Is the Islamic Republic of Iran on the Verge of Collapse? If So, What Next?

Описание: Recorded on January 15, 2026. Organized by the UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies. Co-sponsored by the UCLA Department of Public Policy, the Principles for Peace Foundation (Geneva, Switzerland), and the UCLA Center for Middle East Development.

About the Event:
Massive and nationwide anti-government demonstrations in Iran over the last few days have posed the most serious threat to the current Iranian regime since it came to power 47 years ago. Thousands of protesters have reportedly been killed. President Trump has threatened to intervene, and the Iranian government has threatened retaliation against both the United States and Israel. Please join us for a discussion with noted Iran expert Behnam Ben Taleblu regarding these pressing issues.

About the Featured Speaker:
Behnam Ben Taleblu is senior director of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies' (FDD) Iran Program, where he oversees the breadth and depth of FDD’s work on Iran in addition to serving as a senior fellow specializing in Iranian security and political issues. For well over a decade, Behnam has supported FDD’s Iran program as a senior fellow, research fellow, and senior Iran analyst. Prior to his time at FDD, Behnam worked on non-proliferation issues at an arms control think tank in Washington. Leveraging his subject-matter expertise and native Persian-language skills, Behnam closely tracks a wide range of Iran-related functional and regional topics, including nuclear non-proliferation, ballistic missiles and drones, sanctions, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its proxies, the foreign and security policy of the Islamic Republic, and internal Iranian politics. Frequently called upon to brief journalists, congressional staff, diplomatic, military, academic, and policy audiences in Washington, across the United States, and around the world, Behnam has testified before various committees in the U.S. Congress, the Canadian Parliament, and the UK House of Commons. Behnam’s analysis has been quoted in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Fox News, Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Politico, and Axios, among others.

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Introduction @ 00:00
Discussion @ 00:03:18

DISCLAIMER: The views or opinions of our guest speakers and the content of their presentations do not necessarily reflect the views of the UCLA Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for Israel Studies. Hosting speakers does not constitute an endorsement of the speaker's views or opinions.