Cole on KCRW and Iran and an Israeli Attack

I was on the KCRW in Los Angeles’s “To the Point” on Wednesday discussing the Iranian nuclear program and the prospects of an Israeli attack on Iran. It was not a calm discussion. I don’t come on until 2/3s the way through:

US and Iran, Face-to-Face for the First Time in 30 Years (12:07PM)

A historic meeting will open tomorrow in Geneva, Switzerland, when the permanent members of the UN Security Council – the US, France, Britain, China and Russia — plus Germany, sit down for talks with Iran about its nuclear program. The meeting marks the first time the United States and Iran have engaged in direct negotiations in thirty years. But Iran has said it wants to discuss trade, not nuclear power. With recent revelations about a second Iranian nuclear facility, and missile test firings in recent days, what signals is Iran sending? Will the US push for tougher sanctions against the regime? What can diplomatic efforts yield if Iran refuses to make concessions? Is a military strike by Israel a possibility?
Guests:

* Paul Brannan: Senior Research Analyst, Institute for Science and International Security
* Hooman Majd: journalist and author
* Gerald Steinberg: Professor of Political Studies, Bar Ilan University
* Juan Cole: Professor of Modern Middle Eastern History, University of Michigan

Links:

• International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Iran
• Brannan on Qom uranium enrichment site
• Majd’s ‘The Ayatollah Begs to Differ: The Paradox of Modern Iran’
• Cole’s ‘Engaging the Muslim World’

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