Bensman Calls for Immediate U.S. Action Against Nicaragua Over Iran Ties: Middle East Forum Podcast

“The best way for Iran to sucker punch the United States is in Latin America, where nobody would expect it. They have the intent to do something to the U.S. We don’t just know where or when, and that’s just the way they like it.”

In this episode of the Middle East Forum Podcast, host Lauri Regan speaks with Todd Bensman, senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center, about his new report, “Time to End the Long Iran-Nicaragua Relationship.” Bensman, who recently left the intelligence community, explains why he calls Nicaragua a US national security blind spot: while Washington presses Iran and its proxies across Latin America, Daniel Ortega’s regime has kept an active partnership with Tehran since 2007.

Bensman describes what Iran, Hezbollah and the IRGC may be doing in Nicaragua, from military cooperation to reports of training camps, and why Americans and Jewish communities across Latin America are softer targets than the US homeland. He outlines the leverage Washington holds over Managua, including remittances, fuel supplies, agricultural exports, surveillance and material-support indictments of regime officials.

In the audience Q&A, Bensman discusses Venezuela after Maduro, Brazil under Lula, Nicaragua’s military, Hezbollah sleeper agents inside the United States, whether Israel is watching the region, a request to indict Ortega, and the Trump administration’s immigration policy.