Eye For Iran

As President Donald Trump issues a final warning to Tehran and US military assets appear to be moving into place, a defining question emerges: are targeted strikes against the Islamic Republic now around the corner? In this special edition of Eye for Iran, Negar Mojtahedi is joined by four crucial voices as Iran faces an unprecedented moment of crisis and possibility. Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus an...

As Iran’s streets turn into killing fields, the debate in Washington is no longer theoretical. Eye for Iran examines the Islamic Republic’s escalating violence against civilians under a near total digital blackout and asks the most urgent question yet: what will the world do now? Michael Makovsky, President and CEO of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), and Blaise Miszta...

An eyewitness who recently fled Iran and whose identity is being withheld for his safety recounts indiscriminate gunfire that turned city streets into a battlefield. He says he saw thousands of bodies stored at a cemetery as families searched for missing loved ones during a nationwide digital blackout. He is risking his life to speak out and send a message to the world that the killings are still...

A wounded protester in Iran puts it starkly: “I’m not scared. For 47 years, I’ve been dead.” As protests spread across the country and chants turn openly existential, this special episode of Eye for Iran asks the question many are now asking: is Iran approaching a revolution? Is this the moment? Negar Mojtahedi is joined by former UK Security Minister and Member of Parliament Tom Tugendhat, former...

Chants of “Mullahs must get lost” are spreading across Iran six days after a collapsing currency and shuttered bazaars triggered the largest nationwide protests since the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom movement. What began as demonstrations over economic hardship has evolved into a nationwide uprising directly targeting the Supreme Leader, posing one of the most serious challenges to Iran’s theocracy i...

Iran exits 2025 under visible strain. Direct confrontation with Israel, setbacks to Tehran’s proxy network, and rising domestic pressure have shaken the regime — but not toppled it. In this Eye for Iran special, Avi Melamed, Jay Solomon, and Dr. Shahram Kholdi explain what really changed inside Iran, what didn’t, and the biggest risks heading into 2026 — including potential renewed conflict betwee...

Iran's convergence of crises is upending people's lives both inside and outside the country. On this episode of Eye for Iran, we examine three developments you need to understand right now. Environmental researcher and hydraulic structures expert Roozbeh Eskandari explains how Iran can go from severe drought to destructive flooding, why these extremes are driven by mismanagement rather than nature...

Former CIA analyst and National Security Council director Kenneth Pollack joins Eye for Iran to explain why he believes Iran has been in a “pre-revolutionary state” for years, why revolutions succeed only when regimes lose the will or capacity to use force and how Khamenei’s eventual succession could reshape everything. Then, Behnam Ben Taleblu of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) br...

This week on Eye for Iran, we look at Iran through three connected lenses: history, culture, and a society that some say is transforming in real time. First, Ambassador John Limbert – one of the American diplomats taken hostage in 1979 – reflects on what he witnessed in the early days of the revolution, how the Islamic Republic has (and hasn’t) changed over five decades, and why the hostility betw...

The United States has launched one of its most visible military deployments in years off the coast of Venezuela — a major operation aimed at narco-terror networks and the Maduro government. Retired four-star General Joseph Votel joins Eye for Iran to explain how decisions like this are made, what Washington’s posture actually signals, and why moves in the Caribbean inevitably carry an indirect mes...

Iran says it is ready to talk to the United States on its own terms and has paused uranium enrichment after US and Israeli strikes. At the same time Tehran is allegedly building a secret enrichment site at Pickaxe Mountain and blocking inspectors. This while a leaked UN watchdog report shows there is no clear oversight of its 60 percent enriched uranium - enough for around ten nuclear weapons. In...

Iran is confronting one of the most serious environmental and geopolitical turning points in its modern history. In this edition of Eye for Iran, three critical conversations reveal how quickly conditions are shifting and what may come next for the region. The episode opens with Dr. Kaveh Madani, former senior Iranian environmental official and now head of the United Nations University Institute f...

Tehran is allegedly urging its Shia militias in Iraq to swap guns for ballots in a shift that could reshape Baghdad’s power balance and test Washington’s resolve. “Iraq may become, in a very odd way, the Achilles heel of the Trump administration,” said historian Dr Shahram Kholdi on Eye for Iran. Jay Solomon, author of the Iran Wars, said that while Tehran is “on its back foot,” it remains “commit...

Two Gaza-born activists tell Eye for Iran that Tehran’s support for Hamas has not only prolonged Palestinian suffering but also strengthened hardliners in Israel. Khalil Sayegh, now based in Washington DC, and Hamza Howidy, who fled Gaza in 2023, argue that Iran has used Palestinians as pawns to justify its regional ambitions. They say a free and independent Palestine would strip the Islamic Repub...

Former Israeli ambassador to the United States Michael Oren tells Eye for Iran that Tehran’s growing isolation and lessons it drew from the recent 12-day war could make it a more formidable opponent. “Iran feels cornered,” Oren warns, “and that’s when nations become most dangerous.” Oren discusses Iran’s evolving military tactics, Israel’s decision to agree to a ceasefire and why he believes the p...

Former Israeli intelligence officer Danny Citrinowicz tells Eye for Iran a new and far deadlier conflict between Israel and Iran is “almost imminent.” Citrinowicz says both sides wrongly believe they “won” the last war — a miscalculation that makes another, even more violent escalation inevitable. He warns the United States is still chasing a deal while Israel aims to weaken or topple the clerical...

Oil sanctions were meant to throttle Iran’s revenue but have instead enriched its elite. Eurasia Group Iran and oil analyst Greg Brew joins Negar Mojtahedi to explain how Iran keeps selling over a million barrels of barrels a day through shadow networks which profit wildly from the murky trade. We also explore China’s role in sustaining Iran’s oil industry and shadowy tycoons like Babak Zanjani, w...

International sanctions renewed on Tehran over the weekend are already making life harder for ordinary Iranians and may signal an impasse that could lead to renewed war, experts told Iran International’s podcast Eye for Iran. In this Eye for Iran episode, host Negar Mojtahedi speaks with economist Mahdi Ghodsi and analyst Holly Dagres to break down what may lie ahead. Subscribe to Eye for Iran for...

From the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Eye for Iran asks: Are we moving closer to war with Iran? At the center of this year’s agenda is Tehran’s nuclear program and the enforcement of snapback sanctions. Behnam Ben Taleblu of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies explains what snapback really means for Iran. Israel’s Ambassador Danny Danon weighs in on whether diplomacy is enoug...

Musician Arash Sobhani (Kiosk) joins journalist Negar Mojtahedi on Eye for Iran to unpack the third anniversary of Mahsa Amini, the paradox of joy under repression, and why “hope misled us.” From women discarding compulsory hijab at Tehran concerts, to trust, honesty, and unity in the Iranian opposition, Sobhani asks whether joy itself can be resistance — or if it risks being used as propaganda. W...

US attacks on Iranian nuclear sites forestalled their potential push toward a bomb but a deal must be reached to guarantee Tehran will not go nuclear, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Joel Rubin told Iran International. #Iraninternational #ایران_اینترنشنال Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nicole Grajewski of the Carnegie Endowment joins Eye for Iran this week to warn that Europe’s move to reinstate UN sanctions on Iran through the so-called "snapback" mechanism could push Tehran to quit the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) — and give Israel justification for new strikes. With uranium stockpiles near weapons-grade and US diplomacy on the sidelines, is a nuclear crisis inevitab...

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi says Iran is heading toward collapse — with daily executions, economic freefall, and widespread shortages of water and electricity. In this Eye for Iran interview, she explains why reform is impossible, why Western governments have failed Iranians, and how the people themselves can bring about peaceful regime change through unity, nationwide strikes, and a U...

Tehran and Washington head into high-stakes talks in Oman this weekend that could decide whether the region is headed for detente or all-out war. Will these negotiations open the door to a nuclear deal or mark the beginning of a dangerous escalation? On Eye for Iran, we’ve brought together a powerhouse panel to break it all down: Gabriel Noronha, former Special Advisor for the Iran Action Group at...

In the shadow of President Donald Trump’s threats to strike Iran and following more than a year of punishing Israeli attacks, a battered but unbowed Islamic Republic is plotting its comeback, warns Middle East security analyst Dr. Eric Mandel. “Iran is not giving up,” said Mandel, founder of MEPIN, the Middle East Political Information Network. “Iran's proxies, they may be down—Hezbollah, Hamas, t...