Hegseth: US 'closer than ever' to defeating Iran

Hegseth: US 'closer than ever' to defeating Iran

Author: BBC World Service March 31, 2026 Duration: 24:33

US Defence Secretary says President Trump is willing to make a deal to end the fighting, but if Iran doesn't accept the terms, the war will continue. Also: Israel's defence minister says his country's forces will destroy all homes in Lebanese villages adjacent to the Israeli border. The medical charity MSF says rape and sexual violence remain part of everyday life in parts of Sudan. Eurovision - the world's longest-running international music competition - is heading to Asia. And the organisers of a Barbie-themed festival in Florida agree to issue refunds after customers complained that the event was not as advertised.

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Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

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Podcast Episodes
Trump considering 'winding down' Iran military campaign [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:13
President Trump posted on social media that the US was getting very close to meeting its objectives in Iran. Earlier he told reporters he didn't want a ceasefire. The BBC's US partner, CBS, has reported that US military…
Iran renews attacks on Gulf countries [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:06
Tehran has fired missiles and drones at its Gulf neighbours causing blazes at a Kuwait refinery and a Bahrain warehouse. Israel has launched more air attacks against Iran. Powerful explosions were reported in the capital…
Israel holds off attacking Iranian gas infrastructure [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 24:25
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has said Israel will hold off future attacks on Iranian gas fields after being asked to do so by President Trump. An Israeli attack on Iran's South Pars gas field on Wednes…
Oil and gas prices surge after energy plant strikes [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:29
Energy prices have surged after strikes on key gas facilities in Qatar and Iran, as the Middle East war continues to escalate. Iran has targeted Qatar's Ras Laffan complex in response to the bombing of Iranian facilities…
Iran attacks energy facilities in the Gulf [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:21
Qatar's state-owned petroleum company says an Iranian ballistic missile attack on its main gas complex at Ras Laffan has caused widespread destruction. Several Gulf states were attacked by Iran after its largest gas fiel…
Israel's third top-level assassination in two days [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:05
Iran's Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib has been killed in an overnight Israeli strike. It comes just a day after Israel assasinated Ali Larijani and another senior Iranian commander, and as thousands of mourners gath…
Deadly Israeli strikes hit central Beirut [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:10
Israel has launched a series of deadly strikes in central Beirut and ordered mass evacuations in southern Lebanon, as it ramps up its air and ground offensive against the Iran-backed group Hezbollah. About a million peop…
Israel says it's killed Iran's top security chief [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:51
Israel's foreign minister said Iranians were "safer" without Ali Larijani and Basij paramilitary force commander Gholamreza Soleimani, after the Israeli military said it had killed both of them in strikes. Hours after th…
US allies reject Trump's call for help in Strait of Hormuz [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:58
The US President has repeated his call for other nations, particularly Nato allies, to help secure the Strait of Hormuz. Donald Trump says he has been surprised more world leaders were not "eager" to be involved in secur…
Germany and UK tell Trump this is 'not Nato's war' [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:56
Germany and Britain say the war against Iran has nothing to do with Nato and the alliance won't be taking part in any effort to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. But the UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, said London was workin…