TEHRAN- In an exclusive interview with the Tehran Times, esteemed Bulgarian analyst Stanislav Bachev underscored Iran's pivotal role within the West Asian region and reiterated that Iran stands as a nation “already awakened,” emphasizing its significance on the geopolitical stage.

Following is the full text of the interview:

Q: What impact has Operation True Promise had on the geopolitical dynamics of West Asia? 

A: It changed the overall idea of who gets ahead. Who has the stronger hand as in playing cards or chess. As I said Iran is practically reshaping the Middle East in terms of influence. But you have your own levels of confrontation with other states which share the same idea of getting influence here in the Middle East. Here, what you did was to make faster the historical process. You are making it run faster in your regional level. What happened practically last month you showed that if it is not the United States, Israel can not just withstand. This is why the U.S. does not desire getting deeper into this conflict. Because it is not in their national interest. But they are too entangled with Israel because a huge part of the U.S. government is comprised of Jews. This is not something bad, I do not say it in a bad manner but it is something that influences the process. The common Jewish people can not be blamed the same way that the Palestinian people can not be blamed but they suffer the same what proves this theory is that they (Israeli commoners) protest against their prime minister (Benjamin Netanyahu).

Q: How do you assess Israel’s response to Iran’s direct attack on the occupied territories? Do you think it was a success or a failed attempt at trying to restore the regime’s deterrence? 

A: Well, it (Israel's response) was more like a commercial response, symbolic response, just to show face in front of its supporters internally. It was surely discussed with the U.S. We can suspect that but it is obvious that the U.S. did not sanction a full-scale answer because it would lead to grave danger for everyone which is why they answered symbolically. It was a failure because Israel practically lost public opinion. I do not mean the mass media opinion the big media opinion but the public opinion the opinion of the masses. They (the masses) side with Palestine because they see the genocide.

Q: Do you anticipate Operation True Promise having any long-term consequences for relations between Arab nations and Israel? 

A: Well, we were observing a process of warming the relations between the Arabs and Israel before October 2023, but since the Israeli actions in Palestine and more Israeli actions against Iran’s consulate, against your military people, civilians, etc, this process of warming stopped which is a strategic loss for Israel because the Arabs to me they now in this conflict they need more time to understand the difference between money and history. You ( Iran) obviously remember and know the difference between gaining more money and preserving yourselves. So finally, I think the Arabs, those of them who do not support Iran in a more obvious way, in time they will recognize their mistake because there are things more important than just money. Yes, money drives the world but cultures and religions drive the world too.

Q: When do you believe Israel will end its military offensive in the Gaza Strip? 

A: This is what keeps their government alive. As long as there is a conflict, their politicians are safe. Otherwise, the Israelis themselves would throw them away. This is maybe one of the hardest questions when will this conflict (Israeli genocidal campaign in the Gaza Strip) be solved? because it is a thousand-year conflict this is the kingdom of heaven on earth conflict. We must remember the price of blood and this is the highest price normally someone who has spilled each other’s blood knows the price and too much blood has been spilled. It's time to remember. 

Q: What are your observations on Operation Al-Aqsa Storm? Do you believe it has helped Palestinians get closer to the liberation of their Homeland or that it has worsened their situation? 

A: Well, this matter should be reviewed on a broader scale in the frame of this global change in the world. We see that we live in a time where change of territories and the power over them is being legitimized. So, we have several precedents. First, Kosovo in 2008, then Crimea in 2014, then Donbas in 2022, and now we are about to see more territorial changes in Europe. I mean the former territory of Ukraine.

The Palestinian issue is a 100-years-old and the logic says that this operation if we put it in this context, shows that the Palestinian cause will lead to overall legitimized state of Palestine as an equal country in the world, which is to me a long-term goal.

Q: What are your thoughts on the recent political move by the United States to halt the recognition of Palestine as an independent nation?

A: The U.S. will have to learn things in the hard way because obviously, they are not mature enough for the moment to appreciate what is happening. They are a fairly young nation they have their own internal problems. They are the first imperial crisis as an empire so they must first resolve their own problems inside which are huge and then if they learned how to grow as a country and as a nation, they would understand the Middle East, because now neither Democrats nor the Republicans do not understand the Middle East. 

I share the opinion that if Donald Trump wins the election, which I consider unlikely, but if he wins, things will not get better because there are people and fairly famous people (experts) who say things will change if Trump comes to power but if you remember, it was the Trump administration that sanctioned the killing of General Soleimani. It was the Trump administration that recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel which led to a huge crisis and these events are connected with each other. They lead to all of these operations happening now. You can not side that way, I mean for Jerusalem, you can not take a side like that ignoring all of the histories behind it all of the blood that has been spilled. So, things will happen but in the hard way.

Q: What is your take on the backing extended by American presidents to Tel Aviv? 

A: As I said earlier, there is nothing that the U.S. won’t do for Israel. This is something that is huge in the picture. Israel has enormous influence inside the U.S. elite.  Just see which are their top figures in their big media, what is their ancestry, the treasury of the state, the internal department, the foreign department, national security advisors, etc… They have the same root, what can we expect?

Q: Is it not a matter of concern that the White House is providing an excessive level of support to Israel, with demonstrations erupting within the U.S. over its backing for Israel?

A: They are even to pay more. I will give you an example from the economic level of confrontation. In the last months, the Houthis successfully and practically stopped the economic flow to the Eilat port of Israel which is the most important trade port. If Iran decides it can practically stop the whole from the Hormuz Strait to the way to the Suez Canal. It’s a huge amount of percents on the world economy. So, this confrontation has many levels economic, political, and cultural, and all of them lead to the weakening of the West because the West is too dependent and they just ignore the last 30 years being too vain. And you (Iran) are learning the process, not just you China and Russia too. 

Q: What are your thoughts on the recent protests at American universities?
 
A: Yes, these protests show what I said that the U.S. and the Israeli political elite have lost public opinion. You might try to suffocate the thoughts of people their actions their opinions, but it is like a Boyle effect in Physics, if you have a bowl full of pressure there and you put it down deep in the water when you remove your hand, the bowl jumps above the water. This is the same thing big media suppress and suffocate the opinions but what we saw in the U.S. universities was a circle of Muslims praying and above that circle was a circle of Christians protecting them. This means that public opinion sides with justice. This is the answer. They might try to stop things, but you can not stop the real history and there is another aspect which is important too. These protests were expected, they are not a surprise to me but what is more important is that these protests showed the real face of the political elites of the U.S. They showed that when you try to physically stop these protests, you show that you do not have democracy. When you stop YouTube channels, when you stop Twitter channels, TikTok, this shows that you are not interested in truth but you are interested in your own truth. But ultimately truth finds its way to reveal itself.

By Alireza Akbari