Begun initially in the 1950s with support from American President Dwight D. Eisenhower's "Atoms for Peace" program, Iran's nuclear program once represented an example of the two nations' partnership. But following the rise of the Islamic Republic and subsequent disintegration of relations, the question of whether Iran will build the Bomb has come to define the relationship. The signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in 2015 proved a short-lived reprieve from the debate after the U.S. withdrawal just two years later under the Trump Administration.

Today, with negotiations  back under way between the Biden Administration and new Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi, the world is again asking this same question. Dr. John J. Mearsheimer, Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago and renowned U.S. policy expert, will attempt to tackle this debate by looking at both Iran's behavior in the past and intentions for the future to create a realistic understanding of why its nuclear program has taken on such an important role in the Islamic Republic's foreign policy. He is joined in the discussion by Dr. Tytti Erästö of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute and Dr. Mahsa Rouhi of the National Defense University.