Quote of the day

“We’re gonna send some more weapons to Ukraine. We have to. They have to be able to defend themselves. They’re getting hit very hard.”

That’s how President Trump answered reporter questions about the Russo-Ukraine war during a dinner with Israel’s visiting prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Interviews with autocrats

As Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu was arriving at the White House for his third 2025 visit with President Trump, former Fox host Tucker Carlson jumped on that rare kind of Zoom call that maybe couldn’t have been an email: a chat with Iran’s President Pezeshkian. 

With all the translation, the interview barely lasted 29 minutes, leaving little space for the kinds of viral zingers Carlson likes to milk, but it’s still worth a look given the stakes.

So here are the five top quotes:  

1. "It was not the United States that was behind the attempt on my life. It was Israel."

The Iranian president went on to specify, “I was in a meeting … they tried to bombard the area in which we were holding that meeting”.

Israel’s airstrikes killed at least six Iranian generals and nuclear scientists — maybe Pezeshkian was nearby? Or maybe, given President Trump had asked the Israelis not to hit the ayatollah, they just went for his underling president instead? Israel hasn’t commented.

But unsurprisingly, Pezeshkian also denied US allegations that Iran had ordered a hit on Trump — it’s not the kind of thing world leaders typically fess up to, and we’d just note Iran’s revolutionary guards don’t answer to the president, but to his boss (the ayatollah).

So for us, this quote was more interesting as an example of the president’s approach with Carlson: shift blame to Israel in an attempt to wedge the two allies. Speaking of which…

2. "It was Netanyahu that destroyed these talks."

We’ve written previously about the apparent gap opening between Trump and Bibi, and Pezeshkian really seemed intent on prying that open further, this time around nuclear talks: Trump was always willing to give dialogue a go, whereas Bibi (and others) felt the Iranians were just stringing the world along again. So painting Iran as still open to talks makes strategic sense for Pezeshkian, whether sincere or not.

And that’s the headline (Iran open to talks!) most Iranian outlets have now carried about the interview, backed up by a formal note delivered via Oman (the de-facto mediator).

3. "Netanyahu, as I said, has his own agenda. He wants to drag the US into forever wars."

Forever wars. That term ring a bell? President Trump cited it often on the campaign trail, pledging to keep the US out of any more prolonged military engagements — it appealed to his peacemaker branding, protectionist parts of his base, and an exhausted public.

So it’s no accident the Iranian president — switching to English — used that same phrase here. Though in a case of cosmic timing, Iran’s Houthi proxies then attacked and sank a cargo ship in the Red Sea, forcing the civilian crew to abandon ship.

4. “We have never been after developing a nuclear bomb… it is religiously forbidden for us to go after a nuclear bomb."

We’re no journalists, but maybe some cool follow-up questions might’ve been, you know… if it’s forbidden, why did Iran have an active nuclear weapons program (Project Amad) until at least 2003? Was the ayatollah wrong in his theology back then? Or is he wrong in his theology now? And so could a future ayatollah just pivot again? Or is the president here just telling a Westerner what he wants to hear? 

5. "We realised that Israel gets information from the inspections carried out by the IAEA."

That’s Pezeshkian on why Iran has suspended cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog (the IAEA), leading the agency to pull a team of specialists out of the country last Friday. And all while pursuing the same wedge strategy as above: this is Israel’s fault.

Intrigue’s Take

One final bonus quote, this time from Tucker Carlson himself:

• “Mister President, why were you enriching uranium 20 to 30 times above the level required for any kind of innocent civilian usage?”

Hah, got you. Carlson never asked that. But wouldn’t it have been great if he did? Because ultimately, that fact (along with a few other ‘undeclared activity’ alarm bells) was the clincher in the IAEA’s latest report that seemingly halted the dialogue route.

But maybe the absence of this question can help us understand why folks like Pezeshkian and Putin, refusing just about any Western media interview request, will still say yes to Carlson. He still has a big reach across parts of the West, has become increasingly sceptical around the use of US power abroad, and approaches his interviews accordingly.

Sound even smarter:

• The IAEA chief, Argentine diplomat Rafael Grossi, is reportedly considering a run for the top UN secretary-general job, with the current UN boss (Portugal’s Antonio Guterres) due to wrap up in December next year.

• Since this Iran-Israel war ended, there are reports Iran has now received surface-to-air missiles from China, paid for in oil shipments.

Intrigue presents:

As seen in The Economist and Stratechery…

Meet the physicist, engineer, and fellow Intriguer now making fuel out of thin air: it’s the legendary founder of Terraform Industries, Dr Casey Handmer.

Don’t miss our chat with Casey! It’s online, this Thursday at noon ET! Join here!

Meanwhile, elsewhere…

Extra Intrigue

What people around the world are googling

• Folks in 🇰🇭 Cambodia looked up ‘Japan Earthquake’ after some 900 quakes hit a remote island chain over the last couple of weeks. 

• 🇻🇪 Venezuelan rock fans googled ‘Ozzy Osbourne Black Sabbath’ after the band and its frontman played what they say will be their last show in Birmingham, UK.

• 🇧🇻 And Netizens in Norway searched for ‘Tesla stocks’ after the EV-maker’s share price plunged when the US president dismissed Elon Musk’s new political party.

Tweet of the day

We don’t know who's behind the Kerala Tourism X account, but we know they need a raise. This cheeky tweet makes use of the unexpectedly long stay in India’s beautiful Kerala state by a British F-35B fighter jet, which has been stranded at the local Thiruvananthapuram airport since making an emergency landing there last month.

A team of 14 UK engineers arrived on Monday to figure out how to get the jet home, but it remains a minor local attraction in the meantime.

Today’s poll

Yesterday’s poll: What are the best examples of sports diplomacy you've seen?

🇿🇦 South Africa's post-apartheid rugby world cup (50%)
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia's big golf play (9%)
🇨🇳 Beijing's 2008 Olympics (27%)
🇰🇪 Kenya's marathon dominance (8%)
✍️ Other (write in!) (5%)

Your two cents:

• 🇿🇦 Clayton Swart: “That rugby tournament was truly a huge moment for South Africa and the world to witness how sport can help to unite a polarised nation. As a co-author of the book, 90: The Mandela Years, I was in high school at the time and fondly remember the wild celebrations of this most famous Springboks win that played out on our streets across the country. ”

• 🇨🇳 D.L: “Who can forget the Beijing opening ceremony? Its glitter and hypnotic performances imprinted a new image of China onto the rest of the world.”

• ✍️ M.D: “1972 Canada-USSR Summit Hockey Series. There has never been anything as historically important (or exciting) since. I still get goose bumps!”

• ✍️ M.O: “Ivory Coast football player Didier Drogba stopping a war in 2005.”