Is the U.S. going to war with Iran?
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What are the latest developments in U.S.-Iran relations?
NPR News Now is your podcast source for updates every hour on the U.S. military action in Iran. President Trump calls it a war and says the goal is regime change. He also says U.S. casualties are possible. With news changing rapidly, listen to NPR News Now. New episodes at the top of every hour on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Hey there. It's the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm Myles Parks. I cover voting.
I'm Frank Ordonez. I cover the White House.
And I'm Greg Myrie. I cover national security. And today on the pod, trying to decipher if the United States is about to go to war with Iran. The two countries have been meeting in Switzerland to hammer out some kind of deal related to Iran's nuclear program. Frank, let's just start with the basics here. What does the United States want from a deal?
Well, I mean, Trump says they want a lot of stuff. I mean, they've talked about no nuclear missiles. They've talked about stopping the ballistic program. They've talked about no proxy militant groups or support for those proxy militant groups. Some people think regime change, but what they haven't been clear about is what they would accept in any kind of specific deal. And Trump really has not explained his objectives to the American people. He has not asked for any kind of special authorization from Congress. And he really had a big chance to do that at the State of the Union. But he kind of just kind of meshed up all these points together without laying out any kind of specifics about why this may be necessary at this moment in time.
Okay. And then looking at Iran, Greg, what are they hoping to get out of these talks?
So the Iranians are insisting, as they always have, that they can keep at least part of their nuclear program. They say they have the right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes. They also know they're probably going to have to offer some concessions. President Trump tore up the previous nuclear agreement in 2018. So for him to accept a new one, it would have to presumably include some additional elements that weren't there in the last one. But Iran... says it's not going to completely dismantle its nuclear program, as the U.S. appears to be demanding. And also, Iran wants some of the sanctions lifted. It faces all of these sanctions that the U.S. and the international community has placed on Iran over the decades.
In fact, more were just added by the U.S. this week. And that could also put Trump in a 32,000 protesters last month. So now is Trump prepared to offer a reward, sanctions relief, just a month after this widespread killing of protesters?
I guess I'm trying to figure out where this is headed if the two sides are not able to come to an agreement. There has been a pretty massive buildup of U.S. military power in the Middle East. Do you have any thoughts on that, Greg?
What does the Trump administration want from a deal with Iran?
Miles, I would say there's sort of three basic options. One is they keep on talking. They've had three rounds of talks. They've talked about having additional talks next week. So no reason they can't keep talking. Previous negotiations went on for months and months, years earlier. Second, the U.S. could strike, but in a limited kind of way. Strike for a couple of days. Last June, we saw Israel and the U.S. team up for 12 days of bombing of Iran, and Iran responded. But then Trump just declared a ceasefire, and that was the end of that round. So we could again see a limited round. Or Trump could go big and order a massive, open-ended, sustained military campaign, perhaps with the goal of trying to oust the Iranian regime.
But that would be a huge operation, no guarantee of success. So those are three basic options. Obviously, there could be lots of other possibilities as well.
Yeah, and I will note that Vice President J.D. Vance said in an interview with The Washington Post that the sort of option three there, the more full-scale military intervention, it doesn't seem like there's appetite for that from the administration at this point. Is that fair to say, Franco?
Yeah, I mean – I think that is fair to say for sure.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What are the latest developments in U.S.-Iran relations?
0:00–3:06
2
What does the Trump administration want from a deal with Iran?
3:06–6:47
3
What are Iran's demands in the nuclear talks?
6:47–13:28
4
What military options does the U.S. have regarding Iran?
13:28–18:15
5
How does Israel influence U.S. policy towards Iran?
18:15–22:05
6
What is the current state of the war in Ukraine?
22:05–27:21
7
How is the U.S. involved in the Ukraine conflict?
27:21–30:42
8
What are the implications of a potential U.S. strike on Iran?
30:42–30:48