The Role Of Diplomacy In The War With Iran
1A
NPR
4.3 • 4.5K Ratings
🗓️ 17 March 2026
⏱️ 43 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Officials from Washington and Tehran engaged in talks for weeks, trying to avoid war before the U.S. and Israel fired missiles targeting Iran weeks ago. Now, as President Donald Trump publicly muses about why the military is engaged in another conflict in the Middle East, experts are wondering why talks were abandoned in the first place. And about the off ramps for all sides involved.
We look at the role diplomacy plays once a war is already raging — and what happens when negotiations, expertise, and international alliances are weakened.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, it's Jen. Just a quick heads up before we start this show. The news is rapidly changing and things may have changed by the time you hear this episode. So stay up to date with all the latest by listening to your local NPR member station and by visiting NPR.org. |
| 0:18.0 | Fighting in the Middle East continues to escalate. More than 1,300 civilians in Iran have been killed |
| 0:27.4 | since the start of the U.S. and Israel's war against the country. That's according to Iran's |
| 0:31.7 | U.N. envoy. 13 U.S. service members are confirmed dead, and the number of injured troops now exceeds 200 |
| 0:38.2 | across seven countries. A U.S. military spokesman shared that on Monday. Meanwhile, Iran has largely |
| 0:44.3 | closed the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most important shipping lanes. President |
| 0:48.9 | Trump is now calling on allies to send warships to protect merchant vessels. Few have responded. That points to a |
| 0:55.7 | significant challenge as the U.S. fights this war. Our international ties are not what they once were. |
| 1:02.3 | Over the last year, thousands of career diplomats were reassigned or let go. More than 80 |
| 1:07.9 | ambassadorial posts are vacant, and significant institutional memory has been lost. |
| 1:13.3 | The career diplomats who are left have largely been sidelined by President Trump's reliance |
| 1:18.0 | on special envoy Steve Whitkoff and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. |
| 1:22.2 | So today we ask, what happens when the institutions met to prevent war are gutted? |
| 1:33.2 | And in times of war, what does that loss of experience and expertise mean for finding a pathway to peace? |
| 1:38.9 | I'm Jen White. You're listening to the 1A podcast. We'll be back with more after this short break. Stay with us. |
| 1:47.1 | Welcome back and let's dive into our conversation and meet our guests. |
| 1:49.8 | Joining us today is Akbar Shahid Ahmed. |
| 1:52.4 | He's senior diplomatic correspondent at HuffPost. |
| 1:59.3 | He's also author of the forthcoming book, Crossing the Red Line, Biden, his advisors, and Israel's War in Gaza. |
| 2:02.3 | Akbar, it's great to have you back. Thanks for having me, John. Also with us, Aaron David Miller. He's a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for |
| 2:07.4 | International Peace, focusing on U.S. foreign policy. He's also a former State Department |
| 2:12.2 | and Middle East analyst and negotiator. Aaron, thank you for joining us. Thank you, Jen, for having me. |
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