The Shadow War in Iran

Ayatollah Khamenei’s son has been chosen as his replacement, but is he even alive? As the US Israeli war against Iran enters it’s third week, it’s clear that Iranian conventional forces have been decimated, yet Iran was prepared for this scenario and is now unleashing assymetric attacks across the Gulf using Shaheed drones. Following through on their threat to close the Straits of Hormuz, Iran has now hit 16 tankers causing oil prices to spike above $100 and stock markets to crash. Is the war now following the familiar pattern of US interventions in the Middle East, where operational military success is followed by strategic defeat? Unless America can re-open the straits and force the Iranian regime to negotiate or collapse, the conflict could potentially drag on for months instead of weeks.

Tom Tugendhat and James Glancy discuss American options, and who the winners and losers are from the conflict. Has releasing of sanctions on Putin given Russia the advantage in the Ukraine war? Or …