When the New York Times calls you an arms dealer but you've also been nominated for a Peace Prize…

You know you've lived an interesting life.

I just had Ken Timmerman on my podcast to talk about WWIII. And where it could actually start. (Hint: it’s NOT Ukraine.)

Here’s why you should listen to him:

Ken is often called a "veteran war correspondent" and "author" - but that's like calling James Bond a “government employee”.

(Sure, and I guess you could say Goldfinger was just a passionate metals collector.)

The guy went from being held hostage by Palestinians in a Beirut basement to running spy networks inside Tehran's Supreme Leader's office.

He helped the 9/11 families win a $6 billion judgment against Iran by proving what everyone said was impossible - that Iran helped Al-Qaeda.

When Trump took out Soleimani? That was partly based on intelligence from Ken's network. Trump later pointed him out at a rally in Jacksonville and said, "I see one of my undercover operators there..."

Ken specializes in Middle East conflicts.

He just wrote this book called "The Iran House," and some of the stuff in it is terrifying.

You should listen to the whole thing. I can only scratch the surface here.

Things I Didn’t Know About Iran

Look, I'll be honest - I went into this interview skeptical.

When someone tells you a US presidential advisor was secretly coordinating with Iran to create an 'October surprise’? That sounds like a conspiracy theory.

But Timmerman isn’t some random guy off the street. He's spent four decades covering Iran, built networks of sources inside the regime, worked with intelligence agencies, and has a track record of being right when others were wrong.

Did you know Iran could build five nuclear weapons in just five weeks if they wanted to? But they're waiting until they can build an arsenal of 20-30 weapons at once.

Why? Because they're worried if they just build one or two, Israel will take them out immediately.

The scariest part of our conversation wasn't about nuclear weapons though. It was about how deep Iran's influence runs. Everyone's focused on Ukraine, but Ken is convinced Iran is where World War III could actually start.

But he didn’t just point out the problems: Ken laid out this simple plan for dealing with Iran. He calls it "maximum pressure on the regime, maximum support for the Iranian people."

What really struck me about my conversation with Ken was how he sees Iran itself.

This isn't a simple story of good guys and bad guys. (He goes into more detail in the podcast.)

Scared to Death, But Hopeful

Look, I'm an optimist.

I always look for the upside. But after talking to Ken, I realize why he's spent forty years tracking this stuff.

I don't know whether to be scared to death after talking to Ken or hopeful. I'm going to stick with hopeful but I'm still scared at the same time.

Whether you agree with Ken's conclusions or not, his track record is hard to ignore. He's been right about Iran when everyone else was wrong.

I just hope he’s right about some things he said… and horribly wrong about others. 

Click here to listen to the full conversation.