In the last week, U.S. and Israeli forces have hit the heart of the Islamic Republic’s power from Fordow and Natanz to Evin Prison and the Basij headquarters. Khamenei has gone dark. The Islamic Republic is on the defensive. But moments like this can go two ways: collapse or crackdown. Is this the moment the opposition seizes — or one the regime survives?

Mehdi Parpanchi is one of the sharpest voices covering Iran today and the executive editor of Iran International, the 24/7 Persian-language channel the regime fears most.

He joins host Mark Dubowitz to unpack what’s breaking inside the regime — and what might be rising to replace it.

The shadow war is over. This weekend, the United States took direct military action against Iran’s nuclear program for the first time, in a coordinated operation with Israel that targeted the regime’s most heavily fortified enrichment sites.

The strikes were historic. The question now: Did they actually work? What was hit — and is anything still operational?

Host Mark Dubowitz is joined by David Albright — president and founder of the Institute for Science and International Security and one of the world’s leading nuclear experts — to break down the damage, the regime’s next moves, and what comes after Operation Midnight Hammer.

Mossad strikes inside Iran. Top scientists and IRGC leaders are dead. Mark Dubowitz and Eyal Hulata, Israel’s former national security advisor and 23-year Mossad veteran, break down Israel’s boldest op yet—and what happens if the job isn’t finished.

Our intro and outro music samples (with artist's permission) Liraz Charhi's single, "Roya" — check out the full version of the song and the meaning behind it here: https://youtu.be/1Ab4XFaWnOk?si=aIdBdvY1mkMiQPN9

To unpack the latest developments in Israel's ongoing operation against Iran's nuclear infrastructure, Chief Executive Mark Dubowitz hosts a special live edition of FDD's The Iran Breakdown with Israeli journalists Barak Ravid and Nadav Eyal.

In 2015 while serving in the Obama administration, Dan Shapiro supported the Iran nuclear deal. Mark Dubowitz led the fight to stop it.

A decade later, Iran is a nuclear threshold state. The regime has enriched enough uranium for multiple bombs, deterrence has broken down, and Washington still hasn’t figured out how to stop a nuclear Iran.

Today, Mark and Dan are in the same strategic corner—not because the politics have shifted but because reality has.

And they're both asking the same question: With diplomacy failing and enrichment advancing, what’s next?

Our intro and outro music samples (with artist's permission) Liraz Charhi's single, "Roya" — check out the full version of the song and the meaning behind it here: https://youtu.be/1Ab4XFaWnOk?si=aIdBdvY1mkMiQPN9

Mehdi Yahyanejad was raised in the Islamic Republic. Now, he's fighting it from the outside... with code.

From founding the digital platform that helped power Iran’s Green Movement in 2009 to coordinating resistance through online activism, Mehdi has seen firsthand how technology empowers dissidents and fuels regime resistance.

As the Islamic Republic faces external challenges coupled with internal decay, the regime is cracking. Mehdi and Mark discuss how the right digital tools can help the Iranian people finish the job.

Our intro and outro music samples (with artist's permission) Liraz Charhi's single, "Roya" — check out the full version of the song and the meaning behind it here: https://youtu.be/1Ab4XFaWnOk?si=aIdBdvY1mkMiQPN9

Liraz Charhi is an Israeli artist with deep Iranian roots, and her voice is shaking the walls of the Islamic Republic. 

Known for her role on the hit Apple TV+ series Tehran, Liraz joins Mark Dubowitz to reveal how her art became real-life defiance: from secretly collaborating with Iranian women banned from singing, to recording underground albums across encrypted apps, and turning her song "Roya" — a song you're familiar with, as it's the theme music to this podcast series — into an anthem for the Woman, Life, Freedom movement.

This is a story of identity, rebellion, and the dream of a free Iran — sung loud enough to rattle the regime and inspire a generation.

Our intro and outro music samples (with artist's permission) Liraz Charhi's single, "Roya" — check out the full version of the song and the meaning behind it here: https://youtu.be/1Ab4XFaWnOk?si=aIdBdvY1mkMiQPN9

Host Mark Dubowitz is joined by author Roya Hakakian to trace the Islamic Republic’s decades-long war on dissent — both inside Iran and across the globe. Roya shares her personal journey from a hopeful 12-year-old during the 1979 revolution to a refugee, writer, and fierce advocate for democracy.

At the heart of their discussion is the Mykonos trial, the landmark 1997 case in Berlin that exposed Tehran’s direct role in assassinating Iranian dissidents on European soil and forced a Western reckoning. They unpack how Tehran uses lies, violence, and intimidation as tools of statecraft. From Khomeini’s infamous “I lied” to the chilling reach of regime assassins in places like Berlin and Brooklyn, this episode is a warning: the Islamic Republic hasn’t changed, and the stakes are higher than ever.

Watch this episode on YouTube here.

Our intro and outro music samples (with artist’s permission) Liraz Charhi’s single, “Roya” — check out the full version of the song and the meaning behind it here.

Host Mark Dubowitz is joined by Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of FDD's Iran Program and author of Arsenal: Assessing Iran's Ballistic Missile Program, for a masterclass on the Islamic Republic of Iran’s expansive — and still growing — weapons arsenal and the central role it plays in Tehran’s broader military strategy.

From the Islamic Republic's ballistic missile and drone programs, military doctrine, and global proliferation links with North Korea, China, and Russia — or, as Mark calls it, "The Axis of Misery" — to its precision strike systems, proxy warfare, and unprecedented missile attacks on nuclear-armed states, Behnam and Mark explore how the regime combines these elements to coerce, deter, and dominate.

Watch this episode on YouTube here.

Our intro and outro music samples (with artist’s permission) Liraz Charhi’s single, “Roya” — check out the full version of the song and the meaning behind it here.

In this episode of The Iran Breakdown, host Mark Dubowitz continues to expose and examine Tehran’s proxy wars. This time, we unravel Tehran’s relationship with the Houthis in Yemen; the Shi’a militias in Iraq; and Hamas in Gaza, specifically looking at the Regime’s hand in the October 7 attack against Israel.

Admiral Mark Montgomery, Bill Roggio, and Beni Sabti, join Mark to scrutinize the Islamic Republic's weaponization of these militias to project power and carry out its agenda while dodging blame — and what America and its allies should do about it. 

Watch this episode on YouTube here.

Our intro and outro music samples (with artist’s permission) Liraz Charhi’s single, “Roya” — check out the full version of the song and the meaning behind it here.