US war on Iran: 'A game of high risk, high reward' for both Trump and the Islamic Republic
One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site.
Try again
Issued on: 07/05/2026 - 09:37
09:19 min Share From the show
Reading time
1 min
Mark Owen is pleased to welcome Behnam Ben Taleblu, Iran Program Senior Director and Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. He presents the escalating confrontation between Iran and the United States as a dangerous and evolving contest of “high risk, high reward.” He argues that Tehran is actively probing Washington’s tolerance for escalation: “the Islamic Republic is looking at the play to the edge here to see how risk averse versus how risk tolerant the Trump administration is.” In Ben Taleblu’s account, the conflict is not merely military or economic, but psychological and performative: a contest over leverage, narratives, and perceived resolve.
China emerges as another pivotal actor in his analysis. Rejecting simplistic depictions of Beijing as an omnipotent “puppet master,” he instead portrays China as a calculating power pursuing “primarily mercantilist and predatory motives,” balancing relations with both Washington and Tehran while carefully protecting its own energy and strategic interests. His framing underscores how the crisis in the Persian Gulf increasingly intersects with the volatile geopolitical landscape.
Throughout the interview, Ben Taleblu repeatedly warns against what he sees as Western overreaction to Iranian maritime pressure. “Media and markets together,” he argues, “has created an overreaction that has really amplified the Islamic Republic’s ability.” Yet he simultaneously insists the threat itself is real and longstanding, describing Tehran’s use of the Strait of Hormuz as something “deployed… almost kind of like a nuclear weapon” during the forty days of conflict.
By:
Mark OWEN
Ilayda HABIP
Video by:
Mark OWEN
Advertising
Related keywords
Схожі новини
China gives two ex-defense ministers suspended death sentences over corruption
Залужний запропонував три типи мобілізації і зробив заяву про "дембель"
Удар на 1550 км углиб Росії: Мадяр розповів, куди дістали українські “птахи”
