Iran Strikes Israel, Oil Fields Ablaze, and Will the U.S. Enter the War?

Honestly with Bari Weiss

The Free Press

News, Society & Culture

4.6 • 7.8K Ratings

🗓️ 15 June 2025

⏱️ 80 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As we taped this episode of Honestly, it was 3 a.m. in Israel. Sirens wailed across the country as Iranian missiles rained down on Israeli towns. At the same time, Israel was striking military and nuclear sites inside Iran, and oil fields were aflame. Meanwhile in Washington, reports were emerging of a heated debate inside the White House over whether the U.S. should get involved in the war. It’s hard to overstate the magnitude of this story—or how uncertain the outcome is for Israel. There’s no one better to help us make sense of this war than Michael Doran—senior fellow and director of the Hudson Institute’s Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East. This has been his story not just for the past few days—for the last decade, no one has written more, and more brilliantly, about Iran’s nuclear aspirations and Washington’s posture toward Iran than Mike. And he just wrote for The Free Press “The Ultimate Deception: How Trump and Bibi Outfoxed Iran.” We recorded this interview Saturday evening at 6 p.m. as a Free Press subscriber livestream. We’re doing more of these given the speed of the news. To attend one live and ask your own questions, become a Free Press subscriber. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:26.4	and I'm not to say that because I work here. Get started today at banta.com.
0:30.8	From the free press, this is honestly and I'm Barry Weiss. I'm recording this at 8 p.m. New York City time, which is 3 a.m. in Israel.
0:40.6	Sirens are wailing across the country right now as Iranian missiles strike down into
0:46.0	Israeli towns.
0:47.5	In Iran, Israel is striking nuclear and military sites and oil fields are aflame.
0:53.5	And in Washington, there are reports coming out about a fight inside the White House
0:59.0	over whether or not the U.S. should get involved in the war effort.
1:03.0	It is impossible to overstate what an enormous story this is,
1:08.0	and how uncertain victory is in this war, despite an astonishing first 48
1:13.3	hours by Israel. And there is no one better to make sense of all of this than Michael Duran.
1:20.6	Mike is the director of the Hudson Institute Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East,
1:26.2	and this has been his story, not just for the
1:29.6	past few days, but for the past decade. No one has written more and more brilliantly, in my view,
1:36.8	about Iran's nuclear aspirations and Washington's posture toward Iran than Mike. I want to note that we recorded this interview
1:47.2	Saturday evening at 6 p.m. And we recorded this as a free press subscriber live stream. We are
	...

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