The Rest Is Classified

Episode: The Persian (Extract)

Host: Goalhanger
Date: January 24, 2026

Overview

This gripping episode plunges listeners into the shadowy world of espionage, vividly dramatizing a covert assassination through the excerpted prologue of David McCloskey's "The Persian." Set in Tehran, the scene is relayed from parallel perspectives: a quiet family moment rapidly unravels into chaos, all while being remotely surveilled via a hijacked phone by Israeli operatives in Tel Aviv. The extract, performed by Fajr Al Casey, highlights the personal cost of intelligence operations and hints at the geopolitical forces shaping their execution.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Parallel Lives: Family and Surveillance

• Begins with an Israeli agent covertly watching a family in Tehran through a hacked phone camera.
• The Israeli's private life mirrors that of Roya, the mother in Tehran—a pointed reminder of shared humanity.
  • Quote:
    "It did not escape the Israeli watching through the hijacked phone camera that this very scene had unrolled that morning at his own breakfast table in Tel Aviv. His daughter was about the same age. Even the nail polish had been pink." (00:30)

2. Intimate Domestic Scene in Tehran

• Roya Chabani, her husband Abbas, and their daughter Alia prepare for Alia's fifth birthday—the normality of family routines frames the looming threat.
• Tension simmers beneath domestic banter:
  • Abbas is distracted, possibly involved in secretive work with his influential Uncle, Colonel Ghorbani.
  • Roya’s internal monologue reveals her suspicions, marital strain, and longing for lost intimacy.
  • Quote:
    "Something had been wrong for a few months now. Late nights in the office, overnights, last minute travel, always to places he would not name, and always with Colonel Robany, his uncle." (01:58)

3. Humanizing Details and Tensions

• Alia’s innocent excitement stands in stark contrast to adult anxieties.
• Roya thinks about cigarettes she refrained from bringing, amplifying her stress.
• Subtle hints at political and social context:
  • Abbas “wasn’t a prayer and fasting type, though both Shabanis occasionally had to put on a show for his job.” (04:40)

4. Family Ritual and Relationship Dynamics

• Birthday cake, party guest list, and a cherished stuffed animal ground the listener in everyday life.
• The couple’s strained conversation shows the burden of secrets:
  • Quote:
    Roya: “Does your uncle know it’s her birthday?” (06:42)
    Abbas, distracted: “What? I don’t know.” (06:45)
  • Roya: “Maybe you could tell him then, when the car stops again and you pick up the phone so we can enjoy dinner.” (07:39)

5. The Assassination: Chaos Erupts

• The mundane is shattered: as the family nears the restaurant, the car is attacked.
  • First a sudden crack, “the windshield spiderwebbed,” and Abbas is hit in the eye with glass. (09:19)
  • Gunfire, chaos, Roya’s frantic attempts to save Alia.
  • Vivid detail and escalating terror as Roya extricates Alia from the car:
    • Quote:
      “There were pieces of glass on her lap. Air was rushing in... Abbas let out a strange yelp.” (10:11)
    • “She yelled, but he didn’t move, didn’t speak. And then she’d opened her own door and was crawling, reaching up to grasp around the handle of the back door. The gun thundered again, a short burst, and then stopped.” (11:09)

6. Remote Operation: The View from Tel Aviv

• Cut to an Israeli operations room, where agents monitor the assassination live through a grainy video feed.
• Emotional distance and moral calculation of targeted killing:
  • Quote:
    “The Israeli squeezed the shoulder of a woman sitting at a computer terminal and said she’d done well... The kill order had been clear, as they always were. No collateral damage, and that included the young scientist’s family.” (12:02)
  • The feed lingers as Roya and Alia flee, the daughter clutching her stuffed lamb, emphasizing the reach and ambiguity of modern espionage.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Mirrored Humanity:
  “His daughter was about the same age. Even the nail polish had been pink.” — Israeli watcher, (00:30)

• Abbas’s Work Secrets:
  Roya: “You’re a scientist. You’re supposed to be sitting alone in a lab.” (08:06)
  Abbas: “I design materials that radars can’t see. That was all she knew.” (08:17)

• Shattering Normalcy:
  “A loud crack as the windshield spiderwebbed, and Roya thought someone had thrown a stone into the glass.” (09:19)

• Remote Coldness of Modern Warfare:
  “The woman lifted her hand from the joystick that was tethered by satellite uplink to a Belgian made FN Mag machine gun. The kill order had been clear...” (12:05)

Important Segment Timestamps

• 00:24 – 01:50: Introduction of family, parallel surveillance in Tel Aviv and Tehran.
• 01:50 – 06:42: Family routines, Abbas’s distractions, undercurrents of secrecy and suspicion.
• 06:42 – 08:57: Marital tensions and hints at Abbas’s clandestine work.
• 09:19 – 11:45: The assassination scene—attack, panic, Roya’s struggle to save Alia.
• 11:45 – 12:34: Aftermath, Israeli operations room, reflections on the impact and cost.

Tone and Takeaway

The excerpt’s language is intimate yet tense, immersing listeners in both the everyday and the extraordinary. The clinical detachment of espionage collides with family tragedy, blurring the lines between justified action and devastating collateral impact. An exceptionally human entry point into the world of covert intelligence.

For fans of thrillers and real-world spycraft alike, this episode is as emotionally resonant as it is taut and suspenseful.