Ones and Tooze Interview with Iran Expert Ali Vaez
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Apr 6, 2026 
Ali Vaez, director of the Iran Project and Iran politics scholar, joins to unpack Tehran’s post-strike power shifts and new hardline figures. He discusses Iran’s resilient command networks, contingency ‘mosaic’ plans, and risk tolerance. Talks cover negotiation channels, Tehran’s cost calculus, regional fallout, and how Iran might rebuild militarily and seek external partners.
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Mosaic Command Structure Preserves Iran's Operations
- Iran preserved command and control through contingency planning and a mosaic provincial approach.
- Vaez describes predesigned provincial plans and targeting symmetry (e.g., petrochemical for petrochemical) showing centralized intent despite decentralised execution.
Government Channels Still Handle Negotiations
- Iran's formal government still conducts diplomacy and can intercede between other power centers.
- Vaez says Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian and President Pezeshkian keep lines open with Europe and regionals even as supreme leader's status is unclear.
Iran Aims To Outlast And Exhaust Opponents
- Iran's strategy is to stretch the conflict in time and space and impose economic costs to outlast opponents.
- Vaez highlights targeting integrated radars, closing the Strait of Hormuz, and degrading interceptor stocks as deliberate measures to exhaust US/Israeli defenses.