Trump's Iran options
The Global Story
BBC
3.8 • 667 Ratings
🗓️ 23 March 2026
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
As the US and Israel war with Iran enters its fourth week, there are growing number of people in the United States calling for it end. But the military operations are increasing, not winding down.
This is a critical moment where the war could turn into a long drawn-out conflict. Or it could be a moment where Donald Trump dashes for a quick exit.
The BBC’s world affairs correspondent Joe Inwood and the BBC’s Persian service’s Ghoncheh Habibiazad discuss with Tristan where this could all go next?
Producers: Cat Farnsworth and Xandra Ellin
Sound engineer: Travis Evans
Senior news editor: China Collins
Photo: U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he steps from Air Force One, March 20, 2026. Credit: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | There are tons, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:05.0 | There are tons of people in the United States calling for an end to the war in Iran. |
| 0:11.0 | Do you think Donald Trump has betrayed America first? |
| 0:14.0 | I think that this war is something that he promised he wouldn't do. |
| 0:20.0 | Does Tucker Carlson? |
| 0:21.6 | All I've heard is tiresome fearmongering about nuclear weapons, which Iran did not have. |
| 0:26.6 | Well, many of Trump's MAGA base. |
| 0:28.6 | Being a conservative or being a Trump supporter or being part of MAGA does not mean you have to accept |
| 0:35.6 | another Middle East war without questions. |
| 0:41.4 | And anybody who tells you that can suck it. |
| 0:45.9 | Or simply American voters who are worried about how much it could all cost them. |
| 0:51.2 | And you voted for them how many times? |
| 0:52.8 | Three times. That was my bad. |
| 0:56.0 | Apparently I'm an idiot. |
| 0:58.0 | The military operations seem to be increasing, not winding down. |
| 1:03.0 | In the last few days, there have been missile strikes close to Israel's nuclear research |
| 1:08.0 | center, threats of attacks on energy infrastructure across the region. |
| 1:13.7 | And for the first time, it's been suggested that even Europe could be threatened by Iranian missiles. |
| 1:19.9 | Suffice it to say that if the Iranians could get missiles towards, to get Diego Garcia, |
| 1:24.5 | which is what, two to half thousand miles from Iran, they can get them towards |
| 1:28.6 | Europe as well. |
| 1:30.6 | This is a critical moment. |
... |
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