The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim Have America and Israel just started a forever war with Iran?
Mar 4, 2026
Reporting from Jerusalem and Tel Aviv about recent strikes and escalating threats. Discussion of U.S. and Israeli objectives, from degrading military capabilities to preventing proxy attacks. Analysis of Iran’s leadership, internal divisions, and how long Tehran can sustain conflict. Assessment of escalation risks, regional spillover, and the evolving role of drones and air campaigns.
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Iran Had Preplanned Distributed Response
- Iran prepared contingency plans and distributed power across institutions, so decapitation of leaders did not collapse the state.
- Yalda Hakim reports Revolutionary Guard executing a pre-prepared campaign targeting Gulf states and energy infrastructure to pressure the region and the West.
Iranian Society Is Politically Fragmented
- Iranian society is divided between opponents, regime supporters, and vested elite interests who profit from sanctions-era black markets.
- Richard Engel explains economic isolation and black-market oil trade have created powerful beneficiaries who resist regime collapse.
A World At War Without Formal Global War
- The conflict risks becoming a broader 'world at war' without a formal World War III trigger, as regional escalation can draw in global powers indirectly.
- Yalda Hakim cautions foreign-policy establishments wary after Iraq and Libya interventions, which makes direct coalition action unlikely.