DESTROY, DELAY OR DISMANTLE? - with Nadav Eyal and Karim Sadjapour

109 snips

Jun 18, 2025

Guest

Karim Sadjadpour

Guest

Nadav Eyal

Join Nadav Eyal, a Senior analyst at Yedioth Achronot, and Karim Sadjapour, an Iranian foreign policy expert at the Carnegie Endowment, as they dissect the future of Iran's nuclear aspirations. They explore whether military action from the U.S. or Israel is feasible, and discuss the shifting dynamics within Iranian society influenced by recent conflicts. The conversation also touches on the unexpected unity in Israeli society against these threats and the complexities of U.S. foreign policy decision-making in this tense landscape.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

Israel's Military Success Yet Strategic Uncertainty

Israel is achieving significant military success against Iran, including decapitating its military leadership and disrupting missile capabilities.
However, no clear strategic endgame has emerged yet from Israeli or U.S. decision makers regarding the long-term impact on Iran.

INSIGHT

Iranian Society Polarized and Spectating

Iranian society is polarized by the conflict, with supporters rallying around the regime and opponents blaming it for the crisis.
Most Iranians remain spectators rather than active participants due to the newness of conflict since the Iran-Iraq war.

INSIGHT

Israel Unites Behind War Effort

Israel has proven it can engage Iran militarily without catastrophic losses despite initial fears of high civilian casualties.
Israeli society shows unusual unity behind the war effort, including former opposition leaders.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

Watch Call me Back on YouTube: youtube.com/@CallMeBackPodcast

Check out Ark Media’s other podcasts:

For Heaven's Sake: https://lnk.to/rfGlrA
‘What’s Your Number?’: https://lnk.to/rbGlvM

For sponsorship inquiries, please contact: callmeback@arkmedia.org

To contact us, sign up for updates, and access transcripts, visit: https://arkmedia.org/

Ark Media on Instagram: https://instagram.com/arkmediaorg

Dan on X: https://x.com/dansenor

Dan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dansenor

Today’s Episode:

Will the U.S. play a direct military role in the destruction of Iran’s nuclear program? Over the past few days, President Trump has been reinforcing his support for the Israeli offensive and his position that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. Most assessments suggest that the IAF does not have the capability to completely destroy Iran’s nuclear program. If that’s the case, what’s the end-game? Should Iran’s nuclear program be destroyed by the US, delayed by Israel, or disassembled by Iran through a deal?

On today’s episode, we dive into these critical questions with senior analyst at Yedioth Achronot and Call me Back regular, Nadav Eyal, and Iran foreign policy expert and senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Karim Sadjapour.

Karim is a first-time guest. In addition to working at Carnegie, he is a contributing writer to the Atlantic. He was previously an analyst with the International Crisis Group, based in Tehran and Washington. He has lived in Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East (including both Iran and the Arab world) and speaks Persian. Karim is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, teaching a class on U.S. foreign policy and the Middle East.

Nadav and Karim discuss what the mood is inside Iran, what military options are on the table, and possible outcomes of the war.

CREDITS:

ILAN BENATAR - Producer & Editor

MARTIN HUERGO - Sound Editor

MARIANGELES BURGOS - Additional Editing

MAYA RACKOFF - Operations Director

GABE SILVERSTEIN - Research

YUVAL SEMO - Music Composer