The Illegal War On Iran Is Escalating... What Next?

March 20, 2026·1 hr 28 min·5 clips

A witness describes severed hands and scalps torn off after a double-tap bombing in Tehran's Nalofa Square.

Aaron Bastani and Kieran Andrade open by covering the latest escalation in the U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran, with strikes hitting Tehran's Gandhi Hospital, Ferdowsi Square, the national broadcaster's offices, and residential neighborhoods. They cite Dropsite News reporting on double-tap bombing tactics in a densely populated Tehran neighborhood, where a second strike targeted civilians and first responders arriving after the initial blast. Nearly 800 people have been killed according to Iran's Red Crescent. The hosts note that Israel has simultaneously launched a new ground invasion of southern Lebanon, displacing over 30,000 people, while Iran has retaliated with missile strikes against Israel and U.S. bases across the Gulf region, hitting targets in Jordan, Bahrain, Iraq, the UAE, and even the U.S. embassy in Riyadh. The episode's central revelation is a clip from Secretary of State Marco Rubio explaining the U.S. rationale for joining the attack. Rubio stated the U.S. knew Israel was going to strike Iran, knew Iran would retaliate against American bases, and decided a preemptive joint attack would reduce American casualties. The hosts argue this amounts to an admission that the U.S. went to war because Israel forced its hand rather than because of any direct Iranian threat to America. They contrast this with the fact that Oman's foreign minister had been mediating U.S.-Iran negotiations in which Iran had agreed to no nuclear weapons, no enriched uranium stockpiles, and comprehensive inspections, a deal potentially better than the Obama-era agreement. Netanyahu's public statement in Hebrew that the war fulfills a 40-year objective is presented as evidence the conflict serves Israeli regional hegemony rather than U.S. national security. The economic analysis covers how European gas prices spiked more in 48 hours than at the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with simultaneous rises in borrowing costs and drops in stock markets. The hosts warn this could reverse the period of falling inflation and interest rate cuts that followed the 2022-2023 energy crisis. A significant portion covers the political dynamics in the UK, where Reform and the Conservative Party have cheered on the war while simultaneously campaigning against immigration, a contradiction the hosts highlight since a destabilized Iran of 93 million people could trigger a massive refugee crisis reaching Europe. The episode features a CNN clip where anchor Jake Tapper and former intelligence official Beth Sanna question whether the U.S. action qualifies as preemptive when the threat was created by an ally's planned action rather than an enemy's. The hosts also play Tucker Carlson's analysis that Israel gave the U.S. an ultimatum rather than a request, and that the option of saying no to Israel was never seriously considered despite America funding its military. Kieran argues Israel is seizing this window because Trump is uniquely aligned with Netanyahu, and because Israel recognizes that public opinion globally has shifted against it since October 2023, making future Western leaders less likely to support such actions.

As heard by us

A furious live argument about Iran, Trump, Israel, and the politics of escalation.

This episode treats the escalation around Iran as an immediate political crisis, not a detached briefing. The hosts move from threat and retaliation into a wider argument about who benefits from keeping the conflict hot, and the discussion stays locked on timing.

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Why you'd press play

You want the Iran escalation through a left-wing lens, with Trump, Netanyahu, and the regional power game at the center.

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