For almost two decades, the United States and Israel have tried to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Israeli leaders — including the current prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu — have pushed for a military strike on Iran, a prospect that American presidents have long opposed. But a Times investigation reveals a secret history that shows how close the three countries came to war. Guest: Mark Mazzetti, a Washington investigative correspondent for The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

Background reading:

Interviews with dozens of current and former American, Israeli and European officials over several months reveal the startling details of a narrowly averted war and raise questions about how President Trump will respond.
Moving further away from the 2015 nuclear agreement, Iran said on Thursday that it had stopped honoring the deal’s limits on research and development.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Secret Push to Strike Iran

The Daily