Why did the US and Israel launch a war with Iran, and what comes next?
From The Briefing Room by BBC Radio 4
March 5, 2026 · 29 min
About this episode
The episode discusses the recent outbreak of war between the US-Israel and Iran, focusing on its implications and potential changes in Iran's regime.
It's less than a week since the start of the US-Israel war with Iran. And it's already spread across the Gulf region as Iran retaliates. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader for 36 years, was killed in US and Israeli airstrikes on Saturday. The question now is who is in control in Iran and whether the regime in its current form will remain or if this will trigger major change. David Aaronovitch and guests discuss how the US-Israel war with Iran started and what comes next. Guests: Anshel Pfeffer, Israel Correspondent, The Economist Professor Ali Ansari, founding director of the Institute of Iranian Studies at St Andrews University Dr Burcu Ozcelik, Senior Research Fellow for Middle East Security at the Royal United Services Institute Laurel Rapp, Director of the US and North America Programme at Chatham House. Presenter: David Aaronovitch Producers: Caroline Bayley, Kirsteen Knight and Nathan Gower Production Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele Sound engineer: Neil Churchill Editor: Richard Vadon
People in this episode
Host: David Aaronovitch
Guests: Anshel Pfeffer, Professor Ali Ansari, Dr Burcu Ozcelik, Laurel Rapp
Topics covered
- US-Israel relations
- Iran conflict
- Middle East security
- political change in Iran
- retaliation
- war analysis
Keywords
- US-Israel war
- Iran
- Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
- Gulf region
- retaliation
- political control
- Middle East
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: The Economist, Institute of Iranian Studies at St Andrews University, Royal United Services Institute, Chatham House
Places: Iran, US, Israel
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