From Bad to Disastrous: Will Trump Escalate in Iran?

In this episode of Hold Your Fire!, Richard is joined by Crisis Group experts Ali Vaez, Yasmine Farouk, Mairav Zonszein, Stephen Pomper and Michael Wahid Hanna to talk about where the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran stands, one month in. Richard first speaks with Ali about reported backchannel talks between Washington and Tehran, the two sides’ largely incompatible demands for ending the war, changes in Iran’s leadership, and the slim prospects for de-escalation as the U.S. deploys more troops to the Gulf. Next, he speaks with Yasmine about how Gulf states see the war, where their views diverge, and what kind of outcome they would like to see when the war ends. He and Mairav talk about why the war continues to enjoy broad support in Israel despite its mounting costs, and what Israeli leaders still hope to achieve. Finally, Richard speaks with Michael and Stephen about Trump’s decision-making as the conflict continues, his erratic messaging, the administration’s options and what off-ramps remain. Click here to listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify . For more, check out our Statement “ Finding an Off-ramp in the Middle East War ” and our Middle East & North Africa page. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You can listen to From Bad to Disastrous: Will Trump Escalate in Iran? online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

From Bad to Disastrous: Will Trump Escalate in Iran? is an episode from Hold Your Fire! by International Crisis Group.

This episode is 1:04:56 long.

This episode was published on Mar 28, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Hold Your Fire! when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.