What is the Strait of Hormuz and why it's important

Dr. Glen Duerr of Cedarville U. says much more intelligence is needed before anyone can safely say things have settled down in Iran

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, ten minutes after seven o'clock, I want to

(00:02):
check in on the Legacy Retirement Group dot com phone line.
Doctor Glenn Duer one of the best guys on these
kind of topics. Professor of International Studies at Cedarville University,
Doctor dor you probably got whip lash yesterday trying to
follow along with everything going on in the Middle East.
Was midday we learned about the Iranian strike on the
military base in Katar. There were no casualties reported there,

(00:26):
so you know, you're thinking, oh boy, here we go,
here's the retaliation. And then last night President Trump announced
a ceasefire between Israel and Iran after that attack. So
your overall thoughts before we kind of get into this
and unpack it.

Speaker 2 (00:41):
It's good news for now in terms of a ceasefire
ending a twelve day conflict and aerial conflict between Israel
and Iran with also the United States involved, So that's
all good news for now. Israel has already accused Iran
of violating the ceasefire and not signing onto it, so
we'll have to see what today brings because there could

(01:03):
be more whiplash. But it's also worth noting the existential
threats that are not finished yet. And while I imagine
that significant damage was done to Iran's nuclear program, it's
worth noting that their nuclear program is unlike some of
the others Iraq or Syria or Libya. Iran's nuclear program

(01:25):
encompasses over one hundred and thirty different sites, and so
I do think significant damage has been done, but more
intelligence is needed on to the point to which their
program has been decimated. The other existential issue is it
allows the Iranian autocratic regime to continue, and at some

(01:48):
point there will be further death to Israel and death
to America. Chance and if there is weakening of that
regime internally, and I believe that is significant, one of
the ways that they act out is to go off
to Israel again, and so we'll have to keep an
eye on that, and it could be for the whiplash
on this.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
With regard to the cease fire, explain to me the
terms of it. Under that plan, Iran was to stop
firing six hours after the announcement. Israel was to stop
firing any missile attacks twelve hours later. It was sort
of a phased in cease fire. Why do they do it?

(02:29):
Why did they do it that way? What was the
purpose instead of saying you're both done as of right now,
stop launching missiles.

Speaker 2 (02:37):
It's done in order to appease internal audiences and to say, look,
we've got the upper hand on this. And so for Iran,
what keeps its regime and power is often its external abilities,
and so giving around the opportunity to fire again. Trump

(03:02):
actually thanked Daran for giving heads up on the LED
base attack in Qatar, and US was able to neutralize
everything and there were no casualties and no injuries for Israel. Similarly,
it's to say, look, we're in command of our own sovereignty.
We are going to take matters into our own hands,

(03:24):
and we are going to have the ability to knock
out any further nuclear institutions within this time frame. And
so it's done in order to appease those internal audiences
and to try and finish what was left within the
strategic game plan of the conflict.

Speaker 1 (03:46):
Doctor Glenn do Our, professor of International Studies, Cedarville University,
joining us this morning on WTV. And so, the goal
with the bunker buster bomb attack the other day by
the US was to eliminate or damage severely the nuclear
sites in Iran. You know you mentioned regime change. Is

(04:09):
that is that really the underlying goal, because it seems
like you can eliminate all of the nuclear facilities you want,
but if those who are in power remain in power,
it doesn't seem like much will change.

Speaker 2 (04:24):
Indeed, that's a central point. So if we look at
around the ninety two million people, but it's also a
very very young population. The median age is under thirty
and the population has been rising very very quickly. It's
not a homogeneous country. Roughly two thirds of the population

(04:44):
speaks Farsi and it's ethnically Persian, but there are a
lot of ethnic minorities, especially around the periphery and borders
with other countries. And this regime has long been fairly
weak and not parted a by the young people, that
be by the ethnic minorities, but also within Tehran, the

(05:06):
capital city and other strongholds, we're seeing a lot of
people leaving Shia Islam. This is actually a place where Tehran,
where Evangelical Christianity is rising the fastest in the world,
and it's really a remarkable thing to say. And it
also showcases a regime that is old, it's fragile, Not

(05:29):
many people like it, but it has a lot of
power and a nuclear weapons program, and that's where the
tension is right now, especially with Israel.

Speaker 1 (05:38):
Doctor Glenn Door, Cedarville University. Do you we haven't heard
much from the allies of Iran and that is China
and Russia. They've been kind of quiet during this Is
that surprising to you? It is that troubling to you?

Speaker 2 (05:53):
What do you think the crink countries that is China, Russia,
Iran and North Korea are really in an alliance right now.
China's been pretty quiet and that has been a surprise
to me. But they did like cargo planes bowing seven
four sevens over Iran prior to the US bunker buster attacks,

(06:18):
and so that's going to be an important piece of
information to know what's happening there. Russia has been outspoken,
but through Dmitri Midvidev, who was the former prime minister
and what effectively he's effectively used by Vladimir Putin as
an attack dog to say things that Pudin doesn't want
to say publicly, and so he has made a number

(06:42):
of statements pushing back against the United States, and Russia
is also trying to work at the UN Security Council
to redress some of these issues. But it's falling flat
because simply they're making statements about unprovoked attacks when they've
done an awful lot more in Ukraine, and so it's

(07:04):
backfiring on them to some degree. But that's how Russia's
getting around it. It's using their attack dog outside of
the direct coot in Line to make statements about this