Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Dr Leon Goldsmith: Otago University Professor for Middle Eastern and Comparative Politics on Israel's assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah

Transcript

Dr Leon Goldsmith: Otago University Professor for Middle Eastern and Comparative Politics on Israel's assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: More developments overnight. They are going after Yemen. Now obviously
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: the Hooti rebels are there a proxy for Iran, certainly
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: funded and armed by Iran, So lots of developments to
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: be looking at Israel, also saying that they have taken
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: out a second senior Hezbila leader. This was the reaction
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: from Iran at the u N.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: There is slumbers.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: Republic of Iran will be on the side of Phlebanon
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: and resistance by all men's and thank you very much. Yeah,
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: that was all he said. Doctor Leon Goldsmith is Otaga
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: University Professor for Middle Eastern and Comparative Politics. He's with
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: us this morning, bent on the show before Leon, Good morning,
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: Good morning Ryan. What happens here? What happens next?
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: Well, I mean this is extremely significant. I think this
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: is a historic juncture. The love or hate Hassan Masralla.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: He was a towering figure in the Middle East over
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: the last three decades. So this is right up there
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: with the assassinational Mosada Bashi Jamael and eighty two Yitzakraa
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: beIN yes Arafat or Raffi har Aria in two thousand
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: and five. It's going to be a major juncture that
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: we look back on. I think, so it's clear now
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: that the Israelis are going to go after the so
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: called axis of resistance everywhere. I mean, ISRAELA hasn't been
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: seen in public for over twenty years. He doesn't even
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: address his supporters except by video feeds. So this was
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: clearly something with the Israeli as a plan for a
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: long time, very very significant.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: Are they essentially starting a regional war now? I mean,
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: you know they're heading well, I suppose in some sense
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: it has been going on for a while. You know,
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: the hooties have been firing into Israel and continues to
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: do so. But Israel is really ramping up its attack
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: on those proxies of Iran.
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean there's something that I've been saying for
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: a while that's they're trying to provoke Iran into a
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: of a front or assault the confrontation. But I think
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: it's gone beyond the rubicon now. I think of Israeli
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: is a second waiting and I think they're just going
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: to go after so comin A and Tahran, the leader
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: of Iran has basically gone into secure environment himself, and
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: I think that we're into some syerrup fairly serious origional escalation.
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: Now, what does what is Iran's capability? What does what
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: would a strike look like?
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: From them? Well, well, the thing is, what Iran has
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: always tried to maintain is that his balla is its
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: insurance policy, that's the ber against any kind of Israeli
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: strike directly out of the Iranian leadership. So that essentially
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: is looking increasingly thin and increasingly lucky. It's not going
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: to be effective. So Iran mays, scramble towards a nuclear weapon.
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: Now I mean this, We have no idea what they
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: may be thinking internally, but that's definitely a possibility.
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: And then of course you've got the United States, where
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: an election has been held and everybody says, oh, don't worry,
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: we'll get a ceasefire. You know, we'll get a cease
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: fire for Gaza, We'll get a cease fire for you know, Russia.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: We'll get a seat fire for Lebanon.
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: Well, the US is looking incredibly impotent in this situation,
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: and it's basically just being used and exploited by it
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: as it basically is sort of obliged to stand behind
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: and watch with horror as they draw them into this
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: conflict as well, so yeah, this is very very dangerous times.
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: New Zealand has designated Hisbella as a terrorist entity. This
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: was in twenty ten, but not the political wing. Do
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: we need to do that or should we change? What
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: do we do about this?
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: Well, I mean you look at Australia and Canada, they
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: don't make any distinction. But I don't know how important
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: it is really at the moment because Hisbella is increasingly
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: you know. The reason why we have that designation, and
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: I think was so that we can maintain proper diplomatic
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: relations with Lebanon, because Hissbella has members in the Parliament
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: and the government in Lebanon. So just for convenience or
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: experience sake, But really I don't think it makes a
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: lot of difference with how we designate Habella.
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: No, if they're not listening to the US, they're not
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: going to listen to us. Doctor Leon Goldsman, thank you
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: very much for your time. I Taga University Professor for
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: Middle Eastern and Comparative Politics talking about developments in the
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: Middle East there overnight. I did reach out last night
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: to ald our Foreign Minister Winston Peters, who is traveling.
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: He's currently in Tahiti on his way home from the
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: un He's very busy. But they said they get us
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: a statement. M fantcy. They get us a statement and
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: then they put us onto the Department of Prime Minister.
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: And we haven't got a statement because they probably would
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: have been sleeping anyway. We'll keep asking them about that,
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: that designation. For more from News talks'd be listen live
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: on air or online and keep our shows with you
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: wherever you go with our podcasts on iHeartRadio