Meeting Khamenei and Other Tales from a Life in Diplomacy

Jeffrey Feltman—former Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, US Ambassador to Lebanon, and UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs—joins Brian for one of the most revealing conversations yet. They trace his journey from the streets of Beirut during the Cedar Revolution to a tense, hours-long meeting inside the office of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Along the way, they unpack the Trump administration's impulse-driven gambits, the Biden team's paralyzing over-process, and what's lost when the US pulls back from daily diplomacy. It's a rare, behind-the-scenes look at how power is wielded—and how trust is built or broken—in the Middle East.