Iran's strategy isn't to defeat the US militarily. Trita Parsi argues that it's to make the cost high enough, fast enough, to collapse domestic support before Iran loses. With MAGA turning against the war, oil markets destabilizing, and both parties alarmed by talk of ground troops, Trump urgently needs a face-saving exit. Plus, Parsi believes that Iran's revolutionary system was built to withstand exactly this kind of pressure.
Trita Parsi is the co-founder and Executive Vice President of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, co-founder and former president of the National Iranian American Council, and author of four books on US foreign policy in the Middle East.
In this episode:
01:19 Succession After Assassination
03:13 Army vs IRGC Dynamics
10:55 Iran Strategy and US Politics
15:44 Why No Uprising
22:42 Gulf States Security Fallout
25:43 Saudi Shift After Oct 7
30:03 MAGA Backlash and Exit Ramps
33:32 Why Trump Went In
39:56 One Decision to Watch
Hosted by Sir Richard Dearlove (former MI6 Chief) and guest co-host Rosanna Lockwood (International Journalist)
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