War and Peace: The Iran Nuclear Deal and US-Iran Relations

Conall and Emerson dive into the relationship (or lack thereof) between Iran and the United States and its tense history. We explore why the Obama admin ultimately decided to seek a nuclear arms control agreement with Iran, and why this was so controversial. Finally, we explore the future of the agreement in light of recent hostilities between Iran and the US and President Trump’s withdrawal from the accord in May of 2018. We also discuss the possibility of war with Iran. Note from Conall: I was very tired when this was recorded, so we hope you will forgive me and still enjoy the podcast despite my occasional misspeaking. Some minor corrections and clarifications: At one point, Conall says the P5+1 +the US + Iran. This is redundant, since the US is part of the P5. At around 3:50, Conall meant to say Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. This was the last Shah of Iran’s name. The facility known as Arak sounds a lot like the country of Iraq, but it refers to a city in Iran.