• Iran’s Next Target: Undersea Cables and US Data Centers in the Persian Gulf
    Oct 14 2026
    Iran says US data centers and undersea cables in the Persian Gulf are next. We break down the four cable systems at risk and why they matter.
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    4 min
  • Operation Jawbreaker: IRGC and US Special Forces Fought on Same Side in Afghanistan
    Oct 7 2026
    9/11 Special: 25 years ago today, on 7 Oct 2001, Op Enduring Freedom launched the US-led invasion of Afghanistan. CIA’s Jawbreaker team joined Iranian Special Forces in Afghanistan and Iran—allies against the Taliban until Israel sabotaged US-Iran rapprochement and exploited 9/11 to push the Iraq War.
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    19 min
  • IRGC and the Death of CIA’s “Ayatollah Mike”
    Sep 30 2026
    On 3 Jan 2020, Trump assassinated Haji Qasem Soleimani. On 27 Jan 2020, CIA’s Iran Mission chief Michael D’Andrea—‘Ayatollah Mike’—died when his USAF Bombardier E-11A jet was downed in Afghanistan. Was the jet shot down by IRGC? CIA claims he retired. IRGC named its ‘Missile 358’ after the jet’s tail number.
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    4 min
  • Social-Economic Renaissance in Mongol Iran
    Sep 23 2026
    This episode explores Shivan Mahendrarajah’s A History of Herat: From Chingiz Khan to Tamerlane (Edinburgh University Press, 2022), tracing the city’s transformation from its destruction under Chingiz Khan in 1222 to its capitulation to Tamerlane in 1381. Despite this violent history, Herat rose to become a major political, cultural, and economic center of the eastern Islamic world. Note: Herat is located in present-day Afghanistan, a country whose borders were drawn by British imperial powers in the 19th century.
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    1 ora e 9 min
  • Saudi-Yemen War: Iran and Houthis Defeat the US
    Sep 16 2026
    Saudi Arabia reignited its war on Yemen’s Ansarallah (“Houthis”) on 13 July, deploying mercenary forces and expecting a quick win. Instead, Ansarallah went on the offensive, striking Saudi military bases and oil infrastructure, including the East-West pipeline. By September 11, they’d captured Yemen’s west coast and key Red Sea islands, securing fire-control over the Bab al-Mandab chokepoint. Episode examines how the war became a strategic defeat for Saudi Arabia and the US, and a win for Iran.
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    3 min
  • 25 Years After 9/11: The Saudi-Wahhabi Doctrine Behind the Taliban and al-Qaeda
    Sep 11 2026
    How Saudi Wahhabism forged the Taliban and al-Qaeda: this 9/11 anniversary special traces extremist ideology from 18th-century Arabia to Saudi-funded madrasas on the Afghan-Pakistan border, and its role in the Taliban’s war against Kabul and the US.
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    23 min
  • The Jews of Iran
    Sep 1 2026
    Iranian Jews represent the oldest continuous Jewish community in the Middle East. They have a 3,000-year history that predates and belies Israeli narratives. Iran’s Jewish community is anti-Zionist and patriotic; they challenge Western assumptions and propaganda by thriving in Iran. Iran’s Jewish community is explored in the independent documentary, “Uncaptured: Jews in the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
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    3 min
  • Mary Renault, Iran, and the Alexander Trilogy
    Aug 24 2026
    Mary Renault is lauded as a groundbreaking LGBT authoress, but this detracts from her brilliance as a historian of ancient Greece and Iran. She masterfully weaves history, geography, and Greek literature with fiction to depict the life of Alexander the Great. Her “Persian Boy” was my introduction to Iran.
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    4 min