This is CBS Eye on the World.

Here's John Batchelor.

The Islamic Republic of Iran, at beginning of 2025, having engineered the multiple

affronts to attack Israel, massacre people, beggar the world with speculation.

Iran is now extremely vulnerable and extremely desperate. I learned from Ben-Benthaliblu,

senior fellow of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies and the Senior Director of the Iran Program

at the FD, writing at the New York Post.

Madam, a good evening to you. Maximum Pressure was the Trump administration term for how

to control Iran and its predation towards its neighborhood and its suspect nuclear weapons program.

Maximum pressure did work once upon a time, but that has not been the case for the Biden

administration, and we now have Iran both a threat and a very troubled state of affairs.

You write of both.

There's something of a paradox here.

Iran can manufacture drones for Russia.

Iran can throw up missiles for itself and for sale.

Iran can certainly dominate the neighborhood with its besiege or its IRGC or its Al-Quds force.

And yet, you report that Iran's economy and will are broken.

How so, Benham.

Good evening to you.

And very good evening to you, John.

Happy New Year to you and your listeners.

These are historic times, but what is not historic and is rather omnipresent in the Islamic Republic, shall we say, is the sheer amount of contradictions that exist in that system.

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