“DANGEROUS Game Trump Is Playing…” Iran-Israel ft. Simon Sebag Montefiore, Prof Marandi & Avi Shlaim
September 3, 2026
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5 min read“DANGEROUS Game Trump Is Playing…” Iran-Israel ft. Simon Sebag Montefiore, Prof Marandi & Avi Shlaim
The Opening Exchange: Life Under Sanctions
Professor Mohammad Marandi opens by describing daily life in Tehran during the current crisis. The city looks normal — clean, safe, with women walking alone near midnight — but shop owners and restaurant workers say business is bad. Inflation is very high. Marandi is direct about what he sees as the purpose of U.S. economic warfare: “The objective of economic warfare is always civilians.” He cites a Lancet report claiming Western sanctions from 1971 to 2021 caused roughly 38 million deaths globally. The Iranian economy is shifting toward a wartime footing, but Marandi warns the U.S. cannot isolate itself from the consequences. If America shuts down Iranian oil exports, Iran will shut down the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20% of global energy passes. He recalls that during an earlier confrontation, President Trump — after imposing a siege — ultimately signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) rather than preside over a depression. “This is a dangerous game that Trump is playing,” Marandi says.
The Internal Iranian Calculus
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What you'll learn
- 1 Timestamped Navigation Outline
- 2 (00:26) **Opening Debate Setup** - Piers introduces the episode's central conflict: competing narratives about Israel's founding and the current Iran-Israel war
- 3 (02:11) **Life Under Sanctions in Tehran** - Professor Marandi describes daily reality for Iranians amid economic pressure
- 4 (05:05) **Economic Warfare as a Weapon** - Marandi argues US sanctions are designed to kill civilians and collapse societies
- 5 (08:52) **The Strait of Hormuz Leverage Debate** - Piers challenges whether Iran's threat to close the strait could backfire
- 6 (12:26) **Iranian Leadership Unity vs. Western Narratives** - Marandi dismisses the idea of a split between hardliners and moderates
- 7 (17:02) **Supreme Leader Speculation and Rhetoric** - Piers asks about rumors the Supreme Leader may be dead or incapacitated
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Guests on this episode
Show Notes
An influential group of Israeli historians have argued for decades that the country was forged in violence - that the original displacement of 700,000 Palestinians was not an accident of chaos, but deliberate ethnic cleansing. This viewpoint deeply challenges Israel’s founding narrative as a desperate underdog seeking fairness and peace. In this episode of Piers Morgan Uncensored, two opposing titans of historical and political debat - Simon Sebag Montefiore (author of 'The Cauldron: The Making of the Modern Middle East') and international relations scholar Avi Shlaim - discuss their opposing worldviews and how they continue to shape today's conflicts, from the events of October 7th to the escalating war involving Iran. Plus, as President Trump threatens an “economic D-Day” and both sides talk up the return to all-out war, we break down the latest developments in Tehran and across the Middle East, also joined by Tehran University’s Professor Mohammad Marandi.
(00:00:00) Introduction
(00:01:54) Professor Marandi on Iran America’s implementation of economic hardship on Iran
(00:08:37) Iran’s leverage over the Strait of Hormuz
(00:19:55) The Iranian regime’s support for terrorist organisations
(00:22:07) The 25th anniversary of 9/11
(00:29:10) Simon Sebag Montefiore joins Piers to discuss his latest book on Middle East
(00:38:23) The Israeli government’s increasingly violent rhetoric and anti-semitism
(00:45:58) The Two-state solution
(00:51:57) Simon Sebag’s new historian categorisation and critique of the Israeli government
(00:56:13) IR Scholar Avi Shlaim reacts to Piers’ interview with Simon Sebag
(00:59:10) Piers asks Avi Shlaim about the criticism of the Israeli government being stifled
(01:05:01) How many Israeli locals actually support the government vs those against it?
(01:08:42) Categorising Israeli activity in Gaza as a Genocide
(01:11:43) Avi Shlaim on Netanyahu’s war in Iran
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