Recorded on Wednesday (June 11) and launching before Middle East events make everything outdated ... this episode analyzes the sudden upsurge in tension.

Did Israel inform the U.S. that it's going to bomb sites in Iran?  Or was the Trump Administration pulling out families of military folks and diplomats -- from Arab countries within range of Iran -- to put pressure on Iran in the current nuclear talks?

Perhaps the U.S. is preparing to strike Iran, if the talks continue to limp along without agreement -- or collapse altogether.

We consider the possibilities with the director of the Iran Project at FDD -- the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies -- Behnam Ben Taleblu.

As an expert on Iran and its complex motivations, Ben Taleblu and Dan discuss all the possibilities. They don't all lead to a destructive, all-out war.

Please comment on X at @danraviv. Also on BlueSky, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Dan's most recent book -- with Israeli espionage/defense expert Yossi Melman -- about the Mossad and Israel's other security agencies is "Spies Against Armageddon: Inside Israel's Secret Wars" -- You may purchase it at http://bit.ly/41j1Sc3 in Kindle or paperback (and on all e-book platforms).

AND ANOTHER BOOK: Dan Raviv is co-author of a new book -- with world-renowned social psychologist Prof. Arie Kruglanski -- "The Quest for Significance: Harnessing the Need that Makes the World Go Round." It explains how every person has a need for respect and dignity, and the book advises how you can find what's important to you -- and figure out all the people around you, to give them a measure of Significance ... and then they typically will reflect some back at you. That's called a win-win. To buy: https://amzn.to/3Y2cawj

(You can watch or listen, also, to THE QUEST FOR SIGNIFICANCE PODCAST series.)

Our music for THE MOSSAD FILES podcast is Clock is Ticking, by Braden Deal, from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/braden-deal/clock-is-ticking -- License code: YY2MEPOUFX6P7MIH.