An Iranian, Israeli, and American Perspective on the War in Iran

On February 28, 2026, the United States and Israel launched wide-spread, coordinated attacks against Iran which struck military, naval, and nuclear infrastructure and killed many of the country’s senior leaders. On a special episode of World Class, Colin Kahl discusses the war, its immediate impacts, and its possible trajectory with Israeli security expert Ori Rabinowitz and Iranian studies professor Dr. Abbas Milani. The audio of this episode was originally recorded during a panel discussion held at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University on March 4, 2026.

Colin Kahl is the director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and the Steven C. Házy Senior Fellow. He has served as a senior White House and defense official advising on national security policy under both Republican and Democratic administrations. Most recently he was the under secretary of defense for policy at the U.S. Department of Defense from 2021 to 2023.

Abbas Milani is the Hamid and Christina Moghadam Director of Iranian Studies at Stanford University and a visiting professor in the department of political science. In addition, Dr. Milani is a research fellow and co-director of the Iran Democracy Project at the Hoover Institution.

Ori Rabinowitz is a tenured senior lecturer at the International Relations Department of the Hebrew University and a visiting fellow at the Jan Koum Israel Studies Program at the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law at Stanford University. Her research covers the Israeli defense posture, U.S.-Israeli relations, nuclear proliferation, and the security landscape of the Middle East.

The original panel was moderated by Jim Goldgeier, who is a research affiliate at the Center for International Security and Cooperation and a professor at the School of International Service at American University.

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