Hi everyone, Why It Matters will be back in two weeks, but in the meantime we wanted to share the latest episode from our colleagues at the Foreign Affairs interview.

So a little over a week ago, Iran directly attacked Israel from its own territory for the first time in history.

And while the United States and Israel shot down almost all of the missiles and drones, the attack remains unprecedented.

Since the release of this episode, Israel has launched a relatively moderate counter-strike

and tensions appear to be cooling, but the Middle East might still be on the brink of a wider war.

In this episode of the Foreign Affairs interview,

host Dan Kurtz Phelan and guests Suzanne Maloney and Ali Vayez discuss the consequences of deteriorating Iran-Israel

dynamics and more. So stick around for that and we will see you soon. I'm Dan Kurtz Valen, and this is the Foreign Affairs interview.

I agree that Iran was winning strategically, but I would say that Iran was winning strategically but I would say that Iran was losing tactically

that the cost of the conflict in Gaza for Iran over the past seven months was starting to

accumulate.

On April 13th over the past seven months was starting to accumulate.

On April 13, Iran did something it had never done before.

It launched a direct attack on Israel from Iranian territory.

As historic and spectacular as this was, Israel, the U.S. and others managed to

intercept a huge percentage of the drones and missiles fired and the damage done was

minor. Still, the world is waiting tensely to see how Israel will respond and

whether the Middle East can avoid full-scale war. To understand the attack and

its consequences, I spoke with Suzanne Maloney from the Brookings Institution,

and Ali Vaez from the International Crisis Group.

We discussed where this conflict go next,

and how to bring the two sides back from the brink of war.

...