“Burn it Down!” - Mossad in Iran, Trump Regime Change, Clinton Bribe & Nuke Deal | Trita Parsi • 382
Julian Dorey · 10 Feb 2026 · 3h 3m
Guest: Trita Parsi · Host: Joey Def, Julian Dorey
Trita Parsi, an Iranian-born foreign policy scholar, walks through the entire arc of US-Iran relations and its bearing on the current wave of protests in Iran. He starts with his own family's history — his father's imprisonment under both the Shah and the Islamic Republic, sharing a cell with his own former jailer — before moving into the 1953 coup against Mossadegh, the Shah's repressive but socially liberal rule, the 1979 revolution and hostage crisis, and the long, uneven reform movement inside Iran that he argues was ultimately killed by Trump's withdrawal from the JCPOA. He gives a detailed insider account of the 2015 nuclear deal's negotiating history, inspection regime, and the political motives of Israel and Gulf states, drawing on his own role advising the Obama administration. Much of the conversation turns to the January 2026 crackdown, where Parsi estimates thousands killed, describes evidence of a mysterious violent faction operating alongside peaceful protesters, and lays out Mossad's extensive intelligence penetration of Iran. He also discusses the MEK's cultish history, the Qatari and Omani role as regional mediators, the strange coalition of Gulf states now treating Iran as a necessary buffer against Israeli power, and his skepticism toward both foreign-imposed regime change and the exiled opposition, including the Shah's son.
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What comes up
Timestamps link into the episode on YouTube.
- MEK origin story and cult behavior
- UN Security Council reform proposal
- 1953 coup against Mossadegh
- 1979 revolution and hostage crisis
- Failure of Iran's reform movement and sanctions
- Israeli motives behind opposing the nuclear deal
- June strikes, Israel's failed decapitation attempt
- Qatar and Oman as regional mediators
- Parsi's family history and imprisonment under both regimes
- January 2026 crackdown and mysterious violent faction
- Growing up as an Iranian refugee in Sweden vs. the US
- Mossad's intelligence penetration of Iran
Said on this episode
Quoted from the auto-generated transcript, which mishears names and technical terms. podcite.com reports what a show said; it does not endorse or fact-check it.
“They took children from MEK families and placed them with other MEK families. This ensured that MEK members could not defect because if they defected, they would lose access to their own children.”
“eventually managed to get Hillary Clinton to take them off the terrorist list.”
“The United States consumed 25% of all of its THAD interceptors in those 12 days for Israel.”