Today on the show, Fareed is joined by the New Yorker’s Robin Wright and Johns Hopkins professor Vali Nasr to break down the latest escalations in the Middle East following the killings of three Hamas and Hezbollah leaders. Will tensions between Israel and Iran lead to a full-scale regional war? Can the US do anything to de-escalate the situation?
Then, l ... Show More
Apr 12
President Trump Threatens to Blockade the Strait of Hormuz; Former Secretary of State Antony Blinken on His Experience Negotiating with Iran
After President Trump announced that the US would blockade the Strait of Hormuz, Fareed asks retired Admiral James Stavridis, the former NATO supreme allied commander, what it would take to execute it. Next, former Secretary of State Antony Blinken joins the show for an exclusive ... Show More
47m 25s
Mar 29
UN Nuclear Chief on Iran’s Nuclear Program; Where is the War with Iran Headed?
Today on the show, one month of war with Iran. Iran has rejected President Trump's 15-point peace plan to end the war. At the center of the proposed deal is Iran's nuclear program. Fareed speaks with Rafael Grossi, head of the IAEA, about Iran’s potential to rebuild their nuclear ... Show More
43m 35s
May 2025
Can Trump Remake the Middle East?
<p>Donald Trump just finished his first tour of the Middle East since returning to the White House. The region has changed a lot since he was last there as president. There’s been Hamas’s attack on Israel, the ensuing Israeli retaliation, the weakening of Iran and its proxies, an ... Show More
54m 13s
Apr 2025
Nuclear diplomacy: Trump, Iran and a potential new deal
After years of stalled diplomacy, the US and Iran are back in high-level talks. Surprise meetings have taken place in Oman and Rome, with more expected soon. Could this be President Donald Trump’s long-awaited foreign policy win? Or will competing agendas, regional tensions and i ... Show More
32m 25s
Jan 2025
How Trump 2.0 could reshape the Middle East
It's a moment of change in the Middle East. A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and Hezbollah in retreat in Lebanon. Iran and its proxies are weakened and Syria has slipped from its grasp. Now, with President Trump officially installed in the White House, what impact mi ... Show More
26m 22s
Jun 2025
A Twelve-Day War, A New Middle East?
This week on Hold Your Fire!, Richard speaks with Crisis Group experts Ali Vaez, Yasmine Farouk, Mairav Zonszein, Max Rodenbeck and Michael Hanna about the uneasy truce between Israel and Iran after twelve days of war and what it means for the region.In this episode of Hold Your ... Show More
47m 29s
Oct 2024
Regional war in the Middle East: Anatomy of conflict one year after 7 October
<p>One year on from the murderous attacks of 7 October 2023, the Middle East is in the middle of an escalating regional war. This week, <strong>Mark Leonard</strong> welcomes <strong>Julien Barnes-Dacey</strong>, director of ECFR’s MENA programme; <strong>Elli ... Show More
34m 48s