State of Ukraine
NPR
We have reporters on the ground in Ukraine and around the world, bringing you the latest on Russia's war in Ukraine. We'll discuss the conflict's past, its possible future, and what each new development means for the rest of the world.
- 8 minutes 39 secondsWho were the Iranian leaders killed in airstrikes?Israel says it has killed two top Iranian leaders in airstrikes, dealing another blow to Iran’s remaining leadership. One of the men was believed to be directing the current war effort, and these deaths come after Israel killed Iran’s supreme leader on the first day of the war. We hear more about who was killed and what this might mean for Iran.
And over a million Lebanese have been displaced since Israel intensified its campaign against the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. We meet some of the displaced.
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NPR Privacy Policy17 March 2026, 9:11 pm - 6 minutes 27 secondsThe Global Impact of High Oil PricesEver since the U.S. and Israel launched a war on Iran, oil prices have been on a rollercoaster but overall have been trending higher. An increase in the price of oil has world-wide consequences with winners and losers. To get a snapshot of where things stand, we hear from three reporters around the world— in Russia, Germany and Taiwan.
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NPR Privacy Policy16 March 2026, 6:54 pm - 5 minutes 12 secondsA glimpse of one Iranian’s life in Tehran during the warUnderstanding exactly what is happening inside Iran is difficult. The government rarely gives visas to western journalists and closely monitors those that do enter the country. The internet is closely controlled by the regime. For the past two weeks, since the U.S. and Israel began their war in Iran, a writer in Tehran has been sharing entries from her diary with NPR about this war. We hear some of her writings which offer an intimate look at her life under bombardment.
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NPR Privacy Policy13 March 2026, 8:04 pm - 4 minutes 36 secondsWhile the war in Iran gets attention, what’s happening in Gaza?Five months ago, President Trump declared ceasefire in Gaza, having negotiated a deal that includes phased Israeli withdrawal from the territory and Hamas disarmament. But that was before the U.S. and Israel launched a war in Iran taking the Trump administration’s attention away from the Palestinian territory. We go to Gaza and find it’s still cutoff from the outside world and gains towards a durable peace have been paused or reversed.
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NPR Privacy Policy12 March 2026, 8:25 pm - 8 minutes 56 secondsAnother front in the war with Iran: the Israel-Lebanon borderIn southern Lebanon, Hezbollah militants backed by Iran have been firing rockets at Israel in retaliation for Israel’s war in Iran. And Israel has been firing back hard. Almost 700 thousand Lebanese have been displaced, mostly fleeing Israel’s strikes.
We go to both sides of this renewed conflict. In northern Israel daily rockets are keeping people on edge but also defiant. In Lebanon, Hezbollah’s wide popularity has been eroded by the fighting.
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NPR Privacy Policy11 March 2026, 7:00 pm - 8 minutes 12 secondsWhat four years of war in Ukraine looks like from RussiaRussia’s so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine recently passed the four year mark. And over that time it has become the deadliest conflict on the European continent since World War II. Over 1.5 million people are dead, injured or missing, according to western governments and think tanks. Our correspondent in Moscow tries to answer one of the most persistent and difficult questions of this war: do Russians support it?
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NPR Privacy Policy10 March 2026, 8:25 pm - 8 minutes 32 secondsDoes the Iraq war hold lessons for Iran?As we enter the second week of U.S. combat operations in Iran, NPR’s Leila Fadel considers the similarities and differences with the last time the United States waded into war in the region, in Iraq in 2003. Leila covered that war as well and talks to some experts about what lessons can be drawn.
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NPR Privacy Policy9 March 2026, 8:36 pm - 7 minutes 35 secondsThe effects of a widening war in the Middle EastA week ago, the U.S. and Israel began airstrikes on Iran, killing the regime’s leader and starting a war that has now threatens to to expand throughout the Middle East. Iran struck back, firing missiles and drones at Israel, but also at U.S. allies including Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah militants in Lebanon fired rockets at Israel, and Israel has now conducted attacks in a Beirut suburb believed to be a militant stronghold. Thousands have been displaced. And the U.S. and Israel have continued and intensified their bombing campaign in Iran. We get an update from four NPR correspondents in the region in Beirut, Dubai, Tel Aviv and Eastern Turkey.
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NPR Privacy Policy6 March 2026, 10:21 pm - 7 minutes 1 secondWho will be Iran’s next leader?; How Ukraine might help defend the GulfA panel of clerics in Iran are meeting to decide on the next leader of the fundamentalist regime after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in recent airstrikes. After nearly 40 years of his rule, the choice could either cement hardline continuity under his son or usher in a fundamentally transformed regime. We hear about likely candidates.
And as Iranians are attacking American bases in the Middle East with drones, the government of Ukraine is offering its expertise. They say more than 57 thousand of the same type of drones have been used against them in the last four years.
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NPR Privacy Policy5 March 2026, 10:01 pm - 8 minutes 22 secondsNew information about the bombing of a school in Iran
New details are emerging about the bombing of a girls’ school in southeastern Iran that killed 165 people, many of them students, according to Iran state media. The Pentagon says it is investigating what happened. Meanwhile satellite images suggest it could have been a precision airstrike. NPR was the first to report on the new images, and we hear more about what they reveal.
And as the U.S. strikes on Iran continue, more Iranians are fleeing the war. We go to the border with Turkey to hear from those who have left Iran.
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NPR Privacy Policy4 March 2026, 10:25 pm - 10 minutes 36 secondsWhat is the strategy for regime change in Iran and is it working?
Days after Israeli and U.S. air strikes killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Israel said it had targeted the building where top Iranian clerics would meet to choose his successor. Israel’s Prime Minister says the goal of this war is to get rid of the religious regime that has ruled Iran for almost half a century. Many of the possible successors to Iran’s have been killed in the attacks, leading to questions to what and who might come next. We hear from NPR correspondents covering the White House and the Middle East.
And in announcing the U.S. attacks on Iran, President Trump called on Iranian security forces to defect and for Iranians to take over the government. We hear from people inside Iran to gauge the possibility of that happening.
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