Generation Jihad

Kharg Island looks like the perfect target — take it, and you choke off Iran’s oil. But it’s not that simple.Bill is joined by Ryan Brobst and Cameron McMillan to discuss why seizing Kharg could hand Tehran exactly what it wants: a wider war, a vulnerable U.S. position, and a fight on the regime’s terms.

Iran says the Strait of Hormuz is closed. It’s not.Ships are still moving. Oil is still flowing.Just not for everyone. Friends pass. Also anyone with millions of dollars to spare.Enemies don’t.This isn’t a blockade. It's a shakedown.Bill Roggio sits down with shipping expert Sal Mercogliano to break down Tehran’s latest act of war: turning the world’s most critical shipping chokepoint into leverage.

The bombs are falling. The regime is reeling. But revolutions aren’t won from 30,000 feet.As Washington and Jerusalem pummel toward a mission accomplished, Bill is joined by FDD's Jon Schanzer to grapple with a harder question that looms: what happens if there’s no uprising when the bombing stops?

As pressure builds inside Iran, the regime is lashing out across the region.Bill Roggio, Joe Truzman, and David Daoud break down Tehran’s expanding battlefield from internal strain to external escalation and the question at the center of it all: Is this strength or a regime under stress trying to change the game before it loses control? Mentioned by BillWe didn't light it, but we tried to fight it.Day 14 of the Iran WarDon't want the regime to have nukes? Eliminate the regime.

As the US and Israel strike targets inside Iran’s borders, the regime is firing back outside of them. Across the region from tourist hubs and capital cities to energy infrastructure and U.S. military bases, Iranian attacks are dragging the region into the war and raising the cost of conflict. Ahmad Sharawi joins Bill to assess Tehran’s strategy and the threat it poses to Middle East stability — including a nightmare maritime scenario that no one is talking about.

As U.S. and Israeli strikes pound Iran’s military and Tehran threatens shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, the conflict is entering a dangerous new phase. FDD’s Bradley Bowman joins Bill to break down what the strikes have achieved — and the harder question that remains: is the goal to weaken the regime… or bring it down?

After 12 days of war—and the death of Iran’s supreme leader—the Islamic Republic is under unprecedented pressure.Bill and Janatan Sayeh assess this initial phase of the war, the gap between Washington and Jerusalem’s goals, and the decisive question still looming over Tehran: will the Iranian people finish the job?

For decades, many Americans believed conflict with the Islamic Republic would be a new war. But as Bill and Behnam explain, the truth is simpler: this war began in 1979 — with hostage-taking, terrorism, and a regime built on hostility toward the United States and its allies. Now, after the killing of Iran’s supreme leader and a campaign to dismantle Tehran’s missile arsenal — and as Iran widens the war by firing at its neighbors and daring them to join — the question isn’t how the war started. It’s how it ends. Is this a limited war to degrade the regime — or the beginning of the end for the Islamic Republic?

Bill and Edmund Fitton-Brown recorded this conversation before the U.S. and Israel conducted the military strikes inside the Islamic Republic that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.In it, they pondered the question that Washington was wrestling with at the time: should the U.S. strike Iran, and what would happen if it did? From whether airpower alone can truly cripple Iran’s nuclear and missile programs to why regime change may be impossible without an actual armed resistance.They also pivoted to Gaza and the new “Board of Peace” plan — billions of dollars, a multinational force, and the question looming over it all: can it stabilize Gaza, or will Hamas sabotage it from the start?

It’s day four of Operation Epic Fury. So... what's the strategy?Bill Roggio is joined by FDD military analyst Cameron McMillan to assess the objectives of the campaign, the forces now deployed across the region, and why destroying Iran’s weapons before they launch them may be the only way to protect American forces.

Emerging reports following today's U.S. and Israeli military strikes on Iran suggest Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is dead.If true, is regime decapitation the opening salvo of the fall of the Islamic Republic? What happens next?David Daoud and Joe Truzman are back with Bill to unpack what we know, what we don’t know, and whether this is the moment that reshapes the Middle East.Indeed, the stakes are generational, and the next few weeks could define the next few decades.

Bill and Joe discuss the emergence of anti-Hamas militias in Gaza, their dynamics, challenges, and the response from Hamas, highlighting the complexities of the situation in Gaza and the uncertain future of these militias in the broader context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

After slaughtering tens of thousands during a nationwide internet blackout — the bloodiest crackdown in the Islamic Republic’s history — the regime still stands.President Trump now has three options: negotiate, strike, or wait.Is this the moment to help finish what the 12-Day War started? Or would U.S. intervention only prolong the Long War? Can this regime fall without a true revolution — and how much blood would that require?Bill Roggio and Behnam Ben Taleblu convene for a hard debate over whether Washington should help precipitate Tehran’s collapse — or stay out of it.

In its latest report on the state of global jihad, the UN reveals that al-Qaeda is expanding — and one critical fact the report doesn't mention: al-Qaeda’s leader is based in Iran.Bill Roggio is joined by his FDD colleague Edmund Fitton-Brown — who previously oversaw the UN’s sanctions and monitoring team that produces these assessments — to unpack what the report gets right, what it misses, and why al-Qaeda — not ISIS — remains the most dangerous long-term jihadist threat facing the West.

In Part 37 of Big Yikes in Syria, Bill and Ahmad unpack yet another round of bad alliances and strategic failure in the war-torn country.

One month into the uprising in Iran, the regime is still killing.With the internet shut down, foreign militias unleashed on civilians, and reports of more than 30,000 dead, Tehran is waging a war on its own people.FDD's Janatan Sayeh joins Bill to share what he’s hearing directly from inside Iran, why this is no longer “just protests,” and what it will take to finally break the Islamic Republic’s grip on power.

Three weeks into the largest uprising in the Islamic Republic’s history, the country has gone dark. With the internet shut down and security forces unleashed, thousands — possibly tens of thousands — of Iranians have been massacred in an unprecedented and brutal crackdown. Behnam Ben Taleblu joins Bill to unpack what this revolution means, why defections — not protests — are the real tipping point, and why the West’s failure to act may leave permanent scars — on Iran, and on U.S. credibility.

After military defeat abroad and at home where the economy also has collapsed, the Islamic Republic is weaker than ever, and the Iranian people know it.The regime is facing a nationwide uprising unlike anything seen in decades with Iranians across class, age, and ideology back in the streets, and they’re no longer asking for reform. They’re demanding an end to the Islamic Republic itself. Meanwhile, President Trump warned that U.S. military action is on the table if the regime slaughters protesters. As we record, a brutal crackdown is underway with reports of hundreds of Iranians killed and tens of thousands arrested. Is this the moment?Bill asks FDD CEO and Iran Breakdown host Mark Dubowitz.Your top Iran protest resources:— We're tracking the Iran protests at fdd.org/iranprotests. — Mark's podcast, The Iran Breakdown, is required listening. Start here with his interview with Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi.— Follow FDD's Iran experts on X, including Mark, Behnam, Saeed, Janatan

In a lightning-fast U.S. military raid, Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro and his wife were captured in Caracas, arrested, and transported to the United States, sending shockwaves across Latin America and far beyond. Bill is joined by Sam Ben-Ur to unpack the raid and the intelligence behind it, what comes next when the dictator is gone, but the regime remains — and why Bill says "the ayatollah must be sh*tting himself."

Iran is erupting again — and this time, the protests are openly anti-regime. Strikes are spreading, nationalist slogans are surging, and the Islamic Republic’s margin for control is shrinking. Guest host Behnam Ben Taleblu is joined by Janatan Sayeh and Navid Mohebbi to discuss what’s driving the unrest and what (dwindling) options the regime still has. The Iran protest resources you need:We're tracking the Iran protests at fdd.org/iranprotests. Mark's podcast, The Iran Breakdown, is required listening. Start here with his interview with Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi. Follow FDD's Iran experts on X, including Mark, Behnam, Saeed, Janatan