Is the U.S. going to war with Iran?

The NPR Politics Podcast

NPR

Daily News, News, Politics

4.4 • 25.7K Ratings

🗓️ 27 February 2026

⏱️ 31 minutes

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Summary

The United States has not yet reached a deal with Iran over that country's nuclear program, despite continued talks this week. We discuss what the Trump administration hopes to achieve and what kind of military action could be on the horizon. We also discuss the United States’ role in the war in Ukraine as the conflict enters a fifth year.

This episode: voting correspondent Miles Parks, national security correspondent Greg Myre, and White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez.

This podcast was produced by Casey Morell and Bria Suggs, and edited by Rachel Baye.

Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for NPR and the following message come from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation,
0:05.4	investing in creative thinkers and problem solvers who help people, communities, and the planet flourish.
0:11.1	More information is available at Hewlett.org.
0:18.1	Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm Miles Parks. I cover voting.
0:22.7	I'm Frank Ordonez. I cover the White House. And I'm Greg Myrie. I cover national security.
0:27.5	And today on the pod, trying to decipher if the United States is about to go to war with Iran.
0:32.7	The two countries have been meeting in Switzerland to hammer out some kind of deal related to Iran's nuclear program.
0:39.5	Franco, let's just start with the basics here. What does the United States want from a deal?
0:43.7	Well, I mean, Trump says they want a lot of stuff. I mean, they've talked about no nuclear missiles.
0:47.9	They've talked about stopping the ballistic program. They've talked about no proxy militant groups or support for those proxy militant groups.
0:56.3	Some people think regime change, but what they haven't been clear about is what they would
1:01.6	accept in any kind of specific deal. And Trump really has not explained his objectives to
1:08.6	the American people. He has not asked for any kind of special authorization
1:12.6	from Congress. And he really had, you know, a big chance to do that at the State of the Union. But he
1:19.5	kind of just kind of meshed up all these points together, you know, without laying out any kind of
1:26.3	specifics about why this may be necessary
1:29.3	at this moment in time. Okay. And then looking at Iran, Greg, what are they hoping to get out
1:33.9	of these talks? So the Iranians are insisting, as they always have, that they can keep at least
1:39.7	part of their nuclear program. They say they have the right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes.
1:46.1	They also know they're probably going to have to offer some concessions. President Trump tore up
1:51.5	the previous nuclear agreement in 2018. So for him to accept a new one, it would have to
1:57.3	presumably include some additional elements that weren't there in the last one.
	...

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