Should America Intervene in Iran? A Surprising Conversation

Dr. Anahita Mahavi West, born and raised in Iran, describes the regime as a 'tyranny of monsters' that dictates all aspects of life. She highlights 46 years of oppression, massacres, disappearances, and current conditions of no power, water, food, money, or internet, likening it to a 'dark dungeon.'

Anahita Mahavi West details living through the Shah's regime and 6 years under the Islamic regime, with family members killed or imprisoned. She states, 'I don't think anybody in the world wants to be under authoritarian, totalitarian regimes where it tells you how to think, what to wear, what to eat, what to do or not do.' She shares a message from Iran: 'No power, no electricity, no water, no food, no money, no job, no internet. They are literally living in a dark dungeon.'

Anahita Mahavi West argues that the American 'left' minimizes Iranian suffering by framing Iran as a 'geopolitical chessboard' and the regime as 'anti-imperialist,' ignoring the people's 46 years of resistance. She points out the hypocrisy of debating casualty numbers in Iran while condemning similar debates regarding Palestine.

Anahita Mahavi West states, 'the left that you call the left in America has been erasing and trying to minimizing the agony and the oppression and the suffering of Iranian people... making Iran a geopolitical chessboard without mentioning the 46 years of fighting and resistant by the people.' She adds, 'All I hear is Iran's regime is a resistance. First of all, they are not. It's all a facade that they are anti-imperialist.' She compares the debate over Iranian casualty numbers to similar arguments about Palestinian deaths, noting 'one is one too many' in both cases.

The host, Cenk Uygur, expresses a desire to help but fears US/Israeli intervention would install a puppet regime (like the Shah's son, who is seen as pro-Israel) rather than a genuine democracy. He emphasizes his opposition to bombing Iran, citing the disastrous outcomes of the Iraq war.

Cenk states, 'The Israelis clearly want to topple this regime. They're not going to put in someone you like. They're going to put in the Sha who your Sha Jr. Your family was fighting Sha Senior earlier.' He later adds, 'If America intervenes, it's not going to be for the protesters. It's not going to be for the Iranian people. It's going to be for the Israelis.' He reiterates, 'bombing Iran, I don't think is going to help in any way, shape, or form.'

Dr. Cornell West asserts that solidarity means heeding the voices of the oppressed, not viewing them as pawns on an ideological chessboard. He argues against moral bankruptcy that justifies repression in 'axes of resistance' countries and calls for moral consistency in supporting all suffering people, regardless of geopolitical alignments.

Cornell West states, 'If all you're doing though, brother, is looking at Iran through the lens of what Israel is going to do with their gangster politics, then you're never going to be able to be in contact in a concrete way with the suffering because you're going to be looking at it solely in terms of pawns on an ideological chessboard.' He later adds, 'That's bankrupt, brother. Morally bankrupt even though it is right in terms of the critique United States is right in terms of the critique of the Israeli genocide against Palestinian people.'

Anahita Mahavi West conveys that Iranians want their voices amplified, believe they have the agency to decide their destiny, and desire a referendum to choose a transitional government, potentially including the Shah's son as a symbolic figure, but not as a dictator.

Anahita Mahavi West states, 'I am telling you what I hear from the people in Iran that message me is that amplify our voices. Talk about the massacres... Do not waste time and energy constantly on political debates of um this or that.' She later quotes an Iranian contact: 'Stand in solidarity with our suffering and with our resistance and believe that we have enough agency to make a decision for our own destiny. We want a referendum. We will choose a person. There are many candidates and we do want this transition to go.'