Striking Iran: Analysis from the Global Public Square

About this episode

Fareed Zakaria discusses the implications of the killing of Iran’s supreme leader amid U.S.-Israel military actions and the potential consequences for regional stability.

Fareed Zakaria reports that Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khomeini has been killed amid U.S.-Israel attacks under “Operation Epic Fury,” with Trump urging Iranians to overthrow their government and promising continued bombing despite recently ongoing nuclear talks that Oman said had made breakthroughs. Zakaria argues the war lacks clear legal and strategic grounding, that airpower rarely achieves regime change, and that unilateral action undermines rules-based order, while Iran’s weakness and regional backlash—especially after strikes on Gulf states hosting U.S. assets—may not translate into Trump’s stated aims. Guests discuss the decapitation strikes, the likely next targets including Iran’s naval forces and IRGC mid-tier leadership, and the risk of leadership-targeting becoming more common. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

People in this episode

Host: Fareed Zakaria

Topics covered

• Iran
• U.S.-Israel relations
• military strategy
• regime change
• nuclear talks
• Middle East conflict

Keywords

• Iran
• Khomeini
• Trump
• Operation Epic Fury
• U.S. military
• nuclear talks
• regime change
• Middle East

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: U.S., Israel, Oman, IRGC

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