Iran's Mojtaba, Arming Kurds, Payback for Beirut, Larijani and Trump, Russia's Angle w/ Retired CIA Officer Who Ran Iran Operations Paula Doyle

"RIght now would be a great time to start meeting and pitching Iranians like we did with the Stasi after the Wall fell...." 👉 Subscribe to The Restricted Handling Podcast https://www.restrictedhandling.com/ Get the daily intelligence brief covering Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, the Middle East, sanctions, intelligence operations, and geopolitical competition. In this episode of the Restricted Handling Podcast, Ryan Fugit and Glenn Corn sit down with Paula Doyle, retired CIA Senior Intelligence Service officer and former Associate Deputy Director of Operations. Paula spent more than two decades in the intelligence community running global human intelligence operations and later serving as Deputy National Counterintelligence Executive. She now teaches intelligence and national security at Georgetown University and writes for The Cipher Brief. This conversation goes deep into the Iran war, Russia's role, and the strategic mistakes the United States made over decades of dealing with Tehran. 🎙️ In this episode we discuss: • Why the U.S.–Iran conflict actually began decades ago • How "proxy warfare" allowed Iran to wage war without consequences • The role of Hezbollah and Iranian militias in killing U.S. troops • Why sanctions and diplomacy failed to change Iran's behavior • What the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader actually means • The internal fractures inside the IRGC • Why arming Kurdish groups could be a dangerous mistake • The future of Iran without the theocracy • Whether a new Iranian leader could emerge from inside the system • The strategic implications for Russia and China Paula explains why the United States spent decades using "sophistry" — softening the truth about what Iran was doing — instead of confronting the reality that we were already at war. She also describes the real internal dynamics inside Iran's security services and why the next phase of this conflict could depend on defections and fractures inside the regime. ⏱ TIMELINE / CHAPTERS 00:00 Introducing Paula Doyle 03:00 Why the U.S.–Iran war really began decades ago 08:00 The birth of "proxy warfare" 12:00 How Iran killed hundreds of U.S. troops in Iraq 17:00 Why diplomacy and sanctions failed 22:00 Mojtaba Khamenei and Iran's leadership succession 27:00 The dangers of arming Kurdish groups 31:00 Why Iran's regime could fracture internally 35:00 Russia, China, and the wider geopolitical stakes 40:00 What gives hope for Iran's future ABOUT PAULA DOYLE Paula Doyle is a retired Senior Intelligence Service officer at the CIA who spent more than two decades leading global intelligence operations. She served as: • Associate Deputy Director of Operations• Deputy National Counterintelligence Executive• Multiple-time Chief of Station She now teaches intelligence and national security at Georgetown University and writes for The Cipher Brief. HOW TO FIND GLENN CORN Glenn Corn is a former CIA Senior Intelligence Service officer and Chief of Station. Institute of World Politics https://www.iwp.edu/faculty/glenn-corn/ Great South Bay Consulting https://greatsouthbayinc.com/ RESTRICTED HANDLING Subscribe and receive the daily intelligence brief https://www.restrictedhandling.com/