Michael Doran on America’s Standoff with Iran

The Tikvah Podcast

Tikvah

Judaism, Politics, Religion & Spirituality, News

4.6 • 620 Ratings

🗓️ 26 June 2019

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This Friday, the world’s leading economic powers will gather in Osaka, Japan, for the G20 summit, and though it won’t be on the official agenda, the rising tensions between Iran and the United States will loom large over the gathering. Since May, the Islamic Republic has carried out half a dozen acts of sabotage and violence against the U.S. and its allies. What is the story behind Iran’s escalating provocations? Is it looking for war? Is America?

Earlier this week, Hudson Institute scholar Michael Doran offered a compelling account of the strategic thinking behind these recent Iranian actions. In “What Iran Is Really Up To,” published in Mosaic, Doran presents compelling evidence that Iran is seeking to sow fear among European governments in the hope that they will pressure the Trump Administration to reinstate two vital waivers that would ensure the continued viability of Iran’s nuclear weapons program. This is part of a long game, writes Doran, to revive the Iran Deal and preserve Iran’s path to a nuclear bomb.

In our podcast this week, Michael Doran joins Jonathan Silver to explain his essay and its argument. He discusses why the revoked waivers are so important, why the Iranians believe their strategy will work, and why the biases of European governments and many American Democrats play right into Iranian hands.

Musical selections in this podcast are drawn from the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, op. 31a, composed by Paul Ben-Haim and performed by the ARC Ensemble.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Tikva podcast. I'm your host, Jonathan Silver. We are releasing this
0:13.0	week's conversation on Wednesday, June 26th, 2 days from now on Friday, June 28th, the
0:20.1	world's leading economic powers will gather in
0:22.6	Osaka, Japan for the G20 summit. And although it won't be on the official agenda, the
0:28.2	escalating tensions between Iran and the United States will loom large over that gathering,
0:34.1	with President Trump's decision to withdraw America from certain crucial aspects of the JCPOA,
0:40.3	the so-called Iran deal brokered by the outgoing Obama administration in 2015,
0:45.3	Iran has systematically laid tracks to leverage European antipathy toward President Trump,
0:51.3	emboldened violent proxies, so regional disorder that threatens the
0:56.0	stability of global energy supplies, and with the cooperation of President Trump's domestic
1:00.8	American critics, sustain a propaganda campaign against America and its allies.
1:06.8	Hudson Institute's senior fellow Michael Duran argues that they have done all this and more,
1:11.2	in order to convince the European nations attending this weekend's G20 summit to pressure President
1:17.2	Trump, to commit to extend five waivers, five benefits to Iran contained in the JCPOA that the
1:24.5	administration has maintained, as well as to restore two waivers whose expiration
1:30.0	Secretary Pompeo has recently announced. To understand what Iran is doing and the larger strategy
1:36.6	behind Iran's naval attacks and, crucially, the potential consequences to the so-called
1:42.5	snapback sanctions that the president may well trigger,
1:45.9	I sat down with Michael Duran at his office in Washington, D.C.
1:49.8	If you enjoy this conversation, you can subscribe to the Tikva podcast on iTunes, Stitcher,
1:54.9	Google Play, and Spotify, and I hope you leave us a five-star review to help us grow this community
1:59.7	of ideas. I welcome your feedback on
	...

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