America Doesn’t Understand Iran And It Shows (with Danny Citrinowicz)

Former Israeli Defense Intelligence officer Danny Citrinowicz joins the show to assess where the war with Iran stands following the killing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei — and what comes next under new leadership in Tehran. They discuss:

- Has the campaign reduced the nuclear threat — or increased the likelihood that Iran moves “beyond the Rubicon”? What does the removal of Khamenei mean for Iran’s decision-making?

- Are U.S. and Israeli objectives fully aligned — or beginning to diverge? And how should we think about escalation risks, from regional proxies to attacks on critical infrastructure?

In a final segment, Jake and Jon run a Red Team/Blue Team exercise on one of the most consequential unresolved questions of the war:

- Should the United States consider sending ground troops to secure or neutralize Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile in Isfahan? What would success look like — and what could go wrong?

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Transcript here. (staytuned.substack.com/s/transcripts)

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