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Nima Alkhorshid of Dialogue Works speaks with Prof. Seyed Mohammad Marandi about a sharp drop in oil shipments and pressure on Gulf states via Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab.
The discussion covers how chokepoint disruption hits energy markets and regional politics, and what that means for US and Gulf strategy in the wider Middle East conflict.
A concise geopolitics update on oil logistics, Hormuz leverage, and the squeeze on Gulf economies.
Prof. Mohammad Marandi joins from Iran to discuss the blistering developments in the war including Iran's powerful response to Trump's attack threat which has the US and Israel backing down from the edge of catastrophic war.
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Prof. Seyed Mohammad Marandi is a former advisor to Iran's nuclear negotiation team. Prof. Marandi discusses Saudi Arabia's miscalculation in terms of attacking Yemen. Trump has trapped himself in the Iran War, and his options keep getting worse.
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Seyed Mohammad Marandi joins to discuss why he believes the most dangerous phase of the Iran war has just begun as Iran's strikes become more devastating and the Trump prepares the unthinkable out of desperation. .
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Prof. Seyed Mohammad Marandi is a former advisor to Iran's nuclear negotiation team. Prof. Marandi discusses the plans for a U.S. land invasion of Iran, and how the participation of Yemen and Iraq in the war can change the character of the war.
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Chris sat down with Professor Seyed Mohammad Marandi — Professor of English Literature and Orientalism at the University of Tehran, and one of Iran's most prominent English-language analysts — in Tehran, during the funeral of Ayatollah Khamenei.
What followed was one of the most frank and wide-ranging conversations about Iran, the war, Western narratives and the future of the resistance that we have ever recorded.
Prof. Marandi was clear: every myth the West has promoted about Iran for decades — corrupt, imploding, morally bankrupt, unpopular, a house of cards — was destroyed in full view of the world during Khamenei's funeral. And the West couldn't hide it this time.
• "All the myths about Iran were nonsense — and they were destroyed. Not that they won't go back to them in a few weeks." • "I had no doubt we would win the war from day one. Almost everyone I know abroad thought Iran would collapse in days." • "When we speak about popular legitimacy, the Islamic Republic is more legitimate than any Western government." • "They are the regimes. Not Iran." • "The Epstein class, the oligarchy, the Zionists — they won't learn." • Even under war, siege and sanctions, Iran sent aid to Venezuela — "Who else would do that?" • The role of Shia Islam and Iranian nationalism — "There is no separation between the two." • On the Iranian diaspora used by Western media: "Orientalized Orientals. The comprador class. They try to be more American than the Americans." • On Erdogan: "Trump says he's more obedient to me than my European partners." • On a future security architecture: Iran's relations with Russia, China and the Global South will expand — but Iran will not bow to any power. • Putin at SPIEF openly said he was surprised by the outpouring of support for Khamenei — and called it confirmation of Iran's strength.
Recorded in Tehran. During the largest funeral in human history.
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Seyed Mohammad Marandi discusses why Trump is fuming after Iran's massive retaliation spanning the UAE, Jordan, Qatar and nearly every Gulf state as US attacks overnight blow back into all out war as Lindsey Graham's death sends shockwaves across the US and Israeli regimes.
As Ayatollah Khamenei's state funeral draws millions of Iranians and nearly 50 foreign delegations to Iran this week, we ask: what does this moment mean for Iran's internal stability, its standing in the region, and its fragile truce with Washington?
Since the June 17th Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding brought a fragile end to the U.S.-Israel war on Iran, the agreement has faced serious strain. The June 26th Israel-Lebanon framework ties Israeli withdrawal to Hezbollah's disarmament, and low-level attacks between Iran, the U.S., and Israel continue. Is the Trump administration genuinely pursuing a grand bargain with Tehran, or is this just a tactical pause before renewed conflict?
In this episode (recorded July 6, 2026), Mehlaqa Samdani and Dr. Atiqa Batul are joined by:
🔹 Dr. John Mearsheimer — Professor of Political Science, University of Chicago — on the fragility of the MOU, the Strait of Hormuz, whether Iran is emerging as a fourth pole of global power, and what America's foreign policy history teaches about dealing with Iran.
🔹 Prof. Seyed Mohammad Marandi — Professor of English Literature and Orientalism, University of Tehran — on Khamenei's succession, Tehran's read on the MOU's survival, the Saudi-Turkey-Pakistan-Egypt regional recalibration, Iran's information war, and the lessons of Iran's development under decades of sanctions.
