Perspectives: Iran Past and Present

Epizode

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  Iran’s Nuclear Ambiguity and Trump’s “Pickaxe Mountain” Pickle 19.08.2026 3min

  US and Israel handed Tehran the precious gift of nuclear ambiguity. Before 13 June 2025, Iran had the most open nuclear program in the world; today, the most opaque program. 440.9kg of 60% “highly-enriched uranium” survives at scattered sites; there is no single target for Special Forces or USAF to strike. The hoopla about “Pickaxe Mountain” is manufactured by Israel to force Trump to attack and re-ignite the Iran War.
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  How the Taliban Defeated the Pentagon’s “Best and Brightest” 14.08.2026 20min

  Sat., 15-Aug-26, is the fifth anniversary of the Taliban’s victory over the US. In a 20-minute podcast, two discussants analyze the intellectual failures that led to the US’s strategic defeat. It is based on Shivan Mahendrarajah’s article in “Small Wars & Insurgencies,” and “is a scathing indictment of Generals Petraeus, McChrystal, et al., who brought military hardware to a political battlefield.” The “Afghan Surge” was doomed from day one. Generals were blind to the Taliban’s Maoist “revolutionary warfare” strategy (Rev. War = Guerrilla Activity + Political Activity); and systematic development of “parallel hierarchies” (shadow state) throughout rural villages.
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  Iran’s Impenetrable Underground Bases 12.08.2026 3min

  “The Iranian missile cities the US could not destroy” by the Financial Times caused a stir, but Iran specialists knew that underground bases were selected for their geography and geology. They are impregnable. Evidence and analysis in the essay.
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  “China’s Eyes, Iran’s Fist”: PLA’s Satellites Help IRGC to Close the “Kill Chain” 08.08.2026 4min

  China’s satellite network provides Iran with 24/7/365 coverage and real-time updates: SIGINT, terrain mapping, telemetry; radar, optical, and infrared all-weather, day & night imaging, allowing Iran to precisely strike Israeli and U.S. targets. Details in the essay.
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  US Army’s Debacle in the Iranian Desert 07.08.2026 4min

  Trump’s Gamble. On Easter Weekend, 4–5 April, US Special Forces suffered a debacle near the nuclear site in Isfahan. Trump’s social media meltdown was because the plan to seize Iran’s enriched uranium failed. The “pilot rescue” story is false. Read the essay at my website.
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  A Sunni Community Thrives in Shia Iran 06.08.2026 53min

  Shivan Mahendrarajah’s book, The Sufi Saint of Jam: History, Religion, and Politics of a Sunni Shrine in Shi‘i Iran (Cambridge University Press, 2021) explores the history, religion, politics, and architecture of Ahmad-i-Jam’s shrine, located in eastern Iran. Sunni shrine and community have thrived for over 900 years. This is of particular relevance given prevailing assumptions about Iran’s alleged sectarian and intolerant Shi‘i theocracy.
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  Iran War: Failures in US Generalship 04.08.2026 3min

  Podcast of essay published this day. Essay has details, links, and images