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What's next for Iran, with Thomas L. Friedman
Listen: On the latest episode of the GZERO World podcast, Ian Bremmer sits down with New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman to dissect what may go down as the most consequential month in the Middle East in years. Just weeks after Israel launched a war against Iran—and after President Trump authorized US airstrikes—an uneasy ceasefire is in place. But what was actually achieved?
Iran, the clear loser of the 12-Day War, entered as the most vulnerable player and emerged weaker still. Tehran stood largely alone, with Hamas degraded, Hezbollah decimated, Syria toppled, and Russia distracted. Yet the Islamic Republic can still claim regime survival, some damage inflicted on Israel, and a murkily intact nuclear program.
Netanyahu, meanwhile, avoided a ceasefire until he had secured key gains: he crippled Iran’s infrastructure, leveraged US firepower to hit targets beyond Israel’s reach, and rescued his collapsing political career. As Friedman notes, “The people who won this war for Israel...were, for the most part, the very same people who were in the streets of Israel for nine months against Netanyahu and his judicial coup.” That tension will only grow in the months ahead.
Subscribe to the GZERO World Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or your preferred podcast platform, to receive new episodes as soon as they're publishedPresident Donald Trump looks on as military strikes are launched against Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis over the group's attacks against Red Sea shipping, at an unspecified location in this handout image released March 15, 2025.
US strikes Houthi strongholds, seeks to keep shipping lanes open
The United States launched widespread strikes on the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen on Saturday, killing 53 people and injuring 98 as it targeted military sites and a power station in the rebel group’s southwest stronghold. The attacks were the largest US military operation since President Donald Trump returned to office.
“To Iran: Support for the Houthi terrorists must end IMMEDIATELY! Do NOT threaten the American People, their President, who has received one of the largest mandates in Presidential History, or Worldwide shipping lanes,” Trump posted on social. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi urged the US to halt the airstrikes, while Gen. Hossein Salami denied that Iran was involved in Houthi offensives.
The United States has been part of a Saudi-led coalition that has fought the Houthis since 2014, but tensions have been especially frayed ever since the Yemenite rebel group started ambushing Israeli ships that passed through the Red Sea shortly after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks, disrupting a hefty portion of global trade. There has been calm in the region ever since Israel and Hamas brokered a ceasefire deal in January, but the Houthis on Tuesday said they would restart their guerilla campaign on the water.
Don’t expect a truce soon: Once the leader of the coalition against the Houthis, Saudi Arabia now seems to be on the sidelines, leaving the US to lead the fight against the Iran-aligned group — and the Trump administration has pledged to continue strikes over the next few days. The Houthi resistance has been stubborn for some time, and the militants have promised to retaliate, so the Americans might have their work cut out as they seek to maintain a vital shipping pipeline.
“A few days of strikes will probably not bring about an end to the Houthis’ attacks,” counterterrorism expert Thomas S. Warrick wrote. “Unless the Trump administration is prepared to go even further.”