Iran's Wartime Strategy: Survive and Entrench

Iran's Wartime Strategy: Survive and Entrench

A deal has been right around the corner for about two months while the entire region remains on edge. This weekend, we even saw a resumption of military strikes between Israel and Iran, making it seem like a return to war might happen before an actual peace deal. To better understand this situation, we’re joined today by Jonathan Hackett. Jonathan is a retired U.S. Marine interrogator, counterintelligence agent, and special operations intelligence officer and he recently authored a book titled “Iran’s Shadow Weapons” where he dives into how the Iranian regime is driven by a mixture of paranoid, greed and cold rationality. Find Jonathan's newest book here: https://www.amazon.com/Irans-Shadow-Weapons-Intelligence-Unconventional/dp/1476696934/ [https://www.amazon.com/Irans-Shadow-Weapons-Intelligence-Unconventional/dp/1476696934/] Follow Jonathan here: https://jonathanwhackett.com/ [https://jonathanwhackett.com/] https://www.linkedin.com/in/thejonathanhackett/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/thejonathanhackett/] Merch Store: https://prestonstew.shop/ [https://prestonstew.shop/] Join the community on Substack: https://prestonstew.substack.com/ [https://prestonstew.substack.com/] Twitter: https://twitter.com/prestonstew_ [https://twitter.com/prestonstew_] TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@prestonstew [https://www.tiktok.com/@prestonstew] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prestonstew_/ [https://www.instagram.com/prestonstew_/] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Preston-Stewart/61584740132063/ [https://www.facebook.com/people/Preston-Stewart/61584740132063/] Unclassified Podcast Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4YmaFZihykI0iov9XgQ0uD?si=efe0b3bd89b6421d [https://open.spotify.com/show/4YmaFZihykI0iov9XgQ0uD?si=efe0b3bd89b6421d] YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheUnclassifiedPod [https://www.youtube.com/@TheUnclassifiedPod] Contact: preston@warstories.co Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Even For Russia, This Isn't Sustainable

Truck fundraiser: ⁠https://car4ukraine.com/campaigns/preston-stewart-summer-offensive⁠ [https://car4ukraine.com/campaigns/preston-stewart-summer-offensive] Merch Store - 100% of profits from Car4Ukraine designs go to support their org: ⁠https://prestonstew.shop/⁠ [https://prestonstew.shop/] Join the community on Substack: ⁠https://prestonstew.substack.com/⁠ [https://prestonstew.substack.com/] So Ukraine has now visually confirmed more than 100,000 Russian soldiers killed or wounded by the Unmanned Systems Forces over the past year. That’s wild but even crazier is that Ukraine is on track to triple that over the next 12 months. And if that comes to fruition it’s hard to see Russia continuing. I mean they have a lot of manpower but 300k+ losses a year is a tough pill to swallow for any country, but that’s where we are right now. SBS video 100k: ⁠https://x.com/414magyarbirds/status/2062937571429429735/video/1⁠ [https://x.com/414magyarbirds/status/2062937571429429735/video/1] Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/prestonstew_⁠ [https://twitter.com/prestonstew_] TikTok: ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@prestonstew⁠ [https://www.tiktok.com/@prestonstew] Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/prestonstew_/⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/prestonstew_/] Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/people/Preston-Stewart/61584740132063/⁠ [https://www.facebook.com/people/Preston-Stewart/61584740132063/] Unclassified Podcast Spotify: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/4YmaFZihykI0iov9XgQ0uD?si=efe0b3bd89b6421d⁠ [https://open.spotify.com/show/4YmaFZihykI0iov9XgQ0uD?si=efe0b3bd89b6421d]YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@TheUnclassifiedPod⁠ [https://www.youtube.com/@TheUnclassifiedPod]Contact: preston@warstories.co Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

New Strikes Show Iranian Confidence

Merch Store: https://prestonstew.shop/ [https://prestonstew.shop/] Join the community on Substack: https://prestonstew.substack.com/ [https://prestonstew.substack.com/] The Iran war turned hot again overnight as Tehran launched more than 20 ballistic missiles at Israel in response to IDF strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon. While President Trump urged restraint, Israel went ahead with their retaliation, hitting targets across Iran prompting a warning from the IRGC that all regional energy infrastructure may now be targeted. Also, the Houthis are back in. They launched missiles at Israel and have now partially shut down the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait. Sources: https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/iran-fires-missiles-at-israel-after-israeli-airstrike-on-beirut-a93b4da7?mod=WSJ_home_mediumtopper_pos_1 [https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/iran-fires-missiles-at-israel-after-israeli-airstrike-on-beirut-a93b4da7?mod=WSJ_home_mediumtopper_pos_1] https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/israel-will-stop-its-attacks-on-iran-keep-fighting-hezbollah-sense-is-that-this-round-of-fighting-is-behind-us-officials/ [https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/israel-will-stop-its-attacks-on-iran-keep-fighting-hezbollah-sense-is-that-this-round-of-fighting-is-behind-us-officials/] https://iran.liveuamap.com/ [https://iran.liveuamap.com/] Twitter: https://twitter.com/prestonstew_ [https://twitter.com/prestonstew_] TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@prestonstew [https://www.tiktok.com/@prestonstew] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prestonstew_/ [https://www.instagram.com/prestonstew_/] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Preston-Stewart/61584740132063/ [https://www.facebook.com/people/Preston-Stewart/61584740132063/] Unclassified Podcast Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4YmaFZihykI0iov9XgQ0uD?si=efe0b3bd89b6421d [https://open.spotify.com/show/4YmaFZihykI0iov9XgQ0uD?si=efe0b3bd89b6421d] YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheUnclassifiedPod [https://www.youtube.com/@TheUnclassifiedPod] Contact: preston@warstories.co Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Russia Scrambles to Stop Ukrainian Drone Surge

Learn more about our vehicle fundraiser here: https://car4ukraine.com/campaigns/preston-stewart-summer-offensive [https://car4ukraine.com/campaigns/preston-stewart-summer-offensive] Russia is starting to adapt and respond to their logistics being cut off in the south. It’s effectively a race right now between Ukrainian drone production and Russian air defense innovation. In the past 24 hours we’ve seen some new offensive and defensive measures taken all across the front as Russia works to staunch the bleeding in this so far very effective Ukrainian middle strike campaign. Merch Store: https://prestonstew.shop/ [https://prestonstew.shop/] Join the community on Substack: https://prestonstew.substack.com/ [https://prestonstew.substack.com/] Twitter: https://twitter.com/prestonstew_ [https://twitter.com/prestonstew_] TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@prestonstew [https://www.tiktok.com/@prestonstew] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prestonstew_/ [https://www.instagram.com/prestonstew_/] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Preston-Stewart/61584740132063/ [https://www.facebook.com/people/Preston-Stewart/61584740132063/] Unclassified Podcast Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4YmaFZihykI0iov9XgQ0uD?si=efe0b3bd89b6421d [https://open.spotify.com/show/4YmaFZihykI0iov9XgQ0uD?si=efe0b3bd89b6421d] YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheUnclassifiedPod [https://www.youtube.com/@TheUnclassifiedPod] Contact: preston@warstories.co Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Russian Supply Lines Are In Danger

Learn more about our truck fundraiser here: https://car4ukraine.com/en-US/campaigns/preston-stewart-offensive-2026 [https://car4ukraine.com/en-US/campaigns/preston-stewart-offensive-2026] So Russia is really in a tough spot right now. I’m trying to stay grounded and not exaggerate what’s happening here but we’re in the midst of some serious change and it’s the Russians themselves that are sounding the alarm. On top of that we just got news that Ukraine is leveraging US satellite imagery for near real time targeting. The next few weeks will be interesting. Sources: https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/real-time-satellite-intel-is-making-ukraines-drone-strikes-deadlier-than-ever-8c2c909c [https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/real-time-satellite-intel-is-making-ukraines-drone-strikes-deadlier-than-ever-8c2c909c] https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c707098wkzpo [https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c707098wkzpo] Merch Store: https://prestonstew.shop/ [https://prestonstew.shop/] Join the community on Substack: https://prestonstew.substack.com/ [https://prestonstew.substack.com/] Twitter: https://twitter.com/prestonstew_ [https://twitter.com/prestonstew_] TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@prestonstew [https://www.tiktok.com/@prestonstew] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prestonstew_/ [https://www.instagram.com/prestonstew_/] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Preston-Stewart/61584740132063/ [https://www.facebook.com/people/Preston-Stewart/61584740132063/] Unclassified Podcast Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4YmaFZihykI0iov9XgQ0uD?si=efe0b3bd89b6421d [https://open.spotify.com/show/4YmaFZihykI0iov9XgQ0uD?si=efe0b3bd89b6421d] YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheUnclassifiedPod [https://www.youtube.com/@TheUnclassifiedPod] Contact: preston@warstories.co Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]