‘A bunch of losers with no power’: Why Iran’s hardliners won’t win

About this episode

The episode discusses the challenges faced by Iran's regime amid the US-Israeli war and the internal conflict between hardliners and reformists.

Iran’s regime is facing an existential crisis prompted by the US-Israeli war.  Despite taking a military battering and the economy being in ruins, Tehran refuses to surrender to Donald Trump. Historian Arash Azizi takes Roland Oliphant and Sophia Yan inside the clash between the regime establishment and the ultra-hardliners who fear their vision of the Islamic Republic will not survive peace.   He explains why the country’s powerful, IRGC-linked chief negotiator Mohammad Ghalibaf is increasingly being attacked in Iranian media and the dilemma facing the Islamic Republic as it looks to make a deal without surrendering the anti-American dogmatism that revolutionaries hold so dear.  Plus, senior foreign correspondent Adrian Blomfeld reports from the Strait of Hormuz and Sophia and Roland discuss the significance of the UAE pulling out of OPEC.  Highlights Arash Azizi on why Iran’s hardliners are a “bunch of losers with no power” How the Iranian regime is facing a choice between reform and destruction  CONTRIBUTORS: Roland Oliphant, co-host @rolandoliphant Sophia Yan, senior foreign correspondent @sophiacyan  Arash Azizi, author and historian Yale…

People in this episode

Hosts: Roland Oliphant, Sophia Yan

Guest: Arash Azizi

Topics covered

• Iran's hardliners
• US-Israeli war
• Iranian regime
• military conflict
• economic crisis
• negotiation dilemmas
• OPEC withdrawal

Keywords

• Iran
• hardliners
• US-Israeli war
• Mohammad Ghalibaf
• Strait of Hormuz
• OPEC
• economic crisis
• negotiation
• anti-American dogmatism

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Iran, US-Israeli, Islamic Republic, IRGC, UAE, OPEC

Places: Strait of Hormuz

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