EPISODE · Jun 11, 2026
Axis of Evil to Stuxnet: How the Iran Nuclear Crisis Began
from Iran & America: A Century and Counting
Iran quietly helped the U.S. after 9/11 — then got branded part of an "Axis of Evil." Then a secret enrichment site blew the nuclear crisis wide open. Episode 8 traces how the nuclear standoff opened. Post-9/11 cooperation against the Taliban is undone by Bush's January 2002 "Axis of Evil" speech; that same year an exile group exposes the secret enrichment site at Natanz and the heavy-water project at Arak, revealing the infrastructure of a possible weapons capability. We explain enrichment and "breakout" simply, and set up the covert sabotage and diplomacy to come.
What this episode covers
Iran quietly helped the U.S. after 9/11 — then got branded part of an "Axis of Evil." Then a secret enrichment site blew the nuclear crisis wide open. Episode 8 traces how the nuclear standoff opened. Post-9/11 cooperation against the Taliban is undone by Bush's January 2002 "Axis of Evil" speech; that same year an exile group exposes the secret enrichment site at Natanz and the heavy-water project at Arak, revealing the infrastructure of a possible weapons capability. We explain enrichment and "breakout" simply, and set up the covert sabotage and diplomacy to come.
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Axis of Evil to Stuxnet: How the Iran Nuclear Crisis Began
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