British diplomat Crooke: Iran is looking for the opportunity to completely remove the US from Western Asia
Former British diplomat Alastair Crooke denied US President Trump's statements that the negotiations with Iran "went very well" and said there was no diplomatic contact between the parties. Crooke stressed that Tehran sees the current geopolitical crisis as a strategic opportunity to completely liquidate the US from the region and end the dollar hegemony.
International strategist and former diplomat Alastair Crooke, who was a guest on Judge Andrew Napolitano's “Judging Freedom” program, drew attention to the false news that negotiations were being carried out with Iran, which is served from the White House.
Evaluating the statement of US President Donald Trump on his own social media platform "We are holding serious negotiations with Iran", Crooke definictly rejected these allegations with a definitive language. Crooke said, "No matter what the sense, there is no meaningful negotiation. Mr. Trump says the negotiations are going very well, but this is simply not true. The reality on the field shows the opposite," he said.
According to Crooke's analysis, the US administration sometimes tries to convey messages to Tehran through intermediary countries such as Egypt, Qatar or Pakistan. However, Emphasizing that the Iranian side often does not even accept these diplomatic packages, Crooke said, "The Iranians do not even accept the delivery of these messages, and when they do, they directly answer 'no'." The former diplomat stated that Tehran's strategic priority is no longer to sit at the table with the West, but to create a radical change in the regional equation.
“Iran aims to completely reverse West Asian geopolitics”
Stating that Iran's perspective on the current regional crises is misunderstood in the West, Alastair Crooke said that Tehran sees what is happening as a "strategic opportunity" rather than a crisis.
Crooke said, "Iran considers these events as an opportunity to completely change the entire geopolitics of Western Asia. Their goal is to remove the USA and all the financial infrastructure attached to it from the region," he said.
According to Crooke, the Tehran government is leading a process that will end the American presence in the region, instead of taking a step back in the face of Israeli and US pressure.
Stating that Iran refused to live in a "caged world" like Hamas in Gaza as part of this strategy, Crooke said that the "negotiation conditions" proposed by names like Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner did not mean anything to Tehran.
“Asking Iran to accept the 15-point restrictions is to invite them to enter a new cage full of siege, embargo and isolation,” Crooke said. A power like Iran with historical depth, rich resources and a large intellectual class is now determined to break this siege, which it has been subjected to since the 1970s.
"The dollar era is closing in the Strait of Hormuz, the control is in the hands of Iran"
Referring to the economic balances in the region and global energy security, Alastair Crooke stated that Iran uses its control over the Strait of Hormuz as its biggest trump card against Washington.
Stating that Tehran is now preparing to require the payment of cargoes that will pass through the Bosphorus to be made in yuan or local currencies instead of dollars, Crooke said:
“Iranians control the transitions and determine the volume and target route of 20 percent of global oil exports. When you add the Red Sea traffic, this rate increases to 30 percent. This means full control over the pricing of oil.”
Crooke reminded that since 1973, the privilege of determining oil prices has been in the hands of the United States and that the American financial system survives thanks to the petro-dollars flowing from the Gulf countries.
Emphasizing that Iran's breaking this equation will be destructive for the US economy, Crooke said, “The loss of dollar hegemony is equivalent to losing a major war, as Trump himself expressed last year. Trump is now at risk of losing both dollar hegemony and a possible big war at the same time, making him increasingly desperate," he said.
"The leadership staff has not received a hit, the 'mosaic system' is working despite the attacks"
Expressing that Western intelligence services provide misleading information about Iran's governance structure, Crooke stated that the expectation that the administration will collapse after the religious leader Ali Khamenei was targeted was in vain.
Crooke explained that Iran has a decentralized command structure called the "mosaic system":
“Just an hour after the murder of the religious leader, the mosaic system became operational on its own. Thanks to this structure, where each unit can make its own decision, the attacks on American bases in the Gulf were coordinated without interruption.”
Stating that the leadership staff has become invisible "buried in darkness" and that Hezbollah's similar tactic infuriates Israelis, Crooke reminded that the vast majority of current decision-makers in Iran are former Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) commanders such as Parliament Speaker Muhammed Bakır Galibaf.
Crooke said, "Trump dreams that leadership will be more docile, but he has a cadre that comes entirely from military discipline and is distant from the idea of reconciliation with the West. President Pezeşkiyan does not even have a constitutional authority in these security and defense decisions," he said.
"Iran's missiles are 800 meters below the mountains, bombing does not work"
Noting that the US and Israel's air operations against Iran have turned into a strategic failure, Alastair Crooke said that the missile systems are protected under huge granite mountains, in depths beyond the reach of conventional bombs.
Crooke described the structure of the facilities as follows:
“The largest missile facility is built 800 meters below the ground. Under the mountain, there is a huge railway network that connects all the missiles. Trains carry the missiles to the tunnel, launches and the wagons are pulled back into the mountain in seconds.”
Noting that the missile outlets could not be stopped despite more than 2,500 sorties since the beginning of the war, Crooke stated that the operations that could not get results were gradually turning to civilian infrastructure.
Stating that areas of Tehran such as "Yezd Castle" were bombed, but the bombs that hit the granite only left a mark on the surface, Crooke said, "Giant missiles continue to rise from the same points immediately after the bombing. Because these missiles are launched directly to the surface from the tubes, they do not need a ramp installation," he said.
“The Israeli army is lighting 10 red lights, on the verge of logistical collapse”
Evaluating the course of the war on the Lebanese front and the situation of the Israeli army, Crooke reported that the army is now at the "breaking point".
Stating that Israeli Chief of General Staff Eyal Zamir explained the seriousness of the situation by lighting "10 red lights" at the cabinet meeting, Crooke said, "They suffer heavy losses every day in Lebanon. To date, more than 100 Merkava tanks and crew have been destroyed by Hezbollah. The Israeli army can no longer respond to Hezbollah's attacks every time due to the lack of ammunition, they have to use their stocks rationally," he said.
Touching on the morale collapse in Israeli society, Crooke stated that those who initially gave great support to the war are now under unsustainable economic and social pressure.
Crooke said, "People can't live in shelters for weeks, workplaces are closed, families are broken up. Despite this, the Netanyahu government caused a major outrage in its own base by allocating a budget of 5 billion shekels to Ultra-Orthodox Jews who refused to go to the military. Netanyahu's only goal is to protect his seat until October".