Is Iran Winning?
About this episode
Maloney argues that Iran's apparent weakness after the 2026 war is deceptive — and that Tehran believes it now holds the stronger hand. Her case: the war failed to topple the regime or destroy the nuclear program, the US squandered its leverage by joining Israel's bombing campaign, and Iran retained its capacity to threaten oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, giving it a powerful economic weapon against Washington and its Gulf neighbors. The conversation covers the domestic politics of the Islamic Republic, the succession question around the aging supreme leader, the decimation of Hezbollah and the axis of resistance, and the Trump administration's maximalist demands. Klein presses her on whether the regime is genuinely resilient or merely surviving, and on what a durable settlement could look like; Maloney is skeptical of both regime-change fantasies and quick deals, arguing that deterrence and diplomacy are the only realistic paths.