The Story

Last month, Sir Keir Starmer made it clear that the US would not be permitted to use UK bases to launch strikes against Iran. On Sunday, that position shifted. Not only has the UK now allowed the use of joint bases, it is also intercepting Iranian drones, and sources have told The Times that a British warship may be deployed to Cyprus. As tensions in the Middle East escalate, is Britain being drawn ever deeper into the conflict? And how might this end?

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Guests:
Michael Evans, defence contributor, The Times
General Sir Patrick Sanders, former Chief of the General Staff and co-host of The General & the Journalist, one of our sister podcasts

Host: Rosie Wright
Producers: Sophie McNulty & Olivia Case
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Read more: Special relationship ‘not what it once was’, as Trump rebukes PM on Iran
Further listening: Iran after the Ayatollah
Clips: The Times, AP, BBC, CNN, The White House, Sky News.
Photo: Getty Images.
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After weeks of protests against Ayatollah Khamenei’s regime earlier this year, the Iranian people cried out for American help as they were massacred in their thousands. Over the weekend, the Americans and Israelis did finally intervene in Iran, killing the Ayatollah, but leaving a flood of questions in their wake. Who will now fill the political vacuum? Will there be regime change? And what next for the Iranian people?

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This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestory

Guests:
Rana Rahimpour, Iranian journalist.
Ali Ansari, professor of Iranian history, the University of St. Andrews.
Host: Rosie Wright.
Producers: Harry Stott, Julia Webster.
We want to hear from you - email: [email protected]
Read more: Who will replace Ayatollah Khamenei — a moderate or an ‘Iranian Putin’?
Further listening: Iran's supreme leader killed - is the Middle East in all out war?
Clips: BBC, AP, EuroNews, State Department / Instagram, 60 Minutes.
Photo: Getty Images, The Times, Dana Chan.
This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here.
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For decades, a chilling rumour has haunted Sarajevo: that foreign tourists paid to visit the besieged city in the early 1990s to shoot at its residents. Today, Italian authorities are investigating several cases of alleged ‘tourist snipers,’ thrusting these accusations back into the headlines. Now, an eyewitness to these so-called ‘human safaris’ has spoken to The Times about what he saw more than 30 years ago.

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This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestory

Guest: Tom Kington, the Italy correspondent, The Times
Host: Manveen Rana
Producer: Sophie McNulty
Translator: Aleksa Antic
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Read more: Sarajevo sniper tourists ‘killed children by day, then partied at night’
Clips: BBC, ITN, FRENCH 24 English.
Photo: Getty Images, Tom Kington.
This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Early on Saturday morning, the US and Israel launched a wave of attacks on Iran, killing the supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei. Iran has retaliated, with strikes reported in the UAE, Qatar and across the region. But will Trump get his regime change or could Iran become just another failed state? And is the middle east on the brink of all-out war?

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This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestory

Guests:
Gabrielle Weiniger, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza correspondent, The Times.
Sir Peter Westmacott, formerly Britain’s Ambassador to the United States of America, and Britain's political secretary, Tehran.
Host: Manveen Rana.
Producers: Olivia Case and Sophie McNulty.

We want to hear from you - email: [email protected]
Read more: Iran latest: UK plans mass Middle East evacuation as Tehran strikes back
Further listening: Four years of war: can Ukraine continue to deny Putin?
Clips: The White House / YouTube, CBS, Truth Social, ABC, BBC, The Times.
Photo: Getty Images.
This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Next week, the BBC launches a new three part documentary, Hostage, based on our award winning Times podcast series Last Man Standing. It's the story of British photojournalist John Cantlie who was kidnapped in Syria by Islamic State in 2012. While his fellow hostages were released or murdered, he remained captive. Then, a series of Isis propaganda videos emerged, fronted by Cantlie. He hasn’t been seen since. So what happened to him? In this episode, The Times War Correspondent, Anthony Lloyd, begins his investigation.

This episode was first published on 24 June 2022.

Listen to the whole series: Last Man Standing
Hosts: Manveen Rana and Anthony Lloyd, War Correspondent, The Times.
Clips: BBC, 5Live, CNN, NBC, BBC.
Further reading: The murky truth about Britain’s forgotten hostage John Cantlie

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This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.