Refine and dandy: Iran’s war bounty
Economist Podcasts
The Economist
4.3 • 5K Ratings
🗓️ 31 March 2026
⏱️ 22 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
An Economist investigation reveals that Iran is profiting from the war as it evades sanctions and oil prices surge. India’s government has promised to crush the country’s Maoist insurgency. Our correspondent visits a former rebel stronghold. And why understudies, a theatre’s insurance policy, are underestimated.
Guests and host:
- Rachana Shanbhogue, business affairs editor
- Kira Huju, Asia correspondent
- Hamish Clayton, culture writer
- Rosie Blau, host of “The Intelligence”
Topics covered:
- Oil, Iran, Kharg Island, sanctions
- India, Modi, Maoists
- Culture, theatre, understudies
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Economist. |
| 0:10.3 | Hello and welcome to the intelligence from The Economist. |
| 0:14.1 | I'm your host, Rosie Bloor. Every weekday, we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world. |
| 0:24.2 | Maoist insurgencies have been a persistent security threat in India for decades. |
| 0:29.8 | 18 months ago, Modi's government set itself a deadline to crush that group. |
| 0:34.1 | Our correspondent visits a former rebel stronghold to find out how that's going. |
| 0:41.7 | And understudies are a theatre's insurance policy, a human backstop to guard against a show |
| 0:47.5 | being cancelled. We meet one of these underrated, often entirely hidden talents who ensure that the |
| 0:53.2 | play goes on. |
| 1:01.6 | First up, though. |
| 1:16.5 | Yesterday, Donald Trump threatened to destroy Iran's energy infrastructure if the regime fails to reopen the vital shipping route of the Strait of Hormuz. |
| 1:21.5 | His targets include Kag Island, through which nearly all of Iran's oil exports flow. With one key strategic site, |
| 1:29.9 | and after weeks of the country being pummeled from the air, you might think that Iran |
| 1:34.1 | would be fragile. But its history of sanctions dodging is now serving it well. And when it comes |
| 1:40.6 | to making money from oil, the Iranian regime is coming out on top. |
| 1:46.9 | Really remarkably, Iran is now earning nearly twice as much from oil as it was before the war began. |
| 1:55.3 | Ratchner-Shanborg is our business affairs editor. |
| 1:58.6 | It's selling about 2.4 to 2.8 million barrels a day, which is about what it was selling |
| 2:04.5 | before the war, if not more. |
| 2:06.9 | And because the Strait of Hormuz is blocked and 15% of the world's oil is stranded, |
| 2:13.1 | it's actually able to command higher prices for that oil. |
| 2:16.9 | So how is any of that possible? The first thing to say is |
... |
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