Iranian academic Mohammad Marandi, a professor at University of Tehran, said that Iran’s military capabilities are primarily directed at the United States, not Israel, warning that a future full-scale conflict would devastate global energy supplies.
Speaking on a January 13, 2026 episode of the Counter Currents podcast, Marandi claimed that Iran’s missile, drone, naval, and other military systems— which he said proved “very effective” during the 12-day war with Israel — are mainly designed for operations in the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean. According to Marandi, these capabilities are focused on confronting the US military presence and targeting countries that host American bases in and around the Persian Gulf.
Marandi warned that in the event of what he described as a “real war,” countries hosting US forces would be considered “complicit” and would themselves become legitimate targets. He added that such a conflict would bring an end to oil and gas flows from the Middle East and the Caucasus, triggering what he described as an unavoidable global economic meltdown.
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