Hello and welcome to the GZero World Podcast.

I'm Ian Bremmer, and this is where you can find extended versions of the conversations on my public television show.

This week, I'm bringing you a rare perspective from inside the Iranian government at a moment when the Middle East is on the brink of conflagration.

As the one-year anniversary of the

October 7th Hamas attacks approaches, Israel has ratcheted up its regional strikes against Iran-backed

proxy forces across the Middle East. The IDF continues to pummel Gaza and bulldoze the West Bank

as Israeli fighter jets drop hundreds of bombs in Lebanon and

Yemen. And just last week, Israel's government shocked the world by announcing that it had killed

Hezbollah's iconic leader, Hassan Nasrullah, in a Beirut bombing. And earlier this week,

Israeli troops entered Lebanon for the first time since 2006 and what the government is calling

limited ground offensives, for now at least.

And for the second time this year, Iran launched ballistic missiles at Israel, this week

claiming there would be more to come if Israel attacks Iran directly.

So far, Israel has been able to act with virtual impunity,

and I spoke with my guest, Iranian Vice President Javad Zarif,

shortly before the Nasrallah assassination news broke.

But even then, Zharif, who served as Iran's foreign minister until 2021,

wanted to make one point clear. Israel is not invincible.

That was the lesson he claims the world learned from Hamas's devastating October 7th attack.

My takeaway from the past few months is pretty much the opposite. Aside from a handful of Hezbollah

and Iranian missiles sneaking through the Iron Dome,

Israel has thus far faced virtually no consequences for its escalations.

...