The Take: Can Trump strip Musk, Mamdani and others of their US citizenship?
In this episode:
Heba Gowayed (@hebagowayed) – Professor of sociology, CUNY Hunter College and Graduate Center
Episode credits:
This episode was produced by Tracie Hunte, Tamara Khandaker and Diana Ferrero with Phillip Lanos, Spencer Cline, Kisaa Zehra, Melanie Marich, Sarí el-Khalili, and our host, Manuel Rapalo. It was edited by Kylene Kiang.
Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad al-Melhem. Alexandra Locke is The Take's executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera's head of audio.
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2 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Iran ready for war with Israel, will not halt nuclear programme: Pezeshkian
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian has said his country is prepared for any war Israel might wage against it, adding he was not optimistic about the ceasefire between the countries, while confirming Tehran is committed to continuing its nuclear programme for peaceful purposes. Pezeshkian made the comments in an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera aired on Wednesday, which was the Iranian leader's first televised interview since the end of the 12-day conflict with Israel last month, in which the United States intervened on Israel's behalf, launching strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities. The comments come as Western nations say they are seeking a solution to Iran's ongoing nuclear ambitions in the wake of the conflict, amid reports that strikes on its nuclear facilities were less damaging than claimed by Washington. 'We are fully prepared for any new Israeli military move, and our armed forces are ready to strike deep inside Israel again,' Pezeshkian told Al Jazeera. Iran was not relying on the ceasefire that ended the 12-day war to hold, he said. 'We are not very optimistic about it,' said Pezeshkian. 'That is why we have prepared ourselves for any possible scenario and any potential response. Israel has harmed us, and we have also harmed it. It has dealt us powerful blows, and we have struck it hard in its depths, but it is concealing its losses.' He added that Israel's strikes, which assassinated leading military figures and nuclear scientists, and damaged nuclear facilities, had sought to 'eliminate' Iran's hierarchy, 'but it has completely failed to do so'. More than 900 people were killed in Iran, large numbers of them civilians, and at least 28 people were killed in Israel before a ceasefire took hold on June 24. Enrichment programme will continue Pezeshkian said Iran would continue its uranium enrichment programme despite international opposition, saying the development of its nuclear abilities would be carried out 'within the framework of international laws'. '[US President Donald] Trump says that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon and we accept this because we reject nuclear weapons and this is our political, religious, humanitarian and strategic position,' he said. 'We believe in diplomacy, so any future negotiations must be according to a win-win logic, and we will not accept threats and dictates.' He said the claim from Trump 'that our nuclear programme is over is just an illusion'. 'Our nuclear capabilities are in the minds of our scientists and not in the facilities,' he said. Pezeshkian's comments echoed earlier remarks by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who said in an interview with US broadcaster Fox News aired Monday that Tehran would never abandon its uranium enrichment programme, but was open to a negotiated solution to its nuclear ambitions, in which it would guarantee that the programme was for peaceful purposes in response for the lifting of sanctions. Israel sought to 'overthrow' leadership Pezeshkian also addressed an attempt by Israel to assassinate him at a meeting of the Supreme National Security Council in Tehran on June 15, which was reported to have left him with minor injuries. Asked about the assassination attempt, he said it had been part of a plan by Israeli commanders to target Iran's political leadership in the wake of its assassination of senior military figures, in a bid 'to put the country into chaos in order to overthrow it completely'. But the plan had failed, he said. He also stressed that Tehran's strikes on Qatar's Al Udeid base in the wake of US attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities had not been an attack on Qatar and its people. 'We do not even have a thought or imagination that there should be hostility or rivalry between us and the state of Qatar,' he said, adding that he had called Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on the day of the strikes to explain his position. 'I say clearly and honestly that we did not attack the State of Qatar, but we attacked a base for America that bombed our country while all our intentions towards Qatar and its people are good and positive.' Talks with European powers to resume Araghchi said on Monday that Iran's Atomic Energy Organization is still evaluating how the attacks last month had affected Iran's enriched material, saying Tehran would soon inform the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of its findings. He said Iran had not stopped cooperation with the IAEA, adding that any request for the IAEA to send inspectors back to Iran would be 'carefully considered'. IAEA inspectors left Iran earlier this month after Pezeshkian signed a law suspending cooperation with the agency. Meanwhile, talks are set to take place between Iran, France, Germany and the UK in Turkiye on Friday. The three European parties to the former Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which Tehran signed with several world powers in 2015 before the US pulled out in 2018, have said Tehran's failure to resume negotiations would lead to international sanctions being reimposed on it.
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Trump team seeks meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell amid Epstein pressure
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Al Jazeera
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Columbia University in the United States has imposed severe punishments, including expulsion, suspension from courses and revocation of academic degrees, on dozens of students who participated in protests against Israel's war on Gaza. The student activist group Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), which has called for the school to cut all financial ties with Israel, said in a statement that nearly 80 students have now been either expelled or suspended for up to three years over their involvement in antiwar protests. On Tuesday, Columbia said in a statement that its latest punishment of students relates to 'disruption of Butler Library in May 2025 and the encampment during Alumni Weekend in spring 2024″. 'Disruptions to academic activities are in violation of University policies and rules, and such violations will necessarily generate consequences,' the university wrote. The CUAD group said the university's sanctions on students 'hugely exceed precedent for teach-ins or non-Palestine-related building occupations'. 'We will not be deterred. We are committed to the struggle for Palestinian liberation,' the group added. The pro-Palestinian student encampments at Columbia University in 2024 helped ignite a global movement against Israel's unrelenting war on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The protest sites were eventually broken up when Columbia University allowed hundreds of New York City police officers on campus, leading to dozens of arrests. Despite the university's harsh crackdowns, student protesters occupied the Butler Library during final exams in May this year, demanding divestment from companies linked to the Israeli military and expressing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. Columbia University's Judicial Board confirmed it issued expulsions, suspensions and degree revocations after what it called a disruption during 'reading period'. It did not say how many students were expelled but said that this was 'the final set of findings from that period'. The Ivy League university is in negotiations with US President Donald Trump's administration to restore some $400m in federal funding. The Trump administration cut funds to the New York City-based institution over what it claimed were failures to 'meaningfully protect Jewish students against severe and pervasive harassment'. Columbia's acting president, Claire Shipman, a former trustee, was booed by students during a May graduation ceremony for her role in cracking down on pro-Palestinian protests. Fellow Ivy League institution Harvard University, which has also been targeted with billions in funding cuts by the government, has pushed back against pressure to change its policies by taking the Trump administration to court. The latest disciplinary measures announced by Columbia against students came on Tuesday as Israel's siege on the Gaza Strip continued to cause widespread starvation, with at least 15 people, including a six-week-old baby, dying from hunger and malnutrition within a 24-hour period, according to health officials. Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University protest leader targeted for deportation by the Trump administration, met with lawmakers in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, more than a month after he was released from immigration custody in Louisiana, where he was being held amid a pledge by the US president to deport pro-Palestinian activists.
