Transcript [00:00] So, there's a rumor making it's making [00:02] the rounds that Iran already has a [00:07] nuclear weapon, already has nuclear [00:09] capabilities. It's [00:11] you might have seen this on the [00:12] internet. It's certainly being amplified [00:15] by certain Iranian outlets that we're [00:17] going to take a look at. I believe that [00:19] what we're seeing here is an interesting [00:21] little game of information warfare that [00:24] the you know, propaganda warfare that [00:26] the Iranians are engaged in here. So, [00:29] we're going to get into this rumor in [00:31] this video. That's what we're going to [00:32] unpack and it's I think it's very [00:34] interesting. It's worth thinking about. [00:36] Let's take a look [00:37] at the [00:39] reporting, so to speak, of the original [00:42] source. [00:44] Former CIA analyst claims Iran is on the [00:47] verge of becoming a nuclear power. This [00:49] is from WION. This is an Indian news [00:52] outlet and it's just from [00:54] from yesterday. Here we go. [00:57] Former CIA analyst Larry Johnson who has [01:01] alleged that Iran is on the absolute [01:03] verge of declaring itself a nuclear [01:04] power has threatened to detonate a [01:07] nuclear bomb. [01:09] In the Judging Freedom podcast hosted by [01:12] Judge Andrew Napolitano a former New [01:15] Jersey Superior Court Judge and [01:16] prominent libertarian legal analyst [01:18] Larry Johnson claimed that Pakistan's [01:21] Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar [01:24] personally passed a red alert message to [01:27] the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. [01:31] This put the May 29th meeting between [01:33] Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign [01:35] Minister Ishaq Dar and US Secretary of [01:37] State Marco Rubio in focus raising [01:39] questions about the nature of the talks [01:42] even though the official explanation was [01:44] about bilateral cooperation. Pakistan's [01:46] Foreign Office categorically denied the [01:49] claims that it has shared a confidential [01:51] report about nuclear activity and called [01:53] these reports and called these reports [01:56] as speculative and false. However, [01:59] according to Larry Johnson, Iranian [02:01] President Masoud Peseschkian has [02:03] informed Pakistani Prime Minister [02:05] Shahbaz Sharif about this development. A [02:08] similar claim was repeated by [02:09] geopolitical analyst Pepe Escobar [02:12] stating that Iran would demonstrate its [02:14] nuclear capability through a domestic [02:16] test explosion. [02:18] Johnson said that the recent shift in US [02:20] tone specifically towards Iran supreme [02:22] leader Mostafa Khamenei [02:25] and the verbal spat with Israel's Prime [02:26] Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was a result [02:28] of this development. In other words, [02:30] um the recent shift in talking about [02:32] Mostafa Khamenei is that President Trump [02:34] said he'd like to meet him. So, it seems [02:36] that he's getting a little bit more [02:37] respectful of the supreme leader who has [02:41] still yet to be seen in public. [02:44] And the spat with Prime Minister [02:45] Netanyahu that maybe this is you know [02:47] where [02:48] they're implying that maybe President [02:49] Trump is getting a little jittery and is [02:52] showing more deference to the Iranians. [02:55] Furthermore, Johnson posited that [02:57] Iranian authorities might have [02:58] purposefully conducted this phone call [03:01] over an unsecured line to allow Western [03:04] and Israeli intelligence as a calculated [03:06] strategic risk. Larry Johnson previously [03:09] made another viral claim [03:11] on April 20th, 2026 or a little over a [03:14] month ago when he first alleged that [03:16] President Trump had a blow up with [03:18] General Dan Kaine over accessing nuclear [03:22] codes. [03:23] Former Fox News anchor Andrew Napolitano [03:25] pressed prominent Iranian academic and [03:28] advisor Dr. Seyed Mohammad Marandi [03:32] in his podcast to provide verification [03:35] about the phone call. This guy Marandi, [03:38] Professor Marandi, Dr. Marandi, he's a [03:40] he's a spokesman of the Iranian regime [03:43] who goes on lots of shows. He goes on [03:44] Piers Morgan and other shows speaking on [03:47] behalf of the Iranian regime although he [03:49] never acknowledges that he's an [03:50] officially a spokesperson. He neither [03:52] acknowledged nor denied the speculation. [03:56] He suggested that while there is a [03:57] theoretic a theoretic decree, late [04:01] Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Mojta [04:06] that that Mojtaba could alter that by [04:09] issuing a fatwa. There's some typos in [04:10] this in this WION news story. Basically [04:14] saying that even though there was a [04:15] fatwa against creating a nuclear weapon, [04:17] which is what they announced as cover [04:20] for their nuclear program, that Mojtaba [04:22] could issue a a different fatwa. But he [04:24] added that there was no current sign [04:26] indicating a change in Iran's nuclear [04:28] doctrine. [04:29] Traditionally under the decree of the of [04:31] the year of the late Ayatollah Sayyid [04:33] Ali Khamenei, production and stockpiling [04:35] of weapons of mass destruction was [04:38] haram. [04:40] Okay. Oh, just by the way, a note about [04:42] the word Sayyid, which you see in some [04:44] of these names, Ayatollah Sayyid Ali [04:45] Khamenei, and Professor Marandi is [04:48] called Dr. Sayyid Mohammad Marandi. [04:51] Anytime you see a name a Persian name [04:53] that includes the word Sayyid or Sayyed, [04:56] it is what it means is that this person [04:59] is is [05:01] allegedly is a descendant a direct [05:03] descendant of Muhammad. It's a sign of [05:05] nobility. It's a sign of a different [05:07] status in the in the society that you [05:10] are a direct descendant of Muhammad. [05:13] Um anyway, that's so that's what the [05:15] word Sayyid means. That's irrelevant. [05:16] Okay, so here's the story. This is the [05:18] story that Iran is on the verge of [05:20] becoming a nuclear power and citing this [05:22] former CIA [05:24] analyst. [05:25] And the story was amplified by Iranian [05:28] state media right here. [05:31] The story behind the Pezeshkian Sharif [05:34] call. Did Iran threaten a nuclear [05:36] reveal? [05:38] And look at this. Speculation has [05:39] intensified within international within [05:42] international geopolitical circles [05:44] following claims by prominent political [05:46] analysts that Iranian President Masoud [05:48] Peseshkian allegedly informed Pakistani [05:51] Prime Minister Shebaz Sharif of Iran's [05:53] readiness to unveil a nuclear weapon. [05:55] The claim was initially brought to light [05:56] by former CIA analyst Larry Johnson who [05:59] alleged that Islamabad had transmitted a [06:00] message to Washington [06:02] warning that Tehran might soon debut a [06:05] nuclear bomb. [06:06] Renowned geopolitical analyst Pepe [06:08] Escobar subsequently repeated the claim [06:10] asserting [06:12] that President Peseshkian explicitly [06:14] shared this development with PM Sharif [06:16] during a phone conversation stating that [06:18] Iran would if necessary unveil its [06:20] nuclear capability through a domestic [06:22] test explosion. [06:23] Now you notice this is Iranian state [06:25] media but they don't you know of course [06:28] it's it has the veneer it pretends to be [06:31] normal reporting so they're reporting [06:33] that there's this speculation. Now [06:35] obviously they speak on behalf of the [06:36] government they could confirm or deny it [06:38] but this is a report on the speculation. [06:43] This is a news item. [06:46] Just amplifying the speculation. [06:50] Okay keep that in mind as we read on. [06:52] Revisiting the topic on the Judging [06:54] Freedom podcast Larry Johnson emphasized [06:56] the credibility of his informant stating [06:59] the intelligence originated from a [07:00] high-level source with direct access to [07:03] such sensitive data rather than [07:05] unreliable channels. Johnson argued that [07:07] the recent abrupt shift in US diplomatic [07:09] tone and behavior toward Tehran can be [07:11] directly linked to this intelligence. [07:13] This is everything we read in the in the [07:14] other piece. [07:18] Furthermore he posited that the phone [07:19] call between Peseshkian and Sharif may [07:21] have purposely been conducted over an [07:23] unsecured line. He suggested that [07:24] Iranian authorities may have [07:26] intentionally allowed Western and [07:28] Israeli intelligence agencies to [07:30] intercept the conversation as a [07:32] calculated strategic warning. [07:37] And [07:40] Marandi and then it mentions the that [07:42] that Marandi, Dr. Seyed Mohammad [07:44] Marandi, was asked to verify this, and [07:46] he and he did not confirm or deny it. [07:51] And [07:53] There we go. Historically, the late [07:54] Iranian leader, Sayyid Ali Khamenei, had [07:56] issued a binding fatwa declaring the [07:59] production, stockpiling, and use of [08:01] weapons of mass destruction, including [08:02] nuclear arms, as strictly and eternally [08:04] forbidden under Islamic law. Iranian [08:07] officials have routinely pointed to this [08:09] religious prohibition for years to [08:11] counter Western proliferation concerns, [08:14] because if there's a fatwa, we shouldn't [08:16] be concerned. [08:17] Right? [08:18] Okay, so it's basically the same story [08:20] as that. I just wanted to show you that [08:21] the story was being was being amplified [08:24] by Iranian state media. Now, before we [08:27] go on to the next source, which is makes [08:29] this whole story even more interesting, [08:31] let's understand who who Larry Johnson [08:33] is, this former CIA analyst who's [08:35] talking on this podcast. And so, he does [08:37] have real credentials, right? He worked [08:39] at the CIA, he served as deputy director [08:41] in the State Department's [08:42] Counterterrorism Office, but ever since [08:45] he left the government, his his track [08:48] record is a little weird, a little iffy. [08:52] So, he originated the 2008 claim that a [08:55] tape existed of Michelle Obama railing [08:58] against Whitey, a story that turned out [09:00] to be a hoax. [09:02] He also promoted claims about British [09:04] intelligence spying on the Trump [09:05] campaign [09:06] that turned out also to be false. [09:09] Um [09:12] Perhaps what's most telling about this [09:14] guy, Johnson, is that Russian state [09:16] media [09:18] cite Johnson all the time. They've cited [09:20] him like in hundreds of articles and TV [09:22] reports in the last four or five years [09:24] alone, [09:26] and they use his claims, which are often [09:28] false or misleading, to promote [09:30] pro-Kremlin [09:31] narratives, while presenting him as a [09:33] current intelligence authority. [09:36] But, he left the CIA like 35 years ago. [09:40] And the specific claim being made here, [09:43] notice that Pakistan's foreign minister [09:45] denied it. He called it speculative and [09:47] false. [09:48] The Iranian academic, Marandi, [09:51] spokesman, he just kind of neither [09:54] confirmed nor denied. [09:56] So, [09:57] that's who Larry Johnson is. So, we have [09:59] to take whatever he says with a huge [10:00] grain of salt. On the other hand, the [10:02] grain of salt is not just It's not just [10:05] that we're skeptical. There's something [10:06] much more important going on here. [10:09] This is a guy, Larry Johnson, who is [10:11] used by the Russians all the time to [10:14] amplify their messaging. [10:17] To get out there and say things, and [10:19] because he has this credibility of being [10:20] a former CIA analyst who held this [10:23] position [10:24] in the US government, he has some [10:26] credibility. So, they use this guy to [10:30] to put stuff out there. [10:34] And maybe that's what's happening here, [10:35] too, is they're using this guy to put [10:37] stuff out there. Now, what's so [10:38] interesting [10:40] is that this this story broke uh [10:45] a few days ago. [10:48] And [10:50] a few days before that, on June 1st, [10:53] there was [10:55] um [10:57] there was a report in MEMRI, [10:59] the Middle East Media Research [11:00] Institute, reported [11:02] on an Iranian economist named Mohammad [11:05] Reza Yazdizadeh, [11:10] who said, "Iran must show the US and [11:13] Israel it has nuclear capability. [11:15] We can turn 40 kg of highly enriched [11:18] uranium into 100 dirty bomb missiles. If [11:21] attacked, we will retaliate against [11:23] Washington." So, what is this about? So, [11:24] remember, MEMRI, the Middle East Media [11:26] Research Institute, they [11:28] they monitor and translate [11:30] um [11:32] media [11:33] in Arabic, in Persian, in the local [11:35] languages from all over the Middle East [11:38] that Westerners usually would miss. So, [11:40] take a look at what happened here. [11:42] Iranian economist Mohammad Reza Yazdi [11:44] Yazdizadeh [11:46] said in a June 1st appearance on the [11:50] Jamouri Street YouTube channel [11:53] that Iran must show the United States [11:56] and Israel that it has nuclear [11:57] capability and suggested it use its [12:00] stockpile of 460 kg of highly enriched [12:03] uranium to manufacture 100 dirty bomb [12:06] missiles capable of rendering targeted [12:08] cities uninhabitable. [12:10] Yazdizadeh said that if Iran were [12:12] subjected to a nuclear attack by the [12:14] United States or Israel, it would [12:15] retaliate in kind and that those [12:17] countries should know for certain that [12:18] Iran possesses such capabilities. He [12:21] claimed that Iran could respond within [12:22] an hour just as it allegedly retaliated [12:25] for the assassination of Ali Khamenei [12:27] within 10 minutes. I don't know what the [12:28] tally I guess that the missiles they [12:30] were firing at their neighboring [12:31] countries and Israel. [12:33] He added that if Iran was struck with an [12:34] atomic bomb, it would retaliate against [12:36] Washington and argued that the United [12:38] States is aware that Iran possesses [12:40] missiles with the necessary range. Now, [12:42] here's the So, there's the interview [12:44] here. I'm not going to play it because [12:45] it's in Persian and I always get [12:47] comments when I play videos in other [12:49] languages that people don't understand [12:51] them anyway. So, I'll just read you the [12:52] transcript of the clip of the interview [12:54] that they posted. Why do the Americans [12:56] want to take away our highly enriched [12:58] uranium? It is not about further [13:00] enrichment or manufacturing a nuclear [13:02] bomb. With these 460 kg, one could build [13:06] 100 so-called dirty bomb missiles with [13:09] each warhead containing 5 kg of 60% [13:13] enriched uranium. [13:14] Even if they would not destroy most of [13:16] the buildings, such missiles would [13:18] render the target city uninhabitable due [13:21] to the level of contamination. The [13:24] possibility This possibility is what [13:25] they are worried about. If we find [13:27] ourselves under an attack by the US or [13:30] Israel, we will retaliate in kind. They [13:33] should know for certain that we have [13:35] that capability. If the attack If they [13:38] attack us tomorrow morning, we can [13:40] retaliate within an hour, just like the [13:42] retaliation for the martyrdom of the [13:44] leader came within 10 minutes. There are [13:46] designated individuals authorized to [13:48] carry out counterattacks without waiting [13:51] for new instructions. If you Americans [13:53] make the mistake of attacking us with a [13:55] nuclear weapon, I will retaliate with a [13:57] nuclear bomb. We have to show them that [13:59] we will. Talking about the range of our [14:01] missiles is a joke. If we are hit, we [14:03] will attack Washington. [14:05] They know that we have the missile range [14:07] to do this, [14:08] and we need to show them that we have [14:10] the nuclear capability as well. At the [14:12] very least, we can launch a dirty bomb [14:14] against them. [14:18] And then the interviewer responds and [14:19] says, "Indeed, this is why they're [14:21] insisting about the 400 kg of uranium." [14:27] Look at that. [14:28] Hello. [14:32] What's going on? [14:34] So, [14:36] Iran is running out of levers to pull, [14:39] and they're trying to pressure the [14:41] United States. They're trying to [14:43] scare [14:45] President Trump, or let's put it this [14:48] way. [14:49] Their big game is to [14:53] make sure that President Trump believes [14:57] that kinetic action [14:59] will be too costly for him, politically [15:03] and in every other way. [15:07] Because they know that he's already [15:08] leaning against going back to kinetic [15:10] action. We know that he doesn't want to [15:11] go back to kinetic action. We know how [15:14] how unpopular going back to [15:18] to shooting war [15:21] kinetic shooting war is in the United [15:23] States. He doesn't want to do it. [15:26] So, they're throwing [15:28] this wrinkle into it as well. [15:32] That we have the ability to make this a [15:34] real mess. Could you imagine what a mess [15:35] it would be if if this threat is real? [15:39] Now, they can't come out and say we have [15:40] a nuclear weapon, we have the ability we [15:42] have a dirty bomb, because then they're [15:44] admitting the thing they're being [15:45] accused of. They can't do that. [15:48] So, I don't know if this threat is real [15:49] or not. [15:50] But, here's the game they're playing. [15:52] It's information warfare. [15:54] They get this guy Larry Johnson [15:57] who is a tool of the Russians to leak [16:01] information using his CIA credentials [16:03] from decades ago [16:05] as a way of people believing that he has [16:07] inside information. And he and he I [16:09] guess he sort of does because there's [16:10] probably someone on the other side [16:13] Russia, Iran, China, whatever who feeds [16:15] him stories. He puts the information out [16:18] there. [16:20] It makes the rounds. [16:22] And you see the big tell here [16:25] is that Iranian state media Iranian [16:28] state media it's the government [16:30] themselves runs just an uncritical story [16:35] reporting the exact [16:37] conspiracy theory sub maybe allegation [16:40] this exact allegation from Indian media [16:43] where where there's an article done. [16:44] They basically run the same story in [16:46] Iranian state media [16:49] amplifying the speculation. Meaning that [16:51] they have an interest in amplifying the [16:54] speculation that Iran already has some [16:57] nuclear capability. [16:59] And lo and behold, this happens in the [17:01] same week as this prominent Iranian [17:04] economist goes on this on this Iranian [17:08] podcast [17:10] this big Iranian podcast [17:12] and says [17:15] what I just read to you [17:17] about [17:18] creating a dirty bomb and how Iran [17:20] should do that and we should let the [17:22] world know we have these capabilities. [17:23] Again, never saying that they have it [17:25] already, never saying that they've made [17:26] the bombs already, [17:27] but there's [17:28] I see some coordination here that this [17:31] is a new tact. This is a new [17:34] a new approach in their propaganda war, [17:36] in their information warfare to [17:39] put the whispers out there and get [17:41] people believing that they actually do [17:43] have nuclear weapons capability already. [17:47] So, [17:48] this is an interesting one. We're going [17:50] to watch it and see if we see any more [17:52] any more of this or if is it a one-off? [17:54] Is this rumor going to go away now? Or [17:56] does this now become, you know, a new [17:58] part of the narrative? We'll see where [18:00] it goes, but it is also interesting that [18:02] that they that they say that Trump [18:04] bending [18:06] cuz they believe that they're getting [18:07] Trump to bend to their will. And to be [18:09] honest, they kind of are in some ways. [18:12] Most notably in Lebanon, [18:14] where Trump is is pressuring Netanyahu [18:17] to back off and to de-escalate and [18:19] that's all because the Iranians are [18:20] demanding it as a precondition for [18:22] moving forward. And in Iranian state [18:24] media, they talk all the time about how [18:27] you see, this shows that we still have [18:30] geopolitical influence, that we're [18:31] getting the Americans [18:33] we're getting Trump to rein in [18:34] Netanyahu. That shows how how powerful [18:36] we are. They [18:37] Trump is unwittingly handing leverage to [18:40] the Iranians by pressuring Netanyahu. I [18:42] I've said this before in in over the [18:44] last week or two that [18:47] Trump has it completely backwards on the [18:50] Lebanon thing. He thinks that if it that [18:52] if Lebanon is quiet, he has a better [18:53] chance of a deal with the Iranians [18:55] or that he has better leverage against [18:57] them and it's just the opposite. He [18:59] would have better leverage against them [19:00] if Israel was hammering Hezbollah every [19:03] day. In any event, they're they're [19:05] looking at this going, "Haha, you see, [19:07] we have Trump [19:09] Trump is [19:10] he doesn't want to go back to warfare. [19:13] And now we're going to threaten this. [19:15] The last thing Trump wants is the chaos. [19:16] Could you imagine if Trump goes back to [19:18] kinetic warfare and there's some dirty [19:19] bomb that goes off, God forbid, and who [19:21] knows what kind of [19:23] what kind of apocalyptic damage that [19:25] could do to some country or some city? [19:28] And if they do that and then everyone's [19:29] going to be looking at Trump and and you [19:31] know, it only makes the war look worse. [19:33] They know that Trump doesn't want that. [19:34] It's the last thing he wants. So they're [19:36] using these threats, [19:38] but they can't threaten it openly [19:40] because that would be an admission that [19:41] they have the weapons. [19:43] So they have to threaten it this way by [19:45] leaking this information [19:47] through some dubious source, get it out [19:49] there, [19:50] amplify it in their own state media. [19:52] Meanwhile, they have this economist go [19:54] on this show and also say similar things [19:57] about about nuclear weapons. Anyway, [20:00] interesting plot line. We will follow it [20:02] closely and all It will come back to it [20:05] if we see it again. [20:07] All right, thanks for watching. Please [20:08] share, like, subscribe, all that great [20:10] stuff, and God bless.
