Israel has killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The IRGC's senior leadership is decimated. The CIA is reportedly arming Kurdish opposition forces along the Iran-Iraq border. Phillip Smyth — one of the foremost experts on Iran's Shia proxy networks — joins Matt to make sense of what comes next: why Khamenei's succession is far more fraught than most analysis acknowledges; why the proliferation of "new" armed groups on the battlefield is largely a disinformation campaign run by established militias; the limits of a Kurdish covert action strategy; why a regime that survives under Khamenei’s son would look essentially identical to the one the Israelis just tried to destroy; and Smyth's warning about the apocalyptic messianic splinter groups that could emerge from the rubble of a collapsing theocracy.

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Follow Phillip on X/Twitter: https://x.com/PhillipSmyth
Connect with Phillip on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/phillipsmyth

Phllip’s work for The Washington Institute: https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/experts/phillip-smyth

Phillip’s work for the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point: https://ctc.westpoint.edu/authors/phillip-smyth/

Phllip’s work for The Washington Institute: https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/experts/phillip-smyth

Phillip’s work for the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point: https://ctc.westpoint.edu/authors/phillip-smyth/

“Inside the Operation That Killed Khamenei” by Anat Peled, Milàn Czerny, Dov Lieber & Anika Arora Seth | The Wall Street Journal: https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/inside-the-operation-that-killed-khamenei-03eebbad

"How the Assault on Iran Unfolded" by David M. Halbfinger and Ronen Bergman | The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/01/world/middleeast/iran-israel-strikes.html

"Trump Weighs Backing Militias to Dislodge Iran’s Regime" by Alexander War & Vera Bergenruen | The Wall Street Journal: https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/iran-leadership-succession-b5c4118e

"Pro-American Kurdish Forces Are Preparing Possible Iran Incursion" by Erika Solomon, Julian E. Barnes, Christiaan Triebert, Parin Behrooz & Farnaz Fassihi | The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/04/us/politics/kurds-trump-iran-war.html

Audio: link: https://pod.fo/e/39ff0f
YouTube: https://youtu.be/j8crrYkaY4E

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Music by Andrew R. Bird
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Secrets and Spies sits at the intersection of intelligence, covert action, real-world espionage, and broader geopolitics in a way that is digestible but serious. Hosted by filmmaker Chris Carr and writer Matt Fulton, each episode examines the very topics that real intelligence officers and analysts consider on a daily basis through the lens of global events and geopolitics, featuring expert insights from former spies, authors, and journalists.