Iran and the Bomb (S. 15, Ep. 14)

Iran and the Bomb (S. 15, Ep. 14)

From POMEPS Middle East Political Science Podcast by Marc Lynch

June 11, 2026 · 44 min

About this episode

Sina Azodi discusses his book on Iran's nuclear program and US policy options.

On this week's episode of the podcast, Sina Azodi of the George Washington University joins Marc Lynch to discuss his book, Iran and the Bomb: The United States, Iran, and the Nuclear Question. The book shows that because the strategic logic of the nuclear program transcends the regimes type, dismantling the Iranian nuclear program is not viable policy option for the United States. Instead, the US must learn to live with a nuclear threshold state and make it a priority to keep Iranian capacity as far away from the bomb as possible. Music for this season’s podcast was created by Feras Arrabi. You can find more of his work on his website Music and Sound at www.ferasarrabi.com. POMEPS, directed by Marc Lynch, is based at the Institute for Middle East Studies at the George Washington University and is supported by Carnegie Corporation of New York.

People in this episode

Host: Marc Lynch

Guest: Sina Azodi

Topics covered

  • Iran
  • nuclear program
  • US foreign policy
  • Middle East
  • nuclear threshold state

Keywords

  • Iran
  • nuclear bomb
  • US policy
  • Sina Azodi
  • Marc Lynch
  • nuclear threshold
  • Middle East

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: George Washington University, Institute for Middle East Studies, Carnegie Corporation of New York

Books & works: Iran and the Bomb: The United States, Iran, and the Nuclear Question

More episodes of POMEPS Middle East Political Science Podcast

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the POMEPS Middle East Political Science Podcast podcast page.