Podcast / The Time of Monsters / Feb 1, 2026

War Clouds Over Iran

On The Time of Monsters: Amir Handjani on Trump’s new threats.

The Nation Podcasts
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War Clouds Over Iran w/ Amir Handjani | The Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer
byThe Nation Magazine

Donald Trump is sending over what he calls “a massive Armada” to Iran with the

promises to do a reprise of his quick attack on Venezuela that ended with the

kidnapping of president Nicolás Maduro. Trump claims that “like with

Venezuela, it is, ready, willing, and able to rapidly fulfill its mission.” But will a

war with Iran really be so simple? To look at the prospects for war and the

larger politics driving the conflict, I spoke with Amir Handjani of The Quincy

Institute.

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(Jim Watson / AFP via Getty Images)

Donald Trump is sending over what he calls “a massive armada” to Iran, promising to repeat the kind of quick attack that ended with the kidnapping of President Nicholas Maduro in Venezuela. Trump claims that, “like with Venezuela, [the US] is ready, willing, and able to rapidly fulfill its mission.” But will a war with Iran really be so simple? To look at the prospects for war and the larger politics driving the conflict, I spoke with Amir Handjani of The Quincy Institute

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The Nation Podcasts
The Nation Podcasts

Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.

Trump’s Chaotic Foreign Policy w/ David Klion / The Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer
byThe Nation Magazine

There’s an ongoing feud in the Trump administration between restrainers (advocates of a less hawkish foreign policy) and neoconservatives (advocates of militarism on multiple fronts). David Klion wrote about this conflict for the Nation but notes that the ideologies are less important than the fact that Trump is an impulsive bully who often changes his mind. I talked to David about this conflict and the larger incoherence of right-wing foreign policy.

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Jeet Heer

Jeet Heer is a national affairs correspondent for The Nation and host of the weekly Nation podcast, The Time of Monsters. He also pens the monthly column “Morbid Symptoms.” The author of In Love with Art: Francoise Mouly’s Adventures in Comics with Art Spiegelman (2013) and Sweet Lechery: Reviews, Essays and Profiles (2014), Heer has written for numerous publications, including The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, The American Prospect, The GuardianThe New Republic, and The Boston Globe.

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