State-backed eulogists escalate opposition to peace during Muharram ceremonies

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. Wednesday, 3 Tir 1405, June 24, 2026. With the arrival of the 9th and 10th of Muharram, the days of Tasua and Ashura of Imam Hossein, the activity of eulogists (maddahs), chest-beating processions, mourning recitations and so on has, as usual, picked up and is intensifying. But this year, especially among the state-affiliated eulogists, in their dirges and even in the chest-beating rituals, one can say they have turned to two things. One is cementing Mojtaba Khamenei's leadership and calling for his appearance, for seeing Mojtaba, and so on and so forth. The other is based on

1:05 that one sentence of Mojtaba Khamenei's in a statement that was, of course, attributed to him, in which he wrote, "Of course, I have a different view": opposing the memorandum of understanding signed between Iran and America, and beating the drum of war and extremism, and remembering, I don't know, Soleimani and Hajizadeh and so on and so forth. Although it must be said that for years now, and especially during the era of Khamenei, Khamenei the father, it intensified, the eulogists have effectively turned into political bases. But with the growth of these corrupt gangs of plunder and power, and the payoffs they give to these

2:04 eulogists, or a number of them, the prominent ones, who are themselves rich and well-off and partners in these very rackets, their role in these processes and their defense of these political positions, behind which stand these gangs of plunder and power, has become more intense. These are in fact the sanctions profiteers, whose livelihood depends on things staying exactly as they are, so that they can, for example, like those in the IRGC's Quds Force who export one out of every four barrels of oil under a Majlis resolution, while the Oil Ministry cannot export even a single drop of oil because

3:02 of the sanctions, they have taken control of it. We are talking about billions of dollars in profits they make. And some of the eulogists are connected to these very networks, which exist not only in the IRGC's Quds Force but around the Office of the Supreme Leader, outside it, and in short in places like that, and their interest lies in the continuation of the current situation. That is why we see that their clamor has grown louder and they are beating the drum of war and extremism, opposing negotiations, agreement, peace and so on. This is an issue that, of course, Pezeshkian, in a talk

3:58 just the day before yesterday, raised: that the country, in this situation where it cannot earn even one dollar of revenue from oil and gas and so on, cannot continue. In fact, as someone who in any case bears responsibility for the government, his lament reached the heavens. Meanwhile, Mr. Abdolnaser Hemmati, the governor of the Central Bank, also stated in a talk that 12 billion dollars of Iran's blocked funds are to be released in this very first phase. And according to him, under the agreement reached with America in 1402 over that 7 billion dollars that had been released from South Korea and then got stuck in Qatar,

4:59 which had become 6 billion euros and was ready to come to Iran when America blocked it and held it after the events of October 7th, under that agreement these released funds must be spent on purchasing food and medicine. But Mr. Hemmati emphasized that we will buy from wherever we want; there is no requirement to buy from America. This is, of course, in a way a response to Mr. [Scott] Bessent, the US Treasury Secretary, who stated that if this money is released, Iran is obliged to buy from America. In addition, Mr. Hemmati stated that during the 60 days that these negotiations last,

5:51 the Islamic Republic, under one clause of this memorandum of understanding, can sell oil, petrochemicals and derivatives to any country it wants, carry them on any ship it wants, and receive the payment from any bank it wants. In effect, all of America's sanctions regulations on it have been lifted. In such circumstances, in fact, if no undue influence is exerted, the law returns, and it is the Oil Ministry that is legally responsible for Iran's oil exports, and it returns to the government's channel. This is exactly what the sanctions profiteers don't like at all, and the eulogists in fact become their loudspeakers to prevent such a thing from happening.

6:48 In addition, this money and other funds that have been blocked and frozen in various banks due to American sanctions were previously handed over by the government to the Central Bank as revenue, and the government received the rial equivalent and spent it. In fact, this money belongs to the Central Bank, which, if it allocates it and receives rials from a trader or a company or anywhere else, can absorb these rials and help reduce inflation. North Sea oil has fallen below 75 dollars per barrel, which has caused gasoline prices at various stations to come down as well. In America, on average,

7:46 a gallon, which is a little under 4 liters, has fallen below 4 dollars, a figure that had risen to as much as four and a half dollars on average across America and has now come down. This is what Mr. Trump badly needs, because on the eve of the US midterm elections, for which the primaries are in fact now taking place, he wants to strengthen his own base within the Republican Party and also see the candidates he has endorsed win votes in the elections in Aban, on November 3rd. Interestingly, in the US Congress, a resolution that had previously passed the House of Representatives by 215 votes

8:45 to 28 opposing votes, and which limits the US president's authority in the war with Iran, so that without Congress's permission he cannot start a new war, also passed in the US Senate 50 to 48. Two Republican senators were absent, and four Republican senators voted in favor of this resolution. All of this is an alarm bell for Mr. Trump. Although, for Mr. Trump not to be able to veto it, a two-thirds vote of both chambers is needed, which it did not get, so it will not become law and be enforceable. But symbolically

9:47 it shows that Mr. Trump has ended up in a shaky position because of this war in the Persian Gulf and Iran. The political dimensions of this inside America have reached other places too. Among them, in the Democratic Party primaries in New York City, three candidates endorsed by Mr. Zohran Mamdani, the Muslim mayor of New York, won against other Democratic candidates, two of whom, of these three seats, were sitting members of Congress. All three districts are among the strongly Democratic districts of

10:44 New York, and so these three will most likely win in the final round against the Republican Party's candidates. The interpretation many news agencies have offered is that, at least in New York, the city with the largest Jewish population in America, where, it is said, the largest Jewish community in the world after Israel itself is located, open anti-Israel positions and opposition to AIPAC, the famous

11:35 and powerful American Jewish lobby, have, in this way, shown that they have supporters and have won votes. Although Mr. Zohran Mamdani is close to the so-called social-democratic and progressive wing of the Democratic Party, and closer to the left wing of the Democratic Party, in any case. And this does not mean that AIPAC has been weakened across America, for example, since AIPAC-endorsed candidates won in Chicago, for instance, or elsewhere. But in any case, both the events in Gaza and what has happened since October 7th, as well as the Persian Gulf war and the action by Israel and America against Iran,

12:32 have created a situation in which Mr. Trump is right to be worried. And at any cost, with the remarks he makes every day, despite Mr. Trump's incoherent talk, his overstatements and his exaggerations, his worry is still plainly visible, and that he constantly emphasizes, for example, that the price of oil is coming down, there will be no more war, Iran has given in to all my demands, it has done this, it has done that, and he tries to improve his position. Meanwhile, Mr. Marco Rubio, the Trump administration's Secretary of State, has also traveled to the region. He went to the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar and spoke with the rulers of these countries to both justify and explain the memorandum of understanding.

13:31 On the other hand, Agence France-Presse, citing an informed source, reported that Riyadh, at Saudi Arabia's urging, is to host a meeting between Iran and these six Persian Gulf countries for reconciliation and improving relations. Of course, the critical point in this is the United Arab Emirates, which both has good relations with Israel and, for other reasons and because of internal rivalries within this bloc, has strained relations between Mr. Mohammed bin Zayed and Mr. Mohammed bin Salman. Meanwhile, 1,600 workers at Arak Machine Manufacturing [Machine Sazi Arak] went on strike yesterday. They have not been paid for 2 months, and labor strikes can be seen in other parts of the country as well.

14:35 The International Maritime Organization, affiliated with the United Nations, also announced that, in cooperation with Iran, Oman and America, it is preparing to bring out the 11,000 seafarers who had been stranded in the Persian Gulf because of the Persian Gulf war, taking them out of this region and through the Strait of Hormuz over the course of several weeks. Hoping for the victory of Iran and Iranians.