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Hello and welcome to The Edition, the Spectator's weekly podcast where we discuss some of the most

important and intriguing issues within our pages each week with the writers behind them.

I'm Lara Prendergast. It's been a week since Qasem Soleimani was assassinated. In this episode,

we ask, has Trump's decision actually united the

Middle East? Plus, as the Labour leadership contest gets underway, do any of the candidates actually

scare the Tories? And finally, is the piggy bank a thing of childhoods past? Ever since he entered

the White House, Donald Trump has been trying to isolate Iran

diplomatically. But in the week since the killing of Qasem Soleimani, it seems that the opposite

has happened. John R. Bradley argues in this week's cover piece that Trump's move has united the

Sunni Arab states from Saudi Arabia to Qatar in expressing sympathy for Iran and urging restraint.

So has the Trump strategy completely backfired?

I'm joined by former British ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Sir John Jenkins, and journalist

Oz Katsachi to discuss.

John, things have been moving fairly fast over the past few days with regards to Iran.

Does it look as if Trump is now backing away from further military action?

I think everybody is.

When the attack took place, when Soleimani was and Mohandis were killed,

the uproar among the commentariat was something to behold.

Actually, I don't think it's changed very much strategically in the Middle East at all.

...