Striking Iran: Analysis from the Global Public Square
3/1/202642 min
Fareed Zakaria reports that Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khomeini has been killed amid U.S.-Israel attacks under “Operation Epic Fury,” with Trump urging Iranians to overthrow their government and promising continued bombing despite recently ongoing nuclear talks that Oman said had made breakthroughs. Zakaria argues the war lacks clear legal and strategic grounding, that airpower rarely achieves regime change, and that unilateral action undermines rules-based order, while Iran’s weakness and regional backlash—especially after strikes on Gulf states hosting U.S. assets—may not translate into Trump’s stated aims. Guests discuss the decapitation strikes, the likely next targets including Iran’s naval forces and IRGC mid-tier leadership, and the risk of leadership-targeting becoming more common. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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First 90 secondsFareed Zakaria· Host0:00
[whooshing] This is GPS, the Global Public Square. Welcome to all of you in the United States and around the world. I'm Fareed Zakaria, coming to you live from New York. [dramatic music] Today on the program, the supreme leader of Iran, the Ayatollah Khomeini, is dead. President Trump urges the Iranian people to overthrow its government. The big question is, will that happen? And it's been less than thirty-six hours since the attacks started, but they are far from over. Trump says the heavy bombing will continue throughout the week. What is left to accomplish? Also, all of this comes as the American talks with Iran over its nuclear program were ongoing. The Omani foreign minister, a key player in the talks, said on Friday, breakthroughs had been reached. So why this? Why now? I have a series of top experts in the field to help answer those questions and many more. But first, here's my take. My first reaction to news of the death of Ayatollah Khomeini was relief. Relief for the ninety-two million Iranians who are freed from the grip of an eighty-six-year-old tyrant, a man who, over nearly four decades,