Episode

Will Trump bomb Iran?

Podcast
Mark Leonard's World in 30 Minutes
Published
Jan 16, 2026
Duration seconds
2149
Processing state
not_requested
Canonical source
https://shows.acast.com/ecfr/episodes/will-trump-bomb-iran
Audio
https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/65b12b49ff5af10016347961/e/6968eadc40cb06a2d46a9546/media.mp3
JSON
/v1/public/podcasts/mark-leonard-s-world-in-30-minutes-162427/episodes/will-trump-bomb-iran
Markdown
/podcast/mark-leonard-s-world-in-30-minutes-162427/will-trump-bomb-iran.md

Actions

  • POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/mark-leonard-s-world-in-30-minutes-162427/episodes/will-trump-bomb-iran/transcription-requests
    Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
  • GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/mark-leonard-s-world-in-30-minutes-162427/will-trump-bomb-iran.md
    Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

Summary

Protests across Iran have entered their third week and Donald Trump is said to be considering a military intervention against the Khamenei regime. According to human rights organisations, its brutal crackdown against demonstrators has led to at least 2,500 deaths, as well as an internet blackout and mass arrests. This week, Mark Leonard welcomes Ellie Geranmayeh , deputy director of ECFR’s Middle East and North Africa programme, to discuss the Iranian protests, what a military intervention by Trump could look like and how Iranians are reacting to the political turmoil. Could Trump feasibly intervene in Iran? What are his options? How do the current protests differ from those staged after the death of Jina Mahsa Amini? What role could Reza Pahlavi, son of the deposed Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, play in a potential regime change? And how does Iran’s nuclear programme fit into all of this? This podcast was recorded on Thursday 15, January 2026. Bookshelf It Was Just an Accident by Jafar Panahi Taraneh: A Documentary by BBC Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.