WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST

[00:00:00] Speaker A: You're tuned into the all new Freedom 106.5. 106.5. [00:00:06] Speaker B: Good morning to you, Mr. Cohen. Welcome to Freedom 106.5 FM, sir. [00:00:12] Speaker C: Good morning, David. And to you and to all the viewers and listeners. 106.5 and very grateful. This is my first interview to media in Trinidad and Tobago and thank you very much for having me. Well, okay. [00:00:30] Speaker B: This is beautiful, of course, and yet you're pioneering the cause here on Freedom. [00:00:35] Speaker C: You know, [00:00:38] Speaker B: this is something that we welcome and thank you so much, Mr. Cohen, for chatting with us this morning. We know what is taking place in the Middle East. There is a war. A lot of persons are anticipating World War three on the horizon. Given your diplomatic status and from a learned position, why this time, this war, why would, why is this war in Iran? What is happening? [00:01:07] Speaker C: Yes. Well, to start I have to give some perspective. We are talking about Islamic dangerous, brutal and fanatic tahitura for the last 47 years, since the revolutionary revolution in 1979. All those years, the people, the regime in Iran, in Tehran, in other cities are chanting death to America, death to Israel. This regime is threatening to wipe out Israel from the map. But what happened recently? Iran has developed in the last 20 years nuclear capacities that are very dangerous to be held in a dictatorial regime. And Iran has developed and purchased and developed a long missile, longer range ballistic missile program. They have now thousands of missiles that can arrive to a range of thousand kilometers. President Trump even said that they are in planning or developing missiles to reach to the US Now. They can reach every point in the Middle east and in Europe and in Asia. And number three, and not less important, Iran is the number one export of terrorism in the world. Iran gives arms, ammunition. They train and finance all the Islamic terror organization like Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Houthis in Yemen and more. Those terrorist organization, especially Hezbollah, conducted terror activities not only in the Middle east and in Israel, but also in Europe, but also in this continent, in Latin America. We all remember that the bomb attacks against the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992 and the AMIA, the Jewish Community Building in 1994. Also in the country where I am now, in Panama. I don't think a lot of citizens in Trinidad and Tobago know that in July 1994, a suicide bomber bombed an airplane, Civic airplane. They flew from Colon to Panama City, killing 20 civilians innocents. So we are talking about a very dangerous regime. And what happened now we saw our intelligence and the American intelligence. So they are trying to put underground very Deep underground, all their nuclear weapon facilities and those missiles. And in a joint operation, both the US and Israel decided that we cannot allow this very dangerous and brutal and fanatic regime to continue to have this kind of weapon. And by the way, David, we also, this war is not against the people of Iran. We have to distinguish between this very extreme regime and dangerous regime and the people. You know, Iran is a country of 80 to 90 million people. The vast majority of Iranians want to live in peace, in freedom, in democracy, in their land. Their regime is oppressing them. And we also, and I'm sure you in Trinidad and Tobago saw what happened two months ago. According to, again, according to American numbers, 32,000 people were murdered in the streets of Tehran and other cities in Those I think eight to 10 days when the regime brutally butchered and killed their citizens while they are calling for freedom. So all in all, you mentioned in your words, I think opening words, World War Three. No, we are not going to World War three, of course, but we have here on one hand the free world, the United States, European countries, I don't know if you heard, in the last days of the war, Iran launched missiles towards Turkey and toward Cyprus, two European countries, two NATO countries. And this is very dangerous development. So we, we put Europe, the United States, the vast majority of the countries in Latin America, the Arab countries. And as you heard as well, I want to remind the viewers and the listeners, Iran in the last week attacked 10 unprovoked 10 Arab countries and they sent missiles not only to military objectives as we do, but to civil objectives like airports, hotels, etc. So on the one hand, almost all of the free world, Arab countries, Europe, United States, Israel, etc. And on the other hand, a very brutal, dangerous regime that must end its role in history. [00:06:42] Speaker B: You know, let's take a look because now that you gave me some other information, there we are seeing where HACSETH out of the US is now saying that they're not going to stop, they're not going to allow Iran to have nuclear bombs. How does this affect oil prices? We are hearing prices are shooting up. How does this affect the oil? As far as you know, I'm not [00:07:14] Speaker C: an economist and I'm not an expert of oil. I'm an expert of saving lives. You know, David, just before we started, I have here in my cell phone an app that shows me that when Israel is attacked with missiles and a few minutes ago there was an alert of missile attack and you know, in my city where I live, my mother, 87 year old mother has to run out and look for a shelter and my 8 month old granddaughter with her parents should look for a shelter. This is a reality that we cannot continue living and we do praise and thank President Trump and our great friend and ally, the United States of America for taking the decision and with us to put an end to that threat. [00:08:10] Speaker B: I do pray for the safety of your family and thank you so much for sharing. I'm getting news coming out of CNN and BBC where President Donald Trump is saying that the war will be over very soon. He says not this week, but it looks as though they're heading towards neutralizing the threat of Iran. [00:08:33] Speaker C: I'm very happy the war will end when we reach our objectives. And I remind again the dangers of nuclear weapon and the dangers of long term ballistic missiles. Nobody likes wars, David. Nobody believe me. And we Israel is a country that since its independence in 1948 is struggling for its existence. And this is an existential threat to us. The threats from Iran. I do hope that this war will end soon. I do hope that we will neutralize all those capacities, dangerous capacities of Iran. And I do hope the terms conditions will be created to a regime change in Iran. [00:09:23] Speaker B: I just got the alert of the Israeli strikes a few moments ago coming into Israeli forces. They have also launched a series of attacks across the southern and eastern Lebanon as Israel targets the Iran backed by the Lebanese group Hezbollah. How has Hezbollah been assisting with Israeli in pushing back against in this war? [00:09:45] Speaker C: You know, it's amazing. It's amazing. Two days after the war started, Hezbollah has done nothing in the first two days and then by a very heavy pressure from Iran, they started unprovoked without any provocation from Israel to launch missiles towards Israel. And they have also unfortunately missiles that can reach every point in Israel. We will not sit quiet and we will attack those facilities of Hezbollah terror organization. And I'm very sorry for the state of Lebanon because state of Lebanon is a sovereign state and they don't want this terror organization in their country. But they are weak and they cannot kick them out. The President of Lebanon, Michelle Aoun have said a few days ago that he is not allowing Hezbollah to act. But unfortunately he has no power. So that's why we, that's where we, we come. We will not allow any terror organization operate from any country in the region against Israel. And Hezbollah is an organization that as soon as the Iranian regime collapses, and I do hope and pray it will be soon, immediately, automatically Hezbollah will collapse because they will lose their arms, ammunition and finance. And as soon as Iran collapses, the terror organization of Hamas and Islamic Jihad and the Houthis in Yemen, all of them are going to collapse. So this is, as I said, Iran, I will use a very difficult word, is the head of the snake, is the number one terror country in the world. As soon as it collapses, it will be better not only for Israel and for the Middle east, but for Europe and the entire globe. [00:11:40] Speaker B: But are you aware of any, any peace talks coming in? My lines are blazing this morning. Let me take one before I ask you that question very respectfully and quickly. Good. Good morning. Good morning. All right. 625-2257. All right. Respectfully and quickly. Good morning. [00:11:55] Speaker A: Morning, David. [00:11:56] Speaker B: Good morning, Devi. [00:11:58] Speaker A: Everything your guest here said is correct. Hezbollah is the number one terrorist organization any world, and Iran is the number one terrorist funder in the world. So I am pleased to see that the leadership in Iran has been, well, almost eliminated. And unless these terror organizations are dealt with, and again, you have to give kudos to President Trump for doing this, the world will be a safer place for what he is doing today. And I agree with what your guest is saying 100%. He's quite correct. Thanks. [00:12:36] Speaker B: All right, thank you. Now, as the caller mentioned that before I get to my other question as it relates to the world, looking at US President Donald Trump as a bully going in, because what has came out in the early onset is the fact that the US Will not threatened by Iran unless they had sided with the Israelis to attack their nation. As a matter of fact, they said, once you stay out of this war, we would not attack you. US Wrong. [00:13:14] Speaker C: Of course. The United States is threatened by Iran for 47 years. [00:13:18] Speaker B: Well, right, so that's historical. [00:13:20] Speaker C: Right? And no, no, no, Sorry, sorry, it's not historical. It happens now. The regime, through its proxies, has killed thousands of Americans and are threatened Americans. And you said in the beginning, if there are peace talks, I want to remind you and the viewers and the listeners, President Trump and the US Administration gave the Iranians many, many, many times, a lot of time, weeks. And they had talks in Europe with the Minister of Foreign affairs of Oman as mediator. And they gave them a chance to reach an agreement about these nuclear capacities. And the Iranians were not serious. That's when the US has decided with Israel to attack. [00:14:12] Speaker B: Let me ask, were there any attempts since the war broke out for any ceasefire? Because Iran, they seem to at this time, this is live news coming in to reject any notion of a ceasefire or peace talk. They have. They're actually saying, right now that they want to intensify their strikes as best as they could before the destabilization could possibly come. They're looking to intensify. Are you aware of any of the Americans or even the Israelis trying any peace talks for ceasefire? [00:14:50] Speaker C: No, there will not be peace talks with this regime. And by the way, as the earlier caller said, and I fully agree with him and I hope and I'm sure that he represents the opinion of the majority of the people in Trinidad and Tobago, Iran is the number one problem in the world and you cannot have peace talks with a regime that vows to destroy you, to wipe you up off the map. And again, I remind the US have given Iran a chance to a diplomatic solution. And that was for weeks before 20 February, but the Iranian did not take it seriously. And then we decided to attack this [00:15:39] Speaker B: new leader that has been appointed in Iran. I am coming in. It's the fourth successor they are saying and they're not holding back. No words here. They plan for a very long war with the US and Israel. To the best of your knowledge, what plans are afoot in the quickest possible time to destabilize such a threat and bring some sort of normalcy? You just mentioned a few moments ago that your personal family now fleeing this can't have you in a good space. You are probably worried what is the communication like? Are you able to reach via phone to family and friends in Israel from your position in Panama? [00:16:29] Speaker C: Yeah. First of all about the successor, Mujtaba Khamenei. He's the Ali Khamenei's son. They say that he's much more extremist than his father and I don't think we'll survive a lot of time. Now about my family, I really, really appreciate, appreciate it David for asking because I'm here in Panama, you know, with seven hour difference, very worried about my 87 year old mother and eight month old granddaughter. For the last eight days they are running in and out, day and night, day and night, in and out from the shelter. Everybody is okay, they are safe. But you know, it's very difficult to have life. You cannot go to work, you cannot go to school. And this is the difference between us and the terrorist regime in Iran. They are targeting the deliberately civil targets and houses and airports and buildings, residential buildings. We target only military objectives, but they target civil buildings and objectives not only in Israel, but as I said before, just did in 10 different Arab countries in the region. This regime must and its role in history. [00:17:56] Speaker B: I had a call that Was coming through. Hello, good morning. Respectfully and quickly, please. [00:18:02] Speaker A: Good morning, David. And good morning to your esteemed guests. The first thing I want to tell your esteemed guests is that I will not give a gun to my five year old. And in the same respect, I don't believe that Iran should have a nuclear weapon. They should never have won. Now, let me just say this to you. When Barack Obama came into office, they knew what the situation was. NATO and Barack Obama sat around a table with Iran and they said, look, we do not want you to have a weapon. And they said, okay, we leave you at what you call maybe domestic grade. So they kept them at that situation in relation to these have functions and all of that, it was working well. When Donald Trump came in the first instance, warmonger Netanyahu said to him, we don't want them to have anything at all. And they throw off the agreement. And that is what bring us to this point. Why man cannot learn to live in peace and harmony with man. This war was not necessary. This war is here because of warmonger Netanyahu and Donald Trump. Why did it tear up the Obama NATO agreement? That is why we are here. [00:19:17] Speaker C: Sorry, the line was. I didn't hear. Sorry, I couldn't hear him. What does he say? [00:19:23] Speaker B: I do apologize, but he gave us some history there dated back to Obama. I was trying to take notes, but we can move on if he calls back. He does. But as we get closer to the end of the program, I want to thank you in advance for accepting the interview this morning and sharing some insight. I think I have another call coming through. Good morning. [00:19:48] Speaker A: What if you did not hear, Baby, [00:19:49] Speaker B: are you hearing him now? [00:19:51] Speaker A: I am. Is he hearing me? He's not hearing me. [00:19:56] Speaker B: Ambassador, are you hearing? [00:19:58] Speaker A: He's not hearing. [00:19:59] Speaker C: Hardly, but I probably need to increase your volume. [00:20:01] Speaker A: But listen, I'm quickly, Eric, that there was an Obama NATO agreement when Obama was in office and it was torn up by Donald Trump on the urgings of warmonger Netanyahu. We did not have to be here. [00:20:15] Speaker B: All right, so this agreement that was in place from Obama time to now, the caller is saying that it was torn up, it was reneged upon. You know, Trump came in, President Trump came in and Netanyahu, I mean, they no doubt allies and they decided that the tyranny of Iran has to come to an end. They cannot be allowed to have nuclear weapons where they are threatening the wider world. [00:20:41] Speaker C: The previous agreement in 2015 that President Obama signed with Iranians was apparently in a perspective of more than 10 years. A big mistake. And President Trump did very well by withdrawing the United States from this agreement because this agreement basically said that after 10 years, Iran can continue to enriching uranium and to develop nuclear weapons. And this is, this is something that we cannot accept. And I'm very happy that the current US Administration agrees with us. [00:21:20] Speaker B: All right, let's take another one quickly as we get closer to the top. Hello, good morning. [00:21:24] Speaker A: Hello. Good morning, Davy. And good morning to you again. Before I continue, I want to make sure that my guest is hearing the question. [00:21:32] Speaker B: Ask the question. I will, I will put it to him. Just tell me the question. [00:21:35] Speaker A: All right. Now, he said that the, the Iranians are targeting civilians, residential areas and things of that nature. Right. I want the gentleman to go back a little bit and let's look at Garma. What did the Israelites, what still continue to do over 18,000 children. [00:22:00] Speaker B: Okay, what's the question you want to ask? Because that narrative, I mean, there's a lot of information you're giving me. I'm running out of time. So what's the question you want me to ask? [00:22:08] Speaker A: The question is how come he is accusing Iran of bombing residential areas and hospitals and Israel has been doing worse? [00:22:22] Speaker B: All right, so basically he's saying that you're accusing Iran of bombing hospitals and hotels and stuff, but Israel has done worse in the Gaza. So he wanted you to. [00:22:33] Speaker C: No, he is wrong. Israel has not done worse. Gaza is totally different stories. The Hamas terror organization used the Gazans, the civil buildings as human shields and they put their arms, ammunition and missiles under schools, under masks, under buildings, under hospitals. We did not deliberately harm innocent people. But when you hide behind innocent people, innocent people can be hurt. But this is not the goal of the Israeli government. The goal of the Israeli government was to wipe out the terror organization Hamas that invaded on October 7, 2023 to Israel, killed, murdered 1,200 people and kidnapped 250 people. The war in Gaza was the most justified war that we had. And I'm happy that it's over. [00:23:31] Speaker B: All right. Hello, good morning. [00:23:33] Speaker A: Morning. Quickly, David Obama made it worse, Right? He sent over, he sent pallets of cash to the Iranian when he was in office. Right. And I would like to ask the ambassador if you think it's possible to release the footages of October 7th when, when Hamas went into Israel and what they did to those little children, if it is why, so people will understand why it is Israel had to demolish Gaza. Right. Because they burnt little children alive and beheaded them. I want the Government, or whoever it is, possess that footage to show the world what these terror organizations are doing so it will understand better. Thanks a lot. [00:24:24] Speaker B: All right. Hello, Good morning. Hello. Yes, good morning. All right, there's another caller. Can, can he send out a voice note to me quickly as I'm running out of time. So as we get set to wrap, I, I mean I, I do hope that you can. One moment, Ambassador, one moment. But, but let me ask you this quickly as it relates to this ongoing war, provoked or not provoked, let's get to where we currently are. What is the Israeli forces? What is the Prime Minister Netanyahu looking at in the shortest possible time to bring this to an end? It says that he's going to look for other allies to join this cohesive group to destabilize the Iranian government. What is the plan based on your [00:25:23] Speaker C: knowledge on the short term? The plan is to destroy all the nuclear capacities and the long term ballistic missiles of Iran. For the long term, I do hope that this war will create the conditions to a regime change in Iran and to let the 10th of millions of Iranians after 47 years to live in freedom and democracy in their own country. All right. [00:25:51] Speaker B: Hello. Good morning. You wanted to make a point this morning, sir? [00:25:54] Speaker A: Yes, I just wanted to ask the ambassador if Israel, what is their long term goal, what do they hope to achieve from this situation? [00:26:05] Speaker B: Well, I just asked him that question. I just asked him. So thank you very much. I just highlighted that for you. All right, so Ambassador, I want to thank you very much for being with me this morning. I'm no doubt really out of time here this morning. I'm gonna have to leave it there. But again, I do pray for the safety of your family and those involved innocently in this battle that no doubt based on the information we are receiving on Al Jazeera and other news outlets globally, that the war is not going to stop, no time, unless they are able to neutralize Iran who has been threatening and attacking relentlessly. And they are now saying, even the, even the new leader who is worse than his father is also saying that there is no let up. So whatever secret powers they have, I mean we yet to see it because they're not giving up. So I do pray for safety of your family and your citizens over there and the innocent lives and no doubt we'll reach out to you again I would imagine in the soonest possible time as we continue with these conversations and watch this thing unfold globally. Thank you again, sir. And I would thank you very much, [00:27:26] Speaker C: Davy and Good morning to you and to all of the viewers and listeners. [00:27:30] Speaker B: Indeed. So have a great one. [00:27:32] Speaker A: You tuned into the all new Freedom Formal 6.51 6.5.