Who Sold America On The Iran War? (With Hooman Majd & Ryan Grim)

About this episode

The episode discusses the recent bombing of Iran by the US and Israel, exploring the historical context and motivations behind the conflict.

On February 28, the United States and Israel began bombing Iran — with no congressional declaration, public debate, or clear endgame. For those who grew up watching the Ayatollah cast as America’s original supervillain on the nightly news, it wasn’t exactly a surprise. Donald Trump pitched the idea 46 years ago. We’ve been expecting this for decades. But why? On today’s episode of Lever Time, Iranian-born journalist Hooman Majd and Drop Site News founder Ryan Grim help us grapple with some big questions: Why has the United States long been unable — or unwilling — to make peace with Iran? Who bankrolled the push for this new war, and what do they hope to gain? And now that bombs are falling, does Congress have the power to stop it?Click here to read more of The Lever’s reporting about Iran. Click here for a full transcript of the episode. Get ad-free episodes, bonus content and extended interviews by becoming a member at levernews.com/join. To leave a tip for The Lever, click here. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism. Tired of the doom scroll? Click here to subscribe to Lever Daily, a free once-a-day email that delivers the most important and underreported news in…

People in this episode

Host: David Sirota

Guests: Hooman Majd, Ryan Grim

Topics covered

• Iran War
• US foreign policy
• Middle East relations
• Congress power
• war funding
• journalism

Keywords

• Iran
• war
• US foreign policy
• Hooman Majd
• Ryan Grim
• Donald Trump
• Congress
• Middle East

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Lever

Places: Iran, United States, Israel

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