Attacks continue after Trump says Iran deal not good enough

Summary

Global News Podcast: "Attacks Continue After Trump Says Iran Deal Not Good Enough"
BBC World Service | March 15, 2026 | Host: Oliver Conway

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Episode Overview

This extra edition of the Global News Podcast delivers urgent updates on the ongoing US-Israeli war with Iran, the ongoing missile and drone attacks across the Gulf, the changing political and military dynamics inside Iran, and the wider economic and energy ramifications for the region and the world. The episode features on-the-ground reports, regional perspectives including the UAE, expert analysis, and a discussion about the impact on energy markets and renewables.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Continuing Hostilities & Shifting War Aims

• Sustained Conflict: Despite 16 days of continuous US and Israeli strikes claiming significant damage to Iran’s military capability, Iranian missile and drone attacks continue to strike Gulf Arab states and Israel.
  • "Despite 16 days of US and Israeli strikes, Iran continues its attacks in the Gulf and has warned the UAE to begin evacuating the port zones..." (Oliver Conway, 01:10)
• Evolving US Objectives: Initial US objectives such as regime change and unconditional surrender are no longer emphasized by the Trump administration as the conflict drags on.

2. Military & Political Developments Inside Iran

• Leadership Shift: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei replaced by his hardline son, Mojtaba Khamenei, backed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
• Internal Control: The IRGC and Basij paramilitaries dominate the streets; police are largely absent or inactive.
  • "There is no army. ... Police stations are closed ... the only force and power is in the hands of IRGC and Basij." (Resident of Tehran, 02:50)
  • “We prefer to die from the bombs instead of die but fight IRGC… we know that the end might be very harmful.” (Resident of Tehran, 03:28)

3. Iranian & International Diplomatic Positions

• Deal Prospects: President Trump claims Iran is ready for a deal, but their terms remain unsatisfactory.
• Iran’s Narrative: Iranian officials insist they are only targeting military sites and not civilians, aiming to appear responsible to neighboring countries while also justifying actions as legitimate defense.
  • "Iran is not after causing havoc in the region ... strikes on Israeli and American bases as legitimate defense ..." (Taranay Fatalian, 04:12)
• War for Regime Survival: Analysts suggest Iran’s government sees the conflict as existential, so is not rushing toward a truce.
  • "...this war for Iran is the battle for survival of the regime." (Taranay Fatalian, 04:53)

4. Impact on Civilians in Iran

• Fear and Uncertainty: Hope for regime change has shifted towards fear as the war persists.
  • “People are increasingly worried that the impact of the war will be increasingly devastating. … some people are more worried that the war will end and the IRGC … will be still in place and they won’t reach the outcome that they were hoping.” (Taranay Fatalian, 05:30)

5. UAE & Gulf Region Under Threat

• Attacks & Preparedness: Iran has warned UAE to evacuate major port zones; missile and drone attacks have decreased but still occur.
  • "The number [of missile and drone attacks] have gone down significantly if we compare them to the very first week of this war." (Khaled Amazani, 06:18)
• Defensive Measures: Flights from Dubai and Abu Dhabi require fighter jet escorts; uncertainty prevails about the war’s duration.
  • "Can they really bear this war for another three or four weeks?" (Khaled Amazani, 06:54)
• Public Sentiment: No actual evacuations reported, but widespread fear and economic fallout, particularly in retail and tourism.
  • "It’s a ghost town here in Dubai. … people who own businesses here, they are extremely concerned at the drop in visitors in tourism, which is a major industry here, Dubai and in the UAE." (Azadeh Mashiri, 08:34)

6. Divisions Among Gulf States

• Different Approaches: Saudi and the UAE support continued US attacks for a decisive outcome, while Qatar and Oman push for a ceasefire. UAE publicly remains open to negotiation.

7. On-the-Ground: Missile Impact in Israel

• Missile Strikes Continue: At least one Iranian missile reached Tel Aviv; described as a cluster munition.
  • "We saw two cars completely blown out… no injuries, but… a missile that breaks up in the air and disperses these smaller cluster bombs over quite a wide area, maybe up to 10 kilometers." (John Donison, 09:18)
  • "Most people will have got to the shelters, but it's a reminder that... some of the missiles are still able to get through." (John Donison, 10:08)

8. The Energy Crisis & Renewables Focus

• Oil Markets Disrupted: Iranian attacks have roiled global energy markets, reviving debate about the world's reliance on fossil fuels.
  • "There's been certainly a wake up, I think, from governments to say that reliance on fossil fuels may not be something we can keep going with, especially when we have a shock like what's happening in Iran at the moment." (Matt McGrath, 01:45 & 11:02)
• Shifts Since Ukraine War: Massive increase in global investment in renewables ($2 trillion in 2024-2025), revival of nuclear power, with almost half of global reactor capacity being planned or built.
  • "The global investment in renewable Energy was over $2 trillion in 2024 and 2025. That was double the investment in fossil fuels." (Matt McGrath, 11:11)
• Challenges Persist: High energy prices remain; the US government’s retreat from the Paris Agreement under President Trump has chilled global momentum for renewables; governments struggle with balancing short-term pressures with long-term sustainability.
• Notable Shift: Countries like the UK, legislating for net zero, are "honourable exceptions" to the general political difficulty in advancing green agendas.
• Qatar's New Role: Unlike during the Ukraine crisis, gas-rich Qatar is now affected, creating fresh complications for global supplies.
  • "Qatar wasn’t touched by the Ukraine conflict, but is now. They are 20% of the global gas market, and that is a key factor here." (Matt McGrath, 13:36)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• (02:50) Resident of Tehran: "There is no army. The police forces are very few...The only force and power is in the hands of IRGC and Basij. For a lot of people ... having guns ... is very, very dangerous... We prefer to die from the bombs instead of die, but fight IRGC."
• (04:12) Taranay Fatalian (BBC Persian): "It looks to me like Iran is trying to maintain its friendship with some neighboring countries ... while hitting back at US and Israel."
• (06:57) Khaled Amazani: "Can they really bear this war for another three or four weeks?"
• (07:36) Azadeh Mashiri: "The reality is that a luxury hotel, residential areas, the airport, there have been videos of debris striking all these areas. ... This is something that has profoundly concerned Gulf countries here, that is threatening this safe image they've taken years to build."
• (09:18) John Donison: "We saw two cars completely blown out. And I spoke to someone from the ambulance service, said no injuries, but… a missile that breaks up in the air and then disperses these smaller cluster bombs over quite a wide area, maybe up to 10 kilometers."
• (11:02) Matt McGrath: "The global investment in renewable Energy was over $2 trillion in 2024 and 2025. That was double the investment in fossil fuels."
• (13:36) Matt McGrath: "Qatar wasn't touched by the Ukraine conflict, but is now. They are 20% of the global gas market, and that is a key factor here, making things even more difficult than they were back in 2021."

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:10] – Summary of recent escalation and Iranian threats to UAE
• [01:38] – Ground report from Israel (John Donison)
• [01:45] – Disruption to oil markets and renewables (Matt McGrath)
• [02:50] – Testimony from a Tehran resident on situation in Iran
• [03:41] – Trump’s statement on potential for a deal, Iranian denial of targeting civilians
• [04:12] – Analysis by Taranay Fatalian (BBC Persian)
• [06:03] – Impact and public reaction in the UAE, perspective from Khaled Amazani
• [07:04] – On-the-ground in Dubai (Azadeh Mashiri)
• [09:18] – Description of a missile strike in Tel Aviv (John Donison)
• [10:20] – Broader implications for energy markets and renewables discussion (Matt McGrath & Julian Wariker)
• [13:36] – Qatar’s gas market and global energy supply (Matt McGrath)

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Conclusion

This episode provides a fast-moving, multifaceted view of the ongoing conflict’s military, diplomatic, humanitarian, and economic ramifications. It offers sobering insights from both the streets of Tehran and Dubai, unpacks the wider energy crisis, and raises crucial questions about the sustainability of current regional and global strategies. The discussion is marked by urgency, expert perspective, and the on-the-ground reality for civilians and states now drawn into the orbit of the conflict.

Transcript

[Oliver Conway]

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[Oliver Conway]

this is an extra edition of the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. Hello, I'm Oliver Conway with the latest on the US Israeli war on Iran. We're recording this at 13 hours GMT on Sunday 15th March. Despite 16 days of US and Israeli strikes, Iran continues its attacks in the Gulf and has warned the UAE to begin evacuating the port zones in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Fujairah. We report from the scene of an Iranian missile strike in Israel.

[John Donison]

We saw smoke rising, we quickly got here and the impact must have been just a few minutes beforehand and later.

[Matt McGrath]

There's been certainly a wake up, I think, from governments to say that reliance on fossil fuels may not be something we can keep going with, especially when we have a shock like what's happening in Iran at the moment.

[Oliver Conway]

Has the disruption to the oil market made people think again about renewable energy? For 16 days, Iran has been pounded by the U.S. and Israel. President Trump says 100% of its military capability has been destroyed and and yet Iranian drones and missiles are continuing to hit Gulf Arab states and Israel. Some of America's original war aims for regime change, unconditional surrender, or even just for a say in choosing Iran's next leader are no longer being talked about by the Trump administration. In Iran itself, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been replaced by his equally hardline son Mojtabar, who is backed by the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. And it is they, along with the Basij paramilitary volunteer militia who are in control of the streets as we heard from this resident of Tehran, you can

[Resident of Tehran]

only see IRGC and Basij. There is no army. The police forces are very few. They have abandoned police stations. They are closed and they are sleeping in the cars parked near the station. They are wandering around the streets. They don't have anything to do. They are not allowed to do anything. The only force and power is in the hands of IRDC and Basij. For a lot of people without official clothing and name or whatever, having guns, this is very, very dangerous. Dangerous for themselves, but they are crazy. We prefer to die from the bombs instead of die, but fight irdc. And we know that the end might be very harmful.

[Oliver Conway]

Well, President Trump said on Saturday the Iranians appeared ready to make a deal to end the war, but the terms were not yet good enough for him. In the past few hours, the Iranian foreign minister has made some interesting claims denying that Iran has targeted civilian or residential areas in the Middle east, only US Military targets. And he said the war would end when Iran was certain it could not be repeated. After I asked Taranay Fatalian from the BBC Persian Service what she made of those comments from the Iranian foreign minister.

[Taranay Fatalian]

Well, it seems that these claims are in line with the narrative that Iranian regime is trying to push, which is Iran is not after causing havoc in the region and it strikes on Israeli and American bases as legitimate defense and is not targeting civilians. It looks to me like Iran is trying to maintain its relationship, its friendship with some neighboring countries and keep there on its side while hitting back at us and Israel.

[Oliver Conway]

Is Iran ready to make a deal, as President Trump says?

[Taranay Fatalian]

Abbas Arakchi, the Iranian foreign minister today, said that Iran is welcoming any regional initiative that is leading to a just end to the war, but they have not received such initiative yet. It doesn't look like they're in a rush to end the war because some say, and analysts say that this war for Iran is the battle for survival of the regime. So they're not in a rush to end the war anytime soon, but they have said that they will welcome any just initiative.

[Oliver Conway]

The bombs and missiles have been falling for 16 days now. What's been the impact on ordinary Iranians?

[Taranay Fatalian]

When the war started, many people were hopeful. They were worried and scared, but they were hopeful that this will end the regime as is progressing, as it's unfolding and there is no end at sight. People are increasingly worried that the impact of the war will be increasingly devastating. But as we heard just now, some people are more worried that the war will end and the IRGC and the regime will be still in place and they won't reach the outcome that they were hoping and yet they have paid a hefty price for it.

[Oliver Conway]

Taraney Fatalian of the BBC Persian Service Iran has meanwhile warned the United Arab Emirates to begin evacuating the port zones in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Fujairah. Khaled Amazani is a professor at the Emirates Zayed University.

[Khaled Amazani]

The missiles are continuing to be fired from Iran and drones. However, I must say that the number have gone down significantly if we compare them to the very first week of this war. And yesterday Dubai Airport announced that half of its operation are returning to normal. Having said that, all flights on most of them, when they take off from Dubai or Abu Dhabi, they have to be escorted by F16 fighter jets just to give security and trust that the state defence capability are there and they are strong. The only question that many people ask is that not only UAE, but all other GCC state can they really bear this war for another three weeks or four weeks?

[Oliver Conway]

Well, our correspondent Azadeh Mashiri is in Dubai. So are people there heeding the call to evacuate the port zones?

[Azadeh Mashiri]

There aren't any statements or any information we could gather so far of any evacuations happening. But the most recent comments from the Iranian foreign Minister, Abbasar Aqchi earlier today is that Iran is not targeting civilian or residential areas in these Gulf countries and that they're still open to negotiations. Whether that's true or not, the reality is that a luxury hotel, residential areas, the airport, there have been videos of debris striking all these areas. So this is something that has profoundly concerned Gulf countries here, that is threatening this safe image they've taken years to build. And in fact, there was a very rare statement that was made overnight by a presidential advisor here in the UAE who said that it has a right to defense against what it called this imposed terrorist aggression, but that it is still turning to reason and logic and trying to find a way out for Iran and the region. And those words, reason and logic are really important because the words asymmetry have been repeated multiple times when we're talking about this war, especially when it comes to military capabilities and the damage that Iran is willing to take.

[Oliver Conway]

There was a report in the Times newspaper here yesterday that the Gulf states are somewhat divided, with Saudi and the UAE actually wanting the US to continue its attacks until Iran is in effect, defanged, while other countries like Qatar and Oman want a cease fire. What do the people in the UAE

[Azadeh Mashiri]

think, the UAE in terms of the government themselves in this statement they put out are still saying that they're open to negotiations and talks to get Iran and the region out. So it's worth flagging that. That's what they're saying publicly. It's a ghost town here in Dubai. When you go to restaurants and cafes, there are still some people here. There are still residents who've chosen to stay, but when it comes to others, people who own businesses here, they are extremely concerned at the drop in visitors in tourism, which is a major industry here, Dubai and in the uae.

[Oliver Conway]

Azadeh Mashiri in Dubai. Well, overnight and this morning, Iran continued to fire missiles towards Israel, most of which were intercepted by air defenses. But at least one got through. As we heard from our correspondent there, John Donison.

[John Donison]

We were just driving towards Tel Aviv. We heard the sirens go off and then just a few minutes later we saw smoke rising. We quickly got here and the impact must have been just a few minutes beforehand. Now they've cordoned it off here. Now a lot of emergency services here, but we saw two cars completely blown out. And I spoke to someone from the ambulance service, said no injuries, but they believe that this was what was a cluster munition. So a missile that breaks up in the air and then disperses these smaller cluster bombs over quite a wide area, maybe up to 10 kilometers. And they're very hard to down and you know, when they get through, they're potentially deadly. Now here, it's a pretty built up residential neighborhood. Most people will have got to the shelters, but it's a reminder that, you know, two weeks into this war, despite Israel's vast military superiority, it's really great, I suppose, very strong missile defense systems. Some of the missiles are still able to get through.

[Oliver Conway]

John Donason in Tel Aviv. As well as attacking its enemies with missiles and drones, Iran has also responded to the war by targeting the global oil industry, pushing up prices once again. That has led some to suggest a new focus on investing in clean and renewable energy sources. Bobby Hollis, global vice president of energy for Microsoft, told the Financial Times newspaper that wind and solar power have a huge advantage in that once installed, they give companies and consumers far greater predictability in terms of cost. So how have energy markets changed since Russia invaded Ukraine four years ago? Julian Wariker spoke to our environment correspondent, Matt McGrath.

[Matt McGrath]

If we look what's happened in the last four years since the Ukraine crisis came on, the world, and I appreciate this is a different situation in many, many ways, but the European Union, the UK and many other countries have doubled down on their investment in Renewables. The global investment in renewable Energy was over $2 trillion in 2024 and 2025. That was double the investment in, in fossil fuels. So government actions are taking place. We can see what's happened with nuclear energy as well. There's been a real revival in nuclear energy. There's now almost half the world's installed base of reactors is planned to be installed in the next number of years as well, or at least some of them in construction, a lot being planned. So there's been certainly a wake up, I think, from governments to say that reliance on fossil fuels may not be something we can keep going with, especially when we have a shock like what's happening in Iran at the moment. And I think the big challenge for them is that all the investments that have been made to date have made a massive difference in countries like the United Kingdom and other places where, you know, nearly 2 million homes have installed their own solar right now. And this, what's called balcony solar in lots of countries has really taken off as a phenomenon. But the cost to governments of maintaining the fossil fuel element as well is still really high. So they're in a bit of a difficult position. They want to move to renewables, they want to own their own sources of energy and they're doubling down on that, undoubtedly. But they still right now are in this difficult place where the green technology is winning, but the consumers perhaps aren't feeling the effects in terms of the cost that they're paying for that technology. And that's making it difficult for governments to earmark even more money to go down the green route. We've seen in some respects, the, if I can put it this way, the chilling effect of President Trump on the whole renewable energy space over the last number of years. Never mind the Iran war and his commitment to move away from the Paris Agreement and the agreements that many in the world felt were helping the world to transition away from fossil fuels. And that has had, I suppose, a cooling effect. But it's not just that. We've also seen the continually high prices for energy in many, many countries and it's a stubborn difficulty for governments and the short term nature of electoral cycles doesn't help to maintain that longer term commitment. Now in the uk, I would say we're kind of an honourable exception and many countries are indeed because we have legislated for net zero down the road. So there are carbon budgets, there are plans that have generally been supported by all parties, although that right now in the next couple of years may become a greater of political difference between different leaders.

[Oliver Conway]

And it has become, as you hinted at the start of the conversation, ever since the Ukraine war, such a big

[Matt McGrath]

issue for so many people because of

[Oliver Conway]

the enormous price rises we saw straight after that began.

[Matt McGrath]

Absolutely. Yeah. We've seen huge increases in the price of fossil fuels in that time period, particularly the piped gas that was coming from Russia. And that sparked this rush across the world to find alternative sources. What's difficult and different about this particular conflict is that Qatar wasn't touched by the Ukraine conflict, but is now. They are 20% of the global gas market, and that is a key factor here, making things even more difficult than they were back in 2021.

[Oliver Conway]

The BBC environment correspondent, Matt McGrath. And that is all from us for now. The Global News podcast will be back soon. This edition was mixed by James Piper and produced by Nikki Verico. Our editors, Karen Martin. I'm Oliver Conway. Until next time. Goodbye.

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