Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
With the cease-fire extended and the negotiations ongoing, the shape of the postwar Iranian regime is already beginning to emerge. The Islamic Republic seems to be emerging from the conflict simultaneously weakened and emboldened. How is its new leadership plotting its own future? Can Iran absorb more strikes amid a blockade of its ports?
Karim Sadjadpour, a leading expert on Iran, joined FP Live to assess the regime’s staying power and what a postwar Islamic Republic means for the wider region.
Watch the interview at ForeignPolicy.com: foreignpolicy.com/2026/04/22/karim-sadjadpour-iran-regime-future-war-gulf-energy-hormuz-cease-fire
0:00 Intro
1:39 Status of the ceasefire
2:46 Who will blink first?
6:00 Iran’s nuclear ambitions
11:55 Tehran’s new leaders
19:19 U.S. objectives
23:42 Israel’s role
26:54 Regional impacts
32:33 Strait of Hormuz
37:45 China’s leverage
39:30 The blockade
42:00 What’s next
On the go? Listen to FP Live as a podcast at link.chtbl.com/foreignpolicylivepodcast or wherever you get your podcasts.
FP Live is Foreign Policy's forum for live journalism that brings leading foreign-policy experts and thinkers together to analyze the world's biggest events. Visit foreignpolicy.com/live for the full conversation and more live journalism from Foreign Policy.
Subscribe to Foreign Policy's Youtube Channel: youtube.com/channel/UC1x_EgZtYkAzVavuONBrLZQ?sub_confirmation=1
Visit foreignpolicy.com to read the latest global news and analysis from FP.
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With the cease-fire extended and the negotiations ongoing, the shape of the postwar Iranian regime is already beginning to emerge. The Islamic Republic seems to be emerging from the conflict simultaneously weakened and emboldened. How is its new leadership plotting its own future? Can Iran absorb more strikes amid a blockade of its ports?
Karim Sadjadpour, a leading expert on Iran, joined FP Live to assess the regime’s staying power and what a postwar Islamic Republic means for the wider region.
Watch the interview at ForeignPolicy.com: foreignpolicy.com/2026/04/22/karim-sadjadpour-iran-regime-future-war-gulf-energy-hormuz-cease-fire
0:00 Intro
1:39 Status of the ceasefire
2:46 Who will blink first?
6:00 Iran’s nuclear ambitions
11:55 Tehran’s new leaders
19:19 U.S. objectives
23:42 Israel’s role
26:54 Regional impacts
32:33 Strait of Hormuz
37:45 China’s leverage
39:30 The blockade
42:00 What’s next
On the go? Listen to FP Live as a podcast at link.chtbl.com/foreignpolicylivepodcast or wherever you get your podcasts.
FP Live is Foreign Policy's forum for live journalism that brings leading foreign-policy experts and thinkers together to analyze the world's biggest events. Visit foreignpolicy.com/live for the full conversation and more live journalism from Foreign Policy.
Subscribe to Foreign Policy's Youtube Channel: youtube.com/channel/UC1x_EgZtYkAzVavuONBrLZQ?sub_confirmation=1
Visit foreignpolicy.com to read the latest global news and analysis from FP.
Follow Foreign Policy:
X - twitter.com/ForeignPolicy
Instagram - instagram.com/foreignpolicymag
Facebook - facebook.com/foreign.policy.magazine
LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/foreign-policy-magazine
TikTok - tiktok.com/@foreignpolicymagazine
