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As events accelerate in the Middle east, the team here at ARC Media is increasing our coverage. More conversations, more context, more time spent trying to help make sense of what's happening. And all with an expanding cast of podcast hosts, analysts and journalists. Our Inside CallMeBack subscribers help make this expanded coverage possible. It helps us be here when it matters most. If you're not yet an inside Call Me Back subscriber, this is an important time to join us. To subscribe, you can follow the link in our show Notes or visit ark media.org and to our insiders. Thank you. You are listening to an ARC Media podcast.
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Today, the Israeli Chief of Staff said that during these five minutes, so 10 minutes after 8, to 15 minutes after 8, they killed no less than 40 Iranian top officials. This is insane from their point of view. I just cannot understand the reason for this behavior. But the main thing was that they did not try to hide the Supreme Leader or the other officials or put them underground. They just put them above ground and in their location. It's like you have a sign on the door says here lives the happy Khamenei family. Please knock. He is here. Please shoot.
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It's 4:45pm on Sunday, March 1st in New York City. It is 1:20am on Monday, March 2nd in Tehran and it is 11:45pm on Sunday, March 1st in Israel, as Israelis get ready to turn to a new day. Today, Sunday, nine Israelis were killed in an Iranian missile strike on a residential area in Beit Shemesh, According to Israeli officials. The missile hit a populated neighborhood, causing significant destruction. Rescue teams searched through damaged buildings as residents described scenes of chaos in the immediate aftermath. This is in addition to the death of a 40 year old Israeli who was killed from a missile hit in Tel Aviv on Saturday night. Later on Sunday, another Iranian missile struck Jerusalem, leaving three people injured. Also on Sunday, President Trump described the coordinated American Israeli attack on the Iranian regime as going ahead of schedule, claiming that in a matter of hours the US has destroyed Iran's entire navy. He also noted that figures from the leadership of Iran's regime have indicated a willingness to enter talks. President Trump said he will agree to enter a new round of negotiations, but did not specify at what point and under what conditions. Meanwhile, videos circulating on the Internet show large crowds of Iranians celebrating the elimination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The crowds, which seem to have been gathering even before Iran's state media confirmed the death of the Supreme Leader, are seen jubilant, playing loud music, dancing and shouting freedom, Freedom. As well as occasional chants of support for the United States. These videos are of course difficult to verify, especially given the Islamic Republic's recent Internet shutdown, but yet they are in wide circulation and are worth monitoring. Iranian expats have held similar celebrations across European cities, where occasionally the old Iranian banner can be seen being waved next to the Israeli flag. Before we start today's conversation, I do want to remind you just on one housekeeping note that that we at ARC Media are looking to fill multiple editorial and business roles, including a full stack developer. So if you, a family member, a friend, a colleague is interested, please go to our career page@arc media.org let's take a break to hear a word from our sponsor War has returned to Israel. Israelis have spent the last days in their safe rooms and in public bomb shelters. Buildings have been hit and tragically, civilians have been killed. As Israel and the United States continue their military offensive, Israelis brace for sustained rocket fire. And at the scene of these attacks, United Hatzala volunteers, EMTs, medics, paramedics and doctors are working to save lives, often showing up in the first minutes to evacuate people stuck in buildings, supply medical care to the wounded and provide first aid to many others impacted. Their volunteers are often in the critical first minutes after rocket impact. Their services, which are always free, are a vital lifeline to the people of Israel. You can make sure that they have the life saving equipment and supplies they need right now. Bulletproof vests and helmets, tactical stretchers for evacuations, oxygen kits and whatever else they need to meet this moment in Israel. Visit Israel Rescue.org Call me back. That's IsraelRescue.org Callmeback or go to the link in my show Notes to learn more and support United Hatzala's critical efforts. Now on to today's episode. On this podcast we usually step back and look at the big picture, especially how fast the world, and the Middle east in particular is changing. That broad view often helps us understand stand where we stand, but sometimes focusing closely on one specific moment and one specific place gives us a clearer understanding of what's really happening. There's a joke out there that the biggest employer in Iran these days is the Mossad. It's not true, of course, but there is no doubt that the Mossad and the CIA played a central role in the success of the opening strike on Iran, more specifically in taking out Iran's leadership during the first minutes of the war. This is the story we want to share today, and who better to help us understand it than Ronen Bergman of Yediot Achernot and the New York Times. Ronen is an Israeli investigative, military and intelligence journalist and analyst and an author. He joins us again from his home in Tel Aviv. Ronan, welcome back.
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Thank you, Dan. Thanks for doing it. Apologize in advance if we'll have sirens during the meeting.
A
That is an evergreen statement these days from every Israeli guest we have on. So, folks, if you hear the sirens or the little dings going off on Ronen's phone, it means that he has to go into his mamad, into his safe room and he'll have to step away. But we pardon the disruption and we of course, understand. So, Rene, I want to start with the intelligence around the story you're going to tell us today. I guess my first question is how did Israel and the US Know where and when Ayatollah Khamenei and his close circle would gather?
B
So they had been tracking these people for months, many months. They knew where Khamenei was at the first strike of the previous war, the one in June. Then they decided not to touch it because then it was not about the regime change. And everything changed, history changed, the protest. And then they started to follow him and continue to follow the senior leadership of the Revolutionary Guard and the military and the intelligence. And they were looking for opportunity that would have as many people in one group sitting together in a place that they can identify in the location and in the time, meaning looking to the future, they would know where these people are so they can time the attack. And also they were working under the assumption that whoever is not killed at the very first strike, the very first missile that hit would not be killed. Because once a person who knows that he is potentially a target would understand that Israel, this has started the US And Israel started to attack, he will vanish. And out of all of the individuals, once it was decided to kill the supreme Leader, then that was the highest priority of everybody, to know where he is and try to kill him in the very first strike. And then came the operational opportunity of having these two happening at the same time, like big group of officials in one place and the Supreme Leader in his compound giving the opportunity to kill all of them at the same time.
A
So, Ronen, this really does beg one question. The Iranian leadership may be ruthless, but we have never really thought of them as certainly haven't thought of them as incompetent, to the contrary. And after everything that we've learned over the past year, both how they conducted themselves and some decisions they made both in April and October of 2024, and then during the 12 day war in June, one would have thought they would have been more cautious, more careful. They would have learned a lot along the way. Why on earth did they gather in one place, in this place, above ground, by the way, in the heart of Tehran?
B
You know, if it was not a serious matter, I would answer you that they deeply disappointed me. But we are talking about a serious matter, so I won't say it. But I will say that in the weeks of preparation towards the war, which we figured a high probability would happen, I was very, very skeptical at the ability of either both Israeli intelligence or US Intelligence to track down and kill the Iranian leadership and especially the Supreme Leader, because it just happened in June. The war in June started with a massive attack. And the first missiles were aimed to kill 20, 25 people. We spoke about it that night. The Iranians knew that this is coming. You know, every child in the world knew that there's high probability that the US Is going to strike. They already did this once. They took Maduro to an American prison. And I have no idea why they did not take any precautions other than they were convinced, you know, the sin of hubris, of van, that it would not happen to us.
A
Well, they also believed, I think that. And this came up in our conversation with General Petraeus, they also possibly believed that Israel wouldn't strike during the day, that every one of Israel's operations in the past have been in the dead of night. And so, I mean, I think it's crazy to take that kind of risk and just believe that you could kind of rely on that past pattern as a basis and turn that into an assumption for how things will go.
B
Especially you take the risk not just for yourself, but also for the Supreme Leader, meaning that's the most important guy that you need to protect. But there were dates that were kept on being delayed because of different reasons. First, there were not enough American forces. Then Netanyahu. Prime Minister Netanyahu asked President Trump to hold for a few more days to get the Israeli defenses better prepared. Then CENTCOM told the President they need to bring more forces. And then the President decided to give a chance to diplomacy. And it really got heated in the last week. So the President gave some days for diplomacy, and he said Wednesday Israeli forces got ready for Wednesday night. Then it was delayed to Thursday, and then Thursday was delayed to Friday. But this was already a standing order from the President to act. And then at the last minute, they delayed it a little bit more to Saturday morning, 10 minutes after 8, because they learned that this group of intelligence officials and military officials are going to meet in a compound at the center of Tehran called Pastor. Everybody, Tehran know what Pastor is. It's the massive compound that includes the Presidential palace and the special guarded compound and complex for the supreme leader All in one. And they realized that at 8 o' clock in the morning, which is 9:15 in Tehran, they are going to hold this meeting and that the Supreme Leader would be apparently in his compound. So it's the same vicinity. So the first strike, the first thing that happens is this one at 10 minutes past 8.
A
Ronen, one must imagine that in order to execute such an operation, a lot, a lot of planning has to take place. How did Israel plan for this? Especially without, I mean, as you're saying here now, it wasn't until very, pardon the US sports metaphor, but it wasn't until very late innings that Israel knew this precise time that this meeting would take place. So they didn't know about this time, they didn't know about the place. And yet they clearly had to plan for something like this in advance, not knowing the when and the where or even the if, if it would actually some opportunity like this would present itself.
B
So first of all, based on decades of collection of intelligence and attempted penetration inside the Iranian ranks and the end system, human intelligence and signal intelligence and cyber intelligence, now I know that in the movies you get a sense that Israel has, and maybe in the Iranian psyche you get the sense that Israel has a spy under every bed and around every corner. In reality, I think there's much more technology and less human spies. When you have electronic surveillance, it's easier now. It was much easier before the June war because the people walking around with bodyguards under the order from the Supreme Leader to protect his personnel and the nuclear scientists and the leaders to protect them heavily from Mossad agents trying to assassinate them in the street. So they had many, many bodyguards. They were not allowed the VIPs to carry cell phones because you can geolocate someone with the phone, but all of their bodyguards were carrying cell phones. So what Israeli intelligence were doing was basically following the cell phones of the bodyguards. And in this way they could identify everyone in the room. And this is how they assassinate the people back in June. But then the Iranians find it out, was exposed and they just burned this whole way of surveillance. Israeli intelligence to an extent since June, on some spheres of collection and surveillance had to reinvent itself. And the reinvention is not about a specific point in a specific gathering. You just start following those people with everything you have 24 7, hoping that when you need it and you have the capacity and the political will and the international support, then you will also have the operational opportunity.
A
Ronan. So Israel deployed a three wave strategy to the attack. I want to go through each of these waves, but let's just start with the mission of each of these three waves.
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The first one is the decapitation or the assassination wave, which means this is aimed only at killing senior commanders and leaders. The second is to attack the remaining air defenses, the remaining that survived the previous attacks of Israel on Iran. And its goal was to pave the way for the biggest air raid in the history of the Israeli Air Force. 200 airplanes will flood into Iran from the west to deal mainly with the long range ballistic missiles, the number one threat now on the Israeli public.
A
All right, so we're going to tell the story of the first wave, the decapitation wave. So let's wind our clocks back to 6am in Israel on the morning of Saturday, February 27th. Take us from the moment the fighter jets take off to the moment they release their munitions.
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So first of all, secrecy, not just vis a vis the Iranians, but also in Israel. And it's a secrecy in time where everybody are expecting something to happen. So you need to keep it in the smallest loop possible. Then these airplanes have to fire from very long range, not to be detected by Iranian radars as interested or aiming at Iran. And they are taking different routes through different countries, not directly to Iran. And they are firing few rockets, few missiles from very long way, a much longer range than the range of any air defense radar the Iranians have. They take off at 6 and something like an hour later, they release the first wave of long range ballistic missiles that can be equipped on an airplane.
A
So while the munitions are making their way to the target. Tell me about these munitions, known as Black Sparrow. Israel chose to use these munitions. There's a backstory here. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
B
Israel and the US While testing the aero anti missile missile as we see in the skies above me every few minutes.
A
Can you just run in? Just so people understand, because I think they hear the term ballistic missile used all the time. Why does that trajectory that a missile goes on more dangerous and more lethal and such a threat that so many countries, including our own and the United States is worried about. Why do they pose a different kind of threat?
B
First of all, they can carry because they have powerful engines, they can carry a lot of explosives. They can carry up to maybe sometimes one ton of explosives. This is really a massive explosion. Second, because they reach out of the atmosphere, very hard to track. And once they start going back to earth to the target, very, very hard to intercept. To stop a ballistic missile, you need something very power, very sophisticated, and it has a name. It's called the Arrow. The Arrow anti ballistic missile. Now, in order to test and practice the Arrow, they have a special testing field in Alaska and they needed to develop a bait, something that the Arrow would chase and they could test if the Arrow is able to intercept the missiles. So they developed a special missile that acts like a ballistic missile, but can be fired from an airplane, which is much cheaper, much more secret, and much easier to demonstrate and exercise. And then once you have a ballistic missile equipped on an airplane, someone came with the idea and said, well, maybe let's make it into a weapon. So what you get at the end of this too complicated technical explanation is, as my colleague and friend from the New York Times, David Humphinger, reports, what you get at the end is F15 carrying a ballistic missile or a missile with a massive warhead that can be fired from 1500 kilometers. So much, much remote than even the most strategic defense, air defense radar and range. So basically, not risking the airplane, not risking the pilot, just firing from a different continent and go back home and forgetting all about this world. The missile is paving its way in a pace and a mass that nothing can stop. This is how they were able to deal with the radar system of the Iranian strategic air defenses in the previous rounds. So they could just be afar, stand from hundreds of kilometers, shoot at the radars, shoot at the missiles, and then pave the way and neutralize Iran air defenses. At this specific case, what they wanted to achieve was to fire a missile without being detected, without raising the alert of the Iranians, having them as relaxed or calm as possible until it's too late. And they sent few missiles to the gathering of the intelligence officials and no less than 30 missiles to smash the compound of the Supreme Leader. And the same exact.
A
But you're saying they, they did this in the June war. So again, it begs the question, should the Iranians not have been somewhat prepared or anticipatory about the use of this capability?
B
Again, I just cannot understand the reason for this behavior, but the strange behavior, the main thing was that they did not try to hide the Supreme Leader or the other officials or put them underground. They just put them above ground and in their location. It's like you have a sign on the door says, here lives the happy Khamenei family. Please knock. It cannot be anything more blunt and more clear than just say he is here, please shoot.
A
Okay, so the missiles are now barreling down at 8 mach speed from space towards the target on the morning, 8 o' clock hour of Saturday. Take it from here.
B
The explosions are heard all over Tehran. They hit these two places in this massive compound. One person did not wake up in the morning, so he did not attend the gathering. This is the Minister of Intelligence. Only his deputy attend, but other very senior officials. So the National Security Advisor, the IRGC commander, the Chief of Staff, who is the third Chief of Staff. Because in the last few months, because Israel already killed the previous chiefs of staff that he replaced. So he is there who is taking a job that they just killed your two predecessors. But they are all there. And I was told by one of the Israelis that were in the secrets of the planning and execution. He said the only way for someone to survive that meeting was not to attend. So all the people that came there, including the guy in charge of the missile infrastructure of the Air Force and other leaders of the intelligence, they all died on the spot. And the supreme leader? The Supreme Leader. The whole compound was basically taken out. We saw, we published in the New York Times, we published a satellite imagery of the place and you see it's totally destroyed. Today the Israeli Chief of Staff said that during these five minutes, so 10 minutes after 8 to 15 minutes after 8, they killed no less than 40 Iranian top officials. This is insane from their point of view.
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A
What greater mission? What greater impact than saving lives? Join Lenore's mission. Donate today at israelrescue.org callmeback. Okay, so now tell us about the second and third wave.
B
So this is done for firing from afar. Then a group of fighter jets are approaching but still remaining distance. They identified air defenses of self production that the Iranians were able to produce by themselves that were located in strategic places not long ago. And they are firing from afar, destroying those batteries. So Basically opening a corridor from the west to this massive fleet of airplanes that are soon to come. So this is phase two only to open the corridor to reacquire freedom of flights over Tehran and over the rest of Iran. Israel and the US sort of separate the tasks of the war between themselves on kind of targets, but also geographically. So Israel is doing most of the west of Iran and the US is doing most of the east of Iran. The American fueling tankers are helping Israel to maneuver and getting refueled again and again. And once the air Defenses are neutralized, 200 airplanes are coming and they just jump on hundreds of targets that were prepared by military intelligence before. All connected to either remaining air defenses or mainly the missile, the strategic ballistic missile storage silos, production launchers. They just try to hunt them wherever they are because they know that after few hours the Iranians would sort of recover or regain patrol and start firing these missiles on Israel. And they want to reduce the number that Iran is able to fire. Israel know and the Israeli military knows that if they want to have a longer war, not a long war, but a longer war, they need to have as little number of missiles fired at Israel. Because of course once your home front command is exposed and we saw this strategy that happened today with huge number of casualties in Beit Shemesh, then you cannot continue the war for Vernon. And so as much as more targets are hit in Iran from the ballistic missile storage or launches in the first strike, then it will be easier to handle the defense to deal with these missiles afterwards. Yeah.
A
Okay. What was Iran's plan of attack based on your understanding? They knew this war was coming, so they all had a plan for it. What was their plan? And so far, at least based on what we know, how much of it they managed to execute.
B
First of all, they learned from the previous time when Israel hit the night between the 12th and the 13th.
A
You mean in June? In June.
B
June, yeah.
A
Yeah.
B
And we spoke on the US night which was already Israeli and Iran terran morning, Friday morning. Israel was able to hit so many leaders and so many channels of control and command that the idea of Iran to launch 1,000 missiles that night completely failed. It took them until the next evening where they were able to launch something like 100. So the whole command and control system totally collapsed for a long time. They learned the lesson and basically they created channels of redundancy that they almost don't need even to give an order. Once Iran is attacked, whoever is in control of a launcher immediately fires. So he would not be waiting for an order from someone who might be dead and as evident was indeed dead. So the time until Iran retaliates was significantly diminished and they were able to fire in few hours. But their attempts to fire 30, 40, 50 missiles together, at least so far, and I hope it won't change it all failed.
A
But why?
B
Because much of the launches were damaged. Israel has unmanned hunters hovering in Iranian airspace looking for targets. And whenever launcher is exposed, then there's a high probability that you'll have a drone firing in this immediately. The imagery then, if you already saw some imagery that the ideal spokesperson released of launchers a second before they're destroyed, this is coming from drones. They're all over the place. They're scanning. And of course there's a massive logistic production to have so many drones monitored, supervised, fueled, refueled with the rebel missiles and ammunition, and running this fleet all over Iran. This is something Israel has been planning for many years and has many secrets that the Iranians are crazy. They don't understand how Israel is able to put this through.
A
What about Iran's launching so many missiles, rockets, whatever, at neighboring countries, the Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar. Was that all part of the Iranian plan for its response?
B
First of all, they threatened that they would do it. You know, this is the doomsday scenario that many of the Gulf states have been very worried for many years, right? That they have money, that they have influence, that they are sophisticated, that they have connection with the US what they don't have is the firepower of Iran and they were afraid that this would happen. And basically what Iran is doing is extortion. Like they are firing at Bahrain or Saudi or the UAE because they wanted these countries with their influence to tell President Trump, stop, because we are paying the price. This is a point of no return. Once you start shooting at someone, he will be your enemy.
A
Well, that's again, it seems to me, talking to you, it seems like another gross miscalculation, like staggering that yes, the theory could be governments from these countries would try to urge President Trump to wind it down. The other is that it would get these countries even more engaged in a very direct way, as we're seeing right now with the Saudis seem to be, shall we say, getting much more involved than they otherwise might.
B
Unless this all makes sense, of course. And I'm sure it also makes sense to the Iranians. Unless one thing, unless you are convinced, let's say you are the Iranians and you are convinced that this is not about dismantling your nuclear project, but this is about dismantling your regime. If you think that this is about taking you out, like completely destroying you, then bets are off. All hell breaks loose. All in. And they are trying their worst, hoping that maybe they will exert enough pressure that this will stop. But from their point of view, hearing what the President told the demonstrators that help is on its way, looking at what Netanyahu, Prime Minister Netanyahu, who has issued. Sorry, sirens.
A
Sirens meaning you have a warning or sirens meaning it's a warning?
B
No, no, it's a warning. All right.
A
For our listeners, this just means. This is the siren that tells Ronan that he has to be ready to go into a safe room, but he doesn't have to go into a safe
B
room yet to be in the proximity of a safe. Of a safe room or shelter.
A
Yeah, okay. Ronan, much of your career has been focused on the shadow intelligence war between Israel and Iran. You grew up, came of age, if you will. In the shadow of Khamenei was this chapter we've just witnessed the grand finale that you were expecting or knew at some point would come.
B
Back in 2000, I think three or four. Iran said that they are willing to surrender all the secrets to the IAEA and disassemble their nuclear project. I got a call from a woman who was the editor in chief of the news desk in, and she said, ronen, you are out of work. The Iranian issue has been concluded, and you have nothing to do. You need to find another job. And I said, you know, I trust my fellow Iranians that they are going to fuck up this and they are going to cheat, they are going to lie, and they are going to try and build a bomb, and I will have worked for many, many years. And here we are 22 years after, and we still don't see the end of that. And it's not the Saddam Hussein regime, where it was mainly about Saddam Hussein. This is something that is bigger than Khamenei. Khamenei is the most important person in the modern history of Iran. He shaped the Islamic Republic more than Khomeini.
A
Khamenei shaped the regime more than Ayatollah Khomeini.
B
Yes.
A
Who was the original leader of the revolution.
B
The regime is far more him than Khomeini. He left a country and he left a regime that is much bigger than one person. And I think it's not a coincidence that we already have a flood of news of this committee that is going to choose the next supreme leader. By the way, Israeli intelligence believe that they will try to elect and appoint one of his sons, the sons of Khamenei. Though Khamenei himself did not recommend this. He said, this is not the kingdom. This is not for me to give my son. But I think that now, after what happened, it's not a natural death. They will try to have something symbolic. And as far as Israeli village is aware, they are going to crown his son Mujtaba.
A
How soon?
B
Soon. Soonish. They want to show continuity. But Also you have 1 million, at least 1 million Iranians that work for the Basij or the IRGC. They depended on this for their lives. It's not going to be. I hope that this horrible regime will be terminated tomorrow morning, even this evening, if they have time. But it's not going to be that easy.
A
Okay, my last question for you before you have to run, before you literally have to run, you're following this all closely and you're obviously talking to Israeli intelligence, which is following all this closely. How are Iranians generally experiencing this moment? We've seen images in the diaspora, but I'm actually more interested in what you're seeing inside Iran, but also in the diaspora. In the Iranian diaspora.
B
I have a very good friend who was born in Iran, but now is out of Iran. He would get into serious trouble if he would be there, but his family is there. And he sent me yesterday a short video of just a street. From inside a flat to a street, the street is empty. It's war. There's no one there. And the video keeps on running. And what you hear, raving screams and joy and laughter and claps and applause like, you know, Maccabi Tel Aviv is a very famous basketball team. It's when Maccabi wins, the streets of Israel roar. It was the same. People are so happy that this tyrant is off, because in many, many of these families, they lost someone because of this butcher. And I think that there are also people from inside the regime that are not object regime. But they felt that with this guy they're totally stuck. And maybe this could be the beginning of something better. I don't know this. I hope I'm an optimistic person and sometimes it distort my judgment. But for whatever, for good or for bad, Iran has changed. Even if this regime continues, it's not going to be the same after the demise of Khamenei and after this war, which nobody, I think, already understand, how will end this is a question I cannot get an answer. Speaking with American officials, speaking with Israeli officials, how would you know that you succeeded? What will signal that you reached that bar? That you say, okay, I'm done. What is next? What is the day after the President called the people to go to the streets? But let's say that they go to the streets, the regime would not surrender and they start shooting in them again. Then the US would intervene again. There's complicated questions and I'm not sure that everybody or that somebody is holding a precise recipe how this will be solved.
A
Okay Ronan, we will leave it there. Thank you as always for this incredible reporting and storytelling and I have no doubt the we'll we'll be calling on you some more in the weeks ahead. And until then, stay safe and I hope you have a little bit of cushion of time before your next alert goes off that you have to get into your safe room.
B
Thank you then. Thanks so much.
A
Much. That's our show for today. If you value the Call Me Back podcast and you want to support our mission, please subscribe to our weekly members only show, Inside Call Me Back. Inside Call Me Back is where Nadav Amit Segal and I respond to challenging questions from listeners and have the conversations that typically occur after the cameras stop rolling. To subscribe, please follow the link in the show notes or you can go to arkmedia.org that's arkmedia.org call me back is produced and edited by Lon Benatar. ARC Media's Executive producer is Adam James Levin Aretti. Our Production manager is Brittany Cohn. Our Community Manager is Ava Wiener. Our music was composed by Yuval Semo. Sound and video editing by Liquid Audio. Until next time, I'm your host, Dan Senor. If someone just collapsed right in front of you, you'd call an ambulance. In New York City, that ambulance would take 12 plus minutes to arrive. United Hatzala of Israel often gets there before the ambulance regularly in three minutes or less. How Innovation United Hatzala's iconic orange ambucycles, Ambulance motorcycles weave medics through traffic, GPS systems geolocate the nearest volunteers and their AI driven technology helps predict when and where the next emergency will occur. This all means faster care and more lives saved. I have family and friends in Israel that count on United Hatzalah and you can too. They'll help anyone who needs emergency care every day, fast and for free. So if you live in Israel, just dial 1221 for help. If you're looking for a cause with impact, support United Hatzalah of Israel. Donate today@IsraelRescue.org and add this number to your phone right now. If you live in Israel, 1221.
Podcast: Call Me Back – with Dan Senor
Episode Guest: Ronen Bergman (Yediot Aharonot & New York Times)
Date Aired: March 2, 2026
This episode centers on the extraordinary Israeli-American operation that, in a matter of minutes, eliminated key figures in Iran’s leadership—including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei—triggering profound consequences across the Middle East. Dan Senor, with military and intelligence reporter Ronen Bergman, unpacks the intelligence, planning, execution, and repercussions of this high-stakes strike. The conversation also explores Iranian miscalculations, evolving Israeli doctrine, and the uncertain future for Iran’s regime and its neighbors.
“They were looking for opportunity that would have as many people in one group sitting together…so they can time the attack.” – Ronen Bergman ([07:14])
“It's like you have a sign on the door says here lives the happy Khamenei family. Please knock. He is here. Please shoot.” – Ronen, on Iranian carelessness ([00:48], [20:35])
“F15 carrying a ballistic missile…with a massive warhead that can be fired from 1500 kilometers. So much, much remote than even the most strategic defense, air defense radar and range.” – Ronen [17:57]
“The only way for someone to survive that meeting was not to attend.” – Ronen ([21:18])
“Basically what Iran is doing is extortion. Like they are firing at Bahrain…because they wanted these countries with their influence to tell President Trump, stop, because we are paying the price.” – Ronen ([28:41])
“Other than they were convinced, you know, the sin of hubris, that it would not happen to us.” – Ronen ([09:25])
“You need to keep it in the smallest loop possible.” – Ronen ([16:00])
“The only way for someone to survive that meeting was not to attend.” – Ronen ([21:18])
“He left a country and he left a regime that is much bigger than one person.” – Ronen ([32:17])
“What you hear: raving screams and joy and laughter and claps and applause... People are so happy that this tyrant is off.” – Ronen ([33:45])
“For whatever, for good or for bad, Iran has changed. Even if this regime continues, it's not going to be the same after the demise of Khamenei and after this war, which nobody, I think, already understand, how will end.” – Ronen ([33:45])
This episode delivers a gripping, insider perspective on the largest regime-targeting mission in recent Middle East history. Ronen Bergman’s detailed reporting exposes both the operational genius and the profound risks involved, while also pondering the longer-term strategic, societal, and moral consequences of regime change by force. For anyone seeking to understand not just how this historic attack happened, but also what it means for Iran, Israel, and the region, this conversation is essential listening.