In an interview with Brasil de Fato, Mohammad Marandi said there’s no reason to believe Donald Trump “will be more successful in controlling Gaza than Netanyahu.” Commenting on Trump's statements about the Gaza Strip being handed over to the United States by Israel and the Palestinians being relocated, he noted that the “Israeli regime itself, after 15 months of war in Gaza, has been unable to exterminate the Palestinian population.”
“Israel lost the war. And Iran and the Axis of Resistance will not accept any form of onslaught on Palestinian territory. Iran will continue to support its allies in Lebanon, Yemen, Palestine, and Iraq.”
The Axis of Resistance, comprising Iran, Syria, Lebanon's Hezbollah, Hamas, and Yemen's Houthis, has also been targeted by the Israeli army in recent months. According to Marandi, Trump's foreign policy mirrors that of Joe Biden’s US, as “both support racism, ethnic cleansing, and genocide in Palestine.”
“The resistance in Gaza prevented Israel from taking Gaza. The Axis of Resistance and Lebanon managed to prevent Israel from taking southern Lebanon. The resistance in Yemen blocked Israel from controlling the Red Sea and prevented [Israeli] ships from being sent. The Israeli regime was defeated.”
Marandi believes that the resistance forces' actions put pressure on Israel to halt the genocide in Gaza. Based on this, he says that Trump’s stance in the Middle East will be no different. “If the Axis failed, then why did Israel accept a ceasefire in Lebanon and Gaza? It's because they failed. And they failed in Yemen too. They lost the war.”
The fall of Assad
Regarding the fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria in December 2024, Marandi believes that “this was the only victory for Israel and the United States.” However, he argues that “strengthening Al-Qaeda in Syria is not beneficial for the West, much less for countries in the region that are allies of the West.” The rebels who have taken power are led by Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani, a former leader of the radical Islamic group in the past decade.
“Al-Qaeda is a terrorist organization, and these are the people the US, Israel, and Turkey helped to power: ISIS and Al-Qaeda,” Marandi, pointed out.
“These are the same terrorists who have massacred people, burned people alive, and will bring instability to the region,” Marandi believes. In the end, he argues, “The US, Turkey, and Israel will harm themselves more than anyone else by supporting these terrorists.”
Hezbollah retaliation and ceasefire in Gaza
Last October, Hezbollah appointed Naim Qassem as the group's leader in Lebanon, following Hassan Nasrallah's death. Marandi does not view this appointment as a provocation towards Israel. “Hezbollah is a very powerful and influential organization, and it doesn't depend on a single person.”
In an interview with Brasil de Fato, the political analyst explained that the resistance “is a large, broad, and popular movement with enormous influence.”
In the event of a loss during fighting, “others step in, and in war, these things happen.” He also noted that “the Israeli regime has suffered many losses in Gaza and along the border with Lebanon.”
“War is not over” and peace depends on compliance with ceasefire
Following Israel's attacks on Tehran, Iran's capital, in September, which led to Nasrallah's death, Hezbollah declared that “retaliation should be expected from Israel.” However, this did not happen.
Marandi explained that the reason was the “secret ceasefire talks with Hamas and Iran over Gaza after Trump's election victory, and [Hamas and Iran] did not want to jeopardize those negotiations.”
Iran “waited, and during that time, the Iranians refrained from attacking the Israeli regime to allow the negotiations to succeed. But the war is not over. This is merely a ceasefire, so we will have to see what happens in the coming months.”
Marandi believes that if Israel does not fulfill the obligations agreed upon in the ceasefire, Iran will keep its retaliatory stance.
In the end, after the genocide in Gaza, Israel “has not achieved any of its objectives. That's the most important thing. And the world has come to hate Israel. Even in the United States, people no longer support Israel.”
