What is Iran’s right to resist regime change?
The Take
Al Jazeera
4.7 • 748 Ratings
🗓️ 23 June 2025
⏱️ 25 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Israel claims Iran is closer than ever to building a nuclear weapon. But as it targets Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his nation’s attacks will also “liberate” Iranians. In a civilization shaped by millennia of empire and resistance, those words land differently. What does liberation mean to Iranians as the US and Israel call for regime change?
In this episode:
- Hamid Dabashi (@dabashihamid), Professor, Columbia University
Episode credits:
This episode was produced by Chloe K. Li, Sonia Bhagat, and Haleema Shah, with Phillip Lanos, Spencer Cline, Tamara Khandaker, Mariana Navarrete and our guest host, Manuel Rápalo. It was edited by Kylene Kiang and Noor Wazwaz.
Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad al-Melhem. Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio.
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@AJEPodcasts on Instagram, X, Facebook, Threads and YouTube
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Al Jazeera Podcasts. |
| 0:07.0 | Today, the long push for regime change in Iran. |
| 0:15.5 | Israel has started talking about regime change in Iran, with Benjamin Netanyahu saying that |
| 0:20.6 | assassinating |
| 0:21.3 | supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khomeini would bring an end to the war with Tehran. |
| 0:27.1 | How Israel and the US use the fear of a nuclear Iran to further their interests in the region? |
| 0:35.1 | I'm Manuel Rapalow, and this is The Take. |
| 0:40.3 | After more than a week of exchanged attacks between Israel and Iran, the United States joined |
| 0:49.3 | the escalating conflict by attacking three nuclear sites in Iran. |
| 0:59.4 | The aftermath of strikes that could reshape the region. |
| 1:07.0 | The U.S. military says it bombed three of Iran's key nuclear sites, Fordot, Natanz, and Esfahan. |
| 1:14.1 | And on Monday, Iran retaliated with its own missiles towards a military base in Qatar housing U.S. troops. |
| 1:14.9 | An operation called Annunciation of Victory has begun against U.S. air bases in Qatar |
| 1:22.8 | and indeed in Iraq. |
| 1:26.0 | Some senior Trump officials have denied that the U.S. attacks are a push for regime change, |
| 1:30.9 | but President Trump seems to think otherwise. |
| 1:33.5 | The president posting on truth social this, quote, it's not politically correct to use the term |
| 1:38.7 | regime change, but if the current Iranian regime is unable to make Iran great again, why wouldn't |
| 1:44.1 | there be a regime change? And then he put the phrase mega to make Iran great again. Why wouldn't there be a regime change? |
| 1:45.7 | And then he put the phrase mega for make Iran great again. |
| 1:49.7 | I spoke with Professor Hamid Dabashi about what U.S. ambitions for regime change would mean for Iran. |
| 1:59.9 | My name is Hamid Dabashi. |
... |
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