S8 Ep313: Guest: Brandon Weichert. Turmoil in Iran threatens China's energy security, as Beijing receives roughly 70-80% of Iranian oil. Weichert suggests Russia and China are using the crisis to test anti-Starlink technologies. Furthermore, the regime might import
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 14 January 2026
⏱️ 11 minutes
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Summary
Guest: Brandon Weichert. Turmoil in Iran threatens China's energy security, as Beijing receives roughly 70-80% of Iranian oil. Weichert suggests Russia and China are using the crisis to test anti-Starlink technologies. Furthermore, the regime might import foreign terrorists to suppress domestic dissent, while the U.S. provides behind-the-scenes support to the movement.
1970 IRAN
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm John Batchler, and I welcome my colleague and friend Gregory Copley of Defense and Foreign Affairs. |
| 0:21.5 | We turn immediately to the headlines from the Middle East about Iran's tragedy. |
| 0:27.3 | Iranian authorities say some 2,000 people killed in protest. |
| 0:32.3 | News trickles out. |
| 0:34.0 | Subhead, Times of Israel, Jerusalem. |
| 0:36.9 | Opposition, a line site claims 12,000 killed, |
| 0:41.3 | far higher than any NGO or street estimate. |
| 0:45.3 | Tehran defends Internet block, |
| 0:48.1 | as Germany's Friedrich Merritt's, the Chancellor of Germany, |
| 0:52.0 | predicts regime is in its, quote, last days and weeks. |
| 0:56.6 | Gregory, a very good evening to you. |
| 0:58.9 | The protest in Iran now is through a glass darkly. |
| 1:03.5 | The Internet is down, has been for days. |
| 1:06.6 | The telephones are down, has been for days. |
| 1:09.3 | We're told Starlinkake is being blocked. |
| 1:12.1 | There are claims that it can be reinstituted, but at this point, there's very little coming out. |
| 1:18.2 | What is coming out are really shocking videos without narration of either a gymnasium floor or a parking lot strewn with body bags. |
| 1:32.3 | And relatives are wondering from body bag to body bag, no ID, no doctors, nobody present, |
| 1:38.2 | zipping them down to see if they can find their loved ones, I presume. |
| 1:41.9 | And they're chaotic, and you just get a clip of it. There's also a clip in |
| 1:46.7 | Jerusalem of the bus siege mounted on the back of motor scooters arriving as boys run away and |
| 1:55.4 | jumping off the motor scooters and opening fire with pistols. There's no attempt to shoot back. |
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