Alistair Campbell

So would the idea be here that he tried to take out Hamani and then try to just negotiate with what remains of the regime, or maybe bring in a slightly more liberal cleric?

I mean, it'd be interesting to see.

I certainly, if I was the crown prince, I wouldn't be betting on the fact that a Trump who still hasn't met the crown prince is going to get behind him.

Although, boy, you want to talk about the age of social media.

The social media PR campaign that has transformed the crown prince in the last three years from...

somebody who most of us thought as a pretty marginal, slightly joke figure, who hadn't been back to Iran for, I think, 46 years, who was an unwelcome reminder of this slightly strange moment in the 1970s of all the extravagance and autocracy of the last Shah, has now somehow, despite allying with Trump or Israel, perhaps because he's allied with Trump and Israel, has been rebranded now.

And even me, in our duo, Alistair, the great monarchist, even I find it quite difficult to believe that the

That the candidate that they're running is this rather elderly crown prince of a discredited regime.

And yet, boy, does social media make that possible?

You look like he might just be playing a game.

I wonder whether he'd quite spend the massive fortune he's spent and put quite so much energy into this incredible PR and social media campaign if he didn't actually want to take power in Iran.

I think I'm right in saying that we've been approached actually a number of times over the last few months to interview him.

And, you know, again, this is in the many marks against Rory Stewart's judgment.

I'm afraid I probably was in the camp of thinking, hmm, I'm not quite sure I'm taking this guy this seriously.

We should certainly, certainly get him on.

Thank you for bringing Run Up.

And boy, is it something to watch.

And boy, is it something that could literally collapse in the next hour before we put out the podcast.

Or they could still be in place in a year's time.

Right.