This episode looks at the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, which started on the night of Friday, 13th June 2025, when Israel bombed over 100 military and nuclear facilities. Since then, the conflict has escalated with Israel and Iran sending drones and firing rockets at each other. In recent days, the US has been moving naval and air force assets into the region, suggesting that it might be joining the conflict on the side of Israel. Joining this episode to discuss the background, consider its development, and think about regional and global consequences is Prof. Anoush Ehteshami, a Professor of International Relations in Durham University’s School of Government and International Affairs and the Director of the Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammad Al-Sabah Programme in International Relations, Regional Politics, and Security.

To learn more about Prof. Anoush Ehteshami's research, visit his website at https://www.durham.ac.uk/staff/a-ehteshami/.

Related Literature:

- Akbarzadeh, Shahram, William Gourlay, and Anoushiravan Ehteshami 2023. Iranian proxies in the Syrian conflict: Tehran’s ‘forward-defence’ in action. Journal of Strategic Studies 46(3), 683–706.

- Bahgat, Gawdat and Anoushiravan Ehteshami 2021. Defending Iran: From Revolutionary Guards to Ballistic Missiles. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

- Geist Pinfold, Rob, Clive Jones, and Anoushiravan Ehteshami 2025. Collision Course: How Iran and Israel Brought the Middle East to the Brink of War. Global Policy 16, 289-298.

Music: The Good News by SHANTI from https://tunetank.com/track/263-the-good-news/