Who Fills Iran’s Power Vacuum? | The Long Game

Decapitation strikes. Iranian retaliation. An AI showdown at the Pentagon. Iran expert Karim Sadjadpour joins Jake and Jon to unpack the U.S.–Israel strikes that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior Iranian leaders, and to assess what Iran’s retaliation across the Middle East could mean for the next phase of the conflict. They examine Khamenei’s worldview, the succession battle now underway, the role of the Revolutionary Guard Corps, and whether the regime is more likely to fracture, harden, or consolidate. In the final segment, Jake and Jon turn to Washington, where a standoff between Anthropic and the Pentagon over AI safeguards and defense contracts raises significant policy questions about who sets the rules for AI frontier technologies. New episodes drop weekly — follow The Long Game on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. #irannews #IranWar #MiddleEast Chapters: 0:00 — Highlight: What's Next for Iran's Future? 1:49 — Introducing Karim Sadjadpour 3:19 — Processing the Shock: Hope vs. Analysis 5:49 — Khamenei’s “Hedgehog” Worldview: Why He Wouldn’t Deal 11:47 — The Regime’s Immediate Mode: “It Can Fight, But It Can’t Govern” 15:01 — Succession and Nationalism: The Next “Strong Man” 20:34 — Iranian Public Mood: Opposition, Fear, and “Shell Shock” 39:16 — Gulf States Under Fire: Spillover and Wider Escalation 49:36 — Anthropic vs. the Pentagon: AI Guardrails, Contracts, and Blowback