Graeme Wood, Lecturer in Political Science, was interviewed on Slate.com’s What Next podcast, entitled “Iran’s New Nepo Ayatollah.
Abstract:
If you’ve been following the war in Iran, it’s been a confusing week. The United States goals are up in the air, which means it’s also unclear how this war might end. That uncertainty has made oil prices skyrocket and left President Trump seeming to look for a way out. Maybe in one 24 hour period, the president told a reporter at CBS that the fighting was, quote, very complete. Then he held a press conference where he said the US had not won enough and that will not relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated. Finally, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth warned that the U. S. Israeli air campaign was reaching its most intense phase yet. Meanwhile, inside Iran, where the Supreme Leader was killed just a few days back, clerics gathered to elect his replacement. The Supreme Leader is a unique figure in charge of Iran, both spiritually and militarily. And if Washington’s goals seem uncertain, Tehran’s goals do not.
The Iranian leadership for a long time has been very clear about certain points. And the most important of those points are its undying enmity toward Israel and toward the United States. So that is a real consistency of message that goes way back