Is Iran the 'Leading State Sponsor of Terrorism?' (w/ John Kiriakou) | The Chris Hedges Report

About this episode

Chris Hedges interviews John Kiriakou about the US designation of Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism and the implications of such labels in foreign policy.

In an attempt to justify and garner popular support for the American-Israeli war on Iran, the Trump administration is pressuring its allied nations to join the US in designating Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps as the world’s greatest sponsor of state terrorism. The administration points to Iran’s participation in the Axis of Resistance, which includes Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Palestine and Ansar Allah in Yemen, as evidence for its position. This raises the question of whether Iran, by supporting proxy organizations, is doing anything differently from what US intelligence agencies have done for many decades. To answer this question, Chris Hedges speaks with John Kiriakou, a former CIA analyst and counterterrorism operations officer who worked in West Asia. Kiriakou is known for blowing the whistle on the CIA’s torture program, for which he was the sixth person convicted under the Espionage Act. In this interview, Kiriakou makes the distinction between organizations that carry out terrorism and those that are fighting for national liberation from foreign oppressors. Kiriakou explains that throughout recent history, many countries or organizations backed by the United States…

People in this episode

Host: Chris Hedges

Guest: John Kiriakou

Topics covered

• Iran
• terrorism
• US foreign policy
• national liberation
• proxy organizations
• CIA
• Middle East

Keywords

• Iran
• terrorism
• US foreign policy
• John Kiriakou
• CIA
• Hezbollah
• Hamas
• Ansar Allah
• national liberation
• proxy warfare

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: CIA, Hezbollah, Hamas, Ansar Allah

Places: Iran, United States, Israel

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