Missiles are flying, civilians are dying, and social media warriors are waving flags from the safety of their iPhones.
In this episode of Stay in the Gray, Ryan breaks down the brutal truth behind the Iran–Israel conflict: who’s firing, who’s lying, and why everyday Americans always get stuck paying the price.
From Operation “Rising Lion” to media meltdowns, nuclear posturing, and outrage cosplay—this isn’t a Marvel movie. There are no clean heroes. Just two nations slinging chaos and a Western press too busy pointing fingers at Trump to bother with facts.
🔍 We cover:
What actually happened on June 13–14
Why both sides are bloodstained
How media spin buries civilian deaths
Trump’s role, Biden’s silence, and America’s real interest
The flag-wavers who’ve never dodged a missile in their life
🎯 Listen now on Spotify:
👉 https://open.spotify.com/show/1pE6RBLCblnGgkzL2T0Lk8
📌 Tap Follow on Spotify to never miss a truth bomb.⭐ Leave a 5-star review if you're tired of the media echo chamber.(Or search Stay in the Gray Podcast wherever you listen)
🧠 Sharp takes. No safe spaces. This is war in the gray zone.
📅 Recorded June 18, 2025
📢 Follow for bi-weekly truth bombs.
⏱️ Chapters:
00:00 – Introduction: The Dilemma of Surgical Strikes
00:41 – Stay in the Gray: A Neutral Perspective
01:07 – Operation Rising Lion: Israel's Offensive
03:31 – The Human Cost: Civilians in the Crossfire
09:52 – Media Spin: The War of Narratives
12:44 – Nuclear Tensions: The Bigger Picture
17:15 – Conclusion: The Futility of War
00:00:00
How do you pull off surgical strikes when the other side
00:00:04
stores weapons in schools? They hide their generals behind
00:00:07
playground while flying an Iranian flag in your Instagram
00:00:10
bio doesn't make you morally superior, it just makes you
00:00:15
confused. Because as always, governments
00:00:17
launch missiles and regular people get to bury their kids.
00:00:22
No, nobody's sane celebrates that.
00:00:25
It's not fiction, it's fact, and yes, it's very difficult to
00:00:30
watch as it should be. No one with a soul wants to see
00:00:35
children hurt anywhere. But let's not pretend it's A1
00:00:39
sided horror show. Hey guys, I want to challenge
00:00:43
you all today to take a second, take a deep breath and listen to
00:00:48
everything that I have to say. For once.
00:00:51
I feel like I can finally stay in the Gray, which is the name
00:00:55
of the show as you know, and really approach the topic of
00:01:01
Iran and Israel from a neutral. Sick and tired of this
00:01:05
standpoint. So here we are again.
00:01:09
Iran and Israel trading missiles.
00:01:20
But this Israel is learning in real time.
00:01:24
Israel's Operation Rising Lion hundreds of strike far better
00:01:28
tig far Israel has been busy fighting Iran's proxy creation
00:01:34
treaty and debating whether, without political collapse ever
00:01:37
had the capacity to do. It's like it's some apocalyptic
00:01:47
ping pong match and naturally the US gets dragged in whether
00:01:52
we like it or not. A lot of people online have been
00:01:56
yelling about how reckless Israel's been.
00:02:00
And sure, when you level parts of Tehran and Natanz, civilians
00:02:04
get caught in the blast radius. People are going to have
00:02:08
questions. But let's not act brand new
00:02:12
here. How do you pull off surgical
00:02:15
strikes? When the other side stores
00:02:18
weapons in schools, they hide their generals behind
00:02:21
playgrounds. That's the part no one wants to
00:02:24
talk about, because it's easier to call one side the monster
00:02:29
than to admit that the other one uses human Shields like its
00:02:32
military doctrine. And let me be very clear when I
00:02:35
say that before we start, I don't worship the altar of
00:02:41
either side. But I do live in a country that
00:02:45
Iran's leaders have repeatedly called Satan's Land.
00:02:49
So when people on our own soil suddenly grow fond of those same
00:02:53
people chanting death to America, excuse me while I ask,
00:02:58
what in the actual hell do you think you're doing?
00:03:00
We'll break it down all all for you.
00:03:02
Today I'll do the condensed version, which is what I like.
00:03:06
Who's really doing what, How neither side is fully innocent,
00:03:12
why this just popped off now, how civilians always pay the
00:03:16
price, and why flying an Iranian flag in your Instagram bio
00:03:21
doesn't make you morally superior, it just makes you
00:03:24
confused. This is Stay in the Gray
00:03:26
podcast. June 18th, 2025.
00:03:30
Let's roll. So what just happened on June
00:03:33
13th and 14th? Israel lit the match with
00:03:37
coordinated air strikes across Tehran, Natanz and Tabriz.
00:03:42
Iranian media is now reporting more Israeli strikes killed in
00:03:45
the state Middle Tehran attack targeted the housing complex on
00:03:48
Saturday several more strikes, more attacks saying Tehran will
00:03:52
burn if. You guys said that last one,
00:03:59
right? Part of something they're
00:04:01
calling Operation Rising Lion, which, let's be honest, sounds
00:04:06
less like a military campaign and more like a discontinued Axe
00:04:11
body spray. We'll be fine.
00:04:13
Branding is branding the casualties thus far.
00:04:17
After 48 hours, is 224 Iranians dead?
00:04:21
The death hole in Iran since Israel's first strike is at 224.
00:04:25
The local health ministry said 90% of that number are
00:04:29
civilians. In the counter strike, 24
00:04:33
Israelis dead. Most of the Iranian deaths were
00:04:38
civilians because as always, governments launch missiles and
00:04:42
regular people get to bury their kids.
00:04:45
No, nobody's saying celebrates that.
00:04:49
The whispers about snipers targeting children.
00:04:52
If that's proven true, every civilized human should condemn
00:04:57
it, no matter which flag they wave.
00:05:00
But let's stop pretending that this is a Marvel movie where you
00:05:05
can precision strike a nuclear facility surrounded by apartment
00:05:09
buildings without anyone getting hurt.
00:05:12
When one side uses civilians as Shields, some get caught in the
00:05:15
blast. It sucks, it's ugly, but this is
00:05:19
war and both sides are launching missiles.
00:05:24
US. Well, Trump issued a leave now
00:05:28
or face consequences warning to Tehran and then publicly
00:05:32
suggested unconditional surrender.
00:05:36
Good evening. We begin tonight with President
00:05:37
Trump late today spending more than an hour in THE SITUATION
00:05:40
Room with his national security team.
00:05:42
President Trump has called for Iran's unconditional surrender.
00:05:45
There are no troops yet, but rest assured, the speech writers
00:05:50
are already polishing their freedom isn't free catchphrases.
00:05:56
And of course, the moment that that statement hits the feed,
00:06:00
Trump haters pounced like it was Christmas morning, screeching
00:06:05
about how he's starting another war that he promised he wouldn't
00:06:08
get into. Never mind that the highways out
00:06:10
of Tehran turned into a parking lot as civilians actually
00:06:14
listened. Maybe it's because they don't
00:06:17
want to be human Shields anymore.
00:06:19
So why now? Well, Israel claims it has Intel
00:06:24
that Iran's Iran's uranium enrichment, IE nuclear weapons,
00:06:31
was this close to weaponization. We targeted Iran's main
00:06:41
enrichment facility in Natanz. We targeted Iran's leading
00:06:45
nuclear scientists working on the Iranian bomb.
00:06:48
We also struck at the heart of Iran's ballistic missile
00:06:51
program. So it did what Israel does,
00:06:53
admittedly blew stuff up before anyone could prove otherwise.
00:06:57
Call it pre emptive, call it reckless, but in their eyes it's
00:07:01
always better to strike first and answer questions later.
00:07:05
Now here's where Trump enters the chat.
00:07:07
Say what you want about him, but the guy's been on record for
00:07:10
years warning against a nuclear Iran.
00:07:14
And Donald Trump's big warning over Iran, Israel.
00:07:17
War. He asks.
00:07:18
People to leave Tehran immediately.
00:07:20
Trump said that Iran should have signed the deal.
00:07:23
He also said that Iran can't have a nuclear weapon that.
00:07:28
I could play you 20 straight minutes of him saying some
00:07:31
version of Iran cannot have nukes.
00:07:35
He's not wrong. As an American, you don't let a
00:07:38
country that calls you Satan's land get the keys to nuclear
00:07:41
arsenal, especially one that brags about martyrdom.
00:07:45
Doesn't mean we start bombing people, or doesn't mean that we
00:07:50
tie our flag to Israel's tailpipe.
00:07:53
It means use diplomacy. Real diplomacy, the kind that
00:07:57
doesn't end in another forever war.
00:08:00
Meanwhile, Iran's crying foul. Their version?
00:08:06
We've been poked, prodded and sanctioned for decades.
00:08:10
We're just defending ourselves from years of foreign
00:08:13
aggression. OK, sure.
00:08:14
Because missile launches and hostage taking is a normal
00:08:17
Tuesday defense strategy. While the missiles fly,
00:08:21
Americans argue over which side is less guilty of blowing up the
00:08:25
children. Real progress.
00:08:28
All right, let's talk about the civilians.
00:08:30
All right, this is a big issue. Footage from the suburbs of
00:08:34
Tehran shows rubble, smoke and parents carrying bloodied
00:08:39
toddlers through the streets. Hospitals are overwhelmed,
00:08:51
stretchers are jammed into hallways and children's cry over
00:08:55
the bodies of their siblings. It's not fiction, it's fact.
00:09:00
And yes, it's very difficult to watch, as it should be.
00:09:05
No one with a soul wants to see children hurt anywhere.
00:09:09
But let's not pretend it's A1 sided horror show.
00:09:13
Israeli children have been killed too.
00:09:15
Rockets aimed at homes, Suicide bombers in the markets.
00:09:19
This war does not have a monopoly on suffering.
00:09:23
So if you're condemning Israel for heinous behavior, fine, do
00:09:28
it. I'm willing to do it as well.
00:09:31
Just don't pretend the other side isn't equally drenched in
00:09:34
blood. The moral scoreboard doesn't
00:09:36
work that way. Just because one side might have
00:09:39
more casualties, it doesn't mean the other gets a free pass for
00:09:42
their own atrocities. This isn't Superman, there are
00:09:46
no clean heroes here. It's just two powers throwing
00:09:50
punches and it's the civilians who get knocked out first.
00:09:54
You want to talk about the media with all this?
00:09:57
Let's play a little game. Guess which side said this?
00:10:01
A targeted defensive response against illegal aggression.
00:10:04
Hold your answer now. Guess who said a surgical strike
00:10:08
to neutralize an existential threat?
00:10:11
Either 1. Whatever.
00:10:12
You guessed you'd be wrong and also right because both of them
00:10:17
said some version of both. Welcome to the war of press
00:10:21
releases. Facts are optional and clarity
00:10:25
is the first casualty. Israeli state media rolled out
00:10:29
their standard template. Precision restraint, national
00:10:32
security, Iranian media fired back.
00:10:36
Foreign backed aggression, Sovereignty under siege.
00:10:39
Western hypocrisy. You could swap the logos and
00:10:42
barely notice. Then there's the global press
00:10:44
where we enter into full clown mode.
00:10:47
Allow me to start with CNN. They blame Trump within like 14
00:10:51
seconds. No explanation needed, just the
00:10:54
headline. Trump's silence fuels
00:10:57
escalation. Silence.
00:11:00
His silence did that. Think about that.
00:11:04
Al Jazeera called it colonial violence.
00:11:07
BBC throughout historic grievances.
00:11:11
MSNBC. You already know Rachel Maddow
00:11:14
had her tear ducts on OverDrive, whisper crying into a camera
00:11:19
about authoritarian echoes and orange fingerprints from half a
00:11:24
world away. She's not weaving for dead
00:11:26
civilians. She's crying because someone in
00:11:28
Tel Aviv might once have dined with a Republican donor and her
00:11:33
audience, probably somewhere between terrified and tofu high,
00:11:39
nodding along like this is a West Wing return.
00:11:42
But rewrote. Don't worry, I didn't forget
00:11:45
about Fox News. They hit the panic button with
00:11:48
Biden's weakness emboldens the terrorists.
00:11:52
Whether that's true or not, mine's gone.
00:11:54
Let's focus on the now. Because if there's one thing
00:11:57
that Fox loves more than a war, it's blaming one on a Democrat.
00:12:02
5 minutes after the first drone flies.
00:12:05
Don't forget the headlines engineered to sound brave while
00:12:08
saying absolutely nothing. A region in turmoil.
00:12:13
Tensions flare amid strikes, Global community urges
00:12:17
restraint. Restraint you think?
00:12:21
Iran's IRGC, their Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and
00:12:26
the IDF Israel Defence Forces are refreshing BBC alerts before
00:12:31
pulling the trigger. This isn't journalism anymore.
00:12:35
It's a partisan theatre, fan fiction with better lighting and
00:12:40
a soundtrack of echo chambers clapping for themselves.
00:12:44
With all of this, there is a little bit of nuclear tension.
00:12:50
It's what a lot of this is about.
00:12:52
The IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency, for those of us
00:12:57
who didn't major in geopolitics, confirm some damage at Natanz,
00:13:02
which is Iran's key uranium enrichment site.
00:13:05
New revelations from the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the
00:13:09
IAEA now says Israeli air strikes on Iran's Nathan's
00:13:13
nuclear facility could direct damage caused, in fact, direct
00:13:17
damage to its underground centrifuge.
00:13:19
Halls. Now, this is the first time the
00:13:22
International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed such.
00:13:25
In fact, below the surface, a significant development as
00:13:29
Natanz is Iran's key uranium enrichment site.
00:13:33
IE where they build the fucking nukes, but not enough damage to
00:13:37
stop operations, but just enough to royally piss them off.
00:13:42
Now Iran's floating the idea of pulling out of the NPT which is
00:13:47
the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty, AKA the polite little
00:13:52
document that says please don't build nuclear bombs unless
00:13:55
you're already rich and powerful.
00:13:58
Spoiler Iran's not feeling very polite right now.
00:14:02
Israel on the other hand has its eyes also locked on Hezbollah
00:14:07
and other lovely neighborhood militias because nothing says
00:14:11
peace in the Middle East like A2 front war.
00:14:15
Think of it as a sequel that nobody wanted to finance, but
00:14:19
that everyone's getting forced to see.
00:14:21
Here's where it gets murky. What's the actual solution?
00:14:25
Should Israel stop firing and hope that the people calling for
00:14:29
its destruction suddenly have a change of heart and they bake
00:14:33
and send them cookies? Should Iran just shut down the
00:14:37
program and trust the West and that they won't meddle again
00:14:41
next week? If Israel puts down its
00:14:44
missiles, does anyone genuinely believe that their enemies will
00:14:48
follow suit? If Israel's enemies stop
00:14:51
launching rockets tomorrow, would Israel stop also?
00:14:56
If I'm a betting man, I'd like to hope yes, but no one wants to
00:15:01
test that theory. It's a pretty even money line at
00:15:03
this point. So what is the end game?
00:15:07
Try and defend yourself that don't hurt civilians.
00:15:10
Fight a war but don't make it messy.
00:15:13
Keep your country safe, but don't act like it.
00:15:16
You see how ridiculous all this sounds?
00:15:19
And if nukes start flying, game over, Lights out.
00:15:24
Humanity's final group project failed because nobody wanted to
00:15:27
share the crayons. So who really wins?
00:15:31
Let's play another game, A different one.
00:15:33
The last one worked pretty well. This one's called Who's laughing
00:15:39
all the way to the bank? Arms manufacturers Absolutely.
00:15:44
New orders just hit their Q3 targets before Q3 even started.
00:15:48
Oil traders jackpot. Volatility means money and war
00:15:53
is just volatility and camo. Politicians always wartime.
00:15:58
Polling boosts sound bites about defending freedom.
00:16:01
A photo OPS and photo OPS with flags waving in slow motion
00:16:07
about defence contractors. More yachts, bigger bunkers.
00:16:12
And now who loses about the families in Tehran and Tel Aviv
00:16:18
burying children on both sides again.
00:16:22
But the soldiers sent into the next proxy conflict, Dead,
00:16:27
maimed, forgotten. But you.
00:16:30
Yeah. Gas prices, food costs,
00:16:32
inflation. That's what will be caused by
00:16:36
this. But hey, keep tweeting the truth
00:16:41
completely lost under the rubble of propaganda and click bait
00:16:46
headlines. The worst part?
00:16:48
The people on your timeline waving flags for Iran, Israel,
00:16:54
whoever fits their daily narrative.
00:16:57
They don't even live there. They're not dodging missiles,
00:17:00
they're not burying children. They're arguing from iPhones
00:17:03
made in China, sipping Starbucks and telling you to pick a side,
00:17:09
the right side of history and all that bullshit.
00:17:12
It's a tired narrative and I'm sick of hearing it.
00:17:15
So the Gray zone stay in the Gray.
00:17:19
When I started this show, I fully intended to do so, no
00:17:24
matter what the topic was. These days, it's very difficult.
00:17:29
Opinions are established, experiences are had, and often
00:17:33
times you see me lean one way or the other on an issue.
00:17:37
I'm not here with this issue to play activist or apologist.
00:17:43
But if you live in America and you're siding with a government
00:17:47
that literally wants to nuke you because just because you hate
00:17:51
Trump, you've officially lost the plot to the leftist burning
00:17:56
flags while holding signs that say death to Zionist, death to
00:17:59
America. Go live in Iran.
00:18:03
Seriously, let's see how fast some of you delete Grinder to
00:18:07
the right wing Hawks foaming at the mouth to flatten Iran like
00:18:11
it's a video game. Relax.
00:18:13
War isn't Call of Duty. So far it's 224 dead civilians
00:18:19
in 48 hours. Trump does not want another war,
00:18:24
but if forced into one, at least he'll pretend to win it, unlike
00:18:29
the people currently in charge who can't even win an online
00:18:32
debate without crying. This is what happens when spin
00:18:36
becomes gospel, when the truth is buried under hashtags, when
00:18:42
outrage becomes a career path. You get civilians dying on every
00:18:47
side while Americans bicker over who looked more oppressed on
00:18:52
TikTok. Iran chants death to America,
00:18:56
Israel bombs before questions are asked and our media too busy
00:19:01
defending the lunatics to call any of it what it is.
00:19:05
The strategic chaos fuelled by tribal stupidity and media
00:19:11
grift. This is not about peace, this is
00:19:13
not about freedom. This is about optics,
00:19:16
narratives, power and the rest of us normal fed up Americans
00:19:23
are stuck cleaning up the moral shrapnel.
00:19:26
Iran hates you, hates us. Israel doesn't trust you, trust
00:19:32
us, and your own government is too busy using your pronouns as
00:19:39
a distraction while the world catches fire.
00:19:42
It's all I got today. So I'm going to think about as
00:19:45
this is certain to to keep escalating like follow, join me
00:19:55
in this. I hope that no matter what side
00:19:59
you're on, I hope there's a lot of people like me out there that
00:20:02
that are kind of like. I'm just tired of this.
00:20:04
It's not about sides, it's just about maybe keeping some people
00:20:07
alive and wanting a war to end that has started.
00:20:11
If the United States enters this war, it will not go well for
00:20:19
anyone. Stay in the Gray with me on this
00:20:22
issue because the rest is absolute and utter bullshit.
00:20:28
I love you guys. I'll see you next time.