119. Inside Iran: Why Trump Didn’t Intervene (Ep 2)

The Rest Is Classified

Goalhanger

History

4.4 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 21 January 2026

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What does history tell us about how a revolution is going to play out? What can intelligence agencies and political scientists working on Iran learn from Syria? And why didn’t Donald Trump follow through on his plan to militarily intervene in Iran? Listen as David and Gordon look at the ongoing situation in Iran through the lens of intelligence analysts and ask what there is to be learnt from studying revolutions of the past. ------------------- Make someone a Declassified Club Member this year – go deeper into the world of espionage with exclusive Q&As, interviews with top intelligence insiders, regular livestreams, ad-free listening, early access to episodes and live show tickets, and weekly deep dives into original spy stories. Members also get curated reading lists, special book discounts, prize draws, and access to our private chat community. Just go to ⁠⁠⁠therestisclassified.com⁠⁠ or join on Apple Podcasts. ------------------- EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ ⁠⁠https://nordvpn.com/restisclassified⁠⁠ Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee ------------------- Pre-order a signed edition of David's latest novel, The Persian,⁠ ⁠here.⁠⁠ ------------------- Email: ⁠⁠therestisclassified@goalhanger.com⁠ Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@restisclassified⁠⁠ Social Producer: Emma Jackson Assistant Producer: Alfie Rowe Producer: Becki Hills Head of History: Dom Johnson Exec Producer: Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	For exclusive interviews, bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to series, first
0:09.2	look at live show tickets, a weekly newsletter, and discounted books, join the declassified
0:14.1	club at the rest is classified.com. This episode is brought to you by the Times and Sunday Times.
0:24.9	It's no secret that we're in a turbulent era.
0:28.0	And in changing times, the Times and Sunday Times remains your most trusted source in making sense of how change affects you.
0:36.0	For over 240 years, their journalists have been at the heart of the action, giving a balanced
0:41.4	perspective so you get the full picture.
0:44.6	Times change, but the Times remains.
0:47.5	To subscribe to The Times and Sunday Times, visit the Times.com.
0:52.4	Protests in Iran and a violent crackdown.
0:55.8	But can the regime survive?
0:57.9	And how effective are intelligence agencies
1:00.6	at predicting what might come next?
1:03.4	Well, welcome to the rest is classified.
1:04.9	I'm David McCloskey.
1:05.9	And I'm Gordon Carrera.
1:07.1	And welcome to this second episode
1:08.8	where we're looking at Iran
1:10.8	through the lens of how
1:12.6	intelligence agencies might understand it. David, of course, former CIA analyst looking at the Middle East.
1:19.6	And we've been trying in the first episode to understand what the pillars are for regime stability,
1:26.6	how you might assess whether a country like Iran was stable or was on the brink of change.
	...

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