Middle East Expert Bernard Haykel on the Three Futures for Iran After the Strikes

Within 24 hours of the US and Israeli strikes on Iran, a host of other countries were drawn into the latest conflict in the Middle East.

Iran retaliated by targeting sites in Israel and across the Gulf, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain, as well as Iraq, Oman and Jordan. Israel, meanwhile, has carried out air strikes on Lebanon and sent in ground troops as it seeks to dismantle Iranian ally Hezbollah.

For this conversation, Mishal Husain has turned to an expert on the broad sweep of Middle East politics. Bernard Haykel is a professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University. Born in Lebanon, he is known for weaving together knowledge of history, religion and social change across the region. His forthcoming book is about contemporary Saudi Arabia and its leader, Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, with whom he is in regular contact.

02:45 - “I was not surprised”
03:40 - The Iranian retaliation
09:00 - The three scenarios in this conflict
11:00 - “This regime will survive”
13:20 Protests after Khamenei's death
15:35 Did MBS encourage the strikes on Iran?
18:40 The Saudi Air Force will get “involved”
21:30 Trump and MBS
25:00 MBS “doesn’t want wars”
27:00 Saudi competition with UAE
29:18 MBS is “a bit like Elon Musk”
30:30 MBS is an authoritarian 33:00 The US has a “role to play” in the Middle East

Read this interview with Mishal’s notes on Bloomberg Weekend: www.bloomberg.com/latest/weekend-interview

Contact The Mishal Husain Show mishalshow@bloomberg.net

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