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The Reckoning - Iran, America, Israel, and War Podcast

The Reckoning - Iran, America, Israel, and War Podcast

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For nearly one-half of a century, the Islamic Republic of Iran made war, on different levels, against Israel and America. The war was conducted surreptitiously and overtly, boldly and timidly, militarily and non-militarily, conventionally and, usually, uncoventionally. The attacks came from guns and bombs and words and funding. But the attacks continued. The Reckoning podcast examines the men and women behind this drama. What is Iran's argument with Israel and America? Why such passion? All this and more is the subject of this podcast.

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  • The Reckoning - Iran, America, Israel, and War - A Tale of Two Persians

    The Reckoning - Iran, America, Israel, and War - A Tale of Two Persians
    Apr 20 2026
    Hello and welcome to The Reckoning - Iran, America, Israel, and War. Its author is Mark Silinsky, president of Kensington Security Consulting. This episode is titled "A Tale of Two Persians." It drills into the story of a very fashionable, if emotionally unstable, Iranian woman who is being defenestrated by U.S. immigration officials. She and her daughter have clearly worn out their welcome in the United States. It also examines the confusing case of a cancer researcher linked by blood to the Laranjani clan in Iran. Both women hail from Iranian revolutionary royalty. Hamideh Soleimani Afshar, 47, and her 25-year-old daughter, Sarinasadat Hosseiny, have been in the news a lot lately. This scantily dressed pair is quite the fashion plates in Los Angeles. The two were issued deportation notices and are currently detained by ICE. So, what gives? In particular, who is Mom - Hamideh Soleimani Afshar? Why is she being deported? This is the answer offered by Secretary of State Marco Rubio: “Until recently, Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter were green card holders living lavishly in the United States. Afshar is the niece of the deceased Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani. She is also an outspoken supporter of the Iranian regime who celebrated attacks on Americans and referred to our country as the "Great Satan." This week, I terminated both Afshar and her daughter's legal status, and they are now in ICE custody, pending removal from the United States. The Trump Administration will not allow our country to become a home for foreign nationals who support anti-American terrorist regimes.” How did all this happen? Afshar entered the U.S. on a tourist visa in June 2015, was granted asylum in 2019, and obtained her green card in 2021. On the surface, she appeared to be a credible candidate. But when the surface was scratched, many problems emerged. In a 2025 naturalization application, Afshar disclosed that she had visited Iran four times since receiving her green card. “Her trips to Iran illustrate that her asylum claims were fraudulent,” a DHS official said. She also has an Iranian revolutionary pedigree. She is the niece of Gen. Qasem Soleimani, former commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's expeditionary force. Soleimani, known as “supermani,” was killed in a deadly 2020 U.S. airstrike. This was not necessarily disqualifying. But her shrill anti-American rhetoric seems to echo that of her uncle and the regime he fought for. According to the State Department, Soleimani Afshar, a prolific social media user, referred to the US as the “Great Satan” and celebrated attacks on US soldiers in the Middle East. The New York Post reported that Soleimani Afshar published messages of support for the Iranian regime, including since the ongoing war that started in February, and welcomed the appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei as supreme leader to take over from his father, who was killed on the first day of the US-Israel campaign. Then there is her temper. She is also hot-headed and prone to emotional outbursts. After she was incarcerated in a federal deportation center, she reached out to an old beau, who refused to take her call. He claimed she abused and kicked him. In his words, “I don’t want anything to do with her. She scares me. I was so afraid of her. She knows how to make herself seem like an angel, and you feel like the devil. I wanted someone to take her away – now it’s happened.” Perhaps her impulsivity stems from unresolved issues with her father, as this old boyfriend speculated. “She takes advantage of every man she knows. She was saying ‘I love you,’ but I was so afraid. She said I reminded her of her dad. All these years, I was suffering. I wanted to have my life back.” And be careful with her hair. Her LA hairdresser obtained a five-year restraining order against her, claiming she became unhinged and stalked him at his home. “Thank God,” he said, exasperated, upon hearing of her ice arrest. “That’s good. She’s a stalker.” Others who do not know her personally resent her perceived hypocrisy. She gives full-throated support to the Revolutionary regime, which would have little time for her shopping sprees on Rodeo Drive. Others, particularly Iranians who have built new homes in the United States, are part of Los Angeles’s thriving Iranian-American community, most of which views the Revolutionary regime as a toxic force. They cannot understand her cheerleading for a regime that might toss acid in her face if she wore the pink poodle dress she displays on her TikTok account. A neighbor said, “She also drove a black Tesla, which on Saturday was stuffed with luxury goods, including a Miss Dior bag, some Hermes cushions, a Sephora makeup bag, and another gray leather handbag in the front seat.” What do others think about the deportation? The Persian princess did not receive much support online. One Internet observer cautions, “Enter kooky, leftist ...
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    8 Min.
  • The Reckoning - Iran, America, Israel, and War

    The Reckoning - Iran, America, Israel, and War
    Apr 20 2026
    Hello from The Reckoning - Hamas, Israel, and America. The author is Mark Silinsky of Kensington Security Consulting, which provides education on national security. Today’s episode is called “Hizballah - When the Beepers Went Boom!” On September 17 2024, explosions rocked Lebanon and Syria. These were not rockets launched from aircraft or shells from naval ships or ground-based artillery. Instead, they seemed to come from hand-held pagers, but witnesses and observers were not sure. Most of the explosions took place in Beirut, a stronghold for Hizbollah. Soon, the connection between the pager and Hizbollah was clear. But what on earth was happening? Why did the beeps go bang? For many younger listeners, pagers are largely artifacts of the past. They belong to yesterday’s technology. Maybe their parents used them early in their careers. They appear in old TV shows from the 1980s and 1990s, when women had poofy hair, and men wore suspenders at the office. But today’s generation is the cell phone generation. So, what exactly are pagers? Pagers are handheld communication devices that display short text messages relayed over telephone lines by a central operator. They operate on radio waves rather than the Internet. This makes them harder to monitor, which, in turn, makes them popular with terrorist groups, including Hizbollah. Hizbollah turned to pagers after its leadership determined that cellphones were being monitored by Israeli intelligence. Israeli intelligence got wind of this intended switch in communications and saw it as an opportunity. It crafted an intelligence operation like no other and one likely to make a mark in the history of intelligence operations, because it is one hell of a story! And here it is. When Israelis heard about the planned bulk purchase of pagers, intelligence got to work. Technicians designed pagers with a battery that concealed a small but potent charge of plastic explosive and a one-of-a-kind, largely undetectable detonator. The Israeli pseudo-pager was significantly larger than other pagers to accommodate the mini-bomb. They crafted a marketing campaign to incite would-be Hizballah purchasers. Sure, the pager was bulkier, but that was because it was combat-tough – a real war pager. They dressed up the ads with military paraphernalia. But who would sell these pagers? Hizballah would not buy an Israeli pager or one connected to Israel. So Israel invented a company and the pager it claimed to sell. This company was BAC Consulting, ostensibly a Hungary-registered firm that partnered with a Taiwanese company, Gold Apollo. In fact, these were shell companies created by Israeli intelligence. But, BAC Consulting would have to appear credible. Why didn’t it have significant sales? Why haven’t more people heard of it? What is this company, anyway? It is not well-known because it has very few clients. After all, it was military-grade. BAC needed only one client – Hizballah. Hizballah took the bait and bought hundreds. Hizballah bought and distributed the pagers in the summer of 2022. The group’s technicians found nothing suspicious about the new product. Now, Israel would wait and wait for an opportune moment to kill and maim. The moment came when Israel claimed it had thwarted a Hizballah attempt to kill senior Israeli leaders in September 2024. When the Israeli attack struck, it did so like lightning. Hundreds of pagers exploded nearly simultaneously, killing dozens and maiming and disfiguring scores of others. While the largest number of casualties was in Beirut, many people were also wounded in the country's north and south. But, what were the mechanics of the attacks? Israeli intelligence sent a ring to each pager. The recipient then picked up the pager and, usually, saw the message “error.” This was followed by the message “Press OK,” which many did. This detonated the explosive inside the pager, usually killing or seriously injuring the victim. Many lost fingers, which were blown off. Many suffered severe facial scars and blindness because they held the pager close to their face to read the message. The facial scars will remain clearly visible. There was also psychological trauma. Mohammed Awada, 52, and his son were driving when the boy saw a pager explode. Awada said, “My son went crazy and started to scream when he saw the man’s hand flying away from him.” Elsewhere, a young girl, Fatima, had just come from school when she answered her father’s pager. The explosion killed the 9-year-old girl. How reliable are the stories reported by journalists? Some are certainly fabricated or exaggerated. However, local hospitals treated people of all ages. Lebanese government officials and Hezbollah were quick to blame Israel. "After examining all the facts, available data, and information regarding the heinous attack this afternoon, we hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression.” The following day, hundreds of ...
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    9 Min.
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