Mark Dubowitz sits down with Reuel Marc Gerecht, a former Iranian-targets officer in the CIA turned FDD resident scholar, to discuss the covert odyssey that is his career. From the origins of his fascination with Iran to what ultimately became an obsession — one that compelled him to smuggle himself into the country — they spend Part I of the conversation breaking down the hard-won insights that shaped Reuel’s expertise on the Islamic Republic.

In Part II, we’ll put his insights to work, dissecting last month’s joint U.S.–Israeli air raids in Iran and assessing America’s intelligence wins and misses.