What Washington Gets Wrong About Iran

Narges Bajoghli on protests, sanctions, and the dangerous push for war

The United States largely misunderstands Iran. Historic anti-government protests rattled Iran this winter—and were met with lethal state repression and intensifying calls for regime change in Washington. Now, President Trump is again considering military strikes on the country, even as his envoys have sought to negotiate with Iranian leaders. Throughout, Iran has long been one of the most heavily sanctioned countries in the world, causing immense hardship for its people. 

In this episode, the Institute for Global Affairs’ Jonathan Guyer is joined by Narges Bajoghli, an anthropologist and co-director of the Rethinking Iran Initiative at Johns Hopkins University, to challenge American assumptions about Iran. They discuss the impact of Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign, how the current protests unfolded, and those pushing for war in Washington. Narges also explains how the war would be damaging for the interests of Americans and Iranians.

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Narges Bajoghli is an associate professor of Middle East studies at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), where she is co-director of the Rethinking Iran Initiative. She is the author of Iran Reframed: Anxieties of Power in the Islamic Republic (Stanford University Press, 2019) and co-author of How Sanctions Work: Iran and the Impact of Economic Warfare (Stanford University Press, 2024). Her writing has appeared in TIME, Foreign Affairs, The New York Times, and Vanity Fair, among others.

Find Narges on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@nargesbajoghli  

Check out the Rethinking Iran Initiative: https://www.rethinkingiran.com