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00:30So just this thing. This part of this thing. If this fall. This fight against the enemy, it would be a part of this fight against the enemy of the enemy.
00:46But most importantly, Pakistan, the Iran's border, the most important thing is that where the Gulf countries, especially UAE, Qatar, American bases,
01:03Thank you very much for giving us time Laila.
01:24I'd like to begin with the part in which over the weekend we've seen a dramatic escalation
01:30in which the United States is now part of the bombing on Iran and this is a giant collaboration
01:35between the Israeli forces and the United States.
01:37Do you think that other actors will be roped in as well?
01:41Because we've seen multiple statements coming in and apart from condemnations
01:44as well as solidarity with the Iranian people, we don't see anything else.
01:48Do you think there will be further escalation, particularly with the Middle East?
01:52Oh, for sure there will be further escalation because the Iranians, the Islamic Republic of Iran
01:57had said before the Americans actually hit Iran that if the Americans intervene directly
02:02in this war by targeting Iran, they will be targeting U.S. assets across this region.
02:08They haven't specified where, but we do have over basically dozens of U.S. military bases
02:12aside from trade-related basically assets also in this region and diplomatic assets.
02:17So at the end of the day, the Iranians will carry out their promise much like we saw
02:21when they actually promised to hit back Israel if the Israelis attack them.
02:24And that means further escalation because the Americans are not going to sit silent.
02:28They have to save face and attack Iran again.
02:30And it's going to expand.
02:33So when we talk about expansion, what do we generally mean?
02:37Are they actually going to go, are the Iranians actually going to go after the American bases
02:41in the Middle East and the Gulf?
02:43Well, definitely.
02:44It's not only the Gulf, but also remember there's basically one of the largest U.S. bases
02:48found in Iraq, Ayn al-Assad, and in other areas also.
02:52I mean, the Israeli entity alone is the largest U.S. military base, if you want to call it.
02:56It's a U.S. colony.
02:57But if you look at the whole situation, this expansion also means other allies being dragged
03:02into this.
03:03The U.K. had sent its military assets to the region, including war planes, last month
03:08and earlier this month.
03:09And basically that was to support the Americans and the Israelis.
03:12So anything that would happen to the Americans and the Israelis, the Iranians will take part.
03:16Don't forget that they also have a military base in Cyprus.
03:19That means dragging the eastern Mediterranean region, including Lebanon, Syria, Palestine,
03:24and even Jordan at one point in time into this war.
03:27Having said that, Iranian allies include not only the Yemenis who continue to pound the Israeli
03:33entity, but also Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Iraqi resistance in Syria, sorry, in Iraq,
03:39as well as new nascent, what you call military movements that are resistance movements in
03:45the region, including the Islamic resistance in Syria that we saw them carry out two operations
03:51against the Israelis in Syria over the past four months.
03:54But the media doesn't speak about it that much.
03:56The most important part is that the Yemenis had vowed two days ago that if the Americans continue
04:02with this war and continue to carry out aggression against Iran and continue basically to support
04:08the Israelis, they will be targeting America directly in the region.
04:11So there's a lesser known factor or a variable that appears, and we haven't seen a lot of
04:19discussion on it.
04:21There's several entities that are non-state actors, and the Middle East has just gone through
04:27a major conflict related to the Islamic State.
04:30We know that there is presence of Al-Qaeda elements as well as other several elements
04:35within these areas.
04:37We've seen a bombing, suicide bombing in Syria yesterday in the heart of Damascus.
04:41If this conflict with Iran escalates, what's the proposition?
04:45Is there a fear that there will be a revival of these non-state actors?
04:48Well, it's not a revival as much as basically letting them loose.
04:54They are currently on a leech to help Julani's governance in Syria stabilize and basically takes
05:01over.
05:02But if you look at the whole situation, every single time the Israelis and the Americans
05:05are targeted in this region, Al-Qaeda and ISIS move.
05:09And we saw basically ISIS bombarding, claiming responsibility for the suicide attack on the
05:16church in Syria, basically in Damascus.
05:19Basically, that's the peripheries or suburbs of the capital of Syria.
05:23And we have over 50 victims so far, and they're still counting.
05:27So I do believe that whenever you corner the Americans and the Israelis, they let loose their
05:32own dogs, the terrorist dogs, and they claim that they are Muslims, but they're not.
05:36And the ones who stand behind them are what you call the intelligence apparatus who have
05:41planted them in our region, not only to create chaos and divide our region, but also to disfigure
05:46Islam.
05:47So I do believe that we're going to see further terrorist attacks in the region, not only threatening
05:52Syria, but threatening Lebanon, because Hezbollah is in Lebanon.
05:55The Lebanese resistance is in Lebanon.
05:56So when you move the borders, terrorists across the borders from Syria to Lebanon, because they
06:00share one of the largest borders in that region, that's basically a threat to Hezbollah,
06:05a stab in its back, as well as basically diverting attention from what's happening in Palestine
06:10and elsewhere.
06:11Military strategists, Laila, have been believing that Iran's strength was basically its asymmetrical
06:17forums like Hezbollah, as well as Hamas, as well as several other militias that are present
06:25within Iraq and Syria as well.
06:27And once those networks have been dismantled, this is what is believed, Iran's power is
06:33kind of less.
06:34Do you think that if any major religious figure is targeted, despite the fact that even if
06:40that does not happen, do you think that that kind of traction can be regained and we can
06:44see the revival of these groups as well?
06:46I highly doubt that there will be attacks against religious what you call areas or shrines or
06:53what you call mosques in Iran basically or elsewhere unless the Israelis are carrying it
07:00out because they disregard anything that has to do with religion.
07:03We've seen them bomb mosques in Lebanon and basically in Palestine and in Yemen.
07:08We've seen them bomb churches.
07:10They don't care about that.
07:12But I highly doubt that they will be basically targeting what you call the religious shrines
07:16in Iran because those hold not only significance to the Iranians but to the larger Shia community
07:22across the world.
07:23And we're talking about tens of millions if not hundreds of millions of people.
07:27Having said that, you also have to remember another thing.
07:30You said dismantled, believed that these resistance movements are dismantled.
07:35Believed by whom?
07:36This is a propaganda by the Israelis and the Americans.
07:39I've been covering Lebanon for the longest time.
07:41And I've been at the front lines in South Lebanon for the past 20 months covering this
07:45war.
07:46Until today, I can tell you through my contacts from Hezbollah, from Amal Movement and other
07:49resistance groups, they still are there.
07:53They are not dismantled.
07:54In fact, they have now five ministers in the cabinet.
07:57Their fighters on the ground were estimated at 100,000 before this whole war started.
08:02And when we talk about their, what you call gun power, like basically the arms, they lost
08:07about 20% of their capacity to 30%.
08:09This is our own estimates as reporters who know the situation on the ground.
08:13So that means they still have 70% and they haven't used their heavy weapons yet.
08:17We haven't seen what you call bombardment that caused massive explosions to insinuate that
08:21their heavy missiles were actually...
08:23I've seen the possibility.
08:24My question was basically in relation to, we've seen a relative silence and not the
08:29kind, a very calculated response from Iran.
08:32Do you think that these will chip in?
08:33These other groups will chip in?
08:35No, they will definitely chip in.
08:36This is what I was going to say.
08:38Since they still have their capacity, they still have their ability on the ground.
08:41And they had vowed over the past week, we've seen them vowed that anything that happens
08:45to Iran, and if it continues to escalate, they will take part in this war eventually.
08:50The Iranians were the first to actually issue a statement.
08:54Hezbollah's Secretary General said it basically, shy of a week ago, that Hezbollah is ready
08:59and they are committed to supporting Iran in this war.
09:03Nاظرین گفتگو کا سلسلہ بریک کے بعد بھی جاری رہے گا.
09:07گفتگو آپ نے سنی جس میں کافی دلچسپ پہلو جو ہے وہ ڈسکس ہوئے
09:10واپس آ کر جو ہے وہ بات کریں گے کہ اگر ایران کے اندر
09:12displacement جو ہے وہ ہوتی ہے, لوگ گھروں سے بے گھر ہوتے ہیں
09:15تو وہ کس طرح راہا جو ہے وہ اختیار کریں گے جانے کی
09:18اور اس کے اوپر بھی جو ہے وہ گفتگو کریں گے
09:20کہ اس کا end game کیا ہے ساری جنگ کا
09:22اس کا کوئی خاتمہ بھی ہے کہ یہ کافی لمبی جنگ ہونے جا رہی ہے
