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In all the analysis of the war with Iran, most of the focus has been on the American side - on what Donald Trump might want or what’s his next move. And somehow, we focus a lot less on Iran itself - the country that might have the final say in all of this and that is now harder to read than ever before. After all, who is even running Iran at this point? Is the regime really as stable as it presents itself or is it falling apart underneath the surface? Is there anyone left to negotiate with - and is a deal even possible? And could this war end up pushing Iran to finally acquire nuclear weapons?

To answer those questions, I'm joined by Professor Ali Ansari, the founding director of the Institute for Iranian Studies at the University of St Andrews and one of the world's leading authorities on Iranian politics and history. He has a view that goes against a lot of the conventional wisdoms and mainstream narratives about Iran and he argues that we largely misread the regime and its stability. And that it’s both much weaker than it seems and more dangerous and irrational at the same time.

We talk about how this war will most likely end, what might happen afterwards and why the situation will be even more unstable once the fighting eventually stops - or why what the regime is afraid of is not war but peace. And much more.

#115 Ali Ansari: Iran's Regime Can't Afford Peace. When the War Stops, The Collapse Begins

Decoding Geopolitics Podcast with Dominik Presl