Iran War: A sharp escalation in the Gulf
From Our Own Correspondent
BBC
4.4 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 21 March 2026
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Kate Adie presents stories from Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Latvia, South Korea and Finland
The US-Israeli war with Iran saw a marked escalation this week with strikes on some of the world’s biggest gas fields. Israel’s attack on Iran’s south Pars gas field triggered a swift response from Tehran, who launched strikes on the Ras Laffan terminal – the world’s largest liquefied natural gas facility, and other gulf countries. The attacks caused oil and gas prices to spike. Frank Gardner has been in Riyadh and Doha.
In Venezuela, billboards and banners of former President, Nicolas Maduro still line the roads of Caracas after he was seized in January by US forces. Washington has outlined a plan for Venezuela and eased sanctions but hasn’t provided a timeframe for elections. And many young Venezuelans are sceptical that much will change, says Ione Wells.
Next week the BBC’s Russian Service marks its 80th anniversary. The service’s editor Jenny Norton reflects on how the team have found ways to adapt after the clampdown on media freedoms and the invasion of Ukraine, and setting up a new base in Latvia.
In South Korea, a new genre of movies is taking the entertainment world by storm: the “micro-drama.” They’re carefully curated one- or two-minute-long shows with intense plotlines, made to be watched on your phone. Jake Kwon in Seoul went behind the scenes.
The BBC's climate editor, Justin Rowlatt, isn’t just interested in our warming world, he’s also a keen cold-water swimmer. And he recently found himself competing in the Winter Swimming World Championships in Oulu, a town in northern Finland, about 100 miles south of the Arctic circle.
Series Producer: Serena Tarling Production Coordinators: Katie Morrison and Sophie Hill Editor: Richard Vadon
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello. Today we're in the Venezuelan capital Caracas, where banners and billboards |
| 0:12.0 | featuring former President Nicolas Maduro stay in place. In Latvia, the BBC's Russian language |
| 0:19.3 | service broadcasts to a growing audience in Russia. |
| 0:23.1 | We hear from those who had to uproot their lives in Moscow to keep it on air. |
| 0:28.5 | In South Korea, micro-dramas are taking the movie industry by storm. |
| 0:33.1 | We meet the actors performing theatrical acrobatics on set. |
| 0:38.1 | And finally, we're in Finland, for the winter swimming championships. |
| 0:42.6 | Our correspondent took the plunge in bracing waters in Ulu. |
| 0:46.7 | But first, the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran saw a mark to escalation this week, |
| 0:52.0 | with strikes on some of the world's biggest gas fields. |
| 0:55.7 | Israel's attack on Iran's south-pours gas field, situated offshore between Iran and Qatar, |
| 1:02.3 | triggered a swift response from Tehran, who launched strikes on the Rasslafan terminal, |
| 1:07.8 | the world's largest liquefied natural gas facility and other Gulf countries. |
| 1:13.4 | The attacks caused oil and gas prices to spike, and despite more than 7,000 targets struck by US forces alone in Iran, |
| 1:23.0 | the regime continues to fire missiles and drones at neighbouring countries. |
| 1:30.5 | Iran's topography and decades of planning means stocks of these weapons are buried deep underground or deep into the sides of mountains. |
| 1:37.8 | Frank Gardner has been in Riyadh and Doha. He wrote this dispatch as the attacks on energy |
| 1:43.4 | infrastructure were underway. |
| 1:46.0 | From out of my window, I can see a narrow spit of pure white sand jutting into the azure |
| 1:51.1 | blue of the lagoon. A wooden fishing boat, a Tao, rests idly at anchor, and barely a ripple |
| 1:56.9 | disturbs the surface of this tranquil harbour in Qatar's capital Doha. This is the gulf of |
| 2:02.6 | online travel brochures, the perpetually sunny, tax-free, crime-free escape from the dreary tedium |
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