Skip to content
things that go boom fallout

Bad Blood

Words: Laicie Heeley
Pictures: Marc Johns
Date:

Before they were enemies, the US and Iran used to have a thing. In fact, we started their nuclear program.

Like any failed relationship… it’s not just one thing that led us all here. Years of misinformation, politics, greed, reality tv, and some real security interests on both sides brought us to this point.

This is the story of how the US and Iran broke up — because you can’t truly understand the Iran deal without first understanding why the US and Iran have bad blood.

Laicie Heeley

Editor in Chief

Laicie Heeley is the founding CEO of Inkstick Media, where she serves as Editor in Chief of the foreign policy magazine Inkstick and Executive Producer and Host of the PRX- and Inkstick-produced podcast, Things That Go Boom. Heeley’s reporting has appeared on public radio stations across America and the BBC, where she’s explored global security issues including domestic terrorism, disinformation, nuclear weapons, and climate change. Prior to launching Inkstick, Heeley was a Fellow with the Stimson Center’s Budgeting for Foreign Affairs and Defense program and Policy Director at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. Her publications include work on sanctions, diplomacy, and nuclear arms control and nonproliferation, along with the first full accounting of US counterterrorism spending after 9/11.

LEARN MORE

Hey there!

You made it to the bottom of the page! That means you must like what we do. In that case, can we ask for your help? Inkstick is changing the face of foreign policy, but we can’t do it without you. If our content is something that you’ve come to rely on, please make a tax-deductible donation today. Even $5 or $10 a month makes a huge difference. Together, we can tell the stories that need to be told.

album-art

Sorry, no results.
Please try another keyword
  • Mexico's gotten a lot of praise for its feminist foreign policy — despite raging problems with femicide in the country. Mexican women though, are doing more than just pointing out the hypocrisy. They're using these new foreign policy tools to fight back at home in the war against their own bodies. On this episode, we[...]
00:00
album-art

Sorry, no results.
Please try another keyword
  • It took two years, after holdups from Turkey and Hungary, but Sweden has officially joined NATO. A move not everyone in Sweden is super psyched about. But this country’s history isn’t quite so peaceful as it might seem. So, can a peace-loving nation with a war-loving legacy keep the peace… when someone starts a war[...]
00:00
album-art

Sorry, no results.
Please try another keyword
  • This season on Things That Go Boom, we’re on a mission to figure out this new thing spreading like wildfire across the world: feminist foreign policy. But to even begin to understand what it is and where it’s going, we had to start in the place where it failed. We’re calling this season, “The F[...]
00:00
album-art

Sorry, no results.
Please try another keyword
  • With more than 50 elections set to take place around the world, 2024 will be a battle for democracy. It will also be a battle for peace. Because after doing things the same way for, pretty much ever, countries in Europe and Latin America have been experimenting with something called “feminist foreign policy,” and feeling[...]
00:00
album-art

Sorry, no results.
Please try another keyword
  • What do swarms of autonomous drones, facial recognition, and nuclear test site monitoring have in common? They are all things we were still curious about as we wrapped up this internet and security season of Things That Go Boom. In this mailbag episode, experts weigh in to help answer some tough questions from you, our[...]
00:00
album-art

Sorry, no results.
Please try another keyword
  • On Sunday, the people of Poland cast their votes in an election that some have called a battle for the country’s soul. When we released this episode, we were still watching for the various parties to confirm the parliamentary coalitions that would lead to the final result. But experts tell us no matter who wins,[...]
00:00

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTERS