Up next in 10
Iranian callers give James O'Brien their views on 'regime change' | LBC
1 views
Jun 17, 2025
James O'Brien asked his Iranian listeners to call in and give their view on their country's conflict with Israel, which reached its fourth day on Monday. 0:00 - Sina: ’90% of people want regime change, but not at the cost of civillian life’. 3:47 - Nova: ‘One moment I’m sad, the next moment I’m happy we’ve been attacked’. 8:57 - Ariyan: ‘Iran is a mafia regime’. 15:10 - Masih: 'War is the worst thing that can happen’. The US aircraft carrier the USS Nimitz has left the South China Sea and is heading west as the conflict between Israel and Iran descended into open warfare. Donald Trump has issued a warning to Iran, saying the country will experience 'the full strength' of the American military if it attacks the US. It comes amid reports he vetoed Israel's plans to assassinate Iran's Supreme Leader. The USS Nimitz had a planned port call in Vietnam later this week, but this has been called off as the conflict escalates. Tracking websites show the vessel moving west along with its strike group - with reports citing an ‘an emergent operational requirement.’
View Video Transcript
0:00
So I am an Iranian national, I live in Glasgow now, and I was in Iran last Christmas
0:06
Okay. And my family's still there, actually. I would like to say that I'm not in support of the regime
0:16
90% of people would like to see a regime change. But no one likes to see it at the cost of innocent civilians dying, anyone
0:26
but i mean you can't do it otherwise can you i don't think you can i mean maybe you can but even
0:32
when the protests um reach the streets as they did in 2019 and 2022 it leaves hundreds of innocent
0:39
civilians dead exactly and that's my point it is difficult to for it to happen organically
0:46
without some external pressure but even with with some external pressure i still believe
0:53
before a regime change, the Ayatollahs will make a bot bath in Iran
0:57
on their own people before it happens. So they wouldn't sort of, you know
1:03
board the metaphorical plane to Moscow or wherever it would be that they'd find support
1:08
and sucker like other despots, like the last Ukrainian leader? Absolutely not
1:13
Or the Syrian, or Bashar Assad, actually. And in fact, Bashar Assad proves your point in a way
1:17
The amount of Syrian blood that was spent and spilt before he fled the scene like a coward is biblical
1:25
So, okay, so, I mean, this is entirely spec, well, maybe not
1:32
because you can't do opinion polling in Iran, which is kind of part of the point of this conversation, isn't it
1:37
But, I mean, how do you get a handle on how widespread support
1:43
for the regime would be? I mean, what would your take on that be, your personal take
1:49
My personal take is that if you went around Iran and asked people the number one priority
1:54
it will be the financial situation and the hyperinflation and the whole economic point of view
2:02
before we get into any of the, obviously those are important as well
2:06
women's rights, human rights, freedom of speech. But everyone's number one priority right now and concern is the financial situation
2:15
because it's awful right now. and yeah. That is true in countries
2:24
that aren't theocracies as well though so it doesn't really answer my question
2:29
Exactly. What, I mean how if the economic situation was relatively healthy
2:35
would the regime be popular? Still not popular but then you can make the argument
2:43
whether if the economic situation was healthy would people still want to see a regime change or not
2:49
Well, that's the question I'm asking. I did acknowledge you might not be able to answer it, so I can hardly tell you off
2:55
I mean, who is to say that after regime change, we're not going to be in a situation like Afghanistan, like Libya
3:02
Like Iraq. I mean, you'd have another ISIS growing up in the vacuum
3:07
that was created by regime change in Iran. What about my somewhat lazy suggestion
3:12
that there are parallels to be drawn with the Taliban? with the regime currently in Iran and the Taliban
3:19
and therefore why wouldn't you want to get rid of it? Would you buy that? It's not lazy at all, and I agree with you
3:24
I mean, you can't guarantee that we won't be in a worse situation
3:28
than we are right now. I mean, look around you and believe, you know
3:32
Yeah, I hadn't forgotten that because I referenced it, but to hear you say it actually just in such simple language
3:37
you couldn't guarantee that you wouldn't be in a worse situation than you are now, to which the answer becomes
3:42
it's not for anybody outside Iran to decide to roll the dice. At the moment, right now
3:49
one minute I'm happy that Israel attacked us. Right. And it is mad
3:55
You wouldn't find any other nation, any patriot person that say, oh, I'm actually happy that another country attacked us
4:03
Gosh. Historically, you would. I'm not picking a fight. I'm just thinking about the glee
4:09
with which the statues of Saddam Hussein were pulled down towards the end of the second Gulf War
4:14
So the notion of a liberating enemy, which to tie your call in with the last one
4:19
with Sinners, is of course you can't really have a liberating army
4:24
without civilian death, can you? So that's why it's mad to celebrate it
4:28
because you're celebrating something that has caused the death of Iranians. Exactly
4:33
So yeah at the moment one minute I happy one minute I upset because I have family friends over there They are under the bomb I here in safety But then again people say oh it our country our infrastructure
4:48
But can I also point out another thing? In the past month, maybe you know about it, because of all the sanctions and everything
4:58
And also, the fact that the regime was sending all the money, finances, resources from Iran outside instead of giving it to the Iranian people
5:12
For the past couple of months, every single day, there was power outage
5:18
Water was cut. There was no enough gas. And this is from a country
5:24
We have the highest amount of any resources that you can think of
5:30
And then the economy is completely collapsing. The inflation is to the roof
5:38
So if the Israelis right now attacking our infrastructure, it's fine by me
5:45
Because those infrastructure, even up to now, it wasn't in service of the people
5:51
it was for the government financing I don't know all their proxies over the world
5:57
and provoking other countries and to tie your contribution to this hour with the conversation that we all
6:06
had in the last hour you look at what Netanyahu has done in Gaza
6:10
and you still welcome his intervention in your own country that's not an easy question class
6:19
You're telling me I wouldn't even try, Nova, and you don't have to, but I've asked it now
6:26
No, because, you see, first of all, the conflict between Israel and Palestinian people
6:33
it's a long history, right? Of course, yes. But what my opinion is, what happened on 7th of October was absolutely, I don't know how to say it
6:47
an atrocity, I would say. And if a country attacked me like the way Hamas attacked
6:56
Israel and do whatever they did on 7th of October, I would flatten the other country
7:03
One excuse is because the level of brutality and savagery they did on 7th of October
7:13
it was beyond war crimes. There is no justification for that. Well, except it was undertaken by a terrorist organisation
7:20
not a sovereign country. And of course the leader of Hamas was indicted for war crimes
7:26
but died before he could be put on trials. But you can't kill 2 million people in retaliation for the murder of 2,000
7:32
No, but then again, unfortunately... There's no then again there. We're going to fall out
7:36
You can't kill 2 million people in retaliation for the murder of 2,000. No, you can't, and I agree with that
7:43
But that's the ugly side of the war. and also one thing is happening..
7:47
So Iran has now attacked Israel. You're in favor of Iran being wiped out
7:57
I would say Iran give the excuse to Israel for 47 years
8:03
Under your own ysis, you said if we were attacked like that, Iran has tried to visit terrible carnage upon Israel
8:09
It hasn't been as, quote, successful, end quotes, as Hamas was on October the 7th
8:15
but you're in favour of the flattening of Iran now, to use your own words
8:20
Not really, because we really didn't attack Israel or didn't do all those things
8:27
But that's, again, also through our proxy, not our proxy, the government's proxy did all sorts of crimes in the region and to Israel
8:38
So, of course, I'm not happy if Israel completely destroyed my country
8:44
but then again we are a country that we don't have a government okay i'm not sure i've heard
8:50
the words but then again deployed in quite such a um what's the word i would want um sticky
8:56
territory i think it's important to explore the sort of well this is this is simplifying it a bit
9:03
but the three fundamental pillars of the regime that the the the silos in which they're active i
9:10
I would say the first is this kind of it is a mafia regime It the best way to describe it It is a mafia It is a massive racketeering business worth trillions of dollars They embezzle a huge amount of money assets resources into their own pockets
9:32
and into the sort of pathways of their regional influence, which I'll come to next. And that's
9:41
That's the next sort of pillar of their activity, that regional influence
9:44
the support both financially and in terms of resources, whether it be military or natural resources of extremist groups
9:55
And don't forget that the Islamic Republic in Iran, the Iranian regime, is in itself a terrorist group
10:03
It is a fundamental religious Shia Islamic terrorist group that does not represent Iranian people who are generally very secular
10:10
very liberal and not particularly religious. We are inherently Zoroastrian. We are not Muslims, generally speaking
10:18
So these groups that the Iranian regime supports, whether it be Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis
10:25
through these groups they propagate their sort of extremist Shia fundamental principles
10:32
or lack thereof principles and they engage in their proxy wars and therefore continuing to this grain of natural resources, wealth and assets and energy and effort
10:44
that should be going into investing into the Iranian economy, infrastructure, its use
10:50
All of that is being redirected and stolen and taken away from the Iranian people
10:55
So it's very, very important when any – I've listened to your show and LBC for years
11:01
and when you listen to people speak or whether it be on LBC or any other outlet
11:05
that people often tend to synonymize Iran and the Islamic Republic, or Iran, the nation of Iran, the people of Iran
11:16
And let's not forget, Iran is the single oldest continuous living nation state
11:22
Two and a half thousand years we have existed as a state. And it is imperative that the regime is not confused with Iran or its people
11:34
One does not represent the other. Yes. And the third, and this is probably the most important
11:40
and this is why I have my opinions and the Iranians have their opinions, and there is a diverse set of opinions about this conflict
11:47
and the action that needs to be taken, and regimes change that almost all Iranians want
11:53
but how does it look and how will it come internally, will it come externally or a combination of the two
11:59
And is it through force and war or is it through, I don't know
12:04
intelligence agencies like the 1953 coup, which happened without much fighting. So the third pillar of the Islamic Republic, the mafia regime that has taken our country hostage
12:19
is the control of its people, clamping down on dissent, on defiance and removal
12:27
and of true democratic values and basic human rights, whether it be freedom of speech, freedom of expression
12:36
things like music. In the last few days, your listeners might have seen on the BBC
12:41
was one of the most well-read articles of the day that the Iranian regime has once again banned dog walking throughout Iran
12:51
and is clamping down on that. So something as basic as that, which brings me up on the point of the Islamic Republic
12:58
and Islam in general being the complete antithesis, in my opinion, of what it is to be Persian
13:05
And Persianism and Islam are two completely opposing ideas, and this is my opinion
13:11
I don't truly believe that somebody can be both because the inherent values
13:18
and I speak perhaps mostly of Shia Islam and the version of Islam that this Islamic regime of Iran
13:25
has kind of developed over the last 47 years. If you look at, for example, dogs, I'm a dog lover, I've had dogs all my life
13:33
dogs are a sacred pillar of Zoroastrianism, of the first monotheistic religion that came from Persia about 4,500 years ago
13:43
and is perhaps not a set of principles, not a set of commandments
13:49
more values to live by. And that in itself is just one example that I use
13:55
of how this clamp down on this mouth treatment of dogs for example goes against all Persian values And that goes back to this old adage of you can tell
14:06
how civilised the nation is by how it treats its women, its
14:10
animals, or any more vulnerable people. And theocracies are generally going to be the opposite
14:18
of that model. I don't want to run out of time, but I do want to know, and again, I don't
14:22
want to oversimplify the nuance that you've provided or break it. But the situation is so awful
14:30
that even if it's instigated by Israel, we would welcome regime change
14:34
How widespread is that for you? This is where you've seen in the last few days
14:40
it really differs between people. You have the kind of... So I need a show in Iran, really
14:46
to get a proper handle on this. And of course, that isn't going to happen. Yeah, well, I think even from that show
14:52
if you have a three-hour show at the beginning, and people's opinions might differ by the end of it
14:56
But I think people, in a nutshell, people want the regime gone
15:02
perhaps not at all costs, but, you know, I think we are very open
15:07
to exploring options. The fact is that I think about the current situation
15:14
is in Iran. I think that we have always been in a war
15:18
Our Iranian people have always been in a war. I totally understand people talking about
15:24
inflation and stuff like that. But it goes way beyond it. And if you think about it
15:31
the regime in Iran, I don't say that people have always been like this, but I have
15:38
lived in Iran for more than three decades, and I have seen people who were mostly
15:43
religious people and they were okay with this regime. During so many years, they have changed
15:49
because they have seen lies and they noticed that the lives of people is not important for this regime at all
15:59
If you have a look on different protests and the movements that have been happening in Iran in 2019, 2022 and 2009
16:11
all of these, many people were killed. Nobody is ever going to know the exact number of people
16:18
because they just don't let people to make other people in the whole world be informed about it
16:26
It's just everybody is so oppressed there. And yeah, it's like everybody is suffering from the fear
16:35
If you're a journalist there, and even if you're a journalist outside the Iran
16:40
you always have to be really careful because they are that brave
16:45
that they can threaten you by the lives of your family there
16:49
I think we spoke to Paul, didn't we, about this, Paul Caruana Galizia not long ago
16:53
about the evidence he'd unearthed of dissidents in this country being targeted, if you like, even in this country
17:02
by agents of the Iranian regime. I don't want to run out of time, Masi
17:06
and you paint a hideous picture. How hideous would it have to be
17:12
before a significant portion of the Iranian population and would even contemplate the possibility that Benjamin Netanyahu might be the man to start the regime change
17:25
Well, honestly, I think war is the ugliest thing that can happen in any country
17:32
When it happened first, and they actually went for some of Iranian military people
17:41
we thought that, OK, it might be the start of change. But at the moment, there are some people being killed, like normal civilians
17:48
Yes. And our family are back there. We are so worried about them
17:53
We are worried about people in Israel that might be killed as best
17:57
It's about human being. But the thing is that I know that even if this regime is going to say that
18:05
OK, this number of people have been killed, innocent people have been killed
18:10
they're just using it. they don't care about the lives of people
18:15
because even in the past they have been killing people themselves. I mean, it is one of those conversations
18:22
where oddly the extremes seem in danger of meeting and you realise that the huge portions of the ordinary people
18:30
are nowhere near either extreme, as in the people ordering and undertaking the killing
18:35
But that's all a bit John Lennon, isn't it, Massey? The hope that everyone can live in peace and harmony
#news
#Politics
#Social Issues & Advocacy
#War & Conflict