A Brief History (And Some Science) Of Iran's Nuclear Program

Short Wave

NPR

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🗓️ 28 January 2020

⏱️ 12 minutes

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Summary

With the Iran nuclear deal in further jeopardy, we take a look at how the country's nuclear program began with NPR's Geoff Brumfiel. (The United States has a surprising role.) We'll also hear how the 2015 agreement, putting limits on that program, came about, and what it means now that the deal is on life support. For more on Geoff's reporting on nuclear weapons, follow Geoff on Twitter — he's @gbrumfiel. Plus, you can email the show at [email protected].

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.
0:05.4	Maddie Sivai here with Jeff Brumfield again.
0:07.4	Hey Jeff.
0:08.4	Hi there.
0:09.4	So you are one of our correspondents here on the NPR science desk.
0:12.3	And as a part of that, you cover nuclear weapons.
0:15.0	That's right.
0:16.0	I've been covering it for many years actually.
0:17.9	So we brought you on the show today because of the recent tensions between the US and Iran.
0:22.4	Yeah, so this is coming after the US ordered this drone strike that killed Iranian general
0:27.3	Qasim Solomani.
0:28.3	Video, apparently from the aftermath, shows burning wreckage near Baghdad's airport.
0:34.4	That led to a sort of back and forth escalation that went on for a while there.
0:38.4	The situation has settled down, but it's still tense.
0:41.6	And what's important to keep in mind is that at the heart of this conflict is Iran's
0:45.9	nuclear program.
0:47.6	Iran says it's peaceful, but President Trump doesn't buy that.
0:51.1	And he's not a fan.
0:52.2	As long as I'm President of the United States, Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear
0:59.5	weapon.
1:02.1	So today in the show, we're going to sort out the facts about Iran's nuclear program,
1:06.6	what they're doing, what it's for, and just how far away they are from a nuclear bomb.
	...

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