The Middle East, the world, not for the first time in these long six months, has been holding its breath. Ever since Iran fired 300 hundred rockets into Israel, itself a response to the Israel’s killing of several senior Iranian military figures in Damascus, that dreaded word “escalation” has haunted the conversation, the grim realisation that the region, maybe more than the region, is just one mistake, one miscalculation away from all out war in every direction. Overnight, the promised Israeli retaliation to the Iranian attack came, with missle attacks in the heart of Iran itself, in the cities of Isfahan and Tabriz. Is this it? Can we exhale again? And for how long? Editor: Tom Hughes Senior Producer: Gabriel Radus Producers: Laura FitzPatrick Social Media Editor: Georgia Foxwell Video Production: Rory Symon & Arvind Badewal You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents"! The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/