Iran’s Unrest, Decoded: Protests, Power, and the Nuclear Trajectory

Iran’s latest wave of protests—sparked by currency collapse and rapidly shifting into anti government unrest—has been forcefully suppressed by a highly layered security apparatus. In this episode, our hosts Sean Corbett and Cristina Varriale are joined by Lewis Smart, Principal Analyst from Country Intelligence's MENA team, cut through conflicting narratives to explain why the regime remains intact for now, how elite cohesion and information control has shaped events, and which indicators matter for future instability. They also examine external pressures, including sanctions and U.S. force posture, and assess how Iran’s nuclear ambitions intersect with domestic unrest to shape the country’s next moves.

You can listen to Iran’s Unrest, Decoded: Protests, Power, and the Nuclear Trajectory online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Iran’s Unrest, Decoded: Protests, Power, and the Nuclear Trajectory is an episode from The World of Intelligence by Janes.

This episode is 41:30 long.

This episode was published on Jan 22, 2026.

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