Escalating Military Conflict Between Iran and the US

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. It is Wednesday, 20 Khordad 1405, June 2026. Starting at 5:15 Washington time, or 12:45 Iran time, America once again began attacks in southern Iran. According to Axios, these attacks targeted air defenses, radar, and drone command centers. Explosions were heard in Bandar Abbas and Sirik, as well as around Minab. Following these

0:55 American attacks, the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, which is responsible for military operations in wartime, issued a statement announcing that all shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, whether commercial or military, is prohibited, and that any ship attempting to pass will be hit. There were also unconfirmed reports that an Iranian hypersonic missile struck an American warship, though this has not yet been confirmed. Mr. Trump announced a few minutes ago that he had spoken directly with Iranian officials and

1:51 that they had asked him to halt the operation, and he has halted it. He told Fox News that if Iran does not agree to sign the agreement, he will strike again tomorrow. The attacks Iran has threatened have not yet begun. But last night as well, after an Iranian drone flew toward an American Apache helicopter and hit it, though according to Mr. Trump it did not explode, its two pilots were rescued, and the helicopter crashed, America again carried out attacks on Sirik, Qeshm, and south of Bandar Abbas. In response, the Islamic Republic launched missile attacks

2:53 on American bases in Jordan, Kuwait, and Bahrain. Of course, in the military statements they publish, each side says the other's attacks were unsuccessful. America says Iran did not manage to hit anything with its missiles. Iran also says no damage was done. In any case, it will take a few days, using various sources, to find out what really happened in all this firing of missiles and drones, the aircraft, the bombings, and so on. The whole thing began after the Islamic Republic made its latest proposal, which had 14 articles. It is a memorandum of understanding which, if

3:56 both sides sign it, provides a 60-day, extendable period for negotiations. Under this memorandum, America would lift the so-called naval blockade, Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and would also be permitted to export oil, and Iran had demanded that 12 billion dollars of its foreign currency reserves be released. It is said that in the end 3 billion dollars was agreed to, or 6 billion, it is unclear. But Mr. Trump himself added two clauses to Iran's latest proposal. One of these two clauses concerns the dilution

5:00 of uranium in Iran within this same 60-day period, not afterward when nuclear negotiations are supposed to take place, and the other concerns reopening the Strait of Hormuz, which must happen immediately. Iran's response was apparently that they would review it and reply, but two weeks have passed and they still have not answered. It was after this that Mr. Trump, especially today, stressed several times that Iran has stalled, that it is not answering and has not answered, and that we will attack; it must answer. Today around noon Iran time, a Qatari delegation also went to Tehran in the hope of mediating and establishing direct negotiations between Tehran and Washington, but Iran refused to

5:59 agree to direct negotiations, and the Qatari delegation achieved nothing. For now, as of tonight, the war has begun. What Iran's retaliation will be, since it has said it will do things America does not expect at all, what it will do and what will happen, is unclear. But it is possible that with the Islamic Republic's counterattack, the scope of the war will widen. Mr. Iravani, the Islamic Republic's representative at the United Nations, also stated today that Iran will not sign any agreement by force and under threat.

6:58 Wars usually begin when negotiations reach a dead end, and it seems these negotiations have reached a dead end, and for now the fire of war has flared up again. Today, at the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, a resolution proposed by America and three European countries, Britain, France, and Germany, was passed with 21 votes in favor, 3 against, and 10 abstentions. Interestingly, Venezuela, which has always sided with Iran, this time was absent from the vote altogether and did not attend, probably so as not to vote either for or against Iran,

7:59 that is, for or against what America wanted. Under this resolution of the Board of Governors, Iran must declare its remaining uranium stockpiles to the Agency and allow verification by the Agency's inspectors. Meanwhile, the Likud party, the right-wing Likud party in Israel, announced that Mr. Netanyahu will run in Israel's upcoming elections. It had been suggested that Mr. Netanyahu might step down as the party's leader, thereby clearing the way for someone else, but this announcement

9:00 means that Mr. Netanyahu will be a candidate again and must wait for the vote of the Israeli people. In Iran, 8 students of Sharif University of Technology, formerly Aryamehr, were expelled by the disciplinary committee, because of the same kinds of issues as these days: someone writes something on social media or says something, and they immediately go after them. The case will now be referred to the Ministry of Science, and we will have to see there whether the ruling is upheld or not. But it is unprecedented in its own way that they expel eight students at the same time.

9:56 Mr. Sadegh Zibakalam was also arrested today on a new charge brought by the Revolutionary Court. Apparently the reason for his arrest is his interview with Britain's Channel 4 television, regarding which the Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office claims he violated a three-month ban on giving interviews. He had been barred from giving interviews for 3 months, and he was arrested for this reason. But it seems that in this interview Mr. Zibakalam criticized the expansion of the missile and drone programs and so on, and also said a sentence about Khamenei that many considered an insult. He said that the one who was a nuisance to everyone

10:51 is no longer here. In any case, this is not the first time Mr. Zibakalam has been arrested. Last time he was temporarily released because he has cancer, but it seems that this time, for now, the cancer has not prevented his arrest. Hoping for the victory of Iran and Iranians.