“A Tipping Point” — Maneli Mirkhan, a geopolitical expert, said in an interview with the RTL network that “there is no way back.”

(Source: RTL website)

The Franco-Iranian expert believes that following the “massacre” of the Iranian population and the threats issued by the U.S. government against the Islamic Republic, a point of no return has been crossed, and that it is no longer possible to reverse course.

Interview – January 31, 2026

“We are in a complete deadlock,” Maneli Mirkhan said on Saturday, January 31, speaking to RTL, in response to escalating tensions between Iran and the United States—at a time when Donald Trump has stated that Tehran is seeking to “reach an agreement.”

“There is no exit other than a military intervention,” she stated.

She continued: “Of course, the form of this intervention and its objectives are open questions, and all options are on the table. The role of neighboring countries is also important—countries that were initially strongly opposed to U.S. strikes. But yesterday, we saw the Saudi foreign minister travel to the United States and support the necessity of an attack. There is no going back. I truly believe we have crossed a tipping point. We have gone too far into one camp or the other.”

“The nuclear issue is entirely identity-based for the Iranian regime”

The U.S. president announced on Friday that Iran “wants to reach an agreement” and that he has set a deadline for Tehran, without specifying its duration. Donald Trump had said the day before that he hoped not to have to strike Iran, while warning that “time is running out.”

According to Maneli Mirkhan, however, “the nuclear issue is entirely identity-based for the Iranian regime. If they concede on the nuclear file, they sign their own death warrant. No one believes that a genuine negotiation is possible—especially after the massacre that has taken place.”

She emphasizes that Iran is now in a state of “undeniable shock,” while NGOs speak of the possibility of tens of thousands of deaths, and while the process of documenting victims is severely hindered by communication restrictions imposed since the popular uprising.

“Information reaches us in a very fragmented way,” explains Maneli Mirkhan, who is also a co-founder of an association supporting the Iranian people.

“People inside Iran tell us that what is happening is far beyond what we can imagine. We are far from having accurate figures, because the accounts coming from inside, the images that have been seen, and the scale of the massacre are unprecedented.”

She continues:

“Very legitimate questions are also being raised: Where are the bodies of the women? All the images we receive show men. Where are the women? Where are the children? And two other very important questions: the number of those arrested. There are tens of thousands of people we have no news about, and we fear that some may be being used as human shields.”

She concludes by pointing to the alarming rise in the arrest of medical personnel.