Episode
Simon Sebag-Montefiore on the Iran war: Trump’s mistakes, Israel’s overreach and the end of the ‘Middle East’
- Podcast
- Iran: The Latest
- Published
- Aug 30, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2474
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://shows.acast.com/battle-lines-israel-gaza/episodes/simon-sebag-montefiore-on-the-iran-war-trumps-mistakes-israe
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Summary
"Israel is in a situation of kind of spectacular military virtuosity, but also strategic impoverishment. You cannot kill everybody." On today’s bank holiday bonus episode of Iran: the Latest , Venetia Rainey speaks to historian Simon Sebag-Montefiore to get a historian’s view of the US-Israel-Iran war. Simon argues that Donald Trump’s biggest mistake was not stopping after 2025’s Operation Midnight Hammer, and that Benjamin Netanyahu is leading his country into a potential intra-Jewish civil war. Plus, why the Iranian regime is a Mahdist-praetorian oligarchy, how the geopolitical concept of "the Middle East" became obsolete, and which dictators from the region’s modern history haunt him. Simon Sebag Montefiore’s new book, The Cauldron: The Making of the Modern Middle East , is out now. Highlights Trump’s mistakes, Israel’s overreach and the end of the ‘Middle East’ Historian and author Simon Sebag-Montefiore on the Iran war CONTRIBUTORS: Venetia Rainey, co-host and executive producer @venetiarainey Simon Sebag-Montefiore, historian and author @simonmontefiore WATCH US ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJnf_DDTfIVAif-vifC6F2aoPB8GIw6dk CONTENT REFERENCED: Simon Sebag Montefiore: Appeasing radical activists will make the West ungovernable https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/authors/simon-sebag-montefiore-the-cauldron-interview/ Simon Sebag Montefiore: Starmer’s foreign policy risks rewarding aggressive extremists https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/09/07/montefiore-starmers-foreign-policy-rewards-extremists/ Winner Best News and Analysis Podcast - Publisher Podcast Awards 2026 Nominated Podcast of the Year - Society of Editors News Podcasts Awards 2026 Nominated Best News, Politics and Current Affairs - British Podcast Awards 2026 The T…