Iran is more sinned against than sinning, is the message from Seyed Mohammad Marandi, professor of English Literature at Tehran University and a political commentator. As a guest on The Gist, Marandi gave a bird’s eye view of how Tehran sees the regional situation at a time when the US has carried out air strikes on armed groups in Syria believed to be loyal to Iran. The US classifies these groups, from Hamas to Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen as terrorist but Marandi disagrees. In his view, the real terrorist groups are Al Qaeda and its off shoot the Islamic State, both of which are Western creations. He claims the US military presence at Al Tanf in Syria is intended to help the Islamic State simply because it is a useful tool against Iran. Marandi says Israel along with the West is carrying out genocide in Gaza and insists that its withdrawal from occupied Palestinian territories is the only way for peace in the region. Tune in for more in this conversation with Seyed Marandi.
