Elica Le Bon, an attorney and Iranian-American activist, talks about Iran's recent strike on Israel Subscribe YouTube: null Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/just-asking-questions/id1719355507 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5SpySKAH3LuVyxXk0MF7tl Text and links to sources available here: https://reason.com/podcast/2024/04/18/elica-le-bon-is-war-with-iran-coming/ Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 00:23 Iran's Attack on Israel 01:17 Elica Le Bon's Viral Video: A Critique of Misinformation 02:40 The Power of Social Media in Shaping Narratives 07:25 The Role of Western Progressives in the Iran Narrative 09:33 The Impact of Social Media on Iranian Activism 19:26 The Reality of Living Under the Islamic Republic 33:13 The Double-Edged Sword of Social Media 34:52 The Impact of Social Media on the Next Generation 35:35 Unpacking Historical Misinformation 36:09 The Consumption Habits of Social Media Content 37:05 The Influence of Social Media on Younger Generations 37:36 Platform-Specific Concerns and Their Impact 38:44 Social Media's Reach and Influence in Iran 40:52 Debating the Houthis and Media Representation 50:50 Addressing Western Intervention and Its Consequences 01:01:03 Final Thoughts on U.S. Foreign Policy and Personal Responsibility Is war with Iran coming?  Last Saturday, Iran launched hundreds of armed drones and missiles to attack Israel in retaliation for an airstrike on an Iranian consulate in Syria that killed seven members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, including a general. Israel and the U.S. report that they intercepted most of the drones, and the sole known casualty was a 7-year-old girl critically injured by falling missile shrapnel. Israel has not retaliated…yet.  In the wake of all that, today's guest had something to say about the way some American activists loudly defended the Islamic Republic of Iran after staying conspicuously silent during protests against the regime and crackdowns that began almost two years ago. That was Elica Le Bon, a first-generation Iranian immigrant born in the U.K. and currently living in Los Angeles, where she practices law and runs several large social media accounts that bring attention to the plight of the Iranian people. On the latest episode of Just Asking Questions, she talked to Reason's Zach Weissmueller and Liz Wolfe about the Iranian attack, the state of the protest movement and how social media has affected it, and her recent televised exchange with Dave Smith.