Antiwar Radio with Scott Horton » IAEA

Peter Jenkins

Scott Horton — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 12:36:27 +0000

Peter Jenkins, the UK’s Permanent Representative to the IAEA from 2001-06, discusses his article “Iran Nuclear Talks Offer Opportunity If The US Wants It;” the mainstream media’s sudden truth-telling on Iran’s nuclear program; Obama’s apparent interest in good-faith negotiations that recognize Iran’s NPT rights; why excessive US demands (close Fordow facility, give up 20% uranium) don’t necessarily preclude reasonable compromises later on; Ray McGovern’s theory that a Jundullah terrorist attack scuttled the 2009 fuel swap agreement; why Israel is the main hindrance to better US-Iran relations; IAEA claims that the “alleged studies” documents are corroborated by other sources, and that Iran at least pursued knowledge (if not production) of nuclear weapons before 2003; and a comparison of IAEA chief Yukiya Amano and his predecessor Mohamed ElBaradei.

MP3 here. (32:10)

Peter Jenkins was the UK’s Permanent Representative to the IAEA in 2001-06 and is now a partner in ADRg Ambassadors.

Trita Parsi

Scott Horton — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 04:33:16 +0000

Trita Parsi, founder and president of the National Iranian American Council, discusses how Iranian sanctions block peaceful diplomatic solutions, making war more likely; the “risk premium” in oil prices, exacerbated by hawkish foreign policy, that hurts Iranians and Americans alike; the daunting resources and time commitment required to eliminate Iran’s nuclear program through invasion and war; the media’s increasingly conflicted narrative on the Iran “threat;” and why the Obama administration is amenable to a deal centered on Iran’s re-implementation of the NPT’s Additional Protocol.

MP3 here. (19:33)

Dr. Trita Parsi is the author of A Single Roll of the Dice: Obama’s Diplomacy with Iran, Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States, and recipient of the Council on Foreign Relation’s 2008 Arthur Ross Silver Medallion and the 2010 Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order.

He wrote his Doctoral thesis on Israeli-Iranian relations under Professor Francis Fukuyama (and Drs. Zbigniew Brzezinski, R. K. Ramazani, Jakub Grygiel, Charles Doran) at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies while heading the largest Iranian-American organization in the US, the National Iranian American Council (NIAC).

Muhammad Sahimi

Scott Horton — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 04:33:09 +0000

Muhammad Sahimi, Professor of chemical engineering and political columnist for PBS’s Tehran Bureau, discusses his article on the IAEA chief, “Yukiya Amano: Minion of the Empire;” the former IAEA officials accusing Amano of a pro-Western bias on Iran; how Amano has fallen into the “Cheney trap” by relying on a small group of advisors and eliminating dissent within the IAEA; and the latest bogus allegations that Iran “refuses to cooperate” with the IAEA’s attempt to inspect the Parchin facility.

MP3 here. (19:01)

Muhammad Sahimi, Professor of chemical engineering & materials science and the National Iranian Oil Company chair in petroleum engineering at the University of Southern California, has published extensively on Iran’s political development and its nuclear program. He is the lead political columnist for the web site PBS/Frontline/Tehran Bureau, blogs at The Huffington Post, and contributes regularly to antiwar.com and National Public Radio on issues related to Iran.

Pepe Escobar

Zooey Greif — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 05:26:13 +0000

Globetrotting journalist Pepe Escobar discusses why the Academy Award winning movie “A Separation” should be required viewing for Americans; how the Western powers will have trouble enforcing sanctions on Iran’s oil exports; the European Union’s weakness on foreign policy; how sanctions hurt the Iranian people much more than the government; and the IAEA’s conversion from impartial observer to political attack dog.

MP3 here. (20:09)

Pepe Escobar is the author of Globalistan: How the Globalized World is Dissolving Into Liquid War and Obama Does Globalistan.

An extreme traveler, Pepe’s nose for news has taken him to all parts of the globe. He was in Afghanistan and interviewed the military leader of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance, Ahmad Shah Masoud, a couple of weeks before his assassination. Two weeks before September 11, 2001, while Pepe was in the tribal areas of Pakistan, Asia Times Online published his prophetic piece, “Get Osama! Now! Or else …” Pepe was one of the first journalists to reach Kabul after the Taliban’s retreat, and more recently he has explored and reported from Iraq, Iran, Central Asia, US and China.

Lt. General Robert G. Gard, Jr.

Scott Horton — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 05:10:50 +0000

Lt. General Robert G. Gard, Jr., Chairman of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, discusses his endorsement of a full page ad in the Washington Post titled “Mr. President: Say No to War of Choice with Iran;” why the US should use sanctions to pressure Iran to adopt the Additional Protocol, allowing the IAEA to conduct more intrusive inspections; how the Obama administration earned the goodwill of Russia, China and Europe by reaching out to Iran diplomatically; and why war isn’t necessary even if Iran builds a nuclear weapon.

MP3 here. (21:08)

Lt. General Robert G. Gard, Jr. is Chairman of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation where his policy work focuses on nuclear nonproliferation, missile defense, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, military policy, nuclear terrorism, and other national security issues.

Muhammad Sahimi

Scott Horton — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 05:07:39 +0000

Muhammad Sahimi, Professor of Chemical Engineering and political columnist on Iran issues, discusses his article “Deconstructing Lieberman’s Iran Resolution;” the false premises upon which Senate Resolution 380 is based; Iran’s closely inspected and safeguarded uranium enrichment program; rehashing the Qom facility “gotcha” lies from 2009; why the US isn’t interested in a diplomatic resolution, wherein sanctions are dropped in exchange for Iran implementing the Additional Protocol and allowing more stringent inspections; and why even regime change won’t stop Iran’s civilian nuclear program, unless Tehran is occupied for decades.

MP3 here. (28:02)

Gareth Porter

Scott Horton — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 14:09:24 +0000

Gareth Porter, investigative historian and journalist specializing in U.S. national security policy, discusses his article “Iran Holds Up Access to Parchin for Better IAEA Deal;” the conditions under which Iran would allow more stringent inspections and/or readopt the Additional Protocol; the brouhaha over a (likely imaginary) containment vessel at Parchin, which the IAEA says is used to test nuclear weapons; why Iran can’t make nukes (assuming they could and wanted to) while the IAEA inspectors remain in country; and the Obama administration’s conflicted feelings on war with Iran, which make an October surprise possible.

MP3 here. (27:34)

Gareth Porter is an investigative historian and journalist specializing in U.S. national security policy. The paperback edition of his latest book, Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam, was published in 2006.

Gareth Porter

Scott Horton — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 05:43:54 +0000

Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for IPS News, discusses the lies and innuendo in the IAEA report on Iran; the whole story on Vyacheslav Danilenko, the Russian scientist accused of helping Iran’s (alleged) nuclear weapons program; former IAEA inspector Robert Kelly’s doubts about a “containment chamber” for testing high explosives used in nuclear weapons; why this “intelligence” is most likely passed on to the IAEA by Israel; how the “alleged studies” documents got the current Iranian missile design wrong (proving they are forgeries); why Iran’s cooperation varies with regard to IAEA inspections and additional protocol agreements; and how everyone is hyperventilating about stuff Iran was alleged to have done in 2003 or earlier.

MP3 here. (25:01)

Gareth Porter is an independent historian and journalist. He is the author of Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam. His articles appear on Counterpunch, Huffington Post, Inter Press Service News Agency and Antiwar.com.

Seymour Hersh

Scott Horton — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 05:20:42 +0000

Seymour Hersh, award winning investigative reporter for The New Yorker magazine, discusses his article “Iran and the I.A.E.A.;” how extensive CIA/JSOC espionage (and perhaps assassination and sabotage) in Iran failed to find any evidence of a clandestine nuclear weapons program; why Iran’s interest in nukes prior to 2003 was to hedge against an Iraqi weapon; the new IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano, who has no problem regurgitating old innuendo to make a case for war; and why the bluster coming out of Israel exists mostly at the top, since common sense attitudes about Iran are common in lower ranks of the military and Mossad.

MP3 here. (20:40)

Seymour M. Hersh wrote his first piece for The New Yorker in 1971 and has been a regular contributor to the magazine since 1993. His journalism and publishing awards include a Pulitzer Prize, five George Polk Awards, two National Magazine Awards, and more than a dozen other prizes for investigative reporting. As a staff writer, Hersh won a National Magazine Award for Public Interest for his 2003 articles “Lunch with the Chairman,” “Selective Intelligence,” and “The Stovepipe.” In 2004, Hersh exposed the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in a series of pieces in the magazine; in 2005, he again received a National Magazine Award for Public Interest, an Overseas Press Club award, the National Press Foundation’s Kiplinger Distinguished Contributions to Journalism award, and his fifth George Polk Award, making him that award’s most honored laureate.

Muhammad Sahimi

Scott Horton — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 15:37:17 +0000

Muhammad Sahimi, Professor of Chemical Engineering and political columnist on Iran issues, discusses the specific accusations against Iran in the IAEA report; the truth about the “Soviet nuclear scientist,” the “exploding bridge wire” detonators, and old recycled allegations from Olli Heinonen and Israeli intelligence; and how Iran has never been given access to the “stolen laptop” documents – or the computer itself – and can’t properly respond to allegations or conduct a digital forensic investigation.

MP3 here. (20:03)