Western media portrayed Iran’s protests as a democratic uprising crushed by state violence. But behind the headlines lies a familiar regime change playbook.

In this MintCast episode, Mnar Adley is joined from Tehran by Seyed Mohammad Marandi, professor at the University of Tehran, to examine how U.S.-funded NGOs, intelligence-linked narratives, and corporate media helped reframe economic protests into a foreign-backed destabilization campaign.

The conversation breaks down the role of Human Rights Activists in Iran, its funding by the National Endowment for Democracy, and the historical continuity between today’s information war and past CIA-led regime change operations in Iran.

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The United States has crossed a historic line.

After Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was kidnapped and flown to New York to face collapsing drug charges, Washington’s regime-change strategy has entered a dangerous new phase.

MintPress director Mnar Adley is joined by Caracas-based journalist Diego Sequera to break down the legal farce behind the case, the role of a compromised U.S. witness, and why Trump’s revival of the Monroe Doctrine is provoking outrage across Venezuela and the wider region.

This is a first-hand account from inside a country under siege, and a warning about what comes next.

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What would happen if Russia or China abducted the sitting president of the United States? Emergency U.N. sessions. Sanctions. Threats of war.

In this episode of Behind The Headlines, Mnar Adley examines why the forcible seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is being treated by Western media as a political development rather than a grave breach of international law. The episode breaks down U.S. sanctions policy, media narratives, historical precedents, and the broader geopolitical campaign against Venezuela and the Bolivarian Revolution.

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MintPress News is a fiercely independent. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.

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Journalist Ahmed Kaballo joins Mnar Adley to break down Sudan’s civil war, UAE’s gold operations, U.S. narratives on Nigeria, and the rise of anti-imperialist forces across Africa.

From RSF atrocities and foreign interference to Burkina Faso’s revolutionary model, this episode exposes the geopolitical struggle shaping the continent’s future.

Mnar Adley is an award-winning journalist and editor and is the founder and director of MintPress News. She is also president and director of the non-profit media organization Behind the Headlines. Adley also co-hosts the MintCast podcast and is a producer and host of the video series Behind The Headlines. Contact Mnar at mnar@mintpressnews.com or follow her on Twitter at @mnarmuh.

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Support the show

MintPress News is a fiercely independent. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.

Subscribe to MintCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud.

Also, be sure to check out the new Behind the Headlines channel on YouTube and subscribe to rapper Lowkey’s new video interview/podcast series, The Watchdog.

Saudi Arabia is pushing back against US and Israeli pressure, challenging Washington’s efforts to reshape the Middle East. From Gaza to Lebanon to the Red Sea, regional resistance is rising.

Joining host Mnar Adley is Sharmine Narwani, journalist and political analyst and editor of The Cradle. Narwani breaks down Saudi Arabia’s motivations, Israel’s escalating campaigns across the region, and Yemen’s unprecedented role in confronting Israeli expansion.

We also examine Israel’s mounting civilian toll in Gaza and Lebanon, the use of banned cluster munitions, and the economic crisis Israel faces as war debts mount.

Don’t miss this wide-angle look at shifting regional power, resistance dynamics, and why Saudi Arabia is no longer marching to Washington’s drum.

Watch the full episode here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyRzGS1TQJI

Support the show

MintPress News is a fiercely independent. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.

Subscribe to MintCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud.

Also, be sure to check out the new Behind the Headlines channel on YouTube and subscribe to rapper Lowkey’s new video interview/podcast series, The Watchdog.

The United States is racing toward nuclear annihilation while its empire crumbles from within. In this explosive interview, independent journalist Rachel Blevins exposes how Washington's imperial ambitions have backfired catastrophically: as the New START treaty expires in 2026, Trump threatens to resume nuclear testing while Russia deploys unstoppable weapons like the Oreshnik and Burevestnik.

Meanwhile, Zelensky begs for Tomahawk missiles that could trigger World War III, and in a shocking betrayal of reality, former Al-Qaeda leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, once with a $10 million bounty on his head, is now Syria's US-backed president, playing basketball with the very commanders who hunted him.

From rare earth mineral dominance to the Nord Stream bombing cover-up, Blevins reveals how US aggression has forged an unbreakable Russia-China-Iran alliance, accelerating the collapse of American unipolar power while ordinary Americans pay the price at grocery stores and gas pumps.

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Support the show

MintPress News is a fiercely independent. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.

Subscribe to MintCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud.

Also, be sure to check out the new Behind the Headlines channel on YouTube and subscribe to rapper Lowkey’s new video interview/podcast series, The Watchdog.

Sudan’s collapse isn’t a natural disaster — it’s a deliberate act of imperial design.

For decades, Washington has waged economic warfare and proxy conflicts to dismantle Sudan’s sovereignty. Now, with Israel and the UAE leading the charge, Sudan is being stripped of its gold, oil, and independence under the banner of “stability.”

In this episode, Mnar Adley exposes how U.S. policy, Israeli intelligence, and Emirati financing have turned Sudan into a war laboratory — and why its destruction is central to the West’s war on the Axis of Resistance and China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

From the famine in Darfur to the blood gold flowing to Dubai, this is the architecture of U.S. imperialism at work — and a warning to every nation daring to defy it.

Guests:

• Mnar Adley — Founder and director of MintPress News, host of Behind The Headlines
• Alan MacLeod — Senior Staff Writer and producer at MintPress News

Topics Covered:

• U.S. sanctions and the deliberate destabilization of Sudan
• Israel and the UAE’s proxy war role
• The theft of Sudan’s gold and control of Red Sea ports
• Washington’s strategy against China, Russia, and Iran in Africa
• The humanitarian façade behind imperial wars

🎧 Listen now and subscribe to Behind The Headlines for more in-depth analysis on U.S. foreign policy and resistance across the Global South.

Support the show

MintPress News is a fiercely independent. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.

Subscribe to MintCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud.

Also, be sure to check out the new Behind the Headlines channel on YouTube and subscribe to rapper Lowkey’s new video interview/podcast series, The Watchdog.

bPushback from Latin American leaders is throwing a wrench into Donald Trump’s imperial ambitions. The Summit of the Americas — a U.S.-backed conference of regional leaders — has been abruptly cancelled (officially “postponed” until 2026) after threats of a mass boycott led by Mexico and Colombia.

Joining host Mnar Adley to discuss the Trump administration’s escalating plans for Venezuela, the geopolitical rift in Latin America, and the new frontlines of resistance are Camila Escalante and Alan MacLeod.

Camila is a journalist for PressTV and editor of Kawsachun News. She’s reported extensively from across Latin America, covering Washington’s regime-change operations against Venezuela, the 2019 coup in Bolivia, and the return of President Lula da Silva in Brazil. Alan is a senior staff writer and producer at MintPress News and the author of Bad News From Venezuela: 20 Years of Fake News and Misreporting. His work has been featured in academic journals and major media outlets around the world.

Together, they unpack the Trump administration’s military buildup near Venezuela, the killing of 66 civilians in recent U.S. naval attacks, and the CIA’s newly authorized “lethal operations” inside the country. With President Petro of Colombia filing legal action against Trump for the Caribbean assaults, and Mexico’s Sheinbaum leading regional defiance, Washington faces an increasingly united Latin America unwilling to bow to empire.

As MacLeod notes, Venezuela’s well-trained military and millions of civilian militias mean that any U.S. invasion would be far from easy — potentially another Vietnam in the making.

Support the show

MintPress News is a fiercely independent. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.

Subscribe to MintCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud.

Also, be sure to check out the new Behind the Headlines channel on YouTube and subscribe to rapper Lowkey’s new video interview/podcast series, The Watchdog.