle Eastern way of looking at things, which is very difficult, very different than what the way things work in the West. And in the West, you want to win war by, you know, saying we destroyed the enemy and we put our flag over his fort. And the

Middle eat I have to do is prove that you didn’t lose and you won. And for the leadership in Iran losing means not just losing their lives, but losing their families lives because eighty five percent of their population hate them, and so if they lose the war, they lose everything. And so they really have it that way,

nothing to lose. They’re just going to keep on goading the president. And they feel that the President Trump is so afraid of rising gas prices and so afraid of the impact of those writing gases on the Republican Party’s chances of retaining both Houses of Congress and the midterm elections, that they feel they can afford to provoke him to exceeding.

You know, America may strike back, but it’s not going to go to all out war again because of the some sphere of verriising gas prices. And so they feel like they listen, I’m not even a bad joke here, John, but they have them over a barrel, That’s what they feel.

And the battle happens to be a barrel of oil, understood.

Speaker 2 And if they raise the price three four five dollars a barrel that they did yesterday, you know how much more money the Opic nations make for those three four days A lot.

Speaker 3 I’m sure they make a ton but the American the American worker who you know, for whom an increase of a dollar a dollar and a half per gallon is a major expanse. And if the American people don’t understand fully why this war is necessary, why it’s important for the security of their children, grandchildren, then that that sacrifice,

that increasing gas prices will be prohibitive.

Speaker 1 I understand that, and you’re absolutely right.

Speaker 2 So for the time being, give us your pulse on anything that the American people should know on a Thursday night, and sure what things are going to change. We should talk again on Sunday, because I’m sure a lot of things are changed by Sunday. And give us your pulse on what’s going on with Lebanon, because the American people

don’t understand the Israel Lebanon relationship with the has Belah.

Speaker 3 Well, here’s the good news. The good news is we’ve made peace with Lebanon or signing a peace treaty, and that peace treaty understands that Israel has to defend northern Galilee that’s under fire from his Bulah, and we have to do that. We have to maintain a military presence in southern Lebanon. That’s not geared against the Lebanese, it’s

against his Bullah. His ballah is a branch of Iran. It takes its orders directly from Iran, against its armaments directly from Iran, and it is the most powerful military force in level on the Lebanties army can subdue his Bullah.

So it’s a state within a state, an army within an army. It is dedicated to destroying my state, Israel, and also dedicating to fighting in the United States. Is Baula killed hundreds, hundreds of American service people, diplomats. It is a bloodthirsty terrorist organization. And so that situation as of tonight in Lebanon and.

Speaker 1 Oban, we don’t hear much from the hoodies what the heck is going on there.

Speaker 3 Hoodies are waiting to get their orders from Iran. All these people are operated orders from Iran. You know, we call the head of the snake and the minute. If Iranians feel that the United States moves to open the strait, if her moves, then they’ll give an order to the hoodies to close the Strait of Mandeb, which is another

strategic state straight along the Red Sea Sea of Aden, and you’ll see it happened. Watch it.

Speaker 2 So bottom line to end this conversation and will continue it on Sunday. The bottom line is money. So the if the the Iranian Guard has the money, they pay has Belah, they pay the hoodies, they pay hamas to be terrorists. Now, so that’s so if we cut out the money. Is there any place that they’re getting the

money that we don’t know about? Is there any double agents out there?

Speaker 3 Oh, certainly there’s a whole international network. You know, they just arrested I think a woman in New England who was running a fundraising operation for pales in Islam at Jihad. It’s an ally Ahamas, very extensive fundraising apparatus for these heros organizations. But not just that, they themselves are in the business of drug trafficking, human trafficking, vast drug business,

huge and his BOLA is deeply in league with the with the major cartels in Central and South America.

Speaker 2 Ambassador, thank you very much. Let’s continue this conversation on Sunday. Ambassador Michael Orrin, he was the Israeli ambassador to the United States, but he’s an American Israeli and I mean, did the Israeli trust you one hundred percents into.

Speaker 1 American Yeah, they do, okay, because you.

Speaker 2 Know, I was on the board of Benk Capoleen and you know they you know, they don’t trust Jews.

Speaker 1 Forget about the Greeks. You know.

Speaker 3 They trust me. It’s okay, thank you so much, all right, thank you, with you by bye bye

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Michael Oren Understanding Iran's Strategy Against Israel and the United States