Speaking Up From America While Your Family's Still in Tehran

The Iranian regime broadcast a message on national TV: parents, go tell your children not to protest — and if something happens to them, don't complain. Then five to eight million people went to the streets anyway. The government admitted to 3,100 dead. Our guest estimates 15,000 to 20,000. In this episode: Why Moein Mahmoudi — former Tehran energy startup operator, still has family in Iran — gives the war a "soft no" on producing real regime change - The January protests: the largest Moein has seen in 33 years, every city, every small town - What "regime change" actually means, and why swapping one IRGC-connected figure for another isn't it - How sanctions built a two-tier economy: the regime's connected insiders run oil empires while ordinary Iranians earn $85/month - The Strait of Hormuz reality check: oil futures at $100/barrel, physical barrels selling at $180 — and what that's doing to EVs, fertilizer, and U.S. industrial competitiveness - Why China now installs more than half the world's new industrial automation equipment — and is starting to build the robots too Hardpoints is hosted by Mike Smith (CEO of Aclymate, former U.S. Navy FA-18 pilot) and Neal Rickner (CEO of Airloom, former Marine Corps FA-18 pilot). Every week: energy security, national security, and the startup economy — the real dynamics behind the headlines.