What did Konstantin Kisin say about the Iran war on Joe Rogan?

Konstantin Kisin told Joe Rogan that the Iran war fits what the air-power analyst Robert Pape calls an escalation trap. By blocking the Strait of Hormuz, Iran gained leverage over global fuel prices and an American administration heading into the midterms, and Pape argues the conflict puts Iran on a path to regional dominance over Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Israel. Kisin said Iran can keep this up because for its leaders it is about survival, and that the price of diesel jumped when the Iran war began, not during four years of war in Ukraine.

• Kisin said the Houthis are attacking the Saudi pipeline to the Red Sea, the main route around Hormuz.
• Kisin believes Iran's goal is a deal that removes American bases from the Middle East entirely.
• Kisin compared the planning to Vladimir Putin's three-day operation in Ukraine, now four years old.

▸In their words

“They've basically got the global economy in a rear naked choke.” Konstantin Kisin · at 1:39:17 — open in the transcript →

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on The Joe Rogan Experience (2026-10-31). Read the whole episode summary →

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