Seyed Mohammad Marandi: Demystifying Iran

In this episode of Demystifying Iran, Seyed Mohammad Marandi, Professor of English Literature and Orientalism at the University of Tehran, begins by examining revealing statements made amid the US kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and a period of limited protests and riots in Iran, exposing how US officials openly frame global events through the lens of Israeli interests.

This framing sets the stage for a critical re-examination of Syria, beginning with the 2011 uprising and tracing how the country’s crisis was reshaped by foreign intervention, Takfiri armed groups, and a broader US-led regime-change strategy. Challenging claims of Iranian “expansionism and sectarian ambition,” the episode contrasts Western media narratives with documented policies, official admissions, and developments on the ground to explain why Iran’s presence in Syria, and later in Iraq, was not the origin of the conflict but a response to an emerging security threat, governed by strict principles of formal state requests, local resistance, and a limited advisory role.

The episode concludes by addressing a critical question: Why Iran did not launch a large-scale military intervention in Syria in 2024, and what this reveals about the true nature of its strategy in the region.