New York Times: US and Israel Intensive Preparations for War

What he says

An English translation of the talk, which is in Persian. It was made with AI from YouTube's automatic captions and may contain errors; the Persian transcript is authoritative. Click a timestamp to jump to that part of the video.

0:01 Hello. Friday, 25 Khordad 1405, 15 May 2026. The two days of talks between Mr. Trump and his delegation and China's leader, Mr. Xi, have ended. Various views on the outcome of these talks have appeared in the press and in the remarks of commentators. They range from the view that it was merely ceremonial and achieved absolutely nothing, to claims that very great successes were achieved, including from Mr. Trump himself, who

0:51 wrote on his Truth Social, and also said in an interview on the plane, that the talks had very good results: the Chinese are to buy 200 Boeing aircraft from America, invest in America, and buy agricultural products such as soybeans, and America's tech giants are to get a freer hand in China, and things of that sort. But when the spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry was asked, she spoke only in generalities and gave no further information beyond saying that the two leaders had talked a great deal about peace, understanding and so on. As for Taiwan, it also remains unclear. It is said that despite

1:56 the pressure Mr. Xi put on Trump, nothing particular actually happened. But what matters to us is the discussion that was probably raised about Iran. It is said that the American side pressed China to cut off its intelligence assistance to Iran, intelligence that is useful to Iran for precision targeting and for closing the Strait of Hormuz and so on, and also not to give Iran weapons, and in addition to pressure Iran to accept the peace agreement and, in effect, America's demands.

2:53 Although the Chinese made general statements that they agree the Strait of Hormuz should be open and stressed freedom of navigation and so on, they said nothing beyond that. In addition, Iran has allowed Chinese tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. So far, it is said, more than nine Chinese tankers, some of them carrying more than 2 million barrels of oil, have set out for Chinese ports with oil from Iraq, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and so on. More important than China in this regard, of course, is Russia. It is said that Mr. Witkoff is in constant contact with his Russian

3:53 counterpart, with whom he has been talking for some time, to secure Russia's cooperation and Russian pressure on the Islamic Republic. Because the Russians both provide intelligence capabilities to the Islamic Republic and also have the drone factory, which Iran itself helped set up in Russia, that supplies drone parts to Iran, plus probably other equipment. So the issue of the Iran–US negotiations and reaching peace is once again shrouded in ambiguity, and it seems that to make it happen, one must win not only America's consent but also the consent of China and Russia,

4:52 two countries that have a hundred different complications and disputes with America itself. On the other hand, on Iran's side, the five conditions that were also in Iran's reply to America have been put up as posters on every wall in the country. Mr. Aziz Jafari, the former commander of the IRGC, has also stressed that until these five conditions are met, there will be no further negotiations. Although Mr. Aziz Jafari apparently holds no important post, because he is part of a faction that has ties with Mr. Zolghadr, Vahidi and others, and although he and Mr.

5:48 Ghalibaf are not on friendly terms at all, and he has his own faction and network within the IRGC anyway, his statement, his opinion, deserves attention. In any case, these five conditions are: an end to the war on all fronts, meaning both Iran and Lebanon; the lifting of all sanctions; the release of Iran's frozen funds; sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, meaning the collection of tolls; and receiving war reparations from America. Only after that would there be talk about the nuclear issue or other matters. In any case, this plan of Iran's has not been accepted by America so far, and the New York Times has reported,

6:49 citing two Middle Eastern sources, that America and Israel are intensively and urgently making preparations for a possible resumption of the attack on Iran, probably from early next week. On the other hand, Mr. Trump has also said that Iran's preparations are under our watch and that whatever it is doing, we will destroy within the first 48 hours. Of course, the two sides are trading boasts at each other. The Iranian side also keeps saying we are ready, and if America goes to war, we will do this and we will do that. In any case, the ones who in the middle of all this suffer

7:43 the most and will endure the most pressure are the people of Iran, who even now are feeling, with every fiber of their being, the economic crisis in the form of runaway inflation, recession, unemployment, the laying off of thousands and indeed millions of people, and the hardship of making ends meet for at least the lower seven income deciles of society. We are truly feeling this appalling situation in our very bones. But on top of all the pressures and crises that are arriving together and moving together and creating an economic tsunami,

8:37 the appalling state of the internet has also put severe pressure on every sector of Iran's economy. Not only the commercial, manufacturing and service sectors and shopkeepers, but even the smallest businesses, such as house painting, real estate or car dealerships and so on, and even the neighborhood butcher and grocer, because their marketing, their messaging and their communication with customers have become heavily dependent on the internet, have all been left bewildered and adrift. In the middle of this, the government, with

9:35 "Internet Pro," which it is selling to businesses at many times the price, has begun with various groups, for example. As one shopkeeper wrote: what use is it to me? When people don't have internet... For me the internet is useful so that our sales are online, our goods are online, people can see them, place orders, come to us. When people don't have internet, what use is the internet to me as a shopkeeper? In any case, according to Mostafa Pourdehqan, a member of the Majlis Industries and Mines Committee, this internet business, which is sold at many times the price and is also directed toward the government's censored domestic apps such as Bale and so on,

10:31 is a resolution of the Supreme National Security Council, which is chaired by Mr. Pezeshkian. But according to this same member of the Majlis Industries and Mines Committee, the whole affair has become a windfall, a piggy bank, for the operators Hamrah-e Aval, Irancell and Rightel. All of these, that is, Hamrah-e Aval and the Telecommunication Company, Irancell, which was known as the second mobile operator, and Rightel, are investments and companies connected to the Execution of Imam Khomeini's Order (EIKO), the Supreme Leader's office, the IRGC, the IRGC Cooperative Foundation and so on. And here one can understand whose pocket the money from this piggy bank actually goes into.

11:29 As for the oil spill on the island nicknamed the "Maldives of Iran," a small island of 1 to 2 square kilometers near Lavan, another Iranian island in the Persian Gulf: after the UAE's attack on this island, on the Lavan refinery and oil facilities, the spill has polluted this small island, its rocky shores, a place that was under environmental protection because of rare and endangered species of turtles, migratory birds, as well as corals and various species of fish, crabs and so on. With this pollution and spill, a disaster has been created, and many of these species have been wiped out.

12:30 Many thousands of them have been killed because of the spill, and the assessment of the environmental damage from this spill is not yet complete. In hope of victory for Iran and Iranians.