By Press TV Staff Writer
In an interview with the Press TV website, Anthony Donovan, a US-based author, activist and political campaigner, said the corporations that make up the American war machine have "increasingly taken over" the country's foreign policy.
“There are corporations and powers that want the oil and gas reserves in Iran. Period,” he noted.
Donovan, a longtime Associate Member of Veterans For Peace, spoke with the bluntness of someone who has watched the same cycle repeat for decades. He did not frame the danger as uniquely tied to one man in the White House, even if Donald Trump now occupies it.
“I do not spend much time thinking about Trump or listening to what he says,” he says. “In New York City, we have known him for 40 years. He will lie and cheat whenever he needs to.”
What concerns Donovan more is the machinery surrounding the presidency. The War Department (previously known as the Department of Defense) has become detached from democratic oversight and public will, he stated.
The US-based veteran activist further noted that the same corporations have also increasingly taken over “the land and the ideals of a democracy that I still cherish.”
That takeover, Donovan remarked, is visible in budgets and weapons stockpiles, with trillions being poured into nuclear arms modernization at a time when the public is neither consulted nor informed.
“These corporations/Pentagon/representatives are building swiftly, at the cost of trillions, more nuclear weapons, when the citizens here stood up to get rid of them all in the 1970's and 80's,” he told the Press TV website.
“Now, without any democratic process, without media, the public being informed or involved, they are endangering all life, increasing the debt of our citizens.”
He did not mince words about the consequences, saying it "makes no sense" and it is "criminal.”
The current standoff with Iran after Trump announced a military buildup in the Persian Gulf region, Donovan believes, fits squarely into this pattern.
President Trump has oscillated between overt military threats and calls for negotiations, at one point boasting of a “beautiful armada” moving toward Iran. The threats come as US forces joined Israeli illegal strikes on Iran in June and targeted nuclear facilities safeguarded under international law.
Donovan firmly rejected the Western media narrative of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
“Iran has shown the world a respect for law, for human life, for diplomacy,” he says. “Iran has shown tremendous restraint and has been very unfairly disrespected for such human wisdom.”
One of the latest false narratives came following the recent unrest. Economic hardship caused by years of Western sanctions recently sparked peaceful protests across Iran.
Authorities acknowledged the legitimacy of the grievances, but the demonstrations were soon hijacked by armed groups backed by US and Israeli intelligence services, leading to deadly violence.
According to Iran’s Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs, more than 3,000 people were killed during the unrest, many of them civilians and bystanders.
For Donovan, these events are inseparable from foreign interference and long-standing pressure campaigns. “There are corporations and powers that want the oil and gas reserves in Iran. Period,” he noted. “They will make up any kind of narrative to get it.”
He speaks with visible emotion about the human cost. “My deepest condolences for the bombings in June,” he says. “And my deepest condolences to the CIA/Mossad-led violence that killed so many recently. Truly a grave tragedy, and my nation's leaders and War Department are, yes, responsible.”
The regional picture, he added, cannot be understood without addressing the Israeli regime’s role.
Asked about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s posture toward a wider war, Donovan was unequivocal. “You are correct,” he said when told some observers believe Netanyahu is eager for a US-Iran direct confrontation. “It has been obvious for years.”
“Israel's leadership currently should be imprisoned for war crimes as should our leading officials who have supported this horror,” he remarked, referring to the two years of Israeli genocidal war on Gaza that has killed more than 71,700 Palestinians.
Accountability, he insisted, must be universal. “Israel must be sanctioned to come into compliance with international law. No more apartheid. Muslims, Jews, Christians, atheists, and others, living together.
He placed Gaza at the center of the moral crisis confronting the region — and the United States.
Despite mass protests at home, he noted that the US military and financial support for Israel has continued unabated. “We have filled the streets for two years to stop our genocide in Palestine,” he said. “The money flows, as does our military assistance.”
Donovan has long argued for a radically different approach to Iran. “I have long advocated for lifting the sanctions on Iran and becoming allies,” he asserted, calling it a practical and humane alternative to endless confrontation.
“There are strong elements in Israel and the US that refuse this practical and wise vision,” he rued, saying these elements view Israel as a strategic foothold rather than a partner in peace.
“Israel is seen as some kind of foothold of control for the region, when it has only led to grave suffering and destruction.”
Donovan said he does not wish to see an American or an Iranian killed over this. At the same time, he affirmed Iran’s right to self-defense, saying the country has “every right to destroy any threat” to its nation from the region nearby.
Iran has already “given fair warning” and “options,” noted the US-based activist, as Iranian officials have strongly warned that any aggression on its soil will be met with a swift and crushing response against US assets across the region.
As the drums of war grow louder — amplified by corporate interests, geopolitical rivalries, and the devastation in Gaza — Donovan remains committed to resistance.
“I will continue to do all and everything I can to stop the lies and the sheer destruction, murder, insanity of war,” he told the Press TV website.
His final words returned to Iran itself, not as a target, but as a place and a people.
“Iran’s history is astounding,” he said with a hint of admiration. “Iran is a tremendously beautiful land and people. I greatly hope to return and that others get to know Iran more. I felt tremendous joy and was most blessed and honored to be so welcomed.”
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