Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.

Editor David Horovitz joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday denied that Israel dragged the US into war with Iran, insisting that if anything, the opposite could be true and that he felt Iran was going to attack first. These remarks come as politicians and media influencers on both sides of the US aisle condemn "Israel's war" and point their fingers at the Jewish state.

In the first half of the program, we take a deep dive into Iran's greater existential threat to the Mideast -- and the world at large. Which nations appear to start internalizing that the extremist Islamist nation may actually do what it threatens it will?

In the second half, we talk about the opportunity afforded at this time for Iranians to rise up and change their regime. It would be, posits Horovitz, more possible to see some form of "total victory" against the terror regime, as opposed to wiping out Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.

Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.

For further reading:

Trump says he may have forced Israel’s hand into war with Iranian ‘lunatics’

Isolationist US right-wing commentators decry Iran war; Trump says he doesn’t care

US officials say diplomatic path was at dead end when Trump approved Iran strikes

Iran and its proxies pose ongoing threat to US after Khamenei killing, US intel warns

Hoping to pressure end to war, Iran aims fire at Arab neighbors. It hasn’t worked, yet

Israel okays plan to slowly reopen airspace from Wednesday night for repatriation flights

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Gabriella Jacobs and edited by Ari Schlacht.

IMAGE: A boy waves an Iranian flag in front of a police facility struck during the US–Israeli military campaign in Tehran, Iran, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)