After Israel’s strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Iran launched a barrage of 300 missiles at Israel from sites around the Middle East. While around 99% of the projectiles were intercepted before landing, the retaliatory response represented an escalation in a moment already fraught with risk of greater war. Then, overnight last Friday, Israel responded with a strike near an Iranian nuclear site, raising concerns that the region could be on the brink of massive violence.
In this episode, we explore the complex relationship between Israel and Iran, how the recent strikes factor into Washington’s relationship to the actors and what’s happening in Gaza, and what it all means for us—those of us who care to see the human rights of all people honored in the region.
In order to provide a range of perspectives on the issue, we brought on guest expert Joe Cirincione to discuss. Joe is the Former Director for Non Proliferation at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace where he closely tracked Iran’s nuclear program and then, as the President of Ploughshares Fund, played a key role in the campaign for the Iran Deal, which rolled back Iran’s nuclear weapons development program. Joe is an internationally recognized expert on the issue and offered invaluable insights for us on this episode.
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Read Joe’s substack
Read Nicholas Kristoff in the New York Times, as mentioned by Joe: Gaza is Biden’s War Now