again we do want to show

you some. video from the

Iranian border with Asher

by Gene as the search is

now. underway following a

helicopter crash. the

helicopter. carrying the

Iranian president as well as

his foreign minister and

other officials and again,

we are continuing to

follow this uh an

official saying that both

the lives of the Iranian

president and his foreign

minister were quote at

risk following the

helicopter crash saying

quote we are still hopeful

but information coming from

the crash site is very

concerning. Uh, we do want

to bring in Michael

xantos, who is a foreign

policy expert to talk

more about this breaking

news and Michael. Thank you

so much for joining us.

You're very welcome. and

again. the information is

still very. scarce as this

is a breaking news

situation. but what can you

share with us? well it is

obviously clearly. in doubt

whether the running president

and the foreign minister is

still alive. and it's very

easy to dismiss it because

it's often pointed out that

the power is really in the

hands of the supreme leader

of Iran How many and the

Iranian revolutionary guard

and other Security Forces?

but he was being groomed as

a possible successor for the

supreme leader of Iran.

That is the ultimate

leader of Iran. who is 85

and that necessarily in

good health. And so there's

a variety of potential

effects of this but

1 of them being that he was

a possible successor to the

current supreme leader

of Iran. so again

leader of Iran

so again details are very

scarce and we were hearing

from an anonymous official

saying that uh, the

president's life was. uh

at risk along with the

foreign minister. Uh, but not

uh going beyond that. if

it were the case that the

Iranian president. was

killed in this helicopter

crash What would the impact

of that be? I think it

could actually be

significant. in some less

than obvious ways. He was

in himself a very much a

hardliner. So you see the

hardliners. the extreme.

hardliners in Iran,

unfortunately.

consolidating. power, but

especially in the

government that tries to

take the name of God and say

that that it's divine.

wishes that they're acting

on it and that they're

serving. Um, God behind it.

I think this is

discrediting because even

in a government that is

not extremely religious. and

fanatic. Um, when you can't

protect your leaders it can

happen unfortunately and

it's scary to the best

country God forbid even

ours. that um, you know,

people do die in plain

and helicopter crashes, but

it could be seen by the

running people. as 1 more

sign of incompetence. It

doesn't exactly go along

with the movie saying that

God is on their side and

that the US and Israel are

Infidel, so I think it is

actually discrediting it

might sound a little bit

silly to say but they are.

constantly. and only

speaking in religion. their

leadership only claims

legitimacy.

sounds bizarre in today's

world. 20 Century. based on

religion alone. and they

claim that they they will

win because of their

religious beliefs and that

the United States and the

West is evil. So I think

it's discrediting and and

then the less kind of

theoretical concept it it

doesn't reflect the

competence of this country

this government I mean the

system that is running out

of water. it is can't keep

things. cool as they have

hotter and hotter Summers

they barely have

electricity. They're 1 of

the largest producers of

oil. and natural gas and the

average Iranian can't afford.

gasoline and is struggling

to buy food. crashed is is

discrediting and makes

people. the doubts in this

regime. grow within the

country. and again this

information coming from the

state-run media when it

comes to being transparent.

uh, you know, when might we

expect additional details

and just how accurate might

they be. I mean, it's hard

to say but I mean you can't

cover up the if they did

in fact die, I mean it's

good that we're being

careful about it. You can't

cover up the

death of the president

and foreign minister, it's

good that you know in the

next 24 hours. cover up

the death of the president

and foreign minister. I think

that you know in the next

24 hours is probably much

less will start to gain

Clarity. They they

can't hide this. Um now

it's worth mentioning

another high-ranking

official of Iran back in

2017 Raph and suspicions

were raised about following

and the fingers by his own

family seemed to

be pointing at the regime

itself. So there's even a

possibility somewhat remote,

but not far-fetched that

this could have been some

sort of assassination.

itself. So there's even a

possibility somewhat remote

but not far-fetched that

this could have been some

sort of assassination attempt

if they survived or

assassination they die.

There could even be an

element of Foul Play There

are definitely going to be

suspicions some legitimate

and some crazy in

in such a paranoid country

because they have a murderous

government. Remember this

president had the nickname of

the butcher. of Tehran for

the number probably in the

thousands of executions he

oversaw at the end of the

1980s. He's he was known

or still is known as The

Butcher of Taiwan. This is

so in that kind of

environment. There's all

kinds of suspicions that

inevitably occur some well

based and some unfounded.

now according to reuter

they're uh quoting the

interior Minister saying

that the state TV that

only 1 of the helicopters

in a group of 3. had come

down hard and that

authorities were waiting.

for their details when

you're talking about uh

that 1 of 3 helicopters was

the only 1 that came down

hard again We did see a

video that appeared to

show very foggy conditions.

uh, you know, and and and

talking about again, uh, the

conspiracy theories out

there. Do you extrapolate

anything from that

statement or again? Is

this really just more of

a wait and see situation?

virtually a wait and see Um,

if 1 of 3 helicopters in a

convoy go down. That's a

question. of who was on it

was the president and the

foreign minister on the

same helicopter Are they

down? They can't locate the

helicopter which would be

concerning although it's

hard to be. feel bad for a

president. who's known as

the Butcher of Baghdad and

whose regime is responsible

for the death of so many.

American soldiers and

civilians. around the world

because Iran's largest state

sponsor terrorism, but um,

they don't seem to be

able to locate as far as

any reports that reached

here the president or

foreign minister you would

think that there's

communication there has to be

communication. on the T

helicopters You would think

normally with the president

that there would be backup

communication, but

not necessarily unlike this

country part of the

military. command and

control. Um, and he can

sometimes even be almost

relegated.

and that according to the

Constitution but in fact

almost relegated to

civilians to to to like a

figurehead if the supreme

leader come and he chooses

because so much power is a

mass in that supreme

leader. Who's very very

aging so it is strange

even in foggy conditions

that they can't seem and

would be troubling if you

care about their health and

it's hard to given the

amount of deaths around

the region. Arab Israeli.

American British Etc. leads

to that regime, but it's

it it it's strange that

they're not able to locate

or confirm that they're

alive. Even that is

strange and that makes me

doubt that they're still

alive or they're in at all

good condition. and

let's talk about a a Ron's.

Uh role in the ongoing.

war between Israel and Hamas

we have seen recently

Iran growing Bolder. uh in

their attacks typically as

as you know they use

proxies could this incident?

impact? that strategy at

all. Yes, I really do