Beyond the conflict in Gaza it has been a violent few weeks in the wider Middle East, from attacks on shipping in the Red Sea to bomb blasts in Iran and a killing by drone in Beirut. Julian Borger explains what may happen next
Iran suffered the worst terrorist attack in the history of the Islamic Republic this week when dozens of people were killed in two bomb blasts in the city of Kerman. In Beirut a drone attack in a suburban area killed a senior Hamas commander, and in the Red Sea the US navy shot down two anti-ship missiles and sunk three small boats after responding to distress calls from a container ship that was attacked twice by Houthi rebels.
The Guardian’s world affairs editor, Julian Borger, talks to Hannah Moore about the significance and possible consequences of these events and examines their potential to trigger a regional war. He says there is increasing appetite in Israel for further conflict with Hezbollah at the Lebanese border, and growing rhetoric that a direct war with Iran – which backs Hezbollah and the Houthi movement – is inevitable. Can international leaders do enough to calm tensions in the region?
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