Question: In his speech on the anniversary of the occasion of Prophet Muhammad being appointed to prophethood (Mab'ath), Imam Khamenei emphasized that the United States is a political and economic Mafia regime and as a consequence of its Mafia nature, it seeks to create crises. Over the last one hundred years, which cases or examples do you believe confirm this statement of Imam Khamenei?
F. Izadi: There is a definition of Mafia. The Mafia is a criminal organization that sets its own rules and regulations within its sphere of influence. And then it uses violence in dealing with anyone who does not follow those rules. Because it is an organization, the interests of the people who are members of this Mafia gang are the criteria for determining this Mafia organization’s plans. This is the situation of the American regime. If one wishes to explain how its system of government works, it cannot be explained better than this to say that the United States is a Mafia regime.
According to research carried out by professors of Political Science in the United States, those who lead the US government and those who win elections in the United States need financial support. The same standard that exists in Mafia organizations where making money is of the utmost importance, exists in the structure and system of American government in exactly the same way. Political Science professors in the United States have found that whoever spends more money than their competitor is more than 94% more likely to win. This means that if someone spends less than their competitor, they have only a 6% chance of winning. Since the cost of elections is the criterion for individuals to enter the political structure, it becomes necessary for a politician to collect the needed money. That's why financial and monetary institutions in the United States support politicians.
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution raised the issue of cartels in his speech on the occasion of the anniversary of the Prophet Muhammad being appointed to prophethood (Mab'ath). These cartels raise money for American politicians and in return receive benefits that are often in the form of financial benefits. If you study American history, it is very well known that regarding American politics before World War II and at the start of the twentieth century, the American continent was gradually known to have a "Gangut Diplomacy." "Gangut" referred to a warship and it was a form of American diplomacy. For example, anywhere an American company was seeking to make a profit in a Latin American country but the government of that country, which was a people's elected government, opposed and did not comply with its demands, the US government - which was affiliated with these cartels - would send a warship to that country and stage a coup or occupy it just for the benefit of a company. This style of governing spread throughout the world after World War II, including in our own country.
The 1953 Iranian coup d'état took place over oil, which Mossadegh had decided to nationalize upsetting the British oil company. In due course, the discontent of a British company led the British to stage a coup in Iran with the help of the United States. After the coup had been achieved, Iran became a hotbed of British and American oil companies. The consequences resulting from the dictatorial rule of the Shah and the situation that the Shah created for the country were only brought about for money, oil and the interests of American companies. Approximately eighty other countries have faced similar problems over the past years. That is to say, the Americans go in to dominate but if they do not gain the interests they seek, they will use Mafia methods to achieve their goals. An example of this is the Ukraine crisis, which the Leader referred to in his statements. In addition to the Americans staging a coup in Iran using the Shah's troops, the United States has used a new method in Ukraine in recent years by organizing a Color Revolution. If you look at November 2013, two economic and trade packages were proposed to the Ukrainian government at that time. There was one package from the West and another from Russia.
The President of Ukraine was Viktor [Fedorovych] Yanukovych, the President-elect. The government of Ukraine at that time compared these packages just like any other government would, and the package offered by Russia was much more attractive, larger, and better-suited. The Ukrainian government, like any other independent government, chose the package that was in its national interest. It was in November of 2013 that the Ukrainian government rejected the West’s package and accepted the Russian package. The United States and Western countries activated the mechanism of a Color Revolution in Ukraine. The seemingly non-governmental organizations that were carrying out Western financial operations gathered in the main square of Kiev. At first, these were small rallies consisting of a minority of the people that were unable to do anything against the popular government. So they then used armed neo-Nazi and extremist right-wing groups and gathered them in the main square of Kiev. These groups started firing and many people were killed on the streets. To conclude, the Color Revolution, which began in November 2013, reached its peak in 2014 and succeeded in overthrowing the Ukrainian people's government with the United States leading the protests.
Question: In effect, the root of Ukraine's problems lies in US policies, right?
F. Izadi: Of course, this is why the Leader of the Revolution says that the United States is responsible for the present problems in Ukraine. When this happened, the government, which came to power supported by a set of neo-Nazi organizations, began to attack the Russian-speaking minority. In Ukraine, 30% of Russians live in the eastern part of the country. From 2014 to two weeks ago, 14,000 of these people were killed, and this is the figure given by the United Nations. There are four million people living in eastern Ukraine, but 80 percent of those who were killed were Russian-speaking. This is an example of the performance of this right-wing government. And they have not allowed the Russian speaking people to participate in elections. The administrations which came into power in Ukraine over the past eight years had no legitimacy, because there was discrimination against Russian speaking people and they could not participate in the elections. That is to say, not all Ukrainians participated in the elections. American financial interests were pursued in this country. For example, Biden's son became a member of the board of directors of a Ukrainian oil and gas company while he had no experience in the oil and gas industry. All of this is only because the United States is a Mafia regime.
Biden's son's salary alone was $80,000 a month, more than double that of his father who was then Vice President of the United States. These problems were brought about by the Americans in Ukraine. In 2015, the Ukrainian government signed an agreement in Minsk to give the eastern parts of Ukraine autonomy and agreeing that they would no longer be under pressure. The Ukrainian government; the German Chancellor at that time, Angela [Dorothea] Merkel; and the French President at the time, François [Gérard Georges Nicolas] Hollande; and Vladimir [Vladimirovich] Putin were present. Under pressure from the US, the Ukrainian government did not implement the agreement. So the United States is mainly responsible for Ukraine's problems. That is because the United States not only brought about a Color Revolution but they also did not allow the Ukrainian government to do what was to its own benefit. It was definitely in the interest of the Ukrainian government to make a deal with the other side in some way. Since 2008, the Americans have been encouraging the Ukrainian government to join NATO – that is, since the presidency of George Walker Bush. Ukraine's joining NATO became an excuse for Russia. They (the West) didn’t really want Ukraine to join NATO. Even yesterday, Volodymyr [Oleksandrovych] Zelenskyy addressed the European Parliament demanding that Ukraine join NATO and the European Union, but he was denied. This was one of Imam Khamenei's statements, where he said that the US will abandon something when they have to pay for it. The pro-Western groups in Ukraine believed in the mirage that the Americans had set up for them. The main goal behind the story of Ukraine's membership in NATO was not for Ukraine to join NATO. Rather, they wished to harass Russia. The twenty-seven Foreign Ministers of European countries could vote and sign that at least Ukraine's joining NATO takes place. But they don’t do this. Indeed, they cannot, because they do not want to pay for this. Their goal was only to bring pressure on Russia.
Question: What is your opinion with regard to the Leader's account of the US presence in eastern Syria and Afghanistan and its crimes there?
F. Izadi: The problems you are seeing in Ukraine were created by a pro-Western government. Since the United States knew it could not win in an election, it created a Color Revolution. It couldn’t win because of the Russian-speaking minority and the large number of pro-Russian people in Ukraine who wished to have good relationships with Russia. If this were not the case, the Russian-speaking minority was only 30 percent, and their vote would not have been very effective in the election. Thus, the Americans staged a coup in 2014 while the next Ukrainian presidential election was to take place in 2015. They could have waited a year to bring their forces to power through the democratic process, but in Ukraine they were watching and did not even wait one year. Eventually, the pro-Western political groups came to power and they made the same mistakes that pro-Western political groups have made elsewhere, such as in Afghanistan. They trusted the Americans. But when the United States should have helped them, they left them to themselves and fled.
Similarly, the Americans fled in Afghanistan and did not care about anyone, not even their own local staff from Afghanistan. The same thing happened in Ukraine. In a CNN report, local staff are said to have written a letter saying that no one is answering them. The Americans are only interested in providing oral support and weapons. Their goal is to kill the Russian troopers, but of course not using their own soldiers. They want to use Ukrainian soldiers. The same thing that Mrs. Clinton stated and the same thing they did in Afghanistan with the Soviet Union, they are repeating by equipping Ukrainian forces to strike Russia today. So what is the result of Westernization in Afghanistan? Misery, war, and displacement. The same is true in Ukraine. War, displacement, and carnage are the result of Westernization. The other path that Ukraine could have chosen was to put aside the pro-Western political groups and enforce the views of the Ukrainian people, but if the Americans had not intervened. There was no reason for Kiev to kill 14,000 people in eastern Ukraine, people who were Ukrainian citizens. Their government did this under the direction and pressure of the United States. There is no reason for a government to hope for a mirage of membership in the European Union and NATO. If it were not for Westernism, if they had paid attention to the facts, and if it were not for their fascination with the West and their obedience to it after the 2014 coup, this would not be the case in Ukraine now. For this reason, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution of Iran rightly holds the US responsible for the current situation in Ukraine.
Question: Is there a discussion among American and non-American elites and thinkers in the United States about the US being a crisis-making and crisis-ridden government?
F. Izadi: Yes, there are books written about American foreign policy. The fact of the matter is that the points made by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution were made and written by American foreign policy experts years ago and this is nothing new. These are proven statements that may be found written in independent academic texts which say that the US behaves in this way. The US’s solution is to create crises. There is a book called, “The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism,” which describes how the Americans cause shocks. Imam Khamenei is careful not to use English words in his speeches, but this statement has the same meaning as what he has said in his speech. “The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism” is a book written by Naomi Klein in 2007, and it was one of the best-selling books in the United States. It was on the New York Times bestseller list for weeks, and it has been translated into almost every language in the world.
The US foreign policy system works by causing shocks. When there is a shock, there is a crisis. And when there is a crisis, the arms companies are making money. As you know, eight trillion dollars were spent in Afghanistan and Iraq. They did not pay for the people of Afghanistan and Iraq. They paid for the weapons, the same weapons that had been manufactured by their own companies. If there is no crisis or war, how can weapons manufacturers continue to make money?! For years, Americans and Europeans have been saying that you have little military spending and you need to spend at least two percent of your gross national product on military spending. NATO member states were told that they were not helping NATO. Until they created the crisis in Ukraine, the European countries were ignoring them. But now they are paying attention because they have no choice, and they have taken a path that will definitely be to their disadvantage.
In my opinion, what is happening in Ukraine now is definitely to the disadvantage of Europe. It is not in Europe's interest to come to conflict with its neighbor Russia. And it is not in Europe's interest to pay high energy costs. This is also an example of a Mafia regime. For years, the Americans have been telling European countries to stop using Russian gas, and that they or their allies would supply their gas. Nonetheless, they did not listen to the Americans. But now they have to and must listen, because this is a financial concern for them. The cost to Europe for using American energy resources is much higher than that of Russian sources. But they are forced and put under pressure. If you look at the stock market, American companies have seen their stock values rise. The crisis that the United States has created in Ukraine has financial benefits for the United States. The case of Ukraine is a good example for understanding the nature of the US government, which is a Mafia regime. Understanding US foreign policy, partisan interests and individual interests is quite easy in the case of Ukraine.
Biden was in a very bad position in American polls. One of the reasons the Americans created this crisis was to draw the attention of the American people to the other side. And they have been successful, because now in the polls, Biden's situation has improved over the past week. Biden's position is such that he seeks to pass a legislative act in Congress - a Congress held by Democrats - but has failed over the past year. He has a fragile position among politicians and in the public opinion. They have decided to resolve their domestic problems with the crisis they are creating in Europe. The United States was losing ground in Europe. Many European leaders realized that the United States was collapsing and in decline. They sought to increase their domestic capacity and reduce their ties with the United States.
Now, with the crisis that the Americans have created and the confrontation that they have created between Europe and Russia, the United States can play the role of Europe's older brother. In the meantime, only the Ukrainian people are losing. Imam Khamenei said in his statements that Iran is never in favor of war, because war has casualties and infrastructures are destroyed. He mentioned in his statements who is responsible for causing this problem. He used an interesting phrase saying that the US is crises-making and crises-ridden, because Americans need a crisis to survive. They need a crisis for their economy. They need a crisis for their political concerns. And they also need a crisis for creating an identity for NATO, because many people were asking what was the use of NATO. America can only survive with these crises. It cannot last without these crises. Who creates the crises? Mafia regimes, because their political groups are opportunists and aggressors, and individual interests are served in these organizations.
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