I'm John Batchew, with Bill Raja, my colleague and co-host of the Foundation for

Defense of Democracy,

and it's always a treat to welcome the former UK ambassador to Yemen, a long-time UN observer of the Middle East turmoil, Edmund Fitton Brown, now of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracy,

to guide us through the mystery of the Iranian standoff, the war fleet for the U.S.

Navy, the war planes for the U.S. Navy and Air Force, overwhelming force, continental scale

force, gathered to do what?

Edmund, a very good evening to you.

I've been told around the edges that there are two possibilities that are being considered in Tehran.

One is negotiation.

And the assumption as of last week was we cannot gain sufficiently from the negotiating table.

It's a dead end for us.

Even though they're continuing to talk, there'll be more

meetings this week. The other possibility is to take the war, but by that, I'm told, the

Mullets have decided they can manage the war, meaning they believe that the American public is

sensitive to casualties, especially women and children, and they can run a propaganda operation

the way the Hamas ran and the Muslim brothers ran out of Gaza.

Those are the two choices I was given.

Is there a third choice, Edmund?

Good evening to you.

Good evening, John.

It's great to be with you again.

And, yeah, I think there is a third choice, at least from the Iranian point of view, which is take the war and fight back. You know, because, you know, your second choice really had them in a very passive role and sort of essentially saying we're the victims here and the wicked Americans

...