Jake Sullivan: 'Hard to see' what U.S. has gained in Iran
Sources & Methods
NPR
4.9 • 919 Ratings
🗓️ 1 June 2026
⏱️ 40 minutes
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Summary
He spoke with host Mary Louise Kelly before a live audience at the 2026 WBUR Festival last week for a wide-ranging conversation that included China, Ukraine, Greenland, Cuba, Afghanistan and of course, Iran.
"In the weeks leading up to the start of the bombing, they were putting proposals on the table that actually look more forward leaning than what we're seeing now in some ways. And the Strait of Hormuz was open," he said. "Now, today, the Strait of Hormuz is closed. The nuclear deal seems to be getting further away, not closer."
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | There was never a day where I said, I have some extra time left over to be Secretary of State. |
| 0:05.6 | Never once. |
| 0:07.3 | Jake Sullivan spent four years as National Security Advisor to President Biden. |
| 0:12.2 | He has thoughts on the wisdom of his successor, Marco Rubio, trying to do that job, plus another big one on top. |
| 0:20.5 | This is sources and methods from NPR. |
| 0:24.8 | I'm Mary Louise Kelly. Jake Sullivan left the White House, left government service in January last year. |
| 0:31.0 | Today, he serves as the Kissinger Professor of the Practice of Statecraft and world order at Harvard's Kennedy School. |
| 0:38.7 | When I pointed out that Henry Kissinger himself had managed to serve simultaneously as |
| 0:43.9 | National Security Advisor and Secretary of State, Sullivan replied, different era. |
| 0:50.0 | Jake Sullivan and I sat down a few days ago before a live audience at the 26 WBUR Festival |
| 0:56.4 | for a wide-ranging chat about life as a former National Security Advisor. |
| 1:01.8 | We also talked Iran, China, Ukraine, Cuba, Afghanistan, and more. |
| 1:06.9 | This is the first of two special episodes we're dropping in your feed this week while I am off |
| 1:12.6 | watching my son graduate from college. Shout out and thank you to my colleague Scott Detrow for |
| 1:17.4 | holding down the fort. He will be here with you for your regular Thursday episode and I'll be |
| 1:22.6 | back at it next week. Here is my full conversation with Jake Sullivan. The last time I sat down to interview |
| 1:29.9 | you, it was an exit interview. It was like a year and a half ago. You were leaving the White |
| 1:34.6 | House and I was asking what you had planned and your top priority was sleep. How's that going? |
| 1:42.0 | Not as good as I hoped because of the state of the world and just watching everything unfold. |
| 1:48.2 | And also because one thing I didn't fully account for when I left the job is the job really affects your basic wiring. |
| 1:55.6 | It does something to your chemistry. |
| 1:59.4 | And even after, you know, at this point, I've been gone for |
... |
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