CONFLICTED

Iran has chosen its new Supreme Leader: Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the recently assassinated Ayatollah Khamenei. Who is he? What does he believe? And most importantly, is his coming to power the fulfilment of ancient prophecy? Aimen and Thomas discuss: Mojtaba's youth and his experience fighting in the Iran-Iraq War as a 17 year old How he became his father's primary gatekeeper, and how he used this to amass great power and wealth Mojtaba's self-belief: that he is "the Khorasani", a long-expected End Times figure in Shia eschatology The long story of Islamic apocalypticism and how the Islamic Republic has used medieval prophecies to justify its ambitions Join the Conflicted Community here: ⁠⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/⁠⁠ Find us on X: ⁠⁠https://x.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠ And Facebook: ⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted⁠⁠ And Instagram: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/conflictedpod⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ⁠⁠megaphone.fm/adchoices⁠⁠ Conflicted is a Message Heard production. Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren. Produced and edited by Thomas Small. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this Conflicted Conversation, Thomas speaks to two friends of the show about how Europe is responding to the war with Iran. In the first half, the Rt Hon Tom Tugendhat MP — former chair of the UK Foreign Affairs Select Committee and former UK Security Minister — discusses Britain’s confused response to the conflict, and in the second half, French journalist Wassim Nasr explains France’s position. Sir Tom and Wassim explain: The UK government’s uncertain response to the Iran war What politicians mean when they talk about the ‘legal basis’ for military action The lessons of the Iraq War and whether they are being misunderstood Iran’s role in the insurgency against Western forces in Iraq The debate over designating the IRGC as a terrorist organization in the UK The state of the British military after decades of defence cuts The strategic controversy surrounding Diego Garcia and the Chagos Islands France’s historic Arab Policy and its effort to maintain strategic independence in the Middle East France’s military agreements with the UAE, Qatar, and Kuwait The E3 framework (France, Germany, UK) and its role in negotiations with Iran Macron’s attempt to expand France’s nuclear deterrent to cover Europe The evolving situation in Lebanon and Hezbollah’s weakening position Intelligence cooperation between France, Israel, and regional partners Whether Europe is entering a new era of strategic independence Follow Sir Tom on X: https://x.com/TomTugendhat Follow Wassim on X: https://x.com/SimNasr Join the Conflicted Community here: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm Find Conflicted on X: https://x.com/MHconflicted And Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted And Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/conflictedpod And YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sdlF1mY5t4 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Conflicted is a Message Heard production. Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren. This episode was produced and edited by Thomas Small. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With missiles streaking across Middle Eastern skies and the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader sending shockwaves through the region, Aimen joins Thomas from a Dubai under fire to unpack a historic turning point. They discuss: Iran’s unprecedented drone and missile strikes across the GCC and Israel Life under bombardment in Dubai and the regional military response The assassination of Ayatollah Khamenei and what it means for Iran’s future Whether this war marks the death of the 1979 Islamic Revolution The internal dynamics of the Iranian regime at this critical moment The United States’ strategic calculus and the question of escalation Join the Conflicted Community here: ⁠https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/⁠ Find us on X: ⁠https://x.com/MHconflicted⁠ And Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted⁠ And Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/conflictedpod⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ⁠megaphone.fm/adchoices⁠ Conflicted is a Message Heard production. Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren. Produced and edited by Thomas Small. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this very special Emergency Episode, Aimen and Thomas discuss the Iran War, which began this morning with wide-ranging air strikes carried out by Israel and the United States against IRGC and Iranian regime targets, and which almost immediately resulted in Iranian counter-strikes against seven states in the region — including in Dubai, where Aimen lives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this Conflicted Conversation, Thomas speaks to former BBC journalist Martin Plaut about his new book Unbroken Chains: A 5,000-Year History of African Enslavement, which tells the whole story of African slavery, a story far older and more global than the one that focuses only on the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Martin explains: How Africa’s slavery story begins in the Nile Valley around 2900 BC Why the trans-Saharan slave routes remain less examined than Atlantic slavery What Islam did — and didn’t — change about slavery in practice Indian Ocean slavery Oman’s slave market in Zanzibar and its caravans that penetrated deep into central Africa Indigenous African slavery in Ethiopia and the Sokoto Caliphate The role of racial hierarchies and ‘slave blood’ stigma within societies Barbary corsairs and European so-called ‘white slavery’ Contemporary chattel slavery in Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Sudan, and Libya Why major institutions still prefer commemorating slavery in the past to confronting it in the present Follow Martin on X: https://x.com/martinplaut And his personal website: https://martinplaut.com/ Join the Conflicted Community here: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm Find Conflicted on X: https://x.com/MHconflicted And Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted And Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/conflictedpod And YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sdlF1mY5t4 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Conflicted is a Message Heard production. Executive Producers: Jake Warren & Max Warren. This episode was produced by Thomas Small and edited by Lizzy Andrews. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices