How to Keep Iran from the Bomb?

In this episode of Iran Watch Listen, we sat down with Behnam Ben Taleblu and Michael Eisenstadt, experts on the strategic challenges posed by Iran. We discussed the opportunities and pitfalls facing the second Trump administration as it makes a last-ditch effort to prevent Iran's increasingly advanced nuclear program from crossing the threshold to a bomb. The conversation took place on April 22 and was hosted by Valerie Lincy, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, and John Caves, a Senior Research Associate at the Wisconsin Project.

Expert Bios

Behnam Ben Taleblu is senior director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies' (FDD's) Iran Program, where he oversees FDD's work on Iran in addition to serving as a senior fellow specializing in Iranian security and political issues, including nuclear non-proliferation, ballistic missiles and drones, sanctions, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its proxies, and Iranian politics.

Michael Eisenstadt is the Kahn Senior Fellow and director of The Washington Institute of Near East Studies' Military and Security Studies Program, with a focus on Persian Gulf and Arab-Israeli security affairs, irregular and conventional warfare, and nuclear proliferation. He previously worked as a military analyst with the U.S. government and served as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve.

Related Resources

Michael Eisenstadt, "Attacking Iran's Nuclear Program: The Complex Calculus of Preventive Action," The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, March 11, 2025.

Orde Kittrie, Andrea Stricker, and Behnam Ben Taleblu, "Iran's Nuclear Disarmament: The Only Deal That Protects U.S. and Allied Security," Foundation for Defense of Democracies, March 2025.

Credits

Intro/Outro music by AudioCoffee (Denys Kyshchuk): https://www.audiocoffee.net.