Fareed Zakaria hosts a detailed special tracing the historical conflict between the United States and Iran, starting with a dramatization of a B-2 bomber strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. The narrative revisits the pivotal 1979 Iranian hostage crisis, emphasizing its roots in a 1953 CIA-led coup against Iran’s Prime Minister Mossadeq. The documentary expl ... Show More
Sep 13
On GPS: Zelensky on Ukraine’s Path Forward
Today on the show from Kyiv, Fareed speaks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky about the war entering an even more dangerous phase, and what the path forward looks like. Then, Fareed is joined by Poland’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister Radek Sikorski to discus ... Show More
42m 22s
Sep 6
The Post-9/11 Wars, Trends of ’26, State of Democracy
Today on the show, twenty-five years after 9/11, America is still living with the consequences of the war on terror. It produced major tactical successes, at enormous human and financial cost. Fareed speaks with CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen, author of "All the Presi ... Show More
43m 5s
Nov 2019
Ghosts of Mossadegh: The Iran Cables, U.S. Empire, and the Arc of History
Iranian-American author and analyst Hooman Majd discusses a century of history marked by intervention and threats from major world powers. Beginning with Britain, Russia, and Germany battling for control of Iran’s oil, Majd and Jeremy Scahill discuss the CIA coup against Mohammed ... Show More
55m 36s
Jun 2025
Iran and the U.S., Part Two: Rules of Engagement
Military confrontations, early-morning attacks, and digital warfare: the story of Iran and the U.S. from the 1979 Iranian revolution to the fraught moment we're in today. This episode originally ran as Rules of Engagement. You can find more of Throughline's coverage into the orig ... Show More
46m 39s
Nov 2022
Iran, 1979-1997: Islamic Republic, War, and Thermidor
Featuring Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi and Golnar Nikpour on the history of modern Iran. This is the fourth episode in what is now a FIVE-part series. We pick up in the wake of the Islamic Revolution as Khomeini consolidates power, represses his rivals, and confronts an invasion f ... Show More
1h 23m
Jun 2025
Iran and the U.S., Part Three: Soleimani's Iran
The Iran-Iraq war, 9/11, and the story of Iranian Revolutionary Guard general Qassem Soleimani, from his rise to power, to his assassination, by the U.S., to the power his legacy wields now.This episode originally ran as Soleimani's Iran. You can find more of Throughline's covera ... Show More
45m 33s
Sep 2023
The Battles of the Ayatollah
Negar Mortazavi speaks with Alex Vatanka about Iran’s domestic politics and mass protests, the crisis of legitimacy and the issue of leadership succession, Tehran’s deescalation with Washington and regional engagement with Arab rivals, and the continuous shift to the East towards ... Show More
34m 36s
Apr 2024
Iran & Israel: From Allies to Enemies
<p>On the 1st of April, 2024, a presumed Israeli airstrike destroyed the Iranian consulate in Damascus, killing 13 people. Amongst them was a Brigadier General of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Mohammad Reza Zahedi. In retaliation, Iran launched its first-ever dir ... Show More
38m 55s