Transcript [00:00] Hey everyone, today is Thursday, [00:02] February 5th. My birthday, by the way. [00:04] So, you can put a little happy birthday [00:05] comment. That would be appreciated. It [00:07] is Thursday, February 5th, and this is [00:09] the Iran update. And things are moving [00:12] really, really fast. So, let's get right [00:14] into it. The first thing I've got to [00:16] mention is that yesterday when I [00:19] reported uh in my Iran update that the [00:23] talks were called off, that was [00:25] incorrect. they were called off briefly [00:28] or it was that announcement might have [00:30] been made, might not have been made, but [00:31] they were simply moving from Turkey to [00:33] Oman. Now, let me also point out that [00:35] the report that the talks were called [00:37] off was from Axios. And the reporter [00:40] from Axios who said it was a guy by the [00:42] name of Barak Ravid. He's an Israeli guy [00:46] who is he covers Israel for Axios and [00:48] covers the Middle East for Axios. And I [00:50] should have known better because Barack [00:52] Ravid is always wrong. But that's a [00:55] topic for some other time. Let's get [00:56] right into the news from Iran. Okay, so [00:59] here we have uh WET, that's a legitimate [01:03] Israeli news source reporting, Israeli [01:05] officials say Washington has urged [01:07] Israel to hold off on independent [01:10] military action against Iran while talks [01:14] with Iran are underway. Now, this [01:16] obviously should remind all of us of [01:19] what happened during the 12-day war, [01:20] right? Because during the 12- day war, [01:22] Israel [01:24] u when Israel attacked the Israel [01:26] attacked on June 13th and the United [01:29] States was in the middle of these [01:31] negotiations. They were having the [01:33] negotiations every weekend and a couple [01:34] of days before Israel attacked. [01:36] President Trump even said that, oh yeah, [01:38] we're going to have another round of [01:39] negotiations this weekend. And the [01:41] Israelis essentially ended those [01:43] negotiations by starting the 12-day war. [01:46] So this is uh is the United States [01:49] saying hold off. We want the [01:51] negotiations to run their course. Don't [01:53] take independent action. It also signals [01:56] where Israel is at. The fact that the [01:58] Israelis had to be told this because the [02:01] Israelis are worried right now. Israel [02:04] Israeli interest and American interests [02:06] regarding Iran are not identical. [02:08] They're similar, but they're not [02:10] identical because Israel [02:12] looks at Iran and sees an existential [02:15] threat. It sees a threat that is funding [02:17] all of its proxies that that have been [02:21] attacking Israel for decades. So [02:22] Israel's main enemies kamas these are [02:25] funded by Iran, right? They are backed [02:27] by Iran. They're Iranian proxies. Israel [02:30] sees Iran as an existential threat that [02:32] is trying to kill it, that is trying to [02:34] destroy it. The United States does not [02:36] see the Iranian regime that way. It sees [02:37] it as a problem and as a bad actor, but [02:40] not as an existential threat. And that's [02:42] why the focus for the Americans tends to [02:45] be more on the issue of the nuclear [02:47] weapons and maybe some of their other [02:50] nefarious activity, but they don't see [02:51] it as as urgent a problem. Israel has no [02:55] fear of regime change in Iran. Look, [02:58] this this is a nation that is wholly [03:01] devoted to destroying Israel. We don't [03:03] need to worry or justify the fact that [03:05] we want to take down a regime that wants [03:06] to kill us. Just imagine in a private [03:08] life, if you have someone whose stated [03:11] single-minded goal is to kill you, you [03:13] don't have to apologize for trying to [03:14] kill them, for trying to neutralize [03:17] their their efforts to kill you. You [03:20] don't have to worry about that. Iran [03:22] does not pose that type of threat to the [03:23] United States. So the Israelis are [03:26] worried that if the United States comes [03:28] to some kind of agreement that leaves [03:30] the regime intact and just says, "Okay, [03:33] they're not going to make nuclear [03:34] weapons or maybe doesn't limit their [03:36] ballistic me their ballistic missile [03:38] program enough." [03:40] Uh that could allow the Iranians to sit [03:43] on their hands and not do anything [03:44] nuclear until Trump is out of office. [03:46] And who knows what the future holds. The [03:48] Israelis have a real interest in [03:50] bringing down the regime. And even [03:52] though one could argue that it would be [03:54] in America's best interest to do so, [03:55] that's up to the Americans to decide and [03:57] they could determine that it's not [03:58] necessarily in their best interest. So [04:01] again, we have to keep that in mind all [04:03] the time that the US interest and the [04:05] Israeli interest are not identical. Now, [04:07] beyond this warning to Israel or this [04:10] request from Israel not to take any [04:12] action while the negotiations are [04:13] ongoing, let's look at the negotiations. [04:15] So yesterday in the update I I played a [04:18] video of Marco Rubio that pointed out [04:20] that there are really uh four issues [04:23] that that's what Marco Rubio said. The [04:24] four issues under negotiation uh are the [04:28] nuclear, the ballistic missile range, [04:31] the funding of the proxies, and the [04:32] treatment of the people of Iran. [04:34] Although Trump usually only talks about [04:36] the nuclear. And look at this quote [04:37] here. Esmael Kawar Kaussari, a member of [04:41] Iran's parliamentary national security [04:43] committee. So it's like the National [04:44] Security Council in Iran said, "I am not [04:47] optimistic about the negotiations. We [04:49] are negotiating only to show the world [04:51] that we are not avoiding talks." In [04:53] other words, they're not really [04:54] negotiating. Look at this. Missile [04:57] capabilities and regional issues. That [04:59] means so missile capabilities, that's [05:01] the ballistic missile range and regional [05:03] issues. It probably refers to the [05:06] proxies. Missile capabilities and [05:08] regional issues are not America's [05:10] business. and it has no right to make [05:12] demands in these areas. The negotiations [05:15] will address only the nuclear issue. [05:18] Uranium enrichment must take place on [05:20] Iranian soil. Okay, that sounds like [05:23] they're not really negotiating and [05:25] they're refusing to talk about the the [05:27] the wider issues. And again, this points [05:30] back to what I just pointed out on the [05:32] nuclear issue. Everyone's in agreement [05:35] on our side, the Israelis, the [05:36] Americans, most of the Western world who [05:38] aren't insane [05:40] that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons. [05:44] But on the ballistic missile threat and [05:46] on the regime itself remaining in power [05:49] and on the funding of proxies, [05:52] the American interest and the Israeli [05:54] interest are not necessarily the same. [05:56] Something to keep in mind. But here we [05:57] have the Iranians essentially saying, [06:00] "Hey, we're not really negotiating." And [06:03] uh you know to add fuel to this, Trump [06:05] warns Iran supreme leader should be very [06:08] worried. And this is and this is from [06:10] today by the way. This is just from uh [06:12] from earlier this morning. US President [06:14] Donald Trump warned Iran Supreme Leader [06:16] should be very worried as both sides [06:18] prepare for their first formal [06:19] negotiations. The negotiations are [06:21] supposed to take place on Friday. Uh [06:24] Trump um you know Trump said this. The [06:27] high stakes talks are scheduled to take [06:28] place on Friday in the Omani capital [06:30] Muscat and will involve Iranian foreign [06:32] minister Abbas Aragchi and Trump special [06:35] envoy Steve Witkov according to Iran's [06:37] state affiliate tasnim news agency. But [06:40] look at this. Both sides appear to have [06:42] different agendas. US Secretary of State [06:44] Marco Rubio confirmed that the Trump [06:46] administration wants negotiations to [06:48] focus not only on Iran's nuclear [06:50] program, but also the range of their [06:52] ballistic missiles, their sponsorship of [06:54] terrorist organizations across the [06:56] region, and the treatment of their own [06:58] people. That's what we talked about [06:59] yesterday. Citing Iran's foreign [07:01] ministry, Tessim has reported [07:03] negotiations will be limited to Iran's [07:05] nuclear program and the lifting of [07:07] sanctions as the country's primary [07:10] demand. Okay. Excuse [cough] [07:14] me. Um, and then it talks about how [07:16] they've held they've held other other [07:18] talks in the past [07:21] and uh [07:24] uh yeah, and it mentions the fact that [07:26] um that they're that the United States [07:29] shot down an Iranian drone the other [07:31] day. So things are heating up. But Trump [07:33] warns Iran Supreme Leader should be very [07:35] worried. But as we've talked about, [07:36] Trump intentionally does misdirection [07:38] plays always. At the same time, he makes [07:40] a threat and he says, "We want it to be [07:41] negotiations. We want peace, but he [07:43] should be worried, but we have a lot of [07:45] military assets." The unpredictability [07:49] and the misdirection plays are by [07:51] design. As I pointed out in an earlier [07:53] video, maybe some of you saw it. Trump [07:57] when he was first running for office in [07:58] 2016 said this explicitly that he sees [08:02] the predictability of American foreign [08:05] policy as a flaw and that we need to [08:08] become more unpredictable. Now Neil Berg [08:11] just posted this uh she posts a lot of [08:14] stuff. She's uh an Iranian Jew and she [08:16] posts a lot of stuff from Iran. This is [08:18] footage that just came out. This is [08:19] footage that has new new footage has [08:21] been released from the massacre in Iran [08:23] from earlier in January. Fire, gunfire, [08:27] screams death. Absolutely apocalyptic. [08:29] So, take a look at this footage. It is [08:31] pretty harsh. [08:52] [laughter] [08:54] There it is. [09:09] >> [laughter] [09:17] >> Yeah. Um, basically a lot of chaos, a [09:20] lot of screaming, a lot of pain, a lot [09:21] of death, a lot of shooting. [09:23] This massacre was serious. We now know [09:25] that there were tens of thousands of [09:26] people killed. So, let's sum things up. [09:29] Where are we right now with all of these [09:31] negotiations? Here's where we are. [09:33] Um, [09:35] President Trump continues to make [09:37] threats. The Iranian regime is saying [09:39] that they refuse to talk about anything [09:40] other than nuclear. [09:42] President Trump has been signaling that [09:45] that might be the case because he only [09:47] mentions nuclear when he talks about [09:48] things. Although then he sometimes [09:50] throws in, yeah, they have to be nice to [09:51] their people and for sure the missiles [09:53] are a bit of a problem, but we want [09:55] them, you know, they can't have the [09:56] nuclear. He always emphasizes the [09:57] nuclear. Um, and at the same time, [10:00] Secretary of State Marco Rubio listed [10:02] four items for the negotiation. So, what [10:06] exactly is going to happen in these [10:07] negotiations? We don't know. What will [10:10] they lead to? We don't know. And it's at [10:12] the same time, the Americans have told [10:13] the Israelis, hold your horses. Don't do [10:16] anything. Let us negotiate. So, that's [10:18] our update for today. Uh, obviously, [10:21] this is a very dynamic situation. And [10:24] let me add in that we need to pray, [10:26] okay? We I know we're always talking [10:28] about politics, but we need to pray. We [10:30] need to pray. God is in charge. Let's [10:32] never forget God is in charge. Okay? God [10:35] controls history. Uh and uh and his his [10:39] his governance over history is total. [10:41] Okay? And uh you know, so so people have [10:44] free will. That's true. But world [10:46] leaders have their free will somewhat [10:50] impacted, governed to a certain extent [10:53] by God more so than we do. You know, [10:55] there's a verse in Proverbs that says [10:57] that the the uh the heart of a king is [10:59] in the hand of the Lord, right? The [11:00] heart of the king is in the hand of God. [11:02] And what that's really saying, like, now [11:04] you might say, well, everyone's heart is [11:05] in the hand of God. But obviously, what [11:07] Proverbs is indicating is that world [11:09] leaders who can affect the course of [11:11] history, which is a divine plan, have [11:14] some limitation on their free will that [11:16] normal people don't have in their own [11:17] private lives. So, we have to we have to [11:19] make sure to pray into that over the [11:21] course of the next few days. There's [11:22] these big negotiations. historic things [11:24] are happening and we need to pray for [11:26] the for the negotiations to go in the [11:28] right direction or for the end of this [11:31] story to really bring liberty and [11:33] freedom uh to the Iranian people. Uh [11:36] there's a lot on the table here. Okay. [11:38] So, so let's uh so let's pray about that [11:41] and uh and we're going to keep an eye on [11:43] the situation. We'll have more updates [11:44] coming to you of course as things unfold [11:47] and please make sure to check out all [11:48] the content we're putting up at Israel [11:50] 365 on the channel there. Uh there's a [11:53] lot of uh important videos there. And I [11:54] I want to particularly point out that in [11:57] the playlist section on the Israel 365 [11:59] YouTube channel, there is a playlist [12:00] called the superpower playlist. And it's [12:02] it it's a six-part series, six short [12:05] videos that lay out the case that Israel [12:08] over the course of the last uh of the [12:10] last little while has really become a [12:13] regional superpower in the Middle East. [12:15] And I think you might find that [12:16] interesting. So check that out. Okay, [12:18] that's Israel 365 YouTube channel. Go to [12:20] the playlists and check out the [12:22] superpower playlist. All right, be well.
