How ripping up the nuclear deal hurt U.S. leverage

Suzanne Kianpour — the Emmy-nominated journalist, Semafor columnist, and Iran specialist who joins the Chuck Toddcast for an extraordinarily personal and deeply informed conversation about what's actually happening inside Iran as the war enters its third week. Kianpour paints a picture of a country where people are terrified and staying home, where Persian New Year will not be a celebration, and where the fabric of the regime is visibly falling apart — yet there was no pre-war effort by the U.S. to organize a viable opposition, meaning the question of who replaces the regime remains dangerously unanswered. She examines whether President Pezeshkian could serve as a transitional figure, notes that the former foreign minister has gone conspicuously quiet, discusses the role of Reza Pahlavi and the women's movement, and reveals that sources inside Iran believe the new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, may already be dead. Kianpour delivers the stark bottom line: the regime wins simply by staying intact, and without boots on the ground or a coordinated opposition, air and naval power alone cannot finish the job.

The conversation broadens into a candid assessment of the geopolitical landscape that complicates any clean resolution. Kianpour argues that the U.S. lost the moral high ground when Trump ripped up the Obama nuclear deal a deal she defends as strategically sound even if imperfect — and that Western media has become so reflexively anti-Trump that some outlets almost want the war to fail, which is inadvertently helping the Iranian regime win the information war. She notes that Gulf states were supportive when they thought the strikes would work quickly but are now distancing themselves, that China — which brokered the Iran-Saudi détente — may end up playing the key diplomatic role. Kianpour offers a striking vision of what could emerge from the ashes: a future Iran and Israel could be close allies and co-leaders of a thriving Middle East, tut she cautions that geopolitical forgiveness must be part of any post-regime transition.

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Timeline:

(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements)

00:00 Suzanne Kianpour joins the Chuck ToddCast

01:45 What Sparked the Protests in Iran

03:30  Suzanne's background in Iran, how she became a conflict journalist

07:30 Reporting on the Iran nuclear deal

09:30 Could the Regime Have Fallen on Its Own? 

12:00 People in Iran are afraid and are staying at home

14:00 Persian New Year will not be a celebration this year.

16:30 Can the Regime Survive? What Would Change It? 

18:30 There was no pre-war effort to organize opposition. 

21:30 Pahlavi and the Women's Movement 

24:30 President Pazeshkian as a potential transitional figure

27:15 Former foreign minister has gone quiet. 

29:00 Regime wins if it stays intact

30:30 Was the Obama Deal naive or strategic? 

32:00 U.S. lost moral high ground after Trump ripped up the deal

34:00 Western and European media is so anti-Trump that they almost want him to fail 

36:30 The Iranian regime is winning the information war. 

39:30 Joe Kent's resignation is being framed as a "wartime defection" 

41:15 Air and naval power alone can't guarantee safe passage in Strait of Hormuz

42:45 Gulf states were supportive when they thought it would work,  now they're distancing 

45:15 China's Role China brokered the Iran-Saudi détente and may play a diplomatic role 

47:30 Social media broke the regime’s control over the Iranian public

50:00 The fabric of the regime is now visibly falling apart.

52:15 Israel wanted to permanently eliminate Iran's proxy war capability post-October 7.

54:30 A future Iran and Israel could be close allies and co-leaders of a thriving Middle East

57:15 Geopolitical forgiveness has to be part of any post-regime transition

59:45 Conflict will back into intelligence and covert operations after the kinetic phase. 

1:01:00 Sources inside Iran believe the new Supreme Leader may already be dead y.

1:04:30 Where to find Suzanne’s work

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