About this episode

Mark Fowler discusses the complexities of Iran and the misconceptions held by Washington.

Former CIA Iran ops officer Mark Fowler joins Jerry and John to explain why Iran is one of the hardest targets on earth. From running agents and sources, Fowler has insight into the Iranian worldview: a persecuted Shia minority that sees walls behind every wall, craves American attention while calling us the Great Satan, and negotiates by treating signed contracts as opening bids. He separates the educated, reform-minded Iranian people from a regime led by men forged in the trenches of the Iran-Iraq War and traces the IRGC's rise from teenage revolutionary militia to a corrupt, self-sufficient parallel army that controls Iran's missiles, ports, and economy. On the current conflict, Trump jumped in without preparation against an adversary that has spent a generation planning for exactly this. Watch Mission Implausible on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MissionImplausiblePod

People in this episode

Hosts: Jerry, John

Guest: Mark Fowler

Topics covered

• Iran
• CIA
• Middle East
• politics
• international relations
• conflict
• negotiation

Keywords

• CIA
• Iran
• negotiation
• IRGC
• Trump
• Middle East
• politics
• conflict
• Shia

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: CIA, IRGC

Places: Iran, United States

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