Simon Sebag-Montefiore on the Iran war: Trump’s mistakes, Israel’s overreach and the end of the ‘Middle East’
About this episode
Historian Simon Sebag-Montefiore discusses the Iran war, Trump's mistakes, and the geopolitical implications for the Middle East.
"Israel is in a situation of kind of spectacular military virtuosity, but also strategic impoverishment. You cannot kill everybody." On today’s bank holiday bonus episode of Iran: the Latest , Venetia Rainey speaks to historian Simon Sebag-Montefiore to get a historian’s view of the US-Israel-Iran war. Simon argues that Donald Trump’s biggest mistake was not stopping after 2025’s Operation Midnight Hammer, and that Benjamin Netanyahu is leading his country into a potential intra-Jewish civil war. Plus, why the Iranian regime is a Mahdist-praetorian oligarchy, how the geopolitical concept of "the Middle East" became obsolete, and which dictators from the region’s modern history haunt him. Simon Sebag Montefiore’s new book, The Cauldron: The Making of the Modern Middle East , is out now. Highlights Trump’s mistakes, Israel’s overreach and the end of the ‘Middle East’ Historian and author Simon Sebag-Montefiore on the Iran war CONTRIBUTORS: Venetia Rainey, co-host and executive producer @venetiarainey Simon Sebag-Montefiore, historian and author @simonmontefiore WATCH US ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJnf_DDTfIVAif-vifC6F2aoPB8GIw6dk CONTENT…
People in this episode
Host: Venetia Rainey
Guest: Simon Sebag-Montefiore
Topics covered
- Iran war
- US-Israel relations
- Middle East geopolitics
- historical analysis
- Trump's foreign policy
- Israeli politics
- Iranian regime
Keywords
- Iran war
- Trump mistakes
- Israel overreach
- Middle East
- Simon Sebag-Montefiore
- historical perspective
- geopolitics
- Netanyahu
- Iranian regime
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: The Telegraph
Books & works: The Cauldron: The Making of the Modern Middle East
Places: Iran, Israel, Middle East
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- US Navy drained by Iran war as Hegseth-Pentagon turmoil grows
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