In this episode of Iran Watch Listen, Wisconsin Project Executive Director Valerie Lincy and Senior Research Associate John Caves sat down with John Lauder, a Wisconsin Project Senior Fellow with more than three decades of experience in the U.S. intelligence community, to think through the new realities after the bombing of Iran's nuclear program and the return of U.N. sanctions. What might come next? The conversation took place on September 18.

Related Resources

John Caves, Valerie Lincy, and Gary Milhollin, "Hidden Among the Rubble: Iran's Post-Strike Weapon Potential," Iran Watch, August 26, 2025.

"Table of Iranian Nuclear Sites and Related Facilities," Iran Watch, July 24, 2025.

Valerie Lincy, "Nuclear Strikes on Iran: What We Don't Know," Iran Watch, June 24, 2025.

"Iran Watch Special Newsletter: Israel Strikes Iranian Nuclear Sites," Iran Watch, June 13, 2025.

John Caves, John Krzyzaniak, Valerie Lincy, "Trigger Warning: The Consequences of Snapping Back Sanctions on Iran," Iran Watch, January 31, 2023.

Austin Bodetti and John Caves, "Stuck in the Past: The U.N.'s 2231 List," Iran Watch, January 31, 2022.

Leon Aron, "The Iran-China-Russia Axis Crumbles When It Matters," The Atlantic, June 29, 2025.

Anna Borshchevskaya, "The Big Mistake the West Is Making About Russia, China, and Iran," National Security Journal, July 30, 2025.

Credits

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

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.

In this episode of Iran Watch Listen, we sat down with Hanna Notte and Jim Lamson, experts at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. We discussed the history of Iran and Russia's military relationship, how it has changed since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and areas where both countries might benefit from deeper cooperation in the future. The conversation took place on August 21 and was hosted by John Caves, a Senior Research Associate at the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, and John Krzyzaniak, a Research Associate at the Wisconsin Project.

Expert Bios

Dr. Hanna Notte is the director of the Eurasia Nonproliferation Program at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS), and a senior non-resident associate with the Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Jim Lamson is a senior research associate at CNS, where he focuses on Iranian weapons, space, and military issues, and Iran's security and arms control policies. Prior to that, Jim worked for 23 years as an analyst with the Central Intelligence Agency.

Related Resources

Hanna Notte and Jim Lamson, "Iran-Russia Defense Cooperation: Current Realities and Future Horizons," James Martin Center For Nonproliferation Studies, August 6, 2024.

Hanna Notte and Jim Lamson, "The Uncomfortable Reality of Russia and Iran's New Defense Relationship," War on the Rocks, July 24, 2024.

Hanna Notte, "Russia's Invasion of Ukraine: The Nuclear Price Tag," Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, February 2023.

Credits

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