How Iran and the United States Are Planning Their Next Moves

Hours before the cease-fire between the United States and Iran was due to expire, U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally extended the pact. But Tehran was quick to call an extended American blockade of Iranian ports “an act of war.” Regardless of what each side calls the status quo, it is a punishing economic reality for billions of people, which receive most of their oil from the Persian Gulf.

To understand where things stand and where they might be headed, I spoke with Iran expert Karim Sadjadpour on the latest episode of FP Live. Sadjadpour is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Subscribers can watch the full discussion on the video box atop this page or download the FP Live podcast. What follows here is a lightly edited and condensed transcript.