Sleeper Cells, Assassination, Death To America, & Nukes: Carlson's Full Interview with Iranian President

"It was not the United States that was behind the attempt on my life. It was Israel."

This article originally appeared on ZeroHedge and was republished with permission.

Guest post by Tyler Durden

"I’m of the belief that we could very much, easily resolve the differences and conflicts with the United States through dialogue and talks," Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told Tucker Carlson, based on the full interview (done remotely) released by the Tucker Carlson Network on Monday.

Of course, Tehran and Washington were engaged in what were supposed to be several rounds of good-faith talks at the very moment Israel began its surprise attack, utilizing dozens of warplanes, on June 13 - and which followed for nearly two weeks.

Pezeshkian described that Iran's aim, prior to the June war starting, was to achieve "the framework or the basis for a deal in which the rights of all nations, the Iranian nation, would be respected." Iran has consistently insisted that it be able to keep enrichment, as a matter of national sovereignty and for peace domestic energy purposes.

"We never wanted anything beyond the respect for our rights - rightful rights," he told Carlson.

Carlson asked Pezeshkian if Iran will allow other countries to verify Iran's enrichment activities. Pezeshkian says "we are ready to hold talks" over monitoring and that "we stand ready" to accept it. However, the fact that Israel and the US just bombed the Islamic Republic has introduced major complications - not the least of which was Iran just days ago booting UN inspectors from the IAEA out of the country.

For this reason President Pezeshkian stressed that monitoring must await Iranian authorities allowing access to nuclear facilities. At least three - Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan - have likely suffered significant damage following the Trump-ordered B-2 raids using large bunker busting ordinance.

Sleeper cells in US cities? "This is what Israel is trying to put into your minds," the Iranian leader said.

Debate and speculation has been raging ever since over the degree to which the country's core nuclear capabilities have actually been set back.

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On the question of future diplomacy, Pezeshkian said "I believe that the United States President can very well guide the region and the world to peace & tranquility. Or on the other hand to lead it to forever wars." He also said that the Islamic Republic is not seeking nuclear weapons.

"We see no problem in re-entering the negotiations," he continued, but then qualified:

"How are we going to trust the United States again. We re-enter the negotiations then how can we know for sure that in the middle of the talks the Israeli regime will not be given the permission again to attack us."

This appears to be precisely what happened in June. Axios and others also reported that the US had been secretly conspiring with the Israelis to greenlight the attack even as talks in Oman and Rome were happening. These reports present the nuclear dialogue as a ruse to lull the Iranians into thinking that all was okay, even up to the eve of the Israeli assault.

Did IAEA spy on Iran?

"My proposal is that the US administration should refrain from getting involved in a war that is not its war. It is not America's war," the Iranian leader said. "It is Netanyahu's war that is having its devilish machinations for the whole region." Carlson did not particularly challenge these assertions, also given in other recent episodes and interviews he himself has made the same point - that Washington should resist being dragged into Israel's foreign wars and entanglements.

At one point in the interview Pezeshkian was asked directly by Carlson whether Israel had attempted to kill him, to which the Iranian leader confirmed it, and added, "I’m not afraid to sacrifice my life for my country, for my country’s freedom. But will it bring security and peace to the region? It will only bring more bloodshed." He said this was an Israeli operation aimed at regime change:

"It was not the United States that was behind the attempt on my life. It was Israel. I was at a meeting, we were discussing how to move forward, and thanks to the intelligence and spies they had, they tried to bomb the area where the gathering was held. God decides who lives and who dies. We are not afraid to become martyrs."

Watch: attempted assassination of a sitting president...

At same time he sought to stress that Iran has never sought to assassinate President Trump, despite American media reports and the claims of some of the US administration's own officials.

"I would like to tell you and remind you that this is not Death to the American people or to the officials. Death to crimes and atrocities. To bullying. To the use of force," Pezeshkian said when pressed about why Iranians commonly chant this in the streets.

He also said that Iran hasn't invaded another country in 200 years. However, Iran in just the last could decades has seen the country to its immediate west (Iraq) and the country to its east (Afghanistan), suffer regime change and lengthy occupation by American-led forces.

On the question of sensational US headlines of Iranian terror sleeper cells in the United States, Pezeshkian responded that this "the first time I am hearing" of this concept. "This is totally untrue because Iranians are pro peace and tranquility." Historically at least, suicide bombing as a method of terror is more of a reality coming from Sunni radicalism, and not Shi'ism.

Watch the full interview:

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