Fault Lines Episode 616: Anaconda or Armistice: The Squeeze on Tehran
About this episode
The episode discusses the current state and future of the Iran conflict, focusing on U.S. military strategies and the implications for Tehran.
Today, Les, John, and special guest Richard Goldberg assess where the Iran conflict stands and where it is headed. The Strait of Hormuz is once again a flashpoint, with U.S. naval forces blockading traffic while escorting commercial shipping — a posture that has helped push down gas prices but left Tehran cut off from economic relief. Iran's missile manufacturing capacity has taken serious damage, its proxies are diminished, and the regional coalition willing to push back against Tehran is growing. Can the United States sustain a low-level kinetic pressure campaign without either failing to keep the Strait sufficiently open or pushing Iran into a corner that forces escalation? Is Washington executing a deliberate anaconda strategy, or risk managing its way into an open-ended conflict with no defined endgame? With the Iranian economy in freefall and the regime's popular legitimacy threadbare, are U.S. operations actually forestalling the one card that could matter most — an uprising by the Iranian people themselves? Check out the answers to these questions and more in this episode of Fault Lines. @lestermunson @johnclipsey @rich_goldberg Like what we're doing here? Be sure…
People in this episode
Hosts: Les, John
Guest: Richard Goldberg
Topics covered
- Iran conflict
- U.S. military strategy
- economic sanctions
- regional coalition
- missile manufacturing
- popular legitimacy
- kinetic pressure campaign
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: United States, Iran
Places: Tehran, Strait of Hormuz
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