from spiked
Michael Oren, former Israeli ambassador to the US, on what the West gets wrong about Iran.
According to Michael Oren, former Israeli ambassador to the US, the war in Iran didn’t really begin in February 2026, but in February 1979, with the founding of the Islamic Republic. Since then, Iran has incessantly threatened the United States and pledged to wipe Israel off the map. Indeed, since 7 October 2023, Israel has faced non-stop bombardment from Iran and its proxies. What is presented as a war of choice in the West, he argues, has long been inevitable.
Oren recently joined Brendan O’Neill on his podcast, The Brendan O’Neill Show, to discuss Iran, Israel and the future of the Middle East. What follows is an edited excerpt from that conversation. You can watch the full episode here.
Brendan O’Neill: It can be difficult for lay people to make heads or tails of the US-Iran war, because different sources keep telling us different things. How do you think things are progressing?