Iran’s confrontation with Israel and the United States has escalated into one of the most dangerous crises the Middle East has seen in decades.

A joint U.S.-Israeli military campaign aimed at crippling Tehran’s leadership has triggered retaliatory strikes across the region from missile barrages on Israeli cities to attacks on Gulf states.

On The Big Story, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Dr Leon Goldsmith, Honorary Senior Lecturer in Middle East Politics at the University of Otago, to examine how this conflict reached this point, what the death of Iran’s supreme leader means for Tehran’s next moves, and whether diplomacy is still possible.