Vijay Prashad, Zulfiqar Ali: The Wrong Regime Changed; Trump’s Defeat; Putin’s Call; Iran’s Nuclear Card
by Transition Protocol [11-7-2026] Vijay Prashad(bio).
The war was supposed to topple Tehran. Trump lost Congress instead — and two days later, Iran’s security chief was in the Kremlin. Vijay Prashad, speaking from Kenya, on Putin’s call, Iran’s nuclear card and what Tehran really gained; host Zulfiqar Ali brings what his source inside the room says came first.
In Prashad’s words: “If I was Iran… I would not put the nuclear issue on the table at all.” And: “If Iran does decide to create a nuclear shield… people around the world in the Global South will cheer for Iran.” And: “It’s also erroneous to say Iran defeated the United States… So it had a strategic victory.”
- 12:08 The 2 November call: sources tell Transition Protocol Putin placed it, and it ran 95 minutes.
- 25:48 The Kremlin confirms: Rezaei flew to Moscow to meet Putin.
- 10:56 “If I was Iran… I would not put the nuclear issue on the table at all.”
What you’ll learn: why Trump and Vance tied the midterm defeat to the Iran war; what Iran’s seven conditions are and why sequencing decides the deal; why the lame-duck weeks to January may be dangerous; what the Russia–Iran treaty does and does not commit; why Africa is paying for the war, and the corridor Prashad proposes.
Sourcing note: The Kremlin confirmed the 5 November meeting; Iranian state media reported the 2 November call and the Leader’s message, whose contents have not been published. The call’s length, who placed it and the follow-up calls from China and Pakistan are our host’s sourcing and cannot be independently verified. Our host’s remarks on Russian missile assistance are his sourcing and have no public confirmation. Mohsen Rezaei is Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and a former IRGC commander.
Public record: Republicans lost the House and the Senate on 3 November; Trump said “I think a part of it was Iran”; Vance said “The reason we lost is the war.” The Russia–Iran treaty was signed on 17 January 2025 and entered into force on 2 October 2025. The African Development Bank approved up to $5.1 billion for energy and fertilizer shocks in September.