Transcript [00:00] Hey everybody, it is uh Saturday, [00:02] January 31st, 2026, and this is the Iran [00:06] update, the latest Iran update. We just [00:08] came out of Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath [00:10] here in Israel. And um and yeah, we're [00:13] everyone, the whole world is still [00:15] sitting on eggshells waiting to see what [00:16] President Trump is going to do. And [00:18] that's what we're going to talk about [00:19] this. We're going to talk about not only [00:20] what what he might do, but also what his [00:23] overall approach to foreign policy is. [00:26] Let's first take a look at this clip [00:27] from the White House from yesterday. [00:30] >> We have a uh [00:32] large armada flotillaa. You can call it [00:35] whatever you want. Heading toward Iran [00:38] right now, even larger than what we had [00:41] in Venezuela. It's still in front of [00:43] Venezuela. The Venezuelan situation. The [00:46] leadership is doing a very good job. [00:49] >> Okay. So, that's nothing really new to [00:51] us. we knew about this large uh naval [00:54] presence that the US was moving into the [00:56] region. Uh so there's President Trump [00:58] just pointing that out as a way of [00:59] saying, "Hey, look, uh it it's real or [01:02] you know, we're moving this, you know, [01:04] all these military assets and military [01:05] assets like this are not so easy to [01:07] move. They take time. It's very [01:09] expensive." [01:10] So uh obviously he's planning for [01:13] something and that's what's causing all [01:14] of this anticipation. But then in the [01:16] same press conference, he was asked [01:19] about an ultimatum for Iran. And this [01:21] was just Trump being being Trumpy. And [01:24] I'll talk about what I mean very soon. [01:27] So let's take a look at this. So here [01:30] he's asked about a deadline. Let's take [01:32] a look at this clip. [01:33] >> Speaker, please. Yes. [01:35] >> Uh are you giving Iran any kind of [01:37] deadline to make a deal before [01:38] potentially taking [01:40] >> No, for sure. [01:41] >> Have you communicated that to them [01:42] directly? [01:42] >> I have. This is Trump being kind of cy, [01:45] right? Only they know for sure, you [01:47] know, [snorts] only they know. Only they [01:49] know. And you know, he doesn't really [01:50] want to reveal, he doesn't want to tip [01:52] his hand uh and announce to the world [01:55] what he's planning to do. And this goes [01:57] really into the, you know, what, you [01:59] know, the Trump doctrine on foreign [02:01] policy. You know, let me play you a [02:03] clip. This is from President Trump's [02:06] first presidential campaign. Okay. from [02:09] 2016, from April 27th, 2016, a major [02:13] address that he gave about what his [02:15] approach to foreign policy would be. The [02:18] whole thing is worth watching if you can [02:19] go dig up uh this speech. It's really [02:22] fascinating to look back uh pretty much [02:24] 10 years ago at at uh what Trump said [02:27] about foreign policy and compare it to [02:29] how he has behaved ever since. But this [02:32] clip is absolutely relevant and [02:34] fascinating to what we're dealing with [02:36] here today. Let's take a look. And then [02:37] there's ISIS. I have a simple message [02:41] for them. Their days are numbered. I [02:44] won't tell them where and I won't tell [02:47] them how. We must [02:51] [applause] [02:54] we must as a nation be more [02:58] unpredictable. We are totally [02:59] predictable. We tell everything. We're [03:02] sending troops, we tell them. We're [03:04] sending something else. We have a news [03:06] conference. We have to be unpredictable [03:10] and we have to be unpredictable starting [03:12] now. There you go, guys. That is that is [03:18] Trump in a nutshell. Now, let me talk [03:20] about how significant this is because I [03:22] remember watching this speech at the [03:23] time and thinking to myself, "Wow, it [03:25] makes so much sense. You don't want to [03:26] telegraph everything that you're doing, [03:27] but the United States always does it." [03:29] And when people look at at President [03:32] Trump's behavior, and one of the [03:33] favorite things people say is that he's [03:35] erratic. He's all over the place. He's [03:36] unpredictable. And it makes it seem like [03:38] he's kind of uh you know, bamboozled or [03:41] confused or or not really sure what he's [03:44] going to do and that he doesn't really [03:45] have a handle on things. That's the way [03:47] his detractors like to paint it. But I [03:49] played this clip for you to make the [03:52] point that this is by design. It is [03:55] extremely well thought out. He is [03:57] intentionally vague. He is intentionally [04:00] unpredictable. It's not just a feature [04:02] of his personality. [04:04] It's actually a policy. It is [04:06] strategically and tactically critical [04:09] for the Trump approach to foreign policy [04:12] to be unpredictable. It is a [04:14] premeditated unpredictability. Okay. So, [04:17] all of this, you know, hedging, oh, [04:20] maybe we'll attack, maybe we won't. I'll [04:21] think about it. I don't know. Think back [04:23] to the, you know, to the 12-day war [04:25] where when the nuclear facilities were [04:27] attacked, they were attacked on a [04:29] Saturday. [04:30] Okay, that was uh like I guess day nine [04:34] or 10 or maybe day 10 of the 12-day war, [04:36] right? When he was they were attacked on [04:38] a Saturday. That was when the big B2 [04:39] bomber attack happened. On the Thursday [04:42] immediately prior to that, on the [04:45] Thursday immediately prior to the n to [04:47] the attack on the nuclear facilities, [04:50] Trump's spokesperson uh his um the press [04:53] secretary Caroline Levit told the media [04:56] in her briefing on Thursday, two days [04:58] before that President Trump was not sure [05:01] whether or not we're going to attack the [05:02] nuclear facilities and he's decided to [05:04] think about it for two weeks. Okay. Now, [05:08] considering the size and complexity of [05:10] that attack on the nuclear facilities [05:12] with the B2 bombers and and we heard so [05:14] much about what that mission was, [05:17] obviously you can't just decide on a [05:20] moment's notice that you're going to go [05:21] ahead and do that. So, on Thursday [05:23] afternoon, something like 48 hours [05:26] before [05:28] the attack actually was carried out and [05:30] maybe even less, it was obvious that the [05:33] order had already been given. They'd [05:34] already planned when they're doing it. [05:36] Again, you can't just plan an a a [05:38] complex operation like that and [05:40] implement it on on a moment's notice. [05:42] So, there was President Trump direct, [05:44] you know, giving a misdirection play and [05:47] specifically being unpredictable. This [05:49] isn't again, this is not just part of [05:50] his erratic personality. I don't think [05:52] he's erratic at all. I think he [05:54] deliberate, he doesn't mind if we all [05:56] think he's erratic. That's all part of [05:58] the strategy of being unpredictable. But [06:00] this goes all the way back. Look at [06:01] that. goes all the way back to his first [06:03] campaign where he was saying, "This is [06:05] how I'm going to handle foreign policy." [06:07] Now, there's more. Um there there's [06:10] also, you know, we're not done with the [06:12] Iran update. There's there was a a huge [06:14] story on drop site news um that uh that [06:18] I want to share with you here. So, let's [06:20] take a look at that. And there's a lot [06:21] in this report for us to for us to [06:24] discuss. So, here exclusive US military [06:27] tells key Middle East ally. And it's [06:29] talking about an Arab ally in the Middle [06:30] East who was told to prepare for an [06:32] attack on Iran. So here's what it says [06:35] here. This is really worth going [06:36] through. Senior US military officials [06:38] have informed the leadership of a key US [06:40] ally in the Middle East, and it's not [06:42] talking about Israel, that President [06:43] Donald Trump could authorize a US attack [06:45] on Iran this weekend. Multiple sources [06:48] have confirmed to drop site news. [06:51] Strikes could commence as early as [06:52] Sunday, the ally was informed, if the US [06:55] decides to move forward. Now look at [06:56] this quote. This isn't about the nukes [06:59] or the missile program. This is about [07:01] regime change, said a former senior US [07:04] intelligence official who consults for [07:06] Arab governments and is an informal [07:09] adviser to the Trump administration on [07:10] Middle East policy. He told Drop Site [07:12] that the US war planners envision [07:14] attacks that target nuclear, ballistic, [07:17] and other military sites around Iran, [07:20] but will also aim to decapitate the [07:23] Iranian government and in particular the [07:25] leadership and capabilities of the [07:27] Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Okay, [07:30] that's the that's the uh that's the [07:33] leadership of the regime. [07:36] Um, the thinking in the Trump [07:38] administration, according to the source, [07:39] is that a successful strike on the [07:40] Iranian leadership would be followed by [07:42] Iranians returning to the streets to [07:45] protest leading to the overflow of the [07:47] overthrow of the government. Israeli [07:49] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was [07:50] hoping for an attack, this former senior [07:53] intelligence official said, and assuring [07:55] Trump that Israel can help put in place [07:57] a new government that is friendly with [07:59] the West. What do you mean Israel can [08:00] help? Well, this is this gets into some [08:03] of what's really going on behind the [08:04] scenes. The Israelis have a lot of [08:06] assets on the ground in Iran. Okay? A [08:09] lot more than people realize. There are [08:10] Mossad working there. If you've seen [08:12] reports of mysterious explosions at [08:15] various factories or or or gas [08:18] facilities or whatever it is, it's [08:20] highly likely that that's the Israelis [08:22] and they're never going to take credit [08:23] for it. But let me also remind you, [08:26] maybe I don't know if you're aware of [08:27] this. At the beginning of the of the uh [08:30] 12-day war, on the first day of the war, [08:31] you might remember that there were a lot [08:33] of assassinations of senior uh [08:37] commanders and senior political figures [08:39] in Iran. Those [08:43] those those assassinations were not [08:45] carried out by air strikes from [08:46] airplanes flying over from Israel. Those [08:49] assassinations were carried out by by [08:51] drone strikes from drones that were [08:53] launched inside Iran [08:56] by Israeli operatives. So when Netanyahu [09:01] says that he assures when it says here [09:03] that Netanyahu assured Trump that Israel [09:06] can help put in place a new government [09:08] that is friendly with the West, [09:09] understand Israel has a lot of assets in [09:11] there. Just also remember when Ismael [09:13] Haneia, the head of Hamas, was [09:15] assassinated, he was assassinated in [09:17] Tehran by a bomb. Again, it wasn't an [09:20] air strike. It was a bomb that was [09:22] planted in the room he was staying in in [09:25] a very highly secured facility, which [09:28] means that there were people on the [09:29] inside [09:31] uh at the highest levels of the security [09:33] apparatus there in Tehran that were [09:35] actually working for the Israelis. So, [09:37] this is a very interesting line in this [09:39] report. It goes on to say, "The US [09:42] briefing of the key Arab ally comes as [09:44] regional countries are feverishly [09:46] engaged in lastminute efforts to mediate [09:49] talks between the US and Iran to avert a [09:51] war. On Friday, Iran's foreign minister [09:53] Abbasari, right, he met with Turkish [09:55] leaders to push forward a possible [09:57] diplomatic resolution. Saudi Arabia on [10:01] Tuesday ruled out the use of its [10:02] airspace for potential US attack [10:06] uh on Iran and he ruled that out in a [10:09] phone call between the Saudi crown [10:11] prince and the Iranian president. Okay. [10:14] MBS Mahmud bin Salman with Masoud [10:17] Peskan. [10:19] This is all according to thea Saudi [10:21] state news agency. Okay. So, the Saudis [10:23] have been cozying up to the Iranians, [10:25] and the Saudis are terrified of the [10:27] Iranian regime falling for a whole host [10:29] of reasons. I made I made a video just [10:31] about that question. Why is Saudi Arabia [10:34] protecting the Iranian regime on the [10:36] Israel 365 YouTube channel? You can go [10:38] find it there. It was sometime over the [10:39] last couple weeks. Uh again, why is [10:42] Saudi Arabia protecting the Iranian [10:43] regime? It's a whole separate [10:45] discussion, but the Saudis are [10:46] feverishly trying to protect the the [10:49] regime. uh US Central Command declined [10:52] to comment on this report. Okay. And [10:54] then it talks about what uh what [10:55] President Trump said in the uh in the [11:00] press conference [11:01] and then it talks about how Iran plans [11:03] to respond. Iranian officials have [11:05] repeatedly said that that if the US [11:07] attacks Iran [11:09] uh it will respond with unprecedented [11:11] counter strikes against US military [11:13] facilities etc. And then it mentions [11:15] that Marco Rubio, Secretary of State [11:17] Rubio was recently mentioned that the US [11:20] has between 30 and 40,000 troops [11:22] stationed at bases in the region that [11:24] are all within range of Iranian drones [11:27] and and short range ballistic missiles. [11:29] And that's referring to questioning done [11:32] uh at the uh in the Senate and [11:36] specifically uh Senator John Cornin from [11:38] Texas uh who sits on the Senate Foreign [11:40] Relations Committee was questioning him [11:42] and I want to read this to you because [11:44] it's very interesting. Cornin said the [11:47] following. I know the president's I know [11:49] the president's very concerned about [11:50] what's happening to the demonstrators in [11:52] Iran and of course there's been some [11:53] estimates that as many as 30,000 Iranian [11:55] demonstrators have been executed by the [11:57] regime. But I know the president's being [11:59] presented with a range of options. We've [12:01] noticed a lot of movement into the [12:03] region by our navy and other [12:05] authorities, but what happens if the [12:06] Supreme Leader is removed in Iran? What [12:08] happens next? And Rubio responded, [12:10] "You're talking about a regime that's in [12:12] place for a very long time. So, it's [12:14] going to require a lot of careful [12:16] thinking if that eventuality ever [12:18] presents itself. On the issue of our [12:19] presence in the region, here's the [12:21] baseline I want to set for everybody. We [12:23] have 30 to 40,000 American troops [12:26] stationed across eight or nine [12:29] facilities in the region. All are within [12:31] reach of an array of thousands of [12:33] Iranian one-way UAVs and Iranian short [12:36] term meaning short range ballistic [12:38] missiles short short um that threaten [12:41] our troop presence. We have to have [12:42] enough force and power in the region [12:44] just on a baseline to defend against [12:46] that possibility that at some point as a [12:49] result of something the Iranian regime [12:51] decides to strike at our troops presence [12:53] in the region. [12:55] Okay. [12:57] Um so this is you know this is huge. [13:00] This is very this is a very important [13:02] part of the calculation because of all [13:04] these troops. Now let me put this in in [13:05] a little bit more context. during [13:08] previous times when the United States [13:11] has struck Iran, whether it was the [13:13] nuclear facilities or taking out [13:14] Kasamsulammani back in Trump's first [13:16] term. Let's take those two examples of [13:18] the United States carrying out a [13:20] military strike against the Iranian [13:21] regime. In both those situations, the [13:24] Iranians sort of retaliated, okay? They [13:28] sort of retaliated, but in both of those [13:30] instances, they let the Americans know [13:33] in advance what the retaliation was [13:35] going to be because they didn't really [13:36] want to poke the bear and cause any [13:39] escalation with the US. So, there was [13:41] kind of like weathering the storm. Okay? [13:44] And they were kind of cosmetic [13:47] retaliations where they didn't really [13:48] kill anybody. They just hit some empty [13:50] buildings. That's not going to happen [13:52] this time because if the US is actually [13:54] aiming to take down the regime, they're [13:56] not going to give warning to the US. [13:58] They're not right. They're they're [14:00] that's not what's going to happen [14:01] anymore. So, this time they would [14:05] actually be shooting to kill and and [14:07] trying to knock out um actual US assets [14:12] in the region. So, that's that's a very [14:13] big difference and it's an eventuality [14:16] that u you know that needs to be planned [14:18] for. Okay. So that's so that's our [14:21] update for today. Um obviously again [14:24] things are coming to a head but now you [14:25] start to get a feel for what the [14:27] planning on the American side is looking [14:29] like because again there's factors that [14:31] they didn't have in the earlier attacks [14:32] where they have to make sure that their [14:33] assets in the region their people are [14:35] protected. Um and then there's also this [14:38] unpredictability issue right with that [14:41] clip from President Trump from 2016. But [14:44] at the same time, things seem seem [14:46] things things seem to still be moving [14:48] forward towards some sort of [14:49] confrontation. [14:51] All right, folks. That's it for today's [14:52] update. Please make sure to like, [14:54] subscribe, share, all that stuff. And of [14:56] course, check out all the other content [14:58] on Israel 365's channel as well. And let [15:00] me know what you think of these uh these [15:02] videos. Let me know what direction you'd [15:03] like to go in, what you want to see more [15:05] of, what you want to see less of. God [15:07] bless.
