This week on Babel, Jon speaks with Karim Sadjadpour, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace where focusing on Iran and U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East. They discuss tipping points in Iran, the future of the regime and what a post-Islamic Republic Iran might look like, and patterns in the history of authoritarian regimes. Then, Jon, Will Todman, and Caleb Harper continue the discussion about the potential foreign policy of a post-Islamic Republic Iran and its implications for regional actors and the United States.

Karim Sadjadpour, “Iran Stops Pretending,” The Atlantic, June 20, 2021.

Karim Sadjadpour, “How to Win the Cold War With Iran,” The Atlantic, March 25, 2021.

Jon Alterman, “Iran Will Still be a Slog,” Defense One, January 23, 2021.

Jon Alterman, “Covid-19, the Iranians, and Us,” CSIS, July 21, 2020.

Episode Transcript, “The Future of Iran's Regime,” CSIS, July 13, 2021.