Stolen Revolution: Behind Iran's Protest Movements (feat. Bozorgmehr Sharafedin)

Stolen Revolution: Behind Iran's Protest Movements (feat. Bozorgmehr Sharafedin)

Author: FDD June 3, 2026 Duration: 57:30

Every Iranian revolution begins with an ordinary life hitting an extraordinary wall. Stolen Revolution captures those moments — the personal reckonings with a regime that promised faith and delivered suffocation. Co-authored by award-winning journalists Yeganeh Torbati and Bozorgmehr Sharafedin, the book traces six Iranians living the full arc of modern Iranian history: a Khomeini devotee cast from power, a poet who gave voice to a generation's shattered dreams, a bureaucrat who risked everything to expose state corruption, an entrepreneur crushed by the security apparatus, and two young women who joined the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising.

Iran International's Bozorgmehr Sharafedin joins FDD Iran Program Senior Director Behnam Ben Taleblu to unpack the human stories behind Iran's seismic shift from reform to revolution, and what they reveal about life under the Islamic Republic.


Hosted by Mark Dubowitz, The Iran Breakdown with Mark Dubowitz is a focused miniseries from FDD that cuts through the noise surrounding one of the world's most persistent and complex crises. Rather than just recounting headlines, this podcast delves into the underlying forces-historical, religious, and societal-that shape Iran's actions both at home and abroad. You'll hear detailed analysis on the regime's nuclear ambitions, its support for proxy networks across the Middle East, and the ongoing struggle for human rights within its borders. Each episode aims to connect these geopolitical strategies to their real-world impact, offering a clearer understanding of a nation that consistently defies simple explanation. For anyone trying to make sense of the tensions that ripple from Tehran to the wider world, this series provides essential context and insight, moving beyond surface-level reporting to explore the deeper cultural and ideological drivers. Tune in for a sober, informed exploration that treats the subject with the gravity it demands.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 50

The Iran Breakdown with Mark Dubowitz
Podcast Episodes
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Duration: 1:03:38
The Islamic Republic may discover that surviving the war was the easy part. Its military has been mauled, its deterrence shattered, its proxies weakened, and now an already dysfunctional economy faces relentless pressure…
The Islamic Republic’s Revolutionary DNA (feat. Haviv Rettig Gur) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:47
What makes the Islamic Republic of Iran different from a conventional regime seeking security, prosperity, and survival? Its ideological DNA fuses Maoist revolutionary thought, Frantz Fanon’s vision of anticolonial strug…
The End of the Ceasefire as We Know It? (feat. Rich Goldberg) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:00
The United States has launched a fresh wave of strikes against Iran, hitting roughly 90 targets along the country's coastline, as tensions over the Strait of Hormuz threaten to unravel a fragile ceasefire between Washing…
Lebanon: More than "a Piece of the Puzzle" (feat. Carine Hajjar) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:18
The Israel-Lebanon framework brokered by Secretary Rubio may be historic, but Hezbollah still hasn't disarmed. The deal ties Israeli withdrawal to the Lebanese army securing designated pilot zones — yet Hezbollah and its…
What Iranians Think About the US-Iran Deal (feat. Medhi Parpanchi) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:39
The 60-day MOU between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States may dominate headlines, but for 90 million Iranians it changes nothing. The agreement contains no mention of the Iranian people — who only months…
Breaking Down the US-Iran MOU (feat. Robert Greenway) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 58:04
President Trump has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran, opening a 60-day window to negotiate a final deal. The debate is fierce: does the US-Iran MOU go far enough? Iran's nuclear program, ballistic mis…