Podcasts Other The Briefing Room Could the United States and Iran go to war?

Could the United States and Iran go to war?

Published: May 16, 2019, 7:30 p.m.

The British Foreign Secretary has warned of the danger of Iran and the United States stumbling into a war by accident. And the signs are ominous: the US accelerated the deployment of an aircraft carrier and B52 bombers to the Persian Gulf and all non-essential staff are being withdrawn from the US Embassy in Baghdad. US National Security Adviser John Bolton said any attack by Iran on America or its allies would be met with what he called unrelenting force. So what's the risk of a war breaking out?

David Aaronovitch is joined by: \nAli Vaez of the International Crisis Group\nKori Schake of the International Institute for Strategic Studies\nAniseh Barissi Tabrizi of the Royal United Services Institute\nRobert Cooper, former EU diplomat. \nBarbara Leaf, former US diplomat and State Department official