What does the U.S. want from war with Iran?

Here & Now Anytime

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4.1 • 953 Ratings

🗓️ 2 March 2026

⏱️ 25 minutes

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Summary

The president and the secretary of defense have made conflicting statements about whether regime change is the goal of the U.S. military action in Iran. It's not fully clear what the Trump administration's objectives are there and what the timeline is. Here & Now security analyst Jim Walsh weighs in.

Then, retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling gives his perspective on the objectives of the U.S. military and how long the war may last.

And, former Iranian prisoner and human rights activist Shirin Nariman is watching developments in Iran closely. As a supporter of the National Council of Iran Resistance, Nariman is hoping that the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his advisors will pave the road for democracy and human rights in the country. She talks about the situation in Iran and its reverberations around the region.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for here and now anytime comes from MathWorks, creator of MATLAB and Simulink software for technical computing and model-based design.
0:09.2	MathWorks accelerating the pace of discovery in engineering and science. Learn more at MathWorks.com.
0:17.5	WBUR Podcasts, Boston.
0:21.7	To be clear, this was a war of choice, not necessity.
0:26.2	Iran had not issued a threat to the United States.
0:29.2	We just decided this was a good time to whack them again.
0:33.1	The U.S. Israeli war against Iran is is expanding with counterattacks by Iran against American bases
0:39.9	and allies across the Middle East.
0:52.3	It's Monday, March 2nd, and this is here and now anytime from NPR and WBUR.
0:57.3	I'm Chris Bentley.
1:01.3	The U.S. and Israel have started a war with Iran that has already expanded into several countries in the region and killed hundreds of people, including civilians.
1:11.2	We'll get a few perspectives on today's show from a retired American lieutenant general who
1:16.2	worries about the apparent lack of a plan or even objectives with this war.
1:20.5	Those extremists will come to the forefront who will argue that the nation is under siege
1:24.8	and under greater threat. So it remains to be seen what's going to happen.
1:29.1	And from an Iranian American and former political prisoner who's been calling for regime change
1:34.1	for years. We never ask for boots on the ground. This is something that Iranian people have to do it.
1:40.0	But first, this is the second time in less than a year that the United States and Israel have
1:46.0	attacked Iran. Well, the last war lasted only 12 days. President Trump says this one could last
1:53.1	weeks. At the Pentagon this morning, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Kane offered
1:58.9	no timeline. This is not a single overnight operation. The military objectives at Sengcom and the
2:06.0	joint force have been tasked with will take some time to achieve and in some cases will be
	...

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