Ending the Iran War: a New Balance of Power in the Middle East | Hamidreza Azizi

In Episode 483 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Hamidreza Azizi — expert on Iranian foreign policy and international security, and author of The Axis of Resistance: Iran, Israel, and the Struggle for the Middle East — about the evolution of the US-Israeli war against Iran since the early weeks of Operation Epic Fury, the contours of the emerging peace process, and the broader transformation of the Middle Eastern order in its wake.

The first hour picks up from Azizi's previous appearance and traces how the war has developed: the transformation of Iran's leadership following the assassination of Ali Khamenei and the consolidation of power within the IRGC, the memorandum of understanding signed between the US and Iran, whether Iran's demonstrated control over the Strait of Hormuz has negated its need for a nuclear weapon, the role of Hezbollah and Lebanon as the most volatile variable in any lasting peace arrangement, and an honest accounting of what Iran has lost — and why those losses, not just its leverage, are driving Tehran to the negotiating table.

The second hour turns to the broader regional and geopolitical consequences of the conflict. They examine whether the Islamic Republic's ruling mandate has fundamentally shifted and what that means for its relationship with the United States going forward, how Netanyahu faces elections with a war record that looks nothing like the total victory he promised, and how Trump's willingness to negotiate with Iran without Israeli participation has forced a reckoning with the limits of that alliance. They also discuss what a new Middle Eastern order looks like in the face of a potential US strategic withdrawal or retrenchment — defined less by competing visions than by fluid, transactional balance-of-power dynamics — before closing with China: what Iran's foreign minister's recent comments about a new era of cooperation between Beijing and Tehran mean in practice, how China's behavior during the war signals a qualitative shift in its strategic calculus, and what three scenarios could cause the current peace process to collapse before a comprehensive deal is reached.

Subscribe to our premium content—including our premium feed, episode transcripts, and Intelligence Reports—by visiting HiddenForces.io/subscribe.

If you'd like to join the conversation and become a member of the Hidden Forces Genius community—with benefits like Q&A calls with guests, exclusive research and analysis, in-person events, and dinners—you can also sign up on our subscriber page at HiddenForces.io/subscribe.

If you enjoyed today's episode of Hidden Forces, please support the show by:

• Subscribing on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify, Stitcher, SoundCloud, CastBox, or via our RSS Feed

• Writing us a review on Apple Podcasts & Spotify

• Join our mailing list at https://hiddenforces.io/newsletter/

Producer & Host: Demetri Kofinas
Editor & Engineer: Stylianos Nicolaou

Subscribe and support the podcast at https://hiddenforces.io.
Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @hiddenforcespod
Follow Demetri on Twitter at @Kofinas

Episode Recorded on 06/17/2026