This is The Guardian.

The United States and its partners have launched Operation Epic Fury, one of the largest, most complex, most overwhelming military offensives.

The United States has requested permission to use British bases for that specific and limited

defensive purpose.

Turns out the regime who chanted death to America and death to Israel was gifted

death from America and death from Israel. I'm Pippa Carrera and I'm Kieran Stacey. And you're

listening to Politics Weekly for The Guardian.

Hello. It feels like last week was a very long time ago, Kieran.

And I know this happens quite a lot to us, doesn't it?

The pace at which events move.

But over the last few days, the whole of the Middle East region has been affected by those US-Israeli

air strikes on Iran on Saturday and the subsequent Iranian retaliation.

I mean, you've seen the images of plumes of smoke rising from Iranian missiles in Kuwait,

in Bahrain, in Israel.

And then those really striking pictures this morning of several US warplanes crashing through the sky in Kuwait,

and then their pilots and then their parachutes following behind.

It is not an overstatement to say that the Middle East is in flames.

The Foreign Office, meanwhile, is planning for the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of

Brits from the region. We think that somewhere in the region of 200,000 to 300,000 Brits across

the Middle East and 100,000 or just over 100,000 have already got in touch with the Foreign

Office. But the prospect of them being able to be brought home anytime

soon really feels quite remote as the conflict continues, airspace is closed, and British officials

...